Show 0 REMARKS 1 tiled at the Weber stko Conference Ogdon Monday October loth 1800 by ELDER FRANCIS M LYMAN RUPOR TED I1V ARTHUR WINTER It aflords me a great deal of pleasure u be in attendance upon this conference and I trust that hlle 1 attempt lithe speak to IOU I may have li-the assistance i < 01 jour faith and prayers I enjoyed the treat that w as given to those present this morning in listening to President Ill ford Woodruff and Elder Franklin D Richards o brethren such long and lailhful experience in the Church I sometimes wonder how lonz the Lord will preserve these aged brethren ard give us the benefit of their experience and wisdom > I think I never heard 1 resident Woodruff talk for fiftyfive minutes with greater ease and give so many interesting items of his experience as he did this morning and alt who listened were greatly favored lie has been preserved to such a great age and has had such a remarkable experience that the Latterday Saints cannot prize leo highly the opportunity of listening to him the Prophet of the Lord the mouthpiece ol our Heavenly Father to all Israel the fourth in line from President Presi-dent Joseph Smith and one who was associated as-sociated with the Prophet through a great share 01 I his life and labors I feel that all Israel are blessed In having his presence and labors among us and that our faitband prayers should be exercised in hu behalf that he may remain among us for a great many years We have learned to have confidence in him and to love him for he has so thoroughly proved his faith and devotion to the Prophet Joseph to the Prophet Brigham Young and to the Prophet John Taylor through their administrations We have felt in the case ol all our leaders that it was a calamity when they have been taken from us We have always anted them a little longer and have done all that we could to presents them and to keep them among us It is a rare thing that we want changes in the ranks of the brethren whom the Lord has chosen to represent Him among His people We rarely ever want change I reople II tof In Apostles or in Presidents ot Stakes or in High Councilors In Bishop We become acquainted with ourbrelh ren and with their integrity and devotion devo-tion and we leatn to love them and we do not contemplate with pleasure the lime when wetmust part with them Every 1 time I see President Woodruff stand upon his feet to talk I feel as < though I want to listen lo him just as f long as he can possibly talk Duublle all Israel feel the same We feel in our councils ol the Presidency and Twelve < that as long as he call talk to us sitting or standing gtvlngtus advice and cOlin set and the word of the Lord we are honored and favored more than lie Know how to appreciate As in the case of the Prophet Joseph and his other successors we may not tully appreciate our present Prophet till after he has tI aftle1 1 rre yet I believe that Israel has Teamed earned and is learning better all the time to appreciate their I faithful brethren breth-ren not only those who preside over them but their neighbors land kindred who are faithlul Tile Gospel is calm laled to bring liS into n nearness to each other 10 make us one 10 correct In us all our errors our traagresslons and our weaknesses and to give us strength by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost for i nor J Gfti i the discharge of our duties It is im I porlant that we submit ourselves to the Inspiration of that Spirit I was delighted this morning also in listening to Elder Richards speaking in regard to the necessity of ollr obtaining the Holy Ghost emphasizing what President Woodruff had said concerning the words of tile 111roplicit I Joseph land pletO I i or eel Joseph IA the Prophet Brigham in relation lo the Importance of tne presence of the Holy illicit It is the especial office and call ing of f the Holy I tpirit to be with us to bear witness tons to convince us of the trulli and lo enable usto acquainted ac-quainted uith the lather and with the bon No man can know the Father except ex-cept by the revelations of the Holy Ghost No man can know the Son but by the Holy Ghost No man can know the rophet I Joseph Smith the Prophet llntham oung the Prophet John Tay h I r the Prophet Wilford Woodruff the Apostles ol olden as well as ol modern times to be men of God except by the Inspiration ol the Italy Ghost They may believe that these are great men and possibly that they are servants of the Lord but to know it and to know Ihe I truth And the plan 1 ol it life and salva tion no man can only as the Lord re ealslt But II hen the Lord dots reveal ilit 1 is just as plain and simple to the mind as anything that we see or hear All our faculties convinced by the lnhreIfglvli inspiration i of the Holy Ghost It I Is more than the testimony ol man It is I more than the voice of the Lord Ills more than the visitation of the Father or of the Son For it is i an abiding testi mony It is the channel I of cctomunica frtmTf lion between t heaven and eath Through it t comes all knowledge all lllehjence Adall testimony it has alw been theorder r ilk iJeb 3 of Conveying knowle a Ad I tstanding In regard to the tf Negs of Call CallHence Hence the Importance of our taking a course to obtain the I Holy Spirit and toW keepit to-W I is not mouth hat the gilt of the Holy Ghost should be conferredlup ra us at our baptism not enough that It should actually receive it not enough that it should I bear witness too us W the Father 1 and ol the Son and of the ao eltSI ruth of this work but It is important t that it should dweil dwell with us and be our companion so that the testimony within us may be kept bright unto salvation l It is kert noe not possible 1 to obtain eternal life Ulgo back Into the presence ol the rathe 1 except me are led by the Inspirit t1 cefl gftb j gft lonoftie Holy Ghost No man has teen led back Into the presence of is Father rlegyb an angel tbll Is not the Ullcess 01 Angels to be with us con Bin ly to lead us by the hand and to culft us At we were at taught this morning I when it is i necessary nll ell are sent to perform a certain work but when it I comes to establishing in the souls of the sons and daughters ol God a knowledge of the truth that I is the office of-fice and calling of the Holy bplrit When the Savior announced that any man who would do the nlll ol 1 the Father should know of the doctrine lie knew that if a man would do the will ol the Fnther He ould receive the testimony mony ol the Spirit of the Lord and there is no power no light no intellli ctnce no know ledjre that can begin to compare with the light intelligence and knowledge of the Italy bplni font is I the power inlluetice and w isdoin of God That Spirit is planted in the soul of everyman every-man and woman ho serves theLord and keeps His commandments and when that Spirit abides in our hearts then we know without n question ill our hearts in regard to the doctrine When we lack that knowledge or I en tint knowledge Is scant and hardly exists within us it is because our labors ate scant and our devollono the Lord hardiyextts tar 1 say that just as fast and 10 the extent that serve the Iord I and keep His commandment so does the light and inspiration of God come into the soul ol man The doing ol the will of the Lord opens the windows 01 the soul and that light and revelation pour into the soul as readily as air pours into these windows when they are opened That Spirit is ready to come into the soul of every child that is born into the world at the first pportunit ahhough it can be easily otlerded and driven away Wheathere is a sign of repentance anti humility and devotion in the soul e07n man that YI light is ready to enter there and to bear record re-cord of the Father and of the Son It I is our busllless my brethren and sisters to make ouroelv acquainted with that Spirit to obtain it and to retain it and not allow it to depart from us When It departs Irom use should turn to the Lord speedily and humble ourselves before fFeechly ta rtllves lore Him that we may regain It The Gospel is i positive In its character Jesus said to llts disciples Go ye Into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature lie that believeth and is baptized shall be saved but he that believeth not shall be damned That was a positive declaration Peter expressed ex-pressed himself with the same positive nets when he said on the day ol Pent cost Repent and be baptized everyone every-one of you in the name 01 Jesus Christ for lie remission of sins and ya shall receive the gilt ofo the Holy f Ghost Whenever the Gospel has been present ed to man on the earth these poIIIIe terms have been used Consequently men have something to rely upon Itis I not a possibility or a probability that such may be the case but it Is I made as i positive as language CA n make PlT I 11 a man igedo the ill of I the rather he shall know ot the doctrine doc-trine If men will repent 01 their sins and be baptized for the remission of them they shall receive tile 1I0ly Ghost I These are positive statements and they were spoken by men who were not mi I taken The Son of God was not mistaken mis-taken Ills words were reliable Peteros words were reliable for he spake by the power ot the Holy Ghost and any man who speaks by the Holy I Ghost I rnI tPeaks scripture speaks the mindand will of Godand it cannot be questioned Hut in order that we may ootain what Is thus promised there Is a very careful charge given In the modern revelations through tt et Prophet Joseph that I wish to ca I to the attention I of our leading brethren in the stakes and wards for the Presidents ol Stakes and the ishops particularly the latter are the men who have the jurisdiction lover these organ zed departments of the Church There are no baptisms DO confirmations blessings ehildrcn I or an thing ot sirisd that kind done in a ward without f the conscntand lull approval of the Bishop Iders High Priests and Seventies although al-though thoroughly endowed with auhorlty to baptize conlirm ordain and to bless children are subject to the alclen 1102he man who presides over tbern In the ward In order that baptisms may be properly administered and acceptable to Himthe Lord made plain In April 1830 that men and omen should be In a certain condition before they shollld be received Into the Cburch The msbop who are common judges are entitled to know whether men ale prepared for baptism or not 11 a man comes to them who Is unprepared and not ortlly to freckle that sacred ordinance they are just as competent togay No my dear friend you are not ready to be baptized as they are to say Yes vi e shall be glad 10 baptize yout2 Tne Bishop and his counselors are the ones to hom all these mailers come Ina ward Of course in the world these things come to the traveling ridersam they then are constituted the judges and they are entitled lo the spirit of Judgment and wisdom to enable them Judgnent all men and women when they present themselves for baptiim It is not well that men should be received prematurely and before they are ready As Paul says lay lunds suddenly on no man21 I believe to that injunction might be added baptize no person suddenly sud-denly We do not want to baptize people peo-ple into this Church who have I not faith who have not repentedand who do no come forth with the broken heart and the contrite spirit lor when we do that we bring reproach upon the Church be ca Jsc the promises we make to them are not fulfilled inThey I do not receivethe i Holy Ghnst they do not obtain knowledge knowl-edge ol God and of this work they do not receive atesllmony as me promise them they shall if they have not faith And if a man has not filth then he has not repentance for faith precedes repentance re-pentance There is no Incentive for repentance pcntance unless there be faith In God Repentance Is the fruit of faith and the fruit of repentance Is reformation Where there is no repentance there Is no reformat Tile Lord I has laid down plainly in the 37th paragraph of section xx ol the Doctrine and Covenants Cove-nants thecondition Accessary to baptIsm bapt-Ism lie SI And agalit by way ef cemndment to the church ocerllln Ih uanaor ef blPlisalAll ho humblolbnaehes belo God and drillre 10 bo and come forth sillis broken b13ized bcarls aad Ill Is pt 1 nd m laim before tile church Iballey loa I Indy repentd of all their its an4 are Ming 10 Jk pen bem be na m fJu ClIrlstlotruli a dermnlon o serve Him t j tl e end and truly manifest by heir works tint they have 1 rtcelvedof Ihe Spirit I of Chrhl nl the remlmon of their tins lliall n recelsed by baptism In o His church The Church lit i entitled to know that candidates lor baptism have truly rep re-p cnted of their sins and are willing to lake UpOIl Ihoo the name of Jesus J Christ having n determination III see film to the eDdnot for n little season not for twenty ears or fifty years but to the end It is an eternal obliiiilion that they t take upon themselves and II i man dOtS not in lend lo 1 serve God throughout eternity his obligation Is 1 void in 1 lIe sight ol the Lord There is no promise ol eternal life and salvation unless a mans tepentanceisgetiulnea repentance repen-tance which needs not to repented of If a man be a liar he must lie no Xnan rol ore if he be a thief 1 he must steal no more II he be conupt or In 1 any manner wicked he must cease tint and r 1re oer1b r ehood from henceforth and forever serve God I have been brought to think of this sutject when I have met with members ol the Church who do not know the Go pel is true Of ourse there are many who know the Gospel Is true but Ihey do not know that they know it Hut there are some who really do not know and have never learned that the Gospel is true Why Because they have not done the will ol the Father an they 1 should have done ou rarely lint1 eHJeor t r an Eider who goes out in i er world but he soon finds out that the Gospel is true and that Joseph Smith Is a prophet of the Lord He is very soon able to hear testimony the truth ol this work and that I the Lord lives lie has that testimony testi-mony strung and burning in his heart What Is the reason It is because he has been on his knees before the Lord He I has felt his weakness that he needed the assistance ol the Lord to preach the Gospel or he could not officiate in the name of the Lord acceptably Therefore There-fore he humbled himself before the Lord in the very dust he prayed her ently he read and studied he sought the Lord and found Him That is the reason he has that testimony The Spirit ol the Lord came to the rescue and bore record of the truth and established estab-lished a testimony In his heart And this will be so at homeas well as should Where we find brethren who have not obtained a knowledge it is i because they have not been ns devoted as they should be I recommend all those in the Church mho have not yet got a tull many to apply themselves now Their baptism has been administered to them by the proper authority and it rests with them to fulfill their part ol the obhgi lion Tjcy are not entitled to the know l attire nor the blessing until they have fulfilled their part No doubt many have been brollgnt into the Church ho were as pure and honest as could possibly possib-ly be but without proper instructions and counsel Jl may have been the carelessness care-lessness 01 Bishops or of parents or of Elders Possibly they were born to the Church and baptized at the age ol eight years and have not been brought to a proper and thorough understanding 01 the Gospel I repeat however if there are any in I the Church today who fl lack a tetllnony or question In their minds as to whelher I the Gospel true or not let them humble themselves a fore the Lord let them perform the duties evolving e-volving upon them It tbem meet to Kether often with the people and serve God laithlullv and devotedly and in I avery a-very little while the Spirit of the Lord will come in upon them and they wil begin to see as they have not seen and known It is important that they should do this And when the light once shines In upon us it b I Important I then that the I Holy Spirit should be hept 1 will att n lrn dp I us that His I influence and power should abIde with us constantly and that we never live in the dark I want to say to my brethien and sisters not to be satlt led with a membership In the Church with our names upon the record but lei us be aggressive and positive in our knowledge ot the truth so tint we may always have a testimony to bear and a reason for the hope that God has estab shed I in our souls God bless IOu Amen |