Preaching the Gospel and the Gathering

I desire to read a few words from the 133d section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the same being a revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith in the month of November, 1831: ¶

PREACHING THE GOSPEL AND THE GATHERING ¶

"Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the Lord your God, and hear the word of the Lord concerning you — ¶

"The Lord who shall suddenly come to his temple; the Lord who shall come down upon the world with a curse to judgement; yea, upon all the nations that forget God, and upon all the ungodly among you. ¶

"For he shall make bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations, and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of their God. ¶

"Wherefore, prepare ye, prepare ye, O my people; sanctify yourselves; gather ye together, O ye people of my church, upon the land of Zion, all you that have not been commanded to tarry. ¶

"Go ye out from Babylon. Be ye clean that bear the vessels of the Lord. ¶

"Call your solemn assemblies, and speak often one to another, and let every man call upon the name of the Lord. ¶

"Yea, verily I say unto you again, the time has come when the voice of the Lord is unto you: Go ye out of Babylon; gather ye out from among the nations, from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. ¶

"Send forth the elders of my church unto the nations which are afar off; unto the islands of the sea; send forth unto foreign lands; call upon all nations; first upon the Gentiles, and then upon the Jews. ¶

"And behold, and lo, this shall be their cry, and the voice of the Lord unto all people: "Go ye forth unto the land of Zion, that the borders of my people may be enlarged,, and that her stakes may be strengthened, and that Zion may go forth unto the regions round about. ¶

"Yea, let the cry go forth among all people: Awake and arise and go forth to meet the Bridegroom; behold and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord. ¶

"Watch, therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour. ¶

"Let them, therefore, who are among the Gentiles flee unto Zion. ¶

"And let them who be of Judah flee unto Jerusalem, unto the mountains of the Lord's house. ¶

"Go ye out from among the nations, even from Babylon, from the midst of wickedness, which is spiritual Babylon. ¶

"But verily, thus saith the Lord, let not your flight be in haste, but let all things be prepared before you; and he that goeth, let him not look back lest sudden destruction shall come upon him. ¶

"Hearken and hear, O ye inhabitants of the earth. Listen, ye elders of my church together, and hear the voice of the Lord; for he calleth upon all men, and he commandeth all men everywhere to repent. ¶

"For behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh — " ¶

The balance of the revelation continues in a declaration of the Lord as to his purposes concerning the gathering of the Jews to Jerusalem, and the mighty power which he shall manifest in their delivery; also concerning the restoration of the lost tribes of Israel, and their return. Continuing I shall read from the same section, beginning with verse 36: ¶

"And now, verily saith the Lord,, that these things might be known among you, O inhabitants of the earth, I have sent forth mine angel flying through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel, who hath appeared unto some and hath committed it unto man, who shall appear unto many that dwell on the earth. ¶

"And this gospel shall be preached unto every nation and kindred, and tongue, and people. ¶

"And the servants of God shall go forth, saying with a loud voice: Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come;" ¶

In the same connection I desire to read a few verses from the 88th section of the Doctrine and Covenants, commencing with the 88th verse: ¶

^And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people. ¶

"For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall upon the ground and shall not be able to stand. ¶

"And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. ¶

"And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men's hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people." ¶

Returning to the 133rd Section again I wish to read in conclusion of these quotations the 60th verse: ¶

"And for this cause these commandments were given; they were commanded to be kept from the world in the day that they were given, but now are to go forth unto all flesh." ¶

RESPONSIBILITY OF THE CHURCH IN MISSIONARY WORK ¶

The remarks of our President in the opening session of this conference, and the interesting statistics which he read us concerning not only the affairs of the Church at home, but those in the mission field, awakened in my heart some thoughts and feelings concerning our missionary work and its responsibilities that I should like, if the Lord will help me, to express to you. I think that there is probably no responsibility greater than that which the Lord has placed upon this Church, as indicated in the words I have just quoted, to carry this gospel to all flesh. I believe that the record of the Church reveals the fact that we have looked upon it as one of our chief responsibilities. When the President was quoting the statistics and the amounts expended in the stakes of Zion and in the mission fields, I was impressed when he said that if we should compute the time of the missionaries and the means required to maintain them in the field that that item alone last year would have amounted to approximately two millions of dollars. And then in addition to that, the further statement of the amount which the Church itself has expended in the mission fields approaching another million dollars. No other single item in which the Church is actively engaged, therefore, has received such contributions of service and means. ¶

THE SPLENDID RECORD OF THE PAST ¶

We are certainly giving the greatest of our contributions to discharge this great, sacred and holy obligation which the Lord has placed upon this Church. I think as we look over the past we have some reason to feel grateful that the generations that have preceded us, with us have looked upon this responsibility as of deep importance, and there has not been wanting men, nor women, when they have been called, to go into the world to discharge this great obligation. We learned some few conferences ago from President A. W. Ivins that we had sent into the world approximately sixty thousand missionaries since this Church was organized. Figuring the expense of sending them and maintaining them there, with a very reasonable allowance for the value of their services, I would conclude that in means and in service rendered, this Church has contributed upwards of one hundred millions of dollars in discharging this great obligation to the world. It has not only cost the services of men, it has cost sacrifice on the part of many thousands of wives and mothers and fathers at home who have borne the extra burden. Many have suffered themselves to be denied the necessities of life, in order that they might maintain their sons in the mission field. And not only that, many of these precious sons have given their very lives to the great cause. We have held back nothing from this great call that the Lord has made upon us to carry these glad tidings to all men. ¶

THE LABORS AHEAD FOR THE FUTURE ¶

Splendid as our record has been in the past, I am concerned now about the future. I read in these words that this message must go to all flesh. We have not yet, with all our zeal, with all our earnestness and desire to do this work, reached all flesh. I am looking forward to the fulfilment of that commandment of the Lord on the part of the willing, faithful seventies and elders of this Church. ¶

While Russia, as referred to in this conference, has not yet received this message, and Russia is passing through the crucible, she will come out when she has paid the price, and find liberty and freedom. That is my faith, and when that day comes I hope and expect that we shall have sufficient men and women, if need be, to go into that great nation, that they, too, may hear the glad news, and I believe that countless thousands shall receive it. ¶

I am looking also to the great South American republics, where we have no servants of the Lord today. Only one brief visit has been made there in the history of the Church. Here, too, there are millions waiting the coming of this message. When the Lord is ready he shall inspire his servants to call for men to go and open up these fields. I am not worrying about the time when the call shall come. My only fear is that it shall come all too soon for many of us, who will not be prepared to respond. ¶

The great nation of China, is a heathen nation. I do not expect to see great numbers of people join the Church in such lands, but the obligation is upon us to carry the news to them, for it must go to all flesh, whether they receive it or not; and whosoever shall receive it shall find the full salvation of God, through their obedience and repentance, but they must hear the glad news; otherwise the Lord has not fulfilled his promise to the peoples of the ¶

world, and this obligation I say is yet resting upon the elders of this Church. ¶

MATURE MEN AS WELL AS THE YOUNG MUST PREPARE! ¶

I would not deny the splendid young men who are going into the missionary field today the right and the privilege to preach the gospel. They are principally boys in their teens, however. It is the greatest blessing that could come to them. I hope, however, that fathers and mothers shall not be looking upon the missionary field as a mere training-school for their boys. Naturally this is a by-product that comes from sending a boy upon a mission. He finds himself and finds the Lord. It is a miracle. The greatest miracle of "Mormonism"today is the miracle of the "Mormon" missionary. The marvelous transformation through which he goes under the influence of the Spirit of God, as he goes forward to preach this gospel. But what I am anxious for is that we shall have mingled and associated with these striplings, these youths, more of the mature men of the Church, you men who have heretofore preached the gospel. I know from my experience in the missionary field that your help is needed and is of great value to the younger missionaries. Your wisdom, your courage, your judgment will greatly increase the usefulness and efficiency of these younger men, and I would like to appeal to you, men, who have been upon missions years ago, and are still in good health, to begin to plan in the budget of the next few years to set aside a portion of time and some means which may be accumulated to provide you another opportunity to go into the world and help to discharge this great obligation. ¶

THE TIMES OF THE GENTILES ¶

President Ivins, yesterday morning, read to us some scriptures concerning the times of the Gentiles, that in the day when this gospel shall burst forth, and its light should be seen, it should be the beginning of the times of the Gentiles, and that that generation that saw the light come forth should not pass away until the times of the Gentiles should be fulfilled. I do not know how many years that means, but I do know that there is a limited time, wherein we are given the opportunity to preach this gospel to the Gentile nations, and then cometh the day of the House of Israel. And it seems as if the day of the House of Israel — and President Ivins called our attention to it yesterday — is already dawning. Therefore we must be awake and about our Father's business, that we may stand acquitted before God and before men. I recognize that it is a day of settlement, a day of reckoning. The cry is, "This is the hour of God's judgment."I know the Lord does not wish to send judgments upon an unwarned and unprepared people. As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man. This is a day of warning. The ark was the means of salvation in those former days, it shall be the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ in these latter-days. God has never let his people go into wickedness, sin and transgression, and into peril, without warning them, and in connection with the warning there has always been the means of escape. ¶

THE GREAT OBJECT IN SENDING MISSIONARIES ¶

There are two great objects we have in mind in sending these missionaries out into the world. There has been scattered, as President Ivins indicated in the scriptures and the prophecies which he read, among the Gentile nations the blood of Israel, and they are to be gathered, one of a city and two of a family, a few here and a few there. They who receive and accept the gospel are the ones in that household who have the blood of Israel in their veins. By some process which I may not understand, nevertheless, it is true, we are to find them. There are many of them yet that we have not found, our own kindred, our own brothers and sisters in our own blessed household. We are anxious to find them. We will discover them in the isles of the sea, in the Old World and in the New World. Many of them are here, for the Lord is calling many of these sons of Israel to the American continent, though they know not why; but he is bringing them to the rising of the brightness of Zion's glory, where they have an opportunity to find the truth, such as they do not have elsewhere. I was impressed with that when I listened to the statistics the President read, that one-half of the missionaries of this Church are in America, where but one-seventh of the people of the world are, and yet here is where the greater number of our baptisms are being performed. The Lord is bringing from the islands of the sea and from the continents of the Old World men and women to this country where they may have better opportunity to hear the truth and embrace it, and then they will be where the Lord wants them. Nevertheless we are to search diligently and then we are to warn them that all men may be left without an excuse, and that we may be under no obligation. It isn't the obligation entirely of the man who happens to have a son, however, it is an obligation resting upon every man and every woman in this Church, and we apportion the missionary calls out among the wards and stakes of Zion, so many per thousand. ¶

DUTY OF QUORUMS AND WARDS IN MISSION WORK ¶

It is the duty and obligation, therefore, of each ward not only to see that its quota is filled and these missionaries are sent into the field, but that they are kept there, and if the finances of the father who happens to have a son in the mission fails him, it ought to be a matter of reproach to a ward that would allow their representative to come home merely because the father of that boy can- ¶

not furnish the means. There must be a spirit of co-operation, on the part of the men and women of this Church to discharge this obligation the Lord has placed upon us. I have often thought of some of our professional brethren. I recognize from my experience in the missionary field that these young men that we send out are not always able to deliver the message to certain groups — the educated classes. They feel abashed and ashamed. Like attracts like, and they naturally go to their own kind, where truly we have found the bulk of the members of this Church. Nevertheless, our obligation is to teach this truth to kings, to presidents, senators, governors, bankers, teachers, lawyers, and to men and women in the professional world. And many of these young men feel wholly unqualified. I have felt many times not justified in saying that we had fairly and fully warned men when we have done our best, because our best was not a good presentation always. ¶

THE USE OF SHORT-TERM MISSIONS ¶

Since this Church has offered men the privilege of going on short-term missions to preach the gospel, I would like to see some of our brethren who could not go for a long period of time prepare themselves to go for a shorter period. It is the best vacation in the world that you could take, to go into the mission field for six months and preach this gospel. You would come back physically strong, mentally alert and spiritually recharged, and it would be the greatest blessing that could come to you. I would like to see more of it. ¶

THE JUDGMENTS OF GOD ¶

I do not want to see the judgments of God come upon men, and yet after the testimony, as I have just read, of his servants, shall come the testimony of thundering and of lightning and of earthquakes and peril and disaster. I was impressed two weeks ago as I read the dreadful story of the cyclone that swept through the southern part of the states of Illinois and Indiana, with these words that I have just read. Particularly was I impressed with it because the city of Murphysboro, in Southern Illinois, where one-half of the city was destroyed, and more than two hundred of our Father's children lost their lives, happens to be the very identical city where I preached my first gospel sermon twenty-eight years ago. I had the privilege of tramping over that entire belt of country, where this great disaster swept the land, for over two years without purse and without scrip, preaching this gospel, warning men. A few obeyed, but the majority turned a deaf ear. ¶

A LOVE FOR THE SOULS OF MEN ¶

Do I rejoice to see days of sorrow like those which befell the peoples of this land? No, I feel like weeping, I feel like the Master did as he wept upon the Mount of Olives over Jerusalem that had ¶

rejected him. No man can spend, as you men have done, years of your life in the missionary field — 1 was privileged to labor thirteen years, — and carry this gospel message to the children of men without a love for mankind. I have preached this gospel in sunshine, in dust, through the mud, I have wandered in the cold of winter, as well as the heat of summer, and have sought men. No man can do that who does not have in his heart a love for the souls of men. I love them. I would stay these dreadful days, but I cannot. All can do is to warn them, that they may repent and find the salvation which we offer them. The wedding is prepared. We are bearers of the invitation calling men to come to the wedding feast. Let us not be slack in continuing to give ourselves freely, as our fathers have done, not only to send our sons, but give ourselves, and discharge this great obligation, which yet rests upon this Church. For I bear witness to you that fast and swift moving events are happening and transpiring, and unless we shall be alert and awake we shall be behind in the Lord's great program. God help us to be fully up to all his expectations of us, and find ourselves fully justified in the efforts that we put forth, though men may reject us, in seeking to bring men unto Christ, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen., ¶