Show I ADMONITION Elder BH Roberts Discourse jp on Abq t SOUND ADVICE TO THE PEOPLE The Purlflcalon of the Church Talked OfThl8 IB the Way Walk Yo In It II The services at the Tabernacle on Sunday Sun-day afternoon were begun by the singing sing-ing by the choir of the hymn commencing commenc-ing I I I 0 Thou at whose supreme command The hosts of darkness fly Upheld by whos eternal h < md The Saints can dare or die Prayer by Bishop Watson Singing of the hymn Praise to the man who communed with Jehovan etc ELDER B H ROBERTS said it is now nearly 1900 years since an event occurred oc-curred which marked a new era in the worlds history A man of peculiar bearing made his appearance among the Jews one who preferred to dwell in the desert out in the wilderness j his teachings were peculiar not after the manner of mens learning but as he I was moved upon by the Holy Spirit and although uncouth and uneducated he attracted attention and people left cities hamlets and villages to hear him The burden of his remarks was that people should repent for the kingdom of heaven was at hand The people of that day had been anticipating the arrival of the Messiah and from his teachings they wondered if he were not the Deliverer and on their inquiring in-quiring he told tnem he was not he was ouly preparing the f wav for one who would hnr > fir with fire and with the spirit Jesus of Nazareth subsequently went to John the Babtist requesting baptism but John said he needed to be baptized of Him John baptized the Savior and when the spirit rested on Him John knew He was the Messiah Passmg i over the life of Jesus the speaker remarked re-marked that after His resurrection he was with riis disciples for forty days but what He taught them is not recorded re-corded On one occasion He called theta together and told them they should according to the promise of John be baptized with the spirit After the ascension the apostles received the baptism of the Holy Ghost and con ducted themselves so as to call forth criticism from the rabbis an i people who said they were drunken with new wine The recital of this portion of the history of the time of Jesus was to show that the promise made thrnnrh or hv nn authorized servant of God was strictly fulfilled The Apostle Peter preached a gospel sermon which so struck the peo pIe that they cried as with one voice Men and brethren wnatsnall we do The gospel being the same in all ages of the world the reply to that question would have equal force upon people of today with those of eighteen centuries ago Who was Peter A humble fisherman picked up by the savior on the shore of Galilee an unlettered lettered honest man he was with Jesus throughuut his pubic 1llir itry and was ready in the deicnae of his Master at the Garden of Getnsemune his experience was varied but sincere in his following of the ayior and he was thoroughly qualified to answer the question stskea which he did by say itig i Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name 01 JeSUS Christ for the remission remis-sion of sins aud y c shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost For the promise is to you and to your children and to all that are afar otr even as many as the Lord our Qod shall call That promise was for the whole human hu-man race it was not confined to the ews or their children or their chil drens cnnaren in juaea Ducaii inose that are afar off The Holy Ghost was only promised to those that would yield obedience however Jesus when He departed de-parted said He would send His aposties the Comforter whom the world could not receive Elder Roberts reviewed several instances of faith in Jesus Christ exercised by those who had obeyed the Lord in which miracles had been performed It seems that according accord-ing to Peters promise all in the present day are entitled to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost The speaker here read from the writings of St John concerning concern-ing the Comforter which should teach men all things Another important office which it performs is to bring to the remembrance things of the past when they were of need to the mdiv dual d-ual The spirit would guide into all truth it would show the possessor hmga that are to come The Latter day Saints would bear him out in sayi g it wa this Spirit in ths day of their trials that was comforting their hearts Those who did not understand the Mormons or their faith saw the nation and people arrayed against the little handful of people in Utah and they wondered at the calmness of the latter The world say the serenitv of the Mormons the result of priestcraft induced in-duced by the cunning of their leaders But they are mistaken It is the silent influence of the Spirit of God in their I midst which is whispering to them the things that are to come and saying that after the clouds will come the sunshine The philosophy of the gospel was briefly referred to by the speaker The gospel is pure and holy and those associated with it must necessarily be also uure and holy The requirement of those before baptism was to repent The Spirit of God dwells not in an unholy temple The ordinance of baptism was to cleanse their tabernacles for a recep tion of the gift of the HoJy Ghost t If after this r nrfir < i1inn men sil1in deme themselvesnGodit is said will destroy stroy them It becomes them therefore there-fore that they remain pure God does not look upon sin with any degree of allowance The events which occurred during the later years of Moses ministry minis-try among the children of Isfael and the promises made them which should be i fulfilled on the other side of Jordan if I they persevered and were faithful were recited That people were to be super or in every respect Every Blessing that the heart could desire or the mind conceive was promised them if they continued righteouness and on the contrary curses were pronounced if they yielded to the tempter fell from grace and sinned bv disregarding the commandments of God Those sayings I were literally fulfilled in the history of the Israelites and the fulness of Gods wrath came upon them When Jesus was sent among them He was persecuted perse-cuted until His crucifixion on Calvary The fate of the nations of olden times was certain destruction for their share in opposin the work of Godand in har rassing and persecuting His people The several instances were cited in eloquent terms The wrath and curses ot God had been poured out upon them according accord-ing to promise He here called the attention of the Latterday Saints to and read from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants Section Sec-tion 103 a revelation given in the year 1834 But verily I say unto lU that I nave decreed de-creed a decree which my people shall realize inasmuch as they harken from this very hour unto the counsel which I the Lord their bod shall give unto them Behold they shall ior I have decreed it begin to prevail against mine enemies from this very hour And by hearkening to observe all the words which I the Lord their God shall peak unto them they shaU never cense to prevail until the kingdoms of the world are subdued under my leet and the earth is given unto the saints to possess it for ever and ever But inasmuch as they keep not my commandments com-mandments and harken not to observe all my words the kingdoms of the world shall prevail against them for they were set to be a light unto the world and to be the saviors of men And inasmuch as they are not the saviors of men they are as salt that has 1 < st its savor ana is thenceforth good for nothing but to be cast out and trodden under foot of menThe men-The same conditions are placed upon the Latterday Saints as were placed upon the children of Israel They should prevail against their enemies if they kept his commandments That revelation was given in 1831 and since then according to the degree the Saints had observed the word of the Lord so had they grown and prospered and to the degree they had failed and are failing to keep Gods law their enemies had prevailed and will prevail against them Not un il they had pot away their iniquities could they expect ex-pect to prevail against their enemie No one who had received the Holy Ghost the speaker cared not how pro foundly learned or bow rich in this worlds goods or how near he stood to the authorities or the church if he transgresses and violates I his covenant can retain mat SpIrit ana wnen it s withdrawn amen to the power and influence in-fluence of that man ELDER ROBERTS spoke of his visit and interview with David Whitmer one of the three witnesses to the Book of Mormon Mor-mon and the testimony the latter in respect to the divine authenticity of the Book of Mormon How was it that one who had seen such great visions and occupying so exalted a position could ome so low as to become an abso lute outcast f Was this case not a proof that there was nothing could save one who transgressed the laws of God no matter how many revelations he had The experience of others in the days of Joseph who also had become moral wrecks was re ferred to If men become unrighteous un-righteous they lose caste and in fluence This is the fate of all for Gods spirit will not dwell in an unholy tempLe God will onlv deliver von I Latterda Saints on condition that you vill obeyiiia Jaws and keep hs commandments com-mandments It would be folly to contemplate template force to throw off the opposition oPPOSI-tion an anged against them the odds were too great The only hope of the Paints was in the observance obser-vance of Gods laws and commands The only friend jou have is God and you had better keep on speaking terms with him Xour strength is in your righteousness In strong terms he urged repentance among the Latter day Saints If the priesthood could nrt uncover the iniquities of the people hen will the deputy marshals and courts and their aids find them out And this would continue until thtv were purified He said theyhad not soar so-ar sinned but they could repent and be forgiven Men in high positions might fall but there fall would not affect the truth In conclusion he exhorted all to live in communion with the spirit which would say to them This 11 the way walk ye in it and bles3iJd all Israel Singing of an anthem with tenor solo by Mr Alfred Nilsson Benediction by Elder W H King I f Fillmore I |