Charles W. Penrose

“ For while people believe that at the last moment, at the last gasp of their existence, they may cast their souls on Jesus, and by believing in his virtue escape the penalty of their sins, they will continue to sin on, like many of these false teachers who revel in sin up to their very eyes, and will die in their sins and go down into the pit where they must wait until they are released, in the time and way of the Lord. The doctrine of belief without works is a strong delusion. There is more to do, according to the Gospel, than merely to believe in the Lord Jesus Christ. ”

“ This light is planted in the breast of every man and every woman who breathes the breath of life• It is the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world, and if people would listen to the whispering of that still small voice, be led by that natural light and natural inspiration, they would be led up to God. ”

“ The people have been in the depths of error. Darkness has covered the earth and gross darkness the people. "Stay yourselves and wonder," says the Prophet Isaiah, speaking of the latter times, "cry ye out and cry they are drunken, but not with wine; they stagger, but not with strong drink. For the Lord hath poured out upon you the spirit of deep sleep, and hath closed your eyes: the prophets and your rulers the seers hath he covered." ”

“ They partook of that tree in disobedience to the divine commandment, and planted the seeds of death in their bodies, and that death has passed upon all their posterity. "It is appointed unto men once to die." ”

“ Death came by sin, and death has passed upon all the posterity of Adam and Eve. Jesus came in the meridian of time as "the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world," to bring mankind up from the effects of the transgression of our first parents. Hence he is called "the Second Adam," and we are told that as in the first Adam all die, even so in Christ, the second Adam, shall all be made alive again. ”

“ All must give an account unto the great eternal Father. We are responsible for the acts done in the flesh, for like as it was in the case of our first parents, good and evil, truth and error, are placed before us, and every individual is left free to choose the good and refuse the evil, or to choose the evil, and refuse the good, as he pleases. Both are set before us and, if we yield to either, it will lead us in either direction. There is, however, a spirit in man, born in him, which comes from God, the fountain of light and truth. ”

“ And even then, although he may have had visions, although he may have seen the Lord and had the glories of heaven opened unto his view, though the curtain that hides the future may have rolled up before him like a scroll, so that he could gaze into the glories of the eternities, all this would give him no authority whatever to administer in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. He must be called, he must be ordained, he must receive the authority of the holy priesthood. ”

“ But on the other hand there must be, as the Book of Mormon says, "an opposition in all things," and there is a spirit of evil, a spirit of darkness, which draws downward to death, and a spirit of light which leads upward to life; the one leads to Satan and his works, the other to God and to righteousness. But the inhabitants of the earth generally have been more prone to listen to the inspiration of the spirit of darkness as did our first parents, than to listen to the still small voice of light and life in their souls. ”

“ That is according to the modern Gospel, but not according to the ancient Gospel of Jesus Christ, the everlasting Gospel which says "no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him."
But some one may ask, "Is there no efficacy, for actual sin, in the atonement wrought out by Jesus Christ? Is there no method by which people can obtain a forgiveness of their individual sins?" Yes, there is a way, and that is the plan of the true Gospel, but it does not consist in mere belief in the righteousness of another; mere belief in the righteousness [of] somebody else will not make us any better ourselves. ”

“ We must be Saints in very deed, and walk in the footsteps of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and then, by-and-by, where he is we will be also. If we turn our backs upon the truth we will go down to death; we will be beaten with many stripes, we must suffer the consequence of our guilt, and after we have gone through the depths of suffering and sorrow in the due time of the Lord we may get some kind of a salvation and glory, but where God and Christ are we cannot come, worlds without end. ”

“ Our religion is counted a delusion and a snare. I was thinking, however, during the meeting this afternoon about the great number of Christian preachers who today are standing up in various parts of the world informing the people who listen to them that simple belief on the Lord Jesus, who died on Calvary, is all that is necessary to save them and exalt them in the presence of God the Father. And it seems to me that if there is one delusion more pernicious than another it is that very doctrine, which seems to be a fundamental principle of all the various Christian sects. ”

“ There is nothing in the Gospel that is nonessential. Every principle that has been revealed unto us is necessary for the salvation of man, for I tell you before we are fit to dwell in the presence of God and enjoy the fulness of his glory we must become like him. Latter-day Saints, the ordinances of the Gospel will not save you, they are only aids to salvation. ”

“ It is men who are not sent who preach the nonsense we hear in the world. It is men who are not sent who deceive mankind with their strong delusions, and then turn round and call the Latter-day Saints deluded. If they were sent of God they would not preach such nonsense, they would not deceive mankind and thus become the cause of so much sin and evil in the world. ”

“ People are called upon everywhere to repent of their sins; to be baptized for the remission of sins, and to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and whenever people have received the Gospel and obeyed its ordinances his blessings have come to them. The Holy Ghost, the Comforter, which speaks direct to their souls, has borne witness that their sins are remitted, that they are raised to a newness of life, and that if faithful unto the end they will be received back into the presence of the Father, to dwell in his society and glory. ”

“ A minister will come and preach to him, and tell him that all he has to do is to cast his soul on Jesus; that he has just to believe that Christ died for him, and the righteousness of the pure, immaculate, sinless, Christ will be grafted into that rotten branch, so that he will have the fruits of righteousness and peace. That is according to the modern Gospel. The man believes this, he confesses Christ with his lips and acknowledges him with his tongue, and straightway is strung up between the heavens and the earth, and choked to death ”

“ It is taught by some that repentance is the first principle of religion, but if a man does not believe in God, will he pray unto him? What has a man to repent of except the breaking of the commandments of God? And how shall he feel anything to repent of if he does not believe in God? It is necessary therefore to have faith first, and then comes repentance, a determination to forsake evil, and this is what the ancient apostles taught.
What next? We find that wherever the apostles went, whenever they found a people who believed in Jesus and repented of their sins they baptized them. ”

“ God has spoken from the heavens in this our day. He has restored the Gospel of Christ and the authority to preach it. It will go forth to every nation, kindred, tongue and people. The wise and the prudent will not receive it, but "the poor among men shall rejoice in the Holy One of Israel." This work will go on to this end and purpose. Zion will be built up, Jerusalem will be redeemed, and the time will come when Jesus, our Redeemer shall descend in power and great glory to reign upon the earth. ”

“ And he himself proclaimed that the time should come, "in the which all that are in the graves shall hear the voice of the Son, of God and shall come forth; they that, have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil unto the resurrection of damnation," or in the words of the inspired translation, "they that have done good in the resurrection of the just, and they that have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust." It is through the transgression of Adam that we have to suffer what is called the temporal death. ”

“ For we are living in an important day. The day of the second coming of the Savior is nigh at hand, and when he comes shall we be found, as in the parable, among the wise or among the foolish virgins? How is it with us this afternoon? Have we oil in our lamps to guide us on our path? ”

“ Some people have lived on the earth when God has sent his servants inspired of him to make plain his ways, while others have tabernacled in the flesh when no inspired voice was heard, when no communication was open between the heavens and the earth. ”

“ The Gospel came to us in the various nations of the earth, some belonging to the various religious sects, and some belonging to no sect whatever, and when we received and obeyed it a power took hold` of us superior to anything we have ever experienced before, and witnessed to us in an unmistakeable manner the truth of this work. It is not a phantom. It is not something imaginary, but it is a solemn fact, as certain as the fact of our existence. No one can reason us out of it, or force us out of it. ”

“ Now, we will take the case of an individual who has broken all the laws of God and perhaps all the laws of man, and finally has shed the blood of a fellow-creature, and is condemned by the laws of man to die ”

“ We find by searching the New Testament, which contains some of the teachings of the apostles and some of their letters to the churches, that the doctrine was held forth by them that "the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all sin." ”

“ There are a great many ministers standing up in the various chapels and churches to-day administering in the name of this holy trinity, You can see men in the Christian world stand up before a congregation and sprinkle a little water upon an unconscious babe, and call it baptism, and actually do it in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost! ”

“ All people must give an account of the deeds done in the body according to the measure of light they have received, and the opportunities they have had of obtaining that light, while they dwelt in the flesh. ”

“ And the Lord said that in that very time, when the people should be in this condition, when they should draw near unto him with their mouth, and honor him with their lips, while their hearts were far from him, "I will proceed to do a marvelous work among the people, even a marvelous work and a wonder: for the wisdom of the wise men shall perish and the understanding of their prudent men shall be hid. ”

“ Because for hundreds of years communication with the eternal world has been shut off, inasmuch as the people who profess. the Christian religion have not even believed in the doctrine of present communication with God. ”

“ He also told them that when he went away the Comforter should come to reveal unto them the things of the Father and the Son, and to guide them unto all truth; for it is only by receiving truth and living it that people can be saved and exalted. ”

“ They were to go out and preach to all the world, baptizing those that believed, and then proceed to teach all things whatsoever he had commanded them. Christ taught his disciples many principles while he tarried with them in the flesh, and after he had risen from the dead he continued his instructions from time to time. ”

“ Supposing men were to come to us with as groundless claims in temporal things as they do in spiritual. Supposing a man came from Germany to this country and professed to be a minister from the German court. ”