Sermon: Remarks delivered by Leroy S. Johnson on July 27, 1952

President Leroy S. Johnson

By Pres. Leroy S. Johnson

My dear brothers and sisters, I have been greatly edified this afternoon by the testimonies of those who have spoken to us, and I am reminded of what the Savior said upon one occasion, "I come not into the world to do my will, but to do the will of Him who sent me."

If we will think upon that statement, we will soon find out that the idea of being curtailed in our lives, or the thought of having our agency taken away from us when we do the will of God is not so.  Two opposite conditions exist.  One is to fill the measure of our creation and fulfill the covenants we made before we came here, and the other is the opposite, to do the will of him whose mission it is to destroy the agency of man.  I trust that the same spirit that has actuated the testimonies of these young men this afternoon will continue while I speak this afternoon, because I feel my great weakness in attempting to address you people.

I was impressed with the first song we sang this afternoon, "The Time is Far Spent." "The time is far spent, There is little remaining to publish glad tidings by sea and by land. Then hasten, ye elders, go forward proclaiming, Repent for the Kingdom of God is at hand." This is the mission that was given to the latter-day Saints in the very early days of the Church. That great inspired writer, Eliza R. Snow, writing under the dictation of the Holy Spirit gave these few words to the world. "Shrink not from your duty however unpleasant, But follow the Savior our Pattern and Friend. Our little afflictions, though painful at present, ere long with the righteous in glory will end." What a wonderful sermon.  Enough to reflect upon for a good long while.  And if applied to our lives, will bring us great and glorious rewards.

When I think upon the statement of the old Prophet Nephi, the son of Helaman, the man who was the head of God's work upon the earth when the Savior visited this continent--what a glorious day he lived in. And what a wonderful and great prophet he was when he told the people that they were nothing so far as standing before the judgments of God was concerned. And how well we see that verified from time to time in our day. We had an example just during the last week or so in that terrible earthquake in California, the second worst in the history of this nation. Since earthquakes have been recorded, this earthquake is the second worst. The worst was in 1906 when the great city of San Francisco was leveled and so many people were killed. This earthquake the other day was right next to it.  Two towns were fully leveled to the ground. One of the cities had a population of something over 5,000 people. So you can imagine what kind of buildings they had and how insignificant they were when God saw fit to chastise them for their wickedness. 

We are living in a day when these judgments of the Lord are passing over the earth. We will hear of earthquakes, great winds, disasters of every kind, and they will grow worse from now on. The inhabitants of the earth are in a serious condition because they have rejected the testimonies of the servants of God, and when they reject the testimonies of the servants of God, they then walk upon thin ice; and sooner or later, the ice breaks and they drop in. History has told us time and again of the conditions that existed with men when they disobeyed the commandments of God. 

I don't believe any time in the history of the world has there been any demonstration of more faith before the Lord than has been delivered here this afternoon. There is faith in the testimonies of these young men. They were not idle words. They have not been spoken in vain. For I believe that this people is on the verge of a time that has never been equaled before in the history of this world, although we are only a handful of people. We are only a very few as compared with the many millions that are on the earth today, and the many thousands that could be in the same condition that we are. For that reason, I believe that the Priesthood of God has had representatives here in this meeting today and recorded the testimonies of these young men. 

What for? 

To prepare this people against the day of persecution. We are situated in a place here in these valleys of the mountains where God can put a fortification around us that no power upon earth nor in heaven can penetrate, if we will carry out and continue to exhibit the faith that has been exhibited here this afternoon. If this people will go from this meeting with a determination to do the things that we have heard these young men say this afternoon, we will never be molested here. The enemies of this work may come in and think they are going to destroy us, but we will see the demonstration of the power of God in our defense, Why do I say these words?  Because God has spoken it.  He has told us that He would stretch forth His hand in defense of His people, and if we don't think He will do it, let us put Him to the test...

I am going to read a little (12th Chapter of Helaman.)

"And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in him. Yea, and we may see at the very time when he doth prosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of precious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God, and do trample under their feet the Holy One--yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity."

Here we see one of the causes of the great troubles that came upon the Nephite nation because when people commence to prosper after having had the Spirit of God upon them, and He has blessed them beyond measure, and they begin to fall away, to go back into the old way of forgetting their God, then is when great trouble comes upon them, but when they have kept the commandments of God, gone along and done their duty, have followed the instructions of their leaders, and become great and mighty in the sight of God, the Lord has blessed them beyond measure. But when they have begun to prosper this way, they begin to forget the Lord, forget the things God has given them. I hope that thing never comes to this people. I hope we will get grounded upon the rock of revelation to that extent that we will be immovable, that we can go on and perfect the Kingdom of God and see it established in the earth, and the Priesthood of God established here forever.

"And thus we see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea, except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him. O how foolish, and how vain, and how evil, and devilish, and how quick to do iniquity, and how slow to do good, are the children of men; yea, how quick to harken unto the words of the evil one, and to set their hearts upon the vain things of the world! Yea, how quick to be lifted up in pride; yea, how quick to boast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to walk in wisdom's paths!Behold, they do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; not-withstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide.O how great is the nothingness of the children of men; yea, even they are less than the dust of the earth.For behold, the dust of the earth moveth hither and thither, to the dividing asunder, at the command of our great and everlasting God."

"Yea, behold at his voice do the hills and the mountains tremble and quake. And by the power of his voice they are broken up, and become smooth, yea, even like unto a valley. Yea, by the power of his voice doth the whole earth shake; Yea, by the power of his voice, do the foundations rock, even to the very center. Yea, and if he say unto the earth--Move--it is moved. Yea, if he say unto the earth--Thou shalt go back, that it lengthen out the day for many hours--it is done; And thus, according to his word the earth goeth back, and it appeareth unto man that the sun standeth still; yea, and behold, this is so; for surely it is the earth that moveth and not the sun. And behold, also, if he say unto the waters of the great deep--Be thou dried up--it is done. Behold, if he say unto this mountain--Be thou raised up and come over and fall upon that city, that it be buried up--behold it is done. And behold, if a man hide up a treasure in the earth, and the Lord shall say--Let it be accursed, because of the iniquity of him who hath hid it up--behold, it shall be accursed. And if the Lord shall say--Be thou accursed, that no man shall find thee from this time henceforth and forever-behold, no man getteth it henceforth and forever. And behold, if the Lord shall say unto a man--Because of thine iniquities, thou shalt be accursed forever--it shall be done."

"And if the Lord shall say--Be cause of thine iniquities thou shalt be cut off from my presence--he will cause that it shall be so. And wo unto him to whom he shall say this, for it shall be unto him that will do iniquity, and he cannot be saved; therefore, for this cause, that men might be saved, hath repentance been declared. Therefore, blessed are they who will repent and hearken unto the voice of the Lord their God; for these are they that shall be saved. And may God grant, in his great fullness, that men might be brought unto repentance and good works, that they might be restored unto grace for grace, according to their works. And I would that all men might be saved. But we read that in the great and last day there are some who shall be cast out, yea, who shall be cast off from the presence of the Lord; Yea, who shall be consigned to a state of endless misery, fulfilling the words which say: They that have done good shall have everlasting life; and they that have done evil shall have everlasting damnation.  And thus it is.  Amen."

We can see by this, my brothers and sisters, the great responsibility that rests upon this people. And I hope and trust that the Spirit of God will rest upon us to that extent that we will heed the counsel of those whom the Lord has set to guide us at this time, that our footsteps might be guided in the right way, that we might be able to perfect our salvation, and that we might be able to become that people who will eventually redeem Zion and bring to pass the great and glorious condition of the Millennium.  It is within our reach, and let us not let it slip by.

Now, I hope that the spirit of peace will continue with us, that we will know and realize the condition we live in, and that we will be humble and seek the Lord in mighty prayer that we might continue to be the best people upon the earth, as has been said here this afternoon. God bless you. Amen.

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