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This is believed to be the last General Conference Address ever delivered by President Clark. Although he lived another year and a half after this talk, the Grampa finds no evidence that he ever again stood before the pulpit in the Mormon Tabernacle.
My brethren and sisters: I am grateful to be with you, difficult as it is to try to talk to you. I thank the Lord for his blessings to me during the past months, and more recently until now. I thank you as I thanked the priesthood last night, for your faith and prayers which have enabled me to be with you today. I hope that you will be good enough to pray with me that what I may say today, may be somewhat helpful to all of us.
As I have thought about what I might say or try to say, I have rather centered on the thought of the proud boast of Rome, which was, "All roads lead to Rome." And I have thought, and I may say I endorse all that has been said thus far regarding our time and its trends--I have thought how much that fundamental idea in this dictum has come to mean among us. I do not know whether we are in the beginning, in the middle, or near the end of a time when we shall see what historians of the future may call a revolution. And may I say here, and it applies frequently to all of us in principle, we of the present make history, our successors away from us write; and out of it they get things which we do not now presently see. I fear, as I have talked and heard others talk, that there may be a feeling, in fact, I know there is among some that it does not make very much difference to what church we belong, what creed we may have, and not too much difference, within very broad limitations, what we do. We seem to be, in a way, in the presence of a trend of thought that is national, indeed worldwide, that would have us to believe that all this does not make very much difference, for we will all go to heaven anyhow, do what we will, think what we will, believe what we will, have faith as we may.
I find great fault with that, great fault, and I came across, in connection with this thought, some passages of scripture upon which I thought I might say a few words. They are taken from the Sermon on the Mount and were repeated by the Savior in that great appearance which he made on this continent after his resurrection. They are identical in words. Remember that he said when he came to this continent that he had come to teach them the things that he taught in Palestine. And these words are these:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:13-14; 3 Nephi 14:13-14.)
I was reminded, as I read that, of the dream of Lehi recorded in the Book of Mormon, dreamed in the early days of the life of migration of Lehi, where the latter part of that--"few there be" that get into the straight and narrow way, was really prophetic. For his people found application of this principle in Lehi's own descendants, for there developed in the life of his descendants on this continent, the bloody conflict of the Nephites and Lamanites that brought about the utter destruction of the one by the other.
That led me to these thoughts about Christ. To Nicodemus he said that he came not to condemn the world, but to save it. (John 3:17.) In the great prayer in the garden he uttered the great principle, "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." (John 17:3.)
And then I remembered also what Peter said to the Sanhedrin, called before them as a judicial body in connection with the first miracle, it is said, performed in the early Christian Church by the apostles. Being asked by what name he did the miracle, Peter answered:
". . . by the name of Jesus Christ . . . for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved." (Acts 4:10-12.)
Then I remembered also, that Christ himself said, 'I am the way, the truth, the light, and the life.' And to those on this continent, he added, "I am the law." (3 Nephi 15:9.)
This, of course, as we believe, indicates what we must believe and think and do, in what we must have faith.
You know, the Savior came in the Meridian of Time to fulfil the law of Moses, and he said on more than one occasion, 'I want nothing to do with sacrifice and burnt offerings, I want mercy.' And then you will remember he added at various times, as to the sacrifice he wished: ". . . a broken heart and a contrite spirit."
As I reflected on this, I reflected a bit on where might I go to find the real words of the Savior. I knew I could not go to the Bible. We do not believe the Bible is absolutely correct. Students tell us there are 4500 different manuscripts of the Bible, and a few years ago it was estimated that there were 120,000 variations. Then it came to me almost as a revelation: Why do you not go to the Book of Mormon? So I took Third Nephi. I went over it with great care. I parallel-columned it with the parts of the New Testament concerning the Sermon on the Mount and the Sermon on the Plain. In the Old Testament I noted the instructions to Malachi as they were repeated by the Savior, because they had no record of Malachi, who lived after they left Jerusalem.
I found some differences, some omissions from the word that he was recorded as having spoken in Palestine. But I resorted to the Book of Mormon and to Third Nephi with the feeling that I was getting really what the Savior said. I commend an equal study by you brethren of those great books of the Book of Mormon and so far as the Savior's immediate mission was concerned, Third Nephi. There we may believe we have the true teachings, for the record was made by inspired men abridged by another inspired man, and translated through the inspiration and revelation of the Lord himself. Brethren I commend that to you, study it, if you never have done so, you will find great joy in the doing.
". . . strait is the gate, and narrow is the way . . . and few there be that find it." (Matt. 7:14.)
I repeat, the Savior said, 'I am the light, the life, the way, and the truth,' and on this continent, "I am the law." If you will go through Third Nephi with care, and the earlier works, you will find a very complete discussion of how he fulfilled the law of Moses.
So, my brethren and sisters, I come to you with this simple message: There are not many roads that lead to heaven. There is one and one only, and that is the road that we profess to travel and should be traveled. It is the road that is restored to us by the restoration of the gospel and the restoration of the priesthood. Do not be misled by the professions of men. And to those verses that I have already read, I want to add another which comes near the end of that part of the Sermon on the Mount and to the people of the Land Bountiful, which says:
"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.
"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." (Matt. 7:21-23; 3 Nephi 14:21-23.)
The earlier parts of the Sermon on the Mount do not contain teachings that are too specific with reference to this last, "depart from me" and that those who had professed, and so performed, were not his. But you will find rather a complete discussion of what that probably means in the book of Alma, the thirty-fourth chapter, where Amulek tells the things which are characteristic of those who worship our Lord and Savior and our Heavenly Father. Read them. It is worth your while.
Professors of religion, pretenders of being the offspring of our Heavenly Father's gospel and principles, pretending to have the truth, beware of them brethren. Beware of the idea that you do not have to live the gospel in order to obtain the salvation and exaltation that are promised -- not because God has imposed a penalty for your failure, but because, as I have already expressed to you at one time or another, I believe that the spirit grows or shrinks, as it is here in this mortal body, as it was intended that it should. I believe that bad acts, bad thoughts, inaccurate beliefs do not develop the spirit; but on the contrary, they may retard or dwarf it. I believe that all that we do that is good, builds us up, and helps us to "prove" ourselves, that we really are living our second estate.
Brethren and sisters, do not be misled, do not stray, do not imbibe the tendency of the age that it does not make any difference what you do. It makes all the difference in this world and in the hereafter. It makes the difference between salvation and exaltation and damnation. I examined the books to find out, if I could, whether the Savior had made any change in speaking on this continent and on the other side in fundamental sayings and doctrines. As I have said to you, there are some omissions, there are some changes, some of the changes are most important. Make the comparison I have made and find them out. But I found nothing whatsoever that changed the fundamental principle announced by the Savior in Palestine and here:
"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark 16:16.)
Brethren and sisters, do not stray, do not be misled, do not cuddle to yourselves the thought that you can do this or that or the other forbidden thing, that after all these things make no difference. I bear you my witness again that all your thoughts, all your acts, all your doings of any kind, have an effect, beneficial or otherwise, on your souls, and you cannot afford so to jeopardize the hereafter.
May the Lord be with us.
I renew my testimony to you that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that the gospel and the priesthood were restored through Joseph Smith, that there came also to him certain other great powers, that all that he had, he passed on to those who have succeeded him, the last one of them being President David O. McKay.
May God bless him in his hour of tribulation, may God bless his wife and restore her completely to health and strength. May he continue to guide and direct President McKay, that he may guide and direct us, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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