Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith. Joseph F. Smith

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СКАЧАТЬ C. R., 1907, p. 2.

      OUR MISSION IS TO SAVE. Our mission is to save, to preserve from evil, to exalt mankind, to bring light and truth into the world, to prevail upon the people of the earth to walk righteously before God, and to honor him in their lives and with the first fruits of all their substance and increase, that their barns may be filled with plenty and, figuratively speaking, that "their presses may burst out with new wine."—Apr. C. R., 1907, p. 118.

       THE GOSPEL MESSAGE. I rejoice exceedingly in the truth. I thank God every day of my life for his mercy and kindness, and loving care and protection that have been extended to all his people, and for the many manifestations of his peculiar mercy and blessings that have been extended unto us throughout all the length and breadth of the land and through all the years since the organization of the Church, on the 6th of April, 1830.

      The Lord, about that time, or soon after, decreed a decree which he said his people should realize, that they should begin from that very hour to prevail over all their enemies, and, inasmuch as they continued to be faithful in keeping his laws he had given unto them, it was decreed that they should prevail until all enemies were subdued—not subdued by violence, nor the spirit of contention nor of warfare, but subdued by the power of eternal truth, by the majesty and power of Almighty God, but by the increased power of the righteous and of the upright covenanted people of God—should be magnified and increased, until the world shall bow and acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ, and that there is a people preparing for his coming in power and glory to the earth again.

      We carry to the world the olive branch of peace. We present to the world the law of God, the word of the Lord, the truth, as it has been revealed in the latter day for the redemption of the dead and for the salvation of the living. We bear no malice nor evil toward the children of men. The spirit of forgiveness pervades the hearts of the Saints of God, and they do not cherish a desire or feeling of revenge toward their enemies or those who hurt or molest them or seek to make them afraid; but on the contrary, the Spirit of the Lord has possession of their spirits, of their souls, and of their thoughts; they forgive all men, and they carry no malice in their hearts toward any, no matter what they have done. They say in their hearts, let God judge between us and our enemies, and as for us, we forgive them, and we bear no malice toward any.—Apr. C. R., 1902, p. 2.

      WE ARE AS LEAVEN. While it may be said, and it is in a measure true, that we are but a handful in comparison with our fellowmen in the world, yet we may be compared with the leaven of which the Savior spoke, that will eventually leaven the whole world. We have ample assurance of the fulfilment of this thought in the growth and development of the cause from its incipiency until the present, for it has steadily and increasingly progressed and developed in the earth, from a mere half dozen of men, seventy-nine years ago, until today the members of the Church may be numbered by the hundreds of thousands.—Apr. C. R., 1909, p. 2.

      MAN INSIGNIFICANT COMPARED TO CAUSE. We are learning the great truth that man is insignificant in his individuality, in comparison to the mighty cause which involves the salvation of the children of men, living and dead, and those who will yet live in the earth. Men must set aside their own prejudices, their own personal desires, wishes and preferences, and pay deference to the great cause of truth that is spreading abroad in the world.—Apr C. R., 1909, p. 2.

      WHERE THE GOSPEL SPIRIT LEADS. The spirit of the gospel leads men to righteousness; to love their fellowmen and to labor for their salvation and exaltation; it inspires them to do good and not evil, to avoid even the appearance of sin, much more to avoid sin itself. This is indeed the spirit of the gospel, which is the spirit of this latter-day work, and also the spirit that possesses those who have embraced it; and the aim and purpose of this work is the salvation, the exaltation, and the eternal happiness of man, both in this life and in the life to come.—Apr. C. R, 1909, p. 4.

      THE FRUITS OF TRUE RELIGION. The fruits of the Spirit of God—the fruits of the spirit of true religion—are peace and love, virtue and honesty, and integrity, and fidelity to every virtue known in the law of God—while the spirit of the world is vicious. Read the 5th chapter of Galatians, and there you will discover the difference between the fruits of the Spirit of God and the fruits of the spirit of the world. That is one of the great and chief differences between "Mormonism," so-called, and the theology of the world. If "Mormonism" is anything at all more than other religions, it is that it is practical, that the results of obedience to it are practical, that it makes good men better men, and that it takes even bad men and makes good ones of them. That is what "Mormonism" will do, if we will only permit it to do it, if we will bow to its mandates and adopt its precepts in our lives, it will make us the sons and the daughters of God, worthy eventually to dwell in the presence of the Almighty in the heavens.—Apr. C. R., 1905, p. 86.

      LATTER-DAY SAINTS POSSESS THE SPIRIT OF SALVATION. The Latter-day Saints possess the spirit of salvation, and not the spirit of destruction; the spirit of life, not the spirit of death; the spirit of peace, not the spirit of disunion; the spirit of love for their fellow beings, not the spirit of hate. And for the enjoyment of this spirit by the Saints of the Most High, we all have great cause to render praise and thanksgiving to him who has so ordered it, and has given to us humility to receive that measure of his Spirit which inclines our hearts to good and not to evil.—Oct. C. R., 1905, p. 2.

      MAY ISRAEL FLOURISH. May Israel flourish upon the hills and rejoice upon the mountains, and assemble together unto the place which God has appointed, and there prosper, multiply and replenish the earth, and thence spread abroad throughout the land; for the time will come when we will find it necessary to fulfil the purposes of the Almighty by occupying the land of Zion in all parts of it. We are not destined to be confined to the valleys of the mountains. Zion is destined to grow, and the time will come when we will cry aloud, more than we do today, "Give us room that we may dwell!"—Apr. C. R., 1907, p. 118.

      THE WORK OF THE LORD WILL GROW. The kingdom of God and the work of the Lord will spread more and more; it will progress more rapidly in the world in the future than it has done in the past. The Lord has said it, and the Spirit beareth record; and I bear testimony to this, for I do know that it is true.—Apr. C. R., 1909, p. 7.

      THE KINGDOM OF GOD TO CONTINUE. The kingdom of God is here to grow, to spread abroad, to take root in the earth, and to abide where the Lord has planted it by his own power and by his own word in the earth, never more to be destroyed nor to cease, but to continue until the purposes of the Almighty shall be accomplished, every whit that has been spoken of it by the mouths of the holy prophets since the world began.-Apr. C. R., 1902. p. 2.

      ZION ESTABLISHED TO REMAIN. Zion is established in the midst of the earth to remain. It is God Almighty's work, which he himself, by his own wisdom, and not by the wisdom of man, has restored to the earth in the latter days, and he has established it upon principles of truth and righteousness, of purity of life and revelation from God, that it can no more be thrown down or left to another people, so long as the majority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will abide in their covenants with the Lord and keep themselves pure and unspotted from the world, as all members of the Church should keep themselves. Then it will be as God has decreed, perpetual and eternal, until his will is accomplished and his purposes fulfilled among the children of men. No people can ever prosper and flourish very long unless they abide in God's truth. There is nothing, no individuality, no combined influence among men, that can prevail over the truth. The truth is mighty and it will prevail. It may be slow in the consummation of its purpose, in the accomplishment of the work that it has to do, but it is and will be sure; for the truth cannot and will not fail, for the Lord Almighty is behind it. It is his work, and he will see to it that it is accomplished. The kingdom is the Lord's, and the Lord is capable of taking care of it. He has always taken care of it. I want to say to you that there never was a time since the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, when a man led the Church, not for one moment. It was not so in the days of Joseph; it was not so in the days of Brigham Young; it has not СКАЧАТЬ