--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Joseph W. McMurrin collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 23 number: 10 published: 1920-08 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Joseph W. McMurrin, "Spiritual Preparation the Basis of Progressive Action," *Improvement Era* 23, no. 10 (August 1920): 925–929.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera23010unse 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: improvementera23010unse start_page: 925 end_page: 929 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1920-08) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera23010unse publication_year: 1920 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 1920, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # Spiritual Preparation the Basis of Progressive Action — Spiritual Preparation the Basis of Progressive Action" By Elder Joseph W. McMurrin of the First Council of Seventy and Presi- dent of the California Mission I fear that in the great work established among men, by the Lord our God, through the revelation of his holy will to the Prophet Joseph Smith, at the opening of this dispensation, there has come to be a feeling that the special time when men need the help of the Holy Spirit, is when they are in a position such as I occupy at the present moment. There ought to be, in the mind of every man and woman who has been called to work in the great cause that God has established, the thought, that in every department of the Lord's work there is necessity for the inspiration and help of the Spirit and power of God. There should be the full conviction in the soul of every man and woman engaged in the service of God, that no work connected with the purposes of our Father in heaven can be satisfactorily accomplished, unless the individual who undertakes that work is in the companionship of the Holy Spirit. I fear, also, that sometimes there are those who expect som remarkable manifes- ; tations, if they are to speak or act under the direction of the Spirit of the Lord; but we read inspired teaching on this subject as follows: "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit." It is a still, quiet Spirit; it does not come like roaring thunder, or proclaiming in a pompous voice, but it comes as the gentle dew of heaven upon the individual who receives the divine gift. We should all understand there is something necessary on the part of the individual before he can be entitled to the companionship of the Holy Spirit. The scriptures teach: "Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you? *The general theme, "The M. I. A. in Progressive Action," was under discussion. Miss Clarissa A. Beesley had answered the question, "When is the M. I. A. in Progressive Action?" Three speakers followed, showing how progressive action is secured through spiritual and intellectual preparation and by service. Elder McMurrin was one of them, and Mary E. Connelly, on Intellectual Preparation, and Richard R. Lyman, on Service, were the others. Editors. 926 IMPROVEMENT ERA "If any man defile the temple of God, liim shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." We should seek to comprehend this declaration that each individual is a temple of God; each one of us can be under the direction of the wonderful Spirit that is given by the Lord our God, to those who are called to minister in his name, and to labor in his work. By the power of that Spirit, men can be qualified for the duties and responsibilities that rest upon ihem, wherever they are appointed to labor. You know there is a scripture that declares "that God hath taken the weak things of the world." No man or woman, therefore, need be in any way discouraged, thank God. In all ages it ha3 been the custom and will of our Father in heaven, in his dealings with mortal men, to take the weak things from among them for the accomplishment of his mighty purposes. In the beginning of this gospel period he chose Joseph Smith, the great and mighty man and prophet of the living God. One could scarcely find a weaker vessel than Joseph Smith, the fourteen-year-old boy, who was chosen of the Lord to introduce among men the great dispensation of the fulness of times. Oh, how weak the child, but how mighty he was made by the power of God! How he was trained, educated, qualified, and made able for the great work of the latter days! How, through that divine inspiration that came upon him from the Lord our God, he was made to comprehend the purposes of our Father in heaven, and succeeded in laying the foundations of His great work in such a marvelous manner, that from the lips of wise men who are not of us, there is given at times most freely the declaration that this work, established in the latter times, is marvelous above all other works known to man in this age of the world! That is what God can do by the power of the Holy Spirit. He can develop, he can educate, he can qualify, he can make men equal to the mightiest responsibilities. Without that Spirit, it matters not what other qualifications we may possess, in attempting to do the work of God, we fail. Men and women, if we succeed, we must have the light of the Holy Spirit. The necessity for divine companionship is thus set forth: "When he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will shew you things to come. "He shall glorify me: for he shall receive of mine, and shall show it unto you." Let us understand, then, as officers and workers in the great Mutual Improvement cause, that this is a department of the Lord's work, established with a specific purpose, and that purpose, that the youth of Israel might become educated in the mighty things of God, and that into their souls there might SPIRITUAL PREPARATION 927 come that mysterious and quickening power that can take of the deep things of God, and reveal them most clearly unto mortal men. Let me read the words of the great colonizer, the great president, the great prophet, Brigham Young. I would to God that these words might be burned into the hearts of every man and woman in this congregation, that they might grasp and understand, just as Brigham Young comprehended, the power of the Holy Spirit. This is his testimony: "If all the talent, tact, wisdom and refinement of the world had been sent to me with the Book of Mormon, and had declared in the most exalted of earthly eloquence the truth of it, undertaking to prove it by learning and worldly wisdom, they would have been to me like the smoke which arises only to vanish away. But when I saw a man without eloquence or talents for public speaking, who could only say: 'I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true, that Joseph Smith is a Prophet of the Lord,' the Holy Ghost proceeding from that individual, illuminated my understanding, and light, glory and immortality were before me. I was encircled by them, filled with them, and I knew for myself that the testimony was true." That is the power of the Spirit of God, and that testimony isas true as any word that ever fell from the lips of any prophet. All the wisdom, learning and eloquence of the world, coming with the statement that the Book of Mormon is true, is absolutely powerless to bring to any human being a knowledge that it is true; but without worldly wisdom, without human learning, without the polish of the world, but in the possession and power of the Holy Ghost, men can be made to know most perfectly that the Book of Mormon is a revelation from the Lord our God, and in like manner they can be brought to know the truth in every other department of the Lord's work. You cannot know, my brethren and sisters, the strength and power and purpose of the M. I. A. work, unless you have within you the power and Spirit of God, unless unto you has been revealed the greatness of the work of our God, unless you have been made to feel, by the power of the Spirit, that you are dealing with the souls of men, the most precious objects in the world. When I read in your hearing the words of Brigham Young, that all the wisdom and eloquence and power of men would be like the smoke that arises and passes away, in trying to convince others of the truth of the Book of Mormon, let no one think that there was aught in Brigham Young in opposition to education. Oh, no; great monuments stand that tell the story. The Brigham Young College in Cache Valley, endowed by President Brigham Young, the Brigham Young University in Provo, they tell the story. Brigham Young was a lover of education; Brigham Young had been made to know, by that same wonderful 928 IMPROVEMENT ERA Spirit that had revealed to him the trtuh of the Book of Mormon, that without knowledge there could be no salvation. Brigham Young comprehended most completely the motto we have upon our M. I. A. button, the words of the Prophet Joseph — Smith, the wonderful words "The glory of God is intelligence." He also understood the truth of the doctrine that, "No man can be saved in ignorance." Brigham Young comprehended all this, and he comprehended much more. He knew full well that no man could understand the purposes of God, that no man could labor with full intelligence and with full power, without the companionship of the Holy Spirit. Acceptance of the truth concerning this message is necessary to the success of every man and every woman. This truth is necessary to every Mutual Improvement worker, and the work cannot be successfully accomplished without it. Beautiful words can be uttered, pleasing things can be said, the ears of people can be tickled, independent of this wonderful Spirit; but if the heart be touched, it is not by eloquence, it is not by worldly knowledge. Diplomas from educational institutions and the information you have received from mortal men are good, they also are necessary, but when men's hearts are touched concerning the work of God, and they are made to understand and love the truth, it is by and through the Spirit of God, and in no other way. So, we commend to every worker in the Mutual Improvement cause the very great necessity of being in the companionship of that Holy Spirit. We ought to be in such condition that we can say, in connection with our Mutual Improvement work, what the old prophet long ago could say: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." The man or woman who can thus call upon our Father in heaven to search his soul, is the individual who can be baptized with the Spirit and who can put his hands to the work in the power of God, and do the things that God would have wrought out. "Light has come into the world," a writer said in the Millennial Star — a few years ago "but the world perceives it not, because of a perverse determination to close their eyes when looking in the direction of that light. As the light of a lamp will brighten a room, as the electric light will make clearly visible distant objects, as the light of the sun will illuminate the world, and as the X-rays will penetrate apparently opaque objects, so there is a greater light, a light that penetrates the understanding and makes luminous the present." I hope we can carry this great truth in our minds: "We think some of these things that are transpiring in the world are wonderful, and they are indeed wonderful, but a light greater than all other SPIRITUAL PREPARATION 929 lights, the light that penetrates the understanding and makes luminous the present, reaches into the pre-mortal past and casts its refulgent rays into the future, even beyond this vale of tears. This light emanates from the source of all light, the great Eternal Father." And with that light, in connection with all of our studies and with all the information that we can obtain from every good source, we should seek to our Father in heaven, that we may be directed in the use of all information that we can obtain by that Light greatest of all, that our Father in heaven may be glorified and that the labor that has been committed into our hands may be properly wrought out; that we may sense the value of the souls of men, and may feel the honor of laboring to save and keep the souls of men, that we may understand that they are precious above all other things in the world, and that, in this Mutual Improvement labor, we are making impressions upon the minds of boys and girls that will live forever. It is a solemn and serious thought, and every man and woman engaged in this work, making impressions of this character, should be very much concerned as they go forward in progressive action, that they go in the companionship of the Holy Spirit, and that they are doing the things that the Lord our God requires, and the things that are revealed by the unerring guide of that Spirit, that can take of the things of God and make them plain to the understanding of the most humble man and woman. Let every M. I. A. officer understand that the revealed word of God in this dispensation is thus recorded: "And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith, and if ye receive not the Spirit, ye shall not teach." God help us, and make us successful in the great work committed to our hands, I humbly pray, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen. Words of Ours "Awake, little flower," The South wind sighed; A daisy heard and bloomed. "Tis only a weed," ******* The North wind cried; The daisy frail was doomed. Human hopes like summer flowers, Are often crushed by words of ours. Son Diego, Cala. P> C. Retsloff.