The Necessity for a Restoration of the Truth

My brethren, I rely upon your faith and prayers, and the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord in what I may be led to say this afternoon. ¶

The Necessity for a Restoration of the Truth

One hundred and fourteen years ago the Lord restored the gospel and organized again his Church upon the earth. The reason for such organization and restoration is the fact that for centuries the world had been in spiritual darkness, without the authority, and without the understanding; they knew not how to worship the living God. ¶

The Lord said, in the commencement of this work: ¶

Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments; ¶

And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets -- ¶

The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh -- ¶

But that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world; ¶

That faith also might increase in the earth; ¶

That mine everlasting covenant might be established; ¶

That the fulness of my gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers. (Doc. & Cov. 1:17-23.) ¶

The everlasting covenant had been broken; the correct understanding of gospel principles had disappeared through apostasy; the right to officiate in the ordinances of the gospel had ceased among men. It became necessary that all this might be restored, and that faith might increase among the people through an opening of the heavens and a restoration of the gospel. ¶

So the Lord sent his messengers from his presence, with the fulness of the gospel, and with power, and the authority of the priesthood to bestow upon men, and gave them commandments, as indicated in this commandment -- because the Lord knew the calamities which were to come upon the world, and it was his will that a proper warning, and the opportunity to receive the gospel be given unto men that they might repent and turn from their evil ways and serve the Lord. ¶

He sent forth his messengers into all parts of the earth to preach this gospel, and that is in fulfillment of the promise that is made by our Lord as you find it recorded in the 24th chapter of Matthew, not correctly given in the Bible, however, but it is given correctly to the Prophet Joseph Smith. When the Lord was speaking to his disciples, he said unto them, "And again this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world as a witness, and then shall the end come." That is the correct understanding of his words. ¶

And again this gospel has gone forth into the world, and the ¶

... The voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days. And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them. Behold this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants, and my preface ¶

unto the book of my commandments, which I have given them to publish unto you, O inhabitants of the earth. ¶

Wherefore, fear and tremble, O ye people, for what I the Lord hath decreed in them shall be fulfilled. (Doc. & Cov. 1:4-7.) ¶

And so his servants went forth; they have been going forth for over one hundred years, proclaiming the truth, crying repentance, calling upon the people to turn from their evil way to the worship of the living God. ¶

The Message of the Early Missionaries of the Church

I have been very pleased throughout this conference, because it has been a cry of repentance. The Lord said to some of those early missionaries who went forth, when they asked for information and guidance, they were to preach nothing but repentance and remission of sins. He said he was sending them out into a perverse, stiff-necked and wicked world. ¶

Let me read one or two of such passages to you. In March, before the organization of the Church, the Lord said: ¶

Oh, this unbelieving and stiff-necked generation -- mine anger is kindled against them. (Doc. & Cov. 5:8.) ¶

And in sending forth these missionaries with the message of truth, he again said: ¶

I give unto you, who are the first laborers in this last kingdom, a commandment that you assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean; that I may testify unto your Father and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation, that I may fulfill this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you when I will. (Doc. & Cov. 88:74-75.) ¶

And again, when these missionaries were called to go, the Lord gave them this instruction: ¶

Behold, they have been sent to preach my gospel among the congregations of the wicked; wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, thus: Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shall thou bury thy talent that it may not be known. (Doc. & Cov. 60:13.) ¶

That was the counsel given to these missionaries. So they went out into a perverse world, meeting the opposition, the hatred, and the condemnation of men, gathering out, as the Lord said they would, two of a family and one of a city -- rather a strange expression-- but they gathered them out, and I am looking at this particular moment into the faces of the sons of the parents who heard the message of truth and gladly received it, and were gathered out. ¶

The Warning Given to the World

But the world refused to hear the message, and down through these one hundred and fourteen years that this gospel has been ¶

preached among the nations of the earth, the world has refused to hear. They have rejected the words of the prophets; they have ridiculed the missionaries who took the message to them. Everything that Satan could do to bring to pass his purposes and to destroy this everlasting work which has come, never to be destroyed again, nor to be taken from the earth, everything he could do was done, and the minds of the people generally were blinded; but here and there those who were of the house of Israel, who could recognize the voice of the Shepherd, were gathered out. ¶

Now some of my good brethren who have spoken have given some of the thoughts I hoped to say, so I may repeat a little. ¶

Once again, the Lord said to his missionaries: ¶

Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand. ¶

For the day cometh that the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; the heavens shall shake and the earth shall tremble, and the trump of God shall sound both long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations: Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again. ¶

Wherefore gird up your loins lest ye be found among the wicked. ¶

Lift up your voices and spare not. Call upon the nations to repent, both old and young, both bond and free, saying: Prepare yourselves for the great day of the Lord: ¶

For if I, who am a man, do lift up my voice and call upon you to repent, and ye hate me, what will ye say when the day cometh when the thunders shall utter their voices from the ends of the earth, speaking to the ears of all that live, saying -- Repent, and prepare for the great day of the Lord? ¶

Yea, and again, when the lightnings shall streak forth from the east unto the west, and shall utter forth their voices unto all that live, and make the ears of all tingle that hear, saying these words -- Repent ye, for the great day of the Lord is come? ¶

And again, the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven, saying: Hearken, O ye nations of the earth, and hear the words of that God who made you. ¶

O, ye nations of the earth, how often would I have gathered you together as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, but ye would not! ¶

How oft have I called upon you by the mouth of my servants, and by the ministering of angels, and by mine own voice, and by the voice of thunderings, and by the voice of lightnings, and by the voice of tempests, and by the voice of earthquakes, and great hailstorms, and by the voice of famines and pestilences of every kind, and by the great sound of a trump, and by the voice of judgment, and by the voice of mercy all the day long, and by the voice of glory and honor and the riches of eternal life, and would have saved you with an everlasting salvation, but ye would not! ¶

Behold the day has come, when the cup of the wrath of mine indignation is full. ¶

Behold, verily I say unto you, that these are the words of the Lord your God. (Doc. & Cov. 43:17-27.) ¶

Now this is a warning that went out to the world. They would not heed it. Returning now to what the Lord said in the preface to this Book of Commandments, I will read some more: ¶

And verily I say unto you, that they who go forth, bearing these tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth, to them is power given to seal both on earth and in heaven, the unbelieving and rebellious; ¶

Yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure -- ¶

Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man. ¶

Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear: ¶

Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh; ¶

And the anger of the Lord is kindled, and his sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth. (Doc. & Cov. 1:8-13.) ¶

There are a great many prophetic sayings that were given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and recorded in this book of Doctrine and Covenants, in which the Lord warned this world of the calamities and the destruction, the wars and the pestilence that would come upon them if they refused to hearken to the testimony of these humble elders of Israel. ¶

Again he said: ¶

I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked; I am holding my Spirit from the inhabitants of the earth. ¶

I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked, and fear shall come upon every man. (Doc. & Cov. 63:32, 33.) ¶

Now, that was a calamity which came upon the world, when the Lord decreed that he would withhold his spirit from the inhabitants of the earth. He had no reference to the Holy Ghost, because they never had the gift of the Holy Ghost, but he had reference to the light of truth, or Spirit of Christ, which would lead them to the truth, if they would heed it. This spirit he was withdrawing from them because of their wickedness and the withdrawal of his spirit would bring upon them these calamities -- the pestilences, the plagues, and all the rest of it that is mentioned here, including bloodshed, and war. ¶

Wickedness Prevailing in the World

Today we find this world torn asunder; wickedness prevailing in the hearts of the people, distress among the nations, bloodshed such as the world has never seen before. I am going to be bold enough to say that all of this could have been avoided; it would have been unnecessary, if the inhabitants of the world had hearkened to the voice of the elders of Israel who were sent to them with this message of salvation, and which they refused to receive. ¶

Furthermore, we cry for peace; we are called upon to pray for peace, and we are praying for peace. I have never had very much confidence in the proclamation or the request that was made asking the people of this country to pray for peace, for the very good reason that it was not sincere. We cannot pray to the Lord ¶

and say: "Listen to our cause, bring victory to us, do what we want you to do, but don't ask us to do what you want us to do." ¶

We have heard from quite a number of those who have spoken in this conference of the wickedness that prevails throughout the world, the wickedness among the boys who have gone into the armed forces of the country, the wickedness of the people who are not in those forces. We all know those things are true, that immorality is rampant, that drunkenness, and the filthy use of tobacco are weakening the constitutions of those who go out to fight, and these evils are also among those not in the armed forces. The world is full of evil. ¶

Bishop Richards called attention to a statement made in a letter from one of his boys who is in the service. I had a like communication from one of my boys. He was only eighteen when he was sent out, he did not know anything about the world. ¶

I want to say to you that it was a great regret to me that he had to go and learn something about the ways of the world, and I regret that your boys had to go and learn it, such things as they have been forced to learn. This boy wrote home several months ago and said, after referring to some of the things which he had witnessed: "I have lost faith in humanity." ¶

The Keeping of God's Commandments Necessary to Bring Peace

So we cry for peace, we are asked to pray for peace, but who is willing to keep the commandments of the Lord that we might have peace? Now, you ask yourselves, you brethren: in your praying are you sincere? In your asking for peace, are you willing to keep the commandments of the Lord? Do you keep the Sabbath day holy? Do you pay your honest tithing? Do you attend to these other duties that have been mentioned here so many times? ¶

When I think of the people of this country, or any other of these countries, asking the Lord for help, and at the same time ignoring every commandment that he has given them, I wonder how we can even hope for peace. We could have had peace long ago, and thousands of lives could have been saved, if the people bad humbled themselves, and had been willing to keep the commandments of the Lord so he could fight their battles. But this they were not willing to do. ¶

Now I shall repeat what one of these brethren said who spoke before me. The Lord said to the members of this Church, in an early day, that because of their transgressions trouble came upon them, and I quote: ¶

They were slow to hearken unto the voice of the Lord their Goa; therefore, the Lord their God is slow to hearken unto their prayers, to answer them in the day of their trouble....".In the day of their peace they esteemed lightly my counsel; but, in ¶

Third Dap ¶

the day of their trouble, of necessity they feel after me. (Doc. & Cov. 101:7-8.) ¶

Well, the people of this nation could have felt after the Lord; we could have gone before him, and could have placed our petitions before him. And he would have heard our prayers. If we had done this in the spirit of faith and humility, and the determination in our hearts to keep his commandments, then, I repeat, he would have heard our prayers, and many lives would have been spared; I am sure of it for he would have come to our aid and would have fought our battles. ¶

One more passage. This is from the same section -- 101 -- of the Doctrine and Covenants: ¶

My indignation is soon to be poured out without measure upon all nations; and this will I do when the cup of iniquity is full. (Doc. & Cov. 101:11.) ¶

May we humble ourselves, put our houses in order, and our lives in harmony with the truth, that we may receive the blessings of the Lord, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶