Gifts of the Gospel possessed by Latterday Saints

It is a pleasure to me, as it always is, to meet with the Latter-day Saints in our conferences and to listen to the inspired words that we always hear upon these occasions. I have never in my life from the days of early childhood until now attended a conference, -- and I have no recollection of ever missing one when I have been in the city, unless confined to my bed with sickness, -- but that I have been fed the bread of life. And I experienced that same pleasure in our meetings yesterday. ¶

I endorse with all my heart all of the very splendid things that we have heard here in our conference meetings, and at our Sunday School Union meeting last evening. I desire most earnestly that the few moments which I may occupy that the same good Spirit which has been enjoyed by those who have preceded me may fall to my portion. The only desire of my heart is to say something that may be encouraging and uplifting to the Latterday Saints. I realize the beauties of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. I rejoice exceedingly in a knowledge of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged. I rejoice in knowing that all the gifts and graces and every power, privilege and blessing which has ever been enjoyed by the Saints of God in any dispensation of the Gospel upon the earth are enjoyed today by the Latter-day Saints. I rejoice in knowing that the things which should be enjoyed, the blessings, the healing power of Almighty God, the inspiration of His Spirit whereby men and women have manifestations from Him, the inspiration of the Spirit of God, whereby people speak with new tongues, and have the interpretation thereof, and each and every grace and gift, are enjoyed today by the Latter-day Saints. My heart swells with gratitude when I listen to an inspirational sermon about the Gospel of Jesus Christ and of our relationship to our Heavenly Father, as we heard here yesterday from President Charles W. Penrose. I rejoice in the vigor of his body and his mind ; although he is past eightytwo years of age, I have never heard him speak with greater power or inspiration, and as I listened I knew that all the Latter-day Saints in the audience as well, rejoiced. ¶

I asked myself while enjoying the inspiration of the Spirit of God to him, and endorsing all he said of the blessings that are to come to us and our relationship to our Father and our Savior, whether the Latter-day Saints were living in such a way and in such a manner that they would be entitled to the blessings of God which belong to the Gospel of Jesus Christ, when the battle of life is ended. I asked myself, how many who are rejoicing here today under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord are in very deed Latter-day Saints ? -how many are full and honest tithe payers? how many are observing in very deed the Word of Wisdom? how many are attending to their secret and their family prayers? I thought of this when President Lyman was talking upon prayer. We have in very deed the truth, but unless we, as Latter-day Saints, live the truth, all these glorious principles are of no value to us. ¶

This morning, in our Mutual meeting, one of the General Board referred to some splendid plans that had been drawn by an architect, costing thousands of dollars, but finally it was decided by the man ordering the plans not to make use of them. We have the plan of life and salvation ; we have in very deed the truth, but are we making use of the plan ? Are we Latter-day Saints? If not, then we are not entitled to the blessings of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

"By their fruits, ye shall know them." The Lord has said, as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants, that when we do that which is commanded that then He is bound, but if we do not keep the ¶

commandments of the Lord, we have no promise ; and so far as I have the ability, I would like to impress upon the hearts of the Latterday Saints to be doers of the word and not hearers of it only. If there is anyone of the former apostles above another whose teachings have found a hearty response in my heart, it is the Apostle James and his teachings wherein he emphasizes that faith without works is dead, that it is like the body without the spirit, and we all know that when the spirit leaves the body the body must be buried, or soon becomes obnoxious. We do not want a dead faith, -we want a living faith, we want a faith that will give us thepower and the ability to live the Gospel of Jesus Christ in very deed. When we go to meeting, we should go with a prayer in our hearts that the Lord will inspire those who speak, by His spirit, and after they have spoken to us by the inspiration of His Spirit, we should go away with a determination, with a desire, with a prayer, that we shall in very deed learn the lesson that we have heard, that we shall put it into practice in our lives. ¶

I remarked last Sunday, at a conference, that when young it always appeared ridiculous to me to call the last day of school, the day when young men and young ladies receive their diplomas, when they graduate, after completing their lessons, to call it commencement day ; but as I have grown in years and experience. I have discovered that in very deed commencement day with the boy and the girl who have graduated from school is the day when they commence the battle of life. This life is a school, and commencement day to us will be when the battle of this life is o'er, and we commence anew to travel on forever. Then if we can pass an examination, we are welcomed back into the presence of our Heavenly Father, because we have been true and faithful. ¶

I never read this testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon with reference to the Savior: "Now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him, this is the testimony last of all, which we give of Him, that He lives; for we saw Him, even on the right hand of God, and we heard the voice bearing record that He is the Only Begotten of the Father, that by Him and through Him, and of Him the worlds were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God," but I rejoice in this testimony, in this knowledge, which these men had of actually seeing God, with the Savior sitting at His right hand, and actually hearing the voice bear witness that He is in very deed the Savior of the world. I rejoice every time I read their testimony. I rejoice also when I read of the blessings of the Gospel as referred to here yesterday by Brother Penrose when speaking of those who had accepted the Gospel, who had gone down into the waters of baptism and who would be worthy by living according to the teachings of the Gospel, to enter into the celestial kingdom. I rejoice in this knowledge, but how I do mourn when I find that there are scores who know all these things, who testify that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the true and living God, and yet their lives do not square with this knowledge. Knowledge is absolutely of no value, except to condemn us before God, unless we live up to that knowledge. ¶

That God may help each and every one of us as we grow in years, as we increase in understanding, as we advance in the light of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to grow in humility, in good deeds, in the love of our fellows, and in a determination to serve Him with all our hearts, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶