Remarks

You will remember that when Joseph Smith, the prophet of God. went unto his heavenly Father to inquire as to which church was right, that the Son of God, speaking to him, told him that none of the churches were right, and that all the creeds were an abomination in the sight of God. I was talking to a man the other day, and he said, "Why, on the face of the thing, your church is wrong, because God is not speaking to his people, his sons and daughters upon the earth, and condemning them and placing them in a position where they are declared all wrong in the sight of God." ¶

I am wondering how many of us, the Latter-day Saints, are trying to minimize the importance of that message. It is rather a hard saying, I will admit; but it is the word of God, the eternal Father, in these latter clays, declaring that only the Church that he organized is the Church and kingdom of God. God is merciful to his people, to his sons and to his daughters, and he would give every one an opportunity of coming back into his Kingdom; and his relation to his people has always been one of kindness, and sympathy toward his children. "Peace on earth, good will to men,"is the message of God, the eternal Father, unto his children upon the earth. "Go ye out into the world and preach the gospel of Jesus Christ,"is the message to his servants, that all mankind might see and understand this gospel of Jesus Christ. He has also told us to go out and contend against no one, but preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and him crucified. That is the kind of message, that God has for his sons and his daughters; but when it comes to the churches of the world, God has placed his mark, and told us that only the Church of God is right, and all of the others wrong. In all sympathy, in all kindness, and recognizing the sincerity of the people of the world, the fact stands out, that there is only one Lord, one faith, and one baptism. ¶

A member of the Church rather wanted to minimize that great message of God to Joseph Smith; he said, if God had only said it in a little more gentle way; if he had only made some kind of an explanation, so that it might have included all the world, it would not have made us so unpopular in this world today. Do you want popularity? Do you want to stand out and be loved and pushed along by men who feel that you, with all the rest, are right and can get back into the Kingdom of God, following only the way that they may desire to follow? We enjoy being loved; we want to be popular because of our honesty, our good will, our fellowship for the good things that are done by the people of the Church, but when it comes to being popular, as far as the gospel of Jesus Christ is concerned, I hope and trust that the men and women, the boys and girls, will stand out for the faith of their fathers and feel in their hearts that God, in his mercy, in order that his children may be saved, has given us the gospel of Jesus Christ; and ¶

that it is by it, and by it only, that men shall enter into the Kingdom of God the eternal Father, whether they belong to this Church or any other church, but all must come into this Church, embrace this gospel of Jesus Christ; and all the men and women who belong to it must live lives of usefulness and of righteousness, and serve God through all the days of their lives, if the)' would enter into the celestial kingdom of God. ¶

Why minimize the gospel of Jesus Christ? Why try to put away some of the things that are so essential to the salvation of mankind? Why, a man, a brother of the Church, told us a while ago that in some churches they have the gift of healing, and, said he, "Surely God is placing the stamp of approval upon that church, because people are being healed; and God through their faith is healing them." No church that is founded only on the gift of healing, is Christ's church, and God will not recognize any church except the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The same man said, "Other churches have the gift of tongues, and surely God puts his mark of approval upon these churches, because of the speaking in tongues." No church can stand with only the gift of tongues as a foundation. God will not give any church as a church the gift of tongues, or faith, or healing, and stamp or mark it with his approval, as being his Church, or a part of his Church in these latter days. O, there are good people, men and women of faith, who, because of their faith, receive blessings at the hands of God, for some special purpose, for some reason, but as a church, never so long as the Church of God stands; for if he does, then we who represent God's Church are on the wrong road and cannot enter into the Kingdom of God, in the way we are going, but will have to find some other way. I admire men and women who stand out and believe in the truthfulness of the Church of Jesus Christ to the exclusion of all others, at the same time recognizing the good lives and the good works of all the children of our eternal Father. ¶

May the Lord bless us and guide us and help us to understand the gospel of Jesus Christ, and to play fair with it. Let us not excuse it, let us not minimize what we have. We have nothing to be ashamed of, but, all in all we have something to be grateful for and thankful for. that God in his mercy, through his Spirit, has enabled us to see and understand the gospel which has been given unto us in these the latter days. And may the Lord bless us, help us, and be with us, in this our life upon the earth, that it may be lived worthily, that eventually we may find a welcome in God's kingdom, I humbly ask. in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶