Zion's Welfare Is My Portion

A duet, "The Morning Land," was sung by Mrs. Dolores Fernstrom and Miss Jessie Evans. ¶

"Zion's welfare is my portion, And I feel my bosom swell With a warm, divine emotion, When she prospers, all is well." ¶

My soul has rejoiced in the spirit of this conference and in the hope that we have in the completion of the Lord's work according to his plan and purpose. I am in full sympathy and accord with all that has been said concerning the marvelous work and a wonder which the Lord has established. My great anxiety is that it shall continue to be a marvelous work and a wonder. I feel constrained to make an appeal to the Latter-day Saints, particularly my brethren who bear rule in stakes, wards and quorums, to see to it that we do preserve all our sacred privileges by complying with those requirements which the Lord has made for the future welfare of Zion. ¶

A Book of Mormon Message

Reference has been made frequently to the Book of Mormon, during this conference, and to the messages it contains. I should like to read from it, to call to your attention a message that comes to us from Nephi (II Nephi, Chapter 28). He saw this day as clearly as his own, and he gives us this warning: ¶

"And now, behold, my (brethren, I have spoken unto you, according as the Spirit hath constrained me ; wherefore, I know that they must surely come to pass. ¶

"The things which shall be written out of the book shall be of great worth, * * * and especially unto our seed, which is a remnant of the house of Israel. ¶

"For it shall come to pass in that day, [in the day when this book should come forth], that the churches which are built up, and not unto the Lord, when the one shall say unto the other, Behold I, I am the Lord's ; and the others shall say : I, I am the Lord's ; and thus shall every one say that hath built up churches, and not unto the Lord — ¶

"And they shall contend one with another ; and their priests shall contend one with another, and they shall teach with their learning, and deny the Holy ¶

Ghost, which giveth utterance. ¶

"And they deny the power of God, the Holy One of Israel ; and they say unto the people : Hearken unto us, and hear ye our precept ; for behold there is no God today, for the Lord and the Redeemer hath done his work, and he hath given his power unto men; ¶

"Behold, hearken ye unto my precept; if they shall say there is a miracle wrought by the hand of the Lord, believe it not; for this day he is not a God of miracles ; he hath done his work. ¶

"Yea, and there shall be many which shall say : Eat, drink, and be merry, for tomorrow we die ; and it shall be well with us. ¶

"And there shall also be many which shall say: Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God — he will justify in committing a little sin ; yea, lie a little, take the advantage of one because of his words, dig a pit for thy neighbor ; there is no harm in this ; and do all these things, for tomorrow we die ; and if it so be that we are guilty, God will beat us with a few stripes, and at last we shall be saved in the kingdom of God. ¶

"Yea, and there shall be many which shall teach after this manner, false, and vain, and foolish doctrines, and shall be puffed up in their hearts, and shall seek deep to hide their counsels from the Lord ; and their works shall be in the dark. ¶

"And the blood of the saints shall cry from the ground against them. ¶

"Yea, they have all gone out of the way ; they have become corrupted. ¶

"Because of pride, and because of false teachers, and false doctrine, their churches have become corrupted, and their churches are lifted up ; because of pride they are puffed up. ¶

"They rob the poor because of their fine sanctuaries ; they rob the poor because of their fine clothing; and they persecute the meek and the poor in heart, because in their pride they are puffed up. ¶

"They wear stiff necks and high heads ; yea, and because of pride, and wickedness, and abominations, and whoredoms, they have all gone astray save it be a few, who are the humble followers of Christ; nevertheless, they are led, that in many instances they do err, because they are taught by the precepts of men." ¶

Dangers That Threaten the World

I shall not read the remainder of it; I commend it all to you. Here is a message to the Church, a message to the world. Nephi saw most clearly these things which threaten the world, and the dangers that threaten the Church. I see no dark clouds gathering against the Church, but I do see most clearly that which Nephi declared, that in this day Satan would stir up the hearts of men, and he would rage in their hearts against the truth, and he would seek to gain power and control over the kingdoms of this world. ¶

The Lord's Promise to the Church

I recognize, my brethren and sisters, that the Church has attained a right to exist. I fear neither kings nor potentates so far as the future destiny of this work is concerned. The only fear and anxiety that I have in my heart is that the Latter-day Saints will not keep the commandments of God. ¶

I read in the Doctrine and Covenants words of precious promise to this Church on conditions found in the one hundred and third section, wherein the Lord, even in the midst of the trial and suffering of the Church following the days of their sorrow in Missouri, said : ¶

"But verily I say unto you, that I have decreed a decree which my people shall realize, inasmuch as they hearken from this very hour unto the counsel which I, the Lord their God, shall give unto them. ¶

"Behold they shall, for I have decreed it, begin to prevail against mine enemies from this very hour." ¶

And here are the conditions : ¶

"And by hearkening to observe all the words which I, the Lord their God. shall speak unto them, they shall never cease to prevail until the kingdoms of the world are subdued under my feet, and the earth is given unto the saints, to possess it forever and ever. ¶

"But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments, and hearken not to observe all my words, the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them, ¶

"For they were set to be a light unto the world, and to be the saviors of men." ¶

This precious promise is ours, on condition that we continue as faithful as our fathers and mothers were. We live in the time when men begin to say, It is all right to sin a little, to lie a little, to! begin to pay little heed and attention to those strict requirements of the Lord, to begin to break the Word of Wisdom a little, to begin to neglect the payment of our tithes and offerings, to begin to treat the moral law lightly, and to look upon it as a thing not binding upon us. That is the spirit that is in the world, and the Lord said that influence would actually affect the Church itself — the few who were the only ones in the world acceptable, and yet, in some instances, they were stumbling because of these false doctrines and precepts of men. ¶

Can Our Civilization Endure

I heard recently, as some of you did, an eminent philosopher deliver an address, in the Assembly Hall, on the question, Can civilization endure? He recited the rise and the fall of empires, and said that all the glory of Babylon had gone the way of the world, as was the case with other civilizations that had arisen. And yet, out of it all, there has come unto our civilization all the blessings and benefits of former civilizations. But he also called attention to the fact, that if the glorious civilizations of the past had not been destroyed and could have gone on building, what might be our status today! He also said, there is, of course, a possibility that, glorious and wonderful as this civilization is, it, too, may perish and go the way of the world. ¶

He asked the question, Will the day ever come in the lives of the children of men when a civilization shall be established that will stand forever and will not go into decay as those great civilizations of the past have done ? He hoped that day would come, he believed it would. While listening to his remarks, I saw, more clearly than ever, the hand of God in laying a foundation in fulfilment of that promise made through Daniel, in the interpretation of the dream given to Nebuchadnezzar, that that day would come. He saw all the kingdoms that have risen and have fallen, and foretold their future as accurately as the historian has recorded it since the events have happened; and, with as much accuracy, he foretold the day to come when, after all this period, the God of heaven would set his hand to establish a new order of things ¶

in the earth, to build up a kingdom that would stand forever, and that never would fall. ¶

A Kingdom That Will Never Fall

Our attention has been called, during this conference, to the establishment of the Lord's work in the founding of these American institutions, and that God inspired the men who wrote the Constitution. We believe that his hand has been over it. I believe myself that it is part of God's great work in the building up and establishment of a kingdom for himself when he will come, for come he will, to reign as King of kings. All the kingdoms of the world shall go on, attempting to solve their problems and utterly failing, until, in desperation, after the days of their sorrow, they will turn to him and elect him to be their King. He will reign as Lord of lords in his Church — this Church, builded and established by him, and which shall go forward and never fail. Wonderful, is it not, to think that we are favored above all other men in the world, privileged to live in an age when we are contributing towards the establishment of that order of things that will never perish. ¶

This government, its principles and doctrines, will never perish from the earth. Neither will this Church nor the principles and the doctrines that it announces. They are not competitors, they are handmaidens preparing the way for his coming. It is glorious to know that he has risen, and more glorious to know that he will come again and will live and rule and reign with his saints for a thousand years, and peace shall be here. This is the mission and the destiny of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. What then is our duty ? My brethren, it is to go to our stakes and wards and rally our forces as watchmen upon the towers of Zion, to see the dangers that threaten, and while they are not disastrous now, being forewarned, forearm ourselves, and induce our brethren and sisters not to be weary in welldoing, but to subscribe their lives to these simple gospel principles, for in abiding by them is all this future glory assured to us. By keeping the commandments of God, we shall never cease to prevail until the kingdoms of the world shall become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ. ¶

Satan Shall Be Defeated

My only anxiety is that, when the clay comes, we shall be found with oil in our lamps. I bear witness to you that the devil is raging. He never has had such an experience in all his existence, in seeking to obtain power and authority over the things of this world, as today. He never has been so completely defeated as in the successful establishment of this Church, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. He has sought by every power and means at his command to destroy it, and he has failed. And he will fail in the future. He is gathering his forces for the great conflict and struggle, even Armageddon, when the living righteous and righteous dead shall be arrayed on one side against the living wicked and the wicked dead, in a mighty conflict, to settle the question as to who has the right to rule and reign ; and he shall be defeated, no matter how great his forces. ¶

God's Power to Be Manifested

I bear witness to you that God is speaking through the elements in the midst of the nations of the earth. He will manifest his power as never before. This Church will have the opportunity to demonstrate its power and its influence in the world. If only we will adhere to these principles, we shall rise and shine, and no power on earth or in hell shall stop the progress and growth and development of this work. The power to make it succeed is in our hands. God give us the vision to see clearly our glorious destiny, to recognize the principles by which we may, through adhering to them, reach that destiny, and come off victorious, to rejoice in the day of the triumph of God's work in the earth, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶