Responsibilities of Church Members

Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles ¶

No normal man, having partaken of the inspiration that we have enjoyed this morning while singing the praises of our Heavenly Father and listening to the addresses of the brethren, could stand in the presence of an audience like this without realizing his need for divine guidance. I would not undertake this responsibility if I did not believe that the Lord would help me in what I may say. ¶

This is the 222nd Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Each one preceding it has been favored by the Lord in ¶

that he has fulfilled his promise to his sons and daughters who were assembled in worship, that he would be with them to bless them, and he is fulfilling that promise today. ¶

Sabbath Observance Uplifting

This is the Lord's day, an appropriate time for us to meet together in His name, for He has commanded that we should assemble on the Sabbath to pay our devotions to the Most High. I know of no more beautiful spot in all the world than this in which people are permitted to worship. I avail myself of the opportunity to thank those who look after this block, particularly Brother Nauman, the good man who has devoted much of his life to making Temple Square delightful to all visitors. The flowers that have adorned the stand during this conference are his contribution to our happiness in this sanctuary and I know of no place where flowers are more appropriate than in the House of the Lord. ¶

What an uplift would come to the world if all of our Father's children on this, the Sabbath day, instead of warring on one another were seeking Him in worship and humbly praying for His all-wise guidance in conducting their lives. With that attitude among men war would cease, but if men continue to refuse to obey the counsels of the Master of heaven and earth destruction will increase until civilization may disappear from the earth. ¶

Prophets Have Raised a Warning Voice

The Lord has warned us of our danger and advised how to escape it. Amos, the prophet, said, "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His secret unto His servants the prophets." Many prophecies are already fulfilled and others will be in the near future. ¶

Centuries have passed since our first parents began their mortal existence and were advised by the Lord how to obtain happiness. For hundreds of years we have had His instruction through His prophets recorded as scripture so that we could know what He had desired of us. Isn't it strange that after centuries of opportunity to know the truth as taught by the Father of all a majoriy of the people of this world do not believe it or accept him as the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. That they do not accept His teachings is evident that they do not believe in Him, and it is disappointing that in the year 1940 in our own land there are many who fail to realize that God is our Heavenly Father. ¶

Men cannot justify their delinquencies before the great Judge by declaring that they have not had the opportunity to know, for all down through the ages prophets of the Lord have been teaching what He desires us to know, and in our own day and age opportunity unparalleled in the history of the world has been offered to the children of men to know that there is a God and that we are His children. Here we are in worship enjoying the peace and the inspiration of our Heavenly Father with the assurance that He can hear and answer our prayers. Yet in some parts of the earth today there are multitudes who are seeking to destroy one ¶

another. They have no desire to worship God or accept His advice. They prefer to have their own wrong way and be wilful in having it. ¶

The Holy Bible is a most wonderful record and if there ever was a time when we should know what it contains it is now. Many would be surprised if they would read it, to discover that some of the predictions that were made by the servants of the Lord thousands of years ago are now in course of fulfilment. It would astonish some people to know that the Prophet Isaiah, seven hundred years before the birth of Christ, predicted His coming. Two hundred years before the fall of Babylon he predicted its destruction, and told in remarkable detail what would follow even down to this day. He said (Isaiah 13:19-22): ¶

And Babylon, the glory of Kingdoms, the beauty of the Chaldees' excellency, shall be as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. ¶

It shall never be inhabited, neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation; neither shall the Arabian pitch tent there; neither shall the shepherds make their fold there. ¶

But wild beasts of the desert shall lie there; and their houses shall be full of doleful creatures; and owls shall dwell there, and satyrs shall dance there. ¶

And the wild beast of the islands shall cry in their desolate houses, and dragons in their pleasant palaces; and her time is near to come, and her days shall not be prolonged. ¶

' If the Lord had not revealed it to him Isaiah could not have known these things. We today are witnesses that that promise is still in effect, notwithstanding that when the prophecy was uttered Babylon was the greatest city in all the world, the wealthiest and the most powerful of all kingdoms, and was governed by the greatest of all earthly kings. ¶

Sometimes we forget that the Lord has spoken and we fail to inform ourselves to His decrees. Read the prophecies of Jeremiah and Ezekiel with reference to Tyre, or the strong city, and how they were fulfilled and the city overthrown. The ruins are still visible in the bottom of the sea, and the original site is a barren rock. ¶

The dream of Nebuchadnezzar about the great image, interpreted by Daniel more than two thousand years ago, was still in process of fulfillment when the Church of Jesus Christ was organized in 1830. ¶

Read in Joshua, Chapter 6, of the threat against the man who dared to rebuild the city of Jericho and its remarkable fulfillment when Hiel after hundreds of years, disregarding Joshua's warning, lost his two sons when he laid the foundations and set up the gates of the city. ¶

The scriptures are replete with the prophecies of the servants of God that are fulfilled. They were humble men such as are here in this house today; but under the inspiration of our Heavenly Father the heavens were opened to them, the future was revealed and they predicted with certainty what should occur. They could foretell the future but it required the Master of heaven and earth, our Heavenly Father, to fulfill their promises. ¶

A Prophecy Fulfilled in Latter Days

We find one promise was made that particularly points to us. I refer to that of Micah when he said: (Micah 4:1-2) ¶

The mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established in the top of the mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills; and people shall flow unto it. ¶

And many nations shall come, and say, Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for the law shall go forth of Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. ¶

Can you think of any place but this to which the people of the various nations of the earth have been gathered in fulfillment of this prediction? Micah did not know of himself that God would establish this Church; he did not know that another prophet would come and predict things with reference to this time; no man could know. But the Father who knoweth all things revealed it to him; he predicted it, it was recorded and the children of men are fulfilling the prediction. ¶

Dozen of passages in the scriptures could be cited as evidence that our Heavenly Father in mercy and kindness has been talking to the chilof men all down through the ages, not only telling them what would occur, but pleading with them to turn from the error of their ways lest destruction should overtake them. ¶

The destruction of Jerusalem was foretold by Jeremiah, a prophet of the Lord, and his prediction fulfilled to the very letter. The scattering of Judah was predicted by the Prophet Ezekiel hundreds of years before it occurred and Judah is still scattered. Isaiah named the man who should rebuild Jerusalem a hundred years before he was born. How did that prophet know that his name would be Cyrus if the Lord did not reveal it unto him? ¶

Promises Made Regarding American Continent

In the Book of Mormon, "The American volume of scripture," the Lord has given to us information pertaining to this land upon which we dwell and called it a land favored above all other lands. I recommend that not only you Latter-day Saints read the Book of Mormon, but that our Father's other children read it. They will find that it contains, in addition to what the Bible has told us about the world, what the Lord has said about this Western Hemisphere -- that this should be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles and that no king should dwell upon this land, but that He, the God of Heaven, would be our King and would fortify this land against all the nations, that this should be a land of peace and happiness, on condition that we would honor the God of this earth, the Father of us all. The factor controlling this promise is that we must keep the commandments of our Heavenly Father or it cannot be realized. ¶

Modern Prophecies

In our day the Prophet Joseph Smith has spoken. Through him there have been given to the world many things that are important, many revelations that later were fulfilled. ¶

Nearly thirty years before the Civil War commenced in our country he predicted that it would occur and that it would begin in South Carolina. How did Joseph Smith know that if God did not reveal it to him? How ¶

could he pick out the very place that it should begin? I think it would be desirable to read what the Lord said at that time, December 25, 1832. Doctrine and Covenants, Section 87: ¶

Verily, thus saith the Lord concerning the wars that will shortly come to pass, beginning at the rebellion of South Carolina, which will eventually terminate in the death and misery of many souls; ¶

And the time will come when war will be poured out upon all nations, beginning at this place. * * * ¶

With the sword and by bloodshed the inhabitants of the earth shall mourn; and with famine, and plague, and earthquake, and the thunder of heaven, and the fierce and vivid lightning also, shall the inhabitants of the earth be made to feel the wrath, and indignation, and chastening hand of an Almighty God, until the consumption decreed hath made a full end of all nations. ¶

Just as in the centuries that are past when the Lord spoke through Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and his other prophets he has spoken in our day through His prophet, Joseph Smith. When the Church was still building the beautiful city of Nauvoo, Illinois, he predicted that the Latter-day Saints would he driven from their homes, that they would find a place in the tops of the Rocky Mountains, and that they would become a mighty people in the midst thereof. How did he know? He knew by the same power that Isaiah and the Prophets of old knew with reference to the things, they predicted. ¶

Read the revelations in the Doctrine and Covenants that inform us how we may escape the calamities that are to cover the earth and afflict all mankind. We are better than other people only as we live better. We have the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The responsibility of disseminating it among the children of men has been magnificently performed in all parts of the world by more than 60,000 of the sons and daughters of the living God. To the ends of the earth from this sacred building have been broadcast by radio songs of praise, accompanied by the great organ sermons of truth, expressions of gratitude and thanksgiving intended for the blessing of all mankind. We meet today in this great Tabernacle built during the poverty of the people and dedicated to the Lord, the father of our spirits, and while we have been sitting here the voice of one of his faithful servants has gone out not only to all parts of our nation but to the islands of the sea and other distant lands. ¶

Responsibilities of Church Members

Our Heavenly Father, through His faithful representatives, has told us of the important things that should occur and we can read about them in His holy scriptures. If we really desire to be saved and exalted in His celestial kingdom He has told us how to proceed and has warned us that we must discharge the obligations entitling us to that exaltation. While we enjoy this blessing it carries with it a tremendous responsibility. Every man and every woman under the sound of my voice who has accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who has gone down into the waters of baptism and been confirmed a member of His Church should so live that others ¶

seeing their upright lives may be constrained to accept the Gospel of our Lord and prepare to become faithful sons and daughters. ¶

Now in conclusion, let me say that God lives, I know that the Bible contains His holy word. I know that the Book of Mormon is a history of the ancestors of the American Indians and tells of God's hand-dealings with His children here in America in an early day. I know that the Doctrine and Covenants contains the promises of our Heavenly Father to the children of men -- wonderful promises that can only be realized by us if we make ourselves worthy of them by living correct lives. Let us who have accepted the Gospel of our Lord evidence our knowledge of its truth, let us demonstrate our assurance of its power and set such an example before all the world that our Father's other children, whom he loves as much as he loves us, may desire not only to search the old scriptures but to read the new scriptures and listen to the voice of His servants who today are in different parts of the world calling all men to repentance, with the promise that if they will repent and receive the Gospel of Jesus Christ as revealed by Him in former days and in this latter-day, all -- not just a few -- but all may be exalted in His celestial kingdom and obtain glory, immortality and eternal life. That we may be worthy of our heritage, I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen. ¶