President George Albert Smith Says That This...

President George Albert Smith says that this is a wonderful sight. To that I agree. It gives me great pleasure to look into the faces of men and women whose lives are clean; who have faith in God; who have made covenants to serve. President Smith further says that salvation comes through the keeping of the commandments of God. We do not believe that salvation comes from lip service, merely a confession with our lips that Jesus is the Christ. It comes through obedience to every principle and eternal truth pertaining to our exaltation. Let me read to you words of the Lord given to his disciples on this continent as he stood in their presence. ¶

And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world. ¶

And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father. ¶

And this is the word which he hath given unto the children of men. ¶

And for this cause he fulfilleth the words which he hath given, and he lieth not, but fulfilleth all his words. ¶

And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end. ¶

These words that I have read to you are from the twenty-seventh chapter of III Nephi, verses 16-19 inclusive. ¶

Lamb's Book of Life

One of my great sorrows is that so many members of the Church fail to recognize this truth which I have read. We are not going to be saved in the kingdom of God just because our names are on the records of the Church. It will require more than that. We will have to have our names written in the Lamb's Book of Life, and if they are written in the Lamb's book of Life then it is an evidence we have kept the commandments. Every soul who will not keep those commandments shall have his name blotted out of that book. ¶

World Rejects Blessings

I am exceedingly grateful this morning for the knowledge which I have, limited as it is, of the gospel of Jesus Christ; of the things that have been revealed for our salvation; for the opportunities which come to us to give service to the Church and to our fellow men. We have so many blessings that the world does not have. The world could have them, but it will not. As the Savior said, speaking particularly of the Jews, many a time would he have gathered them as a hen gathers her chickens under her wings, but they would not. ¶

I wish that every honest soul in this world would read the Book of Mormon; would read the Doctrine and Covenants; the Pearl of Great Price, besides reading the Bible. What a glorious privilege is ours. The so-called Christian world, divided and subdivided, maintains that the Bible contains all of the word of God. To them the Lord has never given a revelation. According to its teachings nothing has come from the heavens by way of counsel and advice or revelation, comparable to that which we find in what they are pleased to call the canon of scripture. ¶

Not long ago, as I was on the train coming home, a minister said to me that the Book of Mormon was a fraud because in the last chapter of the book of Revelation the Lord so declared it. Let me read those words. ¶

And if any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from the things which are written in this book. ¶

(Rev. 22:19.) * I said to him, "My good friend, don't you know that when that was written we had no Bible?" This Bible was not compiled as we have it when that was written. That has reference merely to this Book of Revelation. Then he was sorry that he had spoken. ¶

Well, all they have is what is contained in this book (the Bible), this record that closed nearly two thousand years ago. ¶

Advantages Enjoyed

See the advantage, brethren and sisters, that we have. Not only do we have the revelations given to the prophets of ancient Israel, given by our Savior when he was on the earth and by his disciples in that first century, but the Lord has continued to speak; he has given many revelations to others. We have them. We are blessed with the Book of Mormon which contains the principles of the gospel so clearly stated, that we do not stumble over them. We have the Doctrine and Covenants, which is our book particularly, containing the revelations given to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints and to all the world if it will have them. This book isn't just for us, but we have it. The world won't have it. See what it could have if it would. It could have information, knowledge and wisdom pertaining to the salvation of men, that can't be found in the Bible. I have said, and I think I am right, that there isn't one principle pertaining to the salvation of men that is so clearly stated in the Bible, as it has come down to us, that men do not stumble over — not one thing. There is not one principle they can be united on that has been so clearly stated that they don't find their interpretations of it conflicting. ¶

The Vision

Do you want to know about the resurrection of the dead? Who is going to be saved in the celestial kingdom of God? Then read your Book of Mormon. Read your Doctrine and Covenants. The seventy-sixth section of the Doctrine and Covenants, known as The Vision, is the clearest, most concise statement regarding salvation that I know anything about, and I doubt if the Lord ever gave to any people at any time upon the face of the earth anything clearer than this revelation. Do the people of the world know where they are going when they die? No. They sing about a beautiful isle of somewhere. They don't know. Can they find out in the Bible? ¶

Yes, we can find it. They could find it if they had the right inspiration, but with the added help that we obtain from the records the Lord has given us, we don't stumble over that. We don't stumble over baptism and how it should be performed and by whom. We have a clear and perfect understanding of the nature of God. Now, I can find that in the Bible; so can you. So can they, if they would search for it in the spirit of faith; but they stumble over it; and yet they are not willing to accept the revelations of the Lord given in the day and dispensation in which they live that would set forth clearly to them all these principles of eternal truth. How greatly are we blessed! ¶

Book of Mormon

Then I have this regret, that so many members of the Church do not avail themselves of this information. The Lord was kind enough and so deeply concerned in the matter that he sent an angel from his presence to reveal the Book of Mormon. For ages he prepared the Book of Mormon that it might come forth to the convincing, it says, of both Jew and Gentile and the remnant upon this land, that Jesus is the Christ. It was to come forth in a day when men would be denying the Christ. Isn't that true? Is not the world today getting farther and farther away from a knowledge concerning the Son of God? Are not the peoples of the earth beginning, if they have not already reached the point, to deny the literal resurrection of the body and are questioning the resurrection of the Lord himself and his godhood? The Book of Mormon said that would be the case and that it was to come forth as a testimony, as a witness to men that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the Redeemer of the World, and that men will be saved and exalted in the kingdom of God by keeping their hearts pure and obeying all of his commandments. These things the Lord has impressed upon us. ¶

Covenant at Baptism

In conclusion let me read the covenant we make when we are baptized and come into this Church. ¶

All those who humble themselves before God and desire to be baptized, and come forth with broken hearts and contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ, having a determination to serve him to the end, and truly manifest by their works that they have received of the spirit of Christ unto the remission of their sins, shall be received by baptism into his church. (D. & C. 20:37.) What do you get out of that? I get this: that every soul baptized, truly baptized, has humbled himself; his heart is broken; his spirit is contrite; he has made a covenant before God that he will keep his commandments, and he has forsaken all his sins. Then after he gets into the Church, is it his privilege to sin after he is in? Can he let down? Can he indulge in some of the things which the Lord has said he should avoid? No. It is just as necessary that he have that contrite spirit, that broken heart, after he is baptized as it is before. ¶

Power to Reach Members

Oh, I wish we had the power, we who hold the priesthood, to reach every soul who is not faithful, who is not humbled in his heart — members of this Church — that we might bring them back to a full understanding of the gospel. Is it true that some among us have an idea that it matters not that we sin so long as it is not a grievous sin, a deadly sin, that we will yet be saved in the kingdom of God? ¶

Nephi saw our day. He said that people would be saying that. But I say unto you, we cannot turn away from the path of truth and righteousness and retain the guidance of the Spirit of the Lord. ¶

May the Lord bless the Latter-day Saints. May he bless all people. Oh, I wish that we would all humble ourselves and seek the truth which the Lord has declared to us by his own word in this day in which we live. The Lord bless us all, help us to be true and faithful and keep his commandments, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. ¶

Amen. ¶