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My dear brethren and sisters, I pray that the Spirit of the Lord may direct me in all that I shall say, even that Spirit of truth and righteousness which comes from our heavenly Father. I desire to bear testimony to all that I have heard during this conference. I was very much impressed with a remark made by President Smith, testifying that the people were more faithful and were performing their duties a little better today than they were several years ago. There is no one so well qualified to judge of the Latter-day Saints in the aggregate as President Smith. What impressed me particularly about his remarks was the statement that the growth was a gradual one. It made me think of the word of the Lord unto the Prophet Nephi, when He said, "I will give you line upon line, and precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little, that you may know my mind and will concerning all things." When we plant a tree in the garden, though we should stand by it day and night we could not perceive its growth. because it is so gradual; but go to that tree at the end of six months or a year and you will find that it has made remarkable development; and so on year after year until the tree is fully matured.
I feel strongly impressed in my remarks to touch a little upon the importance of having the Spirit of the Lord with us day by day, to perform the duties of the day. While that which we are doing may not appear to be of any great importance at the time, it will be very evident at the end of a term of months or years that we have made marked progress. Like the tree, the growth will have been gradual. I desire to read some scripture, my brethren and sisters, to show you how our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ attained the perfection which He reached during His lifetime. I will read from the 93rd section of the book of Doctrine and Covenants:
"1. Verily, thus saith the Lord, it shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am,
"2. And that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world;
"3. And that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one:
"4. The Father because he gave me of his fullness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men.
"5. I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of Him were plainly manifest;
"6. And John saw and bore record of the fullness of my glory, and the fullness of John's record is hereafter to be revealed:
"7. And he bore record, saying, I saw his glory that he was in the beginning before the world was;
"8. Therefore in the beginning the Word was, for he was the Word, even the messenger of salvation,
"9. The light and the Redeemer of the world; the Spirit of truth, who came into the world, because the world was made by him, and in him was the life of men and the light of men.
"10. The worlds were made by him: men were made by him: all things were made by him; and through him, and of him.
"11. And I, John, bear record that I beheld his glory, as the glory of the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, even the Spirit of truth, which came and dwelt in the flesh, and dwelt among us.
"12. And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace:
"13. And he received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness."
It is this last verse which I desire to emphasize, setting forth the fact that Jesus Christ received not a fulness of glory at first, but He received grace for grace. It is in this way, my brethren and sisters, that we shall receive a fulness. It will not come all in a day, nor all in a month, nor all in a year; but it will come as the reward of the righteous, through faith and diligence in keeping the commandments of the Lord, at the end of our career upon the earth, when we shall be brought before the Judgment seat of Christ, to be rewarded or condemned, according to the deeds done in the body.
"14. And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fulness at the first.
"15. And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying, This is my beloved Son.
"16. And I, John, bear record that he received a fullness of the glory of the Father;
"17. And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the father was with him, for he dwelt in him.
"18. And it shall come to pass, that if you are faithful you shall receive the fullness of the record of John.
"19. I give unto you these sayings that ye may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness,
"20. For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace."
In other words, we shall receive strength according to our day, and the Lord will bless us with wisdom pertaining to all things committed to our care, according to our faithfulness in keeping His commandments; for we are told, in a revelation contained in this great book of revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, that the Priesthood is inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven can only be controlled upon the principles of righteousness.
I desire to draw your attention to a peculiar characteristic of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I never remember of reading where our Lord and Savior ever made a promise unto the children of men without giving with it a law for them to obey in order to obtain the blessing, and he always placed the law first and the blessing after; and thus you can see how the powers of heaven are inseparably connected with the Priesthood, Jesus being the great High Priest. To illustrate what I say, let me quote a little from the 5th chapter of Matthew. Jesus said:
"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness; for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost."
Here is a condition, a law to be obeyed, namely, that we shall hunger and thirst after righteousness; and the promise is, we shall be filled with the Holy Ghost. In the holy Bible it says, "for they shall be filled;" but the more perfect translation, as given in the Book of Mormon, is, "Blessed are they; who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost."
Again, He says:
"Blessed are the peacemakers; for they shall be called the children of God.
"Blessed are the poor in spirit; for their's is the kingdom of heaven."
He gave many laws, and many blessings He promised unto the people through their obedience to those laws. Take, for instance, the case of the rich young man who came to Jesus and wanted to know what he should do to be saved. Jesus told him to keep the commandments. The young man replied, "All these things have I kept from my youth up: what lack I yet?" Jesus said, "if thou will be perfect, go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me." The young man turned away sorrowful. "for he had great possessions." The same principle is manifest in the Ten Commandments. Take, for example, the fifth commandment: "Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee." This is a law of long life. If you wish to live a long time, my young brethren and sisters, honor and obey your fathers and mothers, and the Lord will bless you with this desire of your heart; but if you disobey your parents, you are not entitled to a long life; you are not entitled to the blessings of God upon you and upon your posterity. On the contrary, the Lord says in another of the commandments, that He visits "the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me."
My beloved brethren and sisters, I rejoice in being present with you today. I am glad to see you congregated together to receive the word of God from His servants, and I have greatly rejoiced in the remarks that have been made. I am going to take the liberty of reading a little more before I close:
"21. And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the first-born;
"22. And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the same, and are the church of the first-born.
"22. Ye were also in the beginning with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth,
"24. And truth is a knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;
"25. And whatsoever is more or less than this, is the spirit of that wicked one who was a liar from the beginning.
"26. The Spirit of truth is of God. I am the Spirit of truth, and John bore record of me, saying--He received a fulness of truth, yea, even of all truth,
"27. And no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments.
"28. He that keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things.
"29. Man was also in the beginning with God. Intelligence, or the light of truth, was not created or made, neither indeed can be.
"30. All truth is independent in that sphere in which God has placed it, to act for itself, as all intelligence also, otherwise there is no existence.
"31. Behold, here is the agency of man, and here is the condemnation of man, because that which was from the beginning is plainly manifest unto them, and they receive not the light.
"32. And every man whose spirit receiveth not the light is under condemnation,
"33. For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receiveth a fulness of joy;
"34. And when separated, man cannot receive a fullness of joy.
"35. The elements are the tabernacle of God; yea, man is the tabernacle of God, even temples; and whatsoever temple is defiled, God shall destroy that temple."
I desire now to testify unto you that I know if you will keep the commandments of God the Spirit of the Lord will increase within you, and you will have grace for grace, day by day and year by year, as it shall be necessary in your endeavors to keep the commandments of the Lord.
I wish to say a word or two to our brethren the Patriarchs. I would feel it to be a good thing when they place their hands upon the heads of this people to bless them, if they shall feel so impressed, to conclude their blessings something like this: "I seal these blessings upon your head, according to your faith and your diligence in keeping the commandments of the Lord." The Patriarchs have the gift of being prophets, seers and revelators, to reveal the mind and will of God and portray unto the faithful their future lives, and I believe it would be pleasing unto the Lord if they would seal all blessings that they give in a manner similar to the one I have suggested, as they shall be led by the Holy Spirit. Then there can be no disappointment on the part of the family or friends of those who shall, after receiving a patriarchal blessing, turn from the truth and fight against God; for they will see that these blessings are conditional upon their keeping the commandments of God.
May the Lord bless you, my brethren and sisters, and bless every man who shall speak at this conference, that he may speak by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost, and that we may receive light and knowledge and be fed with the bread of life, that we may be filled with Joy and peace, and that our determination may be to serve God and keep His commandments.
I desire to add a testimony to what Elder Smoot has said in reference to Elder B. H. Roberts going to Chicago to attend the Congress of Religions, and being rejected by them. What did they do when Jesus Christ came in the meridian of time? All the sectarian world turned against Him. He said that the builders had rejected the chief stone of the corner. When they rejected Elder Roberts in that Congress of Religions, they rejected the chief stone of the corner; for the cornerstone of the kingdom of God has been laid, and the building will be completed, according to the mind and will of God. Zion will spread from state to state, and from nation to nation, until this Gospel, which was revealed unto the Prophet Joseph Smith, will be preached unto all nations, all kindreds, all tongues, and all people; and out of every nation God will bring the honest in heart up to the land of Zion, that they may be redeemed, and that they may redeem their dead; for the day is coming, and now is, as we are told in the scriptures, when they that are dead shall hear His voice. Men will hear His voice, for His coming is near at hand. I know that our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ lives, and that He is the Redeemer of the world, and that through the shedding of His blood and the atonement He offered up for the sins of the world all mankind may be saved through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel. God bless you, and sanctify this testimony to your good, as well as all that you have heard and may hear during this conference, is my prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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