The Testimony of the Risen Redeemer

I have rejoiced exceedingly in the testimonies that have been borne to us during our Conference. I feel that we have had a time of rejoicing and that the Saints have been fed the bread of life. I rejoice in a knowledge of the Gospel and of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. I rejoice that we have the testimony of the risen Redeemer given to us by men who have lived in our day. ¶

We find recorded in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants the following testimony: "For we beheld the glory of the Son on the right hand of the Father, and received of His fulness, and saw the holy angels, and they were sanctified before His throne, worshiping God and the Lamb, who worship Him forever. And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony last of all, which we give of Him, that He lives, for we saw Him even on the right hand of God, and we heard the voice bearing record that He is the Only Begotten of the Father ; that by Him and through Him and of Him the worlds are and were created and the inhabitants thereof, and begotten sons and daughters of God." ¶

We are not dependent upon the testimony of men who lived many hundreds of years ago, but we have the testimony that is given to us from the Prophet Joseph Smith, and from Sidney Rigdon that they saw the Son, that they heard the voice declare from the heavens that He was the only Begotten of the Father, that by Him and of Him the worlds were created, and that He lives, for they saw Him. ¶

We rejoice in a knowledge of the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. We rejoice in those who have been faithful and diligent in serving Him, and in knowing that each and every individual who keeps the commandments of God grows in the light and knowledge of the gospel. We rejoice in knowing that no man or woman ever loses the testimony of the divinity of this work in which we are engaged who keeps the commandments of God. To me one of the greatest and strongest evidences of the divine character of the work in which we are engaged, (so far as the natural faculties with which God has endowed me are able to comprehend and understand) is that as men become careless, become indifferent, as they break the Word of Wisdom, as they neglect their meetings, as they fail to teach their children by precept and example the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, that they turn away from the faith, the Spirit of God is withdrawn from them, and they are left in darkness. If men and women could neglect the duties devolving upon them, if they could do those things that are forbidden, and still grow in the knowledge of the Gospel and the testimony burn in their hearts, it would stagger the reasoning faculties with which God has endowed me. On the contrary, I have discovered that when men serve Him and keep His commandments, that they grow in the knowledge of the truth, that they grow stronger and brighter through the rich outpouring of His Holy Spirit. ¶

I pray that all the remarks which have been made during this conference for the benefit of the Latter-day Saints, the instructions and admonitions that have been given may sink deep into our hearts, that we may live honest lives before God, in "the payment of our tithing and meeting all our obligations to God and man ; that we may support and uphold our institutions to help build up the manufacturing interests of our state, and that we may be Latter-day Saints in very deed, that the world, seeing our good deeds, may be led to investigate the Gospel and embrace the truth. ¶

I pray that all these teachings and instructions that have been given for the betterment of the Latter-day Saints may find a lodgment in the hearts of those who have listened, and that the Saints may go forth from this conference with a determination in their hearts that they will serve God with more diligence in the future than they have ever done before ; this is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶