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Show p I f I ' I THE DESERET NEWS, SATURDAY, APRIL -Ti IM,,.T..,l-,- -. tr 21, 1934. - " uTi ti t t c' njf ntr it f r p" f" r"fTrCTnnii'iriiiri jri fiLunigncrijTwrrtf Church Department r H jji"- - - -'- J ' mu 0mt TABERNACLE J SERMON i P P F I napnnnTnd?ng"rMpnsTnsPt,n,p"MS7-wnsyntf,qtwiyvtorr-ySPFi'f- (Continued From Fun Four.) oua work would bo Inaugurated: that bo obould remain humble ooda prayerful, that through him, mere lad, Ood might bring about bio purpoeeo m tbto dispensation. and departed Then the beraonage to ponhe wae left In the grove himself. by these thlnga der . Wow, mind you, thia boy waa be tween fourteen and fifteen year of age, an unlearned and com para. living by the ttveiy unschooled boy, What would be labor of bla panda for a humble. the- natural thing Hunting lad to do. after? such a Ho bad marvelous manlfeatatton no pet scheme he wanted to perhie fellowmen. Had petrate upon auch been the caae he would have bided hia time to perfect bla plan, and above! ail else, he would have plana a aecret, especially kept hie religion, to front the professors of whom hla blan would he obnoxious. But he had no plan. He had eeeh and talked with Ood, Hla thought wan that the ministers should re lolee with him In this great visitatrusttion. And bo, confident and of ing. he told of the vision to one he ministers. the Immediately was subjected to bitter persecution, and learned men aligned them, selves against this obscure youth, in nn effort to discredit his story. An Eklw To me, this fact alone Is worthy Had of unusual note. Joseph Smith been a learned. Scholarly, masterful man who had come with a story so revolutionary, we could expect strong reactions from thorn whose lives were devoted to proserespective churches. lyting In their But hero was a boy not an abnormal boy. but Just one of the weak things of the earth through which God Usually works and truthfulness the simple, forceful and unashamed frankness with which he told his story, shook the foundations of other churches, end naturally brought untold persecution and Opposition upon his head, and upon those who gave credence to his stoity. Time will not permit me to go Into great detail, but as time passed this boy, Joseph Smith, was given Instruction and guidance to prepare him forIn the Introduction ef this dispensation. the Gospel he was told Among other things, where certain golden plaice, upon were histories recorded the which of the various peoples who have Inhabited the American continent, were hlddlen away by one of the last remnant of a great race ef people. His was to bo the task Of the records upon translating these plates. The result la ths Book of Mormoh, which is a history Of the migrations, the wars, the the great cities built by the people of this continent, a remnant of which are the American Indiana ' Another Peculiarity Are we hot again peculiar in this offered one else leapectT Has any to the world such n record, which science, particularly archeology, Is doing so much to substantiate? Yet here It M, a published document which tells of ths religious strugof gles and bilecesses and failures who. as a mere handful-t- wo s people families to be exact migrated strange from the old world In western craft, and landing on the In shores of! South America, grew two numbers juntll they become civilisations Their nations great can be fallowed up through Can trai America and into North America. where, according to the recced. as a result of wars, onu nation waa completely wiped out, a and the ether nation became people. roving, uncivilised, war-lik- e These people, of course, were here vt in n t'olumbns first discovered America, Kiev mi Witnesses Must we take ths word of Joseph Smith alone In regard to these Book golden plates from which the of Mormon was translated T FortuJowere men besides nately. there seph Smith who saw, who hefted, or over the turned who pages plates, and who. In solemn testimony, recorded these facts. There were eleven such witnesses, Sll told. And herein It another Interesting ami, to me, impressive fact. Without going Into detail as to the manner In which the priesthood was restored to the earth, or the manner In which this Church wan cetablUthod. certain of these witnesses who saw and handled the golden plates, because of differences of opinion which caused disagreements and human misunderstanding, forsook the Church and refused to follow the leadership of and devoted themJoseph toSmith, unfavorable propaganda selves of one kltul or another. However, bitter though they piay have grown In their hearts, not one of these men ever denied the truthfulness of his recorded testimony regarding tbs plates from which the Book of Mormon was translatfd. IhW )s a significant fact. l Persecutions Grow Time passed ; ths Church grew, converts coming from all parts of the world! and from all classes of people. The gospel was for the honest In heart, regardless of theirpositions In life. Perhaps no Popie' suffer d more persecution at PP 1 i the hands of press, pulpit and populace than did the early adherents to the faith, i The full facts of the awfulncsa of the mobbing, debauchery, plunderings and killings which ths early members of this Church endured at tHe hands of ruthless mobs, will never be told, and probably It is hotter so. The fhet remain a however, that after Joseph Smith had, under dir vine direction, perfected the Organisation of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints, and had given his never flinching testimony to the world, he was called upon to seal his testimony and hla work with hla owe life blood, his life being taken by a wild, uncontrollable mob, gs he was being held In a jail at Carthage, Illinois, pending a proper, legal hearing of pur- offenses. There la of course, ported no greater sacrifice that man can give than hie Ufa Joseph Smith was still a young man when he was killed by the mobocrata. but his testimony lives and will continue to live through the ages, for truth cannot die.. Our Belief. we believe T Now, just what-d- o In what other respects are we peand This different? culiar question was asked of Joseph Smith himself. and he prepared what wo call The Articles of Faith. Let me repeat some of these statements. Wo believe In Ood, the Eternal Father and In his 'Pan Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. In this we are perhaps peculiar, for we behove that God is literally thea Father of our spirits; that he la being of body and parts and passion; that in his sublime wisdom and power, the universe Is kept In perfect order, and that we, passing through this life, are which, merely gaining experience it is hoped, will fit us for eternal we progress and development, that toward might strive continually We believe ourselves. Govlhood that the Christ came to us Just as and he said he came, in the Image said? likeness of his Father, for he me aeen hath hath who that "He aeen my Father. I shall avoid in order that I mwfn touch upon more of th principleto . of our faith. It is sufficient and God state that we look upon his Son Jesus Christ as two separand ate beings just as any fatherGhost son. We believe the Holy to bo ! separate praonao of pirii Wo bollevo that men will too punished tor their own sins, and In not for Adams transgression. our hands other words, our Ufa Is Indecide, but we as may lived to he lived, or the reward for a life Awell life, the punishment for wasted we will be predicated upon what one som what do, and not upon else may have dene. Atonement of (htbt W believe that through atonement t Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel. By that, we mean that salvation in a greater or less degree awaits all men. for they shall be rewarded for their righteous deeds, even were lived, for though their lives the most part, tn Iniquity. Obedience to laws and ordinances is the the nuccriw or pivot around which be deterfailure of our lives will mined. All blessings, ew firmly believe. are predicated ' upon obedito law. ence -We believe that the first prln- -Oosclple and ordinances of the Lord pel are: First, faith In the second, repenlancsi Jesus Christ; for third, baptism, by Immersion the remission of sins; fourth the for the on hands gift of laying of the Holy Ghost. These principles are so f!unda-thmental, and yet so obvious, It seems unnecessary to elaborate Faith In the Lord, upon them. Jesus Christ! It was faith, auun- phrlst wavering faith In Jesus which led Joseph Smith into the prompt grove, it hi faith Which In ths Gospel all action. It Is faith of Jesus that will lead to salyatlon In Its highest sens In the eterniinties. But faith ta the Chrtot worvolves more than mere Up forship; It Involves aofcomplete wrong-doinsaking of thetoways the and repentance, which leads Savior told us that If wo repent sincerely, our past errors and ln will be forgiven, but only through was the gateway of baptism, which even of sufficient importance that that Jesus was baptized in order all righteousness) might be fulfilled. Immersion by Baptism Perhaps we ar a little pecullat in that we believe that In order to b efficacious, baptism must be and by a burial, comby Immersion; now birth In symbolllcaUy, a of waters baptism the out of ing with our past sins blotted out,! However, we do not believe that men the week.) may live In eln throughand receive and come each Sunday Intrue repentance for forgiveness, volves a forsaking of unrighteous live fo effort definite a ways, and Mf. To ia "5 a truly Christ' in this endeavor, Chrlstl provided a comforter, have we should that the Holy Ghost, to help us discern a to lb and truth from error, If w i at g, ml e -- n1 companion to uej y gat the teaching Of the Latter-dabe found Batata, for ta them will, life eternal, ; K Tha marvel of th gospel. has been restored In this dispensation. is that It keep abreast of science, to progressive, and In many respects It has anticipated what science haa discovered, by th truth far In advance of the discoveries of science. I desire t leave with you my testimony in regard to th thlnga- - of which 1 have spoken. With all my heart I believe them to be true, to-bdivine, to b of God. By ait tb measurement by which a truo prophet may bo dotormlooo. hy humbio prayer and hjr garoful tuy I feel to say to all of you that I know that Joseph Smith wmm prophet of Ood. and tRat th great work ta which w are engaged Is the true plan of salvation whereby men may through dMgee nm eerneit effort, both here and after ultimately attain Godhead I leave you this testimony In the name of him whose name we cheer folly boar Jesus Christ Aroen atun ourselves to his spirit Wq We strive to be tolerant. claim the privilege of worshipping dice to tha God according Almighty fates of our conscience, and allow let all men the some privilege, them worship how, where or what may." Of course, w feel If they our bounden duty to proclaim out message to mankind, and to tec and Instruct, believing that' the to honest in heart will respond hold no 1H the teachings. But ws woman who Will toward the man or cannot or does not seo with us. A Brood Statement Another broad, comprehensive statement of our faith Is that Wp true, honest, believe in being and chaste, benevolent, virtuous, In doing good to all men; Indeed, wo the follow may-sawe that y admonition of Fault 'Wo believe wo all things, w hop all things, ana have endured many things all hope to be able to enduro virIf there Is anything things. tuous, lovely or of good report, after or praiseworthy, we aeek f these thlnga. So much for some of the tenets of our faith. I would like to touch briefly upon two of the more ma-TO terial principles of our religion. of ths point out the practicability whole p)an of salvation. In thegs somewhat respects ws also ars unique dud peculiar. t law jknown i We have a temporal as the Word of Wisdom. It lta to do with the physleol well being of It la contained ta the individual.revelations to given one of the to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and food a warning against harmful Will I ng ll e t i U and drink. It warn against th for use of alcoholic beverages, or, which that matter, any beverages an tea Even contain siimulanta. coffee, because they contain which cause an unnaturr i off al action of the heart or other Togana of the body, are banned. conbacco, because of the nicotineto the Injurious from tent, is obviously system, .and we are taught Ur earliest youth to refrain from That It 1 injurioua to-i Its! use. openly acknowledged by the bacco Interests In their (Iri"; advertising radio and billboard each manucampaigns, in which to u to prove strives facturer aret that weak mortals thst their particular brand of tobacco brandA other than In less injurious We are taught to refrain front excessive use of meats, except 'd timed ef famine or vary eol weath ar- - Is not this n peoullmity which I seta us apart to some extent? ! No Oontrtbwtlona It is also interesting to not that in all Of our religion gatherings, we do not pgsg plot or eontrij gudJgnod button box through theGod tastK for free will offerings. tuted the law of tithe and offerof tags In the earlierho dispensations has Introduced, the Gospel, and . these laws In this day. of th J member Every faithful Church to expected to contribute! of. his annual Increase In th good ef this world, to the, of th Church. To support this seems a greet penalty, but to ua It to merely righteous obedience to on of th lew of th gospel. s Wg feel that All that w have result of the goodness ofusOed nMj ha gives toward on wt only I and requires, for hi purposes, ' h in return, It tig bur oto- ligation to pay it cheerfully forth! Mai maintenance. of hts Church and work on th earth, obviously, there a contribution to no need to p box, Peculiar, isnt it? And yet it ' th up one-tent- a lag of God, Fast Sunday would Ilk to touch upon on more temporal law, which to rather y Batata j unique among th Latter-da- in order to. and which Is designed avoid the possibility of any mem-- ; tor her of the Church suffering On the: th necessities of life. we arc, month each first Sunday of w term! taught to observe Is what "Fast Sunday." It a day In which; to ab4 to fast asked the Saints ar stain from partaking of foodrDto that they donate to th Church, a fast ottering, the equlvslent what they have saved by notor partwo taking Of food for the meal . Involved. This law has a dual value, It Isj we should that probably fitting of our give th digestive organs and wq bodies a rest occasionally, beneflttcd be but cannot help phyj assume slcslly thereby. It to may church th that each memberasoflittle as J would contribute cents Once each month, It would amount to 15.000,00 each month; th poor. from which fund the could have needy, the suffering, their material wants supplied, without calling upon organized this outstanding Pecharity. For we IS culiarity, which different considered am again Giron Comducdop . have undertaken to touch upon just a few of th hlghllghta of our faith and our teaching, bothI spiritual, andhod temporal and th sincere not have done so In some whe ere lead that It may more fnllv tnvesp- to fnlth out ' God-giv- i - (Continued From Pag Five) ley P. Lloyd and two members ef f the stake presidency. ward Junior The Twenty-sixt- h will give their closing seminary on exercises Sunday evening, next, in the ward chapel. of Robert Lee Tienner, principal for the Preston seminary, is asking bea leave of absence for year, ginning this spring! us that Pearson H. Corbett writes The Junior seminaries ta Emery take are ta excellent condition. All told, they have an enrolment Jrls. of Ml; IM boys and organised Classes bars been Ellmo. Cleveland. Perron, Huntington and Orangeville j to I Department of Education , one-ten- I f (Css-ttodat- o) t James B. Moss and Obert C. ef report an enrolment aa ' Tanner East avSeminary, with at the must bo erage attendance of II. It classes course, that ef remembered, meet at o'clock ta th morning, And that students get no high school credit for their work. I41 J "i , Peter C. Csrtoton report that, in 'the Ensign stake, they have on enrolment Of Mb ta th Junior Sam Inary, an increase of 11 - students over the November last report, but a decrease of I a comparedof with on th corresponding quarter 'age. Unfortunately, the Girl 'year on Scout meet Monday afternoon, cutting heavily Into the enrolment , of th Junior Seminary. i o . j a. Probet, f Escalante, tells us that their seminary proj-- 1 et tor this year in to raise th Reed "cultural ton of our community Tn social and recreational Mfs. tbto end, they recently held a par- -: nts day" with, as he puts it, gratifying results. to r , Lson K. Strong writes from burg. Idaho,- that they have enrolled ta th Junter seminaries of 0 Fremont stake II students; boys and 11 girls. Classes have been organised ta Arcber, Burton, 1 Cedar Point, Edmunds, Hibbard, Lyman, Newdal. North Salem, and Tetoa. Plano, Rexburg, sugar, o o - Samuel F. Smith, president of the Ano snake, Artoena, Maks, would a part time senior seminary , Ilka started at Holbrook, ' Such oomin- ary, if operated, would draw also from Joseph elty ando Woodruff. Under present arrangements, th senior seminary meets for-fo- ur months at Eager, and then Sours. months at St. Johns, both of This President Udell tails us, to not satisfactory. It would bo bettor, he think t held a part-tim- e seminary at each place, each to run for the yntlr- - school pear. It was quit a disappointment that the department of edeetdien did not hold its regular Sunday th recent April morning service at conference. It was virtually un- avoidable. Oi o As teachers writ ta their proit Is a programs. closing posed forceful reminder thts another semnd soon an b at will inary year seems to f !v How time , Tomorrow evening, th Ensign stake Junior seminary win hold their closing exercises. Eftsv re-C, Carls ton, stake superintendent, ports they have had a pretty good - Art-son- , 1 -- year. , , Th 'local Junior seminary MlH erases give tomorrow evening th Seventeenth ward. They paper tt ,a fine year. jrv |
