Who Shall Deny or Question the Justice of God?

Many people of the world today have lost their faith in the living God. ¶

Their trust is placed in many different gods, fashioned after the weakness and inclination of men: A god who makes might, right; a god of riches, a god of selfishness and greed; a god of lust; a god whom professional and business men serve, men who worship their profession or business to the exclusion of almost all else in life; a god of sports; a god of industrialism or unionism as the case may be; all in preference to the God of heaven and earth, our eternal Father, who has instilled in the hearts of obedient children throughout the ages, a love of truth and virtue! God has said: ¶

... I will put my laws into their mind, and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people. (Hebrews 8:10.) Herbert Spencer has well said, "The choice is not between a personal God and something lower, but between a personal God and something higher." ¶

Isaiah prophesied of such disbelief, as we find in the world today. ¶

The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. (Isaiah 24:5.) Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men: ¶

Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvellous work among this people, even a marvellous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. (Ibid., 29:13-14.) Through the courtesies and facilities of the Columbia radio network, it is my privilege upon this Church of the Air to represent a people who today profess to worship the God of Israel and lend obedience to his eternal laws. ¶

We believe the Bible to be the word of God. We read in the first chapter of Genesis, 27th verse: ¶

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ¶

This same God of whom we bear witness to the world is the creator of heaven and earth and of all things that in them are, of which man is his crowning glory. God gave man dominion over all things pertaining to this earth. ¶

"The glory of God is intelligence." ¶

(D. & C. 93:36.) Man's intelligence is God-given. Man is the offspring of God. ¶

The power to think and reason emanates from this same eternal source. Dr. ¶

Francis L. Patton, onetime president of Princeton University, 1882 to 1902, and president of Princeton Theological Seminary, 1902 to 1913, wrote a book entitled Fundamental Christianity, dedicated to his wife on their sixtieth wedding anniversary. I quote therefrom: ¶

It is true, as has been said, (by Milton, I think) that we need not find fault with Reason since it is all we have wherewith to judge a revelation. But we have this treasure in earthen vessels. Human reason works under the limitations of a finite mind and shares in the defects of a sinful nature. ¶

It has often taken the wrong side in debate, and has tried to make "the worse appear the better reason." More than once it has been the leader in an insurrection against the government of God. It has often accepted a retainer, prepared the papers and acted as leading counsel in the great case of Man v. his Maker. It has been trammelled by prejudice, blinded by foregone conclusions, and dominated by pride. It has misread the facts, or misapplied the reasoning based upon them. All this goes to show that we need another light than that which reason gives. It can handle categories and make syllogisms, but it cannot make history; cannot survey the whole area of being; cannot speak with authoritative confidence on themes which only revelation can unfold, and it transcends its prerogative when it says that a revelation is impossible. It is for reason to take the more modest part of showing us that what we confessedly need has been given us in the religion which came from God. * * * We cannot flee from God's presence. The Psalmist got at the root of all philosophy when he said: ¶

"If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: ¶

if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. ¶

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me." (Psalms 139:8-10.) All our observations of nature strongly declare the existence of God. Paul, in his epistle to the Hebrews, writes: ¶

. . . every house is builded by some man; but he that built all things is God. (Hebrews 3:4.) The prophets of old have recorded their testimony concerning God in Holy Writ. They, in their lives, exemplified an absolute faith in their God. Moses gives us the early account of God's dealings with his children here upon this earth; his personality; his character; his attributes to inspire and direct us in our worship of our Creator in whose image we stand. The Lord spake unto Moses face to face as a man speaketh unto his friend. (See Ex. 33:11.) Adam walked and talked with God. The voice of God was heard from the heavens at the baptism of Jesus Christ. Peter, James, and John heard his voice on the Mount of Transfiguration when he declared: "This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him." ¶

(Matt. 17:5.) Stephen saw God. ¶

But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up stedfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God. (Acts 7:55.) Paul was converted by a heavenly manifestation. Finally in the beginning of this dispensation, which the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims to the world is the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, in which all things heretofore given of God to man will be restored, we have this remarkable testimony given by two of its early founders concerning the Son of God, Jesus Christ our Lord and Savior. ¶

And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: ¶

That he lives! ¶

For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the only Begotten of the Father — That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God. (D. & C. 76:22-24.) Moses' life was given to receiving the laws of God and proclaiming them to his people, as a prophet of God and leader of men. Many of God's laws, binding upon the people of Israel in the days of Moses, have come down to us. ¶

They bind our consciences as much today, if not more, than they did that of ancient Israel thousands of years ago. ¶

Today, no matter how far we may have departed from the true knowledge and understanding of God, we cannot violate the Ten Commandments of God with complacency and a clear conscience. No one throughout the history of mankind ever permanently profited in their violation, whereas all who have obeyed have been blessed in their obedience. Disobedience thereto has brought sorrow and remorse to the human soul with the resulting loss of all promised blessings. ¶

One prophet of old, Mormon by name, has said: ¶

Therefore ye need not suppose that ye can turn the right hand of the Lord unto the left, that he may not execute judgment unto the fulfilling of the covenant which he hath made unto the house of Israel. ¶

(3 Nephi 29:9.) The wisdom of man has never produced a code of conduct to compare with the laws of God. His laws also give us an insight into the personality of God. ¶

His nature is the better understood. The Ten Commandments begin as follows: ¶

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. ¶

Thou shalt have no other gods before me. ¶

Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth: ¶

Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. (Ex. 20:2-6.) The Ten Commandments constitute a divine decree of transcendent importance to all mankind. To a believer in God, the very thought of finding fault with his holy judgments is sacrilege. We believe his judgments are binding on us here and now, as well as in all preceding generations, and will be binding upon all future generations. ¶

It was Job who proclaimed after he had lost everything but life, and suffered most in body, his absolute reliance upon, and his submission to the decrees of God: ¶

... the Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord. (Job 1:21.) Job's faith in God endured. God's existence was real. He was actually Job's heavenly Father, a Personality to whom he could pray, and upon whose justice and mercy he could depend implicitly. ¶

Job comprehended God. He could not deny his existence. To those who denied God, he propounded some questions that have never been answered by the wisdom of men; for example: ¶

Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding. ¶

Who hath put wisdom in the inward parts? or who hath given understanding to the heart? (Ibid., 38:4, 36.) God's nearness, yes, his presence, was felt by Job when he finally declared: ¶

For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth: ¶

And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: ¶

Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me. (Ibid., 19:25-27.) Though centuries separated them, Job could have declared as well as did the Apostle James: ¶

If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him. (James 1:5.) Down through the ages, from Father Adam on, came to man the same knowledge and understanding of God received from God by those who sought wisdom, in keeping with the admonition of James. ¶

Today God has not left us alone, dependent upon the testimonies of ancient prophets. In every dispensation of the gospel upon the earth, from the time when Adam walked and talked with God, to the present, God has revealed himself to man, and through his prophets he has disseminated his law and his gospel to the earth anew, that all men might know that he lives, that he is the rewarder of them that diligently seek him. He lives to bless mankind. He has declared from the heavens in these latter days: ¶

For behold, this is my work and my glory — to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. (P. of G. P., Moses 1:39.) The importance of this knowledge is made clear by the prophet Jeremiah: ¶

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: ¶

But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24.) God gave knowledge and understanding to the disciples of Christ which prepared them to suffer persecution and even death rather than deny the divine mission of their Lord and Savior. ¶

. . . without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him. (Hebrews 11:6.) I know that God lives to enlighten our minds, quicken our understandings, and give to us a knowledge and understanding of God and of his eternal purposes, and of the divine mission of his Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ; that he hears and answers our prayers with a filial love for us, his children here upon this earth. In the name of Jesus Christ. ¶

Amen. ¶