Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. SmithSmith, Joseph F. (Joseph Fielding)
Religion
Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith
Smith, Joseph F. (Joseph Fielding)
Latter Day Saint churches
Oh! that I could have kept that same spirit and that same earnest
desire in my heart every moment of my life from that day to this.
Yet many of us who have received that witness, that new birth, that
change of heart, while we may have erred in judgment or have made many
mistakes, and often perhaps come short of the true standard in our
lives, we have repented of the evil, and we have sought from time to
time forgiveness at the hand of the Lord; so that until this day the
same desire and purpose which pervaded our souls when we were baptized
and received a remission of our sins, still holds possession of our
hearts, and is still the ruling sentiment and passion of our souls.
Though at times we may be stirred to anger, and our wrath move us to
say and do things which are not pleasing in the sight of God, yet
instantly on regaining our sober senses and recovering from our lapse
into the power of darkness, we feel humble, repentant, and to ask
forgiveness for the wrong that we have done to ourselves, and perchance
to others. The great, earnest, overwhelming desire, which is born of
the truth and of the witness of the Holy Spirit in the hearts of the
people who obey the truth, assumes sway and again takes possession of
our souls, to lead us on in the path of duty. This is my testimony and
I know it is true.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1898, pp. 65, 66.
THE NECESSITY OF BAPTISM. "The Light has come to the world, and he who
will not see it shall be condemned." The truth is here, and shall men
living now be heard to complain hereafter that they have not the truth
in their hearts? {119} Certainly not. It is here for all who will seek
it, and it shall be to their undoing if they do not obtain it.
The Savior said to Nicodemus, "Except a man be born again, he cannot
see the kingdom of God," and that is true today. A man must be born
from ignorance into truth, today, before he can expect to see any
difference between a Latter-day Saint and another not of the faith. If
he is not so born, he is more blind than the one whom Christ healed,
for having eyes he sees not, and having ears, hears not.
Is there any difference between the baptized and the unbaptized man?
All the difference in the world, I tell you, but it is only discernible
through the Spirit. It is a vast difference too great for one not in
possession of the Spirit to comprehend. Take two men, they may be
equals in point of goodness, they may be equally moral, charitable,
honest and just, but one is baptized and the other is not. There is a
mighty difference between them, for one is the son of God redeemed by
compliance with his laws, and the other remains in darkness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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