In President Mckays Address This Morning He...

In President McKay's address this morning he told of a picture that hung in the Huntsville meetinghouse, a picture of President John Taylor, under which were the words, "Where the kingdom of God is not, there is nothing." That statement encourages me to talk about something about which I have been thinking for a long time. If the Lord is willing and I might have his Spirit, I would like to speak about a subject which I will introduce by quoting a question asked by a missionary, and a statement from a great thinker. The missionary asked, "Since the restored Church claims that it is necessary to have the same organization that existed in the primitive church, particularly Twelve Apostles, how then can we claim that the kingdom of God and the gospel were upon the earth before the time of the Savior when they had no Apostles?" ¶

The statement which I wish to read is from Napoleon I, while he was in exile in 1817. It reads as follows: "I would believe in a religion if it existed from the beginning of time, but when I consider Socrates, Plato, and Mohammed, I no longer believe." ¶

There are those who believe that the kingdom of God was not established until after the advent of the Savior and that the gospel of Jesus Christ was not upon the earth until the time of his advent. ¶

As I have thought of that question of the missionary about the organization of the Church, and about Napoleon's statement, three questions have formulated themselves in my thinking: The first, How old is the kingdom of God and the gospel upon the earth? The second, What are the essentials of a gospel dispensation in the world? And third, What officers are necessary in an organization to constitute the Church and kingdom of God? I realize that to answer those questions fully would take much more time than is allotted to me, so I shall comment only briefly and make a few observations in answer to these questions. ¶

In the Lord's revelation to Abraham, he spoke of the purpose in sending spirits upon the earth, to " . . . prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them" (Abr. 3:25), with a promise that if they would keep their second estate they should have glory added upon their heads forever and forever. ¶

In the first chapter of the writings of John, the nature of that glory spoken of in the revelation to Abraham is implied. John said, But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God. . . . (John 1:12.) In a modern revelation that same statement is repeated with slight variation and then clarified, in these words: ¶

But to as many as received me, gave I power to become my sons; . . . ¶

And verily, verily, I say unto you, he that receiveth my gospel receiveth me; and he that receiveth not my gospel receiveth not me. ¶

And then the Lord proceeds to define the fundamental principles of the gospel in these words: ¶

And this is my gospel — repentance and baptism by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which showeth all things, and teacheth the peaceable things of the kingdom. (D. & C. 39:4-6.) The gospel plan, as these scriptures would indicate, was laid in the heavens before the earth was organized and spirits were placed upon it. ¶

That this gospel and the essentials of salvation have been upon the earth in every dispensation from the time of Adam, there can be no doubt. In an early revelation to Moses, which we have contained in the Pearl of Great Price, the Lord, speaking to Adam, said this: ¶

If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you. ¶

Then there follows an account of the baptism of Adam, and this declaration by a voice speaking out of heaven to Adam: ¶

Behold, thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. ¶

(Moses 6:52, 68.) In writing to the Galatians, the Apostle Paul said, And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. ¶

(Gal. 3:8.) He was speaking of the ordinance of baptism in Moses' day when he wrote these words to the Corinthians: ¶

. . . how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; And were all baptized unto Moses. . . . ¶

(I Cor. 10:1-2.) And then of the children of Israel under the leadership of Moses, Paul again wrote to the Hebrews, and said, For unto us was the gospel preached, as well as unto them: but the word preached did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it. (Hebrews 4:2.) All of these statements thus recorded in the Bible have been confirmed by modern revelation. ¶

Just as in the dispensations of Adam, Abraham, and Moses were those fundamental teachings given and those fundamental ordinances of the gospel administered, so we hear the Savior speaking to Nicodemus, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. (John 3:5.) To suppose that God would initiate ordinances on which salvation would be conditioned, and then allow four thousand years to pass without any authority or any organization to administer those ordinances, is untenable to the thinking man. A thinking man would have to conclude with Napoleon, "Unless a religion existed from the beginning, I cannot believe." ¶

Now for just a moment, let's take a hasty look at the Church organizations that have existed in each of these dispensations from the beginning. To Adam there was given "... dominion . . . over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:28.) The government in his time was patriarchal, and the priesthood ruled. Men holding the priesthood ruled by direct revelation and commandment. In Enoch's time likewise, his government was patriarchal. Zion, the City of Holiness, was established, and Enoch gave a perfect economic law, known to us as the Order of Enoch. There was likewise a similar government from Noah to Abraham, as we are informed by modern revelation in these words, The order of this priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from father to son, and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the chosen seed, to whom the promises were made. (D. & C. 107:40.) From Moses to the Prophet Samuel, Israel was governed by judges, who were chosen from among the people. And then you will recall, because they were "peculiar" in that type of government, they sought for a king, to be like other peoples; a king to rule over them in secular matters, while a prophet would continue to guide in spiritual affairs. ¶

You will recall that Saul was then chosen, followed by David, and by Solomon, and then the division of the children of Israel into the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel under Rehoboam and Jeroboam. ¶

With the advent of Jesus, the Jews were in a state of apostasy, and you will recall he chose twelve men to be his special witnesses, and to one of these twelve, Peter, he gave the keys to the kingdom of God. The significance of that commission of the keys of the kingdom to Peter is better understood in the words of a revelation given to us by the Prophet Joseph Smith, when the Lord said this, speaking of the Prophet Joseph, Unto whom I have given the keys of the kingdom, which belong always unto the Presidency of the High Priesthood. (Ibid., 81:2.) In other words, Peter, holding the keys of the kingdom, was as much the president of the High Priesthood in his day as Joseph Smith and his successors, to whom also these "keys" were given in our day, are the presidents of the High Priesthood, and the earthly heads of the Church and kingdom of God on the earth. ¶

The Apostle Paul describing the Church organization in his day said, And God hath set some in the church, first apostles, secondarily prophets, . . . after that . . . helps, governments, . . . etc. (I Cor. ¶

12:28.) But in all of these Church offices we are told again in the revelations . . . there is never but one on the earth at a time on whom this power and the keys of this priesthood are conferred. . . . ¶

(D. & C. 132:7.) We are living today in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, and we were given a statement, inspired by the Lord, to the Prophet Joseph Smith in these words, which make some explanation of what the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times contemplated. He said, . . . for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should ... be revealed from the days of Adam, even to the present time. ¶

And not only this, but those things which never have been revealed from the foundation of the world . . . shall be revealed . . . ¶

in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times. (D. & C. 128:18.) The Apostle Peter spoke of that, in referring to this same Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, when he said there would be a . . . restitution of all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began. (Acts 3:21.) It seems clear then that were the Church organization today to be devoid of that which Jesus gave, therefore, in the way of organization, this dispensation would fail by that same token, to be an established kingdom of God upon the earth in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times in which was to be restored "all things." Undoubtedly the organization the Master gave was to be the pattern of organization more perfected than in the past dispensations. There is evidence of this in the fact that after he had left the people here following his resurrection, he went to the Nephites, and there again he chose twelve disciples, whom he set up to govern his Church and that part of the kingdom here on this continent among the Nephites. ¶

We might then ask, what is the kingdom of God? And again we are not left without an answer, for the Lord replied, "The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth. ..." Where there are the keys to the kingdom, There is the Church of Jesus Christ, and it is the stone which was cut out of the mountain without hands, as told in Daniel's interpretation of the dream, which was to roll forth and smite the image and break it in pieces and to roll on until it should fill the whole earth. (D. & C. 65.) The Prophet Joseph Smith makes this definition of the kingdom of God: ¶

Some say that the kingdom of God was not set up upon the earth until the day of Pentecost, and that John did not preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, but I say to you in the name of the Lord that the kingdom of God was set up upon the earth in the days of Adam to the present time. Whenever there has been a righteous man on the earth, unto whom God revealed His word and gave power and authority to administer in His name, and where there is a priest of God ... to administer in the ordinances of the gospel, and officiate in the priesthood of God, there is the kingdom of God. . . . Where there is a prophet, a priest, or a righteous man unto whom God gives His oracles, there is the kingdom of God; and where the oracles of God are not, there the kingdom of God is not. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 271-272.) This is but another way of saying what the picture in Huntsville declared as related by President McKay, "Where the kingdom of God is not there is nothing." ¶

Just as the Master said in his day, the kingdom of God cometh not by observation, meaning that there would be no outward signs or no political changes, so today, it is now among us, as it has been in every dispensation of the gospel since the days of Adam. ¶

Another statement was made by the prophets of the New Testament which to me has some significance. They are quoted as having said that "... the kingdom of God is within you." (Luke 17:21.) A more correct translation probably would have said, "The kingdom of God is among you or in your midst," but as I thought of that other statement, "The kingdom of God is within you," I recalled an experience that we had with a group of students from Brigham Young University, who were gracious enough to come under the leadership of President Wilkinson to a little group over in the Lion House, and there sixteen, representing sixteen foreign countries, were asked to stand and tell how they came to know about the gospel and accept it, why they were at Brigham Young University, and to bear their testimonies. It was a most intensely interesting evening. We heard from young men and women from Mexico, Argentina, Brazil, the Scandinavian countries, France, and England. ¶

The story was the same. When they began to relate how they came to find the gospel, it was this: They were yearning for truth. They were seeking for light. They were not satisfied, and in the midst of their search, someone came to them with the truths of the gospel. ¶

They prayed about it and sought the Lord intensely, intently, with all their hearts, and came to receive a divine testimony by which they knew that this is the gospel of Jesus Christ. One young woman said, "I had been studying the gospel, and this night I came to a meeting and I heard them sing, "Joseph Smith's First Prayer," which gave in song the story of the first vision, and before they had finished that song, into my heart the Spirit bore testimony that this is the Church and kingdom of God." So within the heart of everyone, every honest seeker after truth, if he has the desire to know, and studies with real intent and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God may be within him, or in other words, the power to receive it is his. ¶

I bear you my humble witness that this is the Church and kingdom of God in the earth. This is the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times. Except for the fact that it is but a continuation of the same gospel, the same fundamental principles, the same authority which has existed from the beginning of time, we would have to say with Napoleon I, Except you can prove to me that this religion has been from the beginning, I will not believe. ¶

God help us to take this message out to the world and convince them of the power of the gospel and the power which is within them to receive the kingdom of God while it is yet day, I pray humbly in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶