I think I may say without question that

I think I may say without question that all men are or ought to be candidates for the blessing of eternal life and celestial glory, seeking to know what is necessary to be done in order to obtain this boon and blessing, and then doing all in their power to accomplish that end. ¶

ETERNAL LIFE AND CELESTIAL GLORY ¶

The gospel teaches us what is the meaning of eternal life and celestial glory and how it may be obtained. My understanding of it is that in order to obtain eternal life and celestial glory, we must receive all the ordinances of the gospel, keep all the laws and commandments of God and be willing to consecrate to his service our lives, our time, our talents, and our substance, as far as may be required for the building up of the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, and the establishment of righteousness, looking to the salvation of the souls of men and women. ¶

HOW TO GET FAITH, THE MOVING CAUSE OF ACTION ¶

To meet this obligation we must have great faith, for faith is the moving cause of all action. It is the first principle of revealed religion and the foundation of all righteousness. It is a gift from God. How are we then to obtain this blessing, for faith is indeed a blessing from God to those who enjoy it? We must try to live in his favor, and when we are living righteous lives, according to our conception of what is right, being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and conscientious, the Lord will help us to that blessing as to all other blessings, for all blessings cometh from God. The Savior said "to search the scriptures, for in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they are they which testify of me." The scriptures of the Old and New Testament and also modern scripture, the Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants and Pearl of Great Price, all testify, not only of the Son, but of the Father and the gospel plan. ¶

We ought to search the scripture. I believe it is a great weakness of the membership of this Church that we do not search the scriptures more than we do, because I am sure if we would do so we would have more faith, and the requirements made upon us by the gospel would be easier for us to comply with. The Lord has said also to his servants that faith cometh by hearing the word, and so we preach and so the scriptures teach, "how beautiful are the feet of them that bringeth glad tidings and publisheth peace." The assistance of the Lord and the gift of faith cometh from him, by the inspiration of his holy Spirit, to those who are thus seeking honestly for truth and light. We must have faith in order to meet the requirements of the gospel necessary for obtaining eternal life. So I speak as do my brethren, that the Latter-day Saints and all who hear may be led to an investigation, to the obtaining of faith, to the engaging in good works, to the meeting of all of the requirements of the gospel that they may obtain that boon and blessing of eternal life and celestial glory. ¶

AN APPEAL PERTAINING TO FAITH AND RELIGION ¶

Now I desire, my brethren and sisters, to make an appeal to you, as the appeal is made to me, in regard to these matters, pertaining to our faith and religious life. The young people of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have adopted as their slogan for the ensuing year: "We stand for an individual testimony of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith." The story that Joseph tells of his experience when he was a boy fourteen years of age appeals to different people in different ways. Some who are more credulous, perhaps, than others, and whose minds are not biased, who are not prejudiced by things which have been said against Joseph Smith, against this people and against this work, receive more readily the testimony of Jesus and evidences of the truth of this work. Others will not give a serious thought that they might understand these things. ¶

CONCERNING JOSEPH SMITH THE PROPHET ¶

I want to refer to something that appeals to me, and I think it should appeal to all of us concerning the story of the boy Joseph Smith. We are told in the scripture that known unto God are all things, even the end from the beginning; and also we are told that the Lord doeth nothing but he revealeth his secrets to his servants the prophets. The scriptures contain the things of God as he has revealed them to his prophets. The scriptures declare an apostasy to take place in the Church, and they also declare a restoration, when all things that have been spoken by the mouths of all the holy prophets since the world began would be restored. There could be no restoration had there not been an apostasy. Historians tell us very minutely of how an apostasy did take place. The thing that men and women of the world, religionists, ought to have been looking forward to is a restoration of the gospel, which was to be in the last days. It was to be a gospel dispensation of the fulness of times. ¶

In connection with these statements of the scripture, I have in mind what the Lord revealed to his servant Abraham. He showed unto Abraham certain intelligences, spirits of men, and told Abraham that they were some of his noble ones whom he had chosen to be his rulers, and said he: "Thou, Abraham, art one of them. Thou wast chosen before thou wast born." Now the kind of ruling that Abraham did is the kind of ruling the Lord had in mind, servants of the Lord and servants of the people, and it is most natural to my mind, that the Lord, looking forward to the establishment of his Church, and the restoration of the everlasting gospel in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, in preparation for the second and glorious coming of our Lord, would reserve one of the greatest and noblest of these noble ones whom he showed to Abraham, to head his work, to be his mouthpiece, to be his prophet, to restore the gospel, to establish his Church, and to do all things, that are necessary in this the dispensation, at least in the starting of this great work. And it seems reasonable, too, my brethren and sisters, in the light of the scriptures that he should choose a boy fourteen years of age for this work, for we read in the scripture: "Ye see your calling brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble, are called; but God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, and base things of the world and things which are despised hath God chosen: yea, and things which are not, to bring to naught the things that are. That no flesh shall glory in his presence." To me it seems most consistent, the time being ripe and the Lord desired to restore the gospel, that he should raise up one of those noble spirits, take him in young boyhood, educate him and prepare him for the mighty work that he had to accomplish. So I believe that the life's work of Joseph Smith will prove this to be true. The Lord did take him in hand, and from the time Joseph had his first vision of the Father and the Son, every step taken was in the narrow way, forward, and he never had to recede from a position he had taken or a principle he had taught. Besides, inasmuch as he had this mighty work to do of standing at the head of this dispensation, it was right and proper that he should have a correct conception of God the eternal Father and of his Son, Jesus Christ, and of the Holy Ghost, for the faith of all intelligent beings is centered in God. In order to have a perfect faith such as will lead one to endure all that is necessary for him to endure in this life, and especially when called to so high a calling, he must have a correct conception of God, and of his Son Jesus Christ. And this he could not obtain from the religious creeds; for example, in the great Church of England of which my grandparents on my mother's side and other ancestors for generations were members, and were brought up in that faith. The first article of that religion reads: ¶

"There is one living and true God, everlasting, without body, parts or passions; of infinite wisdom, power and goodness, the Maker and Preserver of all things visible and invisible, and in the unity of this Godhead there are three personages of one substance, power and eternity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost." Three personages, one substance, nobody. What kind of a being would answer that description? That is the kind of a God our parents and our grandparents were taught to believe in and to worship. It is a marvel, when Joseph Smith came forth with this story of his vision and the declaration that the Father and the Son were separate individuals, glorified, immortal beings, and exalted, stating that they had appeared to him and had told him that these religionists had gone astray, and that he was going to restore his true gospel, that our parents accepted the story and believed in it? The scriptures are replete with evidence that God is as Joseph Smith declared that he appeared unto him. Not only that, but men who are not tied down by the creeds of the world have been frank in their admissions and conclusions, endorsing the scripture, which is an endorsement of the declaration of Joseph Smith. For instance, here is Henry Ward Beecher, one of the greatest preachers that the world has known outside of the true Church of Christ. He said: ¶

"I am compelled to say that I must form an ideal of God through his Son Jesus Christ. Christ is indispensable to me. My nature needs to fashion the thought of God, though I know him to be a Spirit, into something that shall nearly or remotely represent that which I know. I hold before my eyes a glorious form, therefore; but after all the glory, whatever may be the nimbus and the effluence round about it, it is to me a glorified form of a glorified man; and I therefore fashion to myself out of the spirit that which has to me, as it were, a divine presence and a divine being; namely, a divine man." ¶

THANKFUL FOR THE HERITAGE THAT HAS COME TO US ¶

Are we not thankful for this heritage that has come to us, we who have been born in the Church and have been taught the doctrine of the gospel of Deity, and without prejudice we have been able to receive the doctrines taught by Joseph Smith, for not only did he teach us of the personality of the Father and of the Son, but the Lord revealed to him also the personality of the Holy Ghost, the other personage of the Trinity, that personage whose spirit may dwell in our hearts if we are prepared to receive him, and thus we become the temples of God, which we should keep most holy. ¶

JOSEPH SMITH'S WORKS PROCLAIM HIM A PROPHET OF GOD ¶

Now I see my time is about gone; therefore, I will bring my remarks to a close by saying this, that the works of Joseph Smith, including the restoration of the gospel, the establishment of the Church and kingdom of God, all in fulfilment of the predictions of the Prophet, and the correcting of false doctrines and teachings, in fact all his works declare him a prophet of God by the rule which the Savior laid down, that we should know them by their fruits, and also by the logic used by the Apostle Paul to the Romans, speaking of the Deity, even his eternal power and Godhead are understood by the things which he made. Joseph Smith by his accomplishments is known to be a prophet of God, and I do know him to be such, and this work to be the work of God. I bear this testimony in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶