Divinity of the mission and ministry

It is a solemn and almost fearful thing to stand in the midst of the assembled hosts of Israel with the responsibility of addressing them upon the living principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ; and. yet it is also a grand privilege to proclaim those glorious principles and to testify of those things which we ourselves do know. I have been greatly strengthened by the remarks of the brethren who spoke to the congregations yesterday. They spoke in the same manner as the servants of God usually speak. ¶

They proclaimed the gospel in no uncertain terms. There was no equivocation, no hesitation, but they declared the truth as the Holy Ghost gave them utterance, light and knowledge. I am led to repeat in my mind the words of that hymn which we have just sung, whenever I hear the servants of God preach the gospel : ¶

"How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, ¶

Is laid for your faith in his excellent word." ¶

The testimonies of Presidents Smith and Penrose, concerning the divinity of the ministry and mission of Jesus Christ, and concerning his life, death and resurrection, are sure. They are according to the facts, and are in great contrast to the beliefs of the world upon these great principles. I was reading, last evening, an article by one of the most prominent and perhaps influential and renowned representatives of modern Christendom, and also one of the chief exponents of what is known as higher criticism. ¶

It was an article upon the same theme which formed so large a part of President Penrose's discourse, and which was referred to also by President Smith. This paper is the concluding one of a series of papers written on "The Last Days of Jesus Christ." This paper is entitled : "Victory," and the author says, in a foot-note with reference to his paper : "This paper is not, and does not purport to be, an argument. It is simply a confession of faith, often expressed by me before in sermons, essays and books ; not peculiar to me, but as old as Christendom, and the common heritage of Christ's pupils." Notwithstanding he declares his paper to be a simple confession of faith, I wish to read it by way of contrast to that which was said yesterday, and to the truth upon this doctrine as it is set forth in the holy scriptures. The gentleman says : ¶

"The resurrection of Jesus Christ was not an extraordinary event. It was an extraordinary evidence of an ordinary event. All men die as Christ died. All men ever since God breathed into man the breath of his life have risen from the dead as Christ rose. Death and resurrection are synonyms. They are simply different aspects of the same fact. They are both the separation of the spirit from the body. Resurrection is the upspringing of the spirit from the body. Death is the decay of the body when the spirit has left the temporary tenement. If I believed that the resurrection of Jesus Christ was an exceptional event, I might have the difficulty in believing which is experienced by some of my sceptical friends. But I do riot think it was an exceptional event. It is exceptional only in this respect, that somehow the despairing disciples had evidence of their Master's continuing life which banished their despair, transformed their characters, and endowed them with new life. Did the spirit of the Master return to reanimate the body which he had left? Or did the disembodied spirit appear to the unsealed eyes of his disciples? I do not know. There are some incidents narrated in the gospels which indicate one conclusion,some incidents which indicate the other. It is not material to determine which opinion is correct." ¶

And that is what this man declares a simple confession of faith. ¶

I do not know how a man could . make a more emphatic confession of unbelief, or, perhaps, a more positive profession of disbelief. Death and the resurrection synonymous ! It is astonishing how far away from the truth the learned who are uninspired by the Spirit of God can wander. Death and the resurrection are antonymns of the most pronounced type. One is the exact and perfect antithesis of the other. Death is the dissolution of the body, and'the resurrection is the reanimation of the body; yea the actual and literal reuniting of the Spirit with the body. "Not material to determine" whether or not the "Spirit reanimated the body it had left?" What folly! It is, possibly, the most material, fundamental, and vital question of the whole gospel. For if Christ be not raised from the dead, as related in the scriptures, then our hope is vain, and there is no salvation. If this man's doctrine is true, then the whole life and ministry of Christ is false, and Christ is not the first fruits of them that slept, and Christ did not break the bands of death, nor open the graves for those who die. He says that death and the resurrection both are the separation of the spirit from the body, or "simply different aspects of the same fact." The separation of the spirit from the body is not the resurrection at all. The resurrection is the resuscitation of the body which shall be taken up again by the spirit, and that resurrection or re-uniting of the body and the spirit will be the redemption of the soul of man. ¶

It is the mortal body that dies, not the immortal spirit. The spirit which is alive and does not die cannot be resurrected. The body dies when the spirit departs from it. ¶

Resurrection means to come from death unto life, and as it is the body that dies, it is the body that must be raised up and brought to life again. The term resurrection is never used save in connection with the body. Now, he declares in his confession of faith he "does not know," that the disembodied spirit reanimated that body which .died when it hung crucified upon the cross and which was taken down and buried. Thank the Lord that the scriptures as quoted yesterday set forth in no uncertain terms the fact that that very body was reanimated and resurrected and taken up. It did rise again on the third day. "If there are" as set forth here, "some incidents narrated in the gospels which indicate a contrary conclusion," it is only because men who find such incidents are not enlightened by the spirit of truth, which would testify to them of the fact that Christ did arise and did show himself to his servants and did minister among them. And if this is to be held as uncertain, if it is to be held up by the spirit of .higher criticism to doubt, then what is there in the Bible history, or account of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ that can be relied upon ? Can we not likewise hold up to doubt every other incident recorded there concerning the Lord Jesus Christ? May we not doubt the account of his birth, and of the appearance of the angels upon that glorious occasion singing that song of peace on earth and good will to men? May we not, and are we not justified, in doubting the story that his parents took him into Egypt ; in doubting that, as a boy, he stood among the wise men discussing the great principles of scripture? May we not doubt his sermon on the ¶

mount, and doubt his miracles, doubt his selection and choosing of twelve apostles, and sending them forth to preach the gospel? We may doubt, nay, are we not forced to doubt? all of his doctrine, everything he said or did as recorded in the scripture, if we cannot rely upon that which is declared concerning his resurrection from the dead. Multitudes of Christians have already rejected the Bible as history because of such "simple confessions of faith," as here made by this man. There is no doubt of any of these things in the minds of the Latter-day Saints. ¶

We have a knowledge of the "truth of what is set forth in the holy Bible, and in this we are more fortunate than the world. If it is true, as revealed in this dispensation, that many great and precious things have been taken away from that book which was delivered to the Jews,- the Bible, the history of Christ and of his disciples, and as a result of this the world is wandering in unbelief, in disbelief, in doubt, and in denial of the things which are set forth in the holy scriptures, — we Latter-day Saints are more fortunate than the world, and it is our mission to so declare the glorious truth that the world may become as fortunate as are the Latter-day Saints with respect to understanding it. These many precious things which have been taken out of the word of God by wicked men, the result of which has been to obscure the true word of God, as we find it in the scriptures, have been revealed again in the last days in the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. This is a volume of scripture of equal authority and equally divine with the Holy Bible. It is an historical record wherein is preserved in fulness and purity the great truths that are recorded in the Holy Bible, — with perhaps this difference, that those precious parts, which make clear the truth to the understanding of every rational man, are not missing, but they are supplied. President Penrose yesterday set forth the truth concerning the resurrection of the Lord, as it is plainly written in the New Testament. He explained his appearing before his disciples in his body that had been crucified, his exhibiting before them the wounds in his hands and feet and side, inviting them to handle him and see for themselves that it was not a spirit, but Christ himself, who had been crucified and buried, but had risen from the grave. He set forth the truth that Christ broke bread with them ; that he ate fish and honeycomb with them ; that he ministered among them and made them understand, not in some way uncertain, but in a most sure and positive way, that he indeed was alive again. Corroborating the scriptures and as a witness of the New Testament with reference to these great questions, stands the Book of Mormon. Let us read a word or two from that sacred record : ¶

"Jesus Christ sheweth himself unto the people of Nephi, as the multitude were gathered together in the land Bountiful, and .did minister unto them; and on this wise did he shew himself unto them. ¶

"And now it came to pass that there were a great multitude gathered together, of the people of Nephi, round about the temple which was in the land Bountiful; and they were marveling and wondering one with another, and were shewing one to another the great and marvelous change which had taken place; ¶

"And they were also conversing about this Jesus Christ of whom the ¶

sign had been given concerning his death. ¶

"And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard, and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice, it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn. ¶

"And it came to pass that again they heard the voice, and they understood it not; ¶

"And again the third time they did hear the voice, and did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence the sound came; ¶

"And behold the third time they did understand the voice which they heard: and it said unto them, ¶

"Behold my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name; hear ye him. ¶

"And it came to pass as they understood, they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe, and he came down and stood in the midst of them, and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them. ¶

"And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying, ¶

"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world; ¶

"And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. ¶

"And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words, the ¶

whole multitude fell to the earth for they remembered that it had been prophesied among them that Christ should show himself unto them after his ascension into heaven. ¶

"And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto them saying, ¶

"Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. ¶

"And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one, until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes, and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety, and did bear record, that it was he of whom it was written by the prophets that should come. ¶

"And when they had all gone forth and had witnessed for themselves, they did cry out with one accord, saying, ¶

"Hosana! blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him." (Ill Nephi 11.) ¶

There is a record untrammeled and uncontaminated, revealed by the power of God, translated by the power of God, come down to us as a history that cannot be refuted, to corroborate the history that we may read in the Bible concerning this great and important, all-important, incident and fact of the resurrection from the dead, the reanimation of the crucified body of the Lord Jesus Christ. ¶

Joseph Smith, in the dispensation of the fulness of times, when he went to inquire of the Lord for knowledge and understanding, had the great and glorious privilege of a visitation from the Father and the Son, and again for the fourth time ¶

in recorded history, God bore record of his divine son, by his own voice. Three times the Lord had witnessed him out of heaven, but the fourth time he declared it in the presence of Joseph the prophet. On the banks of the Jordan, when he had come from the watery grave in newness of life, and to fulfil all righteousness, the voice of God sounded from heaven declaring, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." Once again on a high mountain in Palestine, at the time of the transfiguration, the same voice of God out of heaven was heard saying, "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased ; hear ye him." Again, to the multitude gathered about the temple, in the land Bountiful, on the western hemisphere, during Christ's personal appearance to the Nephites, God, his father, bore record of him in these words : "Behold my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name; hear ye him." Then to Joseph Smith the Prophet, in the year 1820, in the grove at Palmyra, N. Y., accompanied by his Son Jesus Christ and both in the presence of the Prophet Joseph, God, the Father, pointing to the Son and addressing Joseph said, "This is my beloved Son, hear him !" ¶

He was resurrected, he had a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's and so had the Father. So will all men have when they arise from the dead. The resurrection is not the separation of the spirit from the body. The resurrection is not synonymous with death. The resurrection is the opening of the graves, the calling forth of the dead that are in them, the giving up from the sea of the dead that are in it, the re-animation of the physical bodies, the mortal bodies of men that have been "sown in corruption and raised in incorruption," "sown in .dishonor" and raised in honor and glory, sown in mortality and raised in immortality, "sown in weakness but raised in strength," and glorified like unto the glorious body of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no other resurrection, no matter what the confessions of faith, of the agnostic and unbelieving of the world may be. ¶

I rejoice in the truth, in the knowledge of the truth as it has been revealed to the Latter-day Saints in these last days. I rejoice that men can stand up and by the power of the Holy Ghost declare the truth as God declared it in, as I say, no uncertain terms, but in a manner that carries faith and conviction and knowledge and testimony with it, even unto eternal life. God bless the Latter-day Saints, make them true and faithful. These things have been revealed once more in these the last days. I testify of their truth, and I live in the hope of the glorious resurrection, that I, with the faithful in Christ, may be permitted to come forth in the resurrection of the just, clothed with glory, immortality, and eternal life, and may God implant this faith in increasing ratio in my heart and in the hearts of all who take upon themselves the name of Christ the Lord, that we may endure faithful to the testiony to the end. Then I know that we shall arise again, to be exalted and to sit in glory in the celestial kingdom of our God, and praise be to God the Father and to Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the world, for this hope forever, in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶

A sacred solo, entitled, "O rest in the Lord," was sung by Sister Lillie S. Shipp. ¶