Show LET IT BE KEPT HOLY THE SUBJECT OF ELDER REMARKS ON SUNDAY lie also speaks upon taking gods name in vain 1 the usual sabbath services kofl the church of jesus christ of latter day saints were held in the meetinghouse meeting house on sunday afternoon at 2 eldar isaac bullock presided the choir sang loid we come before thee now at thy feet we humbly bow prayer was offered by elder A halladay the choir sanf on that dark and solemn night when powers on earth binl hell arose the sacrament was administered by the bishopric of the fourth ward ELDER JAMES E considered a call from the priesthood to speak to the people no small matter because an elder occupying such a position becomes a mouthpiece of the lord if the seldom discharges this important matter aright he possesses a humble spirit and a desire to aay nothing but what shall b e actuated by tha father occupying thi position he has tho right and the power to invoke the of the lord upon him the power of the priesthood is the highest power upon the earth it exceeds that of monarchies and republics it emanates from the lord by whom all the different governments ern ments of the earth ara allowed to exist an elder in israel has the right to act as an ambassador in tho kingdom of god and see that its interests are well cared for if ho is a faithful ambassador he will set an example among the people we are inconsistent men come aloag us as judges marshals and holding such other positions under the govern men tand wo treat them with courtesy but we have among us men holding an eternal power per forming things in the name of the lord jesus christ by virtue of an authority conferred upon them calling upon god and angels to witness the exercise of that power and yet we do not treat them with the same respect and reverence as we do those holding authority under man made governments we do not listen to the words they utter spoken whilo acting under chii authority of the most high why such a thing as refusing to listen to an ambassador of a government of the earth has caused war hence I 1 say wo are inconsistent the power of the almighty is above all power and riches there was a ime m the history of the apostles when a man named simon the sorcerer went to philip having seen him perform many wonderful things with chis power and offered him money for him to confer it upon him that upon whomsoever he might lay his hands thoy would receive tho benefits that flowed from the imposition of those of philips what did philip say thy money perish with thee simon prostrated himself at the apostles feet knowing that what he had demanded was wrong we most not abuse the power god confers upon us we must be careful in everything we do in the name of the lord the partaking of the piece of bread and the sip ot water when we meet to receive of the sacrament if we do so unworthily will cau e us to eat and drink condemnation to our own souls there was a time in the his tory of when ho cast out evil spirits and the jews who were present watched his actions very closely among these jews was a man named steva who had seven sons seeing paul cast out devils in the name of jesus they thought they could use the same command with the accompanying effects they wont to a man who was afflicted in manner whom we would say had a devil within him they said unto these evil spirits in the name of jesus christ we command you to depart did they obey not at all but the evil spirits spoke from within the man saying lt jesus we now but who are you that you command us to obey wo are told that the man possessed of devils flew on these seven sons of steva and punished them for using such blasphemy and the historian tells us that the seven sons escaped naked and bleeding the evil spirits know when they are rightly commanded and they obey authority aam god hence the name of the father should bo held sacred used the way it is by the drunkard the blasphemer the debauche randI am sorry to say some who call themselves saints god has said thou not take the name of tho biord thy god in rain for the lord will liot hold him guiltless who His jiamo in vain I 1 understand that some of the oriental races are very careful how they use the name of tho deity and when they have to dobso they do street should he pick tip a piece of paper on which the name of god was printed would fold it up with great care and put it anway among his treasures for a moment if while using the name of the lord in vain the curses were to be answered upon your heads how would we like to hear a near relative or a dear frien 3 spoken of the same way that we often hear of the lord god has in anclene hays taken summary vengeance upon those ano have sought to desecrate his holy places and take his name in yain and who shall say thal he cannot do the same in ams day betit is not at all times that ho exercises his power as he r has done in what is the sabbath i different to does not the sun rise and set the same do not storms and hurricanes visit on sunday as on any other day eo not the hands of the clock move from one to twelve and twelve to one do we not eat and dank the same on the Sab bathas wo do upon any other day yes then in whal does tho sabbath differ nothing so far as outward things are concerned but simply because the lord has set it apart as a day of rest and he has hallowed it remember says jehovah that thou keep holy the sabbath day six days thon labor and do all that thou hast to do but the sabbath day is the sabbath of the lord thy god in it thou do no manner of work thou nor thy son nor thy daughter thy manservant thy maidservant thy cattle or the stranger that is within thy gates for in six days the lord made heaven and earth the seas and all that in them is and rested on the seventh day wherefore the lord blessed the sabbath day and hallowed it these are the solemn injunctions of our creator and we should as his children observe them let us then cease breaking the sabbath let us cease using the name of god in vain let us cease being inconsistent si stent and let us live as near to god as we possibly can the choir sang an anthem and benediction was pronounced by bishop J P R johnson |