Type | issue |
Date | 1888-06-12 |
Paper | Utah Enquirer |
Rights | No Copyright - United States (NoC-US) |
Publisher | Digitized by J. Willard Marriott Library, University of Utah |
ARK | ark:/87278/s6gt6r9j |
Reference URL | https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6gt6r9j |
Article Title | Epistle To The Young Men |
Type | article |
Date | 1888-06-12 |
Paper | Utah Enquirer |
Page | 1 |
Creator | Woodruff, Wilford, 1807-1898; Smith, Joseph F. (Joseph Fielding), 1838-1918; Thatcher, Moses, 1842-1909 |
OCR Text | Show alth TO THE MEN BY TI esekia superintend besof OF THE Y ill M I 1 A A document full of wise counsel and exhortation DEAR more through the blessings of tho lord we are permitted to address you in writing and in doing so we rejoice greatly in the blessings of life and liberty with which you aro so abundantly surrounded on this auspicious occasion an appropriate tune has been chosen on winch to hold your farsi general anneal conference for it ib eminently befitting that tho young men of israel should thus honor the illustrious statesman colonizer ana prophet brigham young by holding their conference meetings on a da so near tho anniversary of his birth ho was inspired to organize the mutual improvement associations throughout zion with delight you can revere his memory for distrust 01 tho young men of israel never marrea his great mind in them holiad un 1 funded confidence and for them unlimited love the almighty endowed him with the faculty of reading men anoro accurately and more thoroughly than most people read books thi study of human hearts ad the analysis of human minda enabled them to distinguish between the good and the bad by the inspiration of thi holy spirit frauds stood rebuked vroile the sincere rejoiced in his presence and were comforted by his love baing the yearly harvest of dewath and comprehending as few men comprehend the magnitude of the greab work in which we are engaged hi fully sensed the responsibility thai must ultimately rest upon you IL bearing to a victorious consummation the church and kingdom of trod the kanuer in which you have ro spondee to his confidence and has produced the bloom preceding the growth and ripening ot gloriod glo riou fruit following in his counsels yoi will not disappoint his anticipations for you aro building upon a dounda tion resting upon eternal principles continue faithful to the covenants made with the lord and each other give your hearts to god and listen ing ears to the counsels of his hol priesthood and when the storms bea upon you and the house you ar building neither shall fall As your friends and brethren we most earnestly beseech you to avdic tho snares of gordly ambition not the gates of pride within selfishness weaves nets to bind th soul write upon them the word inscribed over dantes inferno abandon hope all who enter hero thirst for the honors and praises 0 men and undue love for tho shingi of this world are dangerous reel upon which many have wrecked hopes of eternal life pride wearing the garb of humility often prays devoutly preaches eloquently bui dwellers in heaven are as little children of whom the boath of biot should be as an advanced class beautiful type of saintly humility and unsuspicious innocence haughty pride insolent assumption and overreaching over reaching ambition corn jf him who wrought rebellion h heaven bowed sowed sarito on earth anc trailed the serpent through humai hearts mocking infidelity atheists boasts and sneering skepticism ap products of a power that reigns u hell because it would not serve h heaven light and life peace anc purity humility and homage good ness and grico come of god and mourning pride and presume tion darkness and death come 0 satan between them young men 0 zion you have chosen well hence forth serve him who mado you anc heaven s light shall guido your fees in the path of purity leading to tin goto of perfection from mountain heights pause yc now and gaze upon the worlds magnificence ence pride and pomp then traci the gleams of light along the way ir which faithful elders and earnestly following the bowl nazarene to realms of heavenly glory note carefully the faith by they endure earthly tribulations ii order to gain heavenly crowns patiently and faithfully do they beai choir message amid the scorn of mocking mobs over lands and over aei they carry the gospel seeking not tc bavo their lives lost they lose them taking no heed of the morrow the travel without purse or scrip trust ing in god and receiving as dai their master the contempt of thi world what shall be their reward peace here exaltation hereafter lives eternal shall bo their reward for thus do they como to know god the father and jasus whom ho hath sent in tho midst of trials and tribulations while deathless woo oppresses the heart mothers may forget nursing babes but ho who notes the sparrows ap arrows fall will not covenant children though in infinite wisdom as a test of faith ho pride to mock and insolence to deride while persecution grinds and kills but death and alio grave will bo conquered when the king of glory binh the ultimate victory at the very gates of liell down into its bowels did he descend theace ica captivity captive and gave gifts toman alone while treading the wine press of the wrath of devils and nien gained he tho keys of death hell and tho grave they were forged in the crucible of intense hate not in the lap of luxurious case ingratitude heaped upon him the sins of the world and heavy eyed watchmen prayed and sweat betit bouts gouts of blood malica spat io his in mockery cronce turn thorny edw mantled hiu with a castoff cast off rob cruelty nailed him to abo cross then cried comi down site thyself son of goa pance of power commander 0 heavenly legions though ho was th anguish of accumulated boes woes him as deaths agonoy bathed his brow to exclaim jay god ra god why hast thou forsaken me ye sons of zion think of this am boar patiently the mocking scorn oi unbelief taunting skepticism ma mav v deride your faith while sneeringly laughing at your confidence in goal but remember that the power to brave humiliation is the test of humility thoro must needs bo offenses but woe unto them by whom flioy cornel the exiled and imprisoned may bear contempt and while earthly powers hold high carnival and mock at sacred things the promises of god may seem to fail but you who aro will know that thi methods of satan have never changed pride haughtiness rebellion opples sion deceit rulland leand ru ruin have avei been characteristic of the fallen son of the morning on the mountain offered the christ of god thi kingdoms sing doms of this world as tho price of false worship treachery lurked jeep when he sought to kill by tempting the lord to cast himself dowl from the temple pinnacle sneeringly asked that bread bo madi of stones to satisfy hunger gnawing it famishing vitals As then so nov who lives godly in christ jesuit shall suffer persecution the her ilage of saints As they hated th master so will they hate his servants not surprised therefore if for i time humiliation contempt and scorn bo your part for even whilo the hana jf god traced on the balaco wall the loom of the mocking king the proud n drunken revel defiled the sacred cups of the temple but how quickly followed alio fall boasting asarian hosts declaring thoro was no god reveled in sight of the walls of boru alem but tho angel of death passed and wrape them in dreamless ileoph that know no mortal wakening profit by these lessons of sacred history trust the lord and place lonor and truth above the price ol 01 old and earthly tribulations shah jewels eliat god will set in frames of endless joy permit no he illusive interests of this brief life 0 shut out the hopes of that to come lor quench the light that should cheer even in affliction narrow not he sources of comfort and happiness hap pines y selfishly debasing godlike powers jo not hunger after perishable but help the needy thus keeping pen the fountain of mercy lova and shun we beseech you aa on would tho deadly the vulgarity of unseemly struggles for place md power when eli permitted his sons to as ocia lewith harlots the tem le whilo they jived on the fruits oi he peoples labor the lord spoke brough the boy samuel and foretold ahat should result A few of our auth have followed the example oi bislis sons their course has been lown ward and they have trodden rho path leading to destruction mong all your acquaintances think jf one who having deserted and umed away from tho lord has bained thereby peace happiness or greatness jre atness have they not without inception boon as the moth that falls nto the burning blaze have not hose seeking the liberty of saloons gambling dens and the companionship of the unclean had their lipped in the flames of a quenchless iro As you value happiness peace and oy as you hope for salvation and ex station go not near the haunts ol 01 ice they allure only to destroy jound carefully the causes leading 0 infidelity and doubt noto tho ac ions of those who slur the things ol 01 jod and you will find that vice has bained the body and blotted the soul file holy spirit of god dwells not in unclean tabernacles and he who sin ind repents not doubts and he who doubts is damned conversely to aim that belie voth the things of god ill things whether in heaven earth jr hell will be made possible go biot therefore into the wilderness of in to lean upon broken coeds but lold fast to the rod of iron leading 0 the fruits of eternal life while earnestly jar nestly seeking for knowledge to oo 00 found in good books bear in mind ho fact thai the holy ghost is the safest and most instructor he will bring to your minds things past and present and show yoa things jo come seek therefore his constant and his shall bialo you wise good and great and mally lead you back into the pres ace of your heavenly father with all the accumulated wisdom and understanding of the horld what did the people know oi ho laws of god until joseph tho boy came incho midst of the laro of modern civilization and en 1 the biblo was as a sealed uok the harmonies of tho universe elmod confusion while professed taught the doom of ng damnation alike for ignorant and innocent cli ildren neither of whom had heard of christ holding their dupes over the flames of an imaginative hell they proclaimed the hideous doctrine of redemption non beyond iho grave while leading red handed murderers all dripping in the alood of innocence to the hang mans scaffold and there promising cs thoy died a free pass into the bosom of tho stainless christ abey preached jie consignment ol 01 forever to the region of the damned blind loaders odthe blind how could they know god and his ways how could they measure his lovo an earthly father doag with his children what they claimed god daily did with his would havo been regard in the dark ages as an merciless tyrant no wonder thata such bonso ignorance should produce the soil of skepticism oat of which has grown infidel iconoclast chobo intelligent shrewdness upon tho darkness of such unholy doctrines as electricity plays upon alio blackness of night under their teachings the loving husband and confiding wife forader at he prove how awful the thought odia ted in tho mocking marriage ceremony proclaiming union only until death do you part were that ill than indeed would this world and acs brief joys be but a delusion and s nare but it is not au in heaven here are fathers and mothers and sh ildren husbands and wives etemad y bound together in the bands of ove cemented by holy sacred covenants made on earth what a hood of light what a heaven of joy came from god through his uncultured boy prophet jintil he come this world seemed as a black of woe beyond which no heavenly light appeared As the sun lights from the east to the west so the revelations of almighty god have penetrated our hearts and given us comprehension of earthly and heavenly things this or a future genera ion will produce historians choss delight it shall be to trace the effects imong gods children of the marvel jus light brought in the world in our jay through the instrumentality of he great modern revelator it was a startling declaration to the corid when he fearlessly proclaimed hat god again had spoken from the leavens ignorance stood amazed chilo scoffing hypocrisy raged but ho work of human redemption goes bravely on while the meek and poor ind honest rejoice upon you dear young brethren nuch depends upon your shoulders ho almighty is rolling responsibilities the magnitude of which has never been exceeded in any ago the king lom of god revealed by joseph will oe given to no other people it will never fall be ye therefore to its interest and advancement faithful and rue its government ds of heaven and under it human liberty and the rights of man shall blossom and bloom into perfect fruit for the gospel of christ is a perfect law of why should any dread its way christ is the king and has not he earned the right to the dominion and rule of his own his kingdom is nob autocratic neither theocratic it is indeed theo democratic the voice of god and the sanction of the its laws recognize everywhere the doctrine of common consent the almighty in jio beginning gave to man the right so exercise his own agency ho will never deprive him of that privilege tor by BO other means can he ever de celop tho godhead within him those alone who sell their bodies and barter souls to satan will be in danger of binding themselves with chains too strong to be broken by mans love of freedom or by god s decree of human liberty he who fought the christ of god in heaven and was cast down to hell still forges chains with which to bind the souls of men from the beginning lucifer was an ambitious tyrant and accuser gehis brethren heavenly hosts wept when they saw the misery and woe he would work for the inhabitants of earth but the final great struggle is fast approaching let us fear not the result for christ and his people shall conquer here as he and achey conquered there pending the great final day of the lord almighty let it bo your duty young men of israel to fast and pray so that your bowels may bo bulf of charity towards all men and to the household of faith that virtue may thy thoughts unceasingly then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of god and the doctrines of the priesthood shull dastil distil upon thy soul as the dows of heaven the holy ghost shall be bihy ihy constant companion and thy sceptre an unchanging sceptre of righteousness and truth and thy dominion shall bo an everlasting dominion and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee for ever ind ever JOSEPH F SMITH MOSES THATCHES general |
Reference URL | https://newspapers.lib.utah.edu/ark:/87278/s6gt6r9j/1403319 |