This Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is literally the kingdom of God on earth. I believe that every man who has presided over it as a prophet-president has been the Lord's anointed and has held the keys of the kingdom, and that these keys are the keys of salvation for all people. And I believe that the Lord has decreed for this dispensation that the gospel is here to remain until Christ comes, and of course from then forever after. This is a day when the kingdom will never be given to another people, but when it will remain with the Saints; and everyone who will come to Christ and live his laws will receive peace and joy and comfort in this life and a certain hope of eternal life in the world to come.
VISION GIVEN TO JOSEPH SMITH
When Joseph Smith went into the Sacred Grove to pray in the spring of 1820, having been exercised by religious anxiety and turmoil, it was to ask which of all the churches was right and which one he should join. There then appeared to him two glorified, exalted, resurrected beings--God the Eternal Father and Jesus Christ his Son--who, in answer to answer to Joseph's Question, told him that he should join none of them, for they were all wrong; that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that:
. . . they draw near unto me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof. (Pearl of Great Price, Writings of Joseph Smith, 2:19.)
KINGDOM ORGANIZED
Thereafter, pursuant to commandment and revelation the Prophet and others organized this kingdom, and after it was organized, the Lord by revelation, referred to it as the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth, with which he said he was well pleased, speaking unto the Church collectively and not individually.
I think that the ancient prophets and the latter-day prophets have had revealed to them, by the revelations of the Holy Ghost, that this kingdom is to remain. Enoch saw this day and said that a people would be prepared for the coming of the Lord, and that a latter-day Zion would be built up to be joined with the Zion that he had established. Daniel saw this day. He revealed and interpreted the dream that Nebuchadnezzar had received, told him that he had seen a stone cut out of the mountain without hands, and that in the days of certain kings would the God of heaven set up a kingdom which would never be destroyed and which would never be given to another people, but which should stand forever.
In this day the Lord harked back to that figure which Daniel had used and said to Joseph Smith: "The keys of the kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth, and from thence shall the gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth, as the stone which is cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth." (D. & C. 65:2.)
VALIANCE TO THE TRUTH
Every person in this Church is entitled to know and is expected to know by the revelations of the Holy Ghost to his soul that these things are true; and if he knows them, then, in my judgment, he should have no desire in his heart to do anything in this world except hearken to the counsel of the living oracles and put his house in order and prepare himself for the glory and honor and salvation of which President George F. Richards has just spoken.
I should like to read you a statement made by President John Taylor, the third man to preside over this kingdom. He said: "It has been asked by Brother Briqham whether this kingdom will fail. I tell you in the name of Israel's God it will not fail. I tell you in the name of Israel's God it will roll forth, and that the things spoken of by the holy prophets in relation to it will receive their fulfillment. But in connection with this I will tell you another thing: A great many of the Latter-day Saints will fail, a great many of them are not now and never have been living up to their privileges, and magnifying their callings and their priesthood, and God will have a reckoning with such people, unless they speedily repent." (The Gospel Kingdom, p. 137.)
One other sentence from President Taylor: "There is one thing very certain, very certain indeed, and that is, whatever men may think, and however they may plot and contrive, that this kingdom will never be given into the hands of another people. It will grow and spread and increase, and no man living can stop its progress." (Ibid., p. 214.)
It seems to me that if this is the kingdom of God on earth, and if it is destined to stay here and not be given to another people, then we are entitled to conclude that as a people, as a Church, we will never be led astray; and, that as individuals, we will never go out of the course of righteousness that the Lord expects us to be in as long as we hearken to the counsel of the Presidency and the Twelve who head the kingdom.
KEYS OF THE KINGDOM
Wilford Woodruff said this:
When the Lord gave the keys of the kingdom of God, the keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood, of the apostleship, and sealed them upon the head of Joseph Smith, he sealed them upon his head to stay here upon the earth until the coming of the Son of Man. Well miqht Brigham Young say, "The keys of the kingdom of God are here." They were with him to the day of his death. They then rested upon the head of another man--President John Taylor. He held those keys to the hour of his death. They then fell by turn, or in the providence of God, upon Wilford Woodruff.
I say to the Latter-day Saints, the keys of the kingdom of God are here, and they are going to stay here, too, until the coming of the Son of Man. Let all Israel understand that. They may not rest upon my head but a short time, but they will then rest on the head of another apostle, and another after him, and so continue until the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven to "reward every man according to the deeds done in the body." . . . .
I say to all Israel at this day, I say to the whole world, that the God of Israel, who organized this Church and kingdom, never ordained any President or Presidency to lead it astray. Hear it, ye Israel, no man who has ever breathed the breath of life can hold these keys of the kingdom of God and lead the people astray. (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp. 73, 74.)
CHURCH LED BY REVELATION
To my way of thinking there has never been a day from the time that Joseph Smith organized this Church up to the present moment when it has not been led by revelation, led by inspiration, when the living oracles have not given the people the counsel and the instruction and the commandments that the Lord wanted the people to have. He told his early elders that whatever they spoke when moved upon by the Holy Ghost was scripture, that it was the mind of the Lord the will of the Lord, the word of the Lord, the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation. There will never be a time when the canon of scripture will be full. Just as long as there are elders in this kingdom to bear inspired witness of Christ, there will be more scripture. There has been more scripture given from this pulpit during the course of this conference, and it is as much the mind and will of the Lord as any recorded in the standard works. When the Church establishes, as it did a little over eleven years ago, a welfare plan, a plan announced by the First Presidency of the Church, then, knowing what we know, we are entitled to accept it as a revelation, to receive it as the mind and will of the Lord to the Latter-day Saints.
HARMONY WITH THE SCRIPTURES
There is nothing about the Church, there is no doctrine, no procedure or no ordinance, no law or principle, that is not in complete harmony with the scriptures and with reason. We can establish that everything we have is reasonable and scriptural and that we are in whole accord with the identical Church of Christ that was set up two thousand years ago. But after we have done that, and after we have put our houses in order and have harmonized our lives with the doctrines that have been revealed, then we are entitled to know that this is the Lord's kingdom and to know it as a matter of faith and testimony, as a matter of feeling and revelation. Once we get that in our hearts we enter into the rest of the Lord and are not driven about by every wind of doctrine or by the cunning craftiness of men. Because our testimonies are secure, we rest from all anxiety and turmoil of spirit, and if we continue in diligence and valiance in the kingdom we will eventually rest with our Father in heaven in the eternal worlds, "which rest is the fulness of his glory." (D. & C. 84:24.)
I think there is no occasion for any person in this Church to fear for the destiny of the kingdom. We do not need to steady the ark, but we do need to have in our hearts a fear that we may not make ourselves worthy, that we may not hew to the line of righteousness and keep the commandments of God with that degree of valiance which will give us our exaltation in the eternal worlds.
I would like to bear you my witness, as one elder in this kingdom, that I know this is the work of the Lord; that God has spoken in this day; that Joseph Smith was the prophet and instrument in his hands of giving us the laws and ordinances of salvation; and that just as surely as we will live in harmony with them, we will have glory and honor added upon our heads forever, and our calling and elections will be sure. In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
