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Show - ' . - - 1 - THE DESERET NEWS; SATUR. DAY, DECEMBER 9, 1939. - k ft0 . .. . - , Church Deportment - I Joseph Smith's Contribution To , ; . I Of A .. ., Pro-Eart- By Elder William E. Bercett (Of -- pre-eart- "And God saw these souls that they were good, and He stood In the midst of 'them, and He said These I will make my rulers; for He stood among 4 ed for joy."Job 38:4, 7. But Job could not answer this eternal question Nvpich has baffled the wisest intellects of the world. For search as we might, birth remains a mystery, and if man had a krior exinto this life has effec Istence, all erased memory of it. The tively great philosopher, Plato, reasoned that life was reflected in india vidual differences, and the varying capacities and traits of mankind could be understood with no other nypotheses. But concerning such an existence he knew nothing. It must be apparent to all that any life or knowlcertainty of a edge of conditions there must come from that G&1whó1i the Fkher of Us H. . - 7 th ;' bi-r- , f pre-fart- 7 . . i 1 T 1 i pre-eart- 1 all. When we search the Holy- Bible, however, we find the scriptures there remarkably brief and fragmentary upon this subject and the very most ty of such references Christian preachers to avoid the topic entirely. That, the ancient Prophets believed in and partially understood a istent life is borne out by a number of passages. In the Book of Jeremiah we read, "Then the word of the Lord came unto me saying, "Before I formed thee in belly I I ordained thee knew thee; a prophet unto the . miah The Disciples of Jesus must have life when they believed in a - I ' - has-!cause- 1 1 - ' pre-eart- ii .:1 i il . I h pre-eart- 1 - 1 did sin, this man or his parents that he was born blind?"John John the Revelator in his great vision saw the spirits of men before the foundations of the earth were laid and declared concerning that 9:1-- . i 4 4 1 Christ-taugh- life: "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the Dragon, and the Dragon fought and his angels, "And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. "And tbe great Dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth and his angels were cast out with 1 4 1 ,, I . - him."--Re- v. 12:7-9- world. To us Is given the task of calling America again to a sincere consideration of the national motto, "In God We Trust," and to proclaim that trust in God first of all means obedience to God's laws and commandments. We have the responsibility of proving that "ye are the temple of God and the spirit of God dwelleth in you. If any man defile the temple of God, him, will God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are." In other words, we must care for our bodies, must not pollute and corrupt them with drugs, liquors or lustful acts. . These fragmentary references to a have never been satisfyChristian the world, but all the ing to, of nineteen research thinking and centuries failed to add materially to the picture. It remained for Joseph Smith, the great American Prophet, to restore again to mankind some of the ,once knowledge of a known in the earth. - - ' o . , I Joseph' Smith's knowledge of the subject was not the result of either 'ma gina t ion or brilliant reasoning. In IMO and 11 Joseph' smith received in a series of visions 4a portion of the tekt Of the orifrilial writings of recorded the knowl- -which-mas , - , II .. it came to pass, Moses no idle talk when Christ called attention to the first great commandment, and therefore the most important to observe: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself." A great task indeed. But a task which we can no more shirk than could the task- assigned him by the same God who is our Alas-ter. we, in our own power, the work given us. Just accomplish as well can the rulers of earth expect to bring peace and security to their people and solve the nations' problems by leaving God out of their plans. To us has been given a great task but also a great power to help us accomplish that task, even the power of the Holy Priesthood of God. Honor that Priesthood in every word and every act and you will be,preserved in all things. Be true to the trust God has placed in you and you shall have more power than all the armies and navies and air fleets of the world to win a victory for true Democracy and to banish from the face of the earth the cruel doctrine- - of Satan that "might makes rikht." oah--shirk- - - - And "no power-o- influence can or . t",tosesttpolv- 1 "And cast his eyes and beheld the earth ought to be maintained by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness, and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which .shall greatly enlarge the soul without In short, to us has been delegated and without guile ." hypocrisy, the task of calling men to repentance, (Doc. Co v 121: ,Read that to return to God and recognize Him section from verse .31 to the end and then let us all be up and doing, conas their Father and to act in a way engaged in the greatest battle stantly of divine becoming beings parentage. true for democracy that is going on We must teach baptism by water and in the world today. Let us do our by the spirit as a means of sustainfull ,duty to help overcome evil with -rt these-- times of trial.- We ing men-igood. must show to the nations that it was ROSCOE C. COX. e - Almighty, have chosen thee. (Continued from Page Two) 1:4-5- 1 up-o- of." .N I know them. "And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall another come; and there is no end to My work, neither to My word. "For behold, this is My work and My glory to bring to pass the inunor- tality and eternal life of man." In the fifth place these temarkable scriptures reveal knowledge concerning a great council held in heaven before the earth was in which spirits of men participated and from which evolved a plan for the salvation of all , mankind. Concerning this council we read in the Abrahamic document: "And there stood one among them, - that was like unto God, and He said -unto those who were with Him, We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials and we will make' an searth whereon these may dwell. "And we will prove them herewith to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord, their Lord, shall com- mand them; "And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate, and they who keep their-seconestate shall have-gloadded upon their , heads, forever andever. "And the Lord said: Whom Shall I send? And one answered like unto' the Son of Man. 'Here am I, send me.' And another answered and said: HeeT. am I, send me. And the Lord said, I will send the, first. "And the second was angry, and -- L. - ry kept is not-h- first estate, and, at 'that day, many followed after hirn."--Pe- arl of Great Price, Abraham 3:24-28- . The knowledge and understanding of our life given to the modern world by Joseph Smith is ennobling unto man and leads him to say with the Psalmist: "Thou hast made him little lower than the angels of heaven and crowned him With honbr and glory."Psalm pre-eat:t- h S. , " . . - , h and teach that "there is a spirit in man and the Spirit of God giveth him understanding." To us has been given the responsibility to cry unto the world that "the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" and that man is indeed a son of God who has both a divine heritage and a divine destiny that can not be measured by time as we know it or by the material things of this earth. We must show that man is more than animal and is capable of working out his own salvation both here and hereafter. We must demonstrate the t truth that if we seek "first the kingdom of God and His righteousness" all the material blessings necessary for a happy and peaceful existence will be added unto us. We must prove through word and act that love and not force shall rule this which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the spirit of God. "And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there n the face therewere inhabitants n In God We Trust' . 1 h in-th- pre-eart- lead-ma- e e -- 'And he beheld also the inhabi- -- From these restored scriptures five elements concerning man's life may be learned: of man be First, the tomes a realitythe statements in the Bible now being substantiated by dependent documents and by direct - revelationof God. life indiSecond, in this viduals had attained varying degrees of Intelligence. From the Abrahamic document we read, Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the in-telligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; 1 1 - is clarified. h . those that were spirits, and He saw "And the Lord God said unto Mosthat they were good; and He said unto-me- n me: Abraham, thou art one of them; es: For Mine own purposhave I made thou was chosen before thou was these things. "And by the word of My power born.'Pearl of Great Price, Abraham have I created them, which is Mine Third, it is evident from the above Only Begotten, who is full of grace passage that some spirits were chosen and truth. as before coming into earth-lif"And worlds without number have ers and designated to certain tasks. I created, and I also created them for God enhancof is Mine own purpose; and by the Son Fourth, the glory ed by the lofty thought that countless I created them, which is Mine only Beworlds are inhabited by His offspring. gotten. .n the ancient writings of Moses "And the first man of all men have we read,"And it came to pass called Adam, which is many. Moses lifted up his eyes unto "But only an account of this earth, heaven, being filled with the Holy and the inhabitants thereof, give I , Ghost, which beareth- - record of the unto you For behold there are many Father and the Son; worlds that have passed away by the "And catting upon the name of God, word of My power and there are many he beheld His glory again, for it was that now stand, and innumerable are upon him, and he heard a voice say- - they unto men, but all things are numIng: Blessed art thou, Moses, for I, the bered unto Me, for they are Mine. and - being subniitted to learned of the time was finally taken to Joseph Smith, the Mormon Proph- et, and was translated by him. This document contained a portion Of the life of the ancient Patriarch Abra- ham, written by himself wherein of much .concerning the after - -- - '. h Ica from the catacombs of Egypt an ancient Egyptian document - which Declare if thou hast understanding. When the morning stars sang together and all the sons of Cod shout-- ' ( III , - tants thereon and there was not a soul the Sunday School General Board) andent times the Lord declared edge that ancient prophet possessed of life. unto Job, Where wast thou when - man's 1835 was there In earth? of the brought to Amer- I laid the found4tions - Knowledge , h, N i san's Life . RADIO ADDRESS 'SUNDAY, DEC. 3, 1939 KSI, 9:30 P.M. 1 ',' -- 0. . I I , , , - |