A Faithful People

Personally I can say that I have enjoyed very much the spirit and instruction, and the music of this Conference — all of which I can endorse most heartily. ¶

A Faithful People

I have been made to feel thankful to be a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which it is clear to my mind is in its ascendency in the earth today. I have thought of the faithfulness of this people, the like of which I doubt can be found anywhere else in the world. They have accepted the Gospel as one of sacrifice, of self-abnegation, and of service to God and to fellowmen. They are working out their own salvation in fear and trembling. They pray for the Authorities of this Church, and the Lord answers their prayers. I do not know that we need consider the exceptions. ¶

The Authorities of the Church are praying for the people, and the Lord is blessing the members of his Church and those who are rendering service in the Church, assisting the Lord in the accomplishment of his work and purposes, looking to the saving of the souls of men, without monetary consideration, who are paying their tithes and their offerings, and answering calls of authority from the leaders of the Church to fill missions abroad, to labor in the Church at home. If these people are not well paid here upon the earth they have the assurance of a reward hereafter that will amply justify all the sacrifices which they may make here in the flesh. ¶

Purpose of Life

We are not here upon the earth, brethren and sisters, and friends, by chance, nor did we come to earth for the purpose of acquiring the wealth of this world or the praise and plaudits of men, or for our own personal aggrandizement, but we are here according to the plan of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which was instituted in the councils of heaven before the world was. It involves the acceptance of certain principles and the receiving of certain ordinances, the keeping of the commandments of the Lord, the obeying of his laws, and the rendering of service to one another, to our fellowmen. ¶

It is pure religion and undefiled to keep ourselves free from the sins of the world and to visit the widows and the fatherless in their affliction. To those who feed the hungry, clothe the naked and minister unto the needs of their fellowmen in unselfishness, their hearts going out with their alms, to such will the Lord say in the day of reckoning: "Come ye blessed of the Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." ¶

But to those who have buttoned up their pockets, who have closed their hearts against the needs of their fellowmen, living entirely selfish lives, they may expect the words of the Judge of all : "Depart from me, ye cursed." ¶

We should in very deed lose our lives in the service to our God and to our fellowmen. The greatest service that we can render, the most helpful, to our fellowmen and to ourselves and to our God is helping men and women to find out the way of life and salvation, to know what salvation is, of what it consists, and how it may be attained, and to encourage them by teaching them the word and will of the Lord, to accept of the same, and to walk in newness of life in the path which is straight and narrow, and leads unto life everlasting. ¶

The Gospel the Law for All Mankind

Hence we preach the Gospel at great expense, it is true, to the Church, but the souls of men and women cannot be valued in dollars and cents in the cost of effort. The Gospel which we have received is the law by which all mankind are in the end to be judged, and either condemned or justified according to merit. The scriptures tell us that before the law sin was in the world, but sin is not imputed where there is no law, and that where there is no law there is no judgment, and where there is no judgment there is no condemnation. That means that the law of the Gospel must be taught unto all men ; they are to have opportunity to exercise their judgment and their agency in accepting or rejecting it, and inasmuch as many of our Father's children — many millions of them — have lived upon this earth and passed on without a knowledge of the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its saving power, the Gospel must be taught to them in the spirit world. ¶

That is not a new doctrine, for Christ himself, as the scriptures teach us, while his body lay in the tomb went and preached to the spirits in prison, and so we believe that the faithful men and women of this Church, when they go beyond, will be engaged in that kind of work. There is no nobler work in which men or women can be employed than that of helping the unfortunate, those who are in spiritual darkness, to find the way to life eternal and encouraging them to walk therein. ¶

On the other side this work of preaching is going on too, but there are saving ordinances of the Gospel that all mankind must receive if they will be saved, and they are administered here upon the earth by those having authority. Most of the higher ordinances are administered only in the Temples of our God. To find out these our kindred ancestors by genealogical research, and to go into the Temples of the Lord and receive for them vicariously those saving ordinances is another responsibility that rests upon us as a people, than which there is no greater, and the blessings that we receive will be according to our faithfulness in the discharging of this responsibility. ¶

This is true religion and undefiled before the Lord. ¶

I do not know that comparisons would help any. I have been letting this thought run through my mind : Where in all this wide world can we find a people, a working people in their religion, in their church organizations, as we have it in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Where can we find a people who are making the sacrifices that this people are doing, who are doing the good that this people are doing? ¶

Our Religion a Positive One

Mormonism, I think we were told by Bishop Cannon this morning, is a positive religion, and I say that which is in opposition to it is negative. If it were possible that the Latter-day Saints could be mistaken in their attitude that this religion of ours is a positive religion, that there are things that must be done and accomplished in order to attain salvation, principles to be accepted and ordinances to be received, service to be rendered such as the Latter-day Saints are rendering, I say if it were possible that we could be mistaken in this thing — for we will all know at some future time with regard to salvation and its requirements, when every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ, if not before — we would be as well off as those who take the negative attitude toward religion. But if it proves that we are right — as I am sure it will — in our claims of the things necessary in order to obtain salvation, how much better off we will be than those who have been on the negative side. So we are on the safe side, and I thank God that I have the assurance that we are on the safe side so far as understanding what salvation is and how it may be attained. ¶

I think so far as the practice of these things is concerned we are setting a worthy example to the world of mankind. I have no fear so far as that is concerned that that is the order of things. If only we could fulfil the law in an acceptable way as our Father's children, all will be well with us, there will be no disappointment, and that is the thing that we are here upon this earth to do, to make preparation for the life which is to come, which is eternal, so that when we go beyond there will be no reproach of having done things we ought not to have done, there will be no disappointment. We will enter into the rest and the glory that are prepared for the righteous of our Father's children. ¶

God bless this people for their faithfulness, their devotion to the work of the Lord, and may he reward all the members of this Church fully for every sacrifice that they make in this life, and if not in this life, in the life to come, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶

At the suggestion of President Heber J. Grant, the Choir and congregation arose and sang "High on the Mountain Top." ¶