Show tiel ti Vl P aw w el ie afe si s s A CHRISTMAS THEME af tiie birtle ministry and dentri or the messiah PRESIDENT SEYMOUR ELOQUENT DISCOURSE saints to their obligations DAILY the usual sabbath services of tho of jesus christ 0 latter day saints were held yesterday afternoon atter noon alie choir sang happy la tho man who hears voice prayer wag by elder wm JI kin the choir sang arise my soul arise off thy guilty tears the sacrament was administered by president seymour B young desired the faith and prayers of the saints that all hearts liht be drawn out towards god it is proper that we should honor aad commemorate christmas that we should remember him who died aliat we might live napoleon bonaparte once asked one of his generals who was jesus christ alie general did not answer bu napoleon did said ho 1 I believe lie was god he continued further alexander and napoleon meaning himself him have founded empires but they have been built up by blood men have died for alexander and napoleon but it requires our presence to be them to encourage them to be with them face to face and to lead them on to meet the enemy but eighteen hundred ye ars have passed away and there are still many who are willing to lay down their lives for christ they still worship him and hold him up sin sacred remembrance words of the great napoleon are true although lie was a man of blood aie fully realized that he was not the equal of our savior history lias developed the fact that king herod was a cruel man eliat he was a very jealous and bloody minded king when the men appeared to him he ordered them to go and bring him eliat was born to be king of the jews to him that lie might worship him the wise men departed and found the child and fell down and worshipped wor shipped him but all the power and glory of herod could not cause these wise men to fall down and worship him but this child in his innocence lying in a manger surrounded by and cattle called forth their adoration when jesus was twelve scars old his parents went to jer to attend the feast of the passover but they missed him and hunted three for him they finally found him in the temple discussing with the priests the things pertaining to the work of god his mother reproved him but he an evered why have you sought me know you not that I 1 must le about my fathers business in this gentle manner he revealed to his mother that he had a divine mission to fulfill when he was thirty years of age he appeared before john the baptist and requested baptism john protested but jebus said to him Suu erit to be now for thus it cometh bc us tol fulfill all righteousness john then baptized baptised sed him when jesus came out of the water the holy ghost in the farm of a dove descended on his licad and a voice was heard from heaven saying this is my beloved son in whom I 1 am well pleased then we are told that he went into the wilderness and fasted for forty days and forty nights preparing himself for alie great mission that was before him it was while he was in this faint condition that satan appeared and tempted him but they did not revile cadi other satan know jesus and the savior knew satan to bo the son of the morning when baian took him upon the mount and allured him all the glories of the earth if ho would fall down and wor blimp him jesus answered him thou worship the lord eliy god when he was again tempted to jump down from the pinnacle ot the temple ho said get thee behind me satan thou ahalt not tempt the lord thy god hf then went forth into judea and collected his apostles he did not go among the rich and the mighty but he went among the poor and alie lowly he selected poor mechanics fisherman tax collectors and so on but they were not without their failings peter one of jesus most faithful dinci ples thought lie had of ins own power strength to remain with jesus but true to the prediction of alie savior he denied his master thrice before the coalt crew twice even jolin the baptist the chosen one who lad baptized the savior and had seen the holy ghost descend upon him when he was cast into prison and was loaded with chains pent a message to the savior enquiring of him if it was indeed he whom they had waited for or they look for another jesus sent to him the comforting message tell john eliat alie sick are healed that the lame walk that the blind are made to see and that the poor and the meek receive alie gospel alie night before his crucifixion the savior asked oliree of his to go with him into the mount to watch and pray but they fell asleep and could not watch with him it is said that during that night he shed graat drops of blood in his agony and prated to his father if it be possible let this cup pass from me even upon the cross when he was surrounded by his enemies he cried father forgive bliem for they know not what they do his last words were my god my god why hast thou forsaken me and yet lie klewin his own heart that it was that he should be forsaken that ho might be given into the hands of the angel of death on the third day an abgel camo and rolled away the itono stono from the mouth of the sepulchre chie in which he had been laivand lai dand jesus came forth alie w soldiers guarding alie tomb were so overcome by fear eliat they fell down in a faint and remained so for many hours jesus appeared before mary and told her to tell ilia brethren that he would meet with them and cat with them ho did filand ate fish and wild honay ho instructed his disciples and told them eliat they would have to suffer as he biad done did they do it yes alicy did john liis beloved disciple wag placed in a cauldren cauldron caul dron of boiling oil and when they found they could not kill liim ho was banished to the isle of mas my brethren and sisters this is christmas time and we should show that ve are willing to acknowledge jehim vao was all kindness and mercy who did good wherever ho went who was to and die for us wo should him when I 1 saw alie from our leaders let no spirit of hatred or malice come from oar lips against our enemies I 1 felt to remark how just let ua be all kindness and forgiveness as was our savior alie savior aben lie left his apostles gazing ap into heaven told them an he left them po should ho come to them again his next appearance wo arc i told was on tills continent among the ancient he next appeared at the soli citations of a little boy who had prayed to his heavenly father for knowledge tio appeared to accompanied by the great beho ivah tho father appeared to the ja freiot and said This isma beloved son hear 70 him for entime had bis voice duft be heard a t 1 islat baa t fyhen the angel WAS to appear with the everlasting gospel my brethren and fei the theme is endless may we renew our covenants and live near to the lord president A 0 called the attention of the saints to the fact that we are at the close of history for eighteen hundred years will not tell of such an extent of persecution in one year agthe saints have experienced during 1889 wo should recount our years labors alie evils as well as alie good we should mako settlements with oui neighbors we should consider whether or not we have been living up to our duties in the chach have we paid our honest debts and our tithes and offerings we ave had an excellent week our fast day meeting was well attended aad an excellent spirit was manifested if we will attend to oar duties god will fight our battles and we trouble ourselves much it we knew no law wo would not any condemnation but we know our masters will and we are not justified before him if we fail to do it let us mend our ways before 1889 passes by with us is the kingdom of god or nothing this was a favorite saying of president young the reason is obvious if we lose alie kingdom of heaven we lose all i the choir sang an anthem and benediction edic tion was pronounced by president david john |