I Am Very Grateful for the Meeting That...

I am very grateful for the meeting that was held this morning and for the good counsel that was given to the members of the Church. I pray that we will heed it and remember that we are living in a wicked world where men's hearts have turned from truth to untruth, from righteousness to wickedness; when men are unrighteously ambitious, seeking for power; when the liberties of the people are in danger. ¶

It behooves us as members of the Church to heed the counsels that are given by those who stand as our leaders under Jesus Christ. ¶

I am grateful for the gospel, for all the privileges which are mine to give service, for the privilege that is mine to honor my Maker and be a true servant to our Master, the Savior and Redeemer of the world. ¶

We are all aware that we are in imminent danger — danger because Satan rages in the hearts of the people. This has all been predicted, and the predictions are coming true. Antichrist is gaining power, and Satan has put into the hearts of the people — the majority of them — greed, and the desire to dominate and take advantage of those who are weak. ¶

Our duty is to keep the commandments of the Lord, to walk uprightly, to defend every principle of truth, to sustain and uphold the Constitution of this great country, to remember the Declaration of Independence, for, as we heard this morning from our President, upon these principles our country was based. They stand at the foundation, the cornerstones of the liberty that our fathers fought for, and which brought to pass according to the word of the Lord, the redemption of this land by the shedding of blood. ¶

There is no other course for us to take but the course of righteousness and truth. An ancient prophet on this continent said, "... the natural man is an enemy to God." (Mosiah 3:19.) The world today has become carnal, as much so now as in the beginning when Adam attempted to teach his children the principles of eternal truth, and Satan came among them and commanded them to believe it not. ¶

And we read, "From that time forth man became carnal, sensual, and devilish." (Moses 5:13.) Surely we see these indications prevalent in our own land and in foreign lands. Men have become carnal. They have become enemies to God. They are seeking for their own advancement and not for the advancement of the kingdom of God. ¶

Let me call your attention to this fact which you, of course, all know, that we are living in the last days, the days of trouble, days of wickedness, spoken of as days of wickedness several hundred years before the coming of Christ by Nephi, as it is recorded in the twenty-seventh chapter of Second Nephi. ¶

But, behold, in the last days, or in the days of the Gentiles — yea, behold all the nations of the Gentiles and also the Jews, both those who shall come upon this land and those who shall be upon other lands, yea, even upon all the lands of the earth, behold, they will be drunken with iniquity and all manner of abominations. ¶

And when that day shall come they shall be visited of the Lord of Hosts, with thunder and with earthquake, and with a great noise, and with storm, and with tempest, and with the flame of devouring fire. (II Nephi 27:1-2.) That was said many hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. We are living in the days of the Gentiles when this prediction was to be fulfilled. ¶

We see it being fulfilled, and we must remember, my good brethren and sisters, that members of the Church are not members of, and do not belong to the world. ¶

In the wonderful prayer of our Redeemer, as recorded in the seventeenth chapter of John — I can hardly read this chapter without tears coming to my eyes — wherein our Lord, in praying to his Father in the tenderness of all his soul because he knew the hour had come for him to offer himself as a sacrifice, prayed for his disciples. In that prayer he said, I pray not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil. ¶

They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¶

Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. (John 17:15-17.) If we are living the religion which the Lord has revealed and which we have received, we do not belong to the world. We should have no part in all its foolishness. We should not partake of its sins and its errors — errors of philosophy and errors of doctrine, errors in regard to government, or whatever those errors may be — we have no part in it. ¶

The only part we have is the keeping of the commandments of God. That is all, being true to every covenant and every obligation that we have entered into and taken upon ourselves. ¶

Brother Kimball in his remarks this morning spoke of a man who could not quite understand when he paid his tithing and kept the Word of Wisdom, was prayerful, and tried to be obedient to all the commandments the Lord had given him, and yet he had to struggle to make a living; while his neighbor violated the Sabbath day, I suppose he smoked and drank; he had what the world would call a good time, he paid no attention to the teachings of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and yet he prospered. ¶

You know, we have a great many members of the Church that ponder that over in their hearts and wonder why. ¶

Why this man seems to be blessed with all the good things of the earth — incidentally, many of the bad things that he thinks are good — and yet so many members of the Church are struggling, laboring diligently to try to make their way through the world. ¶

The answer is a simple thing. If I sometimes, and once in a while I do, go to a football game or a baseball game or some other place of amusement, invariably I will be surrounded by men and women who are puffing on cigarets or cigars or dirty pipes. It gets very annoying, and I get a little disturbed. I will turn to Sister Smith, and I will say something to her, and she will say, "Well, now, you know what you have taught me. You are in their world. This is their world." And that sort of brings me back to my senses. ¶

Yes, we are in their world, but we do not have to be of it. ¶

So, as this is their world we are living in, they prosper, but, my good brethren and sisters, their world is coming to its end. It will not be many years. I can say that. I do not know how many years, but Elijah said when he bestowed his keys: ". . . by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors," (D. & C. ¶

110:16) I am sure that over a hundred years later I can say that the end of this world is drawing to its end. ¶

The day will come when we will not have this world. It will be changed. ¶

We will get a better world. We will get one that is righteous, because when Christ comes, he will cleanse the earth. ¶

Read what is written in our scriptures. ¶

Read what he himself has said. When he comes, he will cleanse this earth from all its wickedness, and, speaking of the Church, he has said that he would send his angels and they would gather out of his kingdom, which is the Church, all things that offend. Then we are going to have a new earth, a new heaven. The earth will be renewed for a thousand years, and there shall be peace, and Christ, whose right it is, shall reign. Afterwards will come the death of the earth, its resurrection, its glorification, as the abode of the righteous or they who belong to the celestial kingdom, and they only shall dwell upon the face of it. ¶

Let us be true and faithful, keep our covenants, be true to every obligation the Lord has given us. I humbly pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶