Remarks

Of the First Council of Seventy ¶

I, too, sincerely pray that the Spirit of the Lord may be with me in the very few minutes that I speak. My heart, my spirit, my mind, have been raised to praise for the power of the Almighty God, and for gratitude that I am called to be one of his servants. ¶

This conference has been impressive for the fact that our faith in God, more and more, has been expressed by every speaker; and not that I could carry on the great thought that has been expressed the last few moments to the end that we might be raised to still greater faith, but let me please add the thought that has impressed me during the morning session of this conference; namely, that in all history, in the story of the development of God's children to the present moment, we find that they who have had faith in him as the Creator of the heavens and the earth, they, the races, the peoples, the nations, the individuals who have been converted to the ways of Christ, and have been able to raise their voices in expression of the living faith in Christ, -- those people and nations have ¶

been the ones who have made the great contribution to man's uplift, and have given the assurance to the human race of the meaning of life and of the destiny of man. ¶

There is something great that we must contemplate in the mission of the Master. He did teach the glory of God, he did give unto us the teaching that man is divine and that the power of the intellect and of the spirit are not limited, but are unlimited. Another great thing that Jesus has left to us as an abiding testimony is that the kingdom of God, a literal kingdom, will be established upon this earth, a kingdom of God over which Christ Jesus will rule, and we shall be members of that kingdom, as we place our faith in God and know for a surety, from day to day, in the very living of our lives, in our contemplation and in our work, in those things shall we become members of Christ's kingdom. ¶

It is a mistake, a great mistake, today, to lose sight of the fact that man can know God. In that masterful work The World and Life that was put out just previous to the death of Alfred Russell Wallace he did rise to an occasion, and when the pastor said in his previous book entitled The Place of Man in the Universe, "Man cannot know God,"yet he did conclude in his latter work that "man can know God, but there is only one way, and that is by divine revelation which,"said he, "man has not had." We Latter-day Saints give our testimony to the world that man may know God, and he knows God by revelation. It is our testimony to the world, it is the only true way, it is the only way in which we understand the relationship of ourselves to our Maker. ¶

My brethren and sisters, there are two great sources that will make the world move onward to the Christ and to the kingdom of God. They are education and religion. Religion is the inner light. It is something within and not without. Our greatest power lies in the spirit, and it will be by the spirit that we will work out this problem. It must come from within. It is a condition of mind, a condition of spirit, this religion, this vision; and the trouble with the world today is that there is no vision, and the world is perishing for the want of it. We claim to have the vision, and we have, but that vision comes as an inner light, and our power is the inner light, and it binds us to our Maker. Now men do search for truth, and men will find out truth; and, continuing this theme of President Roberts, I think the words of Isaiah stand, then, as a fitting complement, if you please, to this great truth that has been uttered: ¶

"Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee." ¶

And Luke, continuing this same great thought, says, in the first chapter of his writings: ¶

... That comes "to give light to them that sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death"he comes "to guide our feet into the way of peace." ¶

And we might add -- truth and right and understanding. For the light and the glory of God will be understood as we come to place ourselves in a position to understand, and understanding ¶

comes through the condition of our spirits, and our spirits are cleansed, made clean, by righteous living and an attitude toward all mankind, showing that we love them. Truth expresses itself in love and happiness and joy and peace. For this reason the Latter-day Saints should not only be thankful for vision, they should be grateful for the happiness that has come to us, for the spirit of the gospel of Christ is one of happiness and joy and thanksgiving. We should be the most encouraged people in all the world. That God may grant that we may continue in the vision, that the vision may continue with us, one by one, each and every one of us, that the vision of the Father, the power of God and the establishment of his kingdom may remain in our hearts to lead and direct us, I ask, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

Lord." ¶