The Spirit and Power of God with the Church

I was just thinking of that part of the hymn that we have been singing which ,says : "What more can he say than to you he has said ? You who unto Jesus for refuge have fled." I feel filled to overflowing with joy and satisfaction and testimony concerning the great work in which we are engaged, and rejoice in the strength and power, physically and spiritually, which is possessed by our beloved President, Heber J. Grant. I can bear my humble testimony to the truth and inspiration of the wonderful discourse to which we have listened, and in saying that, I but feebly express the sentiments of this great, congregation. ¶

The Spirit and Power of God with the Church.

I rejoice in the Lord my God. I am filled with gratitude in my soul today for all his mercies to me, and I can see many of those things which will be in the day when "the veil o'er the earth" will be not only "beginning to burst," but when it shall burst over all the earth, clothed with the light of God, blessed with the presence of its Redeemer and King, and all things be subdued unto him who is our living head. God be praised this morning for the things that we have heard from the leader of this people. It is evident that the Lord is with him, as he has been for many, many years, and that the same spirit and power brought to earth from on high by the presence of the Father and the Son, through the Prophet Joseph Smith, are here today, and have been with the Church from the time of its organization down to the present moment. ¶

The Successors to the Prophet Joseph Men of God

Those great men who succeeded the Prophet Joseph Smith in the presidency of this Church were indeed men of God. I was acquainted with them all personally, as President Grant has testified concerning his acquaintance. I knew the men ; I knew their private feelings, their inmost souls. I was familiarly acquainted with each of them, and shared the joy of their confidence and their good will, and the manifestations of God to them in private as well as in public. I can testify, as I am willing to do to all the world, that they were indeed men of God, clothed upon with the power of that holy Priesthood restored to earth in the last days through divine messengers sent from on high to introduce the work of the last dispensation of the fulness of times. I am very thankful to be here this morning. It is better than anything else I can think of, to be here with this great congregation and listen to the words of inspiration that have come to us today. I rejoice in the past, I feel full of happiness and peace for the present, and my soul is filled with joyful anticipation because of the future. I know that this is the work of God, and I also know a little of what it will be when that veil of the covering is taken away, and the light of the Lord shines out from above, from the Most High, and the earth is redeemed and clothed upon with his glory and his power. I am thankful for this testimony in my heart. I know it has come, not from any great effort of mine, any great abilities or learning of mine, but by the word of the Lord to me. I know that he has been with me all the days of my ministry in this Church. I was ordained an elder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, according to a certificate which I carry with me, on the sixth day of January, 1851, and from that time to the present I have felt that I am an Elder in Israel, a servant of the Most High God, that I was dedicated to his service anywhere and everywhere and at all times, under all circumstances and seasons, in all the nations of the earth; and I have realized the blessings of the Lord in supporting me in all the efforts I have been able to make for the furtherance of this great divine cause in the world. I know that the Lord is with this people, that he has been with them from the beginning, that he has been with those who have been called to lead them from the beginning, and that he will continue so to do. I know that he will be with us, every one of us, if we will carry out the things that have been taught to us this morning. They are not new" by any means ; delivered in a new way, perhaps, and in an impressive manner that comes right down into our souls, but they are the word of the Lord and have been delivered to' this people from the time of the organization of the Church; and the work has been gradually developing, getting bigger, stronger, mightier, having more influence in the earth. ¶

Pleasure in the Progress of Temple Work.

When we hear these glad reports concerning the spread of the work in foreign lands, it gives us pleasure and gives us courage to still press ¶

forward and do our part in the great cause. The building of these temples which have been dedicated to the Lord is a wonderful mark of the work of the Lord, and of its promise to us. The building of the Alberta temple — some will call it the Cardston temple, or the Canadian temple, but it is the Alberta temple, that is the name of it — the building of that structure upon English soil is an indication to us of what the Lord will do. The temples will not be confined altogether to Zion, even though that may cover both North and South America. The work will spread forth in other lands as the veil o'er the covering continues to burst. The spiritual and temporal, the heavenly and earthly, will be closer, in being joined together, and the time will come when we shall have plenty of work to do, in the millennial season, the one thousand years, the one "day of the Lord," when we get communications from the priesthood behind the veil to the priesthood in the earth, in the temples that will be erected. In those holy conversations we read about in the revelations of God, concerning the building of a house to him, that day is not very far off, as the Lord sees things. It may be quite a while as we see them, but they are real, and that which God has promised concerning them will surely come to pass. The wonderful work that is going on in these temples now is but an indication of that which is to come. The building of the temple in Hawaii, shows that we go to the heathen, as we have been invited to do sometimes by £>ur good Christian friends, going to the Islands of the sea, fulfils the command of the Lord. These things will be increased and multiplied, and temples will be built in the north and in the south, in the east and the west, so that all that needs to be done in the great work of redemption for the dead, as well as for the living, will be accomplished, and brought about just as it has been revealed by the prophets. ¶

Our Duty Today.

The great thing for us Latter-day Saints today, gathered here in conference, representing the people that could not get here — for this is a representative body in conference assembled, representing the Saints in all the stakes of Zion — the thing for us to do is to take the word of the Lord today, to do that which the Lord requires of us, obey his commandments, walk in obedience to his sayings, keep in the line of duty, in the strait and narrow way, and not go off to the side, to the right or to the left, and not get mixed up in those entangling alliances which some of our people enjoy with the institutions of the world. I don't want to say one word against those institutions that are established in the world, in the way of charity or literature or science, real science, or art, or anything that is called religion, even though it be not much of a religion, but beneficial in its sphere, I would not say a word against them. But for us, what should we do, elders in Israel, servants of the living God, called of God in the latter-days to hold this divine authority to preach the gospel to all the world, to every nation and kindred and tongue and people? That is what these temples signify to me. This was the word of the Lord from the beginning. The ¶

gospel was brought from heaven to earth for all the world, and it is our business to see that it goes there as far as we can. ¶

We Believe in Jesus Christ; This Is His Church

Now. what is our duty? Our duty is to walk in the straight way, and find out the will of the Lord and do it as far as we have power, in the weakness of our human bodies, teach it to our children, bring them up in the fear of the Lord, keep them in the path. It is a sad thing when our people stray off into organizations that are not in consonance with the word of the Lord and his ways. It is not a good thing to be tangled up with them, my brethren. It is good to stay in this Church. When we came into it we were baptized into it over head and ears, and feet, the whole of us, body and spirit. The soul of man went into the water of baptism, and so we belong to the Lord. We took upon us the name of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer; we belong to him, and he purchased us by the price of his own blood. To say that we do not believe in Christ is so ridiculous that we need not say anything in trying to confute it. This is his Church ; he started it ; he has continued with it ; he is with it today. The Spirit manifested today in the leader of the Church is the Spirit of Christ. Don't you know that? I am sure you do. I need not say anything on that. You feel it not only "in your bones," but in the .soul of you, the spirit of you. It is within you. You feel that the Spirit of God has been with us here today, and has been with the president through all his administration, and he is growing with the years. He is getting younger in mind and body, and he is full of light and life and power, and I am proud of being associated with him. Thank God for the privilege. I thank God for being a member of this Church. It is a wonderful privilege. It is a great blessing from on high, to be baptized into Christ, to try and put on Christ in life and labor and spirit and energy and power ; to be with him and to feel that I can approach God the Father through and by him and have fellowship with him, as well as with my brethren and sisters in the Church. It is by that Spirit that the Lord has blessed me and guided me through the years that have passed, and I bless and praise and glorify his holy name in the congregation today. ¶

Zion Will Prosper Regardless of the Efforts of Her Opponents

I know that this work will go on and I know that it has prospered in the past, in this respect that I am about to mention, and will go on in the future. The Lord promised that all that is formed against Zion shall not only not prosper, but it shall be turned to the welfare and benefit of Zion. Now be assured that this will be the case; that the present efforts being made by those who are not of us, but who are against us, that whatever they may do, whatever they may say, will be turned around in the sequel, to the glory of God, and the salvation of men, through and by this Church and its priesthood. That is as sure as that the sun rises in the morning after it has appeared to set at night. This work will go on and on, and we will see it, if we live ¶

long enough on the earth, and I suppose we will if we get away. I don't know how much we shall see when we get out of the body, but we will see a good deal more than we can while we are in the body. But we will see that this promise is fulfilled. All these schemes, these plots and plans, and all these ridiculous efforts that are being made will show up to be so ridiculous, so feeble, so false, that they will turn around to the good of this work in which we are engaged, to the glory of God and the salvation of men. So do not be discouraged by anything that may be said against the Church or its leaders. It has been said from the beginning, right from the start. Before Joseph Smith got even direction to organize the Church, he was assailed by the most religious people in his vicinity. But the things which they said against him eventually turned around to strengthen him in the minds of decent and reasonable and religious people and so will it be in the future. We need not be concerned about that. Only let us be concerned with our own lives and labors, and the performance of our duties. ¶

We Need Not Be Concerned. Our Duties Are Plain.

They are very plain. They are set down, most of them, in black and white. We can read them in the Doctrine and Covenants. I wish all our elders, priests, teachers and deacons, would become fully acquainted with Section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Many of them do not know much about it. It is there in the book we read, and all the revelations contained therein have the ring, in my ears, of the gospel of the light and love of God, and the power of God unto salvation. Now my brethren, let us be acquainted with what the Lord has revealed, and take it into our souls. Let us realize and feel that we are a part of this work, a true and living and active working part. Every man called to hold the Priesthood is called of God to work in thir great Latter-day cause, that God has revealed, and if we will take the advice, received by us this morning from our President, whose right it is to direct us, we will be going right all the time. I am sure of that. ¶

Centennial Celebration of the Visits of Moroni

I thank the Lord for the great manifestation of his power on the Hill Cumorah and in the Sacred Grove. I have been to those places and I felt the importance of the things that were done in the neighborhood of the Hill Cumorah, which the brethren visited, on the crown of which they held a splendid meeting, participated in by a great many people not of our faith. This meeting was commemorative of one of the most wonderful events that have ever occurred in this world. The first thing of importance in the revelations of God in the latter-days was the manifestation of the Father and the Son in that Sacred Grove to the boy Joseph. The next in importance, and as an opening of the work of the last days was the visits of the Angel Moroni to the Prophet Joseph, in his bedroom. When being reminded in his soul of the importance of the message he had already received, and feeling that he had not been faithful and true to the spirit of it in his own life, although ¶

he had not done anything of very great consequence that was wrong, he humbly confessed to God — and by this you shall know, the Lord says, when a man repents, "behold, he will confess his sins and turn away therefrom." That is real repentance. Joseph repented, and while in this mood, this angelic visitation came. I understand it to some extent. I have had what I call dreams, some people call them by other names. I can see that gathering of light in that chamber of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I can see the form of the Angel Moroni appearing right in that light, not standing on the floor but above the floor, so that Joseph could see him and the beautiful glory that surrounded his personality, and I bear testimony that he was a real personage, that he did come to the Prophet Joseph. What he revealed has, in a very large measure, been fulfilled, and that which has not been fulfilled will all come to pass. ¶

Read the account of that vision. Brother Ivins read it here in the tabernacle, a week ago last Sunday. Read it yourselves. It is published in the Pearl of Great Price just as Joseph revealed it to the world. The vision or revelation that he received from the Father and the Son is told there in his own words. Then follows the account of the visitations of the Prophet Moroni, three distinct times in the one night. Moroni feeling impressed to repeat it so that Joseph should not forget it, and adding other things that he had not thought of himself when he first came. Three times he appeared to the Prophet. They were real appearances, and what Joseph saw and what he heard were from God. Moroni was a messenger from on high. There has been a little discussion I have been told, by a few of our brethren holding some kind of a priesthood class, a little distance from the center of this city, over the wonderful question whether it was Moroni or Mormon who sealed the records called the Book of Mormon. They called up a friend of mine at eleven o'clock at night, after discussing it for three hours, to know which was the right thing; and he replied : "Why you have been singing it for the last forty or fifty years : 'Sealed by Moroni's hand, it has for ages lain, to wait the Lord's command, from dust to speak again." Yes, we have been singing it, and how much do we know wha£ we are singing sometimes? I merely mention that so we may call to mind what we sing, and what we pray, and what we have agreed to do, and what our covenants are, what we are here for. We spend a good deal of time, I think, in some of our classes in discussing matters that are not of very much moment. It does not matter much to me whether it was Moroni or his father Mormon who sealed the record, although it is best to be accurate and right in all things. Be careful to be right, and do not add to what God reveals. When you speak his word, give it as it is. ¶

Need of Proper Understanding of the Scripture.

Now, my brethren, that was a real visitation that came to Joseph, and if we will read it carefully, we will see how wonderfully was opened ¶

up and prefaced, the things that were to come in the bringing forth of the Book of Mormon in its acceptance by prayerful souls and rejection, by the world. Many things that are of great moment were revealed to Joseph at that time, and they are recorded in that simple statement of his, which you can read in this Pearl of Great Price, which is a very precious document, as it contains revelations given to Moses the Prophet, about things in the beginning when the earth was made, first spiritual and afterwards temporal. Many things are in the Book of Genesis, which, historically, were evidently traditions among the people, during the time from Adam down to the time of Moses, which was over twenty-four centuries — don't forget that — and many stories are told about things that occurred, and I fear that some of them are mingled together in the same chapter, different things occurring that are put in such a way that we sometimes are a little mistaken in our views concerning them. In regard to the manifestation of God to Abraham, there is no need to say that one of those three men whom we read of in Genesis 18, came to Abraham when he was sitting in his tent door in the heat of the day, and ate veal with him. was God Almighty. There is no need to suppose that, and if you will read the chapter carefully you will find that God's conversation with Sarah and Abraham at that time might be entirely separated from the story of those three men. I merely mention that, now, because some of our elders are using that chapter as an argument to prove that our heavenly Father is a personage of tabernacle, and they can prove that without going to those narratives that are told there or elsewhere. ¶

Now I think that it is a very important thing to get the word of the Lord as it comes to us, as we can read it, as we can receive it in our hearts, ourselves : but do not add to it or take away from it. Let us keep the word of the Lord and preach it to the world. We are called to this. This is our ''job" ; this is our business. Every elder of the Church, every man holding the Priesthood, is called to be a minister for God, and among the peoples, to set as good an example as he can, considering the weaknesses of human nature. We are none of us entirely perfect : but we expect to "go on unto perfection," by keeping the will and word of the Lord. By and by we will arrive at that position when we will receive our bodies, quickened with the power of an endless life, and they become spiritual ; and our spirits, which are the sons and the daughters of God, are embodied in them to be continued — to be continued, to be unrestricted in their united existence ; not for a time or a season; spirit and element inseparably connected, receiving a fulness of joy. And the time will come when we will receive that grand glory, a resurrection of our mortal bodies to become .spiritually united with our spiritual beings, the sons and the daughters of God, and all eternity will be before us and will open to us glory and honor and power and dominion and increase, perpetually, forever and ever. That is what is coming to us, and it will pay us for all the difficulties and troubles through which we are called upon to pass sometimes, here in this mortal state. We can let them go by. ¶

We Must Preach the Gospel in All the World.

There is a ridiculous song being" sung, popularly — I forget the title — but it is "Let the rest of the world go by." Well, we can't do that. We can't let the rest of the world go by ; we must go to all the world and preach the gospel, to every creature, to every kindred and tongue and family and person, so far as we can reach them, and we have done pretty well through the hundred years that have intervened between the time when Moroni came, and the Book of Mormon was brought forth, and the present day. I believe that the Lord is pretty well satisfied with us, with all our infirmities and all our weaknesses, our shortcomings and our lack of faithfulness which applies to some people, it not to others. ¶

The Lord Well Pleased with His People.

With all that, I believe that on the whole the Lord is well pleased with this people, and his Spirit is with them, and his power is with them. I believe that the authority and power of the holy Priesthood are being manifested in a greater degree than ever before in the history of the Church, and the work going on in the temples is something astonishing when we come to read the reports from the presidents of those temples, what they have done and what they are preparing to' do. It is something wonderful, and it shows that the Lord is working in the world, as well as we are. We want to take the words that Jesus said about himself : "My Father worketh hitherto, and I work." Let us feel the same. The Lord is working for us and with us. Now let us work and do our duty and the Lord will be with us, and everything predicted concerning the glory and building up and prevalence of this great Latter-day work will come to pass. The Lord will live and rule and reign in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his ancients, gloriously. He will bless everyone who labors in his cause in faithfulness and sets a good example to his fellows. ¶

Testimony.

Now I do not want to occupy much time. I am very thankful for the privilege of bearing my testimony. I testify to you, my brethren and sisters, that what we have heard this morning is true, and you know it in your hearts. I testify to you that I know that God lives, that Jesus of Nazareth is the Christ, the Son of the Living God, the Savior of the world. It is through his atoning blood that we gain remission of our sins, given to us in the waters of baptism. It is by His power that we live and move, and by it that we receive this authority which God has given to us to labor in his cause ; and he will be with us if we are with him in keeping his commandments and walking in his ways. ¶

I bear testimony to the mission of the President of the Church. President Heber J. Grant is a great leader in Israel, and we give the glory of his work to the Lord, as he does. I feel honestly and sincerely in my soul today that all that I have been able to do, through the years that I have labored, has been by the blessing and providence and leading of Almighty God, and his Spirit has been with me, and I have had the privilege of having it and enjoying it with Latter-day Saints in different countries that I have visited, no matter what their language, no matter what their customs, no matter what their ways or surroundings, the Spirit of God, the same Spirit that we feel here in Zion is, measurably, enjoyed by them, and so I can say of the whole Church. We have one Lord, one faith, one baptism, and one hope of our calling. W e are one with the powers of God ; and by-and-by we will be united with them, and crowned with glory on the right hand of our Father, which may God grant, for Christ's sake, Amen. ¶