Gratitude for the Blessings of the Gospel

I feel grateful, my brethren and sisters, for the opportunity of associating with the Latter-day Saints in this conference. I feel to appreciate the blessings which we all enjoy in listening to the servants of the Lord. I think that we do appreciate President Joseph F. Smith, and that we appreciate President Lund, and President Penrose. I think we all appreciate the Twelve, the general authorities of the Church, the organization to which we belong, and that Priesthood which many of us are favored to hold. I believe our appreciation goes out to our heavenly Father to the extent of our ability to appreciate ; and T believe, as we work further in this Church, that we shall have greater capacity to understand and appreciate the Gospel of our Savior, and we shall have, in time, a fullness of joy. ¶

We belong to a wonderful organization. We do not know of a greater organization ever existing upon, the face of the earth than now exists. We know that the Gospel has been upon the earth in times past. But inasmuch as this is the fullness of times, when all things shall be brought together in one, we are constrained to believe that this organization, for the salvation of the human family, is the greatest that, ever existed upon the face of the earth. I know that we do appreciate the blessings of our heavenly Father in His appearing with His Son Jesus Christ to the boy Joseph, and giving authority to him to proceed with His work upon the earth. He said to Joseph: "This is My beloved Son, hear Him." And then the other told Joseph many wonderful things, and made known the mission that he, Joseph, was to perform upon the earth. My brethren and sisters, this organization, this Church of Jesus Christ, has the personal supervision of the Redeemer. It was begun by Him, and was fostered by Him. The Prophet Joseph Smith received instruction from the Savior from time to time, as was necessary for the establishment of this Church. Furthermore, when ever it was necessary, angels came and instructed the Prophet Joseph, and those who were associated with him. Angels came and gave power and authority, as they were directed from on high, to the Prophet Joseph, that he might go forth and organize the Church of Jesus Christ. ¶

When we think of it, it is wonderful to our minds. We say that the constitution of the United States on which our government is founded is a great and a glorious instrument, and so it is. But, in. the consideration, and in the bringing together of those principles which compose that instrument, it took the best ¶

wisdom of many men and many minds. In fact, it was not the work wholly of those who were its framers, for they had the benefit of the experience and learning of others who were behind them, and we say this is a mighty instrument. It was by the will of the Father that it was given to the children of men, and especially to those who composed this nation. But here we have a young man, not learned in these things, not learned in the schemes of government, we behold him setting forth the principles of a government which not only gives liberty to men, liberty to develop as men among their fellow men, but it also holds out to all mankind salvation now and hereafter. Now we see that this could be done only by the guidance of the Holy Spirit and the instruction of heavenly beings : therefore we are fortunate indeed that we belong to such an organization. ¶

Christ did not organize this Church through His servants, and then go off and leave it, He is here today. His guiding hand is over all those delegated by His authority and inspired by Him, and He it is who is guiding this Church, as He also guides the nations. I say we are particularly blessed by having a membership in this Church. I, for one, feel to appreciate these great blessings. Furthermore, we have the principles and ordinances of the Gospel ; sometimes we say the first principles, those things that are fundamental. Well now, men talked about faith and repentance and baptism and the Holy Ghost, a long time before Joseph Smith's day ; but were these principles of power and authority to the human family, the principles of salvation ? Were these the principles that would lead men back into the presence of the Father ? They were ; provided they had been coupled with authority and the power of the Holy Ghost. But, there were no men for ages, upon the face of the earth who had the authority to say to a man, If you will have faith in God, if you will believe that He is, if you will repent of your sins and will go down into the waters of baptism, you shall receive a remission of your sins and ultimately be saved in the kingdom of God. Men might say that, but how many had the authority to say it, and could assist in making it good? But now we have this authority among us, it having been delegated of God, and this boy Joseph Smith was called of God, authorized of our heavenly Father, to build up this Church and this kingdom. ¶

These first principles of the Gospel, some of which were mentioned in our hearing this morning by President Smith and President Lund, have now become alive to us. They become a source of power unto us. They are all necessary, just as necessary as the waters that spring from the earth, or the rain from the clouds or the dews of heaven are necessary for the nourishment of the plants, so are these principles necessary for the nourishment and development of man's soul. And indeed they have connected with them a power. They take hold of the soul of man, and cause it to grow and to develop. Faith, this mighty principle of power that we talk of, is a living fountain of power within man, and man is so organized by his Maker that he may develop this power within him, so that in time he may say, as God said in times past to the world, Be ye in existence, be ye framed, come into being. He can develop himself to the extent that he can have this power, as it is given unto him through God, the Eternal Father. ¶

We should take hold of these principles and strive to apply them in our lives. How can we increase our faith in God? How can we gain power by this principle? Why, simply by the exercise of the power of faith in our hearts. We must have a great desire in our hearts for these things. We must put forth our hands whenever occasion arises in order to develop this power within us. Exercise faith? Yes. Do the sick need to be healed? Yes. There has never been a promise annulled. If the sick exercise faith, and those who are called in of the Priesthood exercise faith, the sick shall be healed; if they are not appointed unto death they shall rise: if they die, they die unto the Lord, if they live they live unto the Lord. ¶

What a mighty opportunity there is for the blessing and also for the cultivation of this power within man, to exercise it whenever occasion requires. The sick will be healed; the sick are healed by this power. So it is in every direction in our lives. Repentance also may become a live thing. When men exercise repentance, they cease to do those things which they know are against the law of God, or against the law of their being, against the laws of humanity. When they begin to exercise this principle of repentance, by turning away from those things which are wrong, then they become strong in repentance, they are more powerful, they have more power to overcome the next temptation that may confront them. ¶

But if a man never practices repentance, if he never repents of his sins, of course he will have hard work, because the power to overcome is very limited within him; but to the extent that he knows he has gone astray and has done that which he knows is not pleasing in the sight of God, and then turns away from sin, he becomes powerful in that he can quickly make amends for those things which he may happen to do which are wrong. ¶

Every child of God that enters into the kingdom must come in by the door of baptism. And why? Because God has instituted it. We may philosophize today, and say many things for and against this ordinance; but there is no denying the fact, no man will ever get into the kingdom of God without this ordinance being complied with. It is a principle of power, it is a principle of salvation, and there is no other way by which man can enter in at the door of the kingdom of God, except through the door of baptism. And so it is with the Holy Ghost. As I said before, men knew of this Holy Spirit. They have read about it, but they have only to a limited extent received of its power. None of them have had that particular and peculiar promise and endowment of the Holy Ghost, except it be through the laying on of hands by those having authority. Then, when they have received this Spirit, it becomes a spirit of power to them. Thenceforward men may know, women may know that which is good for them, and that which God requires at their hands. ¶

Now if we will go back on our lives and look over our experiences, right up to the present time, we will see, just as surely as we can see anything, that the power of the Holy Ghost has been with us, as made known to this people. Why are we here, why are we attending this conference? If we look for it, we will see that it is through the office work of the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of God that has brought us here, and to this point in our lives. And although the Hand has been invisible, almost, and while it has been so gentle, still it has led our minds, and when we made a choice in anything it has been the right choice, especially, if it has been dictated by this Spirit, and so it has brought us up to this point. ¶

Now, I feel grateful, my brethren and sisters, that the Lord has been so merciful to us. I am glad to know that our spirits have been hid with Christ to come forth in this day and age of the world. Inasmuch as we are in this position, inasmuch as we have received these great blessings, we ought to show forth our appreciation of these things, we ought to assist in building up this Church and kingdom. I tell you, my brethren and sisters, this latter-day work is the greatest thing in our lives. There is not a thing on earth today that stands anywhere near its greatness, and magnitude and power as does this Church in this world. It is wonderful, it is powerful and it should not be accounted by us as dross, for the power of God is with it and it will succeed. By the way, this organization is the only thing that will succeed on the earth. All the organizations of the world will go into oblivion; they will pass away, but this organization will not pass away, it will go on forever; and we who are connected with it, and will keep connected with it, will go on forever. ¶

Men and women look sometimes for the sure things in life. They want to be connected with the sure things, those things about which there is not a possibility of mistake or chance. I don't know of anything in this world that is more enduring than this Church, and the principles of the Gospel in our lives, and it will take us through to the end. This being the fact, how foolish it is for us to attach ourselves to anything else! There is always room for all our activities and powers right here in the Church assisting to build it up, and it seems wise that we should not associate with our fellowmen in other organizations which are inconsistent with it. When it comes to attaching ourselves to organizations for safety, to that which will endure, there is nothing to compare with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; and we will find it out, too, that in a temporal way it is the safest institution we can be connected with, temporally as well as spiritually. And so we ought not to fritter away time and talents in organizations that are ephemeral, that are only for a time, only for the moment. We ought not to pay very much attention to such, but should pay our attention to and bestow our talents and our powers on that which pertains to the kingdom, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Then if we do this, we shall be saved, we shall be happy. ¶

Are any of us feeling badly now because we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ? I wonder if any of those good brethren and sisters who came from England, from France and from Germany, and from any of those countries where there is strife and turmoil, I wonder if any of them are feeling badly now that they listened to the Elders, and listened to the cry: "Come out of her, O ye my people?" I think not. As time goes on we shall find out that it is a splendid thing to be where the Priesthood is, and to be where the organization of Jesus Christ is, because it is a place of safety, it is a place of refuge in the time of storms and calamities which are sure to come upon the earth. It is my judgment that what we are seeing now is only as a drop in the bucket to what we shall yet see in the world, for God has given us forewarnings of trouble and sorrow to come. We pray for peace and peace will come eventually. We pray for a time when there shall be a brotherhood, and all shall acknowledge the fatherhood of God. That is not yet, but it is developing. It is developing among all people, particularly Christian people, and it is proper to talk for peace, to pray for peace, because it is necessary when great events are to come upon the human family, which have been predicted are to come upon the earth, that the shadow of those things should be cast before. So it is necessary for us to talk of peace, that when the time comes, our hearts will be in a frame to accept peace. But there is a storm coming before there will be a clear sky. And all we can say is, let us be encouraged to go on, and let us make this work the main thing of our lives, and if we want a greater testimony than we have, that this is the work of God, let us go to and perform the things that devolve upon us. Let us be honest, let us be truthful, let us be humble, let us stand ready to sustain this organization. ¶

Let us not think that because this is an organization of spiritual character that it is not to be sustained also in a temporal way, by temporal things. The Lord has given us temporal duties to practice that we may become strong in that direction. We assist His Church and His kingdom by contributing to it in its temporalities. Why? So that we may know and feel and understand that this is really a Church that has power and salvation in it. Let us contribute in every way we can for its upbuilding and its perpetuation in the earth. ¶

That we may prove true and faithful to the trust we have received; that we may show forth our appreciation of these things in our lives; that we may eventually receive the benefit of a salvation in our Father's kingdom, I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶