Changeless Truths in a Changing World

Commenting upon the unjustifiable attempts of strong nations to subdue weaker nations, one of our leading popular contributors to syndicated newspapers said yesterday: ¶

Out of all history you will find but one world conqueror who came with clean hands, and those hands the soldiers pierced with iron spikes as they nailed the Nazarene to the cross. ¶

It was this same clean world conqueror who said: ¶

Therefore, whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken unto a wise man ; and whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, I will liken unto a foolish man. ¶

We are living in a changing world, and some of us are becoming ¶

somewhat confused by the accumulation of theories, suggestions, proposals and the expressions of doubts that seem to be filling the air. ¶

Recently I overheard some young men talking about the results of infractions of the moral law, and one of them expressed this sentiment: "I think we must take a broad view of this matter and look at these things in the light of the year 1935." I cite his remark merely because I think it is the expression of an attitude which has more or less general acceptance. I answered him quietly: "If you put your finger in the fire will the burn be any less intense in 1935 than it was in 1835 ?" The law of compensation and the law of retribution are eternally operating. ¶

As every thinking person knows, the principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ are just as applicable to the conditions of the world today as they have ever been in the history of mankind. Today, perhaps, as seldom if ever before the rock foundation built upon Christ's teachings is needed in the political as well as in moral and spiritual realms. Men and women are being swept from their old moorings by unsound theories and untried schemes, but before abandoning tried principles for seemingly attractive theories, they would do well first to sink their shafts deeper in search of the bed-rock of truth. The sooner this theory-smitten world gets on a sure foundation, the better it will be for humanity. ¶

A GLORIOUS AGE ¶

Now, please do not think me a pessimist. I love life. I think it is a joy to live in this age. Every morning, as I greet the sun as he ushers in these unexcelled autumn days, I feel the joy of living. I realize the accomplishments, to a certain degree, of this wonderful mechanistic age. Today time and distance are practically annihilated. Fifty years ago neighbors fifty miles apart were comparatively strangers. Today you can go to your telephone and in a few minutes talk to a friend seven thousand miles away. When Charles Lindbergh reached the American Embassy in Paris, after having flown from New York to Paris in thirty-six hours, he went to the telephone and within an hour told his mother that he had reached his destination in safety. If we were in tune at this moment we could hear Big Ben striking over Westminster Abbey. ¶

Millions of people in the world heard Admiral Byrd at the South Pole. Men are penetrating the stratosphere, and hoping for the nearby day when they will eat breakfast in New York and luncheon in Paris. ¶

THREATENING DANGERS ¶

Yes, it is a glorious age in which we live, but no thinking man will doubt that this age is fraught with limitless perils as well as with untold possibilities. It is because of threatening dangers that the world should become anchored in the eternal truths of Jesus Christ, and realize that there are eternal verities in this changing world. "Today, ¶

as seldom before," writes Dr. Haydn, "human society is threatened with disintegration, if not complete chaos. All the ancient evils of human relationships, injustice, selfishness, abuse of strength, become sinister and terrible when reinforced by the vast increase of material power. The soul of man cowers, starved and fearful in the midst of a civilization grown too complex for any mind to visualize or control." ¶

And Charles Foster Kent, commenting upon the "chaotic state," of our civilized world says: ¶

Political organizations and ideals that have both fortified and handicapped us have been thrown into the discard. Long accepted social theories have suddenly been rejected, and new ones are being adopted. Many of the moral standards of our fathers are being set aside in theory as well as in practice. The rising generation has no fear and little respect for elders. The elders, recognizing what a wreck they have made of civilization, question their own infallibility. Religious dogmas, long regarded as the corner stones of religion and the church, are being disproved' or supplanted by the discoveries of modern science. It is not strange, that the majority of the men and women in this war-shattered world are unhappy, because they feel the foundations beneath them are tottering. ¶

I think the realization of the position of our so-called civilized countries may be deeply sensed when I call your attention to the fact that at this moment, while we are here worshipping, if we could tune in properly we could hear the guns booming that are now blasting out the lives of young men, old men, women and children in Ethiopia. ¶

MORAL IDEALS AND SPIRITUAL TEACHINGS LACKING ¶

The world needs fundamentals, eternal verities that never change. They need to adopt the teachings of the man into whose hands the soldiers drove the iron spikes, "the only world conqueror who came with clean hands." ¶

Commenting upon world conditions that cry out for something better and more definitely uplifting, J. William Hudson, Professor of Philosophy, University of Missouri, says: ¶

The very heart of the .present unrest in America is not merely of unrest of dissatisfied wants. It is that much more serious thing, the unrest of not knowing what is wanted. It is the unrest of the man who craves something to satisfy his palate, but knows not just what it is he craves. _ The appetite is normal enough. It simply has not defined itself sufficiently. ' ¶

And another, commenting on the same condition, says: ¶

The standards of the home, even the criteria for the rearing of children have broken down. The leisure occupations of youth, always symptomatic in any age, are not only unguidedly and frankly hedonistic, but across the borders of what was once considered decorous, not because of a new and liberalizing moral standard, as we sometimes pretended, but because of the lack of any. The popularity of certain recent dances, formerly forbidden even in the "red-light" districts, is typical. So is much ¶

of our periodical reading matter, and any number of movie plays, over the edge of the decadently errotic, with a censorship that does not censor because of moral and financial doubt. ¶

He mentions the fact that dishonesty is permeating public and private life alike, tainting the administration of justice, tainting our legislative halls, tainting the conduct of private business, polluting at times even the church itself. In the same utterance he averred that a source of infinite evil in every modern society is impurity of word and act. ¶

He goes on to assert that "if there is to be social and political regeneration in the republic and in the rest of the world, it must be by tremendous regeneration of moral ideals." ¶

What are the moral ideals and the spiritual teachings of the Man of Nazareth? Down through the centuries there have come ringing these words: ¶

I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in . darkness, but shall have the light of life. ¶

Do Christians really believe this ? If so, they are hearing his other ringing words: ¶

Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. ¶

His teachings are simple, and sometimes they seem so simple that we toss them aside. ¶

FUNDAMENTALS TAUGHT BY JESUS ¶

Last evening I had the privilege of calling attention of the Priesthood to the little simple principle of kindness. That is a principle the world lacks. We rather go to backbiting, talebearing, gossiping, and in some cases lying about one another. All these are un-Christlike, unchristian. They spring from the source mentioned by President Clark, the power that is seeking to destroy Christ's principles and Christ's church. ¶

The principles of honesty, just simple honesty, and fair dealing are fundamental principles that never change. ¶

THE EXISTENCE OF A PERSONAL GOD ¶

But there are other comprehensive principles to which I wish to call your attention. The first fundamental truth advocated by Jesus Christ was this, that behind, above and over all there is God the Father, Lord of heaven and earth. This universe, therefore is not left to the guidance of an irrational, random chance, but on the contrary is ordered and controlled by a marvelous intelligence and wisdom. ¶

Because Science says to you young men that it has not found a divine, personal Being, nor the soul of man, are you justified in concluding that these realities do not exist ? "There is not a single scientific specialist of repute," says Dr. Hudson, "who has attempted to prove by ¶

scientific method that what science cannot demonstrate is thereby disproved." On the contrary, hear ringing these glorious words: "God and the unseen world are not merely objects of surmise. We know them in experience." ¶

Far more direct and impressive are the words of the one in this dispensation who saw God and His Son: ¶

When the light rested upon me I saw two personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name, and said, pointing to the other: "This is my beloved Son. Hear him." ¶

There is an unchanging truth in an unchanging world, that should be an anchor to the soul of every person in it. ¶

SACREDNESS OF HUMAN PERSONALITY ¶

A second I am going to name is the sacredness of personality. The least child was sacred to Jesus. "It is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should perish." That simple truth in the world, what would it mean? ¶

Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done it unto me. ¶

And in this modern day he said: ¶

Remember the worth of souls is great. ¶

A proper conception of this divine principle would change the attitude of the world, to the benefit and happiness of all human beings. It would bring into active operation the Golden Rule: "Do unto others as you would have others do unto you." ¶

What a different world this were if men would accumulate wealth, for example, not as an end but as a means of blessing human beings and improving human relations. A Christian conception of the right and value of a human soul, even though his skin be dark, would have prevented, the slaughter that at this moment is being perpetrated in Ethiopia. ¶

SPIRITUAL COMMUNION A REALITY ¶

And a third fundamental truth is this, that direct communion between the Spirit of God and the spirit of men may be a reality. With all my soul I echo the appeal of my brother, Stephen L. Richards, that we may lead the youth into that realm in which they will sense that communion. The promise of the Lord to his apostles is a reality: ¶

I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever. ¶

But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me. ¶

And again: ¶

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. ¶

Who are the pure in heart ? Those who let no selfishness or hatred or vile thought becloud their spiritual vision. ¶

FREE AGENCY ¶

And the fourth is this, that man has the inherent power to do right or to do wrong. In this he has his free agency, to choose the right and obtain salvation, or he may choose evil and learn abominations. ¶

These are eternal verities, as applicable in the year 1935 as they were when Jesus first promulgated them, and they will remain fundamental and essential elements in man's progress and happiness as long as life and being last. ¶

Associated with these are eternal truths that constitute the plan of salvation; faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity; "For if these things," we are told, "be in you and abound, they leave you that you shall be neither barren nor unfruitful in a knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. To know whom, and God the Father, is eternal life." — man's greatest blessing. ¶

In the questioning days of early boyhood I first felt a kinship with Christ, our Lord and Savior. I know his love and his divine guidance. He is the sinless Son of Man. "He is the first and the last and is alive forevermore." Only by obedience to his teachings can man find happiness and peace. Truly whosoever heareth his sayings and doeth them shall be likened unto a wise man who built his house upon a rock; and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew and beat upon that house; but it fell not; for it was founded upon a rock. ¶

God help us all to walk in the light as he is in the light, and thereby avoiding the unhappiness, sinfulness and misery of a misguided world, find joy and peace and beauteous life here in this probation and in the life to come, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen. ¶