"O That I was an angel," October 1926
The joy of Missionary Work
I believe that every Latter-day Saint who has received a testimony of the divinity of the work in which we are engaged has this same feeling that Alma had — a desire that all the world might hear the testimony of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. When men and women receive a testimony of the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, they are anxious that all the world should have that same knowledge and faith. They are anxious that the gospel should go to every honest soul. And there is no other labor in all the world that brings to a human heart, judging from my own personal experience, more joy, peace and serenity than proclaiming the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I remember that while I was laboring in Japan, on account of my failure to learn the language, I was not entirely happy in my work there. I remember going out into the woods, kneeling down and praying to God that when my work was finished there I would appreciate it if I were called to the British Isles to succeed Brother Francis M. Lyman. Shortly after uttering that prayer I received a cable : "Come home on the first vessel." When I arrived home President Smith told me that they had decided to send me to Europe to succeed Brother Lyman. He said, "We realize that the two years or more that you have been in Japan have been anything but satisfactory from the standpoint of the joy that comes into the hearts of the missionaries in bringing souls to a knowledge of the truth, and we want you to have at least a year of real, genuine, missionary experience." When I went into his office and bade him goodbye, and said, "I will see you in a year," he said, "We have decided to make it a year and a half." I said, "Multiply it by two and say nothing about it, and it will please me," and that is exactly what he did. I was there a little over three years, and never have I had sweeter joy, more genuine satisfaction in my life than during those three years, when I had no thought except the spreading of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.
"Remember, the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;
"For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore, he suffered the pain of all men, that all men might repent and come unto him.
"And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on conditions of repentance.
"And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth!
"Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people.
"And' if it so be that you should labor all j our days in crying repentance unto this people and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my father!
"And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!
"Behold, you have my gospel before you, and my rock, and my salvation.
"Ask the Father in my name, in faith, believing that you shall receive, and you shall have the Holy Ghost, which manifesteth all things which are expedient unto the children of men.
"And if you have not faith, hope and charity, you can do nothing.
"Behold, Jesus Christ is the name which is given of the Father, and there is none other name given whereby man can be saved."
The foregoing revelation was given through the Prophet Joseph Smith to Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer, and they were instructed to seek out twelve apostles who should have the spirit of the mission to go forth and proclaim the gospel of glad tidings which the voice out of the heavens declared to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon, as follows:
"And this is the gospel, the glad tidings which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us —
"That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness.
"That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him." (Doc. and Cov. 76:40-42.)
Men Have Seen Christ in our Day
In that same revelation we find, and I have repeated it time and time again:
"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."
We have this testimony to bear to the world, that men in our day have seen Jesus Christ; that he has restored to the earth the gospel of life and salvation ; that in the Kirtland temple the Savior appeared to Oliver Cowdery and Joseph Smith, also Moses, Elias and Elijah and that the keys of every dispensation of the gospel were committed into the hands of those two men. They were given this authority and it is a source of great joy." (Doc. and Cov. 110.)
What the Church is Doing to Proclaim the Gospel
I rejoice in announcing that the Church is doing more today in the spreading of the gospel, and it has a larger body of missionaries in the field proclaiming the gospel, than at any other time in its history. A year ago we called for volunteers of men of maturity, men of experience and testimony, men who were seasoned in the gospel, to go out into the field for a period of six months. Hundreds responded to that call, and I have listened to some of the most remarkable and wonderful testimonies of the manifestations and blessings of the Lord to those men, as I have conversed with them upon their return home, that I have ever heard. The signs verily follow the believer in this Church, and people receive the witness of the Spirit wherever the gospel is preached.
The Command to Preach the Gospel Supreme
I have culled out a few quotations from the Doctrine and Covenants that I would like to read here:
"Go ye into all the world, preach the gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost."
"And he that believeth shall be blest with signs following, even as it is written." — (Section 68: verses 8, 10.)
"And this gospel shall be preached unto every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people.
"And the servants of God shall go forth, saying with a loud voice: Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come;
"And worship him that made heaven, and earth, and, the sea, and the fountains of water." — (Section 133:37-39.)
"I the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise." — (Section 82:10.)
The one supreme thing that devolves upon me, upon you and upon every Latter-day Saint is the preaching of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, in public and in private, and above all to proclaim the gospel in our lives, by being absolutely honest in keeping the commandments of the Lord.
Who is Fitted to Teach the Gospel?
No man can teach the Latter-day Saints under the inspiration of the Spirit of the living God, or proclaim to the world, that there has come a commandment from the Lord in our day for men to observe the ancient law of tithing, unless that man is a conscientious and honest tithe-payer. On the other hand, the inspiration of the living God attends those men who proclaim the law of tithing when they are obeying it themselves. No man can, under the inspiration of the Spirit of the Lord, warm the hearts of the Saints, or benefit the people of the world, by proclaiming the Word of Wisdom, who does not obey it himself. But the man who obeys the Word of Wisdom can touch the hearts of the Latter-day Saints in proclaiming that wonderful revelation that the Lord has given to us for our health and our benefit, and above all that has been given to us with a promise attached thereto. I desire to read that revelation from first to last:
The Word of Wisdom
"A Word of Wisdom for the benefit of the council of High Priests, assembled in Kirtland, and the Church, also the saints in Zion —
"To be sent greeting; not by commandment or constraint, but by revelation and the word of wisdom, showing forth the order and will of God in the temporal salvation of all saints in the last days—"
And let me say right here that I am convinced beyond the shadow of a doubt that if the Latter-day Saints had observed the Word of Wisdom, and if the money that has been worse than wasted for tea, coffee, tobacco and liquor, had been utilized for missionary service, we would have had the millions of . dollars for the work of the Lord that has been expended for that which the Lord Almighty says is not good for man.
"Given for a principle with premise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints, who are or can be called saints.
"Behold, verily, thus saith the Lord unto you: In consequence of evils and designs which do and will exist in the hearts of conspiring men in the last days, I have warned you, and forewarn you, by giving unto you this word of wisdom by revelation —
"That inasmuch as any man drinketh wine or strong drink among you, behold it is not good, neither meet in the sight of your Father, only in assembling yourselves together to offer up your sacraments before him.
"And behold, this should be wine, yea, pure wine of the grape of the vine, of your own make.
"And, again, strong drinks are not for the belly, but for the washing of your bodies.
"And, again, tobacco is not for the body, neither for the belly, and is not good for man, but is an herb for bruises and all sick cattle to be used with judgment and skill.
"And, again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.
"And again, verily I say unto you, all wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature and use of man —
"Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof ; all these to be used with prudence and thanksgiving.
"Yea, flesh also of beasts and of fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless, they are to be used sparingly.
"And it is pleasing unto me that they should not be used, only in times of winter, or of cold, or famine.
"All grain is ordained for the use of man and of beasts, to be the staff of life, not only for man but for the beasts of the field, and the fowls of heaven, and all wild animals that run or creep on the earth;
"And these hath God made for the use of man only in times of famine and excess of hunger.
"All grain is good for the food of man ; as also the fruit of the vine ; that which yieldeth fruit, whether in the ground or above the ground.
"Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.
"And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in bedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow ill their bones ;
"And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;
"And shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint. "And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen."
Let me read again:
"I, the Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when you do not what I say, ye have no promise."
Promises of God Conditioned on Obedience
There is no promise made to you or to me or to any Latter-day Saint that the destroying angel shall pass us by, or that we shall have hidden treasures of knowledge, unless we obey the Word of Wisdom, and the way above all other ways for men and women to teach their children the necessity of obeying the Word of Wisdom is by obeying it themselves.
"There is a law irrevocably decreed, in heaven before the foundations of this world, upen which all blessings are predicated — *
"And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (Doc. and Cov. 130:20, 21. )
I believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that there are hundreds and thousands of Latter-day Saints who but for the obeying of the Word of Wisdom would not be here today. When they have been attacked by serious diseases and have been in a critical condition physically, having obeyed that law, having fulfilled an irrevocable law of God, he was bound to bestow the promised blessings, and they have come to the afflicted ones.
Parents must teach their Children by Example
We find recorded in section 68:
"And again, inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, in any of her stakes which are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of repentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when eight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents."
"For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her stakes which are organized.
"And their children shall he baptized for the remission of their sins when eight years old and receive the laying on of the hands."
"And they shall also teach their children to pray, and to walk uprightly before the Lord."
And the best way in the world to teach your children to pray and to walk uprightly before the Lord is to pray yourselves, thus setting an example of prayer, and to walk uprightly before the Lord yourselves. When a man fails to be honest as a tithe-payer, when he fails to observe the Word of Wisdom, the teaching of his children to obey those laws will have but very little effect. There is more in example than can possibly come by teaching. No amount of knowledge will save a man; no amount of marvelous revelations and visions and dreams will save a man. But the keeping of the commandments of the Lord and the obeying of those things which the Lord has revealed to us for our salvation, will give us a power and influence with our children for good, and we will be able to make an impression upon their hearts that will keep them in the straight and narrow path which leads to life eternal.
Josiah Quincy's Testimony of Joseph Smith
When I picked up the memorandum that is supplied to me of the songs that are to be sung here this morning, I found that the first song that we were to sing today was, ''We thank, thee, O God, for a Prophet," and I remembered and immediately hunted up the quotation, a very remarkable tribute to the Prophet Joseph Smith, from Josiah Qunicy, at one time the mayor of the great city of Boston; and while it has been read time and time again in our hearing, and published often at home and abroad, I thought I would like to read to you again the wonderful testimony of Josiah Quincy, from a book entitled, The Figures of the Past. He says:
"It is by no means improbable that some future textbook for the use of generations yet unborn will contain a question something like this: 'What historic American of the nineteenth century has wielded the most powerful influence upon the destinies of his countrymen?' And it is by no means impossible that the answer to this interrogatory may be thus written: 'Joseph Smith, the "Mormon" Prophet.' And the reply, absurd as it doubtless seems to most men now living, may be an obvious commonplace to their descendants. History deals in surprises and paradoxes quite as startling as this. The man who established a religion in this age of free debate, who was and is today accepted by hundreds of thousands as a direct emissary from the Most High — such a rare human being is not to lie disposed of by pelting his memory with unsavory epithets. Fanatic, imposter, charlatan, he may have been but these hard names furnish no solution to the problem he presents to us. Fanatics and imposters are living and dying every day. and their memory is buried with them; but the wonderful influence which this founder of a religion exerted and still exerts throws him into a relief before us, not as a rogue to be incriminated, but as a phenomenon to be explained. The most vital questions Americans are asking each ether today to have to do with this man and what he has left us. * * A generation other than mine must deal with these questions. Burning questions, they are, which must give a prominent place in the history of the country to that sturdy self-asserter whom T visited at Nauvoo. Joseph Smith, claiming to be an inspired, teacher, faced adversity such as few men have been called to meet, enjoyed a brief season of prosperity such as few men have ever attained, and finally, forty-three clays after T saw him, went cheerfully to a martyr's death. When he surrendered his person to Governor Ford, in order to prevent the shedding of blood, the prophet had, a presentiment of what was before him, 'I am going like a lamb to the slaughter,' he is reported to have said, 'but I am as calm as a Summer's morning. I have a conscience void of offense and shall die innocent'."
(And a further quotation: "And it shall yet be said that I was murdered in cold blood," which is not in Josiah Quincy's statement.)
"I have no theory to advance respecting this extra-ordinary man. I shall simply give the facts of my intercourse with him.
"A fine-looking man is what the passer-by would instinctively have murmured upon meeting the remarkable individual who had fashioned the mold which was to shape the feelings of so many thousands of his fellow mortals. But Smith was more than this, and one could not resist the impression that capacity and resource were natural t9 his stalwart person. I have already mentioned the resemblance he bore to Elisha R. Potter of Rhode Island, whom 1 met in Washington in 1826. The likeness was not such as would be recognized in a picture but rather one that would be felt in a grave emergency.
"Of all men I have met these two seemed best endowed with that kindly faculty which directs, as by intrinsic right, the feeble or confused souls who are looking for guidance.
"We then went on to talk of politics. Smith recognized the curse and iniquity of slavery, though he opposed the methods of the abolitionists. His plan was for the nation to pay for the slaves from the sale of the public lands. 'Congress,' he said, 'should be compelled to take this course, by petitions from all parts of the country; but the petitioners must disclaim all alliance not recognized by the Constitution and which foment insurrection.' It may be worthwhile to remark that Smith's plan was publicly advocated eleven years later by one who mixed so much practical shrewdness with his lofty philosophy. In 1855, when men's minds had been moved to their depths on the question of slavery, Ralph Waldo Emerson declared that it should be met in accordance 'with the interest of the south and with the settled conscience of the north. It is not really a great task, a great fight for this country to accomplish, to buy the property of the planter, as the British nation bought the West Indian slaves.' He further says that the United States will be brought to give every inch of their public lands for a purpose like this.' We who can look back upon the terrible cost of the fratricidal war which put an end to slavery, now say that such a solution of the difficulty would have been worthy a Christian statesman. But if the retired scholar was in advance of his time when he advocated this disposition of the public property in 1855, what shall I say of the political and religious leader who had committed himself, in print as well as in conversation, to the same course in 1844? If the atmosphere of men's opinions were stirred by such a proposition when war clouds were discernible in the sky, was it not a statesmanlike word eleven years earlier when the heavens looked tranquil and beneficent?"
It was a statesmanlike and an inspired proposition from a man who was in very deed a prophet of the true and living God.
"General Smith proceeded to unfold still further his views upon politics. He denounced the Missouri Compromise as an unjustifiable concession for the benefit of slavery. It was Henry Clay's bid for the presidency. Dr. Goforth might have spared himself the trouble of coming to Nauvoo to electioneer for a duelist who would fire at John Randolph but was not brave enough to protect the Saints in their rights as American citizens. Clay told his (Smith's) people to go to the wilds of Oregon and set up a government of their own. Oh, yes, the Saints might go into the wilderness and obtain the justice of the Indians, which imbecile, time-serving politicians would not give them in the land of freedom and equality. The prophet then talked of the details of government. He thought the number of members admitted to the lower house of the national legislature should be reduced. A crowd only darkened counsel and impeded business. A member for every half million of population would be ample. The powers of the president should be increased. He should have authority to put down rebellion in a state, without waiting for the request of any governor; for it might happen that the governor himself would be the leader of the rebels. It is needless to remark how later events showed the executive weakness that Smith pointed out — a weakness which cost millions of treasures. * * *
"Born in the lowest ranks of poverty, without book learning and with the homeliest of all human names, he had made himself at the age of 39 a power upon the earth. Of the multitudinous family of Smiths, none had so won human hearts and shaped human lives as this Joseph. His influence, whether for good or evil, is potent today, and the end is not yet.
"I have endeavored to give the details of my visit to the 'Mormon' prophet with absolute accuracy. If the reader does not know just what to make of Joseph Smith, I cannot help him out of the difficulty. I myself stand helpless before the puzzle."
Joseph Smiths Prophecy of the Migration West
The Latter-day Saints do not stand helpless before the puzzle. They rejoice in the wonderful inspiration of the man who prophesied that "the Latter-day Saints would continue to suffer much affliction and many would be put to death by their persecutors, and others would lose their lives in consequence of exposure or disease, but some would live to go and make settlements, build cities and see the Saints become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains."
What kind of a place was the Rocky Mountains when this remarkable prophecy was uttered? One of the greatest American statesmen, Daniel Webster, is reported to have said regarding it:
"What do we want with this vast, worthless area? This region of savages and wild beasts, of deserts of shifting sands and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs ? To what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts or those endless mountain ranges, impenetrable and covered to their very base with eternal snow? What can we ever hope to do with the western coast of three thousand miles, rock-bound, cheerless, uninviting and not a harbor on it? Mr. President, I will never vote one cent from the public treasury to place the Pacific coast one inch nearer Boston than it now is."
Government Placed Stamp of Divinity on Prophet's Utterance
I rejoice in an individual testimony of the truth of the statements of Joseph Smith, that his name should be had for good and evil in all parts of the world ; that the time would come when not only a city, a county and a state should be arrayed against the handful of people called "Mormons," but the day would come when the whole United States of America should be arrayed against them. And the army of the United States was sent against them, and the government of the United States did confiscate all of the property belonging to the Church. Day after day and month after month during the litigation for the return of the Church property I picked up the paper and read, "The United States of America versus the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints." And I have laid the paper down and said, "Thank the Lord that the United States have placed the stamp of divinity upon the utterances of the Prophet Joseph Smith."
The Great Obligation of the Saints to Declare the Restoration
Our boys and girls go out into the world with a love of the gospel, young, inexperienced men and women, and God gives to them the witness of the Spirit and an individual testimony so that they can stand up and say before all the world, "I know that God lives, I know that Jesus is the Christ, I know that Joseph Smith is a prophet of the true and living God, and that the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, the plan of life and salvation, has been restored to the earth through his instrumentality. The one and great thing that devolves upon me, upon you, and upon all Latter-day Saints is that this proclamation shall be sent to all the world, and I rejoice in knowing that it has never been carried with more force and by a greater number of faithful, diligent workers than at the present time.
May God bless each and every one of us who has a testimony and a knowledge that He lives and that Jesus is the Christ, and that Joseph Smith was a prophet of the true and living God, so to order our lives that all men seeing our diligence, our humility, our charity, our love of our fellows, may be led to investigate the gospel of Jesus Christ, is my prayer, and I ask it in the name of the Lord our Redeemer. Amen.
Comments
Post a Comment