I Wish to Take as the Subject for My Sermon

Of the First Council of Seventy ¶

I wish to take as the subject for my sermon the first and last articles of our faith, written by Joseph Smith. ¶

"We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. ¶

"We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to ALL MEN ; indeed we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul — We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, we seek after these things." ¶

The first and last articles of faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints embody principles, large in their concept of life. These two statements of religion deal with the most important problems of the soul, and they solve in a general way how man may enter into a divine world. Perhaps the majority of mankind is not yet ready for such a presentation of religion ; but it is through some such conception as the thought of these two statements that mankind will grasp the meaning of life and its ultimate end. The same trend of thought that we have today — the religious and the scientific — was developed in ancient times when Hebraism and Hellenism flourished. This brought forth much of the thought expressed by the Prophet Zechariah, when he wrote "Thy Sons, O Zion, against thy Sons, O Greece." The one thought was the selfless life, and its eternal belief in God ; the other was the life of nature ; the pursuit of knowledge, the establishment of great truths by philosophers and men of science. ¶

Such men who believe in the one true and living God, the eternal father of us all, like Jeremiah, Isaiah, and Zechariah, established through their writings the fundamental truths of religion and life. They gave to the world religion, which took the culture of Greece and afterwards the power of Rome, and elevated and inspired them. The Hellenistic movement was that of Aristotle and Plato, and through these men there came into the world a struggle fiercer than the struggle of arms ; for it was a struggle of ideas, but the words of the prophets had a keener significance for all time to come than had any other thought. "The Sons of Zion were against the Sons of Greece." Israel and Greece stood for the two great forces that have moulded our Western history, and still dominate modern life. Paul, the Apostle before the age of historical criticism, made the distinction so emphasized in our day, between the Hebrew spirit and the Gentile, particularly the Greek, when he said that the Gentiles followed not after righteousness ; but that Israel did follow after the law of righteousness. Beautiful are his words found in the ninth chapter of Romans. History fully bears out Paul's contrast between the Jew and the Greek ; the religious mind and the scientific mind. The Jews understood that God required righteousness as indispensable for life. The law flashed out solemn warning to the world. The sense of sin, the need of redemption, the lawlessness of human nature, when it is not under subjection to the law of God ; and these principles were all postulates of the Bible. Hebraism stood out for the moral and religious principle, Hellenism for the culture of the human ; the sensitive love for the beautiful, and the joy of living. ¶

Down through the ages, faith in one God was needed before consistency in the moral life of man was possible. The world is indebted to the Jews for the moral law, not merely the Ten Commandments, but the idea of law in general. The result of this moral advance was an infinite intellectual advance, and it brought reason and order into the world. ¶

The idea of the uniformity of nature, which is the first principle of science, was impossible until the Jewish mind swept away Polytheism, and through the concept of law, saw the world consistent, with unbroken continuity. In this way, the Herbraism of the Jew and the Hellenism of the Greek came together." ¶

So today we have the struggle of ideas. There appear two opposing methods of thought and development, which we meet in our schools and universities. They reflect at times a conflict in human nature. With the thought of the first and the last articles of our faith, certainly we make a contribution to religious thought in our day. We see the simple acceptance of both sides, looking with clear eyes on the whole situation. We accept the Hellenistic or scientific truths as given by the master men of science and philosophy. It is the gospel of the love for the beautiful and the joy of living; that man may search out truth by study and thoughtful work in the world. Then on the other hand, these two articles implicitly say that all discord in life is changed into harmony by reconciling man to God. The deepest thought of Christ's teaching and life is simple confidence in God, as seen in the world and in human life. This consciousness of the divine takes precedence over all else, and becomes the great inspiring motive, driving the life to noble ends, and assuring the spirit of man of the highest realities of life. This is one of the contributions of the gospel of Jesus Christ our Lord, as we Latter-day Saints understand it. The problems of life are solved not by denying one side or the other, but by carrying both sides to a high point. As of old, so today, Christianity reconciles religion and science by a form of knowledge and ethics, that is made accessible to all classes, kindreds, ¶

tongues, and peoples. The gospel of Jesus Christ is not a scheme of culture or a system of philosophy; but a Religion, fulfilling the law and the prophets, enforcing the obligations of duty, and pointing to the glory of the Cross. It brings man into a new relationship to God. Its end is not the curtailment of thought and life, but its enlargement, so there is room for the development of every gift of heart, mind, and soul. As was indicated by the Prophet Joseph Smith in the last article of faith, the narrow lot of man is broadened whenever he comes into filial relation to God. This enlargement of life through faith is a fact of experience. Faith in God enlarges the horizon of life, and leads to the acceptance of all truth. All the treasures of wisdom and knowledge are opened to the believing mind ; "for they are all broken lights of God, in whose light alone, we see light." How forcibly wrote Paul of old : ¶

"The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made." ¶

So we, Latter-day Saints, say to the world: "Believe in God the eternal Father, and in his Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost," for it is Christ who gives us power to become, and opens up new possibilities of thought, feeling, and action. He asks for obedience, and when we obey, we discover the law of our own life ; He asks for service, and when we serve, we discover perfect freedom. The love of God in Christ unifies life for us; we gain love, and as our love increases, our faith deepens. ¶

The message of Jesus then, as it is now, was : "Repent." "Prepare ye the way of the Lord." His coming in that first day was a revolution in religious thought. He taught that the soul of man deals directly with his God. Man must be perfect even as our Father in heaven is perfect. His life changed the history of mankind more deeply, more widely, and more permanently than any other from the beginning of the world to the present. It was he, Christ Jesus our Lord, who bestowed upon us the increasing consciousness of the immortality of spiritual values. ¶

So has the message of our Lord been revealed today. ¶

Jesus Christ and him crucified for the sins of the world; the larger faith that assures us immortality, are what the world needs this Easter day. He is risen. He is our Savior and our King. He lives and we are in the image of the true and living God, who made the world and all things therein. And when the sons of Greece are for and not against the sons of Zion; when all ideals of culture shall find their inspiration and nourishment in the divine ideals of Jesus, the Redeemer, then will the world march on to perfection. ¶

When thought, and art, and literature, and science, and knowledge and life are brought into subjection to the obedience of Christ, then shall we have the true victory of life, and we will be able to say : "Thou hast conquered, O Galilean." ¶

Both trends of thought are coming together in the gospel of Jesus Christ. George Santayana, America's greatest philosopher writes today : ¶

"O world, thou choosest not the better part. It is not wisdom to be only wise, And on the inward vision, close the eyes, But it is wisdom to believe the heart. Columbus found a world, and had no chart Save one that faith deciphered in the skies To trust the soul's invincible surmise Was all his science and his only art. Our knowledge is a torch of smoky pine That lights the pathway but one step ahead Across a void of mystery and dread. Bid then, the tender light of faith to shine By which alone the mortal heart is led Unto the thinking of the thought divine." ¶

And so by thy divine faith, says Santayana, shall you find out the true knowledge. ¶

In our belief as Latter-day Saints, Zion and Greece are brought together today in the Doctrine and Covenants one of our sacred books. ¶

The Doctrine and Covenants contains the revelations of God the Father to Joseph Smith and other prophets of God in this dispensation. It tells about the restoration of the plan of God in the salvation of the human race. It is largely ethical in its message, and, like the Book of Mormon, makes public and private righteousness matters of practice. The book opens by telling of a mighty work that is about to be ushered into the world. This is the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, with the giving to man of the holy priesthood of God, the Aaronic and Melchizedek, as it existed in the days of the prophets of Israel and at the time of Christ. The outstanding truth of the book is that God is identified as the Father of the race, and the gospel of Jesus Christ is restored in this day with all its gifts and blessings. It puts the principle of righteousness through obedience to the plan of salvation into the foreground; and all its teachings grow out of the principle that for man to attain the highest development he must place his faith in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost, and receive by divine authority the priesthood of God. It also emphasizes the importance of man's spiritual life, and his great mission on earth; as well as the glory of immortality and the power of eternal progression in the hereafter. Men are coming to know beauty and truth. Zion and Greece are brought together. These two articles of faith, the first and the last, written by the Prophet Joseph Smith, embody this great thought, and that is a distinct contribution to the truth and to the religion of the world. ¶

That the Lord may help us to see these things and appreciate the beauty of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the majesty and the grandeur of the principles of eternal truth that have been revealed in this day, I ask, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶