Positive character of testimony de- clared by Latter-day Saints

Positive character of testimony declared by Latter-day Saints. — A Christian minister's scathing arraignment of modern churches. — Divinity of Mormonism evidenced by Saints possessing Holy Ghost. — Spiritual gifts manifest in true Church today as in olden times. ¶

I earnestly desire that I may have the sympathy, the faith, and the prayers of this vast multitude of Latter-day Saints to assist me in speaking to you, this afternoon. ¶

I have had very many reflections, during this conference, while listening to the remarks which have been made. From the opening address of our President to the last speech I have thoroughly enjoyed all that has been said, and it meets with my hearty endorsement. I rejoice that I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I appreciate this privilege, far beyond any ability with which I am possessed to express my feelings. To know that I am associated with the truth, to know that this gospel that you and I have espoused is in very deed the plan of life and salvation ; this gives to me a peace, a satisfaction, and a joy beyond expression. I have not the ability to express the joy and the deep gratitude to my heavenly Father that fills my heart, for the knowledge that He has given to me of the divinity ¶

of the work in which we are engaged. ¶

I was particularly impressed with the remarks made here today by Brother Hyrum M. Smith, and by those of Brother B. H. Roberts. If the glorious principles enunciated by the Prophet Joseph Smith are, in very deed, true, it does seem to me that every individual who has received a knowledge of them, should make up his mind that by and with the help of the Lord he will, in very deed, seek first the kingdom, so that all of the necessary things of life will be added unto him. ¶

Realizing that I would, undoubtedly, be asked to speak here this afternoon, I was thinking, while coming from my home, on what theme I might be able to interest the people. I remembered reading from the Brief History of the Church, by Edward H. Anderson, a footnote, some years ago, when I delivered a sermon in San Francisco, while there with the choir. I stopped at the Bureau of Information and got the history, so that I could read it to you here. It is said that Roger Williams refused to continue as pastor over the largest Baptist church in this country, because there was — I now quote his language — "no regularly constituted church on earth, nor any person authorized to administer any church ordinance ; nor can there be until new apostles are sent by the Great Head of the Church, for whose coming I am seeking." (From "Picturesque America," p. 502.) Joseph Smith, a youth, while reading in the book of James, was impressed with these words: "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not ; and it shall be given him. But let him ask in faith. ¶

nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed." He went out in the woods, and prayed to God for light and wisdom, and he declares that an evil power seized him while he was praying. When it seemed that he was about to be overcome, God, our heavenly Father, and our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, appeared before him. He remembered the object of his prayer was to inquire which of all the various Christian denominations of the day was in very deed the Church of Christ, and which he should join. The Father pointing to the Son, said: "This is my beloved Son ; hear Him." Joseph Smith quotes the words of the Savior as follows, referring to the various Christian denominations : "They draw near me with their lips but their hearts are far from me. They teach for doctrine the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof." ¶

Now, the Latter-day Saints do not have a form of godliness denying the power thereof, but they have in very deed the gospel of Jesus Christ, with all the power, with all the gifts, graces, and authority that were manifest in the day when the gospel was upon the earth, when Jesus Christ committed it to His apostles. I rejoice in having the truth ; I rejoice in having a gospel that inspires all those who go forth to proclaim it, with a love for their fellows, and with a determination to carry the message of life and salvation to the honest in heart, notwithstanding all the opposition that may be brought against them. Ninety years have passed since Joseph Smith, a youth, announced that the Savior had told him all of the ¶

religions of the day were in error, that they had gone astray, that they were teaching the doctrines of men, that their churches were man-made institutions. Recently a divine, speaking up in Montana, bears evidence of the truth of what this youth said, almost a century ago. I read from the report of his address : ¶

For a long time the following questions have been uppermost in my mind: ¶

Is the church anything but a mere social organization? Is the Christianity of today the true doctrine of the Christ of the Bible? Has the socalled Christianity of today anything in it that ought to attract more than any other creed that is supposed to help humanity? Is not the church of today being boycotted and that justly? Are we not today concocting questionable schemes to operate our churches? Are the leaders in our churches truly pious and sincere? Is not the real object of the minister personal aggrandizement? — [The Lord and Master, ninety years ago, said they were divining for hire.] ¶

I know that such interrogations will not be very savory to many people, but knowing something concerning the church from top to bottom, and as I fear God, and would rather be true than be esteemed, I fearlessly propound them. ¶

The Christian community of the present is loud in its claims of vast conquest and remarkable victories. We are invited to see its acquired wealth, its tremendous expansion and to hear the clang of its enormous and intricate machinery. But with all of this I maintain that the Christianity of the present is face to face with a lamentable loss. The Christianity of today has acquired much, but in its getting it has lost its own soul, it has lost the Holy Ghost. No true man will dare refute this argument, for go where you may in Christendom today you will find that our religion is void of the supernatural element which the Bible claims it must have in order to exist. ¶

There are periods in the Christian era we look back upon with wonder and admiration. In those days men ¶

were convicted of sin and a judgment to come. Then the more than human element was visible in our creed. Holy men had heavenly visions. Sickness was cured by spiritual power. The dead were raised. Holy men spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Prison doors were opened and Ananias and Sapphira fell lifeless at the apostles' feet for playing with this power. Is the spiritual element that so characterized those days an ancient relic of something worn out like a garment? The commission to the early Christian teachers was that they must be imbued with power from on high and then go and baptize all nations in the name of the Holy Ghost, and that power was always manifested when they performed the deed. ¶

The Christian religion of the present is merely a social code and has nothing in it whereby it could claim a divine origin. It is truly pitiable to behold the church religion of today trying to save this sinful world. ¶

We have lost our magnet. The Christ who said He would draw all men to Him if He were lifted up is disobeyed and ignored in the multiplicity of our present church life. Since we have presented many substitutes to the world for genuine spiritual power, but they are of no more value in the saving of the sinner than an artificial heart would be in pumping blood through the arteries. We are like men trying to run an engine without steam. ¶

The church of today is the church of man, not the church of God. I predict its crashing to pieces like a ship on the rocks before a heavy sea, in the near-by years, unless there is a mighty turning to God in our ranks. ¶

We have a great educated, schoolmade ministry, but an unconverted ministry. We have a great host on our church rolls, but they are, with but few exceptions, an unconverted host. ¶

It is time for churchdom to do some housecleaning and remodeling. Now, while I have fearlessly declared that our present Christianity is but a shadow of its real self, still I must truthfully say that when the church is compared with other social organizations, it is far in advance of the greater number of them in a moral sense. I am willing to grant the church first ¶

place on the social and moral calendar, but I do not believe that the church of today is the true church of Christ, because it is shorn of the Holy Ghost. ¶

It is time we read the second and ' third chapters of Revelation and apply it to ourselves. We stand to preach the marvelous gospel of the great Christ, but are conspicuous for our weakness. God help us to find the upper room and acquire the tongue of fire. ¶

How I do thank God that the tongue of fire is acquired by the humble elders who go forth to proclaim this gospel and that they are able, even as were the fishermen called by the Savior to follow Him and proclaim the gospel, to warm the hearts of the people and convict them of sin and cause them to repent. The Holy Ghost, the power of God, is with all those that go forth to deliver this message, in every land and in every clime. The authority of God has been restored to the earth. We have it. God is with us. The Holy Ghost is with us. God bless all who labor for the spread of truth at home or abroad. We have the Spirit which they acknowledge that they lack. Roger Williams says there was no authorized church on earth. This Montana minister confirms his statement, and says that the Christianity of today is the Christianity of men ; he thus bears witness that the youth Joseph Smith, told the truth when he quoted the words of the Savior that none of the churches had the true gospel. I call to mind attending a conference at Bradford, England, of two hundred and fifty odd elders, many of them young men. without experience, some of whom had never stood upon their feet in their lives to proclaim the gospel, until they reached the Liverpool office ; and the Spirit of God was so ¶

richly poured out upon the men who spoke there, that tears of gratitude ran down the cheeks of nearly every one present. I recall being present, recently, at a fast meeting in memorial cottage at the monument erected to the memory of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, when many tears of gratitude were shed as the elders, about forty of them, testified of the goodness of God and the knowledge which they possessed that this gospel that you and I have embraced is in very deed the gospel of Christ. ¶

The Montana minister says : "There are periods in the Christian era we look back upon with wonder and admiration. In those days men were convicted of sin and a judgment to come.'' In these days men are convicted of sin and of a judgment to come, and they repent of those sins, and they reform their lives, as Brother Smith said here today. This gospel of Jesus Christ has lifted up many a man who was in the slough of despair, who was in sin and iniquity, and has made of him a godlike, godfearing, upright man, ready and willing to go forth and proclaim that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith is a prophet of God, and that he knows it. I testify that spiritual manifestations are present in the gospel of Christ which we have embraced. Reverend Martin says that, in early times, "this more than human element was visible in our creed." The more than human element is visible in our creed today. "Holy men had heavenly visions." Men and women by the hundreds, yes by the thousands, have had visions regarding the divinity of this work, and every honest soul who has embraced it has had the testimony of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Ghost, which Rev- ¶

erend Mr. Martin acknowledges that they do not have, is possessed by all the Latter-day Saints who are serving God. "Sickness was cured by spiritual power." I bear my witness to you that if a record had been made of all those who have been afflicted, those who have been given up to die, and who have been healed by the power of God, since the establishment of the Church of Christ in our day, it would make a book much larger than the New Testament. More miracles have been performed in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than we have any account of in the days of the Savior and His apostles. Today, sickness is cured by spiritual power. In all humility, and with gratitude to God, my heavenly Father I acknowledge freely and frankly that God saw fit to heal me, and I am a living monument of the healing power of Almighty God, which is in this Church of Christ. ¶

"The dead were raised." The dead have been raised. My own brother was announced to be dead, but by the prayer of faith he lives and presides over one of the stakes of Zion. I know, as I know I live, that the healing power of Almighty God, that this man acknowledges is not in any of the churches, is in the Church of Christ of which you and I are members. ¶

"Holy men spake with other tongues as the spirit gave them utterance." I testify that the gift of tongues is in this Church, that it has been enjoyed by men and women on very many occasions. I bear witness that there have been prophecies by the voice of tongues. I stand here in humility today and acknowledge that my wife, whose body now lies in the tomb, pronounced a blessing upon my head ¶

by the spirit of tongues, all of which has been fulfilled. I testify, also, that the gift of tongues was manifested on one occasion, when I was a little child, playing on the floor in the home of the late William C. Staines, when Sister Whitney, Sister Eliza R. Snow, Sister Zina D. Young, my mother and others of those noble women were present, whose lives are a testimony to all the world, of the purity, and the uprightness, and the virtue that there is in the Church of Christ. They were holding a Relief Society meeting. There was some singing in tongues by Sister Whitney; there was given, by Sister Snow, through the gift of tongues, a blessing for all who were there. After the interpretation by Sister Young, and after Sister Snow had blest all the sisters, she turned and blest the boy playing on the floor, and Sister Young gave the interpretation. I did not understand it, but my mother made a record of it, and twenty years after it was given it was fulfilled. What was it? It was that the boy should grow to manhood, that he should become one of the leaders of the Church, and that God would bless him in proclaiming this gospel in foreign lands. I say that the gift of tongues is in the Church of Christ. I say that I am a living witness that a prediction made on my head by the gift of tongues was fulfilled twenty years after the prediction was made. ¶

God lives ; Jesus is the Christ ; Joseph Smith is a prophet of the true and the living God; Mormonism, so-called, is in very deed the gospel of Christ. May the Lord help you and me to be faithful, to be true, to be upright, to be honest, to be virtuous, to keep His command- ¶

ments is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶