If the Gentiles Shall Hearken

"And it shall come to pass, that if the Gentiles shall hearken unto the Lamb of God in that day that He shall manifest Himself unto them in word and also in power, in very deed unto the taking away of their stumbling blocks, and if they harden not their hearts against the Lamb of God, they shall be numbered among the seed of thy father : yea, they shall be numbered among the house of Israel; and they shall be a blessed people upon the promised land forever; they shall be no more brought down into captivity; ¶

and the house of Israel shall no more be confounded And ¶

it came to pass that the angel spake unto me, Njephi, saying, Thou hast beheld that if the Gentiles repent it shall be well with them; and thou also knowest concerning the covenants of the Lord unto the house of Israel; and thou also hast heard that whoso repenteth not must perish. Therefore, wo be unto the Gentiles if it so be that they harden heir hearts against the Lamb of God. For the time cometh, saith the Lamb of God, that I will work a great and a marvelous work among the children of men; a work which shall be everlasting, either on the one hand or on the other — either to the convincing of them unto peace and life eternal, or unto the deliverance of them to the hardness of their hearts and the blindness of their minds unto their being brought down into captivity, and also into destruction,, both temporally and spiritually, according to the captivity of the devil,, of which I have_ spoken." I Nephi 14: 1-7. ¶

These are the words that the Lord spoke through His prophet Nephi, when He gave unto him the vision of what should be upon this continent in the last days. He beheld that the remnant of his seed that should be mingled with the Lamanites, should be brought down by the hand of the Gentile nations that should come in among them. He prophesied also that the Lord would not permit the Gentiles to remain in a state of darkness, described by him incident to, or touching, the great and abominable church in their midst, incident to the fact that the holy scriptures had been wrested and twisted among them, to the end that the people were not able to discover or discern which was right or which was wrong ; but the Lord would through his mercy, establish among the Gentiles the fulness of His everlasting gospel. And he made wonderful promises unto the Gentiles, who should be blessed. And here he sets forth very plainly, that if they would give heed to the teachings of that gospel that would be restored among them, they should be numbered among those of the house of Israel, they should be blessed for ever, they should not be molested in their possession of this land of promise. But there is another side of the question here, and it is specifically set forth that if they should not serve the Lord with full purpose of heart, if they should turn from Him, they should be destroyed, and that not only temporally but also spiritually. I find in this Book of Mormon things that to me are very pertinent, for this is the very nation described. This book is one that has come into the world with the restoration of the gospel. It is true, it is the word of the Lord given through His ancient prophets and apostles upon this land, who foresaw our day. ¶

And inasmuch as the note has been sounded in this conference, of repentance, it seems to me timely to call attention to some of these things that so specifically point to our day; for if we are not mindful as a people, if we are not mindful as a nation, if the Gentile people who have come here do not give heed to the inspired word of God, do not accept the gospel as offered to them, this scripture foretells for them an awful destruction. ¶

I would like to read to you the Lord's decree, the first decree that we have any account of having been given, concerning this land on which we dwell. This decree was given to the brother of Jared, a great prophet who led his people to this land at a very early day. You will find it in the words of the brother of Jared given in the second chapter of the Book of Ether, through Moroni, who abridged the history of the Jaredites found on the gold plates. It is there stated : ¶

"And it came to pass that they did travel in the wilderness, and did build barges, in which they did cross many waters, being directed continually by the hand of the Lord. And the Lord would not suffer that they should stop beyond the sea in the wilderness but He would that they should come forth even unto the land of promise, which was choice above all other lands, which the Lord God had preserved for a righteous people. And He had sworn in His wrath unto the brother of Jared, that whoso should possess this land of promise from that time henceforth and forever should serve him, the true and only God,, or they should be swept off when the fulness of His wrath should come upon them. And now, we can behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off wjhen the fulness of His wrath has come upon them. And the fulness of His wrath cometh upon them wh'en they are ripened in iniquity. For behold, this is a land which is choice above all other lands; wherefore he that doth possess it shall serve God or shall be swept off; for it is the everlasting decree of God. And it is not until the fulnes of iniquity among the children of the land that they are swept off. And this cometh unto you, O ye Gentiles, that ye may know the decrees of God — that ye may repent, and not continue in your iniquities until the fulness come, that ye may not bring down the fulness of wrath of God upon you as the inhabitants of this land hath hitherto done. Behold, this is a choice land,, and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall be free from bondage, and from captivity, and from all other nations under heaven, if they will but serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ who hath been manifested by the things which we have written. " ¶

Here again we find the perfect warning voice of God coming to the Gentiles who should possess this land. Now the question of all importance to us is not armies, not navies, is not ambition, is not universities, is not learning, but the question to us is, wherein lies the security of this great Gentile nation? Not only the one but the many Gentile nations commingling, making a nation that has built one of the greatest governments that has ever been known, that has established better laws and better living conditions than have ever before been known among the children of men since the creation, things that are in every way desirable? But I repeat, that the continuance ¶

of these conditions depends upon the fact as to whether the people will accept and subscribe to the principles of the gospel. And to accept the gospel is none other, nor aught else than to put our lives in harmony with the laws of eternal truth, which are God's laws ; the laws by which all that is was created, and all that is, is sustained in the universe ; and when those laws are controverted, when those laws are disobeyed, that disobedience brings disintegration, and destruction, and the ultimate annihilation of those who indulge in breaking them. Is there not today, by the prophets, seers and revelators, who stand at the head of Israel, who are God's mouth-pieces unto the world today, who sound the cry of repentance today, and also to the whole earth — is there not again a sounding of that decree ? ¶

We have not only the testimony of your sons in the mission field, who come in contact with the world ; the testimony of mission presidents who sound their voices to and mingle their voices in, all parts of this fair land, Canada and Mexico ; but we have the testimony of this nation's statesmen and great men, that there has never been a time in the history of this country, when there was so crying a need for repentance as there is today. I believe we are living in the fulfilment of the time spoken of by Paul, in his Epistle to Timothy. This is as I find it, and I hope you will not take it that I am a calamity howler, and that I do this for effect. I consider it incumbent upon me to raise my voice abroad and at home ; and I do not let an opportunity pass, to sound my voice, even the cry of repentance, in the ears of the people, so that not only we, but the nations and people with whom we dwell, might repent, and be saved in the kingdom of heaven. I believe we are living in the time of the fulfilment of the words spoken by the Apostle Paul to Timothy: (II Tim. 3:1-7.) ¶

"This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, prou<A, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce,, despisers of those who are good, traitors, heady highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God, having a form of godliness,, but denying the power thereof; from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses,, and lead captive silly women, laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." ¶

I request you candidly, brethren and sisters, to ask yourselves the question, was there ever a time when you have seen manifested so great a spirit of selfishness as there is today, individually, in groups, in cities, and nationally? We find this selfish instinct more apparent than I have ever seen it in my life. Do we not find ourselves to be deceivers, truce-breakers, and find the same in others? And do we not find ourselves hating one another, partaking of practices of the world that are not righteous? Why, I am constantly kept in hot water. I came up here, in the last two weeks, from the interior of Mexico, and I find here, in the newspapers and among the people, things that are slanderous to the Mexican people, things that are ¶

given out as facts without facts to support them. But they are slanderous to those people ; they stir up hatred against the people there, and when I return I am, of course, asked about such things, and hence am kept in hot water. We go to the southern republic, and we find the press of that country rampant over the treatment that they receive, that is heaped upon their citizens who happen to be here, and I have to act in the roll of a pacifier in both countries. I try to make them see that it is not the work of the masses, but of agitators, and I think likely that class is to be found here. ¶

In the religions of the day do we find the power of God, or is there more likely to be found a form of godliness, and the men engaged in religious pursuits denying the power of godliness, more than we find in them a living and loving faith, and the love of God and His righteousness? I wish to read a little extract from the Literary Digest of February 25 : ¶

''Interviewed by a reporter of the New York Times, several clergymen exhibit, we _are told,, a decidedly 'liberal' tendency, one of them going so far as saying that many Methodists in good standing had only a 'technical' belief in the verbal inspiration of the Bible, and that in his opinion a man might be a good Methodist and believe, for instance, that the Biblical account of the creation, literally understood, was not in accordance with the fact." ¶

. Further on in the article it says : ¶

"People widen their experience. They are simply out-growing these old points of view. There has been an emancipation in theological views about the verbal inspiration of the Bible. The belief in verbal inspiiation is only technically held today by a great many people. Today we "emphasize the spirit of the word. The great thing is to exercise discrimination. There are good books and bad, and you have to discriminate but nobody can do that for rne. The attitude of most Methodists toward Darwinism, I think is that it is accepted with reservations. There is a certain type of mind which carries it too far, and makes it odious. But the principle is believed in general'y. It is the great fundamental law of life." ¶

My brethren and sisters, if God does not exist, why then the need of any ism in all the wide world ? If the world does not need I will say, any moral life, and God did not create us, why then continue any nonsense along that line? They go further than this and many ministers tell you that Jesus Christ is a fiction, as a living entity never did live; that the Christ story is only a beautiful story concocted for whatever end it might serve. So they have, I say, a form of godliness, but they deny the very foundation upon which' it rests and must rest. I thank God I believe in Him as a literal tangible Being, who is my Father, and whose child I am, and I feel that I can go to Him in all of my anxieties, if I would go in the true spiritand I can get salvation ; I can get help. I am" thankful, but not in the spirit of the Pharisee, who thanked the Lord that he "was not as other men," but from the bottom of my heart I thank the Lord that ¶

I know I am created in the image of the Lord, my Maker; that I know that Jesus Christ came into the world, and was and is the Son of God, that He taught wisdom to men, whereby they may be, as He has again been, exalted into the celestial kingdom of our Father in heaven. ¶

Perhaps I would not have spoken in this vein, had it not been sounded in this conference; but I lift my voice with those who have spoken in this conference, and those who are crying, "Repent, ye nations of the earth, for the kingdom of God is at hand." ¶

Do I fear for this Church that has been established, although we are surrounded by temptations and the evils of the world? No. But I do know that this Church was established in these last days on the rock of revelation, and it will go on to its success. And I do know that we have a duty incumbent upon us to tell it to those who do not see as we see. That obligation comes with the knowledge we have of the gospel. I am perfectly positive and sure that the Church will go on to ultimate success and triumph. The only fear I have is, will I be able to stay with it? Will I be able to keep myself clean and unspotted from the sins of the world? And next to that, will my children, surrounded as they are by the evils and temptations of the world, be able to keep themselves pure and clean and unspotted from the sins of the world, and triumph with the work of God? And, next to that, will you, and particularly your children, be able to do likewise? That is the concern I have for Israel. After that, my concern is to gather from the world those who are honest at heart, who are, like ourselves, our Father's children — millions of them in the world ; and we want to teach them the way that they may escape calamities that will come upon them, if they do not repent. ¶

Now, is this promise of destruction a myth? I will only say that its fulfilment or non-fulfilment depends upon this people. You will find in the words of Moroni, that the Lord will destroy the people if they do not repent, even as He has hitherto done. I am a witness. As I have traveled over the valleys of Mexico I have seen evidences of the mighty judgments that came upon the people of a former generation that have lived upon this land. One month ago yesterday, with some fellow missionaries — perhaps some of your sons — I stood in the midst of a majestic ruined city. If Salt Lake City were to be ruined, and be left in a state of decomposition for as long a time as that one has been, it would leave, in comparison, but a mere scratch upon the land. . Those were a mighty people that have built cities that are wonderful even in their ruins today. I stood upon the summit of a mighty building in that city of Mexico, covering more ground at its base than the block on which we stand, the other day, and looked as far as I could see, and saw the mounds of that ruined city. They were a cultured people and highly civilized who had built that city. But the Book of Mormon recounts to us that ¶

there came a time when they became ripened in iniquity. And what did God do? He swept them off the land as completely as if they had never been, according to appearances which remain. Will he do it again? My knowledge is, that he will, except the people serve the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ. Therefore, I repeat to you that there lies for Israel, aye for America, no other way of safety but in keeping and living the commandments of God. ¶

This is the Lord's Church. I know that it is true. Sometimes the preaching of the elders, or sometimes even the word of the Savior, incites the ill-will of those who cannot see just exactly as we do. I wish to read you the words of the Savior Himself as recorded in the 15th chapter of Matthew: ¶

"Then came to Jesus scribes and Pharisees;, which were of Jerusalem, saying, Why do thy disciples transgress the tradition of the elders? For they wash not their hands when they eat bread. But he answered and said unto them, Whyi do ye also transgress the commandment of God by your tradition? For God commanded, saying, Honor thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father and mother, let him die the death. But ye say, Whosoever shall say to his father or his mother. It is a gift, by whatsoever thou mightest be profited by me; and honor not his father or his mother, he shall be free. Thus have ye made the commandment of God of none effect by your tradition. Ye hypocrites;, well did Esaias prophesy of you saying, This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. And He called the multitude and said unto them, Hear, and understand: Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man. Then came his disciples, and said unto Him, Knowest thou that the Pharisees were offended, after they heard this saying? But He answered and said, Every plant which my heavenly Fr.ther hath not planted,, shall be rooted up. Let them alone: they be blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both shall fall into the ditch." ¶

So we say, that every plant that is not planted of our heavenly Father shall be by Him rooted up. And what care we, though the world scoff and scorn. This Church has been nurtured on persecution from the day of its inception ; and if it brings persecution to declare ihe truth, let it come, for our duty is to warn the world and call men unto repentance. ¶

Oh, we do not preach that all men are lost. There are none, so far as we know, lost, only if they continue to do evil. Then they will be lost. But today, even as in the times of old, the Savior, through His disciples, through His ministers, through His missionaries that are sent into the world, is crying to the world to come to Him. I almost fancy I can hear His voice, as He said to Jerusalem : "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets, and stonest them which are sent unto thee, how often would I have gathered thy children together, even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and ye would not ! Behold, your house is left unto you desolate." But how literally has that promise been fulfilled upon the Jews. They still have an opportunity, but they have no opportunity to return, save by the road of repentance, and acknowledging Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the living God, their King and their Ruler whom they have to look upon as their Lord and their Savior. ¶

God help us, my brethren and sisters, to realize our true position as fathers and mothers in Zion, to teach our children lessons of chastity, purity and truth, that they may know how to pray to our Father in heaven ; teach them the principles of the gospel, of life, of health. All you fathers and mothers, get close to your boys in this age, get close to your daughters, and know where they are, and what they are doing, for man)' times they suffer by coming in contact with evil and ignorantly embracing it, not knowing the consequence ; and the responsibility may rest, in many instances, upon the father or the mother, who has not taken proper care in teaching their young folks. It is a time when men want wealth, they want riches, want commodities and comforts; but, my brethren and sisters, my .concern is not so much for these things as for the eternal truth, and those things which are of God, for our true and proper living. These are the pearls of great price. They are greater than all other things given to man. ¶

May God help us to fulfil our mission and destiny upon the earth in righteousness, I pray, in the name of the Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶