Testimony

TESTIMONY.* BY PRESIDENT JOSEPH F. SMITH. I would like to say a few words. I wish very sincerely that the brethren and sisters who desired to speak but have not had an opportunity of speaking at this meeting, will consider the great number that are present, and the shortness of the time at our disposal, and will not feel aggrieved because they have not had an opportunity to express themselves. Not one has arisen that we would not have loved to hear, but the time would not permit. Uncle Samuel W. Richards has been on his feet several times, but others had arisen and he has taken his seat. We all would like to hear from him, because he is an aged and an experienced man, who was intimately acquainted in his lifetime with the Prophet Joseph Smith, and who has done yeoman service in the ministry, abroad as well as at home, we would like to hear him. But time is too brief, and there are others who also would have spoken, whom we would also like to hear. I want to impress this upon the minds of the young men and women associated with the Mutual Improvement work, and upon the minds of our friends, and also upon the parents of these young men and women who are present today. We have borne our testimony of the divinity of the mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, and the righteousness of his calling and life. We have borne testimony of the lawful succession of Presidents Brigham *A sermon given at the conclusion of testimony-bearing by the audience generally, at a conjoint meeting of the Young Ladies' and Young Men's Mutual Improvement Associations, Assembly Hall, Salt Lake City, June 10, 1906.

804 IMPROVEMENT ERA. Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and Lorenzo Snow, to the divine calling and mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith. We have borne testimony to the honesty, virtue, faith, integrity, and uprightness of these men. And why have we made this a special matter? It is because these men have been the targets of all the enemies of the Church from the beginning. Christ was made a target by the Sadducees, the Pharisees and hypocrites of his day, and nothing in their thought or mind was too evil or abominable to say of him or to accuse him of. They were not satisfied with what they could say against him with all the malignity that they felt in their hearts, until they crucified him; and, in order that he might be crucified, and that they might satisfy their groundless hatred toward him, who was without sin, who was perfect, who was sent of God to redeem the world, and who so loved the world that he would give his life for it, they cried out, "Let his blood be on us and on our children," release Barabbas, the murderer, but crucify Jesus, who was without sin (except in the imagination of his murderers). And Jesus, the sinless, the spotless in the world, while in the very agony of death, upon the cross, was so filled with sorrow for the wickedness of the people that put him to death, he cried out, ' 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.'' This has been the wicked spirit that has followed and condemned without cause, Joseph Smith and his successors to the present time. It has never ceased, it will not cease while Satan reigns and wickedness prevails in the hearts of men. And so we bear testimony to the divinity of the mission of Lhese men. We declare they were good men. We knew them. We have been intimate with them. We have seen them, heard them, and lived with them, and we know whereof we speak when we say they were as sinless and as pure men as ever graced the footstool of God, to the best of our knowledge or power to judge. And yet the world say they were wicked, "away with them, let them be crucified, let them be destroyed, and let the people that follow them be destroyed. " They say this people are a disgrace to the nation, when the fact is, there is no community on the earth, go where you will, that lives so near to the doctrine of Jesus Christ as do the Latterday Saints; and they do it because they have received Christ's gospel, and the spirit of Christ is in their hearts, and the testi-

TESTIMONY. 805 mony of Jesus, which is the spirit of prophecy. They do it, because they are following in the footsteps of their file leaders. They do it because they have received a testimony in their hearts that God has revealed his truth through them to the world. They do it, because they love the truth, they love virtue, they love honor, they love integrity to that which is good. They love and have charity for each other. The children love their parents, the parents love their children, and the parents are solicitous for the welfare of their children, are praying for them, are beseeching God that their children may walk in paths of righteousness, that they may be kept pure, sinless and spotless from the world. The fathers and the mothers, with their hearts full of yearning, full of affection for their children, pray to God, morning, noon and night; almost every moment of their lives the spirit of prayer is in their souls, ascending unto God,—praying: "0 God, bless our children, help us to keep them in the right path, to keep them from sin, from transgressing the laws; to keep them pure and holy unto thee, to ke?p them from the vices and evils of the world, from every contaminating influence, from every power that would sway them from their duty as the children of thy servants and handmaids, who have made sacrifice with thee, for them, in the covenant of thy Son." Do I wonder that these good boys arise and testify to us that the spirit of the gospel is in their hearts? And 0, it fills my soul with joy and satisfaction, it brings up the tears into my eyes, fills my soul with love, when I see these boys and these girls, noble sons and noble daughters of Zion, arise and testify that:— "We will stand by you for the truth's sake, we will not desert you, we are one with you, we have faith in your integrity, we will honor and not depart from you, but we will follow your footsteps, and we will keep the counsels and emulate the examples that you set for us." Thank God for these boys and girls. 0 God, bless them. (Here President Smith paused and wept, while many eyes about him were suffused with tears). I do not think there is anything in the world that would depress me so much, or grieve my soul so deeply, or wound my spirit so nearly beyond healing, as to see my children turn away from the gospel of Jesus Christ; for I do know that it is the power of

806 IMPROVEMENT ERA. God unto salvation to all that will obey it and follow its precepts. Excuse my weakness. It is not altogether weakness, either, that brings tears to my eyes. I feel that it is in part because of the earnestness of my pleadings, the strength of my faith, the fervor of my affection for these children of honest, good fathers and mothers, and good Latter-day Saints; my love for these noble children, some of whose fathers and mothers are not always altogether as faithful or as thankful as they should be, standing up for the truth and magnifying their calling. I thank God for it, for I know that the kingdom of God is safe, under their inspiration, their assistance, their adherence to it, their love for it, their honor, and the efforts they will put forth to maintain it in purity in the earth. We speak of the Savior, of Jesus the Son of God, and we feel safe and solid in him, and that our feet have rested on the very foundation of eternal truth when the spirit of Christ is in our hearts. I want to say to my brethren and sisters, that if there is a man in all the world who has received more deeply and more keenly in his soul the love of Christ than I have, I would love to see him, I would love to be associated with such a man. Christ is indeed the Savior of my soul, the Savior of mankind. He has sacrificed his life for us that we might be saved, he has broken the bands of death, and has bid defiance to the grave, and bids us follow him. He has come forth from death unto life again, he has declared himself to be the way of salvation, the light and the life of the world, and I believe it with all my heart. I not only believe it, but as I know that the sun shines, so I know that belief in him inspires to good and not to evil; and as I know that his spirit prompts to purity of life, to honor, to uprightness, to honesty and to righteousness, and not to evil, so I know by all the proofs that it is possible for me to grasp that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, the Savior of mankind. Yet with all this, with this assurance in my heart, with this knowledge that I have received, if I stop here, what good will it do me? Of what good will this knowledge be to me? What will this knowledge alone avail? It will avail this, that having received that testimony in my heait, having received in my soul the witness of the spirit of the living God, that Jesus is the Christ, and I stop there and

TESTIMONY. 807 go not any further, that very witness in my soul will add to my eternal damnation. Why? Because it is not only our duty to know that Jesus is the Christ but to keep the influence of his spirit in our souls. It is not only necessary to have his testimony in our hearts, but it is necessary that we should do the things that he has commanded, and the works of righteousness that he did, in order that we may attain to the exaltation that is in store for his children who do as well as believe; and those who stop short of this will most assuredly fail. "Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." The Savior said: "Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works? And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity." And why? Because you profess to love me, with your lips, you professed to receive me, with your mouths, or with your words, but you did not the things that I commanded you to do; you did not repent of your sins, you did not love God with all your heart, mind and strength, you failei to love your neighbor as yourself, you failed to be baptized by one having authority to baptize for the remission of sins; you failed to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands; you failed to identify yourselves with my people; you did not come into my fold; you are not numbered with my chosen ones, and I do not know you,' 'depart from me, ye that work iniquity.'' To know to do good and not do it is sin. (James 4: 17). This will be the case with those who simply believe. Believing, why don't you do the things that he requires? "Everyone that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man which built his house upon the sand, and the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon the house, and it fell, and great was the fall of it," for it was built on the sand. But, "whosoever heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man which built his house upon a rock, and when the rain descended and the floods came and the winds blew, and beat upon that house it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock." Why? because he did the things that the Lord required.

808 IMPROVEMEN1 ERA. That is the religion of the Latter-day Saints. That is the gospel of Jesus Christ. My boys and girls, my brethren and sisters, it will not do for us to be content and satisfied with the mere knowledge of that which is right. Knowing that which is right, we must go to and do the right thing, whatever it might be, whatever he requires of us. If we know the right, if we know the truth, we must abide by the right and in the truth, ard we must do the right thing, always, under all circumstances, and never yield to the tempter or deviate fiom the right way, the straight and narrow path that leads back into the presence of God. We believe in God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the maker of heaven and earth, the Father of our spirits. We believe in him without reserve, we accept him in our heart, in our religious faith, in our very being. We know that he loves us, and we accept him as the Father of our spirits and the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We believe in the Lord Jesus, and in his divine, saving mission into the world, and in the redemption, the marvelous, glorious redemption that he wrought for the salvation of men. We believe in him, and this constitutes the foundation of our faith. He is the foundation and chief corner stone of our religion. We are his by adoption, by being buried with Christ in baptism, by being born of the water and the spirit anew into the world, through the ordinances of the gospel of Christ, and we are thereby God's children, heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ, through our adoption and faith. This is the thing I want the youth of Zion to bear in mind. It will not do for you to assume that you are Latter-day Saints while in your practices, in your course of life, in your deeds or acts, you are imitating or aping the infidel, the atheist, the unbeliever in God and in the divine mission of Jesus Christ. It will not do. The devil will take advantage of you, he will mislead you, and destroy you if you do not repent of deeds or acts that are not in harmony, or are inconsistent, with the gospel that you have received. Virtue is required at your hands. Charity towards all and the love of God are demanded of you in the gospel of Christ. The love of your fellow man, the spirit of forgiveness, and of mercy for your fellow beings, are required of you, as was exemplified in the prayer of the Savior upon the cross—"0 Father, forgive them, for they

TESTIMONY. 809 know not what they do." So let us think of our enemies, so let us pray for them, that they may not be entirely lost, but that his saving grace and the saving power of the gospel of Jesus may yet be extended unto them, that their hearts may be touched, that they may repent of their sins and make restitution as far as possible for the wrongs they have done, and come to obedience and be cleansed from their sins, by repentance and baptism for the remission of their sins, by one having authority to administer that holy ordinance. We love all men. We have nothing against mankind, and will never oppose them so long as they will leave us alone. We do not make war upon the tenets of others; we do not make war upon their churches, nor upon their religious beliefs. It is not our purpose to do it, and it is not any part of our mission to do so, let them worship how or what or where they please, it matters not. Our duty is simply to go straight ahead, do our duty, preach the gospel by good example as well as by precept, and let our light so shine upon their understanding that they may see the light as God sees it, and accept it, and walk in it, if they will, and we should be willing to give the glory to him. We should feel grateful, if we are instrumental in his hands in accomplishing his work. One of our brethren who spoke today gave out the idea, that he knew who was to lead the Church. I also know who will lead this Church, and I tell you that it will be no man who will lead the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; I don't care in what time nor in what generation. No man will lead God's people nor his work. God may choose men and make them instruments in his hands for accomplishing his purposes, but the glory and honor and power will be due to the Father, in whom rests the wisdom and the might to lead his people and take care of his Zion. I am not leading the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint?, and I want this distinctly understood. No man did. Joseph did not do it; Brigham did not do it; neither did John Taylor. Neither did Wilford Woodruff, nor Lorenzo Snow; and Joseph F. Smith, least of them all, is not leading the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints, and will not lead it. They were instruments in God's hands in accomplishing what they did. God did it through them. The honor and the glory is due to the Lord and not to them. We

810 IMPROVEMENT ERA. are only instruments whom God may chose and use, to do his work. All that we can do we should do to strengthen them in the midst of weakness, in the great calling to which they are called. But remember that God leads the work. It is his. It is not man's work. If it had been the work of Joseph Smith, or of Brigham Young, or of John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff or Lorenzo Snow, it would not have endured the tests to which it has been subjected, it would have been brought to naught long ago. But if it had been merely the work of man, it never would have been subjected to such tests, for the whole world has been arrayed against it. Every so-called minister of the gospel who heard of it has been opposed to this work, and to Joseph Smith, and to each one of his successors, and the whole world has been united with them, from the beginning of their opposition to them. If it had been the work of Brigham Young, or Joseph Smith, with such determined opposition as it has met with, it would have come to naught. But it was not theirs; it was God's work. Thank God for that. It is the power of God unto salvation, and I want my boys and girls to take my testimony upon this point. And yet, while we give the honor and glory unto the Lord God Almighty for the accomplishment of his purposes, let us not altogether despise the instruments that he chooses to accomplish the work by. Let us honor them. In this way we do honor Joseph Smith. We do not worship him; we worship God, and we call upon his holy name, as we have been directed in the gospel, in the name of his Son. We call for mercy in the name of Jesus; we ask for blessings in the name of Jesus. We are baptized in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost. We are initiated into the Church and kingdom of God in the name of the Father, and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost, and we worship the Father. We seek to obey the Son and follow in his footsteps. He will lead—no man will ever lead, his Church. If the time or condition should ever come to pass that a man, possessing huma r weakesses, shall lead the Church, wo be to the Church, for it will then become like the churches of the world, man-made, and man-led, and have no power of God or of life eternal and salvation connected with it, only the wisdom,the judgment and intelligence of man. I pity the world, because this is their condition.

TESTIMONY. 811 God bless you. The Lord bless these young men and women. I see in them the elements af strength, of faith, of humility, of obedience to the laws of God. In this I mean the laws of holiness, of willingness to follow in the footsteps of him who sinned not at all. Let him be our example; let us follow Christ as he followed the Father, and do the things that he said for us to do, and all will be well with us. I felt, just before the close of this meeting, that I would like to say about what I have said. (Here President Smith announced that there had been "Lost a gold watch," etc., and added), Here is a chance to exemplify one of the principles of the gospel. Whoever finds that watch should return it. Whoever finds money should try to find the owner of it, and not appropriate it. We ought not to take that wiiich does not belong to us, and appropriate it to our own use, but return it, if possible, to those to whom it belongs. That is an essential principle of the gospel which we believe. A