Observance of Ten Commandments a Present-day Obligation

My brethren and sisters, I pray that while I stand before you my remarks may be guided by the Spirit of God in whose name this Conference is conducted. ¶

I have listened with a great deal of interest to the statistical summary of the condition of the Church, the admonitions and the suggestions made by the brethren during these two days of conference. I have tried to probe into the heart of that which has been said to discover what I should say to fit in with that which has been said. ¶

PROGRESS BRINGS RESPONSIBILITY ¶

Many thoughts have come to me, — first and foremost a sense of gratitude for the progress of the Church, and secondly, a sense of the responsibility that rests upon every person who receives great favors. As I have thought these things over one thought has come to me more than any other — it has presented itself over and over again — an old and simple thought, one familiar to every Latter-day Saint and to every God-fearing man upon earth. I would like to present that to you even though it be elementary in its nature. ¶

As a young man, when I began my training for my life's work, I dipped into science and history, and gave attention also, I am grateful to say, to the restored Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I was thrilled by the thought that I belonged to an advancing day, that the day to which I belonged was not as yesterday, but was moving onward ; throughout my life I have gloried in and thrilled to the thought that I live in an advancing day and age in the history of the world. ¶

PERMANENCE ENCOMPASSES EARTH'S CHANGES ¶

Of late, however, within the last few years at the most, I find that we no longer speak of an advancing day. We speak now of a changing day. This has greatly disturbed me because change Is not necessarily ¶

advancement. I must know in what direction change takes place. If I live in an advancing day, then I know the change is one that I may favor and to which I may cling. But unless I am certain of the direction of change, I hesitate to accept it. ¶

We do live in a changing day. There is no question about that. We have the steamboat, the railroad; electricity with all its wonders; the radio, magnifying my voice at the present moment ; we have a thousand other wonders which have changed the older day. But, I cannot believe that these changes represent anything of real, fundamental importance to me as a son of God. I cannot help but believe that the elementary, the eternal, the fundamental things are just as they were thousands of years ago. ¶

This is not a changing world in the last analysis. This is a permanent world. Change, at the best, is but a play upon permanent, unchangeable, eternal principles. It cannot be otherwise. The mountains may be worn down; they have been worn down; the high mountain may be reduced to a valley — but that which made up the mountain still exists. The particles, the elements, are but used in some other day for the furtherance of the great purpose back of all existence. ¶

DESIRABILITY OF PERMANENCE AND PROGRESS ¶

There is no change of value to us, unless it be upward, onward, forward, advancing. That is the thought that has been with me these two days. If any principle or change is connected with and uses eternal principles then it becomes progress. If it is not attached to such eternal, unyielding principles, it may be nothing more than chaos. I must search out for myself these eternal principles and by their use make this day one of permanence and progress. My message to the Latter-day Saints on this occasion is that we would do better not to speak so much about the changing day but say more about the day of permanence, — the day which has existed from the beginning in the mind of the Almighty who is the same yesterday, today and forever. ¶

"TO YOUR FIRST PRINCIPLES, O ISRAEL" ¶

. I think that my friend had that in mind when I met him on the street the other day. He said to me, "We would better get back to first principles." I remembered then an old slogan, an old battle cry handed down from the days of Israel "To your tents, O Israel," said the Prophet of old, and all Israel went to their tents and carried on in new and better ways. ¶

The Prophet Brigham Young made the same statement when he began the exodus into the West, "To your tents, O Israel." And today, "To your first principles, O Israel," should be our battle cry. We need not make a slogan of the minor things that sometimes disturb us and blind our vision. ¶

You would like to ask me as I speak on this subject if there are any principles of conduct to which we may cling with certainty. We have many. There is the code for human conduct given thousands of ¶

years ago known as the "Ten Commandments." These were given to the Prophet Moses amid the thunderings and lightnings of Sinai — a code which I am fully convinced was known to our Father Adam. I know that some people in our day say that "The Ten Commandments belong to a by-gone day, to a horse and buggy day." That I do not believe. To love God, to be kind, to be merciful, are as safe guides for human conduct today as they ever have been. We shall never out-live the eternal principles contained in the Ten Commandments. I have the feeling that if this people and the world at large would read and re-read, would practice and practice again, the simple commandments given on Sinai, we would solve many of the problems that disturb us today. It seems an intellectual folly or a mental aberration for men to disobey these fundamental invariable principles, commandments of God, and then attempt to solve the larger and more difficult problems of human existence. ¶

"Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not lie. Thou shalt not steal." Do we kill, in this age ? Do we lie, in this age ? Do we steal, in this age ? Suppose we search our own hearts ! Suppose this nation search its great heart to discover if these simple commandments are being obeyed. Do we return the dollar we find on the street when we know the owner ? Do we use the law as a shield to defraud the widow, and call it business ? I would like to put questions like these to my brethren and sisters who are before me and to all the Church. These are fundamental questions. Until we learn to speak the truth, to be honest, there will be no safety in the world. There can only be chaos and commotion and blood-shed and wars. We do not need to read books of philosophy to solve the problems of this day. The principles we need to follow have been given us throughout the ages by the Lord from our Father Adam until the - present day. ¶

OBSERVANCE OF TEN COMMANDMENTS A PRESENT-DAY OBLIGATION ¶

As I have said some people hold that the Ten Commandments belong to a by-gone age. That cannot be so for I remember that the Lord in this generation reiterated to the Prophet Joseph Smith the principles that are found in the Ten Commandments, and the Lord in this day added something to the Ten Commandments as reported by Moses ; and he made them more emphatic, for he said not only "Thou shalt not steal ; thou shalt not lie ;" but added, that "he who steals or lies shall be cast out unless he repents." ¶

I feel deeply on this matter, my dear brethren and sisters. It grieves me that I am not able to hang my overcoat in a public corridor for a half hour and then reasonably expect to find it again. It grieves me to know I cannot trust the people of my generation, my fellow men ; that they are directed by selfish motives to the extent of telling untruths. ¶

I would like to say also, that that which we do in opposition to the simple commandments of God, so often forgotten, changes and injures the very being of a man. The body is changed as well as the mind and soul, by that which we do. It is now a finding of modern science that ¶

prayer itself and the life of truth influences definitely and favorably the body itself, nerves, blood, the muscles, every part of us, physically, as well as mentally and spiritually. We are touched and changed by that which we do, for good or evil. The dishonest man corrupts his body ; the honest man makes it grow into greater strength and power. Therefore it is not a little thing to keep the eternal commandments given for our guidance in life. We reap our reward as we go along life's pathway. ¶

SECURITY IN OBEDIENCE ¶

We have many speakers and little time. I bear my testimony to the virtue and value of obedience to the simple commandments of Almighty God, those contained in the Ten Commandments, in the Beatitudes, in the messages that come to us from time to time from the inspired leaders of the Church who have spoken to us during this Conference. ¶

I bear witness to you that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. We are engaged in his work. Joseph Smith is a Prophet of God, called in this day and generation to establish the work of God. We are traveling on safe ground, for Revelation is the rock and foundation of the work. I rejoice in my possession of this testimony, and I pray that it may grow within my heart, and within the heart of every Latter-day Saint, and I do it in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶