Authority and the Work of God

(President of the Southern States Mission) ¶

It is my humble prayer that I may be guided in my remarks by the Spirit of the Lord, under which Spirit my brethren have spoken to you — by which Spirit I testify unto you that they have declared unto you the word of the Lord. The Lord be praised for this glorious conference that is now drawing to a close, and we praise and thank him for the presence of the First Presidency and General Authorities of the Church, who have spoken unto Israel the word of the Lord, which is able to make us wise unto salvation. These leaders have spoken by the power of the Holy Ghost, and by that power their words have been carried to our hearts. ¶

We are a blessed people. Out of the world, out from the midst of the fog of superstition, error and unbelief, God has called us. But what for? To idle away our time? No ; for a special work he has called us. We are a peculiar people and, as the brethren have said, a people who are doing good works among the children of men. I believe and testify that the sacrifice of the Saints of God in living their religion, paying their tithing and sending their sons and daughters into the world to proclaim the fulness of the gospel, is sacred in the sight of God. And let us not deceive ourselves; if this work could be accomplished without sacrifice, it would cease to be a work of blessing; for "sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven." The light we are upholding before the world is Jesus Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer ; and with his doctrines we are salting the earth, and it shall yet be said by those who now oppose us that the faith of the Church has done more than any other religious belief in preserving and keeping alive in the hearts of men the knowledge of the true and living God. ¶

"We believe that a man must be called of God by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands, of those who are in authority, to preach the gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof." By that authority your sons and your daughters go into the world to preach the everlasting gospel, to deliver a message that is vital to the eternal salvation of the children of men. We are met frequently by men who declare they get their authority from the Bible. This is incorrect. Before we had the Bible, in its present form, there was authority, and there was also religion. Religion does not come out of the Bible; ¶

neither does authority. Both existed before there was any Bible.. And, in this dispensation of the fulness of times, by John the Baptist, and by Peter, James and John, the Father restored to the earth this power, this authority, this holy Priesthood, which is exercised in the spirit of love and meekness and persuasion for the eternal benefit of the sons and daughters of God. This is the authority which exists in this Church. ¶

The judgments of God are in the earth, and so are his blessings. The divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith may be proved and established beyond successful contradiction by the presence of judgments, pestilence, and famine in the earth, and by the presence of war — all of which were foretold by this choice seer and prophet, Joseph Smith ; but the divine mission of Joseph Smith may also be proved by the blessings of God that are in the earth. We are told that one of the signs that was to precede the second coming of the Son of God was the inauguration of a glorious work for the salvation of the dead. In Malachi we read, ¶

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: ¶

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. ¶

We Latter-day Saints are living and working in the realization of this splendid promise of unselfish and magnificent work for the salvation of the dead ; and it is one of the proofs which establishes beyond a doubt that Heber J. Grant is a prophet of the living God. The prophet who stands at the head of the Church is given the keys of that kingdom, which holds the power to permit work to be done by the living for the dead. In the Southern States mission — in every mission — on the isles of the sea, the hearts of the people are turning to their loved ones that have gone beyond the Veil, and the activity in this temple — which is a sermon in stone of the faithfulness tend unselfish devotion of God's people — this spiritual activity, the work for the dead, is increasing by leaps and bounds, and the hearts of the people in the distant missions and in the islands of the sea are being turned to their dead; and, inspired by the Holy Ghost, they have this work done for their dead kindred. If the president of this Churchdid not possess the authority to have this work done, do you think that the Holy Ghost, which guides unto all truth, would move the people on the isles of the sea and the missions outside of Zion to have their work done for the dead under the authority of President Heber J. Grant? No, it is because they know by the Holy Ghost, the testimony of Jesus Christ, that there is the power and the authority of the holy Priesthood in this the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord said to one of his Nephite prophets : ¶

For my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be, until the end of man; neither from that time henceforth and forever. (II Nephi 29:9) ¶

And unto Moses, God declared : ¶

For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. ¶

My brethren and sisters, we are the people of God, whom he is using to perform this great and glorious work; and whether in life or death, as the work of the Lord never ends, your work and my work shall never end; but so long as we continue faithful in this and in the world to come, we will be preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ and working for the salvation of the souls of the sons and daughters of God. Is not this a glorious work— more than world-wide ? It is eternitywide, never-ending; and in this work we will find the joy, the peace, and the reward that passeth all understanding. ¶

I bear you my testimony that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer and the Savior of the world, the Being who saved us by his precious blood, the Being who is leading this people today as surely as he led ancient Israel. I also bear you my testimony that Joseph Smith is a prophet, seer and a revelator, a man raised up of God to do a mighty work. He came into the world with God's message in his heart, and in courage and faith, he proclaimed that message until his glorious life ended in martyrdom. By the same spirit in which I bear this testimony, I testify that Heber J. Grant is the leader of this people, chosen of God, a man who! holds the power, the authority of presidency, the prophet, seer, and revelator — a blessing, a leader, a teacher, a counselor, a friend unto this people; and I bear this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶