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
GOD'S WILL TO EXALT MEN. We believe that God's will is to exalt men;
that the liberty that comes through obedience to the gospel of Jesus
Christ is the greatest measure of liberty that can come to man. There
is no liberty that men enjoy or pretend to enjoy in the world that
is not founded in the will and in the law of God, and that does not
have truth for its underlying principle and foundation. It is error
that makes bondsmen. It is untruth that degrades mankind. It is error
and the lack of knowledge of God's laws and God's will that leaves
men in the world on a par with the brute creation; for they have no
higher instincts, no higher principle, no higher incentive, no higher
aspiration, than the brute world, if they have not some inspiration
that comes from a higher source than man himself.--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1904,
p. 4.
GOD'S RIGHT TO RULE IN THE WORLD. I believe in God's law. I believe
that it is his right to rule in the world. I believe that no man has
or should have any valid objection in his mind to the government of
God, and the rule of Jesus Christ, in the earth. Let us suppose, for
a moment, that Christ were here and that he was bearing rule in the
world. Who would come under his condemnation? Who would be subject
to his chastening word? Who would be in disharmony or unfellowship
with God? Would the righteous man? Would the virtuous man? The pure
and virtuous woman? The pure and honest in heart? The upright? {67}
The straightforward? Those who do the will of heaven? Would they be
in rebellion to Christ's rule, if he were to come here to rule? No.
They would welcome the rule and reign of Jesus Christ in the earth.
They would welcome his law and acknowledge his sovereignty, they would
hasten to rally to his standard and to uphold the purpose and the
perfection of his laws and of his righteousness. Who would, then, be
recreant to the rule of Christ? The whoremonger, the adulterer, the
liar, the sorcerer, he who bears false witness against his neighbor,
he who seeks to take advantage of his brother, and who would overcome
and destroy him for his own worldly gain or profit; the murderer, the
despiser of that which is good, the unbeliever in the eternities that
lie before us, the atheist, perhaps, although I think that he would
not be so far from Christ as some who profess to be teachers of his
doctrines and advocates of his laws. It would be the rebellious, the
wicked, those who would oppress their neighbors and enslave them if
they could. Such as these would be the people who would not welcome
the reign of Jesus Christ. Are there any who profess to be Latter-day
Saints in this class, and would fear to have Christ reign and
rule?--_Apr. C. R.,_ 1904, p. 4.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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