I Testify of Jesus Christ

The Testimony of Jesus

By President Bruce R. McConkie

Of the First Council of the Seventy

1972

I asked the Lord what he would have me say on this occasion 

and received the distinct and affirmative impression 

that I should bear testimony 

that Jesus Christ is the Son of the living God 

and that he was crucified 

for the sins of the world.

I have what is known as 

“the testimony of Jesus,” 

which means that I know 

by personal revelation from 

the Holy Spirit 

to my soul that 

Jesus is the Lord; 

that he brought 

life and immortality to light through the gospel; 

and that he has restored 

in this day the fullness of his everlasting truth, 

so that we with the ancients 

can become inheritors of his presence 

in eternity.

Now a testimony comes from the Spirit of God. 

There is no other source. 

And when a testimony is borne, 

it has to be borne by the 

power of the Spirit. 

And so I desire and pray fervently 

that I may be guided by that power on this occasion, 

so that what I say 

will be the mind and will and voice 

of the Lord.

I desire to bear testimony to myself, 

to you as members of the Church, 

and to all the world. 

As I speak by the power of the Spirit, 

if my testimony is to 

sink into your hearts 

and be in you a 

well springing up unto eternal life—

if your hearts are to burn within you, 

so that you will know of the

 truth and divinity of the words spoken—

you must be guided by 

the power of the same Spirit, and so 

I pray that your hearts 

may be opened and that your 

souls will burn within you and 

you will know of the verity of what is said.

I shall take the liberty, 

both by way of testimony and to set the tone for what is involved, 

to read these words of my own composition:

I Believe in Christ

I believe in Christ, he is my king;

With all my heart to him I’ll sing;

I’ll raise my voice in praise and joy,

In grand amens my tongue employ.

I believe in Christ, he is God’s Son;

On earth to dwell his soul did come;

He healed the sick, the dead he raised,

Good works were his, his name be praised.

I believe in Christ, O blessed name,

As Mary’s Son he came to reign

’Mid mortal men, his earthly kin,

To save them from the woes of sin.

I believe in Christ, who marked the path,

Who did gain all his Father hath,

Who said to men: “Come, follow me,

That ye, my friends, with God may be.”

I believe in Christ—my Lord, my God—

My feet he plants on gospel sod;

I’ll worship him with all my might;

He is the source of truth and light.

I believe in Christ, he ransoms me;

From Satan’s grasp he sets me free,

And I shall live with joy and love

In his eternal courts above.

I believe in Christ, he stands supreme;

From him I’ll gain my fondest dream;

And while I strive through grief and pain,

His voice is heard: “Ye shall obtain.”

I believe in Christ; so come what may,

With him I’ll stand in that great day

When on this earth he comes again,

To rule among the sons of men.

We dwelt with our Father in the eternities 

that preceded this life. 

We were present when the great cry went forth 

from him through the midst of eternity: 

“Whom shall I send to be my son, 

to work out the infinite and eternal atoning sacrifice, 

to put in full force and operation 

the terms and conditions of my eternal plan?” 

We were there, 

and in the poetic language 

of Elder Orson F. Whitney, 

we beheld:

“A stature mingling strength with grace

Of meek though Godlike mien,

The glory of whose countenance

Outshone the noonday sheen.

Whiter his hair than ocean spray,

Or frost of alpine hill.

He spake:—attention grew more grave,

The stillness e’en more still.

“‘Father!’—the voice like music fell,

Clear as the murmuring flow

Of mountain streamlet trickling down

From heights of virgin snow.

‘Father,’ it said, ‘since one must die,

Thy children to redeem,

Whilst earth, as yet unformed and void,

With pulsing life shall teem;

“‘And mighty Michael foremost fall,

That mortal man may be,

And chosen Savior Thou must send,

Lo, here am I—send me!

I ask, I seek no recompense,

Save that which then were mine;

Mine be the willing sacrifice,

The endless glory Thine.’”

That is to say, 

the atoning sacrifice of the Lord 

is the center of all things, 

as far as we are concerned. 

God our Heavenly Father created us, 

without which we would have no existence. 

And Christ the Son has redeemed us, 

without which there would be neither 

immortality 

nor eternal life.

Now, my voice is the voice of testimony. 

I bear record of 

the truth 

and 

divinity of this work. 

But my voice is not alone. 

It is not one voice crying in a wilderness.

The testimony that I bear 

is just an echo of the testimonies 

that have been borne by faithful people... through time. 

And if there is one wondrous thing about this work, 

it is that 

it is true; 

that there is saving efficacy and virtue and force 

in the gospel of Jesus Christ; 

and that the power of God unto salvation 

is found here in the tops of these everlasting hills; 

and this 

glorious truth 

is spreading out to all the nations of the earth 

as rapidly as people in them accept 

the testimony and witness that is borne 

and believe the truths that our fellow representatives proclaim. 

This is a day of which God has said that 

all of gathered Israel 

shall be witnesses of his name. 

“… ye are my witnesses, saith the Lord, that I am God.” 

(Isa. 43:12.)

I proclaim these truths 

and desire in my heart to have 

men believe and obey. 

I think I can say with Nephi 

that the fullness of mine intent is 

to persuade men to come unto 

the God of Abraham and 

the God of Isaac and 

the God of Jacob 

and be saved—

because the work is true, 

because salvation is in Christ. 

And God being our witness, 

it is true. 

In the name of Jesus Christ. 

Amen.