--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Smith, Joseph F. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 6 number: 7 published: 1903-05 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph F. Smith, "A Sermon on Purity," *Improvement Era* 6, no. 7 (May 1903): 501–506.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0607unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera0607unse start_page: 501 end_page: 506 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1903-05) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera0607unse publication_year: 1903 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1903, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # A Sermon on Purity A SERMON ON PURITY.* BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. — My Beloved Friends: In attempting to say a few words to you this afternoon, I sincerely desire an interest in your prayers, and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, that I may be able to speak some things that will be instructive and beneficial. I never felt more dependent on the Lord for what I may say than I do now. I realize that there is a vast congregation assembled, and that their time and their desires are valuable to them, and to the cause in which we are engaged. I realize, too, bow feeble and inadequate a man is without the aid of the Spirit of the Lord, to edify or in- struct so many people, or even a few. Our work in the earth is strictly of a religious character; and when I use the term "religious," I mean it to apply not only to spiritual things, but to all other things that pertain to the wel- fare and happiness, improvement and progress, of the people of God. We are not all spiritual, neither are we all temporal. The temporal and the spiritual are blended together. One is inseparable from the other, in this sphere of action. Therefore, the religion that we have espoused not only affects us in prayer and praise and songs of gratitude to God, but it affects us in our daily walk and conversation. "Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this," says the Apostle James, "To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world." This is the religion of the Latter-day Saints. There- fore, when we speak to the people, we desire to speak Id such a * Delivered in the Salt Lake Tabernacle, at the annual conference of the M. L A., 1902. 502 IMPROVEMENT ERA. practical way that the fact may not be lost sight of that we are both temporal and spiritual, mortal and immortal, and that we are in this probation 'to lay the foundation for ourselves of eternal life and exaltation in the presence of Him from whom we came, the Father of our"spirits. I was a little startled and surprised at a remark made by one of the speakers in our forenoon meeting, to the effect that, not- withstanding the vastness of the evil resulting from the drink habit, that evil 'is not so widespreai nor so harmful as obscenity. I am not prepared to say to what extent the speaker applied the meaning of the word "obscenity;" but I presume he intended it to take a very wide scope; for there is scarcely any evil that we can think ,of opposed to good morals that is not obscene. Even drunkenness itself may be considered under the head of obscenity. But there is, no doubt, a vast amount of evil existing in the world in consequence of obscenity. One of the growing evils of the world (and I suppose the term must be extended to the subject which I am about to speak of, in order that the statement which was made may be considered correct) is profanity, and the taking of the name of God in vain; and this, no doubt, properly comes under the head of obscenity. Now, to say that this evil practice, which is so strenuously forbidden in the law of God, and so strong- ly denounced by the prophets of God, exists among the Latter-day Saints to the extent that it prevails throughout the world, would not be correct. I man or say this from the fact that no woman, no boy or girl, who has had proper training, and who has learned anything about the gospel which we have embraced, is guilty of this crime. No person who is counted worthy to have a membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is guilty of this offense against the law of God. Therefore, if this evil exists among the Latter-day Saints, it must be to a limited extent. It is by no means universal. It cannot in any way be said to apply to the people at large. Indeed, it is an exception to the rule, and a rare exception, too. Yet, we are convinced of the fact that there is profanity among the thoughtless, the un- tutored, the uneducated, the neglected of young people, who have not been taught by their fathers and mothers as they should have been. It is to this fact that we call the attention of this confer- A SERMON ON PURITY. 503 ence. It is against the existence of this evil among our thought- less youths that we raise our voice today in condemnation, and in pleading terms to the youth of Zion and their parents, that they will abstain from taking in vain the name of Deity, and from de- scending to the use of profanity and unbecoming language, or obscenity of any kind. In the officers' meeting of the Young Men's Mutual Improvement Association yesterday, a resolution was passed that as officers of this organization we would consti- tute ourselves admonishers and instructors of the youth, and that we would raise our voice against this evil among our un- thinking and neglected boys; that we would use all the influence and power that we could to persuade them to reflect, and to take thought in relation to the language that they use. It may be thought a strange saying, but it is one that we read in the Bible, and the author of it is no less a person than the Lord Jesus Christ, and it often caused me to marvel in the days of my youth, and even now, I almost wonder how it could be said in truth, yet I believe it with all my heart — I refer to the statement of the Lord Jesus Christ that "every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment." If this be true, will men not be held more strictly to account for the obscene words that they utter, for the profanity and blasphe- my, that proceed out of their mouths, and for their cursing and swearing? But, says one, how is it possible that a man shall be held to account for an idle word, and espacially for every idle word that he shall speak? I have reasoned upon this matter, and have come to this conclusion, that there is a means prepared, and it has been prepared by the infinite wisdom and intelligence of Him who made and created all things, and with whom all things of this character are possible. It is a simple thing, and I will call it Memory. There is something in man, an essential part of his mind, which recalls the events of the past, and the words that we have spoken on various occasions. Words which we spoke in our childhood we can readily bring to mind. Words that we heard others speak in our infancy, we can recall, though we may be advanced in years. We recall words that were spoken in our youth and in our early manhood, as well as words that were spoken yesterday. May I say to you that in reality a man cannot forget 504 IMPROVEMENT ERA. anything? He may have a lapse of memory; he may not be able moment a thing that he knows, or words that he to recall at the has spoken; he may not have the power at his will to call up these events and words; but let God Almighty touch the mainspring of the memory, and awaken recollection, and you will find then that you have not even forgotten a single idle word that you have spoken! I believe the word of God to be true, and, therefore, I warn the youth of Zion, as well as those who are advanced in beware of saying wicked things, of speaking evil, and years, to taking in vain the name of sacred things and sacred beings. Guard your words, that you may not offend even man, much less offend God. Now, my brethren and sisters, it is not proper for me to pro- long my remarks to any extent this afternoon. There is much to do during this meeting, and I must therefore be brief. I say to the fathers and mothers of Israel, and to the boys who have been born in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: I say it to men and boys throughout the world, as far as my words may go — plead with you, I I implore you not to offend the Lord, nor to offend honorable men and women, by the use of profanity. You would not think of doing you stood in the presence of an it if angel. You would not think of doing it if you could realize that you stood in the very presence of God, and he heard the words you uttered, and if you could but comprehend that for these words you will have to render an account, at that day when your minds shall be opened to recall all the acts of your lives. Not only do we raise our voices against profanity and obscenity, but we raise our voices against the use of intoxicating drinks, against the use of tobacco, either as something to chew or inhale its vapors into the lungs. God Almighty has revealed the truth in relation to this noxious weed. It is good for sick cattle, but it is not for the use of man. It is good for bruises and sores, if used judiciously, but it is not for the stomach, neither is it for the lungs. You may say, how do you know that? Because the Almighty has said it, and he knows. I accept his word, and that is why I say this. We raise our voice in all solemnity against infidelity, whether that be infidelity to God or infidelity to one another. We believe in fidelity; we believe in truth, in honor, in integrity to God and man. A SERMON ON PURITY. 505 We believe that it is necessary that man should be true to his fel- low man, and that if he is not true to his fellow man, he cannot be true to God. If he is false to himself, he may be false to his neighbor; and if he is false to his neighbor and to himself, he will be false to God. We believe in a man being true to his wife and to his children. We believe that women should be true to their husbands. We believe that children should be true to their parents, and that parents should be full of love and integrity toward their children. We exhort the youth of Ziim to honor their fathers and th6ir mothers, that their days may be long in the land which the Lord has given unto them, and that no curse shall come upon them through their disobedience to the counsels and examples of their parents. We believe that God lives, and that he is judge of the quick and the dead. We believe that his eye is upon the world, and that he beholds his groveling, erring and weak chil- dren upon this earth. We believe that we are here by his design, and not by chance; that we are here to fulfil a destiny, and not to fulfil a whim, or for the gratification of mortal lusts. We be- lieve that we are immortal beings. We believe in the resurrection of the dead, and that as Jesus came forth from the grave to ever- lasting life, his spirit and body uniting again never more to be separated, so has he opened the way for every son and daughter of Adam, whether living or dead, to come forth from the grave to a newness of life, to become immortal souls, body and spirit united, never to be severed any more. We raise our voices against pros- titution, and against all forms of immorality. We are not here to practice immorality of any kind. Above all things, sexual im- morality is most heinous in the sight of God. It is on a par with murder itself, and God Almighty fixed the penalty of the murderer at death: "Whoso sheddeth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed." Furthermore, he said that whosoever committed adultery should be put to death. Therefore, we raise our voices against sexual immorality, and against all manner of obscenity. Then, we say to you who have 'repented of your sins, who have been buried with Christ in baptism, who have been raised from the liquid grave to newness of life, born of the water and of the Spirit, and who have been made the children of the Father, heirs of — God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ we say to you, if — 506 IMPROVEMENT ERA, you will observe the laws of God, and cease to do evil, cease to be obscene, cease to be immoral, sexually or otherwise, cease to be profane, cease to be infidel, have faith in God, believe in the truth and receive it, and be honest before God and man, that you will be set up on high, and God will put you at the head, just as sure as you observe these commandments. Whoever will keep the commandments of God, no matter whether it be you or any other people, they will rise and not fall, they will lead and not follow, they will go upward and not downward; God will exalt them and magnify them before the nations of the earth, and he will set the seal of his approval upon them, will name them as his own. This is my testimony to you. God bless you, and help us to be faithful always, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen. 'STICK TO YOUR BUSH. One day it was reported among the schoolboys of a certain Massachusetts town that blackberries were ripe and very plentiful on a near-by vacant farm. On Saturday, therefore, about a dozen of the boys hastened to the berrying ground with large wooden buckets, determined to fill them to the brim. The report proved true —the bushes were indeed loaded, and the delighted boys im- mediately commenced to gather the luscious fruit. One of them, however, soon conceived the idea of picking only the largest of the berries, thinking that he could thus fill his pail in much less time than it would take the others to fill theirs. Accordingly, he went here and there among the thorny bushes, selecting only the very largest that he could find. The other boys picked their bushes clean as they went, and in less than two hours' time had their pails full. He who had resolved to outstrip his companions had some fine but he had occupied so much time in run- berries, ning about that the fruit was only about two inches deep in the bottom of his pail. When he saw the full pails of the others, he became discouraged, and commenced eating his berries. The others soon joined in, and helped him, and he went home with an empty pail. The moral of this anecdote is plain: One should "stick to his bush," or in other words, "let well enough alone." Selected.