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Show THE DESERET NEWS, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 6, 1941 Church Department cinch - JwcipmneM Ie(jiiire4 Cerlainlij By Elder William E. Berrett Of The Church Department Of Education ENTURIES ago there was written the account of a man who had suffered I a good "many things. His name was Job. In the course of a short time, this man lost 'all of thi material possessions die had acquired. his family, and his health. Sogreat was his misery, and in such extreme suffering did he find himself, that even his wife pleaded with him to curse God and die. Yet, in the midst of those calamities Job could declare to his friends: I knowr that my Redeemer liveth, v and that He shall stand in the latter ay upon the earth. And though after mV skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I shall see God; whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes Shall behold, and not another, though my reins be consumed within me. say unto my soul, Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years, take thine ease, eat, drink- and be merry, But God Said unto him: Thou fool, this night thy soul "shall be re quired of thee: then whose shall those things be which thou hast provid ed? (Luke 12.16 20). Things that seem to have value to daytmay have little value in the light of eternity. Those who seek perish able things, to the exclusion of heav enly or eternal things, are foolish, when they once know- thatr we are eternal beings A few verses from the book of Doc trine & Covenants, which contains the revelations of God to the Church of Jesus Chrixtof-Latter day Saints will Smith illustrate. The Prophet at the tune. when, this particular rove lation was received, was languishing in a .prison an the State of Missouri His people, were being mobbed an driven from their homes. They were destitute. It the dead of winter He himself had been sentenced to be shot, and in the midst of the calami ties he prayed unto God. asking how long he and his people must endurj these things? THE LORD ANSWERS This was the Lord's answ-or- : If thou art called to pass through tribulation; if thou art in perils among false brethren; if thou art in perib among robbers: if thou art in perils Of Cternal jCife What Does Eternal Life Mean - To Us In Our Search For Joy And Satisfcicton Among Men? -- Jo-sep- -- v j V s ) (Job, 19.25-2Those are significant words. They are the roots of a sound philosophy of life: I know. that my Redeemer liv7 d eth, and though worms shall destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God. FACED BY ALE-- " The problems Job faced are problems all of us meet in life, problems of property sometimes the loss of our material possessions problems which face us when we lose our loved ones; and certainly to every one of us there is the problem of health. The time necessarily must come when each of us will not only lose the health which we today possess, but the 'very life which enables us to walk about upon the earth.. Inasmuch as every man and woman must meet these problems, every soul must he concerned wjth the question: 'Will we live again? be happy this day if Surely we each of us could say in our hearts; T know that my Redeemer liveth. find those whose philosoWhen phy of life does not embrace an existence beyond the grave, we generally find individuals who are not happy, and whose outlook upon life is morbid. The brilliant philosopher Schopenhauer saw in life only misery, suffering, useless competition, war, disease, pestilence, and finally death. To read his 'philosophy Is To make one feel that all of life is useless and without purpose. w-- e RELIGION' OF HOPE I would like to point out that every great religion of the world, whih has hadan influence for good upon mankind. has been a religion which has held hope of a happy and glorious existence beyond the grave. The only religion which can endure and bring lasting happiness to men must embrace that hope. The eternal life of which I speak means life beyond the grave, im which dhe individual personality is preserved, and jn which the spirit of man will eventually be reunited with a body of flesh. That is .the only eternal existence that can give you or me finally any real comfort or hope. We are not without evidence that eternal life is a truth. We have an abundance or such evidence, not in, the reasonings of men which seem futile in the light of the actual facts, God but in the demonstration has given us. we have assurance that we are eternal beings.. The greatest of all of these facts is the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, who came 1 into the world, among other things, to demonstrate unto mankind that we are eternal. And what a demonstration He gave! He allowed men to take Him and kill -- - by land or by sea; If thou art accused with all man ner of false accusations; if thine ene mies fall upon thee; if they tear thee from the society of thy father-anmother and brethren and sisters: ano if with a drawn sword thine enemies tear thee from the bosom of thy wife and of thine offspring, and thine eldet son, although but six yean?- of age shall cling to thy garments, and sha1 can' say, My father, my father, you stay with us O my father, wha afcvUie men going tp do w ithypu and if then he slwll be tin ust frQn thee by the , and fliou be drag ged to prison, and tj li ne enemies prow around thee like wolves for the bloo-othe lamb; And if thou shouldst be cast int the pit, or into the hands of murder ers, afid the sentence of death passe thou be cast into th upon thee; deep; if the billowing surge conspu against Ihee, if fierce w inds becom thine enemy; if the heavens gathe blackness, and all the elements com bine to hedge up the and abov all, if the very jaws of hell shall gap open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these thing' shall give thee experience, and shal he for thy good (Doc. & Cov. 122 He allowed men to" take "Him and kill His body in the foulest manner , known and to advertise His death by stretching His body up against the sky. body in the foulest manner known and to advertise His death bystretching His body up against the sky. He allowed them to thrust a spear into His side. He allowed them after a while, after sufficient evidence of death, to take His body and bury it in a tomb for three days, so that all the world would know that He bad His- - died. (Doc & Sec. We live in a world full of evidence of eternal life, not alone of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, but also of others. The very records which bear witness to the . Saviors resurrection also hear witness to the fact that others arose from the grave and appear-euntojnanv,s, both on the old the American conupon-thitinent . There is over and above all. of these evidences still another testimony that He lives. When the Apostle Paul went about the cities of Greece and Rome, proclaiming in all assurance that he knew' of eternal life, that He was aware that Christ had risen, many men questioned the basis of his faith. In a letter to the churches he explained, saying: No man can say tlat Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost. (I Cor. 12.36) The Lord and Sav ior had promised to those who baptized into His kingdom, by proper authority, that the Holy Ghost should bp received by the laying on of hands, and bear witness of Him in their hearts. That witness is again in the isof thousands of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-daSaints who could in all sincerity this day bear witness to you and to me and to alt mankind that-the- y know', as they know that they, live, that Jesus is the Christ, the Son. of the living God, and that we are eternal' beings, begotten sons and daughters of God. d conti-Tientan- TIStTPLE APPEARS Then He returned, and the spirit reentered a tabernacle of flesh. With His resurrected body of flesh He appeared unto His disciples, not once, but many times. The Gospels record eleven different occasions, covering a total period of 40 days, during wflich He was seen by about 500 different individuals, who later testified to TO mankind: sons and daughters of God. 4ov. He is risen.1 But this is not all of the evidence The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints is irt possession of a book translated from aneierh American rec ords, which bears witness to the ap pearance of Jesus Christ upon the American, continent, where he was seen of many, many thousands. To add to these testimonies of the resurrection of our Lord and Master, He appeared unto the Smith in the. very dispensation in which we live, and the Prophet te.stj-fie- That both the Father and the Son appeared unto him, and the Father., pointing to the Son. said: This is my beloved Son. Hear ye Him.' VISITED IN TEMPLE Not only did Joseph Smith see Him. on that occasion, but later the Savior appeared to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon in the Kirtland Temple. Of that occasion these men ,bore testimony in these words: "And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of Him. this is a testimony last of all which we give of Him, that He lives, saw Him. even on the right for hand of God.and.we heard a voice bearing record that He is the Only Begotten' of the Father; that by Him the and through' Him worlds are and were cFeated, and the inhabitants thereof are the begotten w-- e and-of-Hi- m d e MEANING OF ETERNAL tNDERSTA ND1 NO ,Oh, that we could catch the phiios opliy of those words; If we could understand the things of life in terms of eternity, all the trials and hard ships through which we pass, the pain and suffering that we endure, the wars and bloodshed among men God has said all these things shall be for our experience and shall do us Continued On Page Six LIFE What does eternal life mean in the problem of finding happiness? How does the knowledge that we will live again affect our lives? I'khow of nothing that so affects the life of man as a certainty that he will live again. First of all, such knowledge causes us to re interpret and revalue the things about us. You recall the slory of the rich man who raised such tremendous crops, according to the parable Jesus told, that - he knew- - not where to store them, but he said unto will pull down my barns himself: will and build greater. . . , And-- .I jf 1 Elder Berrett |
