The Divinely Appointed Organization Restored to the Earth

My brethren and sisters, you who are before me were not converted through the wisdom nor learning of men, and it would be impossible for me to foist upon you any of the vain philosophy of men; if I should attempt it, you who have been in the Church for years would easily discover that it is of man, for you have been founded upon the rock of revelation. Our Father has given you a testimony for yourselves, and you know. In standing before you I do so with fear and trembling, lest I may not be an instrument in the hands of God to impart unto you the bread of life. ¶

I rejoice in the testimony that our Father has given me concerning this great work, the work that has been established in the earth for the salvation of mankind. It is my experience, in traveling in the world, that this work has grown in importance a thousand times more than is represented by the number that have been baptized into the Church. The principles of truth that were revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith have influenced the people of the whole earth; they are "leavening the whole lump," and the members of the religious world today are beginning to inquire concerning this greater light that has been restored to the earth. Not long since, Dr. Henry Sloan Coffin, one of the prominent Presbyterians of New England, declared in one of his sermons that they did not consider any of the churches of the world as divine, or their organizations divinely appointed; he said Presbyterians were doing, as a church, more than any other Christian denomination to bring about a church union, and if that could be brought about, or if they could have the organization that they desired, it would be more efficient and do away with much of the overlapping of their work, and would bring about a greater missionary force in the earth, a missionary work that would bring all the members of the churches under the influence of the Spirit of God. He said that they were ready to serve under any organization that worked better than their own. Now, while they have not discovered that organization, it is in the earth today. God our Father has placed it here, and they will some day discover that its influence and power have been felt even in their own organizations. ¶

The Lord Jesus said to His disciples on one occasion, after telling them that He was the vine and they were the branches, and that they should abide in Him in order to bring forth fruit to the glory of the Father: "Ye have not chosen me but I have chosen you and ordained you and sent you forth that you might bring forth fruit." Following that He told them to love one another as He had loved them, and as He had loved the Father. In talking to a sectarian minister the other day, on the train, who has been in Utah a long time, I said, "My brother, the reason you have not been successful in the state of Utah, even among the wayward of the children of the Latter-day Saints, is because you have not sufficiently followed the admonition of the Lord Jesus to love the souls of men. The majority of the ministers who come here to convert the Mormon people, and lead them to acknowledge the God that they worship, have never had love for us in their hearts. They have sought for thorns and briers, and information to be taken back into the world and used for the collecting of money to Christianize the 'Mormons.'" He replied, "I tell you, Mr. Ellsworth, that is too true; some ministers have not had sufficient love in their hearts for the souls of the people who dwell in these valleys." ¶

It is the experience of the elders of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who have gone to the world, that they must have a love for the souls of men in their hearts before they can do real missionary work; they must forget in part, or rather learn that they have not left in their mountain homes all that is near and dear to them, but that the honest in heart everywhere should also be near and dear to the soul of the true missionary. We must love them, and show that we are truly interested in them, and that we have their welfare at heart, before we can really do successful missionary work. Where this feeling exists, the spirit and the power of God rests upon the elders, and the honest soul discovers in them the divinely appointed shepherd. ¶

This is my testimony, that Jesus gathered together His disciples and organized His Church, and that men were divinely appointed to preach the gospel and represent the Lord Jesus. That organization continued until, through the wickedness of men, it was done away with. Since then, only tradition has been handed down to guide the Christian world. But, in this age, the Lord Jesus, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, has again sent the Priesthood with a divine appointment, and commission to the world. A divinely appointed organization has been re-established in the earth; it is in perfect working order, and the men and women who receive the truth have a mission to proclaim Christ and Him crucified, and to show to the world, through their righteousness, and by the sweet influence they have, that they are indeed born of God, and have the light that will lead men back into the kingdom of our Father. The Latter-day Saints have received this divine authority and organization. Upon their shoulders rests the mission to preach Christ and Him crucified. The doctor, the lawyer, the farmer, the carpenter, the blacksmith, and men of every other vocation in life among the Latter-day Saints are missionaries. It is our duty to teach the people of the world that the organization that they are seeking after today is in the earth, an organization that brings in touch every one of its members with God and Christ. There is no overlapping nor crowding for place, but a place for every man in the divinely appointed organization. ¶

I am thankful that it has been my lot to be a Latter-day Saint from my birth, that my father and my grandfather were members of the Church of Jesus Christ. They were converted, not by the wisdom of men, neither by the learning of the world, but by a revelation from God. My feet have been planted upon that rock, and I know for myself that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that the Church of God has been established among men. It has been established with apostles and prophets, seventies and elders, priests, teachers and deacons. They have a divinely appointed mission in the earth. Every man throughout the world who will hear their testimony, and receive it in their hearts, may have a part of that ministry, and feel God's spirit in them, from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet, and learn to know God, and feel His influence by working for the salvation of their fellow men. The man-made ministers preach for money, and divine for hire; there are but few of them working unselfishly for the uplift of mankind. Their organizations have not the power to bring men and women in touch with God. Jesus has not chosen them, neither ordained them. They cannot bring forth fruit because they have not followed the doctrine of Christ. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints every man, from the greatest to the least, has a right to the revelations of God for his guidance. God can bless the honest in heart through the ministry of His humblest servant, even though his language may be faltering, and his logic poor. If, from the time the light of God has come into the life of a man, he will magnify the priesthood, and honor the priesthood in others, the Lord will magnify him before the world, and honest hearted men and women will raise up and bless his name, and praise God that he came within their circle. ¶

May God bless us, my brethren and sisters, and help the Latter-day Saints to honor the divinely appointed men that our Father has placed in the earth. Let us rejoice that we are associated with the divine organization that gives every man and woman a chance to receive an experience under the influence and power of God. May we honor the priesthood, and all men who bear it, and in the end be prepared, by the experience that we have received in the Church, to associate with God and Christ, is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶