False Teachings
The Devil’s Knowledge �
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The devil knows the Father much better than we. Lucifer, the son of the morning, knows Jesus Christ, the Son of God, much better than we; but in him it is not and will not redound to eternal life; for knowing, he yet rebels; knowing, he is yet disobedient; he will not receive the truth; he will not abide in the truth; hence he is perdition, and there is no salvation for him. The same doctrine applies to me and to you and all the sons and daughters of God who have judgment and knowledge and are able to reason between cause and effect, and determine the right from the wrong, and the good from the evil, and who are capable of seeing the light and distinguishing it from the darkness. Then this is the gospel of Jesus Christ, to know the only true and living God and his Son whom he has sent into the world, which knowledge comes through obedience to all his commandments, faith, repentance of sin, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands by divine authority, and not by the will of man.-Apr. C. R., 1916, p. 4.�
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The Enemy of Truth Always Arrayed Against This Work
From the day that the Prophet Joseph Smith first declared his vision until now, the enemy of all righteousness, the enemy of truth, of virtue, of honor, uprightness, and purity of life, the enemy of the only true God, the enemy to direct revelation from God and to the inspirations that come from the heavens to man has been arrayed against this work.-Apr. C. R., 1909, p. 4.
Why the Truth Is Hated
Why should men be embittered against you because of this, because of your belief in Joseph Smith? Why should they become your enemies because you declare your faith in a new revelation from the Father and from the Son to mankind for their guidance? Why should they? Let me tell you why: for the very same reason precisely that the embittered and unbelieving Pharisees and hypocrites of the Savior’s time persecuted the Redeemer of earth, for the very reason that they later put to death the disciples of Jesus Christ, whom he ordained as apostles and as special witnesses of himself, who bore testimony of him and of the gospel to all the nations of the earth. They put them to death one by one, some of them in the most cruel manner, simply because they preached Jesus Christ, and him crucified and risen from the dead, and ascended into heaven, and sitting with all glory and power and majesty and might at the right hand of his Father, God. The world felt injured by it. Why? Because it laid the ax at the root of the tree of error, of superstition, and of tradition, of lack of faith, and unbelief. It laid the ax at the root of the tree of wickedness, in the world, and of ignorance of God and his principles, and the plan of life and salvation, and the world hated the disciples because of it, and they hated the Son of God because of it, and they crucified him. They hated the disciples because of it, and they put them to death. That is why they hate you, for the same reason; that is, those who do hate you, those who have exercised their power, their will and their thoughts or minds sufficiently to be imbued with the spirit of persecution and hatred against the light and the truth.-Oct. C. R., 1911, p. 5.
Only Those Who Deny the Faith Contend
You find the spirit of contention only among apostates and those who have denied the faith, those who have turned away from the truth and have become enemies to God and his work. There you will find the spirit of contention, the spirit of strife. There you will find them wanting to “argue the question,” and to dispute with you all the time. Their food, their meat, and their drink is contention which is abominable in the sight of the Lord. We do not contend. We are not contentious, for if we were we would grieve the Spirit of the Lord from us, just as apostates do and have always done.-Apr. C. R., 1908, p. 7.
Beware of False Teachers
I know that this is the work of God, and he is carrying it on. The honor of triumph over error, sin and injustice will belong to God and not to you or me, or any other man. Some men there will be who would limit the power of God to the power of men, and we have some of these among us and they have been among our school teachers. They would have you disbelieve the inspired accounts of the Scriptures, that the winds and the waves are subject to the power of God; and believe the claim of the Savior to cast out devils, raise the dead, or perform miraculous things, such as cleansing the leper, is only a myth. They would make you believe that God and his Son Jesus Christ did not appear in person to Joseph Smith, that this was simply a myth, but we know better; the testimony of the Spirit has testified that this is the truth. And I say, beware of men who come to you with heresies that things come by laws of nature of themselves, and that God is without power. I am thankful that men who make such claims are few in number in the world, and I hope they will become fewer still.-Logan Journal, April 7, 1914.
Where to Expect False Doctrine
Among the Latter-day Saints, the preaching of false doctrines disguised as truths of the gospel, may be expected from people of two classes, and practically from these only; they are:
First-The hopelessly ignorant, whose lack of intelligence is due to their indolence and sloth, who make but feeble effort, if indeed any at all, to better themselves by reading and study; those who are afflicted with a dread disease that may develop into an incurable malady-laziness.
Second-The proud and self-vaunting ones, who read by the lamp of their own conceit; who interpret by rules of their own contriving; who have become a law unto themselves, and so pose as the sole judges of their own doings. More dangerously ignorant than the first.
Beware of the lazy and the proud; their infection in each case is contagious; better for them and for all when they are compelled to display the yellow flag of warning, that the clean and uninfected may be protected.-Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 41, p. 178.
Knowledge: of Sin Unnecessary
It has been very wisely said that “the knowledge of sin tempteth to its commission.”
It has been said that now and then the morbid curiosity of a missionary leads him into questionable places, and the only excuse he has for visiting these dens of vice is that he would like to see the shady side of life in some of our great cities that he may know thereof for himself. He wants to see “Paris by night” in order that he may know something of the actual life of vast numbers of his fellowmen. Such knowledge can have no beneficial effect upon the thoughts or feelings of the missionary who seeks it. It does not strengthen him in the duties of his calling. It is a peculiar sort of knowledge that is enticing to the feelings and imaginations, and tends in some measure to degrade the soul.
It is not necessary that our young people should know of the wickedness carried on in any place. Such knowledge is not elevating, and it is quite likely that more than one young man can trace the first step of his downfall to a curiosity which led him into questionable places. Let the young men of Zion, whether they be on missions or whether they be at home, shun all dens of infamy. It is not necessary that they should know what is going on in such places. No man is better or stronger for such knowledge. Let them remember that “the knowledge of sin tempteth to its commission,” and then avoid those temptations that in time to come may threaten their virtue and their standing in the Church of Christ.-Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 37, May, 1902, p. 304.
Retreat From Evil
Sometimes in life, we are brought face to face with an enemy whose evil ways are beyond our power of combat, a victory over which cannot be hoped for. There is only one escape from moral annihilation and that is in retreat. The man with accumulated and unforgiven wrong behind him may find all retreat cut off and his condition in the world hopeless; and he who recklessly cuts off every opportunity of retreat by the neglected evils of the past is most unfortunate.
The daily practice, then, of seeking divine mercy and forgiveness as we go along, gives us power to escape evils, that can be overcome only by a safe retreat from them.-Juvenile Instructor, Vol. 44, August, 1909, p. 339.
The Law of Recompense
Let me impress it upon you that one never can hold quite the same relation to a law of God which he has transgressed, as if one has lived in conformity with its requirements. It is unreasonable to expect it, and contrary to the laws of nature to conclude that you can. If a person has determined that sin can easily be wiped out, and hence, that he will enjoy unlawful pleasures in youth, repenting in later life, with an idea in his mind that repentance will blot out completely the results of his sin and debauchery, and place him on a level with his fellow who has kept in virtue the commandments, from the beginning-time will wake him up to his serious and great mistake. He may and will be forgiven, if he repent; the blood of Christ will make him free, and will wash him clean, though his sins be as scarlet; but all this will not return to him any loss sustained, nor place him on an equal footing with his neighbor who has kept the commandments of the better law. Nor will it place him in the position where he would have been, had he not committed wrong. He has lost something which can never be regained, notwithstanding the perfection, the loving mercy, the kindness and forgiveness of the Lord God.-Improvement Era, Vol. 7, January, 1904, p. 225.