Show n RE REMARKS by ey pres president ident YOUNG tabernacle taber macle Bacle 1 oct 9 1559 ite iLE REPORTED PORTED BY 0 D WATT watz I 1 shall address you this morning upon a subject that is more interesting to me than any other pertaining to the life of man it is a subject of deep study and research and ha has s been from age to a age e among the reflection reflect reflecting in and n d philosophical hilo portions of the human fa family il y ghe the the intelli intelligence ence given to the children of me men is the subject to which I 1 allude and upon which has been expended more intellectual labor lamorand lab iab orand and profound thought than upon any other that has ever attracted the attention of man the psalmist has haa written what is ii man that thou art mindful of him and the son of man that thou test him for thou hast bast made him a little lower than the an angels gels geis and hast crowned him with glory and honor 13 this passage is but one of many which refer to the organization of man as though it were a great mystery something something that coula could could not be rady fully comprehended b by ile the greatest minds while dwellen dwelling in earthy earthely earthly ly tabernacles it is a matter of vita vital interest to each of us and yet it ft is often farthest from the thoughts of the th g greater reater portion of mankind instead of reflecting ting upon and searching for bidden things of the greatest value to them they rather wish to learn how to secure their way through this world as easily and as comfortably as possible the reflections what they are here for who produced them and where they are from far too seldom enter their minds many have written upon this great subject and end d there exists a great variety of reflections views and opinions which I 1 have not time to dwell upon in detail I 1 will vill merely give you a few texts or what you may term a text book nor shall I 1 now take time to minutely elaborate any particular point but will pre pr sent such views as shall come into my mind trusting that I 1 shall have your faith and prayers to be able to edify both saint and sinner binner believer and unive unbeliever liever llever if the inhabitants of the earth thoroughly understood their own being their views feelings faith and affections would be very different from what they now are many believe in predestination while others of the christian world oppose that doctrine and anid exclusively advocate free grace free will free offering etc and each party of christians has its pet theory or doctrine upon which it builds its hopes of eternal salvation such a course is like five or six hundred men each selecting and running off with a piece of of the machinery of a cotton mill and declaring that he had the cotton mill entire this comparison may be truly applied to the tile christian world as it now is with re regard ard to the holy and divine principles which hav have e been revealed pertaining to eternal life and salvation many of you no doubt have concluded that the doctrine of election and reprobation is true and you do BO so with propriety for it is true it is a scriptural doctrine others do not believe this doctrine affirming with all their faith might and skill that free grace and free will are or ought to be the foundation of mans faith in his bis creator very well I 1 can also say to them th that attree free grace and free will are true the first named doctrine is as true as the second and the second as the first others again declare that mankind have no will neither free nor restrained in their actions for instance the rationalists or free thinkers who deny the existence and divinity of the gods that we believe in la but eq tar far ar from their believing their own theory mr neil of boston while in prison for having no religion wrote an essa essay I 1 in which he declared that all is god I 1 1 might I enumerate many more instances and say t that at they are all right so far as they go I 1 in truth h the doctrine of free will and conditional salvation the doctrine of free grace and unconditional salvation the doctrine of foreordination and reprobation and many more that I 1 have not rk time to io enumerate I 1 can all be fully and satisfactorily proved by the scriptures and are true on the other hand many untrue doctrines are taught and believed such as there being infants n not 0 t a span ion lon long iong weltering welt melt erino ering ili in the flames of hell there to remain throughout the countless ages of eternity and the doctrine of total depravity some have gone so far as to say that a man or woman vrho who wishes to be saved in the kingdom of god who wishes to bea servant or handmaid of the almighty must feel that deep contrition of heart that sound bound repentance and such a sense of his or her unworthiness and nothingness and of the supremacy glory and exaltation of that deity they believe in as to exclaim before god and their brethren and sisters that they are willing to be damned to ma me that i is s one of the heights of nonsense for if a person is willing willi n 0 to be damned he cares not to make the efforts effort s necessary to secure salvation all this confusion is in ahe he world party against party com communities muni ties a against ainest communities individuals against individuals individuals one sett sctt out with five truths and fifteen errors making the articles of his fath faith twenty another dissents from him rejects those five truths selects perhaps five more and adds as many errors as did the former one and then he comes out a flaming reformer men in dissenting from one another have too often exercised no lio better judgment than to deny and dissent from many truths because their ancestors cherished and believed them which has produced numerous parties beets sects and articles of faith when in fact ta taking J them in mass they have an immense amount ottrue of true principles it was the occupation of jesus christ and his apostles to propagate the godfel gospel of salvation and the principled of eternal eterna life to the world and it is our duty and calling as L ministers of the same salvation and gospel to gather every item of truth and reject every error whether a truth be found with professed infidels or with the or the church of rome or the methodists the church of england the presbyterians rians the bap baptists at the Qu quakers akens the shakers or any other of the various vario varlo usand and numerous df ferent different sects e ta and parties all of pf whom have more or less truth it is the bu business giness of the elders of thia this church jesus jeams their elder brother being at their head to gather up all the truths in in the world pertaining to life and salvation to the gospel we nye preach to mechanism of every kind to the sciences and to philosophy wherever he rever it may be found in every nation kindred tongue and people eople and bring it to zion the people upon this earth have a great many errors and they also have a great many truths this statement is not only true of the nations termed civilized those who profess to worship the true god goa but is equally applicable to pagans of all countries for in their religious rights and ceremonies ma may be found a reat many truths which we will wily I 1 a also aiso 1 so gather ireat tome ome to zion all truth is for the salvation of the children of men for their benefit and learning for their furtherance in the principles of divine knowledge and divine knowledge is any matter of fact truth and all truth pertains to divinity when we view mankind collective collectively or a as nations communities neighborhoods and fa families miRes we are led to inquire into t the object of our being here and situated as we hind find ourselves to be did we produce ourselves and I 1 endow ourselves with that knowledg knowledge 0 e and in telli gence we now possess all are ready to acknowledge that we had nothing to dewith do with t the he origin of our being that we were produced b by y a superior power without either the knowledge I 1 or the exercise of the agency we now possess assess we know that we are here we I 1 now know that we live breathe and walk upon the earth we know this naturally ag as the brute creation knows we know that our food and drink come from the elements around us b by them we are nourished cherished re refreshed freshe and sustained with the addition of sleep we live and breathe and breathe and live who can define and point out the particularities of the wonderful organization of man it enters into the minds of but few that the air we inhale is the greatest source of our life we derive more real nourishment to our mortal tabernacles from this element than from the solid food we receive into our stomachs our oar lun iun lungs s expand and contract to sustain the life which god has given us of the component parts of this great fountain of vitality I 1 haye have not time to treat but this thiv interesting information you may gather in part from numerous works on natural philosophy I 1 will I 1 however say that the air is full of life and vitality and its volume fills immensity tile the relative terms terns heigh heights th tb depth length and breadth do not apply to it could you pass with the velocity of the electric fluid over telegraphic wires during a the continuation of more years than you can comprehend you would still be surrounded by it and in the bosom of eternity as much ag as you now are and it is filled with the spirit of life which emanates from god many have tried to penetrate to the first cause of all things but it would be as easy for an ant to number the grains of sand on the earth it ia is not for man with his limited intelligence telli gence to grasp eternity in his comprehension there ia is an eternity of life from which we were composed by the wisdom and skill of Sup superior eXior bein beings atwould it would be as easy for a gnat to trace tg the history of man back to his origin t aa as for man to fathom the first cause of all ali t things ilfe life the vail of eternity and reveal the mysteries that have been sought after by philosophers from the beginning what then should be the calling and duty of the children of men instead of inquiring after the origin of the gods instead of trying to explore the depths of ef erni ties that have been that are and that will be instead of endeavoring to discover the boundaries of boundless space let them seek to know the object of their present existence and how to applying appl appi apply yin in the most profitable fi manner for their mutual good and salvation the intelligence they possess let them seek to know and thoroughly understand things within their reach antto and to make themselves well acquainted with the object of their being here by diligently seeking unto a superior r power lower for information and oby by the careful study of the best books the life that is within us is a part of an eternity of life and is organized spirit which ia is clothed upon by tabernacles thereby constituting sti our present being which is designed for the attainment of further intelligence the matter composing our bodies and spirits has been organized from the eternity of matter that fills immensity were I 1 to fully speak what I 1 know and understand concerning myself and others you might think me roe to be infringing I 1 shall therefore omit some things that I 1 would otherwise say to you yon if the people were prepared to receive them jesus christ say says and this is life eternal that they might know thee the only true god and jesus christ whom thon thoa hast bast sent 2 we are not now in a capacity to know him in his fullness of glory we know a few things that he has revealed concerning himself but there are a great many which we nye do not know ahn people have secured to themselves eternal life they are where they can understand the true character of their father and god and the object of the creation fall and redemption of man after the creation of this world these points have ever been subjects for speculation with all classes of believers and are subjects of much interest to those who en entertain gert ain aln a deep anxiety to know how to secure to themselves eterna eternal 1 life our bodies are organized from the eternity of matter hrom irom such matter as we breathe and from such matter as is found in the vegetable and mineral kin kingdoms doms this matter is organized into a world with wath all its appendages by whom by the almighty and we see it peopled by men and women who are made in the image of god all this vast creation was produced from element clement in its unorganized state the mountains rivers seas valleys flails plains and the animal vegetable and minera mineral kingdoms beneath and around us all speaking forth the wonderful works of the great god shall I 1 say that the seeds of vegetables were planted here by loy the characters that framed and built this world that the seeds of every plant composing the vegetable 0 kingdom were brought from another wo world rid this would be news newa to many of you who brought them here it matters little to us whether it was john james william adam or bartholomew who brou brought lit them but it was some being who had power to frame this earth with its seas valleys mountains and rivers and cause it to teem with vegetable and animal life here let me state to all philosophers of every class upon the earth when you tell me that father adam was made ai as we make from the earth you tell me what I 1 deem an idle tale when you tell me that the beasts of the field were produced in that manner you you are speaking idle words devoid of in meaning e a nin there ia is no such thing in alithe all ali the ete eternities rig riz where the gods dwell mankind are here because they are the offspring of parents who were first brought 0 here from 1 another it n planet and power was given them to propagate their species and they were commanded to multiply and replenish the earth the offspring of adam and eve evo are arc commanded to take the rude elements and bythe by the tho knowledge god has given to convert them into every thin thing required for their life health adornment wealth comfort and consolation have we the knowl krowl knowledge knowledg edg e to do this we have who gave us this knowledge our father who made us for ile he is the only wise god and to him we owe allegiance to him we owe our lives ile he has brought us fo forth rth and taught us all we know we are not indebted to any other power or god for all our great reat blessinger bles bies singa singe we see man upon the bartt earth and discern that lie hee ia is endowed with great intelligence whick displays its scope and power in various ways to meet and provide for the exigencies and wants of the human race wise statesmen know how to devise and plan for a kingdom and can closely calculate the results oi of the policies they adopt they understand the course to be pursued to induce the people to submit to a wholesome govern government fagat or to a despotic rule as may please the will of the rulers there are historians of various gra grades ea philosophers wise and simple and an exceed angly great variety of capacities and tastes in our republican government w we i e see bee some who are acute politicians seems to be the extent of their knowledge you may find others who are good statesmen but poor politicians tic ians some are excellent mathematicians and understand under stend and care for but little outside of that science still if a man is capable of learning the geography of the earth he is also alsol capable of learning the laws of the nations that inhabit it if you will give live ve him time according to his capacity J one e scholar in a school may far outstrip the rest but give them sufficient time and they can learn what the quick bright scholar has learned so easily and quickly if we 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