A call to repentance — Man's

the revealed word of God — This word is not given in a corner but openly. ¶

I trust and pray that I may be led, in such remarks as I may make this afternoon, by the Spirit of the Lord, for I desire, my brethren and sisters, to speak only that which will be in harmony with the word of truth as it has been revealed for the salvation of the children of men. ¶

I was greatly edified this morning by the remarks of the brethren, likewise by the remarks of those who occupied the time yesterday. I rejoice in a knowledge,such as I have, of the truth and a testimony of the truth as it has been made known to us in the dispensation of the fulness of times. I will read, with your permission, a word or two from one of the revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith. This revelation was given in the year 1830, in October of that year, the portion to which I refer reads as follows : ¶

Yea, open your mouths and they shall be filled, saying — Repent, repent, and prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight; for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. ¶

Yea, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for a remission of your sins; yea, be baptized even by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost. ¶

Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel, and remember that they shall have faith in me, or they can in no wise be saved. ¶

And upon this rock I will build my Church; yea, upon this rock ye are built, and if ye continue, the gates of hell shall not prevail against you. ¶

And ye shall remember the church articles and covenants to keep them. ¶

And whoso having faith you shall confirm in my church, by the laying on of the hands, and I will bestow the gift of the Holy Ghost upon them. ¶

And the Book of Mormon and the Holy Scriptures, are given of me for your instruction; and the power of my Spirit quickeneth all things. ¶

Wherefore, be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you, that you may be ready at the coming of the Bridegroom. ¶

For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that I come quickly. Even so. Amen. ¶

Now I desire to call attention to one or two things in these passages of scripture. In the first place in order that a man may be saved in the kingdom of God he must have faith in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, he must accept him and believe that he is indeed the Son of God and the Redeemer of the world. When he knows that, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins, then it is his duty to continue in well doing, remembering, as stated here, the Church articles and covenants to keep them ; and the Book of Mormon and the Holy Scriptures which contain in great part these articles and covenants. For the Lord declares they are given of him for our instruction by the power of the Spirit which quickeneth all things. Now, the book of Doctrine and Covenants was not mentioned in this revelation for the very good reason that in the year 1830, in October, there was no book of Doctrine and Covenants ; otherwise, without a doubt, the Lord would have added it to these scriptures and would have commanded us to search the things contained therein which pertain to our salvation. Indeed, we may say in truth that the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants are included in the holy scriptures, for such they are. ¶

Now, the Lord has revealed unto us in these modern scriptures as ¶

well as in the scriptures that were given in ancient times, the necessary articles and covenants by which we may be guided and directed in church government and understand the truth of the gospel. Through the faith, diligence and heed we give to these instructions, we may know that the Lord and Savior of this world is indeed our Redeemer and the Son of God. We may know this provided our studies and faithfulness are guided by prayer, for in this same commandment, the Lord declared that we should pray always. "Wherefore," said he, "be faithful, praying always, having your lamps trimmed and burning, and oil with you." ¶

I desire to say in connection with this which I have read that there is no reason in the world why each member of the Church should not have a thorough understanding of the principles of the gospel, of the order of the Church, and the government of the Church, so that none need be led astray by any wind of doctrine, or notion, that prevails among the children of men, which may come to their attention. If we are firmly grounded in the faith and built upon the rock, we will know the truth, the truth which will make us free. There is a lying spirit abroad in the land. In my travels in the stakes of Zion, my attention has been called, on a number of occasions, to a purported revelation or vision or manifestation, whatever it may be called, supposed to have been received by President Smith sometime in the distant past, in regard to events of great importance dealing with the nations of the earth and the Latter-day Saints. Many things in that purported vision, or revelation, are absurd. My attention has been call- ¶

ed to this thing, and good brethren and good sisters have inquired of me to know whether or not there was any truth in that which had come to their attention. It is in printed form ; and I have been under the necessity of telling them that there was no truth in it. Then, in other places I have discovered that people have copies of a purported vision by the Prophet Joseph Smith given in Nauvoo, and some people are circulating this supposed vision, or revelation, or conversation which the prophet is reported to have held with a number of individuals in the city of Nauvoo. I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that if you understand the Church articles and covenants, if you will read the sciptures and become familiar with those things which are recorded in the revelations from the Lord, it will not be necessary for you to ask any questions in regard to the authenticity or otherwise of any purported revelation, vision, or manifestation that proceeds out of darkness, concocted in some corner, surreptitiously presented, and not coming through the proper channels of the Church. Let me add that when a revelation comes for the guidance of this people, you may be sure that it will not be presented in some mysterious manner contrary to the order of the Church. It will go forth in such form that the people will understand that it comes from those who are in authority, for it will be sent either to the presidents of stakes and the bishops of the wards over the signatures of the presiding authorities, or it will be published in some of the regular papers or magazines under the control and direction of the Church or it will be presented before such a gathering as this, at a ¶

general conference. It will not spring up in some distant part of the Church and be in the hands of some obscure individual without authority, and thus be circulated among the Latter-day Saints. Now, you may remember this. ¶

Again, here is another thought I desire to call your attention to, Not very long ago a good sister, I suppose a good sister, one who means well, placed into my hands a purported vision, or revelation, which she claims she received, dealing with matters pertaining to the welfare of the people. Now, the Lord is not going to give unto any woman in this Church a revelation for the Church. He is not going to give unto any man in this Church, other than the one who is properly appointed, a revelation for the guidance of the Church, for everything will be done in order. When you find good sisters, or otherwise, and brethren, circulating revelations or manifestations which they themselves have received, you put it down that it is contrary to the law and the order of the Church and the doctrine the Lord has revealed. In the early days of the Church, back as early as the year 1831, a woman by the name of Hubble claimed to have received revelations which caused a great deal of confusion among some of the members of the Church because they did not understand the proper order. The Church was young, the people who had come into it were new and untrained so far as the gospel was concerned, and did not thoroughly understand the order of Church government. The woman was deceiving them. Also on another occasion one Hiram Page received what he claimed to be revelations, which he gave forth as coming from the Lord for the benefit of the Church, and there was necessity of rebuking him. The Lord gave a revelation unto the Prophet Joseph Smith in February, 1831. declaring the proper order in the Church for the bestowal of revelation, a few verses of which I will read to you : ¶

O hearken, ye elders of my. church, and give an ear to the words which I shall speak unto you. ¶

For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, that ye have received a commandment for a law unto my Church, through him whom I have appointed unto you, to receive commandments and revelations from my hand. ¶

And this ye shall know assuredly that there is none other appointed unto you to receive commandments and revelations until he be taken, if he abide in me. ¶

But verily, verily. I say unto you, that none else shall be appointed unto this gift except it be through him, for if it be taken from him, he shall not have power except to appoint another in his stead. ¶

That provision for the appointment of another was never exercised, because the Prophet Joseph Smith did remain true and steadfast to the end, and there was no necessity for the Lord choosing another to take his place because of any transgression on his part. But, to continue : ¶

And this shall be a law unto you, that ye receive not the teachings of any that shall come before you as revelations or commandments. ¶

And this I give unto you that you may not be deceived, that you may know they are not of me. ¶

For verily I say unto you, that he that is ordained of me shall come in at the gate and be ordained as I have told you before, to teach those revelations which you have received, and shall receive through him whom I have appointed. ¶

And now, behold, I give unto you a commandment, that when ye are ¶

assembled together, ye shall instruct and edify each other, that ye may know how to act and direct my church, how to act upon the points of my law and commandments, which I have given ; ¶

And thus ye shall become instructed in the law of my Church, and be sanctified by that which ye have received, and ye shall bind yourselves to act in all holiness before me. ¶

Now I maintain that there is no occasion for any member of this Church to have a doubt in his mind regarding matters of revelation as coming for the guidance of the Church, because when such things come they will come in the proper channels and be presented by those who are ordained to this calling and who are known to the Church. Therefore, when you hear these rumors, you put it down that they are false, and it is absolutely unnecessary for you to ask the question of anyone, because you ought to know by the inspiration you have yourselves whether or not they are true. ¶

Now, just one more thought. I realize this, when the brethren, the authorities of the Church, the elders of Israel, speak unto the people, and they have the Spirit of the Lord, they speak by inspiration, and, as we read in Section 1 of the Doctrine and Covenants, when they so speak, that which they say is scripture, and the Lord will recognize it as such, and it is binding upon the people when they so speak as if he himself spoke unto them ; but when they speak unto the people by inspiration, as they do from time to time, it will be in order and according to the doctrines and the revelations which have been given to the Church, so that all who hear may understand. ¶

If we will hearken unto the words of the Lord and search for ¶

ourselves and obtain knowledge from the Book of Mormon, from the Bible, from the Doctrine and Covenants, from the Pearl of Great Price, and from the instruction given us from time to time by the authorities of the Church, and seek to do the will of the Lord, remembering our prayers and our covenants before him, we will not go astray. ¶

I wonder, let me say in conclusion, I wonder if we are indeed a praying people. I know that many of us pray. I doubt if we all do. I rather fear there are some among us who have neglected this important duty. In regard to this there is a statement in Section 68 of the Doctrine and Covenants that I think our attention should be called to. The Lord says here that it is the duty of parents to teach their children the principles of the gospel before they reach the age of accountability, and among other things that they should teach them is to observe their prayers ; and further on in this revelation we find the following: ¶

And a commandment I give unto them, that he that observeth not his prayers before the Lord in the season thereof, let him he had in remembrance before the judge of my people. ¶

Now, I say this is a very serious thing. We ought to be a praying people, and if there are in Zion those who do not observe their prayers in the season thereof, they are amenable to the law of the Church and may be brought before the judge, or in other words, the bishop, and he can try them for their fellowship, because the Lord himself has declared it in these words which I have read unto you. ¶

Now, let us serve the Lord and ¶

keep his commandments, labor in righteousness, and in all things remember our covenants and look for guidance to the captain of the ship, and not be led astray by what may be purported as having come from him when it is done in a corner and not openly and above board and presented to the Church in the proper manner. The Lord bless you is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶