What the Lord Promises Is Fulfilled

I trust that I may be favored of the Lord in what I shall say, to the end that you may be edified and that the time that I occupy may be profitably spent. It is a remarkable experience to stand here and face an army of men, and realize that each of these men possesses divine authority. No other place in the world, no other group in the world, holds the authority of the holy Priesthood as you do. ¶

Causes of Present Condition of the World ¶

It is oftentimes a source of exceeding distress to me to know that our brothers and our sisters are in the world, many of them, seeking to destroy those who are opposing them on the field of battle. It seems that at different periods of the world's history, those who have been faithful in keeping the commandments of God have been compelled to defend the ideals that they have received from our Heavenly Father. Today those who have gone out from among us are not only representatives of the government of the United States but they go out also believing that it is their religious duty to defend the liberties of the nation that our Heavenly Father established for us to enjoy. ¶

It does seem strange that after hundreds of years of access to the holy scriptures comparatively few people are familiar with the fact that what is occurring now is in fulfillment of predictions of men who, like you, have held the Priesthood. The philosophies of men vary and change. The truths of God are fundamental and never change. Today this world is facing destruction because after not only hundreds of years but thousands of years the sons and daughters of the living God have failed to conform their lives to His kind advice. ¶

One of the prophets told us that the Lord God would do nothing but He would reveal His secrets to His servants the prophets. In other words, the world would not be taken by surprise if they paid attention to the leadership that the Lord provided. So we look down over the vista of time, to the days of Noah when the Lord warned the people of what would occur, and they apparently paid no attention, for out of the seeming multitudes that dwelt upon the earth, only eight souls were saved from destruction, yet all had been told how they might be preserved. ¶

Warnings of Ancient Prophets ¶

The Lord warned Tyre and Nineveh and Jerusalem and Babylon, and other cities, that unless they repented and turned to him they would be destroyed, and of those cities, Nineveh was the only one that turned immediately to the Lord when the Prophet Jonah warned them of impending danger. The king and people clothed in sackcloth and sat in ashes without delay, and the Lord permitted the destruction that was promised to pass by. ¶

The Lord told Abraham that his seed should go into a strange land, that after four hundred years they would return with great possessions. He did not tell him how it was going to be brought about. He did not tell him that Joseph, one of his descendants, should be sold into slavery in Egypt and because he kept the commandments of God should have communication with the heavens and preserve the great nation where he was living at the time. Abraham was not told that. He was not told that the great Pharaoh would recognize a humble Hebrew who was taken out of prison to interpret his dream. Abraham was not told that the family of Joseph would be brought to Egypt in order to be preserved, that they should become a mighty multitude, and after a period of time, four hundred years, six hundred thousand people, approximately, came out of Egypt and wended their way through the wilderness into the Promised Land. It was not a matter of guessing. It was a matter of knowledge on the part of God and He gave the information to Abraham. ¶

Think how anxious the Lord was to save the cities of the plains, Sodom and Gomorrah. Abraham pleaded repeatedly with the Lord, asking that they be spared for the sake of the righteous. He kept reducing the number until he came down from fifty to ten righteous people. The Lord said that if in these cities ten righteous could be found, the cities would be saved. But not ten righteous persons could be found and the cities were destroyed, as they had been warned by a servant of the Lord that they would be because of wickedness. ¶

It was a strange thing that in the days of Isaiah the Lord revealed to him that the greatest of all the nations in the earth should be humbled, and He gave the name of the man, Cyrus, whom the Lord referred to as His anointed, and told Isaiah that Cyrus would overthrow Babylon and rebuild Jerusalem. The prophet had said that Jerusalem would be in bondage seventy years. It was just seventy years when Cyrus gathered together and took back to Jerusalem the Jews who had been taken captive to Babylon. Cyrus took artisans and skilled men and the vessels that had been stolen from the temple by those who had lived in Babylon and went back to rebuild Jerusalem. ¶

It was not very long after that until the Jews who would not repent were punished because they would not listen to the Lord. And then again, after the coming of our Lord and Master, Jesus Christ, they would not receive His Gospel and they would not repent. This time Jerusalem was not only overthrown but was destroyed and her temple was razed until not one stone was left upon another. ¶

All these things were revealed to the prophets of God. And so we might go on now speaking of Babylon, and how the Lord told of the establishment of the various kingdoms that should succeed, by giving the king, Nebuchadnezzar, a dream, and then by using Daniel, who was there as a captive to interpret the dream of the king. The prediction had been made that certain things would occur, and one kingdom should follow after another, and it was so fulfilled. It took hundreds of years to fulfil the prediction. One of the remarkable parts of the interpretation was that in the days of the kingdoms that should grow out of the Roman Empire, the God of heaven should set up a kingdom. A little stone was to be cut out of the mountain without hands, and the God of heaven would set up a kingdom. ¶

Daniel was a prophet of God, and he was a prophet because he kept the commandments of God. I would like you brethren who are here today to take this message with you. Daniel observed the teachings of God with his companions, with reference to the kind of food and drink they should have, and refused to accept the food that was served upon the king's table. He kept the Word of Wisdom, and the result was that he, with his three associates, who also kept the Word of Wisdom, of all those that were captives, received the inspiration of the Almighty and their own lives were not only preserved, but they were also permitted to tell what should occur. ¶

The Promises of the Lord Fulfilled ¶

Now, in the days of the kings that grew out of the Roman Empire, the kingdoms were partly strong and partly broken, and the God of Heaven did set up a kingdom, for in the year 1830 he established His Church here upon the earth. That did not come by accident — it did not come by surprise. It had all been predicted — all these things that are contained in the Old and New Testaments, and many others that I am not trying to mention. I am trying to call your attention to the fact that when the Lord speaks, what He promises has always been fulfilled. ¶

Well, now, has He promised us anything today? Read your scriptures. Not only the Old and New Testaments, but turn to your Book of Mormon. See how the Lord has fulfilled His promises — how the Nephites, because they refused to accept the teachings of God — refused to sustain those who presided over them by authority — were wiped from the face of the earth. That was not done without a warning; they knew it would come, and they were told, across the mighty ocean, of the coming of the Savior, what would occur when He came, and what would happen when He was crucified. The Lord kept these things in the minds of His people who were prophets and who paid attention. All over this land there was destruction because the people were not righteous. ¶

You may follow the record, and you will discover that such things have never happened to a people who were keeping the commandments of God. The destruction has come to those who were failing to pay attention to what the Lord desired. This nation was raised up in order that men might worship God according to the dictates of their conscience — this nation of which we are a part. God raised up the very men who prepared the Constitution to declare to us our privileges and our liberties. It was not an accident. Those things were recorded beforehand. In the Book of Mormon He announced the coming of Columbus, and of the Pilgrim fathers, from the old world, those who came here to worship God. ¶

Predictions of a Modern Prophet ¶

All these things had been made known beforehand, and then, in the case of the Latter-day Saints, when they were in distress in Nauvoo and were being harassed by their enemies, the Prophet of God told them that they would be driven from their homes — and that they would come to the tops of the Rocky Mountains where they would become a mighty people. What did they know about the Rocky Mountains? What was there in the Rocky Mountains that they should come to? Not anything but what God had prepared. That prophecy was fulfilled, and you are my witnesses that it was fulfilled in that the Latter-day Saints today are a mighty people in the midst of these great mountain valleys. ¶

Another prediction of our times that was fulfilled, was when the Lord revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith that there would be a civil war in this country and told him exactly where it would begin, at the rebellion of South Carolina. How did the Prophet Joseph know, nearly thirty years before it occurred, that it would start in South Carolina? He knew because the Lord knew and told him so. So from the beginning, through Noah, and all down through the line of prophets the power to communicate with the heavens has been with those whom God has raised up and prepared. The people have been taught, and they have been warned, and most of them have been recreant to the warning, the result being that great destruction has come upon the children of men. ¶

Now, in our day we are warned, in a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith, that unless we are more righteous than those who are receiving destruction at the present time in many parts of the world, we, too, must lose our birthright and our opportunity and be destroyed here in the flesh. We will not be justified by saying we are living as well as other people. That is not sufficient, my brethren. We have a special destiny if we live for it. That destiny is to live here upon this earth when it becomes the Celestial Kingdom, where God our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ will be our King and our Lawgiver. We know these things, and the world does not know them. So it is not sufficient that we are doing as well as most of the people in the nation. Unless we are keeping the commandments of God and living worthy of the blessings of our Heavenly Father, we will not receive those blessings. ¶

Salvation Through Keeping the Commandments ¶

Now that is not said with any feeling of unkindness and harshness. ¶

From the depths of my soul I wish that we ourselves could see our own danger. There are many people among us who are pleasing to our Heavenly Father because they are keeping the commandments of God. There are many people who are not members of the Church who are seeking to keep the commandments of God as they understand them. All these will receive blessings in proportion to their faithfulness. But in preparation for the Celestial Kingdom, to obtain an inheritance here when this shall be that kingdom, the Lord Himself has given the rules and regulations. Yet, I fear there are some among us who are so thoughtless as to have the idea that they will decide for themselves, contrary to the Lord's advice, what they will do and yet expect to receive an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom, but they are doomed to disappointment. The Master said: Not everyone that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the Kingdom of Heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in Heaven. (Matt. 7:21.) ¶

Why are we prevented at the present time from doing as we have done for years, to bring all our people who can come to the tabernacle? Because the people of the world have transgressed the laws of God; because the people of our nation have disappointed the Lord and have refused His blessings, so many of them. ¶

Then, right here among us, in our own homes, in the organized stakes of Zion, there are those who have had the hands of the servants of God laid upon their heads and been confirmed members of the Church, and many of them have received divine authority, and today what would they do if the Savior were to come? What would we do? Are we prepared for the coming of our Lord? I hope we are preparing, because we need to be prepared. ¶

And so today, as one of the humblest among you, I feel with all my heart to invoke upon you the blessing of our Heavenly Father. You who are leaders in the organized wards and stakes of Zion, and some in the mission fields, I pray that you may have the wisdom to see the truth and to understand it and to live as the Lord intends that we should live. I say to you, destruction is not far away and only on the condition that we will observe the laws of God and keep His commandments have we the promise that He will preserve us. It is in our power to repent as it was in the power of the people of the city of Nineveh. When they were about to be destroyed, they repented and were preserved. Unless the people of this land that we live in, repent of their infidelity and wickedness and turn to the Lord, his judgments will overtake them. I do not say that with harshness or unkindness, but because the Lord Himself has said it, and it is your duty and mine to let our light so shine that all these people that we can contact will know and understand that God lives and that this is His footstool, and our title to an inheritance here shall only be obtained by honoring Him and observing His laws, and keeping His commandments. All these things are made plain to Latter-day Saints. It is our duty to divide the information with others of our Father's children. ¶

Advice of President Grant Unheeded ¶

We are fortunate today to have the servant of the Lord who presides over the Church, the mouthpiece of the Lord to us, sitting in our midst. There are thousands of people who would walk any distance they were able, in order that they might see the face and touch the hand of the Prophet of the Lord, and yet there are many of our own people who disregard his counsel. From this very stand he pleaded with us not to repeal the Eighteenth Amendment to the constitution of the United States. He didn't speak as Heber J. Grant, the man. He spoke as the President of the Church and the representative of our Heavenly Father. And yet in a state where we could have retained what we had, there were enough Latter-day Saints, so-called (some of them hold positions in the Church, or did at that time), who paid no attention to what the Lord wanted, ignored what He had said through his prophet, and what is the result? Such delinquency as we have never known is in our own community today, and the sons and daughters and grandchildren, and in many cases the fathers and mothers, who defied the advice of our Heavenly Father and said "We will do as we please," are paying the penalty and will continue to do so until they turn away from their foolishness and desire with all their hearts to do what our Heavenly Father desires us to do. ¶

Now, I hope that I am not saying things in a way that might make you feel that I am angry with anybody. I have no such feelings. My heart is warm and tender toward the sons and daughters of God; I am grateful to have such companions as I have in this Church and some wonderful friends outside of it — men and women with whom we are seeking to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ. ¶

Testimony and Advice ¶

Today I stand here as one of the humblest among you, grateful for the blessings that have been bestowed upon me, thankful for the knowledge that this is God's work, and in conclusion I would like to bear my testimony that I know, as I know that I live, that the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob is at the helm. This is the true Church and it bears the name of His Beloved Son who named it. His servants have the power, and they have bestowed upon you, my brethren, a portion of divine authority with the belief that you will qualify, with the hope that you will measure up, and when I say "you" I mean all of us. Are we going to disappoint our Heavenly Father? Are we going to let our own homes go to pieces and our families forsake the truth while we trifle with our opportunity? Are we going to live like the world, because it is popular? Or are we going to do as the people of Nineveh did — turn from the foolishness of man to the wisdom of God and prepare ourselves for eternal life in the Celestial Kingdom? That is what He offers us. That is what each of us may enjoy if we will, and I bear you witness that this is true and pray that our Heavenly Father will help us to cleave to the truth that insures exaltation and eternal happiness, in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. ¶