Show A RAL FUNERAL SERMON I 1 OF ALL SAINTS AND SINNERS ALSO albo OF THE TEE HEAVENS AND THE EARTH I 1 BY ELDER ORSON PRATT diverged Di vered at the tabernacle in G 8 L city I 1 jul july y 25 1852 cored Jo red fey 4 G Z D witt watt I 1 have been re vested to preach the f funeral ser mon of the wife of bro levi savage who died lat last december and since coming to this place this morning I 1 have been requested to preach the funera 1 I sermons of 0 several of t the he saints who have died in england land and I 1 have concluded insaf instead ad of immiti n my address to any one on individual case to preach what way may be emi considered dered a general funeral fugere sermon of all the saints that have died in all post past 4 agea and generations with all that shall die hereafter and the funeral sermon of all those who are not saints and also the fune funeral rail sermon seimon of the heavens and the earth and for this purpose I 1 will take L text which you will find mot ded in in the alt chap chapter ler of the prophecy of IS isaiah at and the ath verse lift up your eye to the heavens and look upon the earth beneath tor for the heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the earth eaith shall wax old like a garment a I 1 tk I 1 ri and they that dwell therein shall die in tike manner but brut my salvation shall be forever and my righteousness shall not be abolished all things with which we are acquainted per pertaining t am to this earth of ours are subject to change not only only man so f fai at as his temporal body is is concerned conce ined but the beasts of the field the fowls of the an ail the fishes of the sea and every living thing with which which we are acquainted all are subject to pain and distress and finally die and pass away death seems to have universal domin dominion lorl in in our creation it ii certai certainly idy is a curious world it certainly ceita does not look like a world horld constructed in III such a mariner manner as to produce eternal happiness happ meas and it would be very far from the truth I 1 think for 01 any being at the present timp time to pronounce it ve deiy y good avei eiery y thin thing lias seems to show us has tied fled from this that rodness goodness in a gi eat degree decree creation if we partake of the elements death is ii there in in all of its forms and varie varieties tiet z und aad when we ve desire to re joce bonow is u there mingling itself in ill every cup and woe 2 arid and wretchedness and misery seems to be our oui pi besent doom theilia e is something however in many man that is constantly reaching forward af after ter happiness after lif life e after pleasure af after ter something to satisfy the longing desire that dwells within our bosoms why is it that thai WP we haw such a desire and why is it that it is is not sati satisfied fied wy wily is it that this ci bation is is so construct tid d aid A id aly is is it that death reigns universal overall over au living eai etuy beings be did the great author of creation this thin little globe of ours curb subject to all these changes change winch are calculated to produce donow and deatti death adiong the bengs beng s that inhabit it WAS this the original 01 CU dat oll ot of our creation we bit B it how constructed ws answer no it itwara ads riot so it made in the beginning 1 all things that in made ade pertaining to this earth were pronounced I 1 very good where there is is pam pain where there is is sick sickness neb chete alie e there is is soi bairow row and wiilie ahei e there is death this saying aoud no be n its literal senst sense thans h could not be very good so metti i deiy fil evil rib ara has sal dominion we are therefore etore constrained cuic coi rained strained to bel eve that in the lusi formation ot of our globe as tar far as tile the mosaic hi history 6 tor y gives us its information everything was perfect in its formation that e was nothing in the air or in in the waters or in in the solid elements that was calculated to 10 produce misery unhappiness or death in m the way that it il was then organized gini zed not but what the same elements el emerts a little differently would produce au all these but as it was then constructed we must admit that every particle of air air y of water and ut of eal th I 1 i w aw da so organized as to be capable of diff diffusing life lie arid and immortality through al all ithe the varied species or of ai animated mated existence of creation hence it w was as reigned ili evel eveia y dep pronounced deiy good anen the lord made the die fowls of the air and the fishes of the sea to pi opte the atie atmospheric heavens li eavens or the watery elements inese fowls and fish were so construe constructed ted in their natice matui e as to be capable of eternal different from t this lils existence to imagine anything would be to dupwe the almighty to form that which was calculated wretchedness and misery 7 what says the psalmist david upon this subject t I 1 he says that all tue tile works of the loid shall endure forever did not the lord loid make the fish fiah yes did he not make the fowls of the heavens yes dd tie he not make the beasts of the field my arid and the creeping things and the insects yes do they endure forever they apparently do nor and yet david says all his works are constructed upon n that principle Is this a contradiction no god has given some other particulars in m relation to these works work he fie has bermi permitted eted the destroyer to visit them who has usurped a certain de desolation and ruin ruin dominion and authority carrying on every hand band the perfections of the original organizations izat iza tion ions have ba e ceased b but ul will the lord forever permit these destructions to reign no his power exis exists t 9 and the power of the destroyer exists his power exists and the power of death exists but his power boliver exceeds all 0 other power sand consequently wherever a usurper comess and lays waste any of his work she will repair those wastes build up the old r ains rums and make all things new even the fish of the sea and the fowls of the heavens heaven and tile the beasts of the earth must in in order to carry out the designs of the almighty yet be so se constructed as to be capable of eternal existence I 1 it t would be interesting to know know SOL something about the situation of thiril 9 W when en they were first termed and how this destroyer h happened to make inroads upon this fair what the causes were and why it was aej permitted bitted man mail whet when he was vias first placed upon this earth was an immortal being capable of eternal r endurance his flesh arid and bones as well as his exl spirit were immortal and dernal in their nature an and it was just ail the inferior creation the lion the leopard the kid kal and the cow it was so with tile feathered tribes of citation as we well 11 as those that swi swim in in m the vast ocean of waters all were immortal and eternal etea nal in then theia nature and the earth itself as a living being was immortal and eternal in in its nature what is the earth eai th alive too if it was not how could the words of our text be fulfilled where it speaks of the th earths daine how can that die that has no life lift up your eyes yes to the heavens above says the loril lord and look upon the earth eaith beneath the heavens shall vanish away like smoke and the earth shall wax old like a garment and they that dwell therein shall die in in like manner in like manner what the earth and the heavens to die yes the material heavens arid and earth mut must all undergo this change which we call death ani if 1 so the earth must be alive as well as we we the earth was so constructed ted that it was capable of existing as a livin living being to all eternity with all the swarms of an animals im als fowels and fishes that were first placed upon the face thereof but how can it be proved that man was an immortal being we will refer you to what the apostle paul paid has written upon this subject he says that by one man mail came death and he tells us how it came it was by toe tae transgression of one individual that deatle was anti inti v here but did transgression bring in all these diseases and sorrow this misery and wretchedness over the whole face of this creation was it by the transgression of one that the very hea heaven sare to vanish away as smoke and the earth is to wax old like a garment yes it is by the transgression or of ane and rf if it had not been tor for his transgression the thearty earth th barth never would have been subject et transgression to eath death I 1 why because the of 0 tup tile lord are so constructed as to exist forever and it if death had come in without a cause and destroyed the earth and laid waste the material heavens and pro bucel ducia a general and utter overthrow and rum ruin in this fair creation then the of the lord would have ceased to endure according to the promise bein being 1 imperfect imperfect i in their construction construe fion and consequently not very good but what was this sin and what was the nature of it I 1 will tell ll 11 you what hat it was it was merely the partaking of a certain kind of fruit but says one I 1 should think there was no hatin harm in eating fruit there would not be unless god gave a command upon u the subject there are things in nature that wald would be evil without a commandment if there were no coonan diment it would be evil for you to murder an innocent being and your own conscience would tell you yott it was an evil thing it is an evil for any individual to injure another or to infringe upon the rights of another thery independent of any revealed law for the savage as well as the saint or that beisig who has never heard beard of the written laws of heaven who never heard beard of the revealed laws of god with regard to these principles knows that it is an evil to infringe upon the rights of another the very nature of the thing shows that it is an evil but bit not so 80 in regard to many other things that are evil which are only made evil by commandment for instance here is the sabath day a person that never heard the revealed law of god upon the sub act never could conceive that it was an ivil evil to work L I 1 on the sabbath day h would consider it just as right to work on tile the first dey defy of the week as on the seventh 1 tie would perceive noth ng irline in the nature of the thing by which he chuu bisti distinguish aguish it to ile he an evil so ao with regard to baune certain fruits there is no eva evil in it of at itself it was tile the commandment of the great god that made it il an evil he said to adam and eve here are all the te fruits of the pirden garden you may eat cat of them freely except this one tree free that stands in the micala of he garden now beware for in the day you eat cat thereof you shah shau surely die don dont t we perceive that the command commandment men t made tai this an evil had it not been for this commandment adam would have walked forth and freely partaker par taken of every tree without any remorse of conscience just as the sava savage e that never had heard the revealed will of god would w d work on the sabbath Sabbat hr the same as on any other day and have no conscience about the matter but when a man murders he be knows it to be an injury and he has a conscience about it though he never heard of god and so with thousands of other evils but why did the lord place man under these becu peculiar 1 tar circumstances why did he not withhold the co commandment man dment if the partaking of the fruit after the commandment was given was sin why should there be a commandment upon the subject at all ail inasmuch as there was no evil in the nature of the thing thina to be perceived or understood the lord had a purpose in ir I 1 view though he et instructed this fair creation as we have told you subject and capable of endri ance and though he had bad constructed man capable of living forever ro rever yet he had an object in vi view e w in in regard to that man and the creation cree he inhabited what is the object and how I 1 shall this object be accomplished why the lord wanted this intelligent being called i man to prove himself inasmuch as he was an ail spent agent he desired that he should show himself approved before his creator how can this be done without a commandment can you devise any any possible means Is there any person in this congie congregation gation having wisdom sufficient to devise any means by bv which an intelligent being can show himself approved before a superior all gerior intelligence unless it is by a administering dinini to that I 1 man certain laws to be kept no without law without commandment or rule ruie there would be no possible way of showing his integrity it could riot nut be said that he va would keep all the laws lais that govern n superior orders of beings unless indess he has been placed in in a position to be tried and thus prove whether he would keep them or not then it was wisdom to try the man and the woman so the lord gave them this commandment if he had not intended the macko hould be tried by this commandment lie never would have planted that thai tree lie never would have placed it in in the midst of the gaiden but blit the very fact that he planted it where the man c could 1 have ave easy earv access to it shows that he inter ded man should be tried by it and thus prove whether he would keep keel his comm commandments and ments or not the penalty of disobedience obedience di to this law was waa death but could he not give a commandment without affixing a penalty lie he could not nol it would be tolly folly even worse than folly jor for god to give a law to an intelligent being bein willious willi out affixing a penalty to it if it was bicken why because all intelligent bings beings would discard disca d the very idea of a law being given which may be broken at pleasure without the individuals that broke it being for their transgression they would bay where ls is the principle of justice in the giver of the law it i is s not there we do not reverence him him nor his law justice does riot not have an existence in ill his bis boom bo om he does not repard regard his own laws for he mudeis them to be broken with y and trampled under feet fee t by those whom he has made therefore there foie we care not tor for himor him or his laws no 1101 his bis p pre extended justi justice ct we will cebel jebel against it where would ha have e been the use of it if there had been no to penalty affixed but what way was the nature of this penalty LE it WAS wisely ordained oida awl ined to be of such a nature as to instruct instinct man mail penalties inflicted upon human beings here by kins kings or rulers are genei ally of such a nature as to benefit them adam was appointed lord of this ci bation a gi gibat eat governor swaying the sceptre of power over the whole parth earth when the guv governor arnor the person who was placed to reign over tins this fair ci bation had osbed all in in his dominions had to feel the effects of I 1 it the same as a a father or 01 a mother who transgresses trans greses es certain laws fi frequently transmits the elferts thereof to the latest generations how often do we see certain diseases becoming hereditary beirl being handed down from father to son tor for generations generation fahy because in in the first instance e was a transgression ion and the children en partook of the effects of it and what was the fullest extent of the penalty of adams it transgression I 1 will tell you it was death the death of what the death of the immortal tabernacle of that tabernacle tabei nacle where the seeds of death had not been that was wisely f framed and aror pronounced ounce very ry good 0 d the seeds of death were introduced into it zv how and aad in what manner some say sav there was something in in the nature of the fruit thit |