| Show RELIGIOUS SERVICES At the Tabernacle on Sunday Afternoon Last ACOUPLE OF ABLE ADDRESSES EldorB Bywater and Arthur J Stay nero Speak on the Duties of the Latterday Saints The services at the Tabernacle were again largely attended on Sunday afternoon several persons being in the gallery The choir and congregation sang the first hymn Our God we raise to Thee Thanks for the blessings free We here enjoy Prayer by Elder John Nicholson Singing 0 God th Eternal Father Who dwells amid the sky ELDER G G BYWATEB on rising said he felt the necessity of inspiration in order to feed the flock with spiritual food He realized when among the Latterday Saints that he was in the house of his friends and asked them to aid him by their faith and prayers The partaking of the Sacrament Sacra-ment was an observance in which all should concentrate their feelings and thoughts upon God the Father of all who would pour out upon the assembly His Holy Spirit It was the duty of all to supplicate the heavenly throne for this spirit The reflections of the speaker brought him to think of the marvelous love and mercy of God the mission of Jesus and the duties of the Saints in furthering the word of salva i tionElder Elder Bywater illustrated the working work-ing of the plan of redemption by saying that it was necessary for those engaged in it to understand under-stand thoroughly the motive which actuated them Christ came to earth to do the will of His Father and to make known to a benighted world the truths of eternity The Savior was sent perform that duty He received full and complete instruction before leaving the celestial world and His instructions structions and teachings were direct rEvelations to mankind The prin iples He taught were absolutely indispensable dispensable to the perfect redemption of the human family and the commemoration oration of the atonement from time to time was a covenantmaking to the effect that those partaking of the bread and water would continue in following follow-ing in the path pointed out by the Redeemer Re-deemer and obey every principle embraced braced in the gospel These principles were incomprehensible to ordinary mortals but by the assistance of the Holy Spirit were simple and plain Referring to the mission and calling of the Latterday Saints Elder Bywater said tLe present generation were fav ored in living in the dispensation which had been spoken of by all the holy prophets pro-phets a time which would be filled with marvelous events for the redemp tion of the world a time which would be > recognized as the grandest in history his-tory The providences of the Almighty were plain to the Saints if their minds were free from the beguiling influences of the evil one they could see the hand of God and His purposes in the signs of the times The true Latter day Saint was perfectly willing to accept every doctrine which aimed at the downfall of sinfulness even at the cost life By devoted lives and the acceptance of the revealed will of heaven they would be enabled to transcend the darkness which envelopes en-velopes the world j and could see that the Almighty was near them They would clearly see the overruling provi dences of God and would thank and praise Him The anger of the Lord one of the revelations said was not kindled against any except those who did not acknowledge His power and influence in all things Obedience the speaker declared was necessary in order to earn eternal lives and he urged upon all an observance of this principle and in conclusion invoked the blessings of God upon all who red I I mained faithful to the end and hoped I all would live so as to be crowned with immortality in the kingdom of heaven ELDER ARTJIDK J STAYNER followed saying We are dual beincs there are two of us the spirit and the body the spirit that but a short time ago stood in the grand council of the heavens and was present when the Savior was chosen ana the grand plan of salvation was arranged and tne body which has in i herited the corruption of ages and is encumbered with the selfishness covetousness covet-ousness pride and lustfulness of generations gener-ations We arepreatspirits the greatest great-est which Heaven had to send forth reserved to do the work of the last days but because of the weakness and restraint re-straint of the flesh we are prone to doubt whether we are great it seems impossible that we who are so bound and shackled by the weakness weak-ness of mortality can be great and noble There are many great spirits clothed with tabernacles of weakness so that their greatness can not be readily seen but God has purposely clothed them in great weaKness that no man shall glory in man and no flesh shall glorify itself before God It would hardly be thought when Jesus Christ clothed in mortality was in the Garden of Gethsamane that His spirit was the one who had been chosen in the Brand council ol hearers to be the Savior of the world and that he knew the weight and grandeur the atonement which he had to make for so great was the weakness of his mortal body to meet the issue that it is recorded of him that he sweat drops of blood Nevertheless in the spirit he was the Savior who had been chesen before the world was organized or-ganized All matters requiring our action which have to be determined upon by us are influenced decision by either the strength of the spirit or the weakness weak-ness of the body i The business of the Latterday Saints is to overcome the corruption of their naturesand to purify their bodies and prepare them for the presence of the celestial kingdom If we lust after the things of this world Elder Stayner remarked we cannot have our hearts tilled with the love of God We cannot serve God and Mammon Mam-mon It is our duty to place upon the altar of sacrifice all our temporal or worldly possessions for there must be nothing between God and us Presi dent AugnSjM Cannons experience of late wlifrein he went before the Lord and offered up all his earthly possessions and relationships and was prepared to spend his whole life in imprisonment if i required by the pro i vidences God was immediately fol lowed by His deliverance and was an f expected of be of what might jezpecgd example before peoples the whole each of us and of people redemption of fore the deliverance or redemption Zion came The gospel wps the power of instructionwhereby kings and priests and rulers were taught and prepared to work upon the Gods take charge of s earth and to make ready for the coming com-ing of the Son of God Because we are are hated of the thus preparing we world but we have no reason to expect other treatment than we have received any at ceived for we are aiming the highest glory God has to bestow be-stow In order to obtain this glory we must abide and obey a celestial law While are being abused by the we world it behooves us to bear insult ana abuse with patience being willing all the time while under persecution to lay down our lives for our enemies if by so doing we could do them good It is irksome to the body to bear the insults Irfksome but under the influence of the Spirit we can count it an honor to bear SPllrIt evil for Christs sake There is however how-ever a limit to persecution for the soul cannot be shackled The persecutors cannot burn a truth in the martyrs I fire nor chain a thought in the dungeon dire There will be a limit to our temporal persecutionsand that limit I is clearly defined in the revelation given through President Taylor in October 1852 where we are promised that if we will purify ourselves and put all iniquity away from us your enemies shall not have power nor dominion over you Thepossession of the Holy Ghoss is the only means df salvation and it b hooves the Saints toexamine themselves them-selves to see if the Holy Ghost has been given an opportunity to grow in their hearts for the seed had been I sown within them and if it had fallen on good ground it would grow and bring forth fruit I 1f it had fallen by the wayside or in stony places or amongst thorns and briars then those so unfortunate would I I dry up and instead of being fruitful would wither away For the Saints to obey any good counsel it was first necessary I ne-cessary tney should have the Holy I Ghost for to undertake to have them obey instruction without that spirit was like lifting a weight at the end of a long t pole The speaker prayed that the spirit of humility and contrition might rest upon all Israel that they might so live I that they should be entitled to have the power to which they had been ordained rest down upon them The choir sang How beauteous are their feet who stand on Zions hill and Apostle John W Taylor pronounced nounced the benediction |
