The Resurrection of Christ and Our Duty in War

President Joseph F. Smith presided, and called the congregation to order at 2 o'clock p. m. ¶

The choir and congregation sang: "Zion stands with hills surrounded." ¶

Prayer was offered by President Heber Q. Hale, of the Boise stake of Zion. ¶

A solo : "I know that my Redeemer liveth," was sung by Mrs. Lucile Wells. ¶

Significance of the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ — A great privilege is enjoyed by the Latterday Saints in being members by baptism of the true Church of Christ — As a consequence and because of individual agency, their responsibility is great and they will be called to judgment for their works — The character of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ pertaining to resistance and non-resistance — What he requires of us in this matter, and how the true Christian should regard war — He is justified only when he fights for liberty and right, and then it should be done without passion or a desire to shed blood,but in a spirit of justice, righteousness and equity — Peace shall yet prevail and the way be opened for the servants of God to preach the gospel tidings to the nations that sit in darkness. ¶

This is a great privilege extended to all of us who are in this assembly, this afternoon, to be able to attend this conference and to meet in this tabernacle ; and I congratulate all who were present this morning in having the opportunity of hearing the address of our beloved president, Joseph F. Smith. One gentleman present, who was not of our faith and who has come from the far east on other business than attending this conference, stated to a friend here that it was well worth a trip across the continent to hear that address from President Smith ; and I endorse his statement, for I felt the same way, that if there was nothing else presented to this conference of people gathered from various parts of these mountain valleys and some from abroad, they would be well repaid for coming here and having the privilege of hearing the words of inspiration and instruction that were imparted to us. ¶

I rejoice in being privileged this afternoon to stand up and bear testimony to the truth of those remarks. They went down deep into my soul. It was truly a time of rejoicing, of an outpouring of the Spirit of God ; and while the world abroad has an outpouring of the spirit of war, we had an outpouring of the spirit of peace, the true spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ who is our spiritual head, in whose Church we have membership. We have the blessing of being part of the body of Christ. This 'is his Church, named after him and by him, and it is still under his direction. It is Christ's Church, and it is he who has given to us the revelations through the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successors, particularly those things that are contained in the Doctrine and Covenants given to us in this day for the benefit of this his Church, which he has declared shall prevail over every foe, if his people, the Saints of the Most High, will observe the covenants and commandments which he has revealed to them for their present guidance and eternal salvation. ¶

The beautiful poem which has just been sung to us brings to mind some things that I had not thought of particularly today. We are living at a time celebrated throughout Christendom as the day of the crucifixion. Next Sunday is called Easter Sunday, celebrated as the day of the resurrection, and the words sung to us so clearly this afternoon were the words of an ancient saint, one of the most ancient of writers or prophets whose writings have been preserved. They are the words of Job, and have come down to us in the Old Testament scriptures : ¶

"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" (Job. 19:25,26. ¶

I have wondered often how it is that our friends in the various sects of modern Christendom have not perceived the fulness of the truth contained in those words of Job. They profess to believe in life after death ; they believe that when people die they either go to heaven or to hell, and that Jesus Christ died and appeared afterwards to his apostles, but they do not believe that he appeared to them in the flesh. That is very strange, when the descriptions that we have, written by the apostles who saw him, declare that they beheld the marks of the nails that were driven through his hands upon the cross, and the mark of the Roman spear in his side, and he declared to them that he was not a mere spirit. He did not come to them to make them believe in life after death simply, because they believed that before ; that was believed even by the Pharisees and other sects in Judea, but he said : "Behold, my hands and my feet, that it is I, myself ; handle me, and see ; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And while they yet believed not for joy, and wondered, he said unto them: Have ye here any meat? And they gave him a piece of a broiled fish and of an honeycomb, and he took it and did eat before them" (Luke 24:41-43). What was this for? Evidently to demonstrate to them the truth of the doctrine of the resurrection from the dead. Not merely the truth of the doctrine of the continuation of life after death, the life of the spirit when the body is in the grave, but the doctrine of the resurrection, the raising up again of the body from the dust. This must be very clear to those who read and do not try to misinterpret. ¶

We have the testimonies of many of the apostles in the New Testament ; and the Apostle Paul, in the fifteenth chapter of what is called the First Epistle to the Corinthians, relates the circumstances of Christ's death and of his burial and of his resurrection from the dead, and of his appearance at a number of times to his apostles and afterward to five hundred of the brethren, all at once, and of his ascension into heaven. And Paul adds his own personal testimony to having seen him, Jesus of Nazareth raised from the dead, and the argument that he offers in regard to the resurrection from the dead is based upon these statements that I have briefly referred to. "Now, is Christ risen from the dead and become the first fruits of them that slept." Then he goes on to argue that if Christ was raised from the dead, we shall be raised also, and that if Christ was not raised from the dead, then we are dead to all intents and purposes when we lay our bodies down ; "but now is Christ risen from the dead," was his testimony. ¶

In addition to these things contained in the New Testament, including what the Lord showed to John in that great vision upon the Isle of Patmos, we have the testimony in the Book of Mormon, that Jesus Christ appeared on this continent to the Nephites, and showed them also the marks of the nails in his hands and the mark of the spear in his side, that they might understand that the doctrine of the actual resurrection from the dead is a true doctrine and that by his being raised from the dead he became, what he proclaimed himself to be, "the resurrection and the life," declaring with that the doctrine that the time should come when "all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, and shall come forth ; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life ; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation" (John 5:28,29). Now, in these last days, we have the testimony of Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, that they also beheld Christ on the right hand of God, the risen Redeemer, having power to bring others forth from the tomb and that by him and through him, according to their order, all the human race shall be brought forth. All the sons and daughters of Adam and Eve are to be raised from the dead in the order that is prepared, to enter into some degree of glory, if they are fit for it, while a few of the inhabitants of the earth, having received the light and then fought against it, having obtained the spirit that comes from that evil one who has the power of death ; having in their souls a desire to shed blood and having accomplished that desire, sinning against the Holy Ghost, sinning against the most sacred covenants that men could enter into, they cannot enter into glory, but even they also are to be raised from the dead and to go into their proper place as related in the eighty-eighth section of the Doctrine and Covenants. We have the testimony of others, some that are living, who have seen the Lord, the Savior, the Christ risen from the dead ; in vision they have seen him. All these testimonies, added together make a wonderful body of evidence concerning the reality of the resurrection from the dead. Now we who have gathered here, we Latter-day Saints, as I have said, belong to his Church. He made it, he has set it up, he controls it, his Spirit is in it, and it is by that Spirit that all the revelations that are placed on record under his name have been given ; and, I thank God it is also by that Spirit we still are led, not only by the inspiration given to our leaders, but the inspiration given to every one of us in our own souls if we have really received the truth and are walking in the light thereof. For the Spirit of Jesus Christ rests down upon the body of the Church, and according to their faithfulness, and their obedience to his commandments, they are enlightened of him by the power of the Holy Spirit which proceedeth from the presence of God throughout the immensity of space, by which he comprehends them, by which his eye can pierce them all ; he himself being in the bosom of eternity, a personality, as testified by President Smith this morning, an individual in whose likeness we have been formed, who is the literal father as well as the spiritual Father of Jesus of Nazareth who is our living head, who is the head of this Church and whose Spirit dwells in it and enlightens all who are willing to receive the light. ¶

What a blessed privilege it is that we enjoy as Latter-day Saints, to be baptized unto him, not merely to be born of water by being baptized in water, but being enveloped baptized, invigorated, enlightened by the power of that Holy Spirit which quickens all things through Jesus Christ our Lord ! And it is he that we acknowledge as our Savior and our Redeemer, and we look to him for our resurrection at our proper time from the dead to stand before God and give an account for the deeds done in the mortal body. This is something worth thinking about. We are responsible beings and therefore the Lord will cause us to give an account of ourselves and to stand and be judged by our record. We are responsible because responsibility was born into us in our spiritual, first-being, our pre-existence — the power of volition, the power of agency. He that has an agency of his own has in his being, born of the Eternal Father, the power, not only of volition, but the power of choice, the power of choosing good or evil, the power of rejecting good or evil, and in the exercise of that he is responsible for all that he does, and because of that responsibility comes the doctrine of eternal judgment, so that all mankind will be judged "according to their works, out of the things written in the books." What kind of books they are it doesn't matter so much, only they will be books that will contain our record and our record will be brought forth and according to our doings, so are we ; according to our acts, so we are. If we do evil, evil impressions come naturally, and if we love to do good a good influence, a good spirit, is with us, and round about us, and in our being and we are sustained and supported thereby; and if we are corrupt and wicked and abominable and rebellious, the effects of our acts are right in our nature, and these things will be disclosed just as naturally as the opening of books made of paper and written upon with ink. ¶

These are serious thoughts that should come to us at this season of the year. Whether the dates that people have set are exactly right or not, matters not so much. This is the time of the crucifixion and the interment and the resurrection from the dead, of the greatest Being who ever walked upon this earth, the first-born of God in the spirit, the only begotten Son in the flesh, the Redeemer of the world, the Savior of mankind whom we adore and in whose name we worship the true and the living God. Jesus Christ our Redeemer has been kind enough to reveal a great many splendid, glorious truths and given to us a great many instructions for our conduct, what we should do as members of his Church, and we have opportunities of learning these things. Many of them are written in the books that are printed, and we could read them if we would have them at hand. We should have them in our homes — the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price and the different publications that are given to us for our guidance and direction. In these we can learn concerning our Father in heaven and concerning Jesus Christ our Redeemer, and all the revelations that we have for our guidance and direction have come from him. This is what we read in the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants : "Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, the great I Am." Now, the character of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ is sometimes misunderstood and misinterpreted, even by those who read about him in the New Testament. I know when I was a litle boy and went to Sunday School, we used to sing : "Gentle Jesus, . meek and mild, look on me a little child." That was all very good, so far as it went. He was meek and lowly of heart. He was kind and affectionate and full of love and charity, of a desire to bless, to lift up, to exalt. That was his nature and spirit, and he is called the Prince of Peace and the Lamb slain from' the foundations of the world, lamb-like in his character, lamb-like when he was led to the slaughter, and "as a sheep before its shearers is dumb, so opened he not his mouth" when he was falsely accused ; meek of character, willing to forgive his bitterest enemies as he manifested when he was on the cross. But there was another side to his character. He taught that under certain conditions people should be willing to forgive, and when they were smitten on one cheek to turn the other. ¶

This puts me in mind of a circumstance that occurred when I was laboring on a mission in London many, many years ago : We had an old gentleman there that had been in the army. He was a war veteran and he was preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ on the streets. A man came up and slapped him on the face. "Now," he says, "if you are a Christian turn the other cheek." So old daddy turned the other cheek, but he said : "Hit again and down you go." He would have gone down, too, if he had struck again. True, Jesus Christ taught that non-resistance, was right and praiseworthy and a duty under certain circumstances and conditions ; but just look at him when he went into the temple, when he made that scourge of thongs, when he turned out the moneychangers and kicked over their tables and told them to get out of the house of the Lord ! "My house is a house of prayer," he said, "but ye have made it a den of thieves." Get out of here! ' Hear him crying, "Woe unto you Scribes, Pharisees, hypocrites, ye compass sea and land to make one proselyte, and then ye make him ten-fold more the child of hell than he was before." That was the other side of the spirit of Jesus. Jesus was no milksop. He was not to be trampled under foot. He was ready to submit when the time came for his martyrdom, and he was to be nailed on the cross as a sacrifice for the sins of the world, but he was ready at any time to stand up for his rights like a man. He is not only called "the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world," but also "the Lion of the Tribe of Judah," and He will be seen to be terrible by and by to his enemies. ¶

Now while we are not particularly required to pattern after the "lion" side of his character unless it becomes necessary, the Lord does not expect us to submit to be trodden under foot by our enemies and never resist. The Lord does not want us to inculcate the spirit of war nor the spirit of bloodshed. In fact he has commanded us not to shed blood, but there are times and seasons, as we can find in the history of the world, in Bible and the Book of Mormon, when it is justifiable and right and proper and the duty of men to go forth in the defense of their homes and their families and maintain their privileges and rights by force of arms. On this subject I might read something to you if there were plenty of time, but you can read it yourselves when you get home. Read the 101st section of the Doctrine and Covenants, then read the 98th section. ¶

In section 101 the Lord speaks about the constitution of this land. ¶

He says it was framed by wise men whom he raised up for that very purpose. What for? To maintain the rights and privileges "of all flesh." Not alone the people of this land. The principles of that great instrument are to go forth to the nations, and the time will come when they will prevail, just as sure as the sun shines even when it appears to be in darkness and the clouds are over it. And the Lord says, concerning the works of those great men, "And redeemed the land by the shedding of blood." Shedding of blood ! Does the Lord permit the shedding of blood and justify it? Yes, sometimes he does. Was not the war of independence of this country justifiable? Were not the rights and privileges of the people of this land trampled under foot, and did they not rise in their might and the God of Battles strengthen their arms and they went forth to victory and brought liberty, not only to themselves and their immediate families, but to hosts of people from down-trodden Europe who are rejoicing today under the Stars and Stripes with liberty of conscience and liberty of speech and liberty of action within proper guidance and direction of righteous law. These principles are to go forth to all flesh. Don't you forget it. The time will come when they will be carried to all the nations of the earth and they will be delivered from tyrants and oppressors. ¶

In the 98th section the Lord gives the law that he gave in ancient time to his people when they were to go forth to battle : It is in substance: "If thine enemy come against thee, thou shalt forgive him ; if he come again the second time, thou shalt forgive him; and if he even come the third time and you forgive him it will be reckoned unto you for glory, but if he come again I, the Lord, justify you in going forth to battle and I will strengthen you and I will fight your battles." Now the great distinction should be, and we should understand it, that circumstances may arise which will require a different precept from that given at one time when another time comes. In the 22nd chapter of Luke, you will read that Jesus, just before he was taken by the men that came out to bring him before the judgment seat, cried out to his apostles : "When I sent you without purse and scrip and shoes, lacked ye anything? And they said, Nothing." Then said he, but now "let him that hath a purse take it, and likewise his scrip, and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garments and buy one" (verses 35, 36). Well, some people will say, perhaps, then, the Lord is a changeable being. Not at all. The Lord always is like that. From the eternities that are past down to the present, when circumstances change, he adapts his laws to those conditions and gives his people counsel and instructions suited to the times and the circumstances. ¶

Now, in this 98th section I spoke of, the Lord says this was the word of guidance to his servants in ancient times when he told them to go forth to battle for the right, and he gave commandments to them to do so, and we can read about them in the Old Testament, and he says, "this is a law unto all people, all flesh," so that circumstances alter cases, as the old proverb has it. Now if a nation essays to go forth against another nation for the purpose of conquest, to gain territory, to grasp something that does not belong to that nation, then the nation thus assailed has the right to resist even to the shedding of blood, as it was in this land in the war for independence. But we have to be careful as to what spirit we are guided by. If we want to go out to battle, to encroach upon other peoples' liberties and rights, to gain their lands, to destroy their property without any right or reason, that is one thing; but if somebody comes against us to destroy us and our property and our homes and our rights and our privileges, either on land or sea, then we have the right under the divine law to rise for our own protection and take such steps as are necessary. But, as we were exhorted this morning by our President, we Latter-day Saints must watch ourselves and not give way to passion and desire to shed blood and to destroy, for that is the power of the evil one. We do not want to imitate any nation that is bent on a policy of destruction, to destroy where they cannot rule, to break down and trample under foot where they cannot dominate. If we have that desire, it is the spirit of the wicked one. ¶

But when the time comes that we, as a part of this great nation, are called upon by the rulers and leaders of affairs of the country and they are justified in the course that they are pursuing, then, I think, we are required to stand with them for the rights of the nation of which we form a part, and do our bounden duty, but to do it in the spirit that the President showed to us this morning, as the true spirit of Jesus Christ, desiring that mankind may repent, desiring that they may turn from their wicked ways, desiring that they may be brought to a condition wherein they will desire peace. But while they rise against us and seek our destruction, is it not our right, our privilege, as Christians, yea, as Latter-day Saints, to stand for those rights, to defend our homes, our wives, our children, our possessions, everything that we have gained lawfully, but not to go forth even against our enemies to desire their destruction and soak the earth with more blood, to devastate and bring misery and trouble by conquest in other lands ; not at all ; and we can differentiate between the two conditions. There is a very great difference between arising to go forth for conquest, for blood, for plunder, to gain territory and power in the earth, and in fighting to defend our own possessions in the spirit of justice and righteousness and equity, and standing up like men for those things that we have a right to contend for. ¶

Now I think that is the spirit of Jesus Christ when I come to view him personally from both sides of his character. He was a mighty man. He was a man to all intents and purposes in every particular, the Son of the living God, the very express image of his Father and our Father, his God and our God, who some day will rule this world, and Jesus the Christ, the Son of the living God, will be our King and we will follow him wherever he leads. That time shall come. As Isaiah predicted : "Behold a king shall reign in righteousness, and princes shall rule in judgment" (Chap. 32). Brethren and sisters, that time is coming and the work in which you and I are engaged is to prepare the way, and the spirit that must be in our hearts is the spirit of righteousness, for that is what will bring peace. There will never be peace to rule in the world until righteousness is established ; righteous knowledge, righteous living, righteous acts, righteous aims, righteous union, united faith. When that day shall dawn, Christ shall come and be our king, and we read that the "effect of righteousness shall be peace." ¶

That is it. The effect of righteousness shall be peace, but while unrighteousness and despotism and tyranny and inequality in regard to the rights of men shall persist in the world, there will be wars and rumors of wars, and there will be destruction and sorrow and pain, and nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be trouble, as the Lord predicted, such as there never was in the earth before. If we are not approaching that time very closely, I miss my guess, but my personal belief is that the Lord will overrule. The Lord does not kill people, the Lord does not tell nations to rise and make conquests, but the Lord sits above and while many of the people on the earth are making their plans, "He that sitteth in the heavens," as the psalmist says, "shall laugh," and the time will come when he will overturn all their plans and devices and turn them around to accomplish his own divine purposes, and war shall be overcome, even if but for a time, and peace shall prevail and the way shall open for the servants of Jesus Christ to go forth in the power and spirit of the holy priesthood and publish the glad tidings of great joy revealed from heaven in the last days to all people, and thousands upon thousands shall turn unto the Lord and repent and bow in humble submission to his will. And the way shall be prepared for the establishment of Zion in all her strength and beauty and glory, and she shall be clothed upon with everything that is lovely, and Christ our Redeemer and her king shall come and "reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem and before his ancients gloriously." God help us all to do our duty and to perform it as the Lord shall direct through Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

The choir and congregation sang the hymn : "High on the mountain top." ¶