The Dawning of a New Era

As I witnessed that impressive vote sustaining the General Authorities of the Church, a Latin phrase came to my mind which runs as follows: "The voice of the people is the voice of God." While this does not hold strictly true in all cases, yet yesterday morning the voice of God was heard in this great tabernacle. It is a wonderful thing, a blessing of comfort that we have the more sure word of prophecy in this Church. In fact this Church is the treasure house of all the gifts of God, and gives the knowledge that will make men eligible for entrance into the celestial kingdom of God. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a universal Church; it is not only a worldwide Church, but it is as wide as eternity. ¶

The Dawning of a New Era ¶

The prophet Isaiah — and of this prophet, Jesus said that his words were great — had a vision so glorious and splendid that in heavenly rapture he exclaimed: ¶

Who hath heard such a thing? who hath seen such things? Shall the earth be made to bring forth in one day? or shall a nation be born at once? (Isaiah 66:8.) ¶

We are on the threshold of remarkable events. If God, centuries ago, could incline the hearts of the people to seek him so that they had no disposition to do evil, why cannot he do that today? The inhabitants of the earth are his children, and God loves mercy more than judgment. I believe that we are entering upon an era of conversion so great that the human mind cannot conceive its magnitude. We are told in holy writ that every knee must bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ. With all my heart I believe that divine prediction will come true, for Jesus Christ is the King of kings and the Lord of lords. ¶

The Appearance of Jesus to the Jews ¶

Orson Pratt and Charles W. Penrose declared that prior to the glorious coming of the Son of God, the Jews are going to be beleaguered by the nations who threaten the very existance of the Jewish race. Then, according to Zechariah, down through the gates of heaven shall come the Lord Jesus Christ, the Captain and King for whom the Jews have wept and prayed so long, and he shall set his feet upon the Mount of Olives, and the Mount shall cleave asunder, and the Jews shall escape destruction. The God of heaven shall then, with the armies of heaven, have judgment upon the wicked, and the wicked shall be destroyed. When Jesus stands before the Jews, they will see the wounds in his hands and, recognizing their Lord and God, they shall say: "... What are these wounds in thine hands?" And then Jesus shall break the hearts of the Jews by saying: "Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends." (Zech. 13:6.) And that nation then, and not until then, shall be born in a day. By the authorized servants of God they shall receive the baptism of repentance; they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and become the children of God their Father and the servants of the great Jehovah. At that time a fountain shall be opened up unto the Jews and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, a fountain for the cleansing of sin and iniquity, and that fountain shall be as it always has been, the Lord Jesus Christ. ¶

We read in the Book of Mormon: ¶

... because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in... our hearts,... we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. (Mosiah 5:2.) ¶

The Destiny of the Latter-day Saints ¶

And if the elders of Israel will preach the gospel in its plainness, not worldly philosophy, but the gospel of faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, then shall the hearts of the people be changed by the almighty power of God and they will press into the kingdom of God. This Church is destined to evangelize the whole earth. That is its mission, and by the grace of God we are going to accomplish it. ¶

There is a wonderful prophecy in First Nephi, fourteenth chapter, uttered about the time that Isaiah delivered his great prophecy. Listen to it: ¶

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, beheld the power of the Lamb of God, that it descended upon the saints of the church of the Lamb, and upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God, in great glory. (I Nephi 14:14.) ¶

How rapidly this wonderful prophecy is being fulfilled! President Joseph F. Smith in Bern, Switzerland, declared tht "there will be churches built here [that is, in Europe], and temples built here and there all over Europe." ¶

What a glorious destiny God sent us here to perform. Brethren and sisters, how can we be dilatory, how can we be negligent, when, shining as the sun in heaven, is the purpose and the destiny of this people? A people that has not an ideal or a noble purpose is like a painted ship on a painted ocean, but we must cherish and nourish these wonderful ideals that God has given and press on to the mark of eternal perfection. And the elders in the field ought not to be kept coddling the Saints, but they should be sent out among the Gentiles and derive that strength and power which comes from preaching the everlasting gospel. ¶

Righteousness Required to Make a Mighty Nation ¶

God be praised for this mighty republic! Oh, if the leaders of this nation could realize the purpose for which this nation is created, a might nation, the greatest in the world, that stands preeminent among all the nations, I believe that they would highly resolve in their hearts that corruption, extravagance, infidelity, Sabbath-breaking, and all the evils which form the accursed things in this nation, would be removed. I believe that this nation would then receive such a mighty uplift that it would be the wonder of all the world, that it would go forth assisting God and Jesus in establishing the religion which can bring permanent and perpetual peace and lasting glory to this nation. ¶

Brethren and sisters, let us go forward. We are trying to awaken the world for the conflict of justice, preaching the gospel as a special witness for the second coming of the Son of God. Standing in the front ranks of this battle, we shall know, we do know now, that we are battling for the Lord through rendering service for our fellow creatures. ¶

"O God, our help in ages past, our hope for years to come," be thou our guide we pray thee, lead us on to victory in this great spiritual battle. May we be thy humble instruments in bringing repentance into the world and salvation to our fellow beings, we humbly pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. ¶