It is now more than 2,000 years ago since the Lord called the Prophet Ezekiel, the son of Buzi, commanding him to go and proclaim his word to the house of Israel. The Israelitish people had departed from faith in the God of their fathers and had turned to the worship of idols. Ezekiel, in obedience to the commandments of the Lord, went out to the people who dwelt upon the river Chebar and abode with them sever days. He was amazed at their wickedness, their idolatry, and he hesitated, reluctant to deliver the message which the Lord had commanded him to take to them.

Ezekiel Rebuked

At the end of that time the Lord rebuked him and said to him:

“Son of man, I have made time a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

“When I say unto the wicked, Thou shalt surely die; and thou givest him not warning, nor speakest to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life: the same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.

“Yet if thou warn the wicked, and he turn not from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast delivered thy soul.”

Responsibility Of Leadership

I have often read these words of the prophet and have asked myself this question, What is their application to you? What is the responsibility that you are under in the capacity which you occupy in the Church and in the nation? The answer has always been the same. It is this, that whatever my profession, whether it be as a citizen of the government to which I have given allegiance, or a member of the Church with which I am affiliated, it becomes my duty to magnify in my life and to teach others to do so, the ideals for which my country stands, and the creed which my Church teaches. If I fail in this and lead others away from loyalty to their country or devotion to the truths of religion, I assume the responsibility of not only being a violator of the laws made for the protection and temporal welfare of the citizens, but of the law of God which has been given to us for the salvation of our souls.

This places upon me, if I properly understand it, and upon every other person who assumes the responsibility of leadership, whether it be in the Church or state, a tremendous responsibility, a responsibility which I always feel when I stand before a congregation of my brethren and sisters, as I do now, upon occasions of this kind, and I always feel the necessity of dependence upon the Lord and upon you, my brethren and sisters, for help.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: Public Duty

The Mormon Pioneers

What is it that has brought this about? Why is this great congregation of men and women assembled here this afternoon? Anglo Saxon men and women as a rule, people whose forefathers many of them laid or assisted in the laying of the foundation upon which our government rests. I knew these men and women as perhaps few men now living knew them. This Mormon Pioneer, I knew his faith, I knew his industry, I knew his integrity, I knew his devotion to the government of which he formed a part, for he believed that it was a God-given government. He knew that it was not alone the doing of men, that had brought him to this forbidding looking country, and yet in its ruggedness and its barrenness grand beyond comprehension. And so he toiled on. When difficulties confronted him he prayed to the Lord for light and strength, and then went out and did the thing that was required of him. Profoundly religious he held in reverential respect the religion of other men. He knew that other people found God in temples built with hand, just as he found him here under the stars where he worshipped in those early days.

I think of those men, I think of their statesmanship. They were the peers of any of their time, intellectually, educationally, largely men who had come from the New England states of our republic, the descendants

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: America, History

Destiny Foretold

I shall not take time to go back and prove to you the truth of Elder Talmage’s remarks of yesterday. This country in which we live had been declared by the prophets thousands of years ago to have been given by God our Father to the covenant people of Israel. The coming of Columbus was not a thing of chance. The prophets predicted his coming ages ago. He came here under the inspiration, the impulse, unknown perhaps to him, of the Spirit of the Lord, just as we are led to do many things without just knowing the reason why, for the accomplishment of a divine purpose. The establishment in this country of a government to which the oppressed of all nations should come for refuge, for freedom. He declared that no kings should ever rule here, centuries before Columbus sailed from the port of Spain. He told the history of this country, its past, its present, and declared its future destiny, just as definitely as he declared its past history.

What is that destiny? It is that this government of ours shall persist; it shall continue; it shall never be thrown down; no enemy that comes against it shall ever triumph—upon this one condition, that the people to whom the Lord has given these bounteous blessings; these miracles which have come to the earth during my lifetime, these people who have grown from an exceedingly small beginning to be the wealthiest, perhaps the most important in influence—I believe I am justified in saying it—that there is in the world—upon condition that they serve the Lord of the land, who is Jesus Christ.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: America, Destiny; America, History

God, The Author Of It

Where much is given much is expected. This land, to God our Father, is a chosen land, dedicated as I have said to the principle of liberty and freedom, not license.

Our fathers, under His inspiration, gave us the constitution of our country, the bill of rights which defines our privileges and places limitations beyond which we may not go. Liberty, when carried to the extreme, results in license. I want to impress upon this congregation, my brethren and sisters who are here, that the Lord our God has been the author of it all. It was he who led you from your native lands. You people from the green fields and lanes of England, you did not leave your homes because you did not love your native land. You had fought for it, defended it, and were ready to fight for it again. You people from Scotland, you people from Ireland and Wales, from Germany and the islands of the sea, oh if I only had the time to go back and tell you I could show you that the whole story of your lives had been written by the finger of God.

So we are here; here, thank the Lord, citizens of the best government in the world. We are here, members of the Church of Christ our Lord which has been restored through the medium of heavenly messengers who had authority to give to men upon earth, the keys of the holy priesthood. What for? For the redemption of the human family. Whether men believe it or not these things are true, and ultimately they will believe it, and there is no power either in earth or hell that can stay the progress of the Church, unless its people prove recreant to the covenants that they have entered into with our Father who is in heaven. Just so, there is no power that can wreck the government that God has established in this country unless it be the people themselves, and that I do not expect nor believe can occur.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: Heavenly Interest in Human Events

By the Spirit of the Lord

The Lord in his scripture tells us that no one can come to this land unless he be brought or directed by the Spirit of the Lord, and so he has brought this people here. He brought the faith of the devoted Puritans of New England; he brought the patriotism of the Dutch at New York; he brought the gallantry of the cavaliers of Virginia; the light-hearted energy of the French of New Orleans. Just the kind of composite body of men to establish a government that could not be dominated by any particular race or tongue, but made composite, that all men might be welcomed to it, live under and enjoy its privileges.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: America, History

Army Threatens

And so the government has struggled on. From the very beginning the ship of state has been at times upon a stormy sea. With the dismissal of the army after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown the soldiers were discharged. There was no money with which to pay them. They were in open revolt. Generals in the army accused Washington of being the author of all their troubles. They would have made him king and disregarded the confederacy of states which formed the Union. They threatened to march against the Congress which was in session at Philadelphia, and it became necessary to remove it to Princeton. Now let me read something that I want you to hear. While these men were assembled together in secret conclave, Washington unexpectedly walked into the room where they were seated. Fiske says: “Washington suddenly came into the meeting and amidst profound silence broke forth in a most eloquent and profound speech. All were hushed by that majestic presence and those solemn tones. He pleaded for tolerance, for patience, for trust in the newly born government which would in the end pay them that which it owed. They listened, the soldiers listened, hesitated and yielded to the irresistible presence of the man who more than any other had made the establishment of the nation possible.” I revere this man. To me he has been a man of destiny, a prophet if we have ever had one. I read frequently his last address to the American people. It is a treasure house of wisdom, of prophecy, of political philosophy.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: America, History

Perplexing Situations

Our government is now very much in the condition that it was at that early time. Demands are made upon it which are exceedingly difficult to comply with. The soldiers of our country are in an ugly mood because their requests are not granted. The resources of the country are not sufficient to meet the demands made upon it, notwithstanding the great increase in taxes which has recently been levied. The bulletin boards, while this conference has been in session, have announced that the budget of the government is still five hundred million dollars short of balance. What is the result going to be? I do not know; I do not want to assume the responsibility of indicating, but I do know that there are some things which will help. I do know that Elder Richards this afternoon has declared to you in plain terms some of the things that must be accomplished. There is about ten billions of dollars of gold in the world. Our national debt is twenty billions of dollars. What the debt of other nations of the world is I do not now, I have not taken the time to determine, but this I do know, that the World war cost about two hundred billions of dollars, and that does not take into consideration the amount which was paid for the restoration of property destroyed, nor does it take into consideration the fact that I believe nearly ten millions of men, if I remember the figures correctly, were either killed or permanently disabled and taken away from the forces which create the industries of the world. So that altogether I calculate that at least two hundred and fifty billions of dollars was the cost of that great war. Will the debt ever be paid? It never will. That goes without saying. Some part of it may be, I do not know. No one will deny the fact that the government at present is confronted with perplexing situations, questions of great import. How they are to be solved men appear not to know, and I do not know. One thing that I do know, is that the American people are capable of solving these problems if the voice of the people coud be heard. I have faith in the sold of these American people which God has brought to this land. He has said, and I am only repeating his words, that the nation shall persist, that it shall be able to meet any emergency that shall arise if it will only, as I have stated, have faith in the God of the land, who is Jesus Christ.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: Debt; Taxes; War

Disregard For Law

It appears to me that three things are more responsible than all else for our present condition. The first is the unusual disposition upon the part of many of the citizens of our country to disregard the obligation of obedience to civil law. I do not need to quote these notes that I have here to show you that in the opinion of the best thinkers of our country, chaos hangs over it unless something can be done to restrain crime and the open violation of law which exists in the United States today. Criminals sit upon juries where their own friends are being tried, while business men and others who should be there decline or avoid such service. Murder is committed in the light of day. Murderers and thieves are released from jail or from courts by habeas corpus many times before the prisoner ever reaches the bar of justice. Lawlessness is in every city of the land. Wicked men go out in the darkness at night like animals of prey, here in our own city, seeking whom they might devour, preying upon the innocent and unrotected. The officers of the law do the best they can to prevent it. We who are citizens pay too little attention to it and give them too little support. Just as long as prominent men in our nation, bankers, merchants, business men, congressmen and legislators ignore the law themselves, how can they expect that this condition can be overcome? Do I exaggerate when I say that men are elected to office who are unworthy, and never should have been chosen? Every man who goes to the Congress of the United States holds up his hand and covenants with God that he will obey the Constitution of our country, and then frequently he goes right out and violates it. It applies to men who are sent up to our legislature. They enter into that covenant and then disregard it. I know how I should feel if I did a thing of that kind. I would know that I was a perjurer and I would expect to be impeached and sent home where I belonged. Some such method as that will have to be adopted before our house cleaning will be complete.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: Law, Respect For

Disregard For Religion And Pursuit Of Wealth

In conclusion, let me read some quotations that I have made from this man whom we refer to as the father of our country. I said there were three things responsible for this spirit of lawlessness. Another one is the disregard of religion that is gradually but surely manifesting itself among the people. Enough has been said in this conference to satisfy you that this is not an idle statement that I am making. These sheets that I have before me are covered with statistics that corroborate the truth of what I say. The next thing to be avoided is the unbridled and unreasonable pursuit of wealth which has characterized the people of the United States ever since the World war terminated.

Source: President Anthony W. Ivins
General Conference, October 1932

Topics: Law, Respect For

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