Remarks by Samuel O. Bennion

I desire to be led by the Spirit of the Lord in rtiy remarks this morning, and I trust that I may have your faith and prayers. This position is, to some extent, a difficult one, but inasmuch as I have been selected to take a part, I desire to say that which the Lord would have me say for the good of all who are here. ¶

There is no question in my mind concerning the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have learned by experience, through association with men and women in the world, who know not the truth, and through my experience with men and women who have been sent into the world to preach the truth that there is power and genuineness and a spirit in this work in which we are engaged, which can not be found elsewhere in the earth. We would find this morning, if we had the privilege of visiting the great churches of the day, men and women, honorable men and women of the earth, gathered together, worshiping a God and believing in a God without a body, without parts, without passions, a great Spirit who fills the immensity of space and who sits enthroned in yonder heavens on the top of a topless throne. This is the conception of God held by many of the children of men, outside of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I haven't found in my experience any church which teaches, or representative of such who believes, that our Father is a personal being and that we are created in his image. I have listened to one or two men not representing any church, who have made such statements. I know where the truth came from ; it came from our Father through Joseph Smith, the prophet of God. I have wondered just how long it would be before those who were discussing the personality of God would recognize the inspiration and authority from which they took their remarks. This world is astray, so far as religion is concerned, and if it had not been for the revelations of the Father to Joseph the prophet, there never could have been any present salvation for the children of men, for man may worship God with all sincerity, believing that he is doing the right thing, but if he is worshiping in a way that is not ordained of the Lord, he can not receive the blessings of a glorified exaltation in the presence of that God who gave us life. There is one way only by which men may be saved and that is through obedience to law, and that obedience must be rendered by every man and every woman in the earth, or who has lived in the earth, or who will yet come to the earth, for salvation is predicated ¶

on obedience to the principle and ordinance of repentance and baptism. ¶

We have some illustrations in holy writ covering these points ; for example, the story of the rich man and Lazarus. Lazarus was persecuted by the afflictions of the body ; he was poor so far as this world's goods were concerned; he suffered during his life and lived from the leavings of the rich man's table. We are told that in time he died and was carried by the angels to the bosom of Abraham, for he had served the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob ; had walked in that path which led him to Abraham, and Jesus told the Jews that Abraham was in the kingdom of God. In time the rich man died also, and he looked up and beheld Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham. He found that he himself was in torment ; he had not received what he expected. When he appealed to Abraham, Abraham told him that he had received in his earth life that which was a pleasure to him, that which his wealth had procured for him. He had wasted his time. He had not served God. whom he did not know. So this man's reward was a punishment unto him and he said to father Abraham : "Send Lazarus that he may dip the tip of his fingers in water, and cool my tongue ; for I am tormented m this flame." But Abraham told him that where he was, Lazarus could not come, and where Lazarus was, he could not come: there was a great gulf that separated them. Lazarus in his day had overcome the wickedness of the world ; the other man had not, and in justice of God one was in torment and the other in the kingdom of God with Abraham, the father of the faithful, through whom all the nations of the earth were to be blessed. ¶

When the rich man discovered that he could not receive the blessings of Lazarus, he called Abraham to send some one to the earth to warn his brothers, five of them, that they might not be made partakers of his punishment, but Abraham said unto him : "They have Moses and the prophets. If they hear rot them neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead." The law of Moses was in the earth ; the words of the prophets were there. There were men to administer the ordinances of the gospel and it was not the privilege of Abraham to send a man direct to those who were, undoubtedly, willfully neglecting their opportunity. ¶

These stories and these illustrations are given here in mortality and they apply to your life and mine, and give us to understand that, according to the things we learn and do in this world we shall be rewarded and be blessed and exalted in that great life which awaits the human family. Is it not our duty to stand by the commandments of God that we may have his Spirit, and that we may truthfully worship him and declare unto men and women who are in the world the true order of worship? ¶

For this is the day for men to prepare to meet their God. Escape from punishment hereafter is obtained through overcoming guilt in ¶

mortality. The Lord appeared to men in this dispensation and gave a new and true order of worship and sent forth men into the earth to declare unto the children of men that they were in the depths of spiritual poverty and in the bonds of iniquity and there could not come to them a salvation and an exaltation in the presence of God except they would repent. ¶

The habits men sometimes form are of such a character that it takes the effort of a giant in spirit to overcome them. It is easy for men, honorable, as they may be, to believe that the Lord will give unto them all they desire. Why, they say, the thief on the cross, when he was put to death, at the time of the Redeemer's crucifixion, received a promise from, the Christ that he should that day be with him in paradise, and because of that they take it for granted that he went into the presence of the Father. But they have not read the scripture fully, as it is written, or they would readily understand that the thief did not receive a glory in the presence of the Father, fur we find recorded also that the Christ, who suffered for the sins of the world, and was put to death in the flesh, was quickened by the Spirit, by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison which sometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, wherein few, that is eight souls were saved by water. While his body lay in the tomb, the Savior preached the gospel to those who were dead. When he came back to the earth he was met by men and women, and particularly by Mary, who recognized him first and attempted to embrace him. But he said unto her : "Touch me not, for I ami not yet ascended to my Father ; but go to my brethren, and say unto them, I ascend unto my Father and your Father and to my God and your God." ¶

If it were not for the revelations of our Father to his children through Joseph the prophet, in this dispensation, this body of people would be in the same condition that the w'orld is in, and take it for granted that the thief received an inheritance in the kingdom of God and that there is nothing to do but to repent, even though it be at the last moment of time. For this purpose the Lord revealed himself that the true order of worship might be instituted again among the children of men, that men and women, in their own time and enjoying free agency in mortality, away from home, as it were, might have the privilege, through the power which had been given unto them by that Father who sent them lo (he earth, of developing their character, which had its beginning before this earth was laid, or the foundation thereof ; that they might in time claim the privilege of association with their Father whom they had learned to love through keeping his laws and walking in his paths. From such doctrine there can be no appeal, neither can any one prove it untrue. I have failed in my experience in the mission field, covering a period of nearly nineteen years, to find one man who has been able to disprove the logic of Joseph Smith the prophet, or who has ever proved untrue one single truth that came through Joseph ¶

the prophet to us in our day. On the contrary, everything that has been taught has stood the test. Men and women have been brought to a knowledge of the truth and deception has vanished and the adversary has not the power that he had in the earth in the days of the coming forth of this great Latter-day work. The Priesthood, the power of God, is in the earth ; the power to explain and expound the scripture is vested in men, and Lucifer, neither by mob law, nor by an attack of the learned upon the truth, nor in any other way, has ever been able to prove untrue the statements made constantly by the elders of Israel. Show me the man, regardless of who he is, who can prove from holy writ that God our eternal Father is without form) and without body, parts or passions. Let him write or teach if to the children of men and I promise him, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, that he will prove that he himself is wrong and that the Church of Jesus Christ is right in its doctrines and in its teachings. Why, the glory that comes through the knowledge of this gospel, can never be measured by the mind of men in mortality who do not know the truth. ¶

I want to say to you, in conclusion, I think there is not a single person who has the interest of a boy and a girl at heart but who desires and really prays and hopes that they may have the privilege of going into the mission field and bearing testimony of this truth. The truth makes men free, makes men strong and absolutely keeps them from being overcome by all the sophistries that are brought to bear against the true order of worship; and bearing testimony of it qualifies a boy or girl for a future that can not be purchased with money, that can be purchased only by real experience. Boys and girls will never learn at home to discuss and preach the gospel as they do away from home, for the spirit of opposition is not found here. They do not find here men who rise up from every corner and say : I don't believe your doctrine. They have not that chance at home, but out in the mission field they have that opportunity. ¶

When you look into the faces of people, bond or free, black or whke, anywhere in the earth, remember one thing;, that they kept their first estate to the extent that the)' had the privilege of coming into the world and having the chance of keeping their second estate. We who have received the gospel, owe it to them every moment of our time, to labor with them, not to fight them; to show them the true order of worship ; to pray for them, to plead for them. Out of the mission fields of the earth in the la,st few years have come some of the most wonderful men and women that are found in the earth, whose testimony is as great and as sure as those who have been reared in the vallevs of the mountains. I tell you we owe it to them, or in the day of judgment we may be called to account for a neglect of duty, when we had the money and the property that would have taken the message to a man or a woman who has not had the privilege of receiving it, and can not have that privilege until he has obeyed the law. ¶

I want to say to the Latter-day Saints, in your triumphs, or in ¶

the times of adversities, don't forget that the preaching of the gospel is the life of your boy or your girl, and that it will give them a better training than anything else that can be found. I have a son in the mission field in Old Mexico. I would rather he would be there than in any school in the country during a certain period of his life. I have had the privilege of having in my mission more than two thousand missionaries. I want to say to you it is the greatest experience I ever had. No school could measure up to it. Those who have been missionaries are better qualified to enter into colleges of the country. They are more reliable, surer, better men, better women in judgment. I tell you this gospel is the perfect law of liberty. The words of the Savior are true ; they apply unto these boys and girls and to all of us. He said unto his disciples : "If ye continue in my word, then ye are indeed my disciples, and ye shall know the truth ; and the truth shall make you free." And may God give us the power and the privilege and the faith and the protection to worship him in .spirit and in truth, and be free so that we may be able to stand for him forever, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶