Public Testimony and Faithfulness

I assure you it is a great pleasure to meet you on this occasion, and to associate with my brethren in the declaration and defense of the truth, and to enjoy this opportunity to bear my testimony to you, my brethren and sisters; because that testimony which has been borne under the guidance and direction of the Holy Spirit of the Lord, or that public commitment of one's feelings before one's brethren, adds strength to one to resist the temptations which beset mortal men, as perhaps no other one thing will do. ¶

While upon my mission in the east, and after a street service, an under-professor of Columbia University asked how it was that in a recent visit to Salt Lake City, Utah, he found so many people who were set upon living religious lives. I explained to him the peculiar organization of the Church, showing that we had not a paid ministry, who were to mould public sentiment and to give counsel and instruction pertaining to one's conduct in life; but that in the services held among our people we had the peculiarity of calling men from the congregation to give a reason for the hope within them. He saw our point of view, that while one individual who may rest in comfort upon the rear seat in one of our gathering places; one Sunday, another ¶

next to him, may be called upon to address the congregation; and one who has committed himself in public utterance goes away with a determination to live the life which he has declared it was his determination to live. ¶

I care not how little or how much one may speak, if but for a short time, and he expresses his desire to be honest, truthful, virtuous, possessed of loving kindness, neighborly, I believe that the Lord has made it impossible for him thus to commit himself in his public utterances, and go straightway from the meeting, be dishonest, unvirtuous, profane, or to be anything except that which he has asked, through the assistance of the Lord and the faith and prayers of his fellowmen, to be. And further, the individual who remained upon his seat, not halving been called upon, naturally realizes that he is a part of this peculiar organization, that if they have called upon his neighbor this time, they may call upon him next time, hence, he also commences his reform, there and then, else when he stands before the public, he may stand with apologies written on his countenance, because the people with whom he has associated know his life, and it is ill becoming of one whose life is not what it' should be to stand as an instructor of righteousness. My mind turns to section 68 in the Doctrine and Covenants, which contains the doctrine quite distinct of itself, and in contradistinction to the religions of the world: ¶

My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordinance to proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people, and from land to land, in the congregations of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with, and expounding all Scriptures unto them. ¶

And. behold, and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this Priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth; ¶

And this is the ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost, ¶

And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation: ¶

Behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants; ¶

Wherefore be of good cheer,, and do not fear, for I the Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and that I am to come. ¶

This is the word of the Lord unto you my servant, Orson Hyde, and also unto my servant Luke Johnson, and unto my servant Lyman Johnson, and unto my servant William E. M'Lellin, and unto all the faithful elders of my Church. ¶

What wonderful power is here portrayed as being possessed by one who, under the inspiration of Almighty God, can hear testimony !hat Jesus is the Christ, which testimony can only come from a possession of the Holy Spirit of God which leads into all truth. How different from that system which depends upon an education, a college ¶

training, a university atmosphere, carried by the individuals who occupy the pulpits of the world. How much 'better it is, and I am sure that you agree with me, to sit and listen to the word of the Lord for but a brief period, when spoken under the inspiration of the Lord, than to hear the empty eloquence of one who has paid more attention to rhetoric than to truth. ¶

As Latter-day Saints, we must not fall into the ways of the world. I would not have it understood) that I am against preparation — because I am for preparation, and I do not believe that the Lord can direct a good sermon from an empty mind. I believe that it is necessary for one to devote himself to prayerful study; that the Holy Spirit of God may be enjoyed in the interpretation which one finds in the study room, as well as the inspiration of the Lord when, in public, he declares the truth. ¶

When I was a child attending the Primary association, we were taught to sing a little kindergarten song— I am not sure that it is not taught now ; in fact, some of my children sing it : ¶

I think when I read that sweet story of old, ¶

When Jesus was here among men, How he called little children as lambs to his fold, I should like to have been with him then. ¶

I wish that his hand had been placed on my head, That his arm had been thrown about me, . That I might receive his kind looks when he said, "Let the little ones come unto me." ¶

O, how I longed for a time when I might receive these favors; how I yearned for the knowledge of that which I had not, of having been associated personally with him when he walked upon the earth and mingled with men! I thought no greater people could ever have lived than those who lived during the time of Christ. But I have learned different. I have reached the conclusion that this is the choicest time for one to live: when the Holy Spirit abounds, and is free for all who will conform to the requirements under which it is enjoyed. Think of Peter, faithful though impetuous Peter, who rubbed shoulders with his Master; who stood side by side with him when scorn was hurled by the enemy; when he boasted of his own strength, "If all depart from thee, yet will I stand with thee." The Savior saw the boastfulness of his nature and warned him and said, "Before the cock shall crow, thou shalt deny me thrice." When Jesus was taken into the court of Herod, where a fire perhaps was built to light the night, Peter skulked along the shadow of the wall ; he wanted to be with his Savior, but his own strength failed him, and when a little maiden pointed out and said that he was with the Savior, Peter denied it. When they asked him to say certain words which, because of his peculiar tongue, he could not say, then they accused him again, and lie cursed and swore and said he did not know the Savior. That was after he had rubbed shoulders with the Master. But did Peter ever ¶

deny Christ after the promise of the Comforter had come upon him, after he had tarried in Jerusalem to receive the same? No; and we are told in tradition that, at the close of his life, when he was sentenced by Roman power to give his life for his testimony, and was to he crucified, as was the custom of the Romans to mete out capital punishment, he said, "I am not worthy to be crucified as my Lord and Master was crucified ; let me be crucified with my head downward," because he had denied the Christ. Such was the valor, such was the courage, such was the testimony of Peter when the Spirit of God came, like the cloven tongue of fire upon them during the Pentecost, and afterward in his life, when he devoted himself to the work of the ministry in feeding the sheep! "Feed my lambs," he had been admonished by the Savior. ¶

New, my brethren and sisters, have we the Spirit of the Lord in our hearts, and in our homes? If not, is it not time we were putting them in order, in order that the living testimony of Jesus may be found abiding in our homes, and in our daily conduct in life; for, after we have been forgiven of our sins through baptism, through obedience in baptism, the Spirit of the Lord comes as an attestation from our Father that our lives are approved of him, whatsoever our conduct may have been in the past. "When ye shall receive the companionship of the Holy Spirit of the Lord, then know ye that God has forgiven our sins." And when you have not that Spirit, then it is time to bow in sackcloth and ashes, repent and secure that Spirit, so that when we are called from time to time, we may speak that which will be the word of the Lord, that which will be scripture, that which will be the mind of the Lord, that which will be the power of God unto salvation. ¶

I have a testimony in my heart of the truthfulness of this work, and I bear it to you in all sincerity that, as I know anything in life, I know that the gospel is true, and that it will serve the greatest human need today upon all the face of the earth. May God help us to apply the principles of the gospel in our daily lives, that we may be found faithful, full of zeal, full of the testimony of Jesus, and the love of our fellow men, and dwell in the confidence of God, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶