.He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son. May God bless you so that all the previous blessings promised to you will become a reality in this life and in the world to come. 13:55.) Jesus Christ our Lord is under no obligation to save this world. As a boy I saw how all, young and old, worked and worked hard. In the daytime, wise and unwise seemed alike; midnight is the time of test and judgmentand of offered gladness. When they have belatedly sought to fulfill the requirements and finally reach the hall, the door is shut. LDS doctrinal teachings about the atonement, repentance, and the plan of salvation. Ve, inc. 1 some special things here that are left undone by other institutions. Prophets have a way of jarring the carnal mind. How special it is for Latter-day Saint women to be given the lofty assignments they have been given by our Father in Heaven, especially those of you who have been privileged to be born in this part of this last dispensation. I bear testimony to the divinity also of this great work which is the greatest thing in the world, as was said by one of the Brethren. His eldest brother was peeved at the presumptuousness of David for even being at the front where Goliath taunted the armies of Israel. It was never baptized by fire, for that is still to come. They were not the gentiles or the heathens or the pagans, nor were they necessarily corrupt and reprobate, but they were knowing people who were foolishly unprepared for the vital happenings that were to affect their eternal lives. It seems that rather than fast and pray, we prefer to gorge ourselves at the banquet tables and drink cocktails. But God said unto him, Thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee: then whose shall those things be. Some of you have not yet had the great privilege of marriage. That is half as many divorces as marriages. Neither shall the sword go through your land. I was not a General Authority at that time. Yet ever-increasing hours of leisure provide ever increasing opportunities for Sabbath breaking and commandment ignoring, and strikes and lobbying go on to increase damaging leisure and decrease work hours further. Become scholars of the scripturesnot to put others down, but to lift them up! God is all powerful. He also toured the Middle East and dedicated the Orson Hyde Memorial Garden on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. behold the decrees of God concerning this land, that it is a land of promise; and whatsoever nation shall possess it shall serve God, or they shall be swept off when the fulness of his wrath shall come upon them. If race tracks were closed on the Sabbath, if gambling ceased, drinking eliminated, work and play confined to week days; if stores were closed and all people went to their sanctuaries truly to worship even as best they know; if taverns never opened, and transgressors all repented, and broken homes were mended, and children were trained in uprightness; if families all knelt in prayer night and morning, if tithes were paid and integrity and worship reigned in the lives of men, the era of total peace would be ushered in. Of such the Lord said: And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. They had been taught. Thou shalt not steal Ex. This university is not of the world any more than the Church is of the world, and it must not be made over in the image of the world. Once the carnal in man is no longer checked by the restraints of family life and by real religion, there comes an avalanche of appetites which gathers momentum that is truly frightening. "My brethren, I wonder if we are . (See Jacob 1:19). Immortality is a reality. Numerous mothers prefer the added luxuries of two incomes to the satisfactions of seeing children grow up in the fear of God Deut. After serving in stake presidencies and as a stake president, in 1943 Spencer W. Kimball was ordained an apostle. Yet work goes on, merchandise is sold, athletic entertainments, fishing, hunting go forward without regard to commandments. Nothing less will do under those conditions. When God speaks and we obey, we will always be right." Can they change? The radios whine. . . The midnights of life are the times when heaven comes to offer its joy for man's weariness. The newspapers carry glaring headlines, politicians wrangle, students and authorities harangue. Bear in mind, dear sisters, that the eternal blessings which are yours through membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are far, far greater than any other blessings you could possibly receive. 2:27). That infallible cure is simply righteousness, obedience, Godliness, honor, and integrity. We understand that. 20:15 italics added). Because sin is such sadness, the righteous do not stress an attitude of I told you sobecause the righteous, in their love, truly wish they had been more effective in communication and in testifying so that there could be less misery and more happiness in the world. The writer of Hebrews warns: Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. Spencer W. Kimball : biography March 28, 1895 - November 5, 1985 As World War II neared its conclusion, Kimball and other LDS church leaders constantly responded to the needs of the friends and families of LDS war casualties. If we are of the masses who are casual, passive, irreligious, irreverent, unholy, immoral, ungodly, then we must repent or suffer D&C 19:4. We read of Enoch who was called when but a lad. . Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness 1 likes Like "We would all be well advised to avoid the motivation to the evil thought. One major plot of the book involves a character named Brigham . (Matthew 13:30.) (Luke 12:19-20.) And at midnight there was a cry made, Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him. We read of those who have yielded to the fashion of the time and lived together without being legally married and wonder why such people do not realize that there can be no finding of their identity nor any real sense of belonging while they trample underfoot the commandments of God. But even then wickedness did not lessen, men did not learn lessons. But it can be only through a great repentance and transformation. That night the Lord saved Jerusalem from Sennacherib and his 185,000 troops who did not live the night through to attack 2 Kgs. As we approach the general conference with its priesthood session, we will be no less loving or direct with the brethren, for our counsel will be similar. He gave the parable of the rich young fool who, in the feeling of temporal security, razed his inadequate barns and built greater ones in which to store his fruits and goods. Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to. There is one principle, a modern prophet said, (that we should) understand:that is of blessings and cursings. We bow down to the god of mammon, the god of luxuries, the god of dissipation. (See Moses 6.) We want our homes to be blessed with sister scriptorianswhether you are single or married, young or old, widowed or living in a family. We know also that God is perfect in his love for each and all of us as his spirit children. At midnight! An Angel from on High, the Long, Long Silence Broke, The Contributions of the Prophet Joseph Smith, After Much Tribulation Come the Blessings, We Will Go with Our Young and with Our Old, The Relief Society Role in Priesthood Councils, Priesthood Administration of Welfare Services, Establishing the Church: Welfare Services Missionaries Are an Important Resource, The Role of a Bishop in the Church Welfare Program. (See Jacob 1:19). Various excuses have been used over the centuries to dismiss these divine messengers. Your dead bodies will be piled upon the materialistic things you sought so hard to accumulate and save. The prophets have always been free from the evil of their times, free to be divine auditors who will still call fraud, fraud; embezzlement, embezzlement; and adultery, adultery. I am so grateful that prophets do not crave popularity. No wonder we who bear the plan of salvation feel a special urgency in sharing the gospel, because we love our own neighbor. 26:14-43. As the grandson of Heber C. Kimball and the son of a mission and stake president, Spencer W. Kimball grew up learning of and meeting prophets and apostles. For they have warned that if the inhabitants of this land are ever brought down into captivity and enslaved, it shall be because of iniquity; for if iniquity shall abound cursed shall be the land (see 2 Ne. Yet there was no evidence of rain and flood. Then all the virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. How can one share temple privileges? It is the parable of the Ten Virgins, a powerful warning to all men. In our lives the oil of preparedness is accumulated drop by drop in righteous living. Let us harken to those we sustain as prophets and seers, as well as the other brethren as if our eternal life depended upon it, because it does! ), Designed by Elegant Themes | Powered by WordPress, Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), The 3 Simple Words My Grandma Brought Me from the Spirit World. What a bleak prediction! He is a prophet to all the world. 1:7, They shall never be brought down into captivity 2 Ne. His actions were considered irrational. I would not wish to talk longer but just say, the Lord bless you, my brethren and sisters, as you return to your homes. What is wrong is wrong, and trends do not make something right which is at variance with the laws of God. This talk is AMAZING. But, on the scale of eternity, the missing of these blessings shall be but a small moment (see D&C 121:7). Where it is permitted, though, which is most of the world, we should listen to the counsel of the Brethren and to the Lord." (President Spencer W. Kimball) We call upon priesthood bearers to store sufficient so that you and your family can weather the vicissitudes of life. Eventually, sweating and straining and puffing, we pulled the catch up on the sand. The Kimball family moved and Spencer grew up there. Bombs are detonated. This is my personal read it later solution. Please follow the counsel you have been given in the past and maintain your personal journals. In God is protection, safety, peace. His was not a long-distance leadership. One stroke of his omnipotent hand could make powerless all nations who oppose and save a world even in its death throes. Notes 1. Education for Eternity Many have found it too difficult and they slumber without due preparation. Yet today we worship the gods of wood and stone and metal. Then, finally, it reaches a point when, as one prophet declared, There was no remedy. In such moments the prophets of God speak out even more forcibly, doing as Alma did when he began bearing down in pure testimony against the evils of his time. When I heard each one of them say, I have put everything I own or ever have owned upon the altar; its there for the Lord or his servants to identify and to call upon, that pleased me because we know there is still faith in the Church, in Zion, among the youth, and among the young people who are growing up in this church. Other biographies written by the sons of Church Presidents preceded . A month later, Spencer's parents sensed that five-year-old Fannie, who had been suffering for several weeks, would soon pass away. (See Jonah 3:3.) Like. On the morning program was a hukilau. When President Snow called a girl back from the dead: An incredible account of the spirit world, The Pillar of Light That Saved Joseph Smiths Body After He Fell From Carthage Jail, The Strange, Strange Power of A Three-Day Fast, The Great Calling of the Priesthood: Coming Clean From the Blood and Sins of this Generation. They stand at his mercy which will be extended only if they repent. He predicted earthquakes and other terrestrial disturbances and we think of earthquakes and landslides in California, Chile and Greece, Japan and Alaska, and unprecedented floods in the United States. . As one jars loose and begins to roll down hill, still another breaks loose, whether it is an increase in homosexuality, corruption, drugs, or abortion. Prophets who were not glib, but slow of speech, were esteemed as naught. Defense stockpiles increase. Thou shalt have no other gods before me Ex. Terror is substituted for reason. (Published as Spencer W. Kimball, "'When the World Will Be Converted,'" Ensign, October 1974, 3-14.) He has a prophet on the earth today who receives his revelations. The edible ones were saved and the catch was brought to the fire for the feast. Sometimes to be tested and proved requires that we be temporarily deprivedbut righteous women and men will one day receive allthink of it, sistersall that our Father has! (Helaman 13:38.) and our mothers and our fair daughters, and our children . Just because something is in our midst does not mean that we have been in the midst of it. The world has been cliniced, and the complex diseases have been cataloged. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. In 1957, he had to have some of his vocal cords removed due to throat cancer. And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came; and they that were ready went in with him to the marriage: and the door was shut. The wise had to go, else the bridegroom would have gone unwelcomed. Beloved brothers and sisters, wasnt it a happy moment when we were permitted to be here today to hear that beautiful testimony of Brother LeGrand Richards? In addition to those basic and vital skills which go with homemaking, there are other skills which can be appropriately cultivated and which will increase your effectiveness in the home, in the Church, and in the community. 1:26.). Your heaven shall be as iron and your earth as brass. This was not selfishness or unkindness. Hunger scaled the walls; thirst broke down the gates; immorality, cannibalism, idolatry, godlessness stalked about till destruction came. You need, more and more, to feel the perfect love which our Father in Heaven has for you and to sense the value he places upon you as an individual. They hastened to make up for lost time. 10:13, But these promises, glorious though they be, desirable as they are, can come only . Unity. We understand further that as families are raised, the talents God has given you and blessed you with can often be put to effective use in additional service to mankind. 19:34 when the powerful, invincible Assyrian army camped at the gates. Illegitimate births are said to reach as high as one in ten, yet promiscuity far exceeds illegitimacy. But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only. God will fight our battles if we honor him and serve him with all our hearts, might, mind, and strength. Scriptures are read little, and the holy day becomes a holiday. So often the prophets have been rejected because they first rejected the wrong ways of their own society. Posted by cconover2 | Jul 23, 2018 | Uncategorized | 0 |, Spencer W. Kimball "Preparedness the Ten Virgins", http://providentlivingandme.blogspot.com/2011/08/spencer-w-kimball-preparedness-ten.html, The ancients looked forward to the coming of the Lord and asked, "When shall all these things be?" He is undeviating in his purposes and is clever and relentless in his pursuit of them. Late, late, so late! In Tennyson's poem "Guinevere," the queen, repenting her infidelity, recognizes that the harm she has caused cannot be undone: With no warning, no last-minute preparation is possible. been destroyed from generation to generation according to their iniquities; and never hath any of them been destroyed save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord 2 Ne. Now as we conclude this general conference, let us all give heed to what was said to us. Within those great assurances, however, our roles and assignments differ. All that is taught in Primary is virtuous, lovely, and of good report, and praiseworthy. I ask you: What value is a car without an engine, a cup without water, a table without food, a lamp without oil? This is substantially better than the average, but we are chagrined that there should be any divorce following a temple . (See 1Sam. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. There is a cure for the earths illness, an infallible one. As both the wheat and the tares grew up in the same field together, the question was asked of the landowner, "Shall we go and gather up the tares?" May the Lord continue to bless and prosper the Primary organization of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, together with all the other organizations who are doing comparable work. and the four new members of the First Quorum of the Seventy who poured out their hearts in those moments they had? While he was president, he dedicated twenty-one temples, including the Washington, D.C. Temple. You can be a much needed force for love and truth and righteousness on this planet. Thou shalt not commit adultery Ex. He goes through an immense personal struggle and emerges victorious. 29-34 (Click here for a link to read the PDF version in the Conference Archives). The ways of the world will not prevail, for the ways of God will triumph. I have heard President JosephF. Smith and all who have followed him up to now. Yet in high places and in low, in government office and in business, in everyday life, men have rationalized until consciences seem to have been seared in the matter of honesty. Even the foolish ones trimmed their lamps, but their oil was used up and they had none to refill the lamps. 20:9 italics added). In 1972, he underwent open-heart surgerya practice pioneered and performed by President Russell M. Nelson. 45:1. Finally, in 1978 he announced that he had received a revelation which extended the holding of the priesthood to all worthy male members of the Church, also extending temple blessings regardless of race. He has even said it would be so. Pray carefully over all your decisions. When Spencer was twenty-nine, his father passed away and Spencer was called to the stake presidency that his father had served in for three decades. The scriptures and the prophets have taught us clearly that God, who is perfect in his attribute of justice, is no respecter of persons (Acts 10:34). Strength is not in concrete and re-enforcing steel. At his first address as prophet of the Church, in April Conference of 1974, President Kimball's talk became the watch cry of his presidency". Everybody expresses opinions, but few approach the real cause or the real cure. Even if the tomato you eat is a $2.00 tomato, it will bring satisfaction anyway and remind us all of the law of the harvest, which is relentless in life. Do not, however, make the mistake of being drawn off into secondary tasks which will cause the neglect of your eternal assignments such as giving birth to and rearing the spirit children of our Father in Heaven. Regardless of who is getting the adversarys special attention at any given time, he seeks to make all people miserable like unto himself (2Ne. One cannot read about the prophet Ether, warning the city by day and hiding by night in a cave, without marveling at his capacity to go each day once again into that hostile city. If you liked this archived conference talk, you might also like these: 6 Easy Ways Every Latter-day Saint can be an Effective Missionary on Facebook, 7 Ways Latter-day Saints get Following the Prophet Completely Wrong. (D&C 45:56-58.). 1:9, It shall be free from all nations under heaven., There shall be no enemies come into this land., It shall be free from bondage Ether 2:12, There shall be no kings upon the land 2 Ne. Todays prophet stands in the same position between God and the people as did Isaiah, Samuel, and even Moses who gave to the world the ten commandments. Wearing some old overalls, I waded with them into the sea. The Maginot Line in France, these forts thought to be so strong and impassable, were violated as though they were not there. Jesus spoke of famines and pestilences and we remember Biafra and Bangladesh. And there are many among us who are not ready for the great and glorious event. Provo, Utah 84602, The Second Century of Brigham Young University. But had I been wiser then, I would have realized that we were taming ourselves, too. Flirtations, rationalized to be innocent ones, are the root of numerous of the divorces and other ills. I recall my first trip to Hawaii. The cares of the world are so many and so entangling, even very good people are diverted from following the truth because they care too much for the things of the world, such as the young man who had kept all the commandments from his youth up. When the world is full of tribulation and help is needed, but it seems the time must be past and hope is vain, then Christ will come. The trouble with rejecting the prophets because they lack prestige is that Paul, who knew something of rejection, forewarned us when he said, speaking of the work of God, For ye see your calling, brethren, how that not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble are called. (1Cor. Where else can you be given the necessary explanations and assurances about the nature of life? Feeling a special love and concern for those in the lands of the Book of Mormon, President Kimball conducted several area conferences in South America. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen. There will be rationing and a scarcity of food and hunger sore. A Sabbath show or a game or a race replaces solemn worship. The foolish virgins were not averse to buying oil. Concerning Jerusalem the Lord said: I will defend this city 2 Kgs. The cause is not lost. He was not afraid of close friendships; he was not afraid that proximity to him would disappoint his followers. But this talk, by Spencer W. Kimball, was different. (See D&C 1:30.) 5:20 Men have rationalized themselves into thinking that they are not so bad. Are they fully ripe? The grandson of early Latter-day Saint apostle Heber C. Kimball, Kimball was born in Salt Lake City, Utah Territory.He spent most of his early life in Thatcher, Arizona, where his . I leave this testimony with you with my love and my blessings. When he was eight years old, his sister Mary died shortly after her birth. The physicians have had summit consultations, and temporary salve has been rubbed on afflicted parts, but it has only postponed the fatal day and never cured it.