Joseph F. Merrill – Gospel Study

Joseph F. Merrill

Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (October 8, 1931 – February 3, 1952)

General Conference Addresses

October 1951 General Conference
- Why Be Foolish?
  - “It is perhaps not so important what the drinker does to himself great as this is—as to what he does to others—how his drinking affects others.”
April 1951 General Conference
- Repent—Live the Golden Rule
  - “Is there not existent in many places among us a reprehensible indifference and laxity relative to these things? Yet do we not teach tolerance and free agency? is a question sometimes asked. Why interfere with other people’s business? This is a Satan-inspired question. We certainly are expected to defend ourselves against the marauder, the robber, the despoiler of the sanctity of our homes and families and the destroyer of things we hold sacred and dear—as life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”
October 1950 General Conference
- Inflation or Selfishness Self-controlled
  - “It is commendable selfishness that motivates our missionaries—their desire to help and bless their fellow men. They are activated by the spirit of the Golden Rule. But selfishness ceases to be commendable when it goes beyond the limits of the Golden Rule. It then becomes more or less sinful, depending, of course, on the circumstances.”
April 1950 General Conference
- Repentance…or Slavery
  - “I feel that an immediate greater danger of destruction of the best interests of the people in the United States lies within our borders rather than beyond them. And these dangers are rooted in the unreasonable and damnable selfishness that is manifest on every level of our society by individuals, groups, and organizations.”
  - “Generally, socialism is an enemy of free enterprise in the development of which, I repeat, this country has become the greatest on earth. Then why does any honest, patriotic, intelligent citizen of America prefer socialism to free enterprise? Is it not in free enterprise that free agency, a divine gift to every human being, finds an environment favorable to growth and development and to living in harmony with our beautiful doctrine of eternal progression?”
October 1949 General Conference
- Freedom…or Monopolistic Domination by Selfish Groups
  - “Powerful forces are being organized and heavily financed to defeat in these elections all candidates who voted for or support the Taft-Hartley labor law. If this movement is successful, misguided leaders of some organized groups will dominate the Congress of the United States, the White House, and every other office of the government, the functions of which would help to bring into existence a welfare state—that is, one which would operate according to the principles of socialism. Not that these leaders favor such a state, but the things they demand would inevitably bring it about.”
  - “If selfishness, greed, unrighteous motives, and ignoble ambition shall dominate in our elections, the freedom that has been the pride and glory of America will vanish.”
April 1949 General Conference
- Some Fundamentals of Gospel Teachings
  - “It is by the power of the Holy Ghost that great multitudes of Church members testify that they really know that God lives. And I am one of that number.”
October 1948 General Conference
- Fundamental Teachings of the Church
  - “The one who prays need not be deceived by impressions that come into his mind in answer to prayer. Divine impressions have accompanying characteristics of genuineness.”
April 1948 General Conference
- Eat Flesh Sparingly
  - “Latter-day Saints, why should you complain of the scarcity or high price of flesh foods? Have you not known that in any case you should eat them sparingly? The Lord told you so. I have quoted from some of the highest authorities in the world to the effect that they are not essential to your physical well-being. But Americans did not know this until God revealed it to them through his Prophet, Joseph Smith.”
October 1947 General Conference
- Liquor Advertising
  - “Let us admit that alcoholism is a disease. However, there is one peculiarity about the disease—it is never acquired by anyone who does not take his first drink. This is a fact. Let everyone remember it.”
April 1947 General Conference
- Did Joseph Smith See God?
  - “This suggests a word relative to free agency—the freedom the Father has given to every child born in mortality to do as he pleases so long as he does not infringe upon or deny this freedom to others. Multitudes of people in the world today deny the existence of a loving and merciful Heavenly Father because he permits war with its associated terrors and horrors. Such persons do not understand the divine doctrine of free agency, else they would never hold the Lord responsible for the wickedness, crimes, and horrors in which his children engage. The Lord is merciful, loving, and good to all his children who will refrain from doing evil and follow the way of life he has given them.”
  - “The Lord will not fail in his purpose with those of his children who will render obedience to, and cooperate with, him.”
  - “But it is very largely to the teachings and labors of the Prophet Joseph Smith that the modern world is indebted for a correct interpretation of the plan of life, salvation, and exaltation that the Lord has provided for his children to follow if they would care to return to his presence.”
October 1946 General Conference
- The Gloomy Outlook and a Remedy
  - “Selfishness, greed, smoking, drinking, profanity, Sabbath breaking, are examples. It is needless to say that any Latter-day Saint who indulges in any of these things, or in many others not mentioned, is violating his covenants. But since many Latter-day Saints do indulge, to a greater or less extent in these things, the need of repentance is ever present among us, and the obligation to repent is much greater with us than it is with other sinners who have not covenanted to keep the commandments of the Lord.”
April 1946 General Conference
- Some Current Problems
  - “What are these conditions, the novice may ask? Since I do not qualify as an expert in these matters I will not venture to answer the question except to say that if each party to the marriage contract will faithfully live the Golden Rule in all of his or her relations with the partner, then the marriage undoubtedly will be successful. A Latter-day Saint marriage is a union of two equal partners, obligated to build a home where mutual love, respect, trust, fidelity, tolerance, patience, and kindness are some of the essential operating factors. And in the home where these prevail the ugly specter of divorce will never enter.”
October 1945 General Conference
- Scientific Proof for the Word of Wisdom
  - “We teach that our religion is a very practical one and, being a way of life, touches every phase of our daily living.”
  - “In passing, it may be well to remark that the revelation on the Word of Wisdom was given at a time when scientific men knew but little, if anything, about basic facts of the science of dietetics. Since those days, and within the last fifty years, a vast amount of research has been done, and that pertinent to matters spoken of in the Word of Wisdom is confirmatory of the truths therein revealed. This fact should give joy and satisfaction to all Saints, for it is irrefutable testimony of the divinity of that great document. Time will not permit me now to go into detail concerning this testimony. I repeat, however, that a multitude of scientifically discovered facts support the Word of Wisdom, and, so far as I know, none refute it.”
  - “Drink brings cruelty into the home; it walks arm in arm with poverty; its companions are disease and plague; it puts chastity to flight; it knows neither honesty nor fair dealing; it is a total stranger to truth; it drowns consciousness, it is the bodyguard of evil; it curses all who touch it.”
April 1945 General Conference
- The Value of the Individual
  - “He attacks us where we are weak, not where we are strong. He stirs us up to doubt, to question, to criticize, to hate, to be slothful, discouraged, sinful, and wicked. He is at the bottom of dissension among the Saints. He is ever near at hand to make attempts to overcome and lead us away. I have in mind not only us in this meeting but people generally. Undoubtedly Satan’s influence and power in the world today is greater than ever before.”
  - “There is but one way of safety—live honestly, sincerely, and whole-heartedly near to the Lord and be wholly loyal to the leadership of the First Presidency of the Church.”
October 1944 General Conference
- Winning the Peace
  - “We are all in need of repentance. Let each of us search his own heart and make sure that it beats in harmony with the divine will and then act accordingly.”
April 1944 General Conference
- Efficacy of Prayer
  - “As a spirit child of our Father in heaven, man not only inherited His divine form, but also the divine attributes, even though it may be in minute quantities only.”
  - “I have seen my father sometimes too busy to stop to eat his breakfast, but never too busy to kneel with his family in prayer before he left.”
October 1943 General Conference
- Precept and Example
  - “I feel, therefore, that we are obligated, whether we like it or not, to deny ourselves some indulgences that, perhaps are not particularly sinful, but the example of which would be bad. We must remember our obligations. We have these brethren and sisters, some of whom are weak. They are ours. We are our brothers’ keeper, and they are looking to us for guidance. They are looking to us as examples. I think we might remember continually that we are obligated to teach by example, and therefore we must deny ourselves of what many indulge in.”
April 1943 General Conference
- Our Obligations
  - “While we are obligated to live worthily we must not feel that it is an easy thing to do. Why is it not easy? Because we inherit weaknesses; we are living in a sinful world; we are powerfully influenced by our environment; and the temptations of the evil one all impose handicaps.”
  - “The Lord has given each of us, I think, a will power great enough, if used with His help, to live acceptably. But we must have His help.”
  - “No one can justify his failures by accusing another of dereliction of duty. Each man has his free agency.”
October 1942 General Conference
- Priesthood Activity
  - “Priesthood means activity—that a quorum organization is a group of brethren banded together in order to do things, not merely to study about things.”
  - “To fail in our duty is to do something in the light of our testimony that is positively absurd, perfectly ridiculous, absolutely foolish; to know that this is the work of the Lord and that the plan we teach is the plan that will lead into the celestial kingdom if we follow it unto the very end, and then deliberately, through our foolishness, through our weakness, through our indifference, st£p aside from that plan, out of the path, and thus endanger our admittance into the celestial kingdom and therefore endanger our achieving the great reward that we will receive if we are true and faithful, is to do something that in the light of rationality is perfectly absurd, knowing that the gospel is true.”
  - “We must not get an idea that it is easy to live according to the plan we teach. To be sure, the plan we teach, if followed, will yield more joy, more satisfaction, more real pleasure in life than any other; but yet, we must remember that it isn’t easy to live that plan, because of our environment, because of our temptations, because of our weaknesses.”
April 1942 General Conference
- Quorum Business
  - “There is no such thing as force in the Church. There is no desire to use force, even if it could be used.”
October 1941 General Conference
- Closed Shops
  - “But alas this ideal condition is not in the offing. Instead we are faced with reality and a condition so pregnant with evil that we can save ourselves only by immediate, unceasing, wise, and powerful efforts. The preservation of our inherited liberties and of our God-given free agencies is worth every thing necessary for us to give in order that we might re-possess and maintain them. Otherwise, will not the America of the future be devoid of the essentials that have made the America we inherited, a land of glorious promise?”
April 1941 General Conference
- Be Not Deceived
  - “Revelation is needed not only to guide the organization and teachings of the Church, but also to enable the members to function acceptably in their respective duties. One thing that is characteristic of the Latter-day Saints is their assurance that God lives, that this is His accepted Church and that He helps His children according to their worthiness and needs.”
  - “Satan tempts us where we are most vulnerable. He misleads a few into believing that the promptings that come from him are divine revelations. These false prophets in turn are seemingly so devout, so humble, so earnest and sincere that they, with Satan’s help, are able to deceive and mislead many others—only those, however, who profess a belief in modern revelation. Thus heresies spring up, faith in our leaders is destroyed and the devil laughs because of his successes. The foolish who have been blinded have been led to believe that they are serving the cause of the Master when the fact is they are dupes of the devil. I speak plainly to avoid being misunderstood.”
  - “There are adulterous men going about lying to and trying to deceive people into believing that the President and leaders of the Church have lost the spirit of their callings and have repudiated some Gospel principles. This is one of the ways in which the devil is working.”
  - “Yes, the devil is among the Saints. Let them beware. He uses various means and methods—those that are found to be most effective, depending on many pertinent factors. He catches often those who are off their guard. None of us is secure from his wiles. To be as secure as may be we must have the help of the Lord. This is available if we worthily seek it. Every one in the Church must have it if he does well the work authoritatively assigned him to do. But no officer, no missionary can fully enjoy the work of his calling in the Church without the spirit thereof, which is given through the Holy Ghost.”
  - “The spirit of the Lord is comforting, joy-producing, love-inspiring, help-giving. The spirit of the devil is manifested in fault-finding, envy, selfishness, hatred, deceit, dishonesty, and produces misery, sin and crime.”
  - “When in doubt go on your knees in humility with an open mind and a pure heart with a real desire to do the Lord’s will, and pray earnestly and sincerely for divine guidance. Persist in praying in this way until you get an answer that fills your bosom with joy and satisfaction. It will be God’s answer.”
October 1940 General Conference
- Growing in Intelligence
  - “I wish to give emphasis to the fact that since we are spirit children of our Father in heaven it is perfectly natural that we should possess at least in embryo and microscopic quantities the attributes of our Father. And looking at these attributes as they are developed in our finest characters—as they were beautifully exhibited in the earthly life of Jesus, for example, we may get concrete ideas about the nature of God who possesses these attributes in perfection.”
  - “Intelligence is His glory. Intelligence governed by wisdom is also the glory of man, the attribute that chiefly sets him apart from the mere animal.”
  - “Free agency entails upon man a weighty obligation—that of being responsible for his conduct.”
  - “If we please our Maker we must grow; therefore we must discipline ourselves, that is, we must bring our conduct into harmony with the inexorable laws of divinity that govern growth.”
April 1940 General Conference
- The Sabbath
  - “If we please the Lord, among other things we must do is to keep holy the Sabbath day. And the way to do this has not essentially changed from the days of Moses and ancient Israel down through the ages to the present moment.”
  - “Let us show our confidence in the Lord and in the divinity of this Church by abstaining from participation in the sinful practices of Babylon, so common on every hand.”
October 1939 General Conference
- Labor and Capital
  - “In modern America the love of substance and power waxes hot while the love of man waxes cold, a condition that the Church Welfare Plan and the teachings of the Church are striving hard to correct among the Mormon people. What is the remedy for the conditions indicated? Fundamentally, I think, it is a deep and thorough-going repentance by all grades of society—the elimination of greed, selfishness and sin, the recognition of the truth that we have a Father in heaven, that all men are brothers, that righteousness only will bring peace and security to peoples and nations—this being the only basis upon which a peaceful, happy America can be built.”
April 1939 General Conference
- Learning and Preaching the Gospel
  - “Would not one of the most effective means of securing highway safety be the elimination of the drinking driver ? We hear much these days about personal liberty, especially when measures to control the liquor traffic are being considered. But I maintain no drinking driver should be allowed on the public highways. The danger to life, limb and property is too great for this.”
  - “It is our duty to grow in intelligence, knowledge, understanding, power and wisdom. There is no excuse in this day for any normal adult being ignorant of why liquor and tobacco are not good for man.”
  - “The Church has a major obligation that it can never escape—that of preaching the Gospel of Christ, of doing missionary work. Whether we will or not, we are our brother’s keeper.”
  - “Let us be careful of our methods, else our labors may do more harm than good. Let love permeate all our acts and wisdom characterize all our efforts.”
October 1938 General Conference
- Practice What You Preach
  - “To believe, to profess a faith, may be easy; to do, is always more or less difficult, so difficult at times that none of us is perfect in all things.”
  - “We listen to smooth-tongued demagogues, accept as truth their wild vagaries and enthusiastically follow their cunning and selfish leadership. Why? Is it not in the hope of getting for ourselves more and more for less and less? We become adherents of various groups, pay membership dues, sometimes participate in disturbances, and engage in various other kinds of activities. Why? Is it not in the hope of getting more and more for less and less?”
  - “The Lord expects us to be consistent. We are to be sincere in the professions of our faith and make our conduct square with our professions.”
April 1938 General Conference
- The Word of Wisdom
  - “Help will not be accepted by them if it is given offensively. And so I repeat, tact, good judgment and abundant love must characterize successful efforts to win our people away from the use of liquor and tobacco, and to keep them away.”
  - “No reasonable person wishes to go deliberately contrary to the “will of God.” Certainly he would prefer not to do so. But the cravings and the weaknesses of the flesh and the temptations of Satan are responsible for many slips that the individual in his better moments is sorry for making.”
  - “Have we yet really come to know that there is everything to gain by keeping God’s commandments? Why do we not keep them?”
October 1937 General Conference
- Need for Greater Faith
  - “God does hear and answer the prayer that is made to him in faith, if the prayer is accompanied also with the desire to fulfill all the conditions of faith.”
April 1937 General Conference
- Chief Characteristics
  - “We are willing to bless any non-Mormon man or organization for the good he or it may do. But this must not imply that we are ready to grant that what is done by any others, however great the good, is accomplished in the authority of the Priesthood. In fact we hold otherwise. Priesthood is a characteristic of Christ’s Church and of none other.”
  - “The truth of this sacred Book is another fact that admits of no compromise. Yet we do not quarrel with honest doubters who do not believe in the divinity of this Book. But we are sorry for their unbelief, recognizing that faith is a gift of God, withheld from everyone who does not fulfill the conditions necessary to have faith.”
  - “Should we not be very grateful to our Father that he has given us faith to believe? Not boastfully but very humbly and in deep gratitude we accept the gift of faith as a special favor of the God we worship.”
April 1933 General Conference
- Selfishness
  - “But in this orderly world of ours nothing takes place without a cause. This is a truth taught by science and is familiar to all students of science. It is a truth that has also been taught to the Latter-day Saints since the early days of the Church.”
  - “Of all our sins the sin of selfishness is one of the most common and one of the greatest.”
October 1932 General Conference
- Honesty
  - “I sometimes think that a dishonest person should not be fellowshipped in the Church until he repents.”
  - “The government cannot be left to professional politicians to elect themselves and to rule in their selfish interests. If this were done the people would suffer from unjust laws, unjustly and oppressively administered. Experience abundantly testifies to this truth.”
April 1932 General Conference
- Individual Revelation
  - “Is it not greatly encouraging, however, to know that we may get light and wisdom from God our Father to guide us aright in solving our individual problems and to help us in our private affairs ? If we can be so fortunate as to have wisdom enough to manage well our personal affairs and to carry acceptably our particular responsibilities, why should we worry about revelations to the Church?”
  - “Weak as we are, disobedient as we are, hard hearted and stubborn as we are, I wonder if it would not be more becoming of us to fear new revelation than to desire it. Of course we believe “God will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to” his kingdom. But I fear that we are not yet ready for or worthy of the revelation of these things.”
  - “A violation of law entails, in justice, a recompense. Hence, we suffer, in general, not because God whimsically afflicts us, but because of violation of some kind of law or laws.”
  - “If selfishness shall continue as the ruling motive in human affairs, chaos will result.”
  - “Now the sooner we believe the Lord’s way is the best way, the better it will be for us, the country and the world. It is not only the best way, it is the only way to secure permanent prosperity. If we do not accept this truth and act accordingly we shall continue to suffer, for the Lord will not be mocked. His prophets have spoken.”
October 1931 General Conference
- Service in the Kingdom
  - “My experience has taught me from my boyhood, that service in this Church cannot be acceptably rendered except with the help of the Spirit of the Lord, and that this Spirit is given only to the worthy. All my life I have been taught that the Lord helps him who helps himself. Inasmuch as he has given us intelligence he expects us, when any duty is assigned us, to do the very best we can to discharge that duty, seeking his help in the meantime. I believe that my experience teaches me also that that help may not be received, no matter how fervent the prayer, unless the prayer is worthily made. That is to say, I must work if I am going to succeed. I must pray, if I am going to succeed. All my life I have been taught, and I have experienced the fact, that the Lord does answer the prayer of the worthy. Whenever I have prayed worthily I have never been disappointed. So I believe in prayer. I know that prayer is a source of strength and of help. I have proved this many, many times.”
  - “I spoke of being nominated by the First Presidency and the Council of Twelve. I would not have you think for a moment, my brethren and sisters, that this is all there is to it. If this were an honor given by men only I would not feel so much overwhelmed by it. But it is an honor that comes from God. These brethren are only his agents, his instruments in the call that has come to me.”

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