Giving Heed to the Living Oracles

I have rejoiced exceedingly in the inspiration of the Lord that has been manifest in all the sessions of the conference that it has been my privilege to attend. ¶

The beautiful thoughts of the song that we have just listened to have been emphasized in the talks that have been made during our conference. There have been no criticisms whatever made of the faith and beliefs of professed Christian people. Reference has been made, occasionally, by way of comparison, but there has been nothing said to which any professing consistent Christian could take exception. The gospel preached to the people during this conference has been the Gospel of Love. The principles of saving grace as enunciated by the Master have been very forcibly proclaimed. ¶

If I have been impressed with one truth more than another during this conference, that is of great importance to the Latter-day Saints, it is the necessity for those who have entered into covenant with God in these last days to give heed to the living oracles. Very frequently, the Church of which we are members is criticised unfairly because of the unity that obtains among them with regard to sustaining the Church officials, the authorities of the Church, the implicit confidence we have in their word, and our willingness to obey their counsels. We are living in a day when much emphasis is placed upon the subject of individual liberty, and it is often intimated, by those who do not know us as well as they should, that we are a priest-ridden people. My experience in traveling in the world is very opposite. If there is any religious people upon the earth who are free from domination, who are free from priest-craft, it is the Latter-day Saints. The Gospel that we have espoused, if we are living its principles, makes us free indeed. ¶

The order, discipline, and pure priesthood of God was very plainly and beautifully explained by President Smith in the opening discourse of the Conference, and I am sure that the instructions imparted, and the testimony borne regarding the order of the priesthood, as laid down by our President, found an echo in the heart of every Latter-day Saint. ¶

The very necessary and timely counsel imparted by President Lund, that the fathers and mothers of the Latter-day Saints should use diligence to see that their children are properly instructed in the ways of the Lord, in the principles and doctrines of the Church, was counsel well worth the close attention of the Latter-day Saints. It will profit us very little, my brethren and sisters, the years of sacrifice and toil and earnest endeavor that has been spent by the fathers and mothers in this work, if we do not succeed in rearing our children in the way that we have tried to go. I feel that these keynotes that were sounded at the commencement of our conference have been ringing in our ears ever since, in the remarks and the testimonies of our brethren. ¶

I have been reminded that while we do perhaps give closer attention and more implicit obedience, because of the confidence that we have in our leaders, than do people generally of other churches, that yet we are not wanting in our reverence for the prophets of old; we are not wanting in reverence for the Word of God that has come down to us through the ages. It is a mistaken idea that we do not reverence as we should the ancient worthies, do not place enough importance upon the testimony of the ancient apostles. The fact is, that we believe all that God has revealed in the past, that was written and spoken anciently and that was necessary in the day in which it was given, for the edification and blessing and consolation of the people, though we go further than that. We believe in present day revelation—we believe all that God is now revealing, and we believe that in the future He will continue to reveal to His people as occasion may require, those things that are necessary for their edification, and for their perfection and glory. ¶

A careful perusal of the Scriptures and of history reveals the fact that great and good men have seldom been fully appreciated for their worth in the day in which they lived. This is true of men and women who have been reformers in various spheres as well as it is true of the ministers of the gospel of the Redeemer. The people in the ages and times when men have spoken as they were inspired by the gift of the Holy Ghost have not generally received the message, people in general have turned a deaf ear to the testimony of the living prophets, while professing that they were willing to be guided by the words of those who had passed away. Such was the condition when John the Baptist came to the people as the fore-runner of Jesus the Redeemer of men. Such was the condition as Jesus followed in the mighty work that He was called to do. The people said they were willing to have Abraham for their father, were willing to believe in him, willing to accept the testimony of the prophets who had preceded the Messiah, but were unwilling to accept Him and believe in His testimony and in His doctrine. ¶

You will remember the beautiful story that is told of Lazarus and the rich man. You remember how anxious, after he had left this life and was reaping the reward of his life's work, the rich man was when he lifted up his eyes and saw Lazarus among the redeemed and blessed. He was tormented in his spirit. His mind went back to mother earth, and he was anxious for his brother, he was anxious for his relatives who were living upon the earth. He desired that they might escape the condition that he found himself in, and so he asked that one might be sent to warn his living relatives that they might peradventure repent, and not reach the condition that he found himself in. The answer came to him that though one should be sent from the dead, yet they would not believe. They had living prophets and they should give heed to their testimony and to their doctrine, and if they were not willing to do this, they would not receive the testimony of one that might be sent to them from the spirit life. ¶

And so it is to-day. The voice of the servants of God proclaiming the truth appeal to the hearts of those who are seeking for light and knowledge, and for purity of life. "My sheep," said the Master, "hear my voice, and a stranger they will not follow." And wherever the blood of Israel is scattered in the nations, and comes in contact with the humble Elders that are sent forth to declare the gospel of truth, the words appeal to them as the words of God. ¶

Now, I think that as a people we believe all that God has revealed in the Scriptures. We believe in the testimony as proclaimed in the Gospel of John when he said that God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whomsoever believed in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. We believe that to have faith in Jesus Christ means to believe not only that He lived and died for the sins of the world, but we believe in the Church that He organized, and in the doctrines of salvation that He promulgated, and we believe in living, actual faith, that produces a godly repentance from sin, a sorrow that leads men and women to humility and to contrition of heart, and leads them to observance of the ordinances of baptism for the remission of sins, that, being cleansed by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ, they are worthy to receive, by the imposition of hands, the gift of the Holy Ghost. It is a faith in Jesus Christ that implies that we believe in all that He taught, in all that He did for the salvation of the human race. If the people in the day when Jesus ministered among them had believed in the living oracles. If they would have accepted His living testimony, instead of the written word of the ancients, or better, in addition to the written word of the ancients, then they might have been redeemed from their sins and have enjoyed the testimony of the righteous. ¶

Now, I thank the Lord with all my heart for the restored gospel of the Redeemer. I thank the Lord that it is my privilege to live in the day and time when God has again spoken from the heavens, when He has again ministered by holy angels, when He has revealed and restored the fullness of the priesthood. ¶

I know there is saving power in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I know that every individual who will obey the injunction of Jesus of Nazareth, the Redeemer of the world, that every man and every one who will do the will of God, who will obey the doctrines that He taught, shall know assuredly for themselves concerning the truth of the principles that have been revealed for the salvation of the human race. ¶

I know that the mission of the Latter-day Saints is to teach kindness, long-suffering, patience, mercy, and endurance, to bless and not to revile. I know that it is not only our mission, but it is the actual work that is being done by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. ¶

I pray, my brethren and sisters, that the spirit of repentance may always dwell in our hearts, that we may always be in a condition to receive the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord, that we may always be able, in our life's work, to know the voice of the true Shepherd, and that we may be willing to follow its promptings to our salvation and ultimate glory. I pray that as a result of the conference meetings that the Latter-day Saints who have assembled may go to their homes with renewed determination to serve the Lord in spirit and in truth, in every action of their lives, that they may proclaim by their daily walk and conversation that they have indeed drank of the fountain of truth, that they have experienced the new birth referred to in the chapter that I previously referred to. ¶

I pray that light and truth may continue to spread in the earth, that the influence and power of this work may extend until the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and His Christ. I pray that the words of the poet may be exemplified in our lives, ¶

"Be it my only wisdom here ¶

To serve the Lord with filial fear. ¶

With loving gratitude, superior sense may I display ¶

By shunning every evil way and walking in the good." ¶

May the Lord incline our hearts to all that is good and pure and true, and may we follow in the way that is marked out for us from time to time. May we give heed to the counsels of those who are placed to guide us, that we may find continually the abiding testimony of Jesus in our hearts, which in the end shall make us wise unto salvation, I humbly pray through Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶