This large group of people assembled to worship our Lord and to give thanks for our blessings is a beautiful lesson of the meaning of life. You come up to this house of God obedient to the call. It is obedience that leads us to the knowledge and love of God, and we conceive God's decrees as eternal truths. It gives us renewed faith and, says Sholem Asch:

It is faith and not wisdom which carrieth the key to the kingdom of heaven.

CONTRIBUTIONS TO PEACE

Among the many questions that we have been asked to answer at the State Capitol through the Utah State Historical Society is one that I know will impress you, and one, too, we have tried to answer properly, though briefly. It is a question of great importance. It is:

What contribution has the Latter-day Saint Church made to this darkened world, with the other Christian churches to bring peace to the world?

As we listen to the Singing Mothers of the Relief Society we recall something that has come down to us from ancient days. In an old rabbinic code recently discovered is a description of the duties of women as taught in the synagogue. They were to:

Feed the hungry and give the thirsty to drink.
Clothe the naked, and shelter the homeless.
Visit the sick, bury the dead and comfort the mourner.
Support the widow and instruct the fatherless.
Ransom the captive.
Make garments for the orphan and provide for the betrothed maiden.

When we stop to think that this code is many hundreds of years old and was taught in the ancient synagogues of Jerusalem, it indicates what a high calling the women of God have always had.

UNCERTAINTY IN CHRISTIAN WORLD

The modern Christian world is confronted with two conditions which seem to be little realized. The first is the inner uncertainty of Christianity itself which does not seem to know its own basic beliefs. The Christian world is confused as to just what Jesus of Nazareth taught.

Then there is the upsurge of communism, a power that has come into our own midst greater than we realize.

No movement in history has achieved so sudden an actualization as a world movement. Systems only grow as they appeal to people. Communism will continue to grow until the people are confronted with and taught the fundamentals of Christianity which are creatively worked out in human society.

We know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is comprehensive and all-embracing, including all the values of religion as they reveal themselves in human experience. It is purifying and refining, correcting the excesses and rejecting the abuses, which have corrupted the nature and obstructed the pathway of religion throughout its history. The gospel of Jesus Christ is distinctively and definitely revelatory, fulfilling the largest meaning and possibility of revelation. It makes due place for all the human interests that constitute the spiritual life of man. It is quite true that the Christian world has lost the path. And the reason for this is that it has not the inner vigor to command a place of commanding power. The religion of Jesus Christ requires revelation—revelation to chosen prophets, who teach the principles of the redemption of mankind. Within the Christian doctrine is the principle and potency of redemption.

HIGHEST CONCEPTS OF FREEDOM

The faith we have in our government of the United States is of the highest concept, for to us, it is a sacred institution because of the directive power of God that brought it into existence. The government of the United States is an outgrowth of the highest concepts of freedom for mankind that the world has learned in history. Reverting to the simple beginnings of the founders of America, we know them to have been of the finest blood of England, and other countries of Europe. They brought hither in their little ships, not money, not merchandise, no array of armed force, but they came freighted with religion, learning, and law. They stepped forth upon these shores and a howling wilderness received them. Strong in their faith in God and their own heroic patience, they began their combat with danger and hardship. Sickness at times smote them, but they fainted not; famine overtook them, but they feasted on roots with a patient spirit. They began to build a house for God, and then for themselves. They established education and the observance of a stern and august morality, then legislated for the smaller purposes of wealth and convenience. They gave their sons to God, and through virtue to the state. So they laid their foundations. Villages grew, churches and colleges were built, and farther into the depths of the wilderness industry multiplied her hands. Civic life and order completed themselves and swelled into the majesty of states. Herein is a resume of our own state's history. Utah was founded in sublime hopes and the ideals of a pure morality. And the higher life was combined with agriculture and all industry—making the soil bring forth food for man. Combined with all this was a taste for learning. This state was grounded in religion, for religion was incorporate in the principles and feelings of the people. This is what gave us our morals and true public enthusiasms, and our inspired ways of living.

OBEDIENCE TO LAW IS LIBERTY

There is a principle that is often misunderstood, and that is what we call obedience. It is a principle that makes life happy and creates within us faith in truth and the results of doing what is right. On the old library of Worcester, Massachusetts, are these words: Obedience to Law is Liberty.

Obeying laws which we impose upon ourselves, that is, just and righteous laws, laws that are the expressions of right principles, such as discipline of the intellect, the shame of committing a wrong, respect for those in authority, consideration for the poor and needy; veneration for the good; sympathy for the weak: this is true self-discipline. Then one knows what liberty means. Obedience to the laws that express right principles is what makes it a religious duty. It leads to faith in the commandments of God.

For forty years, Moses had not been alone. The care and burden of all the people, the weight of their woe and guilt and death had been upon him continually. He felt at times that the Lord had forsaken him and he had prayed that he might be slain, that God might not see his wretchedness. And then when the march to the Promised Land was over, he heard the voice of the Lord:

Get thee up into this mountain . . .  Deut. 32:49

In his old age the long journey was about to end, and he should see the land that had been his dream. Moses died. But he had come to know the perfect law of liberty through obedience.

MISSIONARY CALLING OF SEVENTIES

Every generation writes its own history. It is not that the past alters, but that we change, and our changed present opens new perspectives, and raises new questions. The gospel as revealed to the servants of God will always remain the same and constant. You seventies who are the missionaries of the Church, are called to go forth to teach the world as your forebears were called years ago. The gospel has a worldwide mission. Like Paul, the Church cannot do other than exclaim:

. . . woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel!  1 Cor. 9:16

I am debtor both to the Greeks, and to the Barbarians; both to the wise, and to the unwise  Rom. 1:14

You are to give freely that which you have freely received  Matt. 10:8 You have fine ideals; you have trained yourselves to think and act as your Redeemer would have you think and act. Remember you are members of a quorum of the priesthood of God, and your organization is a pure democracy. For this reason alone, you understand the meaning of good government.

IDEALS OF SERMON ON THE MOUNT

When Jesus called the Twelve and the Seventy to go forth to preach the gospel, he had the disciples assemble on the shores of the Lake of Galilee, and listen to his "Sermon on the Mount," which was the Master's ordination sermon. Think of what was expected of the disciples of Jesus, for the same ideals are expected of us. Standing as missionaries today, can we not in our imagination hear the Master?

Missionaries go forth with the deep knowledge of the precepts of God, and it is by following the precepts that belief in God is shown. If we believe in him, we shall keep his commandments; and the great commandment is that we shall love one another. How simple are all the doctrines, simple because all great truths are simple. It was the Prophet Isaiah who wrote:

Wash you, make you clean; put away the evil of your doings from before mine eyes; cease to do evil; Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow  Isa. 1:16-17

The precepts of the Sermon on the Mount with the words of Isaiah that we should cease to do evil and learn to do well, not to our brethren and fellow-citizens only, but to all mankind will ever be a guide to our lives.