My dear brethren and you also who may be listening in: I am very glad today that I am a member of the restored Church of Christ. I have had this gladness in my heart all the days of my life, since my early boyhood, and I bear testimony to you this afternoon and witness also, that this Church is of God, established by him, which, as has already been quoted here, will never be cast down or given to another people  Dan. 2:44 We are dealing with eternal realities, everlasting, from the heavens above.

The excellent messages given us by our brethren during this conference have started in our minds, I know, many trains of thought. One particularly has been with me ever since one of the brethren spoke yesterday forenoon. I would like to discuss it with you briefly.

AN ECHO FROM WORLD WAR I

Some years ago I had the opportunity to spend the night in a little tavern or hotel at the famous little town of Chateau Thierry, in France. That little town was a storm center of the great war of a quarter of a century ago. When we left, the next morning, the proprietor or hotel manager, a veteran of the last war, came out to say goodbye to us. Someone said something about the war in which he had served. He promptly pulled down the eyelid of one of his eyes and put his finger on the eyeball. It was an artificial eye, to replace one he lost in the war. Not satisfied with that, he pulled back his cheek and showed us a silver jaw that had been inserted by the surgeons to replace the one he lost in the war. He looked at us and said, "This is all I got out of the war. What good is war?" I believe that man spoke the feeling of the great majority of mankind, of us common men.

SOLUTION FOR THE PROBLEMS OF THE WORLD

Yet we stand now bewildered before another great war. I believe the world has never been so bewildered as at the present time. We cannot understand how this war has come about. We don't know how to solve the problems that will follow. We look into the future with a certain amount of dread. If I read the magazines and reports correctly, many are ready to surrender even their free agencies to try out something new in the hope that it may lead to something better. The answer to all this, by the Church of Christ, is simple. It is the answer that has been given since the beginning of time. If mankind had accepted the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, there would have been no bloody wars; and if the world today would accept the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, all problems that lie before us would be solved easily and well. We believe, and we have so taught, that every question confronting humanity may be answered by the gospel if we understand the gospel and accept it and use it properly; and every problem before us may be solved in the same manner.

To this reply the leaders of nations say no, or a very doubtful yes. They are willing to concede that religion and the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ may be very effective in the spiritual field, but not very efficacious in the temporal world of men and women dealing with living problems here upon this earth.

If gospel light is thrown upon Dumbarton Oaks and upon Yalta, the agreements made there, and upon the coming San Francisco conference, it will not be so difficult to write safe treaties or to discover the weaknesses inherent in agreements already made. Men are so willing in working out the problems of the day, to cover with smiling diplomacy, riotous selfishness.

RESPONSIBILITY OF CHURCH MEMBERS

Now then, having said this, let me ask, what is our obligation as a Church and Church members, in this day of confusion. Do we have an obligation? Are we willing to continue as other people, to use our best judgment as men, try to vote this way or that when an election comes up, depending on our human powers? Are we like all the other people on the face of the earth, or has the Lord placed upon us obligations and conditions which make us different from all the world?

We say that the Lord spoke to the Prophet Joseph Smith and through him restored the eternal gospel, formulated in the heavens before the foundations of the earth were laid. The Lord has told us that the gospel is for all men  D&C 1:2,4 He has charged us, members of this Church, to carry the gospel message to all the world.

If it is true that peace can be won only through the gospel of Jesus Christ; and if our claim is true, as I verily believe it is, that we alone have the true and full gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, we carry a tremendous responsibility upon our shoulders. There will then be no world peace until we do our part, accept our high commission and teach the truth to all the world. In that sense we become the custodians, so to speak, of the world's peace, of the world's future, we humble men assembled here, with those who labor in the wards and stakes of Zion. I believe that it is our duty to accept this challenge. We cannot sit in some cozy, warm, spiritual chimney corner, thanking God for the blessings of the gospel, for our membership in the Church, selfishly forgetting all else and everybody else. That is not our work, nor our destiny, nor our business in life, under God's command.

The possession of the gospel, the knowledge of it, does change a man tremendously, but the full joy of the gospel, that joy which we have all seen in many a humble person who has received the gospel, comes only when we use the gospel for others. He who receives must give, that is one of the first and most fundamental of all gospel laws.

Well, you say, we are only a small people, not quite a million people as reported here yesterday. There are about two thousand millions in the world today. Can we do it? Can we teach all the world? We are too few, are we not? Obviously, the first answer that comes when we speak of this high obligation that rests upon us is: We are few, yes. We claim no preeminence in physical or intellectual matters, nor in the affairs of men. But, we have the truth of eternity, and we have faith. Faith and truth are invincible. With the sling of faith and the pebble of truth, like David of old, we may lay low every giant of unbelief and error and opposition to truth in all the world. To go forth in this spirit is the call of the day of Latter-day Israel.

WHOLE-HEARTED SERVICE REQUIRED

You remember that in days gone by, a great cry went forth, "Is there faith in Israel?"  Matt. 8:10 That is the cry today, faith not only to bless ourselves in our own mountain valleys, or those of our people in the coast country; but faith that this work will bless all humanity. We belong to a world organization; we have a world message; we are under a world obligation. We must lift our eyes and see this work in its wholeness as the Lord has revealed it to us, and as we have been taught since the days long gone by.

I have the feeling, brethren, that we can't accomplish this work unless we give our whole selves to it. Half-hearted service will not suffice. There must be complete surrender to this work if it shall accomplish the purposes of the Almighty. The old proverb maker said: "Son, son, give me thine heart." Are we giving our hearts to this work that the purposes of the Lord may be accomplished? That is the question for us in this day. That surrender, that giving of one's self, must be full of eagerness. We must not wait to be called to serve. You know what the Lord said to the Prophet Joseph Smith a long time ago about men who wait to be called  D&C 58:26-29 We must be eager in service. You remember the story from the days of Christ:

And when he [Jesus] was gone forth into the way, there came one running, and kneeled to him, and asked him, Good Master, what shall I do that I may inherit eternal life?  Mark 10:17

That story is for us today, leaders in Israel. Are we so eager that we run to do the will of God, to help work out his purposes?

A LESSON FROM THE STORY OF GIDEON

There is yet another story from the Old Testament, the book on which I grew up and therefore always dear to me. (I speak of growing up on that book before my family joined the Church, in the country of my birth. I was taught the Old Testament every school day.) Do you remember the story of Gideon  Judg. 7:1-25 Judge of Israel? Midian had set about to destroy Israel. Gideon secured an army of over thirty thousand men to fight the battles of his people. Before he undertook to meet Midian he sent back to their homes all who had fearful hearts, also all who were loiterers, men who, when they came to a water course, would lie down on their stomachs, drink at their leisure, and take it easy. He sent such men back. When he had done this, only three hundred men were left. But they were eager men who wanted to fight the battles of Israel, and who when they came to a water course, had no time to lie down to drink, but cupped their hands and took a swallow of water. With these three hundred men, as you remember, Gideon won the battle for Israel. Numbers do not count in the end. It is even so with modern Israel. That is the thought that has gone through my mind during this conference. It is the message I would leave with you.

SACRIFICE NECESSARY

Of course, such service means sacrifice. Certainly it means sacrifice, but the Lord said to us at the beginning of this great latter-day work, "This is a day of sacrifice"  D&C 64:23 Later on, you recall that he said on one occasion we cannot really live up to our covenants as we should unless we sacrifice  D&C 97:8 But what does sacrifice matter when we are in the cause of the Lord and feel the power of the spirit of God? Many years ago the message came, "Be still and know that I am God"  Ps. 46:10 We can trust him. We give a little, and the Lord returns ten-fold, often a hundred-fold. Look at the men of our own Church, who have spent years and years in service to the great cause. They have prospered, not only temporally but spiritually. To them we go for help and counsel. From them we receive support, to make our own lives more beautiful. Of course, sacrifice is required of us; but we, with a great world commission, must lift our eyes to it, prepare for it, have faith for it, and try to do what the Lord requires of us. If we stand ready to give full service, not half service, not half surrender but complete surrender, we shall become mighty men. May that spirit grow strong among us I pray in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.