Show AT THE TABERNACLE Elder Nicholson Occupied the Pulpit Sunday A POWERFUL DISCOURSE The Duty of the SaintsThe Paths They Should Trend The Rewards Promised the FaithfulEtc Divine services were held in the Tabernacle on Sunday afternoon The choir and congregation sang Earth is the place where Christ will reign With all his Saints a thousand years Hell end their sorrows and their pains Dismiss their woes and dry their tears Prayer was offered by Elder Elias Morris The choir then sang How sweet communion is on earth With those whove realized the birth Of waterwho the spirits powers Receive in genial qulcknlng showers The sacrament was administered by the Priesthood of the Twentieth Ward Elder John Nicholson who arose to address the congregation said in substance sub-stance I am requested by the presiding officer to address those who have assembled as-sembled in this building this afternoon after-noon to worship our Father in Heaven and I undertake to perform per-form this duty with some degree of reluctance feeling my inadequacy inade-quacy to perform the task I willhow ever rely upon the Lord for his blessing to suggest through the power of His spirit whatever may be necessary to elucidate in the hearing of this assembly assem-bly It is always interesting to contemplate con-template one of the chief purposes of our coming together to partake of the emblems of the sacrifice made for the human family by our Savior and Redeemer Re-deemer and witness unto our God that Tfe are willing to take upon us the name of His Son and follow Him through evil and through good report It has fallen to the lot of the people of God in all ages to be compelled to follow the captain of their salvation to a larger extent through evil than through good report for the Saints in all times have been everywhere spoken against One thing exemplified by many in the Church is the proneness to forget God and the obligations they are I under to keep His commandments It is necessary that we be constantly reminded of our duty in thisregard and were it cot that this sacrament hat been instituted in the church we as Latterday Sain ts would be more forgetful ful of our religions obligations than we are and that certainly is not needful It is necessary rather that we be constantly con-stantly reminded of the duties we owe to Him who offered the sacrifice the emblems of which we partake of this afternoon Not long since I was asked by one of our brethren for my opinion regarding a very important subject especially important to the Latter day Saints It is in reference to the process of increasing in-creasing in the faith of the gospel until un-til we reach that point when we shall be enabled to take hold of eternal life The leading principle that I recognize as essential in that regard Is that which was exemplified in the life and sacrifice ef our Savior that of sacrifice itself If we are to follow Him through good and through evil report this principle prin-ciple will be constantly manifested in our lives and it is profitable for us not only mechanically to partake of the emblems of His sacrifice but to grasp within our minds spiritually what is meant by it the depth of its meaning and the obligation of the principle involved in-volved in our own cases Hegave Himself Him-self a ransom so that as by the act of one man death came into the world so also by the act of the Son of God came the resurrection and the life the way being opened whereby that which was lost might be regained Not only was His agony of the most intense descrip tion when he suffered a lingering and ignominious death upon the cross bu His whole life entailed suffering indescribable inde-scribable He constantly saw before Him L the prospect that he was to offer himself him-self as a means of cancellation of deb and the contemplation of that kind o f a subject itself necessarily entail mental agony that cannot be desjribe nor even imagined It is natural for all intelligent beings to cling to life and to regard its opposite with grea repugnance Not only was the death of the Savio an exceptional sacrifice but He seer ficed His own pleasure and will in al 1 things for the sake of correct principle Hence it was His meat and drink not to do His own will but the will of Hi Father who sent Hill And this was a constant saying of His I came not to do my own will but the will of an Father that sent me And it is on duty also to make it H life effort to ascertain the will of God who sent us for He who sent Jesus Christ to ba the captain of our salvation sal-vation also sent us and ware e w-are here because we were sent and were enabled by the pow r of God to quench the violence of fire cause prison gates to be opened to face the faggot and the stake They knew that God was with them They sought to do His will and they knew that the doc trine was not manmade but emanated from a divine source It has always seemed to me in studying character of this work and considering the kind of material which it is necessary our Father should have in order to build up his kingdom that it was needful that the people of God in this age as well as in the ages that are gone by should be confronted by every species of difficulty and be surrounded sur-rounded on every hand by forces that aimed at their destrnotior And why should this be the case Because it is our duty also to place ourselves our-selves wholly upon the altar of self denial for the pake of truth There is a glorious promise given to those who seek to do the will of the Father It is that they shall not sit in darkness but shall bask in the sun light of eternal truth The Savior said He that doeth the will of my Father shall know of the doctrine whether it be of God or whether I speak of my self When we know of the doctrine all doubts are dispelled our feet are placed on the Rock of Agesthe Rock of eternal truth How necessary is it then that we should seek in that direction direc-tion for the faith that was once delivered deliv-ered to the Saints What was the character of that faith They learned stand firmjand unmoved when con L fronted with dangers of every description where there is no trial no difficulty no adversity there is no education for experience is the most effective teacher The school of experience is the best existing institution for the development develop-ment of the human rowers The im I jrusaion made by the lessons of expe rience are incelible lhey are deep and lasting immeasurably so when compared com-pared with those that are imparted by other processes Hence every Latte day Saint by experience knows that his or her life as the case may be has been individually beset by trial from the moment he or she undertook to serve God by turning aside from the world its allurements its pleasures and its sins This is illustrated when the Elders of this church have been called upon to go forth and to meets meet-s Jrownng worll carrying wti them the glad tidings of the go < pjl to the four corners of the earth They lay aside their business affairs Taey leave their loved ones those who art dearer to them than tneir own lives those around whom their dearest affections affec-tions have entwined themselves Way do they do this Because the principle upon which they act is a correct one They have agreed to follow Christ and that was a part of the example he ex i hiSited I The gosp 1 shall be preached in all the world tor a witness before the end shall come And why That the world might not be condemned in the ah sauce of evidence against it Therefore ambassadors are sent out to testify concerning con-cerning the restoration of the gospel in its fullness anew in this age as it WAS taught and established by Christ Himself Him-self and Hts immediate apostles whom He ordained authorized and commissioned commis-sioned The elder who is unwilling to perform this duty wh m it devolves upon him is not a servant of God in the full sense of the term He is not valiant for Christ and his strength will diminish unless he shall repent We have seen various examples of this kind during our experience The great body of those who have been called upon to perform this duty have gone forth in the service of their Lord Others perhaps per-haps have bean lukewarm and like those of whom it is related in the parable par-able made excuses one saying I have married a wife another I have bought a yoke of oxen and a third I have bought a farm thus manifesting they had not that faith which was once delivered to the saints And we have seen them dwindle in the faith because they have not gone forward but have taken a atop backward It is difficult when a person releases his hold of the gospel plough to regain it The bulk of the elders have had faith enough ro respond to a call of that kind and what has beet the effect They have gone into the world gained experience being forced to rely upon the arm of Jehovah and they have returned re-turned from this service like polished shafts having greater power to buildup build-up the kingdom of God at home ihis is because they made a progressive step a personal sacrifice for the truth with the spirit ani genius of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ In the various countries to which the elders of Israel have gone forth the sheep of Cnrist have been located and when the servants of God have lifted up their voices by the power of the sp nit it has been with them as it was with their divine ma tar whn He said lIyy sheep heaT my voice and they follow fol-low me Another they will not follow for they will not respond to the voice of a stranger The voice of the Good Shepherd is heard today to-day through his servants The spirit speaking through them is His voice to all people and brings those who listen to it into a unity of faith and purpose The humble and meek cf the earth receive re-ceive the gospel message with gladness It is to them a familiar sound as a voice of the truo Shepherd and they conclude con-clude that they will follow Him by practicing the truths which are enui ciated They are then brought to a realization re-alization of the opposition that is brought to bear against it The elders declare that God has revealed i re-vealed the everlasting gospel in its ful ness They preach faith in a crucified and risen Redeemer the efficacy of the atonement that it is essential for men to repent of their sins and be baptized by immersion for the remission of ehe same symbolical of the death burial and resurrection of Christ Then comes the realization of the greatest promise of allthe birth of the Holy Spirit which is obtained through the laying on of hands Those who come into possession of this monitor mon-itor will have an infallible guide which if they will cultivate it will become within with-in them fountain of revelation They are led to understand the scriptures more clearly the Bible becoming to them a new book which before comparatively com-paratively speaking was as a sealed volume This is a result of the birth of the spirit for it is true as the book itself it-self says II No man can understand the things of God except by the spirit of God The spirit of God enlightens the understanding quickens the comprehension compre-hension and enables the possessor to see things in a new and spiritual ht A difficulty often presents itself bv which he who proposes to obey the gospel message is confronted and that is the opposition which he is liable to receive from his immediate relatives and friends The Savior said 1 came not to bring peace upon the earth but a sword And He told His disciples that they would be persecuted on every hand they should be taken before judges and courts and be driven from city to city It was also said that a mans worst enemies would ba they of his own household And why Because Be-cause they are the most closely connected con-nected with him and therefore their opposition strikes him the more forcibly The man who will be valiant in the oause of his God will not be moved by the scorn of his immediate friends but is willing to bear it and that of the world besides There are some individuals who are willing to obey the h ° 9pdi but have not faith enough to make the sacrifice They prefer to become swamped and lost amidst the beggarly elements of the world Bud therefore make no commencement com-mencement in the path that leads to glory a path that is strewn with thorns for there is no royal road leading lead-ing to the celestial kingdom While John wason the Isle of Patmos he was shown that calamities were to come upon Babylon in the latter time The warning was also to go forth Come out of her my people that ye partake not of her sins and receive not of her plague + for her sins have reached unto heaven ana God bath remembered re-membered her iniquities Those who were to receive the blessings of God were commanded to gather out of her and escape the judgments which would fail upon the nations Those who are valiant in the cause of Christ and receive the testimony and birth > of the spirit hesitate not to comply with the requirements of heaven This Iesponse is made but some are overcome over-come by opposition andJiaYe not tour i age to press onward in the work they have released their hold upon the gos pel plough and taken a step backward Now in relation tj the way we can taKe hold of eternal life flow can we do it We cm do it by one principle alone We profess to oe enlightened oy the power and spirit of God and to und rstand that which He has revealed tor our acceptance Then in this regard re-gard what sball we do We must place ourselves entirely upon the altar of selfdenial counting all things of an earthly character as nothing compared to the excellence and glory anc will of our rather in heaven We should be willing to be deprived of our lioerties if we cannot maintain our freedom by correct principle We should stand faithful when confronted by prisons bringing U3 subject to those who really have no right to hay possession of our bodies aDd b deprive us of the control of our outgoings and incomings Not only these things but we should if occasion shall require it be willirg to lay down our lives for the cause of God and count them as comparatively nothing The Lord said througn Joseph Smith For I have decreed oin r > heart saith the Lord that I will t e you herewith even to the laying down of your lives < for ny sake tha you may be found worthy The promise is that he who will lay down his life shall take it up again even life eternal He who seeketh to save his life shall lose it He who will shirk his duty seek to save himself and will deny the faith in position to a great principle shall not attain to eternal life because he 13 unworthy to inherit it Nowhere else are there such opportunities for men and women to show the metal of which they are made as in a work like this and 1 hold il that there is a gnrpose in the training which we undergo Without troubles and trials we would become community com-munity of imbeciles But here is a community of sturdy character and those who say that there is not a spirit of indep nd nce and lova of freedom within the h ars of this people mistake their caaracter and their genius The very course that Latterday Saints are in the conomy of God compelled to pursue tends to make them great and powerful in every respect and in that regard we are yet m our infancy as a community Therefore why should we be discouraged dis-couraged when the clouds are lowering over head It is the will and pleasure of our Father in heaven to looK after the interests of His people and His kingdom To him that overcometh the promises are faithful and true but to him that is overcome there is no promise nor encouragement en-couragement There are always among us some who seek first the God of this world expecting in some indennit + way to obtain the kingdom of God afterwards af-terwards But the true position is Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all other things will be added Men will yet laarn in the church and out of it that injustice cannot be done I in any shape with impunity Those who will fail to administer justice will place themselves within the grasp of an eternal principle some time or other for it has been said and truly that the feet of justice are clothed in wool you hear not her stealthy tread but her grasp is like that of iron and can only be unclasped by the power of omnipotence omnipo-tence May God help us my brethren and sisters to do right and square our lives by the purity and justice and mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ This is my desire for one and all in the name of Jesus Amen The choir sang the anthem Ob be Joyful sad the benediction pronounced pro-nounced by Elder Seymour B Young brought the services to a close |