FIRST LEAF.

Value of Truth—Only One True Religion—Faith the First Principle—Faith a Principle of Power—How Faith Comes—No Man Can Find out God—Deity Must Manifest Himself—God the Father of the Race—Personality of God—The Great Lawgiver Governs Himself by Law.

There is nothing more valuable than truth. Religious truth, or that which relates to God, our duty to Him, His laws and purposes, and the means by which we may now come to Him and eventually be exalted in His presence, is really priceless. To obtain a knowledge of religious truth, both young and old should be willing to make every exertion and to offer any sacrifice.

There are many systems of religion in the world, but only one can be correct, for the simple reason that there is but one God for the inhabitants of the earth to worship and obey. If there were many true Gods to whom mankind owed reverence there might be several true religions. God is the author or revealer of true religion. Men may invent and arrange methods of worship, imagine and think out doctrines, and formulate and enforce creeds; but they are of no value as a means of salvation. God must be approached and served in the way which He ordains, or the worship and service will not be accepted.

The first principle of true religion is faith. This is the beginning of righteousness. It is the very root of the tree of life, and its sap runs through all the branches. "Without faith it is impossible to please God." And "Whosoever cometh to God must believe that He is." Faith, in its simplest sense, is the assent of the mind, and its assurance of the existence of things unseen by the natural eye. This is belief. In another sense, faith is a motive power, a principle of action. Examination into the secret springs that prompt us in the common affairs of life will show that faith moves us to exertion and incites us to perseverance. It is the assurance we feel of the existence or attainment of things unperceived by the senses, which urges us onward and inspires us with energy. In a higher sense, faith is a spiritual force. It reaches up to the heavenly spheres. It lays hold upon eternal things. It acts upon the grosser elements, and moves spiritual essences and immortal intelligences.

It is in its fullness all powerful. By its exercise God made the worlds, bringing order out of chaos, light out of darkness and visible things out of the invisible, all moved by that spiritual energy called faith. By its power Christ stilled the winds and walked upon the waves, healed the sick and raised the dead. Elijah, by faith closed the heavens, that they rained not, and overcame the might of death, passing with his body into the mansions on high. By faith, Job beheld the coming of the Redeemer, and Paul ascended to the third heaven. And by faith men and women can overcome the influences of earth and time, and rise to communion with angelic beings, and even with God, the highest and holiest of all.

Man must have faith in God in order to become exalted into His presence. No man knows of himself how to reach that position, nor how to obtain salvation from sin and its effects, among which are sorrow and pain, and death as the ultimate. To learn anything in relation to these important matters he must be taught of God, and faith is therefore absolutely necessary in the outset of any attempt to learn of Him.

This faith "comes by hearing," or in other words is developed by testimony. Through the testimony of men divinely appointed to speak in the name of the Lord, faith is awakened in the human heart. It is a principle existing in every soul, but in the condition of fallen humanity is measurably dormant, until quickened by a divine influence. The word spoken by inspired men, accompanied by the influence of the spirit of truth, arouses faith in the soul of man, and by its force he is led to call upon the Lord, and by its light to see his way to repentance and obedience.

No man by his own researches can find out God. He may, by reason and reflection, by observing and pondering upon the wonders of creation, by studying his own internal and external nature, come to the sure conclusion that there is a God, and to a very small extent make an estimate of His character. But without the Almighty manifests Himself in some manner, finite man can never obtain a knowledge of infinite Deity. The speculations of human beings concerning God are many and various, and a vast number of their conclusions inconsistent and vain. Human learning, no matter how extensive, and human research, no matter how profound, are of necessity inadequate alone to the acquisition of a knowledge of divine things. Hence an unlettered person enlightened direct from God, will know more of Deity than the most erudite collegian who has not received this divine illumination.

Some conception of God is necessary to proper faith in Him. On this account He has, at different periods of the world's history, manifested Himself to chosen persons, whom He has deputed to bear witness of His existence and attributes to others, and declare His will and commandments. The history of some of these manifestations and revelations given in olden times is recorded in the Bible. Those that have been vouchsafed to man in the latter times are embodied in what is popularly known as "Mormonism," but which should be called the Everlasting Gospel, renewed on earth.

By these we learn that God is the Father of the human race. As every seed in nature bears its own kind, it is reasonable to conclude that man bears some semblance to the Being from whom he sprang. And this idea is confirmed by the divine declaration that "God made man in His own image." Our Father in Heaven, is then, a personal Being. He is a Spirit. But He is also enclothed in a tabernacle. In other words, He is an immortal Spirit dwelling in an immortal tabernacle. Every faculty and power to be found in mortal man exists in the fullness of its perfection in the person of Deity. Those glorious qualities which make so wide a distinction between man and the lower animals are undeveloped photographs, or rather, embryotic duplicates of the perfected attributes of the Eternal Father.

Being an individual, God, in His personality, cannot be omnipresent. But by the Holy Spirit, which proceeds from His presence and permeates all things throughout the immensity of space, He can see, and know, and influence all things. Yet the Being who has power over all His creations proceeds by law, and while giving laws to all His creations is Himself governed by law and never violates the eternal principles of truth, justice and mercy. The "laws of nature" are the laws of God, and He is consistent with them and those higher laws which pertain to the spiritual spheres.

The Fatherhood of God is a glorious truth that must at some time be impressed upon every one of our race. It involves the brotherhood of man. It is full of ennobling and elevating suggestions, and prompts those who are impressed with its majesty to deeds worthy of so exalted an origin; leads to humility and obedience, and influences all the sons and daughters of the Eternal Father to mutual help, forbearance, charity and affection, as brothers and sisters of a family, whose destiny is connected with the glory, and dominion, and matchless power of the Almighty framer and governor of the universe.