| Show SERVICES AT THE HOUSE the usual sabbath services were neld at alie meeting house president avld john presided tho choir sang do what la right the dai i awn Is ineal ing prayer waa by president H U chua the choir sang 0 lard of we now thy spirit tho sacrament was by the priesthood of the jl arat ward the meeting was addressed by apostle abram 11 cannon wo are peculiar times we often hear it said by the eldera of the church that aluais the dispensation ol 01 the falness of limes and obrn we consider the events that are transpiring in the world about oswe must conclude that as great a degree of intelligence anuw poured out tipon mankind was ever known in the worlds bistarky bi stary knowledge has greatly increased dur ing the last generation and it seems as though there were nothing which the heart of man could desire which it cannot obtain and yat it is a sorrowful fact that notwithstanding all this knowledge wickedness and a disbelief in a supernatural being is steadily on the im rease instead of faith in sod being abundant iu the earth it ia becoming infrequent instead of a oneness in the worship of god there is division la this because god is not willing to hear the cries of men as formerly Is it because he has drawn fueher away from mankind no it is because men have drawn away from god they are bowing down to images of wood and stone they are worshiping god in their own way and ont according to the plan laid down by god god lias worked in a wonderful manner in the past in the accomplishment of his purposes god has always chosen his own way of pre forming his work and though wisdom among men has increased in the latter days still god has not changed his method of working waa giyen such power that pharoah was convinced that it was best that the children of israel should be released from bondage when the savior came be was not received by the jews they hated him and this hate was not quenched until he had been nailed upon the cross and his followers slain or driven from the land they expected their king to come in kingly power and not from the obscure parentage when joseph smith declared the gospel to the world he was not listened to he was persecuted and scoffed at even those who did not believe in hia words could not foresee the present condition of the latter day saints it is not the power of man that has accomplished complis hed theae results anait will not be the power of man that will brine about abe final redemption of zion to the eye of man it seems as though it would be utterly impossible for this people to go back to jackson county missouri and build up the center stake of zion but god will open up a way if we lack faith if wa lack confidence in what god has eaid it is because we have not listened to his commandments mand ments and preformed his works I 1 am aware that our enemies say to us it god is on your side why does he not come to your aid why does he allow your men to be imprisoned and your ft omen to be scattered abroad it is because we are to gain an experience let us look around us and see how god is exercising his power in our behalf let us listen to the authorities who are placed over us I 1 do not mean that we should be serfs or should give up our own reasoning I 1 arc aware that we are accused of being under a one man power we all know that accusation cusa tion is false there is no one man in this church even though he be the president himself who can promulgate a false doctrine and have it accepted by the body of this people you all know that you have not lived by the word of any man but by the spirit of god which has inspired you APOSTLE 1 GRANT was pleased to have another opportunity of being with the latter day in this city we frequently hear elders speak on the word of wisdom we sometimes hear people say that they are tired of hearing the word of wisdom preached I 1 have made soma inquiries concerning people who say they are sick and tired of dearine the word of preached and have invariably found that it is those who do not keep the word of wisdom sometimes we also hear men co molain that it is nothing but tithing its dollars and cents from morning until night well now the man who talks this way ia invariably the man who does not pay hia tithing if I 1 were to promise each of you a dollar if you would be here at go clock this evening why you would all be here god promises us health and strength if we will obey the word of wisdom prosperity and abundance of this worlds goods if we will pay our tithes ind offerings then why should we not obey the word of wisdom and pay our tithes and offerings we would be the gainers by the transaction it would be a good bargain in a financial way and we ara all looking for good bargains we are putting nick leg over our eyes so we do not see the gold pieces that are scattered about us if we would only throw abs tbs nickels away we could pick up some of these eold pieces there is an essay that I 1 often refer to ais such a good argument ailt was written by one of our moat bitter enemies he wrote the taxes are less in utah than in any tate in the union again he wrote all the offices in utah are filled by the priesthood in his first elaey he was writing a boom article he to bring people here and low maxs is a big bait la his second essay he was writing against the latter day saints well in one sense he told alie truth because we have the priesthood and we cant get a man in office that got the priesthood we sometimes yet into a groove its like looking down the barrel of a shotgun it wa would pray to god a little more and flume of his commandments we would be better off we all think of is no 1 farat we intern ret the passage of scripture which reads seek heaven and and its and other things shall be added into ill seek first the bilings of this world and take my chances on heaven when men are approached pro ached on some financial business their birtt question is what dividend will you apty pty they dont ask what benefit will be to the community whenever lam right hard up for money always make a donation I 1 consider it a good speculation and it has never failed yet I 1 have made forty or fifty thousand dollars during the last ave years and I 1 made it all in this way on one occasion alien I 1 was a boy I 1 wanted and I 1 know how to get it I 1 onla had 50 I 1 went to fast meeting and the wanted tor something I 1 told liim I 1 would give him 50 he want more than 25 from me but I 1 insisted on him taking it all on my way home I 1 thought of a scheme by which 1 made I 1 telegraphed to a man in new york that 1 had never seen and through a vire speculation I 1 made the money the speaker related to a number of other instances of bow he bad been blessed in financial way by making donations I 1 desire as I 1 grow and increase in this worlds goods to grow and increase in wisdom I 1 ont want more of this worlds goods than I 1 have wisdom to use 1 promise the of this county that if aliey will go ahead and build the sugar actori they will be abundantly blessed the choir eang an anthem israels bons eons benediction was pronounced by president david john |
