The Destiny of Man

My brethren and sisters, as President Ivins has already announced, we very much deplore the absence of President Grant from this conference, but we are glad to know that he is convalescing and rapidly recovering from his operation. I am sure it is the desire of the Church generally, that President Grant may be spared to preside over us for many years and that his days may not be numbered less. ¶

We also note the absence of Brother Ballard, one of our number, who has also undergone an operation which is often times considered a serious one, but in his case the operation was quite successful and he is rapidly recovering. ¶

Of course we are necessarily without the presence of Brother Widtsoe who is in Europe, a long distance from us, and could not very well be here. But we have Senator Smoot with us, I am happy to say, at this conference. ¶

Let me say, brethren and sisters, that to stand before a great congregation of Latter-day Saints like this is a privilege and responsibility. I therefore ask for your sustaining support by the exercise of faith in what I shall say on this occasion. ¶

Purpose in Life

I am impressed now to read a few words from a well-known and prominent writer, and perhaps if I may have freedom of the Spirit I will make a few comments upon these words. ¶

"Many a philosopher has propounded the conundrum, 'What is the object of life? Why have we been placed upon this planet, to struggle along for a few years and then to die? Has a beneficent providence some scheme which we cannot fathom?' ¶

"This conundrum has not yet been answered." ¶

The writer is regarded as quite an intelligent man, and he has written a very great many good things. But it might be safely said to him that life is not a conundrum, that there is a real purpose in it ; and if the writer had been in close touch with the scriptures and the revelations of God that are recorded in the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price, he would have discovered, as I have already said, that there is a purpose in life and that that purpose has been developed by the great Creator of the world and of the people of the world. ¶

Yes, but it might be said by him, perhaps : "I do not believe in the Bible, I do not believe in the Book of Mormon that you mention ; I do not believe in the Doctrine and Covenants or the Pearl of Great Price." ¶

Predictions Fulfilled

Well, the answer is : Perhaps you do not; but nevertheless whether you believe them or do not believe them they are in existence, we have them, and we have Learned from those books that holy men of old wrote and spoke as they were moved upon by the Holy Ghost. Many of the things that they said were written down, some of them were great predictions, and in the passage of time a large number of them have already been fulfilled to the very letter, although they were uttered hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and others will be fulfilled. This is pretty good evidence of their genuineness. ¶

And then it might be said in reference to" the revelations of God given in these latter-days to a mighty prophet whose name was Joseph Smith, that they have stood the test of one hundred years. They have been attacked upon many occasions by unbelievers but have never been overthrown. A number of the predictions recorded in these revelations have also been fulfilled, and that is about the best test that could be made with respect to the scriptures or the revelations from God. ¶

The Pre-existent State

This man, as I have already said, if he had been in strict accord with the word of the Lord, would have known that the children of men, including himself and all others, lived before in a pre-existent state in a place that is designated as heaven. When heaven is spoken of we naturally conclude that it is a place of peace and happiness, that those who dwell there are happy, that God himself, our Father, and his Son Jesus Christ and the holy apostles and prophets and Saints dwell there. That the society of such people is what constitutes heaven and makes for happiness. They dwell there, and we dwelt there, in the pre-existent state as spirits. If somebody were to ask what did we look like when we existed there as spirits, I should answer that we looked just like we look now, only we were spirits in the form of God. We were his children in the spirit and must necessarily have partaken of his likeness. Surely that is reasonable. ¶

It must have been a place of happiness because when rebellion arose in heaven it could not long survive and was cast out. We read in the book of Revelation, that there was war in heaven between Lucifer and his host of spirits and Michael and his host, and that Lucifer and his followers were overthrown and cast down. "Therefore, at that particular time happiness was restored and must have continued in heaven. ¶

Spirits Not Complete

A time arrived, however, when these spirits were in need of something further, or in other words, it must have been known in that preexistent state that the spirits of men were not complete in their creation, that there was something lacking, something that should be added to them. Of course, I am speaking now strictly in accordance with Holy Writ. The time arrived when these spirits came forth upon the earth. But it was their coming that proved to be so interesting a matter. We read about it in the opening chapters of the Holy Bible, the Bible of the Christian world which is our Bible also. It is set forth in great clearness. ¶

God said : "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness." And the record tells us that God did create man in his own image and after his likeness. He said, Let us do it, and the act of performance followed. A little farther on the matter is amplified, like my words are being amplified and made a little clearer by the radio, when we read that "God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life ; and man became a living soul." ¶

Living Souls

• I say to you that that was an extraordinary thing, and it occurred at the very beginning in the experience of Adam and Eve. They became living souls and their children who followed them also became living souls. Now to be a living soul is a very different thing from being a living spirit. The breath of life referred to that was breathed into man, was in fact his spirit. This is made very clear in the revelations of God given to his people in both ancient as well as modern times. ¶

The difference is this : When the immortal spirit of a man secures and enters a mortal body, it can then be said, I take it, that his creation is complete. He is a living soul. ¶

That other thing, his body, so necessary to his present and future welfare, has been added to his spirit. , ¶

This is set forth in great plainness in section ninety-three of the Hook of Doctrine and Covenants, wherein the Lord says : ¶

"For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy; ¶

"And when separated, man cannot receive a fulness of joy." ¶

Purpose of Life

What a wonderful saying ! It discloses the very purpose of life, namely, that man, a living soul, is capable of attaining to and experiencing a fulness of joy. That is the answer to the conundrum respecting "the purpose of life." In other words, man is placed in a position by this fulness and completeness of his creation that he can receive a fulness of joy. He does not necessarily have it unless he makes himself worthy of it by compliance with the laws of God. ¶

Now, the Lord doubtless had this matter in mind when he said, as recorded in the Pearl of Great Price : "This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." That is the special work in which God our Father is engaged, and I take it from a reading of the scriptures, and from reflection, that God cannot be engaged in a greater work than to bring to pass the salvation of souls, and it is in the principle of salvation that we are to find a fulness of joy. Somebody may say, perhaps this very writer may say, "What do you mean by salvation?" Well, it simply means that a man must first be saved from his weaknesses and imperfections, and secondly, that he must be saved from his sins and follies. ¶

How to Be Saved

How can he be saved from them ? By forsaking his weakness and by repenting and forsaking his sins, after which he may get remission of his sins by and through an ordinance of the Gospel, viz., baptism. Possibly the writer heretofore mentioned might add, "Well, what do you mean by the Gospel?" ¶

We mean by the Gospel just what Paul said about it. He said: "I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ ; for it is the power of God unto salvation, to every one that believeth." The Savior said that those who rejected it and would not have the Gospel, would be damned, or, in other words, would come under very great condemnation. If you do not like the word damned use the word condemnation, because both words mean exactly the same thing, only one is a little more expressive than the other. And so we find that salvation is to come through obedience to the Gospel. ¶

The Destiny of Man

Now there is another very wonderful thing in the scriptures if we shall go back to Adam, and it is contained in the Book of Mormon, II Nephi, second chapter, as I remember it, and that is this : "Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." ¶

So we come right back to this question of the purpose of life — "Men are, that they might have joy." We might say, God is that he might have joy, a fulness of joy, and so his Son Jesus Christ is that he might have a fulness of joy, and that would mean that God has a fulness of salvation, and that Jesus Christ has a fulness of salvation. They have attained to it. They have conquered. Jesus Christ has risen above his enemies. He has gone beyond. They have no power over him at all. He has all power, and is saved, and therefore, brethren and sisters, he must be in a condition or state of perfect joy. ¶

That is the destiny of man. But that destiny must be clearly understood by man and must be followed in order that he shall rise to exaltation and glory such as that which has been received by the Savior and his apostles of old and the Saints who have been resurrected who will enter into glory and exaltation. ¶

Must Be Born Again

How is that to come about ? Let me signify. We are told that the Savior revealed it, but he did it in a way that Nicodemus perhaps did not comprehend, and in a way that the Christian world today does not appear to comprehend. Jesus said, as recorded in the Gospel by St. John, 3rd chapter, that "except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God." That was a very confusing statement made to Nicodemus. He wondered about it. He wondered how a man could be born again. Must he go back and be born once more? The Savior saw his predicament, saw that he was ignorant of the matter, and said : "Nicodemus, except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." If a man cannot enter the kingdom of God he cannot rise to a fulness of joy, never, worlds without end. ¶

He may get some joy, he may get great happiness from what he does do in righteousness, but to get a fulness he must be born again. It is an actual birth, just as we were born into the world to get these bodies, so we must be born into the kingdom of God — perhaps I should say born into the church and kingdom of God, I think perhaps they will be merged together sometime. The kingdom of God and the church of God are not very far apart. One cannot , get into the kingdom of God upon the principle of faith alone, or repentance alone, or receiving the Holy Ghost alone. He will have to be baptized, go down into the water, and come up out of the water, and have hands laid upon him for the gift of the Holy Ghost. That is the procedure that was followed by the apostles of Christ. That is the procedure of the Church today. It is the only way. ¶

Baptism, then, may be said to be the door that leads into the kingdom of God, or into the church and kingdom of God. How beautiful that is ! There is an actuality about it, you can visualize it. I am not spiritualizing. There is an earthly work to do. And then when one gets into the kingdom of God there is a greater work to do because it ¶

is word upon word, line upon line, precept upon precept, that one must learn by experience after he comes into the Church and kingdom of God. A man is not saved by baptism altogether. The opportunity of salvation, the power to be saved, yes, it is there, but he must exercise that power and do the work that is necessary. ¶

Worldly Things to Pass Away

Now, in conclusion, let me say this to you, brethren and sisters of the Church: The man who expects to find a fulness of joy in the light and frivolous pleasures of the world or in matters pertaining strictly to the world will be sadly disappointed, because it is said that a man whose heart is wedded to the things of the world is carnally minded, and we are told in the scriptures that to be carnally minded, or altogether worldly minded, is death, but to be spiritually minded is life eternal. There it is, and we should remember that as Latter-day Saints we must not give ourselves wholly and completely to worldly things, loving them above everything else. We have to deal with them, and we need them, too, but we must be spiritually minded if we will attain to a fulness of joy. ¶

Now, this is what the Lord says about the matter in section one hundred thirty-two of the Doctrine and Covenants. Listen to this tremendous declaration of the Lord by revelation to Joseph Smith the Prophet. We wish the whole world could hear it. It might cause them generally to sit down and reflect upon life : ¶

"And everything that is in the world, whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down, and shall not remain after men are dead, nether in nor after the resurrection, saith the Lord your God." ¶

We ought not to cling to those things that will pass away and never return. We should rather take hold of the things that are destined to remain. ¶

Immortal Things

This is what Henry Drummond says, which is pretty much to the point, and has some bearing upon what I have been saying : ¶

"There is a great deal in the world that is delightful and beautiful; there is a great deal in it that is great and engrossing; but it will not last. All that is in the world, the lust of the eye, thelust of the flesh, and the pride of life, are but for a little while. Love not the world, therefore. Nothing that it contains is worth the life and Iconsecration of an immortal soul. The immortal soul must give itself to something that is immortal. And the only immortal things are these : ¶

" 'Now abideth faith, hope, love ; but the greatest of these is love'." ¶

That is a wonderful saying, is it not? There is mighty power in love, and you might say all power in faith. We could not succeed without both. ¶

The Riches of the World

Now some people, many people perhaps, some in the Church, think that this happiness I am speaking of, or fulness of joy, may be found in the riches of the world — in gold, silver, houses, lands, etc. Let me quote from a certain publication what is said respecting a very wealthy Russian nobleman : ¶

"No one who is not rich, attractive, very young, and the center of an admiring social circle, can have any idea how intolerably tedious riches, beauty, and popularity can be. Felix Felixovich had everything he could possibly want: he was master of the largest and imost valuable collection of precious stones in the world, of palaces and castles and enormous estates; he had accomplished the highest that a man of noble blood, a descendant of the Elstons could accomplish ; he had won the hand of an imperial princess ; his friend was the handsome universally admired Grand Duke Dimitri. And yet for him this state of perpetual happiness which hid nothing more in itself, which held out no promise of new experiences, which could • offer him no further secrets, attractions, or excitements, was one of intolerable boredom and emptiness. ¶

Like many other Russian aristocrats, Prince Felix did not avail himself of the possibility of filling his life with intellectual interests, and consequently he was tormented by the painful boredom of the absolutely rich and absolutely happy person, the man to whom nothing is forbidden, and to jwhom therefore, nothing any longer seems desirable. Inevitably, he began to feel his life of perpetual riches as a prison, from which there was no escape. His beautiful wife of imperial blood, his beautiful and elegant friend, the many adorers, male and female, and the handsome men and pretty women who flocked about him, were bound ultimately to seem like merciless warders, who 'kept him shut up in his prison of disconsolate [boredom. ¶

"The poor can hope for riches, the unloved for love, and the lowly for elevation; but for the man who like Felix Yusupov, is surrounded by enormous wealth, perpetual [happiness, and unending pleasure, there remains no other outlet from his spiritual prison but crime. As the ray of light coming through his grating, so to the young prince, crime seemed the only hope of freedom. To commit a crime and once more taste a new, still unknown excitement was a dream like the prisoner's dream )of freedom." ¶

In conclusion, brethren and sisters, I testify to you in all solemnity after fifty years of experience that I do know positively with a firm knowledge and an abiding faith that this is the Church of God and of his Son Jesus Christ, that Jesus was and is the Savior of the world, and that Joseph Smith was and is a true prophet of God. I have great pleasure and happiness in bearing this testimony on this occasion. The Lord bless you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶