Gospel Doctrine: Selections from the Sermons and Writings of Joseph F. Smith

by Joseph F. Smith

The Lord has told us that these wars would come. We have not been ignorant that they were pending, and that they were likely to burst out upon the nations of the earth at any time. We have been looking for the fulfilment of the words of the Lord that they would come. Why? Because the Lord wanted it? No; not by any means. Was it because the Lord predestined it, or designed it, in any degree? No, not at all. Why? It was for the reason that men did not hearken unto the Lord God, and he foreknew the results that would follow, because of men, and because of the nations of the earth; and therefore he was able to predict what would befall them, and came upon them in consequence of their own acts, and not because he has willed it upon them, for they are but suffering and reaping the results of their own actions.

Well, my sisters, "peace on earth, and good will to men," is our slogan. That is our principle. That is the principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. And while I think it is wrong, wickedly wrong, to force war upon any nation, or upon any people, I believe it is righteous and just for every people to defend their own lives and their own liberties, and their own homes, with the last drop of their blood. I believe it is right, and I believe that the Lord will sustain any people in defending their own liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their conscience, any people trying to preserve their wives and their children from the ravages of the war. But we do not want to be brought into the necessity of having to defend ourselves.

If the condition of the world appears to you as it does to me, at the present time it seems to me that you have within your hearts and minds one of the strongest evidences that has ever been brought to your understanding, of the truth of the declaration which God gave to the world through Joseph Smith, that "they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me; they teach for doctrines the commandments of men: having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof," and have it not. (History of the Church, Vol. 1, p. 6.) In Germany, at this time, Protestants and Catholics are praying to God for victory over their foes. In France and England and in Russia and in Belgium, and Austria, and in all other countries, that are at war with one another, they are praying. Protestants and Catholics together for victory. The Allies are praying for victory, to the same God, supposed to be, for these are called Christian nations, and they are members of the same churches, worshiping in the same forms of religion and yet they are calling upon God one against another, to defend them against their enemies, and to strengthen their arms to destroy their foes. What does it prove? It proves what God said. They have not his Spirit; they have not his power to guide them. They are not in possession of his truth; and, therefore, the very conditions that exist are the results of this unbelief in the truth; and this worship of men and organizations and powers of men is divested of the power of God.

Now, my sisters, I am speaking from my point of view, and my point of view is that Christ was divinely appointed and sent into the world to relieve mankind of sin through repentance; to relieve mankind from the death which came upon them by the sin of the first man. I believe it with all my soul. I believe that Joseph Smith was raised up by Almighty God to renew the spirit, power and plan of God's Church, of Christ's gospel and holy priesthood. I believe it with all my soul, or I would not be here. I therefore stand upon this principle, that the truth is in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that the power of redemption, the power of peace, the power for good will, love, charity and forgiveness, and the power for fellowship with God, abides in the gospel of Jesus Christ and in obedience to it on the part of the people. I therefore admit, and not only admit but claim, that there is nothing greater on earth, nor in heaven, than the truth of God's gospel which he has devised and restored for the salvation and the redemption of the world. And it is through that that peace will come to the children of men, and it will not come to the world in any other way. The nations cannot possess it without they come to God, from whom they are to receive the spirit of union and the spirit of love. And those organizations in the world, created with a view to combining men, possess in them so many of the elements of self-destruction that they cannot exist long, as they are, and under the influences which hold them together today. I can tell you that there is no combination formed by men that will prosper and continue to endure, unless it is based upon the principles of truth, righteousness, and justice toward all. When a man comes to me and says: "You must be my servant, you must obey me, or conform to my plan, or we will starve you to death," I don't care how many elements of goodness there are in the organization that will exclude me from a right to worship God according to the dictates of my conscience, or that would prevent me from laboring in honest labor to earn my bread, it possesses the elements of decay and destruction, and it cannot last, for it is wrong, absolutely wrong.

In the gospel is the light of freedom. Men worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience. We can not compel you to obey the principles of the gospel at all.

That is the principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ. But these man-made organizations will force you to do as they will, or they will damn you and destroy you; and therein lies the elements of self-destruction in—themselves, because they can only last for a time.—Relief Society Magazine, Vol. 2, No. 1, 1914, p. 13.

THE KEY TO PEACE. There is only one thing that can bring peace into the world. It is the adoption of the gospel of Jesus Christ, rightly understood, obeyed and practiced by rulers and people alike. It is being preached in power to all nations, kindreds, tongues and peoples of the world, by the Latter-day Saints, and the day is not far distant when its message of salvation shall sink deep into the hearts of the common people, who, in sincerity and earnestness, when the time comes, will not only surely register their judgment against a false Christianity, but against war and the makers of war as crimes against the human race. For years it has been held that peace comes only by preparation for war; the present conflict should prove that peace comes only by preparing for peace, through training the people in righteousness and justice, and selecting rulers who respect the righteous will of the people.

Not long hence and the voice of the people shall be obeyed, and the true gospel of peace shall dominate the hearts of the mighty. It will then be impossible for war lords to have power over the life and death of millions of men as they now have, to decree the ruin of commerce, industry, and growing fields, or to cause untold mental agony and human misery like plague and pestilence to prevail over the nations. It looks much as if, after the devastation of wars, as promised in the scriptures, (and who shall say that it may not follow this war?) the self-constituted monarchs must give way to rulers chosen by the people, who shall be guided by the doctrines of love and peace as taught in the gospel of our Lord. There will then be instituted a new social order in which the welfare of all shall be uppermost, and all shall be permitted to live in the utmost liberty and happiness.—Improvement Era, Vol. 17, No. 11, September, 1914, p. 1074.

GOD STRIVES WITH WARRING NATIONS. Would the nations of the earth that are at war with each other be at war as they are, if the Spirit of God Almighty had pervaded their souls and moved and actuated them in their designs? No; not at all. Worldly ambition, pride, and the love of power, determination on the part of rulers to prevail over their competitors in the national games of life, wickedness at heart, desire for power, for worldly greatness, have led the nations of the earth to quarrel with one another and have brought them to war and self-destruction. I presume there is not a nation in the world today that is not tainted with this evil more or less. It may be possible, perhaps to trace the cause of the evil, or the greatest part of it, to some particular nation of the earth; but I do not know. This I do believe, with all my heart, that the hand of God is striving with certain nations of the earth to preserve and protect human liberty, freedom to worship him according to the dictates of conscience, freedom and the inalienable right of men to organize national governments in the earth, to choose for themselves their own leaders; men whom they may select as standards of honor, of virtue and truth, men of wisdom, understanding and integrity; men who have at heart the well being of the people who choose them to govern, to enact and execute the laws in righteousness. I believe that the Lord's hand is over the nations of the world today, to bring about this rule and this reign of liberty and righteousness among the nations of the earth. He has some hard material to work with, too. He is working with men who never prayed, men who have never known God, nor Jesus Christ whom he has sent into the world, and whom to know is life eternal. God is dealing with nations of infidels, men who fear not God, and love not the truth, men who have no respect for virtue or purity of life. God is dealing with men who are full of pride and ambition; and he will find it difficult, I fear, to control them and lead them directly in the course that he would have them pursue to accomplish his purposes; but he is striving to uplift. God is striving to bless, to benefit, to happify, to ameliorate the condition of his children in the world, to give them freedom from ignorance and a knowledge of him, to learn of his ways and to walk in his paths, that they may have his Spirit to be with them always, to lead them into all truth.—Improvement Era, Vol. 20, July, 1917, p. 823.

CONDUCT OF THE BOYS IN THE ARMY. Therefore, when our boys and our maturer men are invited and chosen, selected and called, to go out to help to protect and defend these principles, we hope and pray, and we certainly have some reason to believe, that there will be some, at least, from amidst the great family of mankind in the world, who will have some affinity with the Spirit of God and at least some desire, some inclination, to hearken to the whisperings of the still small voice of the Spirit, that leadeth to peace and happiness, to the well-being and the uplifting of mankind in the world and to life eternal. When a Latter-day Saint, a man born, perhaps, and reared under the bond of the New and Everlasting Covenant of the gospel, enlists in the army of the United States, in the National Guard, which has been recommended here by President Penrose to you—and which I confirm and emphasize, because I think the citizens of the state should be united together, and the cities and the state should stand together and should have sympathy and fellowship for each other, more than they could expect to derive from those of other states and places, who are strangers and foreigners to them—that when our boys, thus born, are called into the army of the United States, I hope and pray that they will carry with them the Spirit of God, not the spirit of bloodshed, of adultery, of wickedness, but the spirit of righteousness, the spirit which leads to do good, to build up, to benefit the world, and not to destroy and shed blood.