Our Standard Church Works

OUR
STANDARD
CHURCH
WORKS, BY JOSEPH F.
SMITH,
JUN. One of the Articles of Faith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints reads: "We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal, and we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God." The words of God delivered both in ancient and modern days have been given to the Saints for their profit and learning — for the purpose of giving unto them a perfect understanding of his commandments, and of his will concerning the inhabitants of the earth. We have been greatly blessed in having revealed unto us the record of God's dealings with ancient inhabitants of America, in the Book of Mormon, and in having his will concerning us, in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times, made known in the Doc- trine and Covenants. The Pearl of Great Price also reveals unto us many important truths concerning the antiquity of the Gospel, which in the past were kept hid from the world, because of unbelief and wickedness, and the promise has been made that other records and other truths shall be made known in the due time of the Lord, when we are prepared to receive them. I sometimes wonder how it is that some of the Latter-day Saints apparently forget the importance of these records, and how we can possibly neglect to study them, and fail to become thoroughly acquainted with the mind and will of God as revealed to us, when we know that "the glory of God is intelligence," and that "no man can be saved in ignorance." We have been com- manded to teach one another words of wisdom out of the best books, even by study and faith, and also to teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. To my mind it would be impossible to find

202 IMPROVEMENT ERA. • better books than the standard works of the Church, and in no better way can we learn the doctrine of
the kingdom than by applying- ourselves to the study of the scriptures, especially to
the revela- tions which have been given directly to us in this day. The Lord said to the prophet Nephi: "I command all men, both in the east and in the west, and in the north and in the south, and in the islands of the sea, that they shall write the words which I speak unto them, for out of the books which shall be written I will judge the world, every man according to that whicl^ is v/ritten." (II Nephi 29: 11.) If the world is to be judged according to the word of the Lord which is written, how much greater will be the condemnation of the Latter-day Saints when brought to judgment, if they do not understand the things which have been revealed unto them! We should not treat lightly the things which have been revealed, for if we do, we Vv'^ill come under condemnation. No Latter-day Saint home should be without these books, and no member of the Church should fail to study them and reflect upon their teachings. That there are many families holding a membership in the Church, who have not a complete set of the Church works, cannot be denied, and, perhaps, there are others, who, although they have the books, do not read them. I maintain that where a family ot this class can be found, without exception, they are non-progressive, and do not comprehend the principles of the Gospel. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is progressive. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, under the spirit of inspiration, that "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection; and if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obe- dience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come" (Doctrine and Covenants 130: 18, 19). If we look around us, we will see that the man who devotes him- self to the study of the principles of the Gospel is the active man in his ward or stake, and that he has a better understanding of the Gospel, and can defend it, teach it, and live it better, than the man who is passive and devotes very little of his time to these things This is most natural. When Alma and Amulek were preaching to the inhabitants of the city of Ammonihah, they were opposed by a learned lawyer,.

OUR STANDARD CHURCH WORKS. 203 Zeezrom, who tried to catch them' in their words, that they might be judged according to his interpretation of the law. Failing in his designs, he began to consider the teachings of these servants of the Lord. The more he reflected the more he was con- vinced that they spoke the truth. This caused him to fear and tremble because of his own sins, and he began to enquire very dil- ligently of Alma concerning the kingdom of God, and how it was that Alma understood these things.
Alma replied: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only accord- ing to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him; and therefore he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser por- tion of the word, and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given him to know the mysteries of God, until he knows them in full; and they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word, until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and then they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. Now this is what is meant by the chains of hell (Alma 12: 9-11). This is in strict keeping with the words of the Lord to Nephi, as recorded in II Nephi 28: 30: For behold, thus saith the Lord God, I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that re- ceiveth, I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have. We see by this, that we cannot stand still, — we must either swim up the stream or be carried in the other direction to destruc- tion. The great difficulty with many of us is that we are careless and indifferent in regard to the study of the scriptures. Our minds are continually bent to worldly things, and we forget that the Gos- pel is practical, and should be applied in all things, temporal as well as spiritual. The great commandment is to "Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all things shall be added."
There was a time when the people of the earth had, in a

204 IMPROVEMENT ERA. degree, to depend on the few leaders to do their thinking; but that time has long since past. We should think for ourselves, and use the talents God has given us, otherwise we cannot expect to retain his Spirit. If the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price were as thoroughly studied in the missionary- field, by the elders, as the Bible is, there would, in my judgment, be a greater amount of good accomplished. When the first elders in this dispensation went forth to preach the Gospel — then a new thing among the people — they took with them several copies of the Book of Mormon, and whenever the opportunity would offer, they left copies at the homes of the people, with the understand- ing that in the course of a week or two they would call again for them. What was the result? Hundreds were converted through its teachings, and received a testimony of its truth, as they are promised in the book (Moroni 10: 4). The fact is that quite a number of the first elders received a testimony of the truth, and some were baptized before the organ- ization of the Church, April 6, 1830. Naturally they were filled with zeal, and were anxious to go forth immediately and declare these things unto the world, before they had received the Priest- hood, and been endowed with power from on high; but the Lord checked them by telling them to wait a little longer, until they should have his rock, his Church and his Gospel, that they might know of a surety his doctrine: "Seek not to declare my words, but first seek to obtain my word, and then shall your tongue be loosened; then if you desire, you shall have my spirit and my word, yea, the power of God unto the convincing of men; but now hold your peace, study my word which hath gone forth among the chil- dren of men, and also study my word which shall come forth among the children of men, or that which is now translating, yea until you have obtained all which I shall grant unto the children of men in this generation, and then shall all things be added there- unto." When the Church vv^as finally established, and the elders received their commissions to go forth and preach the Gospel, the Lord commanded them that they should confine themselves to the first principles of his Gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in which is the fullness of the Gospel.
(Sec. 42: 12.)

OUR STANDARD CHURCH WORKS. 205 By this ' we see that they were commanded not to go forth without a thorough knowledge of the books and the revelations they had received. The very object the Lord had in bringing to light the Nephite record was that the "fullness of the Gospel," which it contained, should be given to the world. The Lord commanded the elders in those days to use the newly revealed truths in mis- sionary work, and at no time since has he directed otherwise. In later years, our elders have depended more upon the Bible to establish the truth of the Gospel, and to some extent the Book of Mormon has been neglected in the missionary field. We have lost track of the fact that God has said, through his prophet, that the Book of Mormon should be a witness for the truth of the Bible, and should establish the truths of the Bible (I Nephi, 13). This neglect on our part led a minister to advise his fellow laborers not to discuss with the "Mormon" elders from the Bible, but to study "their own church works," and discuss the different points of doc- trine contained therein, for our elders were not acquainted with their own books. I remember also a remark made in my presence by one of our missionaries who, after performing a mission in the world, said: "If I were going on another mission, I would leave all books at home but my New Testament, for that is all we need in the mission field, for it is all the people will accept. The peo- ple will not receive the Book of Mormon, and we have to meet them on their own ground." The folly of this was clearly demon- strated by other missionaries who had spent their time almost ex- clusively with the Nev/ Testament, and when called upon to defend truths in the Book of Mormon, were so ignorant of its contents that they utterly failed. I know these records can be used to great advantage in the mission field, and that the honest in heart will as v.'illingly receive a truth from the Doctrine and Covenants, or the Book of Mormon, as from the Bible. If a person does not want the truth, the evidence in the Bible that may be brought to bear, while it may silence him, will not change his position nor cause him to receive the truth. It is the Spirit of God, after all, which works the change in the human soul. Another argument I have heard raised against the use, in the mission field, of the records revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith, is that the elders are likely to preach on the streets, and

206 IMPROVEMENT ERA. at other places, before strangers, and quote from these books, thinking the passages were in the Bible, thereby bringing ridicule upon their heads. This argument is so foolish that it is astonish- ing that one would use it. It is seldom that an elder will make a mistake of this kind; and if he did, in regard to these records, would he not be as likely to quote from one Book in the Bible and give credit to another? The trouble is, these records are not quoted from and used enough. I firmly believe that a more thor- ough and systematic study of them would give an elder a better understanding of the Gospel; hence, he would be better able to preach, to teach, and to defend the Gospel in the world than the man who depends entirely upon the Bible for his knowledge; for many principles of the Gospel which are somewhat obscure in the Bible, because of the precious parts which have been taken away, are set forth clearly and distinctly in the other records. There is, on the other hand, no principle of truth taught in the Bible that is not as clearly, and as forcibly, upheld and taught in the Book of Mormon, Doctrine aad Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. In every dispensation of the Gospel, God has spoken to his children, and has given them commandments to suit their time and conditions. The Pearl of Great Price contains the Gospel as it was preached to Adam, Enoch, Noah and to Abraham. The Old Testament is the record of the revelations given to ancient Israel. The New Testament is a record of the re-establishment of the Gos- pel, in the dispensation of the meridian of time, and of the minis- try of Christ. The Book of Mormon contains the revelations given to the seed of Joseph in America, also the record of the Jaredites; and in our day — the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times — God has again spoken, and we have his commandments in the Doctrine and Covenants. None of these records can be discarded ; they all contain light and truth, and all agree in doctrine. We must have a knowledge of all, in order that we may properly teach the Gos- pel. Some of the great truths which are revealed to us in these books may be mentioned: In the Pearl of Great Price, we are given a knowledge of our pre-existence, and we learn that in that state some were more noble than others; hence, became God's rulers. We are taught that the same identical Gospel which we have received was taught

OUR STANDARD CHURCH WORKS. 207 to Adam, that Adam and his posterity were baptized, and received the Holy Ghost; that Christ was the law-giver — the King of Zion— in that day; we receive the prophecies of Enoch, and learn of the translation of his city; why sacrifice was instituted; of the destiny of the earth and its inhabitants. In the Book of Mormon we have revealed unto us the record of Joseph; we learn that his descendants received the land of America for their inheritance; that the Nephites were the "other sheep" of the house of Israel, spoken of by our Savior; that Christ visited this continent and established his Gospel among the Neph- ites; that God led a colony from Asia, at the time of the confusion of tongues, according to his commandment; we learn that the New Jerusalem will be built on the land of America, and that America is a choice land above all other lands; we are told why Adam fell; and the object of our existence in this life, and our destiny; that it is an abomination in the sight of God to baptize infants; and it re- veals unto us the prophecy of Joseph, son of Jacob. In the Doctrine and Covenants, we have revealed unto us the history of the Priesthood; we are taught where the New Jerusalem will be built; the doctrine of Baptism for the Dead, and the use of temples; that the elements of matter are eternal; the meaning of "eternal punishment;" the eternity of the marriage covenant; that truth and intelligence were not created nor made ; we have revealed the land where Adam dwelt; the united order, and the nature of the second death. These are but a few of the many truths which these records contain, which in the version of the Bible v/e have received are indeed vague, if taught at all. God has given us these records, a,nd has commanded us to search them, to study them, and to pon- der over the teachings they contain, that we may draw nearer un- to him, learn of his ways, and the better keep his commandments. It is our privilege to receive "the greater portion of the word," until it is given unto to us to know the mysteries of God, until we know them in full. If we do not take advantage of the opportuni- ties thus afforded, we are in danger of being led away by the cun- ning of Satan, or the craft of wicked men who lie in wait to de- <;eive.