I hope all who are here

I hope all who are here feel that it has been better to come into this gathering here in the Bureau of Information building, than to have separated and gone to our homes without continuing the meeting, when the storm came upon us, which we started in the open air. ¶

I suppose everyone present knows that the same gospel taught in this gathering, is the gospel that has been taught, and is being taught, in the Tabernacle, and in the Assembly Hall, by the servants of God who have been called to take part in those meetings, for there is but one ¶

gospel. We have all been baptized into one spirit. We all have the same feeling that has been referred to by the brethren, a feeling of absolute assurance relative to the truth of the work that God, our Father, has planted upon the earth in this the dispensation of the fulness of times. There is no doubt in our minds regarding it. We bear testimony to the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and declare that he in answer to prayer, had a vision of the Father and the Son, and communication from our Father in heaven, concerning the fact that the time had come that had been spoken of by the holy prophets ; for the reestablishment of the work of God in the latter times. ¶

We bear that testimony because we have tested the work, just as was taught by the Lord Jesus Christ when he stood upon the earth and when men looked upon him as an imposter. They could not feel that the Messiah who had been spoken of by the prophets, wherein they had portrayed the greatness and grandeur of his mission and the work that he was to accomplish, could possibly be the lowly babe born in Bethlehem, who was looked upon as the son of the carpenter. Surely he could not be the Being that had claimed the attention of the prophets from the beginning of time down to that period. What would the Lord Jesus Christ say to the unbelieving people relative to his calling? Only, "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God. or whether I speak of myself." So taught the Redeemer of the world, this was the manner of test that he offered to the children of men. that they might know ¶

whether he was an imposter, or whether he was in very deed, the Savior and Redeemer that the prophets had sung about in all ages. ¶

In the reintroduction of the gospel of the Son of God in this last dispensation, by the commandment of our Father in heaven, the same test has been placed in the hands of men, that is, if this work that has been revealed from on high be the work of God, it is the right of men to know concerning the work, for God is no respecter of persons, and if men could know concerning the ministry and work and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ by the testing of the doctrines, through an acceptance of the truth he expounded, it is the right of men in this dispensation to know concerning the revelation of God our Heavenly Father in the same manner. It is because men have tested the promise that has been made in our own age, that they bear testimony concerning the work of God, and declare without a semblance of doubt, that they know that this work to which they have given their allegiance is the work of God, that the gospel they are teaching is the very same gospel that was taught by the Redeemer of the world — not a new gospel, but the old gospel, for there is but one gospel. We should understand that. All men should understand it. It has been declared by one of the inspired apostles, "I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel ; which is not another ; but there be some that trouble you. and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." This was the ¶

doctrine of the apostle as he wrote by the inspiration of the Almighty ; the scriptures abundantly teach that there is but one gospel. This is one of the evidences of the truth of the work of God concerning which we testify, for we say today as the apostle said, there is but one way of being saved, Jesus our Lord is the only Being through whom salvation can come, and there is no other name under heaven whereby man can be saved, only the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. ¶

But men are saved, if Jesus Christ be true, by an acceptance of his gospel. So taught one of the apostles as he was lit up by the inspiration of heaven, when he declared, "For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ ; for it is the power of God unto salvation." The gospel of Christ is the power of salvation, and for that gospel we contend, because we know the truth of it. We bear record of this truth and ask men everywhere, "Why should not God the Father reveal himself in this age of the world as he has revealed himself in former ages? It is the doctrine of our Father, as taught by the holy prophets, and as taught also by the Son of God, and as taught in much plainness by his apostles, that our Father in heaven is the same yesterday, today, and forever, he is without the shadow of turning, his gospel is an everlasting gospel, not a gospel in the dispensation of the meridian of times for the people of that period, and then a changed gospel in the latter times for the people who live now. But it has always been the same gospel. ¶

It was this very gospel that has been revealed through the great prophet of the latter-days, and that we advocate today, that our father ¶

Adam received, and that he taught to his sons and daughters in the Garden of Eden. When the angel asked why Adam did certain things he could only answer, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me." And God revealed his plan of salvation to our father Adam in the beginning, and taught to our father Adam in the Garden of Eden the mission of the Lord Jesus Christ, and commanded him to teach his children concerning the mission of the Redeemer, that they might know they were to obtain eternal life in the presence of God by obedience to the principles of the gospel that have been advocated by our brethren in this congregation this afternoon. And by that revelation of our Father concerning the mission of Jesus Christ, the fact, that the Son of the living God who gave his life for the salvation of the human family, has been spread among all nations in every land ; and we are told that no matter how ignorant men may be, or how they have fallen away from the truth that was revealed in the beginning, that in some form men everywhere still have some conception, however clouded it may be, concerning the mission of the Son of God and salvation coming to the children of men by the giving of the life of a God. ¶

I thank God for the gospel. I thank God for the disposition working in me to honor the holy priesthood. You who have been present in the meetings of this general conference have discovered the spontaneous feeling that ran from heart to heart at the appearance of the President of the Church, President Joseph F. Smith, (who has been very sick for several months), when the great assemblage rose to their ¶

feet. I was glad to stand upon my feet to do honor to the President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I love the man, I love him because of the wonderful example he has been to the children of men. I love him because of the uprightness of his life, his honesty, his integrity, his unflinching testimony concerning the truth, because of the giving of the very best that there has been in him during his whole life, for the advancement of the work of God. But above all that, we stand up in honor of the President because of the priesthood and presidency that has been conferred upon him as the mouthpiece of God, and as the man holding the keys of authority pertaining to this dispensation at the present time. ¶

I attended some years ago in the Temple in Salt Lake City a gathering in honor of President Lorenzo Snow, and there saw a banner stretched across a part of the chapel in the annex of the Temple, upon which was written, "We delight to honor the man whom God hath honored." I would like you to think of that, both young and old. Who could do better than to honor the man that God has honored? We are not worshiping men, we are not looking upon the President of the Church as some superior being to all other beings, but we see in him the authority that has been conferred upon him by the Lord our God, and we recognize and honor that authority. When we speak of earthly things, there is no trouble to honor authority. If the President of the United States were to make his appearance in a gathering of people anywhere in America, or for that matter anywhere in the wide world, men would stand up in his honor — not in honor of Woodrow ¶

Wilson, the man, but in honor of the President of the United States. We can all understand that, we can all see the propriety of such an act, and we can all heartily approve of men showing to one of their fellows just such honor. And yet there are men who would attempt to question and condemn their fellows if they stand up in honor of the mouthpiece of the living God. We, however, delight to honor him. ¶

I am told that these words to which I have referred, that were painted upon the banner in honor of President Lorenzo Snow, did not originate at that time, but a long time before. Dr. Bernhisel, who was our first representative in the halls of Congress from the territory of Utah, away back in Nauvoo, in the early days of the Church, when the Prophet Joseph Smith would enter a room where Dr. Bernhisel was sitting, the doctor would rise to his feet, and remain standing until the prophet himself took a seat ; the prophet, it is ,said, was embarrassed at this mark of deference, and remonstrated with Dr. Bernhisel, who was a man of superior education. Such pronounced deference was not sought by Joseph Smith. It made him feel uncomfortable. But when he remonstrated, Dr. Bernhisel said, "I delight to honor the man whom God hath honored." Do you know, my brethren and sisters, there has been a disposition in my soul to honor Dr. Bernhisel from the moment I first learned of his making that declaration, of which I never could have been possessed, had I not heard the story. ¶

We honor the authority of God. It is a safe thing to honor such authority. Read the Holy Scriptures, and you will discover that God has ¶

vindicated his authority in all dispensations. Our Father in heaven has blessed men who have respected the authority he has conferred upon men in every age. You can also read of the distress and trouble, and even death, that has come upon men in past ages who have dared to speak slightingly of God's authority. While men do not lose their lives today if they speak in contempt of God's authority, while they can sneer at his authority, and they can trample under foot the counsel God gives through authority to the people, I desire to say that the authority of God, in the eyes of God, is just as sacred today as it ever has been in any past dispensation. And just as our Heavenly Father has delighted to bless men in past ages, who have honored the authority that God has given to weak men, so he will delight to bless men in this dispensation who will honor that authority. And I plead with this congregation, that men and women, that boys and girls, cultivate a disposition to honor the authority that God has placed upon men ; and God will honor you, and he will bless you, and will reveal unto you the truth, more perfectly, continually, of his great work that he has established for the salvation of the human family. ¶

Without authority, what can be accomplished? Our Elder Brother, the Lord Jesus Christ, commissioned men in his time to preach the everlasting gospel. It could not have been preached without that authority. Men have forgotten the necessity of such divine commission in the age in which we live, but the necessity exists just the same. It is just as needful today for men to be properly commissioned in order ¶

to preach the gospel acceptably, and to administer properly in the ordinances of the gospel, as in any other age, and no man can minister, mark you, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, and have his ministry sanctified, and approved by our Father in heaven, unless he be called of God to preach the gospel. I cannot call myself. That is the doctrine of the world, that men can feel within themselves, "Why, I am called to cry repentance among the people." That is not true, that is the plan of the adversary, to blind the eyes of the human race, that they may be led carefully away to destruction. Many men delude themselves with the thought that they are called without having been ordained and designated by the voice of the living God. What saith the Scripture? "No man taketh this honor unto himself, but he that is called of God as was Aaron." So the inspired apostle hath written, and so teaches "Mormonism." This is the doctrine pertaining to authority as it was taught by the apostles in the meridian of time. The selfsame doctrine is taught by the apostles of today. Divine authority cannot be assumed by any human being, without calling down the displeasure of the Lord. ¶

When we consider earthly authority, we understand the question most readily. There is nobody in this congregation who imagines that any man in this land can feel in his heart, "I have been called to be a judge in the State of Utah, I have that feeling within me." Why, even the little boys and girls would understand, if a man set forth that sort of claim, and sought to maintain it, that there was something wrong with him mentally. Judges are not appointed by having a call ¶

that comes from within the individual. A man cannot even be a city policeman, or a country constable by any such feeling taking possession of his mind. He must be appointed by proper authority, the authority that has its foundation in the people. We have designated how all these various positions shall be filled, and for any man to imagine that he can fill even the humblest of these callings without being appointed according to the law of the land, is but an indication of unusual weakness in his intellectual powers. ¶

When we come to the things of God, men seem not able to comprehend so readily the need of divine authority. Some feel that it is all right for men to say within themselves, that they are called to minister in the name of Jesus Christ, that revelation and ordination for the conferring of authority is nonessential. But the doctrine of the gospel is, "Ye have not chosen me, ["the precious words of Jesus Christ], but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring fruit, * * * that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." Bible students, is not this the doctrine of the ancient apostles? In absolute harmony with this is the doctrine of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who has declared to us that John, the forerunner of the Lord Jesus Christ, made his appearance, and laid his hands upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and said, "Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of ¶

sins ; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." ¶

Such is a foundation stone of "Mormonism." An angel from on high, commissioned by the author of the everlasting gospel, the Lord Jesus Christ, laying his hands upon the head of the Prophet Joseph and conferring upon him authority. It is a bedrock stone, it cannot be overturned. It has withstood the onslaughts that have been made in the past. No weak place has been found in this story of "Mormonism," concerning the restoration of divine authority. When we speak of the coming of the Father and the Son, when we speak of the coming of John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Redeemer, the being who was honored with the high privilege of baptizing the Son of God, when we speak of Peter, James, and John, who came restoring the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood — the men upon whom that Melchizedek Priesthood was bestowed by the Son of God — each restoring the authority they held in mortality, it is a story of strength, that has never been overcome, and there has never been any faulty place found in it ; and I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, that with the restoration of this authority that we honor, has come the promise of the living God that the work established under the direction and by the authority of this Priesthood now restored, shall endure forever and forever. That is the promise of God. It shall not be uprooted, it shall not be broken to pieces, it shall not come to naught, but it shall endure. These men so testify, I so testify, thank God with all my soul, and I know whereof I speak. ¶

I thought when we started our meeting in the open air, of a time long ago in Scotland, when I stood out in the open field, a boy missionary, with some tremblings and with some little fear and doubt in my mind ; although born in the Church, and taught the principles of the gospel ; when I came to minister in the name of Jesus Christ, when I was far away from father and mother, far away from my country and people, then there was a cry went out from my soul, "Am I a servant of Jesus Christ? Have I authority to minister in the name of the Redeemer of the world?" That thought came to me, and that cry of anxiety was in my soul, until God in his kindness and mercy, and in fulfilment of his promise, because I was anxious to know the truth, I was anxious to do my duty and to preach the gospel, revealed to me by the power of the Holy Ghost the truth of this gospel ; and the happiest moments I have ever known in my life, the happiest moments I ever expect to experience in the future of my life, have been and will be when I bear record in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that Joseph Smith was called of God to be a prophet, and was ordained an apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, and commanded to organize this Church to which we have given our allegiance. ¶

No wonder we honor authority, even the authority of God, and we honor every other proper authority, the authority in every land ; because it is an article of our faith that we "believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law," wherever we may reside. We have honor for all authority, honor for the President ¶

of the United States, love for America. Why, I wear a little button here myself, for two stalwart sons who are in the service of the United States. Of course it wrenches the heart when they say good-bye. It wrenches the heart when they write that" ? No, we cannot say it, we job we have in hand, but we expect to do our 'duty, like men, be the cost what it may." Do you think we can call them back, do you think we can say, "O, son, you are not to do that?" No, we cannot say it, we can only say, "Go forward, my boy, in the accomplishment of duty ; consecrate your life to the performance of the labor asked of you, even to the laying down of your life, if need be, for what God hath wrought in the establishment of this great Government of the United States of America, must be maintained, God having declared that he raised up wise men and inspired them to write the Constitution of our Country, and to make firm and steadfast and sure, the Constitution of America, and extend Liberty at last to every land and every people in the world. God himself has so said, and it is right and pleasing in his sight that all men shall enjoy the same liberty. It is for that we give our sons, that they may not only uphold and sustain the institutions of our Country, but also establish the decree of God, and bring the blessings of the land to every nation under heaven. ¶

I bear record of the truth. I know of what I speak. I did not obtain it from the teaching of father and mother, although, thank God, I had a good father and mother, who believed the truth and who loved the truth. But when I bore record concerning the truth of this gospel. ¶

I had to obtain that knowledge in the same way that father and mother obtained it before me, by service, by giving my heart to God. There is no other way. Father and mother could not give me the testimony and knowledge, let them love it ever so dearly, let them try ever so hard, they could only point out the way in which I should walk. In that path I myself finally came to a knowledge of the truth, revealed to me by the Lord God, just as it had been revealed to my parents before me. The same thing is true today. I cannot give a knowledge of this gospel to my own sons and daughters. I can only say to them, This work is not my work, but His who has called me to minister therein. If ye will do his will and test these ordinances and principles of the gospel, ye shall be brought to an understanding of the truth by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and know from the crown of your head to the soles of your feet, that God has spoken and has established this work in which we are laboring. ¶

God help us to love it forever and forever, to maintain its principles, to uphold its authority, and to cultivate the disposition, every one of us, to say, not only when the President of the Church makes his appearance, but to say to all authority, in the wards, and in the stakes, and in the missions, "I delight to honor the man whom God hath honored." I humbly pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

The congregation sang: "Do What is Right." ¶

Benediction was pronounced by Elder Hugh S. Geddes, president of the Oneida Stake of Zion. ¶