And now, for a peculiar reason, I want to call your attention to this thought. This controversy goes beyond the testimonies of the witnesses of the New Testament, and brings out a peculiar feature in our own special message to the world. If you will recall the very careful words of these two critics Messrs. Rashdall and Grant, the Diety of the Christ, you will have noted perhaps that they hold that: "No critical, well-attested saying of the Christ tends to establish his Deity." Well, that simply means that the so-called "modern criticism," eliminates and throws to the winds the testimony of Christ's apostles in Judea, — the testimony that Jesus is indeed the Christ, the Son of God, born of a virgin, and God's Only Begotten Son in the flesh.

The note now and then occurs in the comments that are made on this great controversy, that: "You have got yet to consider the authenticity and the credibility of the New Testament documents. That is the thing to which I wish to call your attention. Unto Nephi, the first Nephi, were given some very great visions concerning the life and the mission of the Christ, before he came in the flesh; and among other things he saw that the Gentile races upon this North American continent would have the testimony of the Hebrew prophets among them (the Old Testament) ; and also the testimony of the "Twelve Apostles of the Lamb" (the New Testament). He saw that these books would be mutilated and corrupted : that the Gentiles would go into great darkness and unbelief because of this mutilation of the word of God. Then he saw, in vision, circulating among the people other records, one of which was to be the word of the Lord to the seed of this man Nephi. That other sacred books were to be circulated in the land, and these second books, meaning the Book of Mormon, the record of the Nephite people, and the revelations of God in this new dispensation, clearly recognized in the Doctrine and Covenants, and also in the Pearl of Great Price, — these records would establish the truth of the record of the Twelve Apostles of the Lamb of God, Hence the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints holds in its hands, and is commissioned to use these other holy scriptures brought forth in this chosen land, speaking from the dust of "Cumorah's lonely hill," for the sleeping nations of the American Continent : and the living word of God in this age, as contained in the revelations found in the Doctrine and Covenants and in the Pearl of Great Price, brought forth by the Prophet Joseph Smith, are here to correct the errors of those who would throw out of the reckoning the word of God as found in the record of the "Twelve Apostles of the Lamb," the New Testament; they are here to affirm, with all the strength that comes from these volumes of witnesses, — this cloud of witnesses — that Jesus is indeed the Christ; that he is the Creator, not only of our own world, but of many worlds. (Heb. 1:1, 2; St. John 1:1-4). Also that He is the upholding and the sustaining power of all things ; that, as pointed out so beautifully in Elder Rulon S. Wells' remarks. He is the Vital Force, that "quickeneth all things"; also that he is the Intelligence-inspiring Power of God's universe; also that He is the Love-manifested Power of God's universe: for the one great thing above all others in the mission of the Christ was to give assurance and demonstration of the Love of God for the inhabitants of the earth. As Jesus himself contemplated this his mission among men, he voiced the assurance that —

"I, if I be lifted up from the earth, will draw all men unto me."

Brethren and sisters, it is our mission to stem the tide of unbelief that is in the world, to answer the Christ's question on one occasion — when he the Son of man comes, shall He find faith in the earth?" In the name of God, yes ! For he has provided the means of maintaining faith in Him as Creator, as Sustaining Power of the universe; as Vital Force, as Intelligence-inspiring Power, as Love-manifested Power, and he has organized his Church in the earth, no more to be destroyed, to maintain this faith in the earth. And when the Christ shall come in the clouds of heaven, with power and great glory, attended by the host of Saints from heaven, the host of Saints here on earth, possessed of true faith that Jesus is the Christ, Sovereign, Lord and King, Creator of heaven and earth, and all things that in them are; the Savior of men, the Redeemer of the world, the very Son of God, "the Eternal God," to use the Book of Mormon phrase, "manifesting himself unto all nations" — these, the Saints possessed of this faith in the earth, shall welcome the Christ and the hosts of Saints from heaven, with shouts of great joy and faith.

The thought I wish to leave with you, and my purpose in quoting the text, — "If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God that giveth to all men liberally and upbraideth not, and it shall be given him" — was to emphasize the fact that there is still great need, in the light of the present controversy about the Deity of Christ, to make use of this prayer; for the controversies of today, and the confusion resulting from them, are just as perplexing as the confusion of a hundred years ago. God bless the Saints, and all who would know the truth, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.