The Work of God Will Triumph

In standing before you today, my brothers and sisters, and endeavoring to give you something that will be of benefit to you, I must ask for your faith and your prayers, for I realize that without them it will not be possible for me to give you anything worth while, and that with them, and with the sustaining power of the Almighty, the words I may be given to say will be of great benefit to you. ¶

I endorse, from the bottom of my heart, the remarks of the speakers who have preceded me, and as I have listened to them and have heard their words of encouragement, yea their words of prophecy, I have marveled at the blessings of our heavenly Father and the wonderful power that he gives to his servants, when they are called to perform a duty and when they surrender themselves to him. It has been my lot, and no doubt the lot of many of you, to hear the learned divines of the world in their studied discourses, preaching along the lines of ethics and morals, and even along the lines of religion, as far as they understand it; and I have wondered frequently that they have given so little. Only recently I read a many-paged address of the most prominent bishop of one of the best known of the Protestant churches, and I sat with my pencil in my hand to mark passages that might be of interest and of value to me, and when I had finished this sermon and glanced back to see where I had marked it, I discovered I had underscored two lines, which afterwards I noticed were quotations from an old history. I compare things of this kind with the wonderful power of the servants of the Lord, with the masterful, powerful, spiritual addresses that you have listened to during this conference, and there comes to my mind this passage in the first chapter of Corinthians: ¶

For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not Many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty,, not many noble, are called: ¶

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; ¶

And base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought things that are. ¶

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And as I pondered this thought, my mind reverted to that wonderful manifestation of the power of the Almighty, of one hundred years ago. When the hour had struck, when the time was there, when the earth was ready for God once more to reveal his mighty work, in place of going into the universities and the schools and among the learned divines, he went into the back woods of the state of New York, and chose that unschooled boy, raised him up, and gave to him such marvelous knowledge, light, and wisdom, that the influence of his work is going to all the corners of the earth. The peoples of the world are taking notice and are adopting, one by one, the principles that this boy prophet, of the nineteenth century gave to the world. ¶

This thing called "Mormonism" is a divine thing; it is a most powerful thing, and its potency grows day by day. Its influence is being felt, and the world is being made better because of these men and these women who put themselves in tune with God. And when they are in tune with him, through obeying his laws, they receive the Holy Ghost, and having received this most blessed boon from our Father, disseminate its blessings and wonderful gifts in all the world. This is the work of God ; he, the Almighty one, is with it ; he has placed it on the earth for a definite purpose ; and in place of the creeds of the present day, the creeds which the people find uncomforting and unsatisfying, he has placed the gospel of Christ in its fulness, and he has charged his people to carry it unto the whole world and to preach to all the children of men this wonderful gospel cf the kingdom, that they may work out their own salvation, that they may prepare themselves for eternal life, and that in preparing themselves, they may find joy and comfort and gifts and blessings here and now in mortality. ¶

Why, do you know, my friends, to the average Christian person, religion does not mean very much? It is a kind of life-buoy a kind of a fire-escape, a kind of a something that will save him from going to hell. But to a Latter-day Saint who studies his religion who knows what it is, and who lives righteously before God, there comes into his life a most wonderful, blessed knowledge of what the gospel really is and there unfolds before him a most beautiful philosophy of life, life here and life hereafter. He finds comfort in his efforts to progress and he enjoys, day by day, the blessings of God. ¶

Now it must appeal to you, my brothers and sisters, that when that unknown boy, unschooled in the theologies of the world, announced these most marvelous truths, that in and of himself without the help of God, he could not have done what he did. It must appeal to you that with him there was a higher power, and as you meditate his eventful life and ponder his most marvelous work, truly it must burn itself into your soul that this work performed 'by the Prophet Joseph Smith, the restoring of the gospel, is not the work of man, but the work of Almighty God. ¶

I am reminded of the story in scripture where the Apostle Peter and his associates had been cast into prison because of their preaching Christ and him crucified, and how in their power they continued their work, how: they were miraculously released from prison, and they went forth and preached again. And they were called before the high priests and the doctors of the law again to be tried. ¶

Then stood there up one in the council, a Pharisee, named Gamaliel, a doctor of the law, had in reputation among all the people, and commanded to put the apostles forth a little space; ¶

_ And he said unto them, Ye men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what ye intend to do as touching these men. ¶

For before these days rose up Theudas, boasting himself to be somebody; to whom a number of men, about four hundred, joined themselves: who was slain; and all, as many as obeyed him,, were scattered, and brought to nought. ¶

And after this man rose up Judas of Galilee, in the days of the taxing, and drew away much people after him: he also perished; and all, even as many as obeyed him, were dispersed. ¶

And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought: ¶

But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. ¶

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I might say that these words of Gamaliel are just as potent today as they were when they were uttered, two thousand years ago. With this latter-day work, we know God raised up a prophet and followed him with other prophets, men to lead, to guide, to instruct his people; and when this work commenced, it was the work of God, and though it has been opposed for one hundred years, though it has been fought against, though the people have used their mightiest weapons and the best brains of the world have combatted it, it stands today and will stand a monument to Almighty God. It will continue to grow, and ultimately it will triumph, for it is the work of God. This is my testimony in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶