@ Sermon for This Week By J. PERCY GODDARD, Park Stake President, Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints _ The Lord, our God, rewards abundantly those who serve Him and keep His commandments. As the psalmist tells us, “The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: and in keeping them is great reward.” .. On the other hand, disregard for divine laws and disobedience thereto bring in the long run, disappointment and sorrow to individuals and calamity and. tragedy to nations. The appalling and terrifying conditions now prevailing in the world demonstrate the fruits of unrighteousness and godlessness. The two tragic world wars in the past 30 years, as well as the cold war still in progress, have resulted largely from the prevalence of selfishness, covetousness and greed in the hearts of men the world over. In our country today. the conflict between so-called capital and labor, which is wasting billions of dollars and threatening the very foundations of our nation’s economy, is due to the same fundamental causes. How different our world would be if the teachings of Christ were guiding the actions of men and of nations. . To very many people the Christian emphasis on unselfishness, benevolence and self-denial appears impractical and perhaps forbidding. Christ taught, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himia self and take up his cross and follow me.” (Matt. 16:24.) But He also said, “Come unto me: all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly of heart: and ye shall find rest to your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matt? 11:28-30.) -. The Master emphasized unselfish service to our fellow men which often involves sacrifices. Many shy from the idea of self-denial as something repressive but many thousands have learned by experience that from selfsacrificing service there is two-fold reward. First there is the joy they get in witnessing and in participating in the rejoicing of the beneficiaries. But more impor- tant is their own spiritual : ee uplift and development, their own elevation of soul which may bring indescribable joy and gladness of heart compared with which the passing satisfaction enjoyed from selfishly acquired. gains or through self-indulgent and worldly pleasures are bleak and cold, and often bitter, A Most Diligent Rewarder of Faithful : The Lord is a most generous paymaster. As we read dn Hebrews, “He that believeth in God must believe that he is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek (Heb. 11:6.) Him.” On the meaning of self-denial, Harry Emerson Fosdick has well said, “Self-denial is not negative repression, but the cost of positive achievement. If we will not give up evil for good, we shall surely give up good for evil. Self-denial is inescapable.’ It is the price men pay when they have positively set their hearts upon some chosen goal. The difference between men does not lie in the presence of self-denial in their experience. That comes inevitably in every life. The difference lies in the ends for which men deny themselves.” If we would help build a better world we must realize that this can only be done on the foundation of individual righteousness. We must be willing to practice self-discipline and to teach our children that Christian sacrifice for fundamental principles and truths pays off in rich rewards, both to individuals and to society. ; In his last important public address Daniel Webster gave this warning to the American people: No One Can Tell of Catastrophe “And let me say, gentlemen, that if we and our posterity shall be true to the Christian religion, if we and they shall live always in the fear of God, and shall respect His commandments, if we and they shall maintain just moral senti- ments and control such the heart conscientious and life, we convictions may have of duty the as shall highest hopes of the future fortunes of our country... . But if we and our posterity reject religious instruction and authority, violate the rules of eternal justice, trifle with the injunctions of morality, and recklessly destroy the political constitution which holds us together, no man can tell how sudden a catastrophe may overwhelm us that shall bury all our glory in profound obscurity.” ~ In 1940 Robert Gordon Sproul, president of the Uni« versity of California, was reported by the public press as follows: _. “In recent years many men resolved the conflict between Science and religion in favor of science. Today as they stand at one of the great decisive moments in history, when the engines of the machine age are destroying the lives and liberties. of. man, would any of them dare to answer that science suffices? Rally the Recuperative Powers of Mankind “There is a great and imperative necessity for some directive and in some degree complementary force that shall rally the recuperative powers of mankind and win the race with catastrophe. “It is a greater need than education. It is not the minds but the souls of men that must be regenerated if catastrophe is not surely to come. Men and nations must have not so much a change of mind but a change of heart. They must listen to God and obey, lest they listen to Hitler or Stalin and grovel. “The world ‘will-not be fit for human habitation until ite people have developed those inner qualities of mind and spirit. that produce great living. The American heritage cannot for long exist without a firmly grounded religious faith.” _ “And he that taketh not his cross and followeth after me is not worthy of me.” (Matt. 10:38.) is: Microfilm Reading Offered Public - Microfilm reading machines of the Genealogical society, Church ef Jesus Saints, Christ of Latter-day at the society’s library, N. Main, now are available to the public five nights a week from 5-9 o’clock in addition the regular daytime hours. to As in the past, however, the ‘library reading soon will be open daily and only on Thursday and | Friday. evenings,