My brethren have borne witness

My brethren have borne witness to you of the restored gospel that Joseph Smith, divinely chosen and ordained of God the Father, hath been instrumental in his hands to reveal again, the covenant which bringeth salvation to the sons of men. They have stated that any man may know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether it be of man, if he will do the will of the Father. We have been singing of these last days of salvation and grace, rejoicing in the fact that the testimony of Christ is ours, that all which has been spoken by the mouths of God's holy prophets, since the world began, has been revealed to man in this day and age. We have been admonished that it is essential to be born of the water and of the Spirit, in order that we should see and enter into the Kingdom of heaven. And we may know all this with just as great surety and certainty, as did the apostles of ¶

ancient times. When the Lord Jesus was ministering among the sons of men, and they had learned of the miracles which he had performed— and great crowds had followed him in his ministry — he asked of his disciples, "Whom do men say that I, the Son of Man am?" And they replied, Some say that thou art John arisen from the dead, or Moses, or some one of the ancient prophets. Then, said he, Whom do ye say that I am ? ye with whom I have ministered and labored in love, ye who have joined me in service, who know my private life, my thoughts my doctrines? And Peter, the senior member of his. quorum, replied, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." This man, because of his sturdy character, because of his stability and evident immovability, had been called Cephas, a stone, or Petros in the Greek, Peter as it is rendered in the English. And the Master, ever quick with those illustrations taken from the home-life of the people, said, "Verily, thou art Peter," (or thou art a rock,) "and upon this rock," designating something other than Peter, "shall I build my Church — and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it." That, to me is not only the rock of revelation, but the truth revealed in that revelation,, the testimony, the witness that Jesus is the Christ. For "flesh and blood," said the Master, "hath not revealed this unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven." Flesh and blood, experience, association, did not give this knowledge to Peter, that Christ was the Messiah, but God revealed it unto him — and that witness of the Holy Spirit the gates of hell should not prevail against. ¶

We learn that he drew after him multitudes of people who came for the loaves and fishes, who came out of morbid curiosity to learn something of his doctrine, and see the miracles which he performed. When he discerned this at one time, he upbraided them soundly for their lack of faith, that they came for the bread, not of life, but of the earth ; that, as their fathers had been fed with manna from heaven, so they had thought to be fed in that dispensation, but he said, "I am the bread of life ;" and those who would be truly his disciples must partake of his flesh and of his blood. This was a hard saying to them, and they muttered over it, and turned away from him. When he beheld them departing, he said unto his disciples, "Will ye also go away?" Then Simon Peter answered him, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life, and we believe and are sure that thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God." ¶

I would like to ask the Latterday Saints today, to whom else will you go? We are admonished that we need repentance here at home. We are told that we are lax in our obligations to keep the commandments of God, that we follow after the follies and madness of the world in seeking its wealth and pleasures. It may not be my part to criticise my brethren and sisters at home, if this; be true; but where else shall we go for salvation than to the Lord Jesus Christ? and "what shall become of us, if we neglect so great salvation?" If we are satisfied with the fame of the world, if we are content with its riches, if we fail to lay up for ourselves treasures in heaven, if we are selfish in our lives and do not live the gospel of service, of what moment is life to us? ¶

Where shall we find a reward? And whence shall come our recompense? ¶

I have been in the world long enough to know something of its philosophies, and I want to testify to you here, in all soberness, that they are vain, that they cannot give comfort to the soul who is tried and sorely distressed. I want to bear witness that the gospel of Christ, as it is understood by the Latterday Saints, is the only thing that will bring comfort and strength to the souls of men when tried beyond the things of mortal endurance ; and there are times which come to us, one and all, I take it, that seem like Gethsemanes to us, things that are tragedies in our lives ; and in it all, with the experience that I have, I have never yet found a man who could derive strength and comfort in the philosophies of the world, nor in the perverted teachings of the ministers of so-called religion. ¶

I have seen the expectant mother in the throes of travail, answering the end of her creation, as a cohelper with the Eternal One, to tabernacle one of the spirits of his children in the flesh. In the depths of her travail and distress, invariably she turns to God the Father for strength, for comfort and power to endure. Then, when happily delivered, she rejoices like Sarah of old, because a soul has been born. Again to the Lord does she turn, with a heart full of thanksgiving and praise, exulting in her motherhood. As she watches this little one grow and develop and approach maturity, unfolding its weetness as a bud into a flower in the garden of love, again I note that she seeks God, in her joy, for strength, for judgment, for wisdom, to guard wisely and well and direct aright the emotions of that living soul. ¶

When the dark angel of death comes and shuts down the sweet eyes in silence, stills the lips, makes cold the cheek and hand, again does the mother, aye and the father, too, turn to the Source of all light and truth and comfort, for from him alone can comfort come, and recompense. ¶

Nothing in what the world says of our lives beginning in this earth, of its ending with death, brings recompense, brings compensation for the trials of travail; nothing that the world philosophies can give us, even in all their breadth and depth of anticipating immortality, can bring compensation for the blasted hopes, the aspirations and ideals and desires cut short by death. We have builded in our very souls for eternity. We look for our children to perpetuate our names and honor in the congregations of Israel forever. Careless and indifferent, perchance, we may be, but we want our boys to be honorable, brave, and godly men; we want our girls to be virtuous, sweet and matronly in their lives ; and in our hopes, we do not circumscribe them with the possibilities of this life, but only with that which the eternities can offer and bring to us. When these hopes are crushed and dead, because of the loved ones taken away, there is nothing that the world can offer to make recompense for our cherished ideals and hopes. We must rest our faith with God . We must look unto him, the Author of light and life and salvation, for comfort, for the renewal of hope and faith, and for the ultimate realization of all that our fond hearts have dared to dream of and desire. ¶

I have seen a people expatriated from their country, stripped and ¶

pealed, foot-sore and weary, carrying in their hands their earthly possessions, come from the republic south of us, into this goodly land of freedom. I saw the spirit of faith and courage rest upon them and give them hope when all else in this world would have robbed them of trust in God and made them feel that their lot was mean and miserable indeed ; it was because they, with Peter, had the witness of the Holy Ghost that Jesus is the Christ, and that with him are the words of eternal life; that with God there is recompense and reward, and if men be faithful and true, though all things may be wrested from them in this life, in the world to come there are eternal riches — where moth doth not corrupt nor rust corrode, nor thieves break in and steal. When I went to visit some of them, /one in particular, the mother of half-a-dozen little children, and the husband away in the mission field, and I found her with more than a hundred others gathered into a great, vacant house, just completed, cement floors, no comforts, nothing with which to cook their food, no beds, and no food — I expected tears and lamentations, and, perhaps, from this fond mother and wife, a request that her husband might be sent to her. Her first words, after greeting me were, "Oh ! sing for us ; sing 'I'll go where you want me to go, dear Lord, I'll be what you want me to be.' " From whence comes such faith and courage under adverse conditions? Only from a deep conviction that God is over all, that his providences will not fail, and that they who trust in him shall have eternal life. ¶

I saw a city laid waste by earthquake and fire, and hundreds of thousands of people made homeless. No word from the outside world, except that rumor had said that even this our great city had fallen in ashes and ruin to the ground, and the Temple of God had been struck by lightning, and blasted — that the greater cities of the East had sunk into the sea. Many men believed it was the end of the world ; and then, not only did I see the saint pray; the nun telling the rosary, and the priest with the crucifix — but they who had declared themselves infidel and unbelievers, came to their knees, and called onj God for deliverance— for in the hour of their extremity, they recognized the fact that aside from him there is no life eternal, and no safety in this world. I have seen the spirit of peace and comfort come to men under untoward conditions because of this faith. If you will indulge me, I will tell one incident. One of our brethren who had been bereaved of a sweet baby at home, a most promising little one, came with his wife and three other little children into the mission field, voluntarily giving his service as a representative of his quorum of Seventy, to preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. The spirit of comfort came to them there in the midst of service. One day, returning from his work, he met the two litle girls, seven and five years old at the door, going on an errand for the mother. "Wait a moment, my swethearts," said he, "and I will go with you," and he went in, as the fond father, first to greet his wife after the day's labor. The little ones, in their excitement or zeal, had gone on without the father, and when he searched for them, a terrible feeling came over him that they had met with some sad end, and he turned around to see a great automobile run them both down, ¶

and when they were gotten out from under the wheels, one little one, the fairest, the oldest, was crushed almost beyond recognition — not an organ of her little body left complete, let alone a bone. The other little child was unconscious. It was hurried to an emergency hospital. The doctors labored over her, and felt there was no hope for her life. Five years old that she was, she had learned the lesson of faith and prayer, and opening her eyes for a brief moment to the anxious watchers and workers over he; , she asked for the elders ; and they blessed her. She sank to sleep, and awoke the next morning entirely sound, so far as her limbs were concerned, though bruised from top to toe. She would never acknowledge that she was hurt at all. At the coroner's inquest, my good brother, this Seventy, was askedi what charge he wanted to make, and he replied he had no charge to make. They wanted to put the little one, on the stand to testify of the death of her sister, and the father said, "No! she is only a little child, she would not understand. Why should you perplex her with questions. Death has come to my family, I accept it, and I kiss the hand that chastens me." And the Judge said, "Do you not desire to establish some grounds for a damage suit?" "Why should I? Accidents come to all men. This was not a wilful one. The man who has done it suffers more than I suffer. I have the sweetness of my child's life to remember, I have the assurance that I will have and hold her again in the eternities yet to come, while he must go through this life ever haunted with the thought of this dread day.". And the Judge burst into tears, and said, ¶

"Never in my life of twenty-five years practice have I heard such talk, or felt such a spirit." ¶

At the funeral services, next day, many strangers gathered in, and this fond father asked for the privilege of saying a few words over the body of his own babe. "I want you Saints," said he, "and you, my brethren and sisters in the mission field, to remember that God is over all. I do not want you to question his divine providence. I do not want you, for one moment, to allow this to affect your faith, but see to it by your lives, by your ministry and service, that you set one niche higher the standard of truth and equity, that men, seeing your good works, observing your faith and your loyalty, shall be constrained to come into the fold of Christ and receive the recompense which God alone can give in times like this." ¶

Where else in all the world can such strength come from except from a knowledge that God is over all, and that Jesus is the Christ? And so, men there had to bear homage to the testimony of that man, and were constrained to feel that there was something in the faith of the Latter-day Saint that passed the bounds of earth, that reached out into the infinite, struck hands with the Eternal One, and had fellowship with him, because buoyed up under such circumstances, he would not repine; would not find fault with God nor think him harsh or unkind, but meekly submit and await for a time to, come when, comforted, they could pursue their alloted ways until their earthly life was finished, and then again, could claim and hold for eternity that sweet little one whose life was sacrificed. ¶

This is the same spirit that was with Peter, that was with old Job when he had wrested from him his family, his riches, and his home. Miserable companions or comforters perplexed him with the thought that it was something that he had done or had not done — that had made these dread calamities come upon him; — his own wife, turning, it seemed, against him, or at least so overcome with suffering and humiliation, suggested that he curse God and die. Crying out from his absolute weakness, sickness and humiliation, from the dust of a once happy home, he said, "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him. ¶

• • • For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter-day upon the earth ; and though after my skin, worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God : Whom I shall see for myself and mine eyes shall behold and not another : though my reins be consumed with me." If we have this testimony, this faith, such courage as this, my brothers and sisters, we need not fear for the future of Zion. But if we are remiss in our obligations, if we are undutiful, unthankful, and unholy, we will come under the anathema of those who reject salvation and Jesus Christ against themselves Therefore, let us be faithful and true, that the promises made to our fathers, that the promises made unto us by God himself, through revelation, and the inspiration of his Spirit in this day, shall be ours, I pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.

The M. I A. chorus sang: "The Spirit of God like a fire is burning." ¶

ELDER JOSEPH W. McMURRIN. ¶