The thing of most worth

I am thankful that my heart is in tune with the spirit of this conference, and with all that has been said by the servants of . God under the influence of the Holy Spirit. The keynote to the conference was sounded by President Smith when, on yesterday morning, he uttered these words : "I feel, this morning, as I have felt almost all my life, and I feel it stronger this morning, perhaps, than ever before, that there is nothing under the heavens of so much importance to me or to the children of men, as the great plan of life and salvation." ¶

The moment these words fell from his lips, my mind flew to that ¶

incident in the life of our Savior where a young man came to Him and asked what good thing he should do to inherit eternal life. He was told to keep the commandments, and they were enumerated. He answered, "All this have I done from my youth up." The Savior then said, "One thing thou lackest — go and sell all that thou hast, and give to the poor, and come follow me." In other words, Help me to save the world. ¶

I also recalled some revelations given through the prophet Joseph Smith, in which God revealed to certain men the secret thoughts of their hearts. One of these men was John Whitmer, one of the eight witnesses to the Book of Mormon. The Lord said to him, through Joseph the Seer, in the month of June, 1829: "I will tell you that which no man knoweth save me and thee alone; for many times you have desired of me to know that which would be of the most worth unto you. Behold, blessed are you for this thing, and for speaking my word which I have given you,, according to my commandments ; and now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth to you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls to me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father." Peter Whitmer, Jr., another of the eight witnesses, was answered in like manner. ¶

In a subsequent revelation, given for the benefit of Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, we find these important passages, already referred to in part by Brother Heber J. Grant : ¶

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God; "For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer, suffered death in the flesh; wherefore He suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto Him; ¶

"And He hath risen again from the dead, that He might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance; ¶

"And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth. ¶

"Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people; ¶

"And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father. ¶

"And, now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me." ¶

Can we wonder that the President of the Church should be moved upon to remind us of these things ? The most profitable work that men or gods can engage in is the salvation of souls. Consequently there is nothing so important to me or to you or to any of the children of men, as that great plan of life and salvation, devised in the heavens and delivered to man upon the earth in a series of Gospel dispensations of which this is the last and the greatest. ¶

What is this plan? What does it contemplate? What is its nature and its purpose? Paul the apostle wrote : "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ for it is the power of God unto salvation." He might have gone further had it been timely, and shown that the Gospel of Christ is also the power of God unto exaltation. Exaltation is salvation added upon; it is an extension of that idea or condition, just as salvation is an extension of redemption. A soul may be ¶

redeemed, that is, raised from the grave, and yet condemned at the final judgment, for evil deeds done in the body ; or a soul may be saved, and yet come short of the glory that constitutes exaltation. The threefold purpose of the gospel is to redeem and save and glorify the children of God. ¶

The word "gospel" comes from "godspell," an Anglo-Saxon term meaning God-story, or the story of God. It derives ijts significance from that great central idea of the Christian faith — the coming of God as the Son of God to redeem and save mankind. Abinadi, the Nephite prophet, declared, hundreds of years before the birth of the Savior, that God Himself would come down among the children of men and redeem His people; "and because He dwelleth in flesh He shall be called the Son of God." He is the author of our salvation. He paid our debt ; He took the world out of pawn, in which it had been placed by the transgression of our first parents, Adam and Eve. ¶

And yet, through that transgression, and the consequent fall of man, God's purpose was accomplished, in the coming of a race of spirits to take upon themselves bodies, thus becoming souls, capable of endless increase and everlasting progression. "Adam fell that man might be, and man is that he might have joy." But there would be no joy, no progress — there would be no redemption, no salvation, no exaltation, had not Christ died, that man might live again. The action of our first parents brought death, eternal death, into the world — death of the body, death of the spirit, everlasting banishment from God's presence ; and yet it had the great result of giving ¶

God's children the opportunities which this life affords for education and development. ¶

But in order that the plan might be operative, the transgression turned to good effect, God's purpose carried out, and man saved and glorified, there had to be a ransom, a redemption ; the scales of eternal justice had to be repoised, and right's equilibrium restored. The life of a God was the price of the world's freedom, and that price was paid by him who is called Jesus the Nazarene, but who was and is no other than Jehovah, the God of Israel, who came unto His own, was rejected by them, was crucified at their instigation, and gave His life to redeem the world. ¶

Now, this is what the Savior did for us. Has He not earned the right to tell us what we shall do for Him? Did He not have the right to say to the young man, "Forsake all and follow me?" Did He not have the right to say to Joseph, and through him to John Whitmer, to Peter Whitmer. to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, "That which will be of most worth to you is to bring souls unto me ?" If He could afford to descend from His glorious throne, make Himself an exile of eternity, walk in the dust of His own footstool, to bring these glad tidings of immortality and the resurrection, to open up for us and for all men the opportunities for endless progression, can we do less than to follow Him and do whatsoever He requires at our hands? ¶

There is but one Savior ; there is only "one name given under heaven whereby men can be saved ;" but there may be innumerable assistants, innumerable subordinates, saviors in a lesser sense and degree. John the Revelator saw no ¶

less than one hundred and fortyfour thousand of such saviors, standing on the Mount Zion, with the Father's name written in their foreheads ; and it was said of them, "These are they that follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth." ¶

The Gospel of Christ represents what God did for man, that man could not do for himself; and it also represents what He requires of man in return. There is nothing possible of achievement that God cannot do, but there may be things that He has not time to do, and which may be done for Him. There are some things, however, that even God cannot do. I speak it with all reverence. For instance, He cannot make something out of nothing, though many pious Christians ascribe to Him that power — if such it can be called. There is another thing that God cannot do — He cannot be present in all places at the same time, in His own proper person. This is God's work, and it can only be done by the power of God; but we cannot expect Him to be everywhere present, nor in two places at the same time, except by His authority, His spirit and His influence. This fact renders necessary a priesthood to represent Him, and a Church such as this to carry on His work — a Church which from top to bottom is one great machine for the salvation of souls. ¶

There is no one class among the Latter-day Saints upon whom this great work rests, to the exclusion of the others. Take to your hearts the wise counsel and instructions of President Francis M. Lyman. How beautifully he met the occasion, and fitted his discourse to the needs of the time — just like a plaster to a wound. There is growing up among us, I fear, a sentiment that only certain men and women ought to be called upon to carry on the work of the Lord, the work of saving souls. Some think that the First Presidency and the other general authorities, with the heads of the stakes and wards and missions, are the men who ought to do God's work, while the rest go on making money, practicing politics, pursuing and accumulating material things. This is a heresy. The obligation of saving souls rests upon every man and woman in this Church — if not with equal weight, at least proportionately, according to their strength, their time, their opportunities, their abilities; and they cannot get out from under this responsibility on the plea that it belongs only to such and such persons. Did not the Lord say, through Joseph the Seer, at the beginning of this work, "Behold, it is a day of warning, and not of many words: Therefore, let every soul that is warned, warn its neighbor?" ¶

I had a conversation, recently, with one of our brethren, while returning home from a journey, and during our talk he said, in substance: "When the apostles visit the stakes, instead of going merely to the meeting house, to the home of the stake president, or wherever they are entertained, why don't they go out on the street corners, or into the shops, where the boys congregate that never attend meetings, that are never seen in the congregations of the Saints? Why don't they go in the stores and sit on the counter with them, put their arms around them, and try to save them? What weight it would have if an apostle should devote a portion of his time to work of this nature. As it is, you don't see all that goes on in any stake of Zion. It washes its face, puts on its fine apparel, and assumes its best behavior, to receive the visitors at a conference; and the officers of the stake are naturally anxious to give a good report of local conditions. The result is that you do not get at all the facts. You are not fully informed of the conditions. Would it not be a good work for one or two of the Twelve to do — the extra work that I have suggested?" ¶

Yes, I had to admit that it would be a good work, an excellent work. But can anyone tell me why it would not be just as good a work for a high priest, or a seventy, or an elder, in case an apostle could not be there? Twelve men can't be everywhere. Why wait for the apostles to come, you that hold the Melchizedek priesthood in the sixty-five stakes of Zion? Why don't you save your own sons and daughters? ¶

When the Apostle James wrote, "If any are sick among you" — he did not say, send for the heads of the Church. He said, "Send for the elders of the Church." Now, there is an army of elders, and the work of administering to the sick might be distributed far more widely, with better results than are now obtained. Men would exercise their priesthood who are not exercising it today, and a few would not be overloaded with work and broken down by doing more than their share. This magnificent Church organization was instituted for the salvation of souls; and if every man in all the councils and quorums of the priesthood, and every woman in the auxiliary organizations, were doing their share of the work, and some were not trying to do more than their share, we would not hear so much about "nervous prostration," we would not hear of broken-down men, dying prematurely; but everything would work harmoniously and happily. ¶

God never intended that His work should break men down. He intended that it should build them up. Let us all find out what God requires of us in this great plan of salvation, and then let each one do his or her part, and we will all be happier, we will all do better work, and God will be glorified through our administrations. Amen. ¶