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Show -- - I aar 147 Church Deportment - BY ELDER S. O. BENNION Of the First Council of Seventy. talked with Him these men were able te give testimony 'similar to that borne by Peter and Paul in ancient was not merely a, Him saw eat, and at last They spirit. beheld Him ascend to His Father in heaven. They were in every sense of the' word, witnesses of tht Lord. By times, As Moses of face to face, is saw and talked His resurrection, old talked with God the ancient Apostles with the Lord after so did Joseph Smith, the .modern prophet and some of his most intimate associates see the Lord, of Him and His work. Concerning one of these experiences which occurred In the Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith anA Oliver Cowdery wrote the fbollowine , their, experience they,could testify to the world. concerning Him. When the time came for the appointment of one to succeed Judak 'who betrayed the Lord, Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples and said:. - (Following is the text of an address deElder Samuel 0. Bennion of the First Council of Seventy at the One Hundred Tenth Annual Conference of the Church, Saturday, April 6, 1940, in the livewed by , , , 'Therefore- of ,these men which companied with us all the time that the Lord 'Jesus went in 'and out among us must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection. d saw standingfupon the breastwork of the pulpit, before us; and under Ills feet was a paved work of pure gold, in color like amber. his eves were as a flame of fire; the hair of His head was while like the pure snow; His countenance shone above the brightness of the sun; and Ills voice was the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the voice of the-Lor- And when they had drawn lots, the Jot fell upon Matthias, "and he was numbered with the eleven Apostles." I would have you, note here that when Matthias was called to the Apostleship he was called to be a living L I believe is an inspiring sight I have never been more filled with thankfulness unto the Lord for the strength of Zion than at the piesent time. I recognize here in this building the le'aders of the Church in all parts of the country, men and SOme felt Him, so knew-H- e - - ,;. ' ' , ,,- ., - ,,, , .. '' - women who havegathered together to get more informatfon concerning their work to take back to the different Stakes of Zion and the world, and it is a glorious sight. I endorse the expression by some who have preceded me relative to the fine and inspirational words'of welcome that came to us from President Heber J. Grant. marvel at the strength and power of the man. I know that if God were not with him, he could not have stood the many responsibilities that have been his, and I believe with all ity heart that the faith and prayers and Saints devotion of the Latter-dahave kept him from being destroyed, and that the Lord has preserved his ..... .,';',.:'.:i::H';;.:;)';;W;;.;;,;:',.. - ,,1:.:1!...i'.;,:..:::. :.::......iii::;M:::.':;;Mii.iiiin:::::::kW14, ,...M!:,iii::;S0::;:ii,:,:;:;?;:AV;;,'g,,,,K'ii;::;:,::::'t I K,A.,;::tr.... ; " ?.,,M.:.:::.:aiii''a?0;7:::,?,::q;;:;.i?,;:,.;,?';,5'.?:.::, .i.45!'': ......!i4 41';i:.f:A . ::::.....:.;;:.......:::......,::::::'::....:.-';'.':4:,....,:;;'- .....!.. .......,....,...... ,. ' :::: , ' ' ; ''. 4417';-. - - ," :.,.'4,......",,,,z...0 'WITNESSES , FOR CHRIST , :::' 1. :,,1e' :....: .......... .: .,::, ,::,:,.:,:1 .. .. ' .4.,:':,,.:::..,:,,,:,,,,,t;,:.?-,,1,,, :1,, t ':',.:a.,ii.::::0-- .. St.,' .1 :,',:,: .. :,::::. ,. iiii::,',,:K:,:i1 .1,:::: ;' ..1 ;:i:W ... 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As Peter bore his testimony at one time concerning the risen Lord, he declared that Jesus would come agi.in to the earth at the time of the restitution of all things which God hath spoken by the mouths of all His holy prophets since the world began'. MODERN WITNESSES We are now living in the time of the restitution of all things. The Gospel has been restored to the earth, together with the K..wts by which its If ordinances are to aU things' Here to be restored, then 'this p'rinciele of witnesses must likewise be restored, so the in our day men may receive the testimony of eyewitnesses of the Lord and His work. We declare that this principle has been restored, and th4 in modern times mortal men have become eye witnesses of the Lord and His work, and that through having seen and tif , g.sbrethersetaebNiNiteds,Sessosowsihtialelissaelsl were chosen för other phases of the work Of God in these last days. 4 a striking thing that at nd the lune were iihy of intheourkeys ofwhen time restored Priesthood only one man was present. Always there were two. Oliver cotA.dery and 7 Joseph Smith were together ishen Aaronic the restored the John Baptist to-Piijesthood. Likewise they were PriestMelchizedek 'gether when the hood was restored. When the kays of the gathering of Israel, of the dis-- , pensation of the Gospel in the days of Abraham, and the keys held by, Elijah were brought again to the earth, these two men were together to teceive them, so that in compliance with this law of witnesks, there would be more than one voice,to de dare the truth to the world, andtz that being two, one would corroborate other and thus establish the the - of what. they said.' Book Since the. coming lath of the of, Mormon was to form such a prominent part of the restoration plan, and since it carried,.in and of itself such ". an important message to the world, the Lord saw fit to provide it with the testimony of witnesses. Its origin was not to be declared solely upon the word of the prophet ' Jöseph Smith. Eleven other men were chosen to be witnesses of that book. Each one saw the plates with his own eyes, and signed a testimony to that effect. Three of these witnesses were shown the plates by an 'angel who appeared to them and displayed the .en- graxed writings before them as a yoke from heaven declared the record was true, and that the translation, thereof was correct. DAVID WHITMER'S TESTIMONY For years I resided in the middle west where also lived men and worn-- . en who knew David Whitmer, one of.. the Three Witnesses to the Book ,of 'Mormon. I have talked with some of these peorite concerning him and his testimony, and although they were not members of the Church; they unit-ed in saying that David Whitmer re--.' mained faithful to his testimony' to' the very end. At one time it was reported that he had denied this testimony, but when he heard of it, he published a new declaration Concerning. the Book of Mormon. In this new prenouncedd ment, he affirmed positively the truth of his original testimony, saying , that he had seen the angel, that he had seen the original plates from .which the Book of Mormon was translated, and that his testimony pub- lished in the Book of Mormon,' was e ' true. At this time he was not a mem-- . ber 'of the Church, having been ex-communicated previously. OLIVER (OWDERY AM) MARTIN HARRIS Oliver Cowdery and Martin Harris, the others who signed the testimony of the Three Witnesses, likewise re-mained 'true and faithful to their tes: timony concerning this book. They always 'affirmed wherever they were, that they had 'signed their names as the Book of Mormon bears evidence. Oliver Cowdery died In Richmond, Missouri, while be was visiting with , his David WhitMer, for David Whitmer married his sister. '11e; 'Oliver, had joined the Church again in Omaha, or Florence, where the Saints were gathering, and took a last trip down to see his sister. .There, he sickened and died and did pot come West.. But Martin Harris came West, and- - affiliated with the.: main bode of the Church. It I's' , - , ,,..'...,,,,::,. svitnOs Jehovah, saying: 1 am the first and the last; 1 em 11e who liveth, I am He who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.' another such experi- , Concerning ence, we have the following testimony: We, , Joseph Smith, Junior, and Sidney 'Higdon, being in the Spirit on the sixteenth day of February in the year of our Lore one thousand eight hundred and the power of .the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and underr stand the things of Godeven those things which were from tho beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the Father through His Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Faker, even from the beginning; of whom we bear record, and the record which we bear is the fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son, whom we saw and with whom we conversed in the heavenly vision.. thirty-twob- ' y ' 'Through Other experiences the leaders of our Church became witnesses of the Lord, divinely empowered to testify to all the world of the restoratioh of the Gospel,, of the fact that Cod lives, and that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, for they saw Him and talked with Him as did the ancient Apostles. But these are not the only instances in which men became witnesses - ,1 , 1 4. g y The Lord has declared that in the mouths of witnesses ,shall all things be established. This has been a rule of the Gospel in all ages. It was so In the days of MoSes and Aaron, so in the days of the Master, and It is equally so today. In the Meridian of Time the Apostles of the Lord became eye witnesses to the works of the Master. They. accompanied Him throughout His min and istry, saw His acts of kindness, heard Him teach the ' in4ultitudes whith Some of His disciples .were with Him at the time of His transfiguration, and in His final suffering. They saw Him betrayed by Judas, and later crucified. They were witnesses of His burial in the tomb of Joseph of Ariniathea, and finally they were eye witnesses of His resurrection. They saw Him after Ile came forth from th, tomb,,,rd .. -- .::: .,i.:,.,.:',.....,.:... life. AN INSPIRED LEADERSHIP I marvelikat the leadership of the I am thankful that PresiChurch. dent McKay is alive and so well after NV ... .....: '' 1.1:,J....,;:1.:.''.'....,r. - ......) 1....,.. y such an illness, an illness which seemed to have power to strike him down but failed. I am sure that all who listened to President Clark yesterday were thrilled with the power of his message, that they could not help but say in their hearts "There is the voice of God," the leadership that the Lord inspired him to take in this Conference, covering so well the things that need to be expressed and understood Saints. by the Latter-daIt is always an inspiration for me, brothers and sisters, to,, attend these Conferences and hear the testimonies of the leaders of the Church as they bear witness to the truth of the restored Gospel. When they speak as they do during these Conferences, they do so as men having authority, for they are divinely empowered to declare this restored message of latter days. They are Cod's representatives, bearing t nets in modern times, as His ancient prophets did in their day. ', ..,,,... of the work of the Lord. MORE THAN ONE WITNESS NECESSARY As it is declared, that inthe mouth - .,.,..,...:...,:,,,.i.,: .,; r , '.. : truth. ...',.,.. 'N'.'',, 5 - Witlios$8s.-- Tieuqt By that they Speaker Reviews Tectimony Of Witnesses To Restoration Of Gospel , heard His voice. Witnesses For Christ In Latter Days THIS THE DESERET NEWS, SATURDAY,AUGUST 37, 1940 - '.1.E,40.441-qiig- - ) I. 4 c' brother-in-lasv- (Continutil on Page Seves) ' |
