This Morning I Shall Speak Of Him...

This morning I shall speak of him whom we honor this [Easter] day and always, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, known to his contemporaries as Jesus of Nazareth and the Son of the carpenter. He taught the true meaning and purpose of life, which led Paul to say: ¶

"If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable." (1 Cor. 15:19.) Jesus Christ, subject of controversy The story of the birth and life of Jesus of Nazareth is now accepted almost universally by all mankind. But the power and efficacy of his earth-life existence and the purpose of it are subjects of controversy, also universally. Even within the realms of a Christendom there exists a vast canyon of variance as to who he is, the purpose of his mission, and the meaning of life that he propounded. ¶

In the eyes of many of his contemporaries he was a disturber, an inciter to political division. We have this from Pundit Nehru, the Indian leader, and I quote: ¶

"Jesus talked a strange language of revolt against existing conditions and the social order. In particular he was against the rich and the hypocrites who made of religion a matter of certain observances and ceremonial. Instead of promising wealth and glory, he asked people to give up even what they had for a vague and mythical Kingdom of Heaven. He talked in stories and parables, but it is clear that he was a born rebel who could not tolerate existing conditions and was out to change them. This was not what the Jews wanted, and so most of them turned against him and handed him over to the Roman authorities." ¶

(Glimpses of World History [New York: The John Day Company, 1942], p. 85.) But to the humble and sincere who believed his message, he was worshiped and loved. ¶

We who are here today have a firm conviction of the true purpose of his mission and life. ¶

On the way to Emmaus In our hearts we feel much the same as the two who walked unbeknown to them with the resurrected Christ, Cleopas and another, who, while walking to Emmaus at the time of the resurrection, were discussing Jesus as they journeyed. The Master joined them and opened the scriptures to their eyes. Impressed, they asked him to tarry with them as they stopped to be refreshed. ¶

Not knowing that he was the resurrected Christ, they asked further questions but did not understand his answers. But they talked together concerning the events of the past days that had greatly disturbed the area around about. The Christ also asked them questions, and alarmed at his questions Cleopas said: ¶

"Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and hast not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? ¶

"And [Jesus] said unto them, What things? And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people." ¶

(Luke 24:18-19.) Then said they: We had supposed him to be the one to redeem our people, but now he is gone, having been turned over to the high priests. ¶

Yet they said it has been three days, and we wonder. Still, a woman among us has been to the grave, and he is not there. Others of us have also been to the sepulcher, and we found him not. ¶

What does it all mean? ¶

Then said Jesus unto them, "O fools, and slow of heart to believe. . . ." ¶

Later their eyes were open and they knew him, but he had vanished. Said they: "Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way . . . ?" (Luke 24:25, 32.) As we contemplate his life and mission, our hearts burn within us, for we know that he lives. ¶

He is Redeemer, of mankind He is Christ the Lord, the Redeemer of mankind, who according to the plan wrought the atonement, which made possible the redemption of the soul in all its glorified implications. We believe and know him to be divine, the Son of God, our Heavenly Father, and who himself being a separate and distinct personage also is a God. This is abundantly attested to in the holy scriptures and by direct and divine manifestation to the Prophet Joseph Smith. ¶

There are many who will deny his divinity and ascribe unto him the rank of teacher and perhaps prophet. Many there are of his professed disciples, who speak from the pulpits that bear his name, who turn away when challenged as to the actuality of his divinity. ¶

His disciples honor Him The weakening trends of faith in Christ today are the same as in the time of test when he ministered among men upon the earth. He taught them in the hills of Judea and on the shores of Galilee; he satisfied them with miracles and fed them with loaves and fishes. The multitude followed him everywhere he went, but when the time came for him to tell them of his divine mission and that he was the Son of God, they turned from him and walked no more with him. Accept him as a teacher and a provider of both physical and spiritual food? Yes! ¶

Acknowledge him as the Son of God and divine? No, this they could not do, and they turned away from him. ¶

Others criticize Him What of Christ today? Nearly 2,000 years have passed since his glorification. Men ignore the purpose and the meaning of existence for which he gave his life, yet will give credence to the exhumed doctrines of the madman Nietzsche and the immoralist Plato, who taught that God is dead and that man drifts in an endless nothingness, that mankind generally has no spiritual contact with God the Father and his glorified Son. These live in the shadows of confusion, without a sense of reference or a cause for being. Here are the soul cries of some of these men: ¶

"Until a man figures out the trap and hunts . . . the ultimate ground of being," ponders one, "he has no reason at all for his existence. Empty, finite, he knows only that he will soon die. ¶

Since this life has no meaning, and he sees no future life, he is not really a person but a victim of self extinction." ¶

Another has exclaimed: "How long can man bear emptiness?" Still another: "Here is what frightens me. ¶

To see the sense of life dissipated. To see our reason for existence disappear. ¶

That is what is intolerable. Men cannot live without meaning." (Look, July 27, 1963, p. 19.) And from still another: "When I consider the short duration of my life, swallowed up in eternity before and after, the little space I fill, and even can see, engulfed in the infinite immensity of space of which I am ignorant, and which knows me not, I am frightened, and am astonished being here rather than there, why now rather than then." Universal questions The immensity of the universe and man's relationship to time and eternity cause him to ask over and over again: ¶

Who am I? Where did I come from? ¶

What is my destiny? Why should man come into mortal existence and then fade and die? ¶

The way to eternal life The answer to this is that the way to eternal life is in the knowledge of God and Jesus Christ whom he hath sent. Heeding not this eternal truth, men are groping in darkness. The way out of the shadows into the light is in the revealed wisdom of the gospel of Jesus Christ communicated unto the spirit of man. But he must respond to this unmistakable truth of eternal life by the innate power within himself. ¶

Exposed to the truth in this manner, he will see and feel his life calibrated to eternal existence and will thus be in the way of joy and perfection; herein lies the true meaning of the resurrection of the Christ, who as the pattern for all men proclaimed, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John 14:6.) Revelation needed Concerning a fullness of joy obtained through resurrection, the Lord revealed this thought to Joseph Smith: "For man is spirit. The elements are eternal [meaning the natural body] , and spirit and element, inseparably connected [as in resurrection], receive a fulness of joy." (D&C 93:33.) But it is impossible for man, as man, devoid of revelation from God to understand the plan of life and salvation. ¶

Jacob, a righteous son of the prophet Lehi, declared: ". . . great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. ¶

And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him. . . ." (Jac. ¶

4:8.) Without divine communication man stands confused about his own existence. He is faced with many conflicting concepts of the meaning of life and of his destiny, or no meaning and destiny at all! To find the way to an understanding of himself, man must, as a beginning, rely upon normal innate instincts. This inner force is personal; it is instinctive. But he must be consciously aware of what this power can do for him as he responds to the forces of good and the teachings of truth for which the Christ sacrificed his life. ¶

The great French philosopher and teacher Du Nouy spoke with inspiration when he said the most effective path that can eventually lead to the comprehension of man is revelation. This "direct road," says he, ". . . is closed to a great many people and independent of rational thought. Those who can make use of it are fortunate." ¶

(Human Destiny [New York: Longmans, Green and Co., 1947], p. 3.) But make use of it he must if he is to find God and the meaning of life. ¶

Scientific, religious, and educational thought that is bent on revising and supposedly amplifying man's knowledge and that does not keep alive the fundamental concept of the eternal nature of God and his Beloved Son and their relationship to man in eternity creates only secular concepts and mere rationalization. Such indoctrination imposes false direction, retarding man's natural response to the truth. ¶

The Holy Ghost But man may know of the eternal truths of redemption made effectual by the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God. ¶

Concerning this the Apostle Paul declared: ¶

"But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him. ¶

"But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God. ¶

"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which is in him? even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God. ¶

"Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God. ¶

"Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual. ¶

"But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." (1 Cor. 2:9-14.) In conclusion, in these times of stress a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith might well be repeated with significant meaning: ¶

"Hearken, O ye people of my church, to whom the kingdom has been given; hearken ye and give ear to him who laid the foundation of the earth, who made the heavens and all the hosts thereof, and by whom all things were made which live, and move, and have a being. ¶

"And again I say, hearken unto my voice, lest death shall overtake you; in an hour when ye think not the summer shall be past, and the harvest ended, and your souls not saved. ¶

"Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him." (D&G 45:1-3.) It is my sincere conviction that God has literally spoken unto a prophet at this crucial time in our world's history. ¶

The truth has been restored. Each must stand the burden of his own blame if he does not take advantage of the revealed knowledge about God and his Son Jesus Christ, who is the author of the plan of salvation that gives to mankind the purpose and meaning of life and of man's eternal destiny. The heralds of truth representing the Church and kingdom of God restored to earth are this day among the nations of mankind throughout the world declaring this message. To this I testify in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶