The Mountain of the Lord in the Latter Days

(President of Northwestern States Mission.) ¶

To me this is a momentous day in the history, not only of modern Israel, but the world. Never since the year 1820, when the Prophet ¶

Joseph received in answer to his inquiry, which of all the churches was right, has the divine statement of the Lord Jesus, that all denominations had departed from the truth, that they had the form of godliness, but not the power thereof, and that he should not affiliate with any of them, witnessed a day more fruitful in evidence of the truthfulness of that statement than today. A summary of the changing of the creeds of the various religious denominations from the year 1820 would convince any reasonableminded person that the Lord told the truth, and that out of the several denominations has there been a revolution of religious thought and doctrine, faith and belief, until the man or woman who was orthodox in the year 1820 if he or she entertained the same views today, would be considered guilty of heresy. Such have been the wonderful changes. But these changes perhaps have been so slow, that even to our minds we have not fully appreciated what it all means. And to the world the changes may have been so slow that the world has not observed any change at all. But this day, this year, is fruitful with new evidence of the truthfulness of that statement. And as I listened to the remarks of our President, this morning, in reference to the great disturbances that interest us all, and the balance of the world, 1 found in this very thing a literal, an absolute and a complete fulfilment of the words of the Master when He said: "They have the form of godliness, but not the power thereof." ¶

When we realize that from a thousand altars in Austria there are going up this day prayers^to the same God whom the French worship, the Russians, the English, and all Christian men are paying their devotion to; that up from these Catholic altars of Austria (and Austria stands as one of the strong nations of the world representing the great Roman Catholic Church), that from these altars are rising prayers to God for strength that the Austrian soldiers may repel their brothers of the Greek Catholic Church, who sweep down upon them in mighty force from Russia, the strong quarters of that other great faction of the Christian religion, the Greek Catholic Church. And then over in Germany, the headquarters of Protestantism, at least where Protestantism was born, where it has been protected and thrived, the same prayers are being offered for power to destroy the Christian brethren of another nation. Likewise in France, where there are a mixture of Protestants and Catholics, prayers are ascending for the success of the armies of the allies. And in England, the headquarters of another faction of Protestantism, the mighty Episcopal, or English Church, there are ascending similar prayers; so that well nigh all factions, or at least the great majority, of Christianity is represented in these mighty nations who are in this terrific struggle. And I have thought of what I have read during the last few weeks, questions that have been ringing through all the leading magazines, periodicals, and from the pulpits of the great religious denominations, "Has Christianity then, broken down, and has it failed ? After two thousand years, is this the fruit of the Gospel of Jesus Christ ?" I discover that there are many men and women losing ¶

their faith. They are beginning to question if there is ?. God ; if there is a God of the Christian religion, where is He? If there is a God, why has He deserted us ? Why does He not speak ? Why does He re- . main silent and witness the slaughter and destruction of countless thousands of innocent men daily? ¶

It is a good time for us to begin to observe if we have allowed ourselves to grow careless and indifferent. Have we read the signs of the times to observe what God means, that He is speaking, is exercising control among the destinies of the nations? What does all this mean ? There is no reason why the Latter-day Saints should be in the dark, in view of the light, in view of the truth that has come into the world. All this spells something to the Latter-day Saints, the fulfilment of ancient and modern prophecy, and the fulfilment of the truth of the utterance made by the Lord Jesus when He said that all the religions of the world, although claiming to be His, had but the form of godliness, but lacked the power thereof. What has become of the vital power of Christianity that would convert pagan men, teach them to love God, to love their brethren, to learn to control their own feelings and desires, master their tempers and their passions so that they might when smitten on the one cheek turn the other, if sued for their coat, give their cloak also? What has become of the religion that would produce these fruits? Anciently it was possible to discover among the Christian men and women who accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ, fruits of this character, men who could willingly, cheerfully face death itself without murmuring, without resenting, leaving vengeance in the hands of God. I proclaim to you my brethren and sisters, that in thunder tones, there is ringing forth over the world the evidence that Christianity is not the vital Gospel, nor has it the power and force that Jesus Christ endowed it with in the beginning. I do not speak of this to rejoice over the weakness or the failures of my brothers of other Christian denominations, who are struggling against great odds, trying to make the religion of itself effective. I sorrow for them; I do not rejoice at their failures. I grieve, because among them are thousands of honest workers who are handicapped because they do not have the truth; and from this day forward their struggle will be a struggle against great odds, because there will be thrown in the face of all appeals for men to be Christians, the present failure of Christianity to mellow the hearts of men, to soften them towards their fellows. ¶

Perhaps there is no war that has been waged in the world, of any consequence that had so little excuse for its existence as this war; and yet it comes after these hundreds of years of preaching of the Gospel of Peace. There is a form of godliness over Belgium, Germany, France, Russia and other nations. There are evidences of a form of godliness in the thousands of church towers that rise to the skies, but I regret to say that the evidence of the Christianity of the men and women of these nations is lacking, as shown by their eagerness to fly at each other's throats with all the venom and greediness for blood and destruction ever exhibited by pagan nations. And so, my brethren and sisters, you men who have been in the world preaching the restoration of the Everlasting Gospel, if you have lifted up your voice long and loud proclaiming this truth, if you have sought and endeavored in your lives to live so that your lives would proclaim the restoration of the whole power, the whole truth with all of its vital force, if you have done this in the past, there is every evidence and more reason why you should do it more earnestly, more devotedly today than ever you have done before. ¶

A few years ago a Christian minister in the State of Montana, a section of our mission, had his eyes opened, and strange to say, this is a day when so many men, having eyes see not; ears, they hear not, and hearts, they do not understand, and are blunted to the truth; but here and there men catch glimpses of the real situation and are fearless enough to proclaim it. And when I read these striking words from this Christian minister it impressed me, and today his declaration sounds nearer the truth, and rings more strikingly than it did a few years ago. He asks: ¶

"Is the church anything but a mere social organization? Is the Christianity of today the true doctrine of the Christ of the Bible? Has the so-called Christianity of today anything in it that ought to attract more than any other creed that is supposed to help humanity? The Christian community of the present is loud in its claims of vast conquest and remarkable victories. We are invited to see its acquired wealth, its tremendous expansion and to hear the clang of its enormous and intricate machinery. But with all of this, I maintain that the Christianity of the present is face to face with a lamentable loss. The Christianity of today has acquired much, but in its getting it has lost its own soul. There are periods in the Christian era we look back upon with wonder and admiration. In those days men were convicted of sin and a judgment to come. Then the more than human element was visible in our creed. Holy men had heavenly visions. Sickness was cured by spiritual power. The dead were raised. Holy men spoke with other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. Prison doors were opened and Ananias and Sapphira fell lifeless at the Apostles' feet for playing with this power. Is the spiritual element that so characterized those days an ancient relic of something worn out like a garment? The commission to the early Christian teachers was that they must be imbued with power from on high and then go and baptize all nations in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Ghost, and that power was always manifested when they performed the deed. ¶

The Christian religion of the present is merely a social code and has nothing in it whereby it could claim a divine origin. It is truly pitiable to behold the church religion of today trying to save this sinful world. We have lost our magnet. The Christ who said He would draw all men to Him if He was lifted up, is disobeyed and ignored in the multiplicity of our present church life. Since we have presented many substitutes in the world for genuine spiritual power, they are of no more value in the saving of the sinner than an artificial heart would be in pumping blood through the arteries. We are like men trying to run an engine without steam. ¶

The church of today is the church of man, not the church of God. I predict its crashing to pieces like a ship on the rocks before a heavy sea, in the nearby years, unless there is a mighty turning to God in our ranks." ¶

I think these extracts from this minister of the Methodist Church is one of the evidences from the outside, that the Lord Jesus told the truth to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the year 1820, and I say that this year is bringing forth the best evidence that has ever been produced to prove it. When I want to judge the world, as I now say they ought to be judged, by their fruits, to demonstrate whether or not they have indeed the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, I feel that "Mormonism," so-called, or the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, as proclaimed by the Latter-day Saints, ought to stand the same test. In applying that test, I will ask you, is it possible that there has been produced a community of people, gathered from all nations of the earth, a race of men and women, who, in their lives are demonstrating that they are producing the fruits of the Gospel of peace and of good-will towards their fellow men, and that they are not chargeable with the things that we charge against the Christian denominations? Looking back in a short and brief glance over the history of the past, there come distinctly to our minds the severe trials through which the Latter-day Saints have passed, giving them the opportunity to demonstrate whether or not they could resist the natural inclinations of the flesh to fight and retaliate, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. Go back to the days of Illinois, back to the days of Missouri, when they were expelled from Jackson County, when they were expelled ultimately from the State of Missouri, or at the period when the prophet was taken and unjustly imprisoned and foully murdered in Carthage jail in the State of Illinois. Notwithstanding the Latter-day Saints were in great numbers in Nauvoo, and Carthage had but two thousand souls, was there a spirit of murder in their hearts or of retaliation? ¶

I remember on a visit to the city of Carthage of meeting a man, now an old gentleman, who was a witness of the martyrdom of the prophet. He said that, returning from hauling away from the City of Carthage the records of the county, for fear the "Mormons" would come down to Carthage and destroy them, he met men, women and children fleeing in every direction, fearing the wrath of the "Mormons." That when he arrived in Carthage he said, there were about six families remaining in the city; all had fled. ("The wicked flee when no man pursueth.") It was feared the "Mormons" would come. It was known that just provocation had been raised, and if they did take vengeance in their own hands and come down to mete out justice, it would have been only the ordinary course of events. And then the next night he was permitted to go with his father and others towards Nauvoo with the bodies of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith, and he said: "We met the 'Mormons,' but they were not carrying arms. We met them, twenty thousand of them, lining the street leading out from Nauvoo to Carthage, with their heads uncovered, weeping for the loss of their dead, and murmuring all along the way the words: 'Vengeance is God's, He will repay'." ¶

I assert that all through our existence we have said "Vengeance is the Lord's, He will repay." And there has been born and bred in our spirit, as young men and young women, the disposition to train our impulsive souls. When we go into the mission field and have the door slammed in our faces, are insulted and abused, we have been taught by the spirit of the Gospel to go by ourselves and say: "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." We have been led to love them, though they hate us. ¶

I have never seen among the ministry, or among men of the world, evidence of the power of the Lord Jesus Christ to love your enemies, as exhibited in the lives of the Latter-day Saints. Our fathers and mothers have set a splendid example to the young men and young women of this Church; and inasmuch as the struggle is not ended, and the battle is yet on, I appeal to you, that the day is coming when you shall be given a grand opportunity of exhibiting and displaying before the world the fortitude and the power there is in the restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. Not from your public sermons, not from the publication of your word and message, but from your lives shall arise evidences to convince men of the truth. And when they look over the world and see the wreck and ruin that has been wrought in the very centers of modern Christianity they will search for something more powerful in effecting the salvation and peace of men. When their eyes shall light upon this community, established as a city upon a hill, whose light will shine forth and direct the attention of the world, they shall say: "What is this?" "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the House of the God of Jacob, that we may learn of His ways and walk in His paths." Such shall be the declaration of the honest in heart in the years that are yet to come, and I appeal to you, my brethren and sisters, to live from this day forward more nearly that standard that has been laid down and established, live up to what the Gospel teaches. ¶

The best of us have never obtained from the Gospel what the Gospel would give, and I say that there will be an opportunity such as has never been given before, to demonstrate in a practical way what the Gospel is. There are numerous evidences that ought to inspire and influence every boy and girl, and every man and woman that here is the truth. No matter what discouragements we meet — and sometimes we get discouraged, and sometimes we are offended, and sometimes we go away like some Saints of old did from Jesus. He looked upon them tenderly, as they departed, and said to the Apostles: "Will ye go also?" He had taught them doctrine that was hard to observe; it required personal sacrifice and self-denial. If so tempted, I hope we shall say as Peter did: "Whither shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life?" And I want to ask every young man and young woman, and every member of the Church, if the day of trial comes, and you may be offended, grieved and feel that somebody has not treated you just right — I want you to ask "Whither shall you go?" Ask yourself: "Is there a haven of rest for you outside of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?" And should we not be willing to be true though trials may come. Ella Wheeler Wilcox said: "It was easy to be pleasant when the world went like a song, but the man worth while is the man who smiles when everything goes dead wrong." I paraphrase her words. It is easy enough for you to be a member of the Church when all we ask and covet and desire comes to us, when if we ask for prosperity it comes; when our sick lie at the point of death and we pray for them and appeal to God, and they are healed. We are then quite willing to be members of the Church. It is easy for us, when our brothers are all very agreeable, and there is no disturbance, and we have our own sweet will and way, it is easy, then, for us to be members of the Church. ¶

But the man worth while, and the man who will survive, is the man who will take the disappointments of life, the man or woman who will stand in the presence of appalling disasters. Death comes, and not life, when you seek life; when you desire prosperity, we are tried with poverty, with affliction and with temptations of the world. It is then the test comes, and strength must be exhibited, it is then that it takes true courage, love and fidelity to believe the truth and live it. And so, notwithstanding we have difficulties and obstacles, here is the truth. We must learn early to know that it is the truth, that we can trust God, come what may, that we may stand unappalled, no matter what the little personal difficulties and obstacles and fault-finding or complaint we may have. We must have such trust and abiding faith that if we are not made the Bishop of the ward or counselor of the bishopric, or President of the stake, that we will still be true, just as true and faithful as a lay member of the Church. My glory, my heaven, shall come through my individual work, and I must be willing to trust Him, no matter whether I have my own sweet way or not. ¶

I have thought the love displayed on the part of our Father in heaven towards His people, towards the world, and especially towards the Latter-day Saints, was sufficient to hold us, no matter what may come. And as I look back upon the experience of this Church, its trials and difficulties have been many, and yet out from these many difficulties our Father has brought goodness and blessings to the Latter-day Saints. I have thought of our own great Civil War, and of the drivings and mobbings and pillaging of the Latter-day Saints; I have no doubt with what great sorrow and great difficulty our fathers and mothers left their homes, forsook those goodly lands and made that wonderful pilgrimage to this land, believing that it was the trial of their lives. And it was a severe trial, but they had to wait only a short time to see, shining behind those dark clouds, the smiling face of their heavenly Father, for He led them to the only place in all this goodly land where there was peace; and the very place where they wanted to stay became the battle field between the North and South; and had the Church remained it would have suffered in the midst of the conflict. Through the mercy of the Lord we were taken away from the war zone of the United States, and brought to this land of peace. Not that we shirked our responsibilities, for the first message that went over the wires to President Lincoln by President Young, who was then the governor of this territory was, "Utah has not seceded, but is firm for the Constitution and the Union," and offered the services of our men. The services were accepted, hundreds of them enlisted, and then, through the kind providence of our Father, we were not placed at the battlefront, but were given the privilege of doing military duty in the western part of the country; and the regular soldiers from here were withdrawn to do service at the front of the battle. ¶

I now look back upon the wonderful gathering of modern Israel, one of a city and two of a family, have been gathered to this land. "Come out of her, O ye, my people, that ye be not partakers of her plagues," has a clear meaning to us now. We ought to be thankful to be here, brethren from Great Britain, from Austria, and all those nations that are now full of trouble and strife. We might have been in the European armies, fighting, had it not been for the Gospel that reached our fathers and mothers, and brought them to this land. Once again the wonderful manifestation of the goodness and the mercy of the Lord is indicated in the peaceful settlement of the Latter-day Saints in glorious America, the land of peace, the land of Zion. ¶

I proclaim to you that there is if we shall observe and study, enough evidence to satisfy us all, notwithstanding our enemies have been numerous, our drivings and mobbings have been many; and though today we stand misrepresented and misunderstood, that the favor of the Almighty is over this people. If God ever had His hand over a people in the history of this world, then that people are the Latter-day Saints. ¶

I have thought, as I have had the opportunity of traveling over the sections where our people were once established, and have seen the blight that has fallen upon them and seldom have I discovered one of them that is as large as it was when the Saints left it. Some are without railroads and sadly neglected; that the man was blind who could not see that the disfavor of the Lord rested upon those who abused and drove the Latter-day Saints from their homes in Missouri and Illinois. And his favor is with them in the mountain fastnesses, the desert wastes smile and blossom as a rose; the late and early frosts were stayed, the springs were opened, the ground became productive; and the blessings of God has been wherever the Latter-day Saints have established themselves, until it seems to me that the man or woman is blind indeed who cannot see this evidence of God's goodness and mercy to us. ¶

I have felt that the Lord wanted us to understand that He loves us; He was teaching us this when He gave to Abraham the test of his life, to offer his son, Isaac, whom he loved with all his heart, the child of his promise, to give him as a sacrifice, he was speaking to us of His love through the test of Father Abraham. He was trying to make us feel how much He loved us, that He would give His Only Begotten Son for us. ¶

There have been numerous evidences given to the world from the very beginning, that our heavenly Father loved His children, in the blessing of the people of the world with health, life and strength, that has been given to each one of us; and if there is anything bigger and greater than His giving of His precious Son, as an evidence of His love towards men in the world, then I do not know what the Father could do to manifest His love. ¶

Take the case of Abraham: he was to be the example and the pattern or illustration of the love and affection that the Father had for his children. "Take your only begotten son and offer him as a sacrifice." I have thought of the poor old man gathering up the fagots, starting up the mountain with his child of promise. Three days they walked until they reached the place where the sacrifice was to take place, and then his only child and son of promise said to his father: "We have forgotten something, father. Where is the sacrifice?" Oh, how it must have torn the father, made his heart to bleed to hear from the innocent lips of his child, whom he loved better than life itself, the reminder that he should take the life of his child! He could not speak, his heart must have swelled almost to bursting. And still he went on day after day, until he reached the spot. The altar was erected, the fagots placed upon it, the child bound, the steel bared, the arm raised that should strike the blow. "It is enough," said the angel who stayed the hand. Here is the sacrifice. It was to make you feel what our Father felt, when He who loved His Son better than it is possible for mortals to love their own flesh and blood, gave His Son to the world, for the world's redemption, for the world's peace, and the world's salvation. Do you not think that while the Father, who had the power to save His Son from the abuse, from the crown of thorns, from the whippings and mistreatment; do you not think it was a trial for Him, who had the power to save His Son, to stand by and witness the appeal of the Son, in agony until great drops of blood came from His body. "If it is possible, save me, O Father!" Think of your own child. If your child was in distress, is there a man among us entrusted with the power to save, and would not use it? God knows that we are so human that if He should give us power to save our own, we would save them every time. And yet He had the power to save and did not save. What mother would not fly through fire and water at hearing the appeal of her child in distress. How it must have tried the father to hear the cry and lamentation of the Son: "If it is possible, Father, let it pass by!" I say the Father was grief-stricken when He heard the taunting of those who stood by, "He saved others, why don't He save Himself?" After the hours of grief and agony, there came a moment when Jesus cried out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?" If Jesus truly said that, it was not that the Father had forsaken, but that the hour had arrived, which often arrives in our own human experience, an hour when the mother, for example, who cannot any longer stand to bear the sight of her dying child, after the farewell is given, is taken out of the room, not to witness the last dying struggles of her loved one. And so, the Father, taxed to the utmost, had withdrawn, and somewhere was weeping for His beloved Son. Even He could not stand the sight any longer. But as I have thought of it, in my heart I have thanked God, that when in that critical moment, He might have saved His Son, He saw us, perishing in the grave, lost to Him, and lost to that salvation which is to come, He saw that on the one hand, and the appeals and the suffering of His Son on the other; and, thank God, He decided in our favor, and allowed the suffering and death of His Son. And in that, I maintain that He has manifested His love for us, that ought to make us trust Him, though clouds may gather and darkness come, though like Job of old, "He may slay me, yet shall I trust Him," because I know that He loves me, and I know that He is not anxious to see my tears of sorrow and distress. I know that He designs to purge me and purify me, and that behind this apparent darkness and cloud, there is a smiling face. ¶

So I say to you, my brethren and sisters, if doubt and discouragement shall ever come to your heart with reference to the truth of this work established, look back upon these evidences of the wonderful providence and mercy and love of our Father, and read anew, the truth that God loves us, that this is His work, that His Son Jesus lives, and is the Savior of the world, and that the Elders of this Church are the servants of the Father in heaven. We are human beings with human weaknesses, and yet I confess to you that I have had the opportunity to meet leading men of other communities, and I say in all earnestness, and I do not want to be a hero-worshiper, either, but I assert to you without fear of contradiction, I have never met, in all the world, men whose hearts are as clean and as pure and as undefiled as the leaders of this Church. I testify to you that they are the servants of God, that the light is in the ship, and God is at the helm. May He give us the strength to stay by the ship until she weathers the storms and comes into that haven of rest after the great battle that God has assigned to her is ended, and human emancipation, redemption and salvation — and, ultimately, the reign of peace is obtained. That out of this trouble and this strife shall emerge peace. The world may have to get it through the gates of war, but there shall come an era of peace, when wickedness shall cease, when the powers that have oppressed men shall be done away with, and liberties and rights shall be given to every nation that we enjoy in this favored land. ¶

There is no blunder. Though death and destruction may yet be numerous and abundant on all hands, I can see, shining through the black clouds of the present, an era of peace, a day of rest and salvation. I can see a people leading to that way, pointing the way for the countless thousands who shall remain: the mission to do this is delegated to the Latter-day Saints. God bless them that they may fulfill their divine mission and destiny, I ask in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶