Remarks by Rey L. Pratt

I sincerely trust, my brethren and sisters, that my voice will carry sufficiently far so that all of you may hear. It is to me this morning an inspiration to see this wonderful congregation before me. I have had the privilege in conferences that are past of speaking from these steps to the congregations of the Latter-day Saints in overflow open air meetings, but I think never before have I seen so many people who were not able to enter the great buildings, the Tabernacle and the Assembly Hall, and who because of their desire to hear the word of the Lord have congregated themselves upon these grounds. We are truly blessed of the Lord today in the magnificent weather. It is wonderful how mild it is and how comfortable we are here this morning, although I realize perfectly well that you are becoming tired from standing. But ii will only be once or twice a year that you will be asked to do this, and I would say, brethren and sisters, we would appreciate it greatly if you will hear us through. My only desire in speaking to you this morning is to teach you the truth concerning the gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

I find here recorded in Amos these wonderful words, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing but he revealeth his secrets unto his servants the prophets." And I should like to turn and read to you the scripture that is given to the world in what is known as the Articles of Faith. "We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the kingdom of God." ¶

I bear you my testimony, my brethren and sisters, that the Church of Jesus Christ has been founded and is established upon the principle of revelation, and that is the message that we have borne to the world since Joseph Smith announced that God himself had spoken to him, that his Son, Jesus Christ, had come and revealed his mind and will unto him, and we hold it forth as a principle that cannot be controverted, or set aside, that the kingdom of God must rest upon the rock of revelation. We believe that all the events, that have befallen the children of men, from the very beginning of time, have been revealed even before they happened through the prophets of the Lord to the children of men. ¶

We believe that the Lord is speaking through his prophets today, and we also believe that through all time to come, as long as mortal man lives upon this sphere, God will reveal himself to his servants the prophets and through them to his people. Your boys and your girls by the thousands have gone forth as missionaries, and today almost two thousand of them are standing among the nations of the earth on this Sabbath morning, and that is the burden of their message. There are ministers of the world who read the scriptures ; there are ministers of the world who teach morality ; there are ministers of ¶

the world who teach truth in some phases of it, but deny revelation. We might go forth, my brethren and sisters, and be learned in the scriptures, in science, and in all the learning of the world, but our message, like theirs, if robbed of this one great thing, would be a dead letter that killeth and does not give life eternal to the souls of men. ¶

We find that the world is not believing in these things, and for that reason it seems that we should be stirred up in remembrance; for the Lord, through his prophets, has revealed conditions that truly and verily prevail in our day, and my desire today is to stir up in the hearts of the youth of Zion and the people of the Church a renewed belief in prophets, a renewed belief in the word of revelation. We do not need to look for revelation clear back to the time of Moses, of all the prophets of the Old Testament, of the apostles of the New, and read their word only and the revelations of God to them, but verily today men commune with our Father and receive his revelations just as those prophets of olden times did. ¶

Is there any difference in the apostles who sit over here in this tabernacle and who stand upon their feet and proclaim their prophetic message to the world today, and the apostles who were sent out by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ? Who was Peter ? Who was James, and John, and Paul ? They were men, merely men — but endowed with a holy prophetic calling and made apostles unto the Lord Jesus Christ, and through them his word came to the world. Who are the men who have been endowed with this calling here? They are mortal men, but the calling is the same. Know it, ye youth of Zion! When you look upon those men, you look upon men as great as the men about whom you read in sacred and holy writ. And is there any difference in the quality of the prophets, the presidents of the Church, and those who have been the mighty prophets of the past ? I say unto you, there is no difference. But there is a danger that we do not appreciate these things, and there is hanging over the world that wo of Almighty God because they have rejected this principle of revelation. ¶

Behold, what I read unto you is the revelation of the Lord through his prophets in times that are past, and we are committed to believe in it: "Yea, wo unto him that shall deny the revelations of the Lord, and that shall say the Lord no longer worketh by revelation, or by prophecy, or by gifts, or by tongues, or by healings, or by the power of the Holy Ghost ! Yea, and wo unto him that shall say at that day, to get gain, that there can be no miracle wrought by Jesus Christ; for he that doeth this shall become like unto the son of perdition, for whom there was no mercy, according to the word of Christ." ¶

It behooves us, therefore, to continue steadfast in this belief. We sang at the beginning of this meeting that wonderful, inspirational hymn, that should go to the heart of every Latter-day Saint, "We thank thee, O God, for a prophet, to guide us in these latter days ;" and in this great conference the word of the Lord has come to the ¶

Church through the prophet of the Lord, and that word is, Repent ye; and live in harmony with the laws of God and the laws of the land. ¶

Brethren and sisters, can we expect to be blessed and disregard this call? I trembled last night as I listened to the words of that prophet calling upon the people to live clean lives. It seemed that it was not the word of mortal man, but it was the word of God, that penetrated to the very center of my being. Brethren and sisters, I bear you my testimony that this, is the word of the Lord. ¶

The prophets of old have pointed out the conditions that should exist in this age. We believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, and yet we find people who are professed Latter-day Saints who are skeptical in regard to some of the prophecies contained in that book. Reference has been made this morning to the fact that there is a Lamanite mission. I thank the Lord that I am identified with it. I thank the Lord that for 16 years I have raised my voice in defense of the principles of the gospel and in the teaching of eternal truth to the Lamanite nation that live to the south of us, and still I come home to find men, my brethren, who say, "surely the Lord can do nothing with those people, surely our time and effort is wasted in all that we try to do for them." O, my brethren and sisters, can the voice or the hand of puny man stay and forestal what God has predicted shall come to pass? Who will stand up contrary, to avert the bringing to pass the purposes of God? Do we believe what he revealed in regard to the redemption of that people? I do. And if it takes my life, it won't take any more than it has taken of some other men to establish the gospel in some of the countries where perhaps some of you have come from. It is the Lord's work; he has decreed it, and it shall go forth. ¶

Reference5 has been made during this conference to the spirit of lawlessness that prevails. I think that one of the greatest things that endanger this great country of ours is the mistaken conception of liberty in the hearts and in the minds of the people. The people mistake liberty for license and are becoming licentious. They are unvirtuous ; they are unchaste, and they say they are so because they are free to do what they wish to do. They engage in disastrous strikes and imperil the life and limb and liberty of their fellow men, because they say they are free. Beware of a false freedom, of a false liberty, that transcends the bounds of true liberty, true freedom, which comes with the exercise of truth and the knowing of it. The prophet of the Lord has called us to repentance in regard to these things. Now, my brethren and sisters, can we consistently fail to give heed to his warning? I should like to read to you the word of the Lord, as it came to the prophet as recorded here in the 30th chapter of III Nephi. The prophets of old and the prophets of modern time sound the same warning. Under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord, President Brigham H. Roberts of the First Council of Seventy and President ¶

of the Eastern States mission, sounded a warning to the Gentile nation of which we form a part. Through prophetic vision the prophets of old foresaw our day ; they foresaw the evils that would come in among us ; and resounding down through the ages come to us the words of the prophets of old, by way of admonition and a call to repentance, that I should like to read to you. It is to us, in so far as it is applicable in that we are guilty of any of the things mentioned here, and it is to the great nation of people known as the United States of America, directed specifically to them as a call to repentance. And let me say here that their very existence upon this continent is conditioned in this great prophetic book upon their living in harmony with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and not rejecting him; and when they do reject him, wo, wo unto them: ¶

"Hearken, O ye Gentiles, and hear the words of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, which he hath commanded me that I should speak concerning you, for, behold he commandeth me that I should write saying, ¶

"Turn, all ye Gentiles, from your wicked ways, and repent of your evil doings, your lyings and your deceivings, and of your whoredoms, and jour secret abominations, and your idolatries, and of your murders, your priestcrafts, and your envyings,, and your strifes, and from, all your wickedpess and abominations, and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, that ye may receive a remission of your sins, and be filled with the Holy Ghost, that ye may be numbered with my people who are of the house of Israel." ¶

Should we write a catalog of the crimes to which this people are most addicted today, would we not name the very ones that the prophet calls the people to repentance of in this great prophecy? Is the nation chaste? Is it true? Are they not deceivers? Are there not abominable secret combinations that threaten the very foundations of our society? There are, and the Lord holds forth a means of escape from these things. He has not cast the people off. No ; his arm is yet extended, even as in times of old, when he would have gathered the people together even as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wing. But he will not, if they will not. No force, no coercion will be used. But in the due time of the Lord, his calamities and his judgments will be poured out, to let the world know that God will not be mocked, that he is at the helm, that this is his work and we are his creatures. So the great cry today to Israel, to the world, to us all, is repentance. And the great message to the world that should be delivered here at home and in the nations abroad by your sons and by your daughters, is the fact that God speaks again and that he will continue to speak right down to the remotest moment of time. ¶

I live in a part of the country where recent occurrences have brought very forcibly to my mind some conditions. You will note in what I read here that the Lord spoke in regard to secret combinations. Now, I would like just to say a word — and let it be known that it is not mine, but it is the word of the prophets of the Lord, a warning word and a voice raised to give us a key by which we might understand and know danger when it appears. ¶

WhT'fore, O ye Gentiles, it is wisdom in God that these' things should ¶

be shewn unto you, that thereby ye may repent of your sins, and suffer not that these murderous combinations shall get above you, which are built ¶

up to get power and gainj, and the work, yea, even the work of destruction come upon you, yea, even the sword of the justice of the eternal God shall fall upon you, to your overthrow and destruction, if ye shall suffer these things to be ; ¶

Wherefore the Lord commandieth you, when ye shall see these things come among you, that ye shall awake to a sense of your awful situation, because of this secret combination which shall be among you, or wo be unto it, because of the blood of them who have been slain; for they cry from the dust for vengeance upon it, and also upon those who build it up. ¶

For it cometh to pass that whoso buildeth it up seeketh to overthrow the freedom of all lands, nations, and countries; and it bringeth to pass the destruction of all people, for it is built up by the devil, who is the father of all lies; even that same liar who beguilded our first parents; yea, even that same liar who hath caused man to commit1 murder from the beginning; who hath hardened the hearts of men, that they have murdered the prophets, and stoned them, and cast them out from) the beginning. ¶

If the temptation comes to you to join these super-governments, as they are called, those invisible empires that swear allegiance greater to their own organization — although it be within the organization of the great United States — than they swear to the constitution of the country, remember the words of the prophet, for it is of the devil, and it will bring destruction to the person and to the community and to the nation that will foster it and will permit it to grow and become a power in their midst. ¶

The voice of the Lord through his prophets is calling us to repentance from these things. O, why, why, brethren and sisters is it so? Where is the intelligence that the Lord gives us? We can see that to live within the law is best, is safest. Why are we so prone to live outside of the law ? Why should we make ourselves a power unto ourselves and prescribe that part of the law that we should live ? Did the Lord command us not to kill? He did. We all believe that we should not kill. Was it a different one that told us not to steal? No. Was it a different one that told us not to bear false testimony? No. Was it a different one that told us not to make or traffic in or sell or drink bootleg whisky? No. For through his prophet he has told us not to do those things. Was it a different one that told us not to drink tea and not to drink coffee? No. It is the same one, and we are disobeying him when we do those things, and the judgment of God sooner or later will come upon us. Was it a different one than the one that told us to be chaste, to be virtuous, to be true, and to be clean? No, it is the same one, my brethren and sisters. So let us obey him. Was it a different one that told us to go into all the world and preach the gospel, unto every creature ? No. It is the same one ; and whether those creatures reside in Mexico or whether they reside in Siberia, or whether they reside in India, when the call of God comes, O, tirethren and sisters, let us lay all we have upon his altar, and let us go and keep his commandments and cleanse our garments of the blood of the generation in which we live. ¶

I am happy to have had the privilege of speaking to you for a few ¶

moments here this morning. I wish, in conclusion, to bear you my testimony that I know that God lives, he is my Father, he reveals himself to the children of men. I know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh, and that he came in the meridian of time and wrought out a salvation and a redemption for the children of men. Passing over the time of the apostasy, I testify to you that God and his Son, Jesus Christ, in answer to a humble prayer of that prophet boy, Joseph Smith, came to him and spoke to him and revealed to him what God is. I testify to you that from him came messengers bearing the holy message of the gospel and the power of the Priesthood, and that the power of the Priesthood was committed to the Prophet Joseph Smith by which power he organized the Church and put in operation the great work that has brought us together here today. I testify that, given to him by the Angel Moroni, he translated the plates from which the Book of Mormon was taken, and gave to us a "new witness for God" in the world. I testify to you that he received from God further revelation and inspiration— every word that is contained in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and it is the law and the will of the Lord unto us, his people, here today. ¶

I testify to you something more; that every man who has stood as the successor of that great prophet has held the same keys of prophetic leadership and apostleship that he held. There has been no mistake, from Brigham Young right down to the man whose voice it is the privilege of all of us to hear in this great conference here today. I testify to you that Heber J. Grant is a prophet of God ; and the man who rejects his words, the man who rejects his counsel, rejects it to his own peril in the world. ¶

The Lord bless you ; the Lord help you to live as Latter-day Saints should live, and bear up the part assigned to you in this great work; for our Father's children are everywhere yet hungering and thirsting for righteousness. O, brethren and sisters, compared with the joy it brings ta them, how little is your sacrifice, after all, in sending forth your boys and your girls — being without them, scrimping to support them! O, if you could only feel and know and see the joy that comes to those whom they reach, I know that your hearts would be made glad. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven. Can we give more than our Savior gave? Think of what he did for us. Then, next, can we do more than the Prophet Joseph did? Think of his life and what he did and what he gave. Just where we stand in the conflict, that; is our place ; just where we might think we are useless, let us not hide our face ; for God has placed us here for a purpose ; whatever it be, let us think that he has chosen us for it. Let us work loyally. The Lord bless you is my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶