THE GOSPEL MESSAGE.
The purpose of the Gospel is to lead us back to God, improved by the knowledge and experience we have gained. There is no truth in any department of life that is without its pale; no knowledge that is beyond its reach. Its truth is the sum of all existence, the knowledge of things that have been, that are, and that will be. God is truth, and His Gospel is the plan whereby we may be saved in His presence. This is the doctrine that our Lord and Savior taught; this is the message given to the Latter-day Saints, and which they proclaim to the world. They call upon all men to repent and do the will of God. They invite sincere seekers after truth everywhere. They present to the world an example of the marvelous power of the Gospel they have obeyed. By their fruits they show its effects. They have solved the problem of a happy, prosperous and contented life, free from sin and sorrow, from poverty and idleness, from hatred and hypocrisy. They present to the rest of mankind the example of a people who put into practice their belief in being honest, industrious, true, chaste, benevolent, and in doing good to all men. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report, or praiseworthy, they seek after those things.
To all men they bear the message of the Gospel which has made them thus. They leave no room for deceit and delusion. They claim to have divine authority and divine principles, and they offer the proof, which is in the reach of every true, honest, virtuous man and woman. It is the test which the Lord has commanded them to proffer to mankind, the same that He applied to Himself: "My doctrine is not mine, but His that sent me. If any man will do His will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself" (John vii: 16, 17).
There can be no mistake about it, for if it be not of God, He will not give the knowledge. But tens of thousands of Latter-day Saints bear witness that they have received the testimony from Him. It is true, and we bear you witness now of its truth. Hereby we know that we know Him, that we keep His commandments. The Apostle John says: "Whosoever transgresseth, and abideth not in the doctrine of Christ, hath not God. He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath both the Father and the Son. If there come any unto you, and bring not this doctrine, receive him not into your house, neither bid him God speed: for he that biddeth him God speed is partaker of his evil deeds" (2 John: 9-11).
That we do bring this doctrine, and that it is true, is the testimony which we now give, and which we will meet before the pleasing bar of the Great Jehovah, the eternal judge of both quick and dead. And may the grace of God the Father, whose throne is high in the heavens, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who sitteth on the right hand of His power until all things shall become subject unto Him, be and abide forever with those who seek to serve Him in spirit and in truth. Amen.
"When the day comes in which the Kingdom of God will bear rule, the flag of the United States will proudly flutter unsullied on the flagstaff of liberty and equal rights, without a spot to sully its fair surface; the glorious flag our fathers have bequeathed to us will then be unfurled to the breeze by those who have power to hoist it aloft and defend its sanctity."
—Brigham Young.
"How consoling to the mourners, when they are called to part with a husband, wife, father, mother, child or dear relative, to know that although the earthly tabernacle is laid down and dissolved, they shall rise again to dwell in everlasting burnings in immortal glory, not to sorrow, suffer or die any more; but they shall be heirs of God and joint heirs with Jesus Christ."
—Joseph Smith, The Prophet.