(4/16/99)
"Some of the General Authorities [the Apostles] have had assigned to them a special calling; they possess a special gift; they are sustained as prophets, seers, and revelators, which gives them a special spiritual endowment in connection with their teaching of the people. They have the right, the power, and authority to declare the mind and will of God to his people, subject to the over-all power and authority of the President of the Church." — J. Reuben Clark, Jr., "Follow the Living Prophets," p. 34-35

(6/2/99)
"God has given to all his creations upon the earth, to the very earth itself, a due and proper individual form. Every plant, every animal has its own shape that lasts through life; and to the successor of each comes that same shape. The minerals of the earth have each their due and proper form when left to obey the law and order of their creation. Lastly, man has his form to him given, and his offspring after him. The laws of God, as shadowed in his works, know only order and form; these they inexorably demand. When God gave to his children his greatest gift, without which they were lost to him, he gave the gift in due and proper form and figure,—a man, the Christ who was in the image of the Father—our Father, Christ's Father." — J. Reuben Clark, Jr., "Behold the Lamb of God, [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1991], p. 179

(7/17/03)
"Atheists have jeered at the naiveté of the boy's story, and at the credulity of them who believe in him. To those who so jeer, it need only be said: Repent and turn to God, lest his judgments come upon you.

"Others, professing Christ, have ridiculed the fact that God and the Son should come to a boy. But is this stranger than that the Lord should come to young Samuel in the temple after nightfall, and call Samuel to his service, or that the spirit of the Lord should rest upon the youth David, to the performance of his task?

"Others have scoffed at his struggle with the evil power, and at his coming to, lying upon his back upon the ground, at the shaft of light, at the appearances of the heavenly beings, and at his weariness, declaring that all this was but an epileptic fit.

"But what will these scoffers say of the experience of Saul, of the light that shone about him, of his falling to the ground, of his blindness, so that he must be led by the hand, of his extreme exhaustion? Will any Christian dare characterize that as an epileptic fit?

"And what of Daniel's experience, when his vision came to him, when he was left without strength, fell into a deep sleep on his face which was towards the ground, when the personage spoke to him, and gave him commands, and then afterwards Daniel was strengthened. Was this, too, epilepsy?

"Was Jacob's wrestling with the Lord, at the time the Lord gave him the name of Israel, and he saw God face to face,—an epileptic fit?

"When at the time of the transfiguration, a great light appeared, and heavenly beings appeared, with whom Jesus talked, while Peter, James, and John slept, and awakened confused, but saw the glory of these beings? Was this, too, a fit?

"When Jesus went to the Garden to pray on the night of the betrayal, while Peter, James, and John waited 'a stone's cast' away, and falling to the ground on his face, he prayed: 'Abba, Father, all things are possible unto thee; take away this cup from me: nevertheless not what I will, but what thou wilt.' Was this reality, or some physical impairment?

"And what of Stephen, the first martyr of the Primitive Church, who, responsive to the enquiry of the high priest, bore his testimony of the Christ to the Council of the Jews, and they hearing and frenzied by Satan 'gnashed on him with their teeth,' and he, 'being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.' Are Christians ready to dismiss this as epilepsy, or as an hallucination? And before they answer yes, let them listen and try to hear the crunching of Stephen's bones as the mob stoned this martyr to death, Saul witnessing; let them try to vision Stephen, with pain-taut, agonized features, as his spirit struggled to be free, but with glorious exaltation in his eyes, crying out as he neared death:

"'Lord Jesus, receive my spirit.... Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.'

"And what of Pentecost, and the 'sound from heaven as of a rushing mighty wind,' and the coming 'unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them,' and of their speaking in tongues, being filled with the Holy Ghost, and then the great multitude, 'devout men, out of every nation under heaven,' each hearing the Apostles' testimony in his own tongue, saying among themselves, what meaneth this, and some, mocking, declaring: 'These men are full of new wine.' Was this, too, epilepsy, a mob hallucination? Deny the verity of this, Christians who can, and then try to get on your knees and pray to God, through our mediator, Jesus Christ.

"The vision of Joseph, when he saw the Father and the Son, was real, just as all these we have named were real. It was not the vagary or hallucination of a disease-preyed mind. Joseph saw, even as Moses saw,—the one no less certainly than the other.

"The Spirit hath borne its witness to me of this, and I so declare, in the name of the Son. Amen." -- J. Reuben Clark, "On the Way to Immortality and Eternal Life," [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1949], p. 115

(8/17/03)
"'Clean hands and pure hearts,' was a sermon sung this morning. Clean hands--clean of defilement of our fellow men, clean from the goods of our fellow men, clean from the blood of our fellow men; that must be the cleanliness which must be ours. Pure hearts--pure before the Lord; greed and lust and covetousness banished from our hearts, standing pure before God, that he may look therein and see there nothing which would cause him pain, and nothing which would make us blush. I have often said: 'I wonder how we would all stand, and individually how I would stand, if I were told that God was yonder in the mountain and I could go to him if I wished.' I wonder if my life has been such that I could go and stand before the Being who could look me through and see my secret thoughts and hopes and ambitions. Unless and until, my brothers and sisters, we could stand that test, we are not living as the Lord would have us live." — J. Reuben Clark, "General Conference Reports," October 1935, p. 89

(12/21/04)
"'And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, * * * every man according to his works.' (Revelation 20:12-13.) Thus it is stated clearly that we are to be judged by our works, by our accomplishments, by what we do and not wholly or primarily by what we say. Concerning this important matter Jesus the Son of God himself has said: 'Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.' (Matthew 7:21.)" - J. Reuben Clark, Jr., "Conference Report," April 1934, p. 108
 

(9/3/05)
"Your message should be: I know that God lives; that he has revealed Himself personally, by which we know He is in the likeness of man; that in answer to prayer His Son Jesus Christ has revealed Himself to His Prophet Joseph Smith and restored again the true plan of salvation; that by means of His revelations the true Church of Christ is organized upon earth, with an authorized Priesthood to officiate in its ordinances, and to receive continual revelation for the building up of His Church upon the earth. Repent all ye people, therefore, turn from your sins, be baptized, and by God's authorized servants ye shall receive the Holy Ghost as a light to your path, and a guide to your feet." - J. Reuben Clark, "Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints," 6 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-75), 4:341