It is written in the Bible, Where

It is written in the Bible, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." The other day, before I left the South to come here to attend the conference, I received a letter from one of our young elders. In this letter, he said, "I want to be the kind of a missionary that my mother thinks I am." That young man has vision, and while he walks in the light of that vision, he will be a missionary such as his dear mother is praying for him to be. ¶

In one of the suburbs of Chattanooga, there is a large mound. Recently a scientific association, sent two of its representatives to examine this mound and to discover its contents. They did so, and they found it to be a vast tomb, filled ¶

with dead men's bones. It revealed the fate of nations long since passed. The ministers of that city are wondering who these people were, and why they were buried in one vast tomb upon the face of the land. If these ministers had vision, they would know the source from whence this departed people came, and their minds would be enlightened and filled with knowledge. I presented one of them with a copy of the Book of Mormon, and told him that in that sacred volume he would find the history of those people, whose bones filled that mound in the southland. ¶

The fate of that people is written in the Book of Mormon. It was predicted by one of the prophets of God. He warned the people that if they persisted in committing iniquity, that if they continued in their rebellion toward God and disobedience of his commandments, "there hones should become as heaps of earth upon the face of the land." That mound in Chattanooga is a powerful testimony that this prediction has been fulfilled to the very letter. That tomb is a warning to the people: it is a solemn proclamation that "the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life, through Jesus Christ." The Prophet Daniel said that "in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed * * * and not be left to other people." That kingdom is here. The Almighty has established it in strength and beauty and power for the salvation of the souls of men. ¶

Why is it that many people do not see it? Jesus gives the answer. "Except," he said, "a man be born again, he cannot see the Kingdom of God." And again, ¶

"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God." And so, my brethren and sisters, when a man is baptized by immersion for the remission of sins, and receives the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands of the authorized servants of God, that man is spiritually born again. He receives the vision by which he recognizes the Kingdom of God, he sees it, and the gospel is the door by which he enters into the Kingdom, there to have exaltation and glory bestowed upon him if he continues faithful in serving the God of heaven. ¶

When the quorums of priesthood were organized, the Prophet Joseph said that these quorums were organized according to the vision. I testify unto you, as a humble servant of God, that the Prophet Joseph established this work, that he founded the Church, under the inspiration of the Almighty, and according to the vision that God did give him. When men talk of the beauty, of the strength, of the efficiency of this Church government, we do not claim the credit. It did not spring from the brain of man, it did not come from earth. It was organized according to the vision which God gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith ; and herein, Latter-day Saints, is your hope, herein is your salvation ; and in the power which the testimony that this Church was organized by the Almighty gives, we go to the world and call men and women to repentance, and invite them to become with us heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ. ¶

Let us not lay the flattering unction to our souls that God is a respecter of persons. As ruin and death overtook the ancient people who lived on this continent, so wickedness today will destroy men and nations. Is it not appalling to think that many people will not learn righteousness until the judgments of God are in the earth? Do not we need to practice the principle of repentance in our lives, every hour, every day, and every year? for, as the prophet hath said, "There is not a just man on the earth that doeth good and sinneth not." Repentance is a total change of heart and life. Fear does not constitute repentance, sorrow for misdeeds is not genuine repentance ; but a change of life, a change in the conduct of our lives, a coming to God and doing his will, that is genuine repentance, the repentance which will exalt a nation and bring it unto God. God sends sanctifying afflictions to produce repentance in the hearts of men. Of course, repentance is produced by the preaching of the Word, but God has seen fit in all ages of the world to send afflictions unto men that they might learn that there is a God in heaven, and that our allegiance is to him. ¶

In the thirty-second chapter of the Book of Alma, it is recorded that many poor people were driven out of their churches, and came to the servant of God for instruction ; and Alma said, "Because ye were compelled to be humble, blessed are ye ; for a man sometimes, if he is compelled to be humble seeketh repentance * * * blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble ¶

• • • and baptized "without stubbornness of heart." God declares in the Doctrine and Covenants, that after the testimony of the elders, he would send the testimony of earthquakes, of pestilence, of war, of famine. Are not these words being fulfilled? The nations of the earth have turned deaf ears to the entreaties, to the persuasions, to the testimonies of the servants of God. In the pride of their hearts and the stubbornness of their souls, they have not received the Word of God sent to them in love and in kindness, and now the God of heaven is thundering his judgments in the earth, and out of the smoke and the dust and the terror of this awful war will stand out written in letters of blood, "The wages of sin is death." Shining clearly to the vision of all men, the justice of God will stand forth, his mercy will be there ; and men and women by countless thousands will come to him, receive the gospel, and be blessed of him.

I bear you my testimony, brethren and sisters, that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God. I know this to be true. I also bear you my testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the Most High, a man who gazed into) the heavens, a chosen servant of God, who gave his life for the children of men, who, by the power of God established the Church, preached the gospel, that men might come unto God and be saved in the Kingdom of the Lord Jesus. I also bear you my testimony that the head of this Church today is a prophet of God, and that it is as necessary for a man to believe that the Church today is led by prophets and apostles as it was in the days of Jesus, as it was in the days of Joseph Smith. And when men forget this great truth, when they live too much in the past. It is a sign that their vision is blurred, that the vision to them is becoming dim. O brethren and ¶

sisters, let us keep the Spirit burning in our hearts, that the vision may be ever with us, that it may never be written of us that because we had no vision we perished in unbelief. ¶

God bless this people, God bless this gospel. It is flying abroad, it is filling the earth, it is destined to conquer, it will conquer, in love, in kindness. Its mission is to bless men and women, and to increase the glory of God in the hearts of men, by inducing his children to obey him and keep his commandments. I bear you this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶