Friends to All Mankind: Faith, Loyalty, and the Blessings of Liberty

(President of Southern States Mission.) ¶

My brethren and sisters, if the Lord will condescend to favor me with His Holy Spirit, I shall endeavor to address you, for a few moments, in response to the instruction of our beloved president. ¶

My soul has feasted upon the good things we have heard during this conference. The great thought that has been borne home to my soul is this, that not only do we desire the friendship of all good men and women, but it is the desire of our hearts to be friends to all mankind. Paul says that unto the ambassadors of Christ is committed the gospel, or the ministry of reconciliation. Men are reconciled to God and to principles of righteousness by obeying the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We do desire and work, with our hearts and with our hands, to this end, that all men may come to a knowledge of the principles of the gospel and to the truth of the glorious fact that Jesus is the Christ. ¶

There is no better friend to humanity than the president of this Church. There are no better friends to all the people of the world than the authorities of this Church ; from the general authorities to the stake authorities and to the ward authorities, all are the friends of mankind, and they are working day and night to bring to pass the salvation of the sons and daughters of God. There is no way that men and women can be reconciled unto the Lord, except by obedience to the principles of the gospel, that teach men and women to have faith in God. In this age of unbelief and skepticism, we are pleading with the children of our Father to believe in the Lord, to have faith in Him. The friendships of the world shall perish and pass away, but the love of God will live forever. We are told in holy writ that the man who puts his trust in the arm of flesh shall be cursed. You remember reading of the noted Cardinal Wolsey who lived to please his king. He enjoyed the favors of that mighty monarch for a time ; but the smile of the prince changed to a frown, and he dismissed Wolsey from his presence. Wolsey, when he went into exile, uttered these memorable and pathetic words : "Had I but served my God as faithfully as I have served my prince, he would not have deserted me in my old age." ¶

We believe that men should repent of their sins and come unto God. Men and women should take upon themselves the yoke of Christ, for His yoke is easy, and His burden is light ; but the burden of the transgressor, the man who dissipates, of him who elects to serve Satan is grievous to be borne, and he goes down a slave to sin and a victim to those passions and appetites for gratification of which he has sold his birthright. It is not good business to sell our birthright for a mess of pottage. Thank God that in this day He has ordained a means for us to obtain a forgiveness of our sins. Those who enter the Church by baptism, who take upon themselves the name of Christ by being baptized, come up out of ¶

the water, their faces glowing with happiness, and they testify that God has forgiven their sins, having been baptized by one holding authority. After baptism they receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, and they walk in the fear of the Lord and, "In the comfort of the Holy Ghost." We are comforted by the Holy Ghost, because we are established in a knowledge of the truth, and we need not to be taught by, nor accept the vagaries of men. In this day and dispensation men have been raised up who can say, by the power of God, "Thus saith the Lord." We are told by the Psalmist that "the law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul : the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple." So in this intelligence, walking in this comfort, what care we for what the world say about us ? What need we care for the slanders that are uttered against our leaders? We know and God knows that these accusations are false. Some day the world will learn that they are false, and will give these traducers the treatment they deserve for the scorn and ridicule they have heaped upon us, they will surely receive the treatment that their untruthful utterances deserve. ¶

I thank God that when we are in the line of our duty we are serving Him, and that we truly are friends to all mankind. I am proud of the body of noble men who lead this Church. They are men who, in the various professions would make brilliant, and successful careers, but they are wearing out their splendid lives and using their talents to serve the Church and people of God, and thus are serving the Lord Himself. ¶

The liberty of the gospel gives us a larger conception of the liberty we enjoy under this great government. We stand alone among all the churches in teaching that the Constitution of the United States is a divinely inspired instrument, that God raised up those self-sacrificing and heroic revolutionary fathers to struggle for, and to achieve that measure of freedom to which the children of men were entitled. Again, in preaching what is contained in the Book of Mormon we are declaring and affirming that America is choice above all other lands, that it is a land given to the seed of Joseph, by our Father in heaven. Right here is evidenced the broadness and liberality of our belief, respecting the rights and privileges that may be enjoyed by the people dwelling on this hemisphere. Though this land was given to the seed of Joseph, though it was reserved by the Almighty especially for those to whom it was promised, yet the Book of Mormon tells us that the Gentiles, if they repent and believe in Jesus Christ the God of Israel, shall share in that inheritance, share this glorious land with the children of Joseph, and receive the blessings of this land, which is choice above all other lands on the face of the earth. This splendid promise in the Book of Mormon is in harmony with, and like unto a similar and equally splendid promise contained in the Bible, concerning the Gentiles on the eastern hemisphere. The Apostle Paul declared that all those who had faith should be called the seed of Abraham, that they should rejoice, and enjoy the blessings of Abraham. So upon this land, the Gentiles, if they repent and come unto the Lord, will be numbered among the remnant of Jacob, and they will share in the blessings and joys that await the ¶

descendants of Joseph, the patriarch of old. ¶

I rejoice in the completeness of this gospel, it is the same gospel that was taught by Jesus and the apostles, many centuries ago. Can a people who believe in the Book of Mormon be disloyal ? Can a people be disloyal who sincerely teach and preach from this book that no kings shall be raised up unto the Gentiles on this land? No, it is impossible, impossible ; we are loyal, and true. We believe in the glorious destiny of this great republic ; we believe that its principles shall extend to the uttermost parts of the earth, that the shackles of bondage, and serfdom of all kinds, shall be stricken from the limbs and consciences of mankind, until the children of men everywhere shall stand forth in the enjoyment of that full measure of political and religious freedom which God the Father designed that they should have. This we are proclaiming to the world. ¶

We say to all people : Believe in God, believe in Jesus Christ, the God of the whole earth, and you shall share these blessings. Is this wrong doctrine? For which of these good works does the world stone us? Is it disloyal to preach faith in Jesus Christ? Is it narrow to say to all the world, to all mankind, If you will repent of your sins and come unto the Lord, He will accept you as His children and you will enjoy the salvation that God has in store for all His sons and daughters? I rejoice in this mighty republic. If we believe in Jesus, if we follow His commandments, this nation, God has declared, shall be fortified against all other nations. If the people will but serve Him, no nation shall conquer this ; no nation, no two nations, or any number of nations, can ever prevail against this mighty republic if we ground our faith and works in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and honor Him as the Redeemer of the world. Standing on this faith' we can say : ¶

Then conquer we must, When our cause it is just, ¶

And this be our motto : "In God is our trust." ¶

And the Star Spangled Banner In triumph shall wave ¶

O'er the land of the free And the home of the brave. ¶

Amen. ¶

The choir and congregation standing, sang, with enthusiasm, two verses of the American patriotic hymn, "The Star Spangled Banner." ¶