Charles W. Penrose

“ But so far as we have power and ability, we are required to battle with and overcome our inherent failings, and if we take hold of the principles of righteousness, in the very act of doing that we are bettered, and if we continue in this path we will go on from grace to grace, from light to light, from purity to purity, from holiness to holiness, "till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ." ”

“ If we ever get there to stay, it will be because we are fitted to be there, because we are prepared to abide his glory, to stand in his presence and rejoice with him and aid him in his glorious works in the midst of the universe. We will stay there because we are like him and fit to be where he is. If it is found that we are not like him, that we are not of his spirit, not actuated by the same motives that animate his bosom, not governed by the same laws, we shall not be able to abide his presence and cannot stay there. ”

“ If we live in this kind of spirit, there will always be a voice whispering in our souls telling us that which is right and wrong, and our progress will be onward and upward in the straight and narrow path that leadeth unto the eternal continuation of the lives. ”

“ All our acts are known by the powers on high whom we cannot see. They understand us, although we may think no one sees what we do. Yet though no one should see us, if no one but ourselves knows our acts, if we do what is evil and debasing we are that much the worse for it; if we do that which is right and good we are that much the better for it. And if we practice righteousness and teach men, so we will become great in the kingdom of heaven on natural principles. ”

“ It is not enough to believe in the Gospel; it is not enough to have faith in the work that God Almighty has commenced on the earth; it is not enough to have a testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God, that angels have come from heaven, restored the Gospel and brought back the ancient priesthood, that God has commenced the great latter-day work spoken of by all the ancient prophets and that we are called to assist in that work—a mere testimony that this is the case is not enough. ”

“ There is no such thing as non-essential ordinances; every one of them is essential. Exaltation cannot be arrived at without them. But exaltation does not consist of the mere compliance to certain forms and ceremonies that the Almighty has instituted and placed in his Church. There is something more required, something superior to all this. What is it? It is the spirit that comes from our Father to dictate us in every act, to make us righteous and holy unto the Lord, and to sanctify us and bring us into complete subjection to and harmony with the laws that govern the celestial kingdom. ”

“ We are told that those who will not sanctify themselves by the law of the celestial kingdom cannot receive a celestial glory. Now, what glory will you and I have? Just exactly that glory we are fitted to have and no other. This is only just, and God must be just or he would cease to be God. Yet God will force no man or woman to keep. the law of light and truth; but unless we live the laws of righteousness and obey the law of the celestial kingdom we cannot in the nature of things receive and abide a celestial glory. ”

“ Religion is not a mere matter of emotion or of sentiment, or of feeling. True religion is something to guide us, to make us better, to teach us in every respect. True religion will teach us how to use properly every power with which our great Creator has endowed us. True religion not only affects the spiritual part of our being, the internal part of man or woman, but affects the whole nature, spiritual, mental and physical. ”

“ There is no real happiness either in this world or the world to come except through obedience to proper law. That is the only way that happiness can be obtained. We ought to understand this and teach it to our children. There is a spirit growing in the world which leads mankind to throw off restraint, to cast aside laws and regulations, which leads people to become "a law unto themselves." ”

“ When we came into the Church, having put off the old man with his deeds, we were supposed to have put on Christ, to pattern after him in all our acts, to seek for his spirit, to be guided by his example, so that by and by we might become as he is and fit to stand where he stands—in the presence of God, and abide there. ”

“ We ought to understand the necessity of yielding obedience to proper laws. We ought to learn to understand the laws that pertain to our bodies so that they may be kept healthy. And we should become fully acquainted with the laws that govern our Church. Every principle that God has revealed should be clear to our minds, and in order to understand them we should read the books given to us, the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants. ”

“ It not only unfolds to us something of the future and elevates that standard of beauty and perfection before us, that we expect some time to arrive at, but it unfolds to us our duty to-day and tells us how to act in every movement of our lives and in every condition in which we may be situated; in fact, there is no place that we may be called upon to occupy, or in which we may find ourselves, where our religion ought not to influence us in what we should do. ”

“ We have had made plain to our understanding some few of the first principles of salvation, and these have been made clear to our minds not merely as objects of faith, but as something for us to lay hold of, as a guide to our feet, as a light to our path, and as an incentive to action. ”

“ Every kingdom that is governed by law is preserved by law and sanctified by the same, no matter in what part of the universe it may be and those who abide the laws of that kingdom and that condition in which they find themselves, gain happiness and are preserved and sanctified and become exalted thereby. Now, although these laws are given of God, they do not interfere with the volition of man. Every man has his free agency. ”

“ God will force no man to heaven or to hell; but if we choose we can lay hold of these principles and be governed thereby, and by doing that we will be improved in our nature in proportion to our reception of light and truth, and exaltation will come to us on this principle and no other. ”

“ When we heard the Gospel and believed in Christ and in God the Father, and went forth repenting of our sins and were baptized for the remission of sins, and received the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, this was the beginning of our religion, these were the preliminary steps in the path that leads to the presence of God. ”

“ The expounders of that faith—if it may be called a faith—teach the doctrine of mankind becoming a law unto themselves—no forms, no ceremonies, no regulations—each one independent for himself and herself. ”

“ We shall not be able to hide our imperfections from one another. We shall be weighed in the balance, and if we are found wanting we cannot receive a fullness of glory. But, says some one, I have had certain blessings pronounced upon my head, I have been promised an exaltation in the presence of God ”

“ We should all the time strive for the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we may be in harmony with those who are placed over us, and that we may train our desires and our acts so as to be in consonance with the mind and will of God. ”

“ Some people who are in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as some people outside the church, have an idea that salvation consists in belonging to a certain sect or party or in having a certain condition of mind. They do not grasp the idea that exaltation is only brought about through a natural process—the putting away of that which is evil and laying hold of that which is good ”

“ When Jesus was on the earth he said, "Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." I believe it is the object and desire of all our brethren who are called to occupy responsible positions in the midst of the people to carry out this saying of Jesus—that is, to keep his commandments themselves and to teach others to do the same. ”

“ Light and truth are placed before us, truth and error are here, and we can choose the one and refuse the other, or refuse the one and choose the other, just as it was with our first parents in the garden of Eden. The history of the fall is placed before us that we might understand this great principle of agency ”

“ You can receive the light or the darkness, you can receive the truth or the error as you please; but by and by you must give an account of your acts." We find ourselves here on this planet that God has created for us, a branch of his great family, and he has given us certain principles to govern ourselves by. He does not force them upon us. ”

“ Then our chief business is to find out the law of God, and do that which is right and true and good. We should watch well the path of our feet and avoid everything that is evil; for that which is evil naturally contaminates and debases, and that which is good naturally purifies and exalts. ”

“ Let us, then, find out the laws of the celestial kingdom as fast as we can and practice them, and if we make this the business of our lives we will find the Lord very near to us, we will find it easy to approach him and learn of his ways. We can have the still, small voice to make glad our souls and open out our understandings. ”

“ There is to a certain extent in our midst a desire and disposition to throw off the restraint that comes from the heads of families, the influence that parents exercise over children, to rebel against the laws of the community in which we live, to resist the restriction that comes from the laws of the land, and from the laws of the Church—the laws of God. ”

“ We should all live according to the laws of God, to the best of our ability—although we are beset with many weaknesses and infirmities and faults, many of which have been transmitted to us from our forefathers away back for ages and are concentrated in us who live in the latter-days. ”

“ This will not exalt us, but the practice of what is right and true will exalt us. In fact every person in doing what is good and right is naturally bettered thereby, and every individual in doing what is evil is degraded thereby. ”

“ This spirit exists to a great extent in the world, and is bound to have more or less effect upon us here in the mountains, because, although we are in some degree separated from the world, yet we are also connected with the world, and must expect, as a part of the human family, that some among us will be more or less affected by this spirit. ”