Show DISCOURSE by P president mid ent bewham young oct 23 1853 I 1 wish to bear my testimony before athis congregation coni gre gation to the religion which is called morn 9 11 I 1 Is tern and lid preached by the behrs of the same profession fes sion I 1 in n a all 11 the world and that we believe is the gospel of salvation and calculated to save all the honest in heart aiho A ho wish to be saved this is ia my testimony concerning it it is the power of god unto tal salvation to au all who believe and obey it the wo words a obey it ii I 1 have added to the text as an it is given to us by king james translators to say it is the power of god unto salvation to them that believe and that be the end of it then the people could not be saved by it it is quite possible some may argue tte the point as it is held out in the new testament reading and iu in their own estimation justly but to me one argument is sufficient to lay the matter at rest iu my mind viz vie a person who disobeys the gospel and vid oper operates vites against it may not only believe it but know it to be true therefore I 1 read thi the scripture thus this gospel that we preach is if the power of god unto salvation to all who believe and N obey it I 1 my testimony is based upon experience upon my own experience in connection with that obtained by observing others to me it has become positively true no doubt V ren remains tins upon my mind I 1 whatever as to the power of the revealed will of heaven to rn man upon n the minds ads of the people when the principles of salvation are pet before thelby them by the authorized mi ministers iii of heaven tile the heavenly truth commends itself to every persons judgment and to their faith and more especially to the senses of those who wish to be honest with themselves with their goe god arid and with their neighbor I 1 yet I 1 must admit that av all men are arc not operated upon alike the 04 evidence of bf truth comes move more forcibly to the understandings of sortie some than I 1 others this is owing to numerous influences the gospel may be preached to an individual and the truth commend itself to tile conscience of that person creating but a little faith in its truth to 0 o which there may be at an addition made ifa if a pesoa pesca can call receive a little it proves they may receive more if they can receive the first and second principles with an upright feeling they i I 1 may receive receive still more a and 0 d the words of the prophet be fulfilled he seeing and understand ing inythe the mind of man and the operations of the Af different terent spirits that have gone abroad into the world and knowing the ways of the lord and the vision of his mind being opened to those things we call mysteries said aard 4 whom shall he teach knowledge and whom shall he make to understand I 1 doc doctrine trinel them that are weaned from the I 1 mik mill cud and drawn from the breasts for precept be upon precept precept upon precept line upon una line line upon line here a little and there a buttle I 1 f that in fe he gives a little to his humble follow I 1 fars today to day and if they improve upon it tomor to mor raw he alil 91 give them brittle more mere and the next fiedt day a little more he does not add to that they do 40 not im improve prove upon but they are required to k continually improve upon the knowledge they already possess and thus obtain a store of wis wisdom dorn it Is in plain ilion that we way may receive the truth and know every arery portion of the soul that the gospel is the power of god unto salvation that it is fa the way to life eternal still there may be added to this thi more diore power wisdom knowledge and understanding onder der cler the apostle does not say grow W 2 in grace and in fit the die knowledge of the die truth M as jesus did no but it reads grow lit in grace and in the knowledg know knowledge led of our oar lord and savior jesus christ which I 1 1 I ch L implies ies a growing in strength wisdom and understanding is d or id ing as an he ha did it I 1 is th the privilege of all saints to grow and increase in understanding and to cubrda if they receive a litt littlejr little leit jt L u their privilege to improve it ori that MO tithe and on BO more anty they abay be I 1 one that believes it and then obeys it with an honest intent the inquiry may ariae in the minds of sortie some as an to how far they shall obey it it every son and daughter of god is ia expected to obey with a willing heart every word w which ia ich the lord has spoken and which he wilt will ati the future speak to us it is expected that we hearken to tile the revelations I 1 of his will and adhere to thern them cleave to them with all our might for this thib is salvation and anything short of this clips tile the salvation and the glory of thosa the saints lints consequently we are here today to days day engaged in ill the administration of the ordinance of the sacrament or of the lords supper how does it appear to you and what are your sensations when the servants of the lord prevent present to you the emblems or of his body do you believe you receive life do you realize that you receive any benefit do you yon feel fee that you will receive fresh strength or additional knowledge this oy holy ordinance or do you do it because others do it do you partake of these tokens of the love of the redeemer because it is a mere custom suffice ice it to say varied aw aber tile the feelings among the human family 11 upon this subject A tf if you were to ask a certain class of the priests of christendom what ahby think of the bread and wine administered for the sacrament of the lords supper upper they will declare that the bread is ia the uc ac flesh and the wine the real blood bloo dof of him hill who was slain for the 64 sins sine of the woi boil I 1 if you ask another class of men mea what benefit they derive from par partaking taking of the sacrament from eating and drinking the emblems odthe of the body and blood of christ they reply it is merely a token of our fellowship with each other Is there any life any power any real and substantial benefit to be obtained by ad adhering herink los to and obeying faithfully this thia orai ordinance nance what do the latter day saints think about it do they understand tile the true of this thia ordinance perhaps they do and magrin perhaps they do not it is an easy matter for me to understand the information tile the lord has imparted to me and then communicate the same to you yon will tile the bread administered in tins this ordinance add life to you will the wine add life to you yon yes if you are hungry and faint it will the natural ral strength of the body but suppose you have just ate and drank lill fill you are fu ful so 89 as not to require another particle of food to sustain the he natural body you have eaten all ajl I 1 your ii hilure requires do you then receive any benefit betie fit from the bread and wine as mere articles of food As far as the emblems are concerned you receive strength naturally when the body requires bequir it precisely as you yon would by eating bre bred As and drinking wine at any other time or on any other occasion in what co consists the be benefit befit wo we derive from this ordin ordinance anee it is in fit copying the commands of tile th lord when we obey the commandments olour of our heavenly father if we have a correct u understanding of the ordinances of tile the house of god we receive ree all the promises attached to th the e obedience rendered r to his commandments jesus said aid Te verily rily verily I 1 say unto you except ye y eat the flesh of the son of god and d i link ink his blood ye have no life in you again he that leateth me i r shall hall live by me A again jain leateth my flesh i my blood hath bath eternal lire life for my flesh is meat indeed and my blood I 1 is drink indeed can vou understand these sayings of the sa vior these sayings are but isolated portions ol of the vast amount of instructions given give by him 0 0 his followers in hit his day had a thousandth part of his fits teachings to them been handed down to us and all his doings been faithfully recorded and transmitted to us we should no have known what to do with such a vast amount of information the abe apostle says save laud and there are also many other things which je jesus sus did the which if they should be written every one I 1 suppose that even tho the world itself could not contain the books that should be written allow mb me to explain this text the apostle i could not possibly mean what the langu lang unga nae of the quotation implies that the whole earth would have been covered with books to a certain depth no but he ha meant by that saying there would have been more written than the world of mankind would receive or credit the people then were as they are in this day they were continually reaching after something that is not revealed when there is more written already than they can c comprehend instead 0 saying the world could not contain the books we will say there would have been more written than the people would carry out in their lives I 1 I 1 will now tell you yon what the savior meant by those wonderful expressions touching hit his body and blood it is simply this if you do not keep the commandments of god you will have no life of the son of god in you jesus he as they were eating took the bread and blessed it I 1 and brake it an and gave it to the disciples and said take eat cat this is tny my body and h he e took the cup and gave thanks and gave it to them saying drink ye all of it for this is my blood of the new testament wl which aph iq ii shed fot for many for the remission of sins what were they required to drink it for what are we partaking of these emblems for in token of our fellowship with him and in token that we desire to be one with each other that we may all tie be one with tile the fattier father his administering these symbols to his ancient disciples and which he be commanded should be done until he came wis for the he express purpose that they should wit witness liess unto the fattier father that the they y did believe in him but on the other hand if they did not obey this they should not be blessed with his spirit I 1 it is the same in this uh as it is in the ordinance of baptism for the remission of sins has water lit in itself any virtue to wash away sin bill certainly not but the lord says if the sinner will repent of his sins and go down into the waters of baptism and there be buried in the likeness of being put into the earth and buried and again be delivered from the water lit in the iho likeness of beant being born if in the sincerity babis heart ile he wit will I 1 do t this is his big sins sine shall be washed away will tile the water of itself wash them away no but keeping the commandments mand ments of god will cleanse away tile the stain of sin bill when we eat of this bread and drink of this water do we eat the literal flesh of the son of god were I 1 a priest of the roman catholic church and had been trained from my youth in tha f faith aith I 1 might believe fully with my whole heart that my prayers will transform the bread of the eucharist into the literal flesh and the wi wine ine into the literal blood odthe of the son of god budnot but notwithstanding my faith on that matter the bread and wine would be just the same in their component parts a and lid would ad administer minster to the m mortal ortal of men or of beasts I 1 the same amount and kind of nutriment that the same quantity of unblessed bread and wine would if bread and wine is blessed dedicated dedicate d and sanctified the sincerity and faith of the people of god then the spirit of the lord the promise rests upon the individuals who thus keeps his commandments and are diligent in obeying the ordinances of the house of god so I 1 understand all 0 the ordinances din ances of the house of the lord you know we used to get down upon our knees and pray for the remis remission siou of sins and we would pray until we got peace of mind and then we thought our sins sine were forgiven I 1 have no fault to find with this it is ie all right many in this wai way have been made to rejoice in inthe the hope of eternal life to rejoice in the girt gift of the spirit of the lord aud and in rolce t the C 0 light of his countenance I 1 many have received heavenly visions revelations the minister ministering log of holy angels and the man infestations ife stations of the power of god goa until they were satisfied and all this before the ordinances of the house of god were preached to the people they obtained those blessings their faith and the sincerity of their hearts it was this that called sown rown heavenly blessings upon them it I 1 I 1 I 1 was their fervency of spirit and not their obedience I 1 to the celestial law which they the received ludt I 1 such euch blessings and it wax was all right what i is required of us when the law comes we mut must I 1 obey it as old paul did ile he was a servant of i god in ill all good conscience when he took ca carlof care roof of the clothes of tho those se who storied atoned stephen to death I 1 but when the law came cacno sin oin revived in him aud and he said 41 1 4 1 died that is his former notions of serving god liis his former incorrect traditions all I 1 appeared to him in their true light and that upon j which lie he had trusted for salvation sid valion as baseless as I 1 a dream when the ladof law of the lord Lor deame came by jesus christ and in it he found the promises and the gilts gifts and the blessings of the holy gospel through obedience to the ordinances that is the only to obtain salvation and au an exaltation in tho the presence of god I 1 in this light do I 1 view all the ordinances of house of god ido I 1 do not know of one ment that may be performed perfo reed before another arof or of one ordinance of the house of god from tho the be ginning to the end and of all the lord has revealed to the children of men that is if not of equal validity vald ity power nod authority with the rest so we partake of bread and wine obeying the comi latiol 1 a ments of f the lord and by so BO doing we deive ceide the blessing but how flow do the people feel perhaps you will refer the answer of this question to myself were I 1 to answer it I 1 should say they feel evely way permit me to refer particularly to tile the belthren be thren and sisters who have lately come to this alace they have all alj the variety of feelings thatis cornmon common to the human heart they know hw they feel fice they are my witnesses the most fr olous and trifling circumstance that can transi lre will produce lit in them the most koen keen and cutin buting trial 1 what can we say about it for we ane I 1 will say say lot them come the small trials slid and the la large rge ones let them be many or few it is the a sime aime ime lot let them come as the lord pleases please br heber C kimball kim ball was speaking this corid g about this people being driven frost fron pillar to post and he told the cause of their miny trials I 1 will ask a question concerning this matter if you yon had not been driven from york alato and the persecution become so hot a as to solid send you up to kirtland ohio obio would you haat hav known as much as you now know did not com commence menne in kirtland nor in jckson county but it commenced at the I 1 lime ime josephihe Joseph the sought the he plates in the hill cumorah it did not commence after I 1 same came into the char h but I 1 found it at work blen I 1 lent ent red the theO suppose joseph had nt been obliged to flee fro from pennsylvania hack back to t york state would he have known as much as ho he afterwards knew suppose he could have stayed in old ontario county in peace with without being behig persecuted could lie he have learned as mud a us lie did by being persecuted seen ted ile he fled 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