Show DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT TOUNG YOUNG march 1836 1856 BT BY GEO D WATT I 1 rise desiring that what willit I 1 may say may be ili in edifying and beneficial to tile the people at times when I 1 ti alink ink of addressing you it occurs to mea ne that strict sermonizing sermon izing upon topics pertaining to tile the distant future or reviewing the history ol the past would doubtless please and highly 1 g h I 1 1 Inie interest ie i iest pest a gorlion of my hearers I 1 sers but ut my y j judgment and the spirit of intelligence th that at is in me tile teach that by taking such buell a course the people would not be instructed pertaining to their thea every day duties dulles for this reason I 1 do not feel impressed to instruct you on duties to be performed a hundred years hence but rather to give those instructions pertaining to the present to our daily walk and conversation that we may know how bow to benefit ourselves under the passing time lime and present privileges and be able to lay a foundation for future happiness still I 1 love to hear historical narrations to hear the elders vividly portray the important events which transpired in the days of the p aph ets els the savior and the apostle sand it also cheers my heart to hear the elders of israel illustrate the beauties and glory of zion in the future yet when I 1 reduce it all to the duties of the religion we profess I 1 realize that it is of vital importance for us to know how flow to lay a present foundation for our future destiny that we may attain that exaltation happ happiness ness and glory wilch kiich we anticipate hence I 1 confine my remarks more 1 to tu the practical part of religion again we often have strangers in our midst and perhaps some who never heard one of our elders preach until they came cadete to this valley and no doubt they would jike to hear a systematic sermon upon the first principles of the gospel to have the speaker formally quote ills his text divide it into four or five f ive lve heads and expatiate upon each part and illustrate the beauties of christianity in former days and picture the scenes of su suffering frering which the former day saints had to pass through and then prescribe the duties that pertain to the people but not the individual some might pre to upon duties devolving upon the community but not upon d duties tiei tiel pertaining to the tha individual preferring pre fering something or other to please the tha natural feelings of mankind tills this does not suit sult my disposition for I 1 am in ili favor of that instruction which will enable us this thia day to receive the blessings offered and teach us to appreciate them that we may be prepared to enjoy the glory that has been revealed that is my mormonism my reflections my judgment and the spirit in it me dicta dieta tates this course not to siy sll speak ak merely to gratify those who prefer to hear pleasing deli dell delightful Atrul diacou discourses ses which sound smoothly to the ear and I 1 lull ull the hearers to sleep what we heard from br prost frost this morning is is that which I 1 am upon all the time it was practical religion suppose we hould should actually enjoy the lidit light of truth to such a degree that eliat we could always foreknow know important events that we had the spirit of prophesy insomuch that we could foresee our future destiny would we not lay a foundation to secure our best interests we most certainly would it would be the constant aim of our daily conduct to secure to ourselves and our families that happiness and comfort which we desire Is it possible for us to do this it is there are many who do not know and understand for themselves now let each person of that class ask himself this question 9 even I 1 do i and understand for myself is it reasonable reas that I 1 should have confidence in those who dol do and through the weakness and aud blindness of fallen nature he be would answer no still it would be best bes t could it be so for those who are blinded to their own interest to have confidence in n those who do know and understand what is for their good to trust in them take their counsel and ind aio fio ia a all things as they are told but no the spirit of or apostasy anastac apo staey stacy y the neglect of duty duts tend to cast a vail over the minds of people and ahe when n they cannot see and understand for themselves they says say 1 I think I 1 know as well how to dictate my own affairs as doss br brigham or any other brother they have no cong cone confidence dence Jence in anybody and can have none in ili themselves foi for tiley ray do not know themselves tes they do not com eom comprehend their existence and were it not th that at I 1 they tey get tired and wish to rest they would sc scarcely r cel eel y realize that they had a body and when their stomachs become empty aud and crave food th tiley eyare arb are prompted prompt elike jike like the brutes to seek for something to eat this tills is the case with some in this congre gration they have but little more ldes ides of what they arp arf who they are and what will be their future destiny than thin has the stall fed bullock that is batted fatted for ter what is the matter with them the god of this world has blinded their minds they give way i to selfishness covetousness and diverse other ether kinds of wickedness suffer suiter the allurements allure ments of this w world orld orid to decoy them from the tha paths of truth forget their god their religion their covenants and the b blessings les ies sings they have hare received and become like beasts made to 0 o betaken betoken be taken and destroyed at the ilia will of the di dE destroyer this tilis is tile the situation not only of the great majority of tile the world but of many of tile tiie inhabitants stants of these valleys they have no correct idea of the da day of bf destruction ha ilia day aay of calamity they haw no ret rei iii liz stion of the day of sorrow and retribution they put these things far away and do not wish to think about them let us eat drink and ivy ety down and sleep and abat ahat is all we desire then like the brutes they aro aru happy it never enters the hie heart of tile the mas of mankind ti thit that lat they are preparing g for the day of calamity au and d daughter slaughter i this tins people have yet mim mix much li to learn even the best of them for forone one I 1 am aware that I 1 know hut but very little yet ihnow enough to do right today vs s also do very many who are now before me if it sin present itself to them they know what it is and know enoi biter beter than to give way to it I 1 know that it is is not right to do wrong and so do tile the most of the people and andalft alf may and should as have hard all who have reee received ived th tir spirit of the gospel and if tin this s knowledge has gona gono from them it is because of transgression I 1 have often ef red to the wickedness of mankind to how liable they are out oat of I 1 tile the way how easy it is for thern them to sin and not knowlt and how important it is that we should hare have compa gianu eian elan upon on them yet mercy is 9 biot always to bo allea exten extended to tile the people must claim its ila right I 1 i i jf if we wish this church of god upon earth to ba be like a fine healthy growing tree we should bo be careful not to let the dead branches remain too long you have seen limbs which you supposed completely dead dea dyet Jet when the genial influences of espriu g operate apon only a twig or two of the tha branch aft ift proves d 0 o br winter killed the entire limb is not dead but still draws sustenance from tile the trunk and partly lives rives and is partly dead it is no so with some of the he members of this church and kingdom they partly lilie live and ana partly do not live sometimes they eldoy elj oy tiie the spirit of the gospel and feel quite happy and atad speak in prayer meetings and sometimes make bonfe confessions of their sins their thein hearts occasion on ally become a little warmed up and at times they feel and act as though they wish to bear fruit and land perhaps among the twigs brigs of the limb y nou you 9 u in may BY find here and there a blutt clutter ir of fruit such members of lins this kingdom wil bo be found performing good acts and doing their duty and again they chev are overcome and turn away that is for a time and seemingly enjoy none of tile tiie 6 spirit of their religion in this manner they pass along filat to the right and then to the left by auf apy aud auy by either receive nourishment from tile tiie krukof of the tree shooting forth into the various twigs of the sickly branches filling them with lire life and turning ira ile lia thet diseased into chrity growing limbic or the twigs will continue to die ele buil tere tharo are none left alive who call can teil tell armb numb is actually dead or not without proper time to test matter ia is a point to be closely scrutinized b by y every latter day saint you see the failings of your neighbor be has hils performed an act today to day which you know is dishonest and wicked by ad and by jilot jie ros aos s boni soni something ething ethlar else which is wrong aud arid yon you begin to lose less confidence deuncein in that person when you yon many traits of good in him ahn xou you lada ladr itala iada foundation gor for or reposing posing rs implicit confidence lut iut iut I 1 a e commits a wrong act and your confidence begga to be shaken you a a him bira com commit mii mif anointer an oilier eilf vil und and another I 1 nt tit can call you yet lell tell wile whether ther then that limb is alive alve or dead I 1 think that we as a people roll coll le 1 14 as aa 14 individuals have got to in learn more an and T more mafe of the mind of god than we nov now poses parsers po se s before we are prepared to judge quickly distinct distinctly fy and truly tuly when limbs are dead and should be levered fevered from I 1 ile the body of the tiie tree when we have learned that they are really dead then there ig is danger in suffering them to yern demain alii alit too long for they will begin to decay and tend to destroy the tree when we are satisfied that a limb is dead we clip it off close to the trunk valid cover up tip the wound that it may not cause canse any more injury that is the principle pie which frost lias has just been upon but dut thenice the nice polut point m a for us to be able to determine when a limb iseri dead twig after twi twig 9 may die and you nu may often see half tile the limbs of a tree killed by tile the severity of winter yet in the course of the sum eum I 1 mer the living portion begins begia to rapidly put forth young and tender branches and the increase may be as great peril perhaps a ps as though no part had bad died that proves th the soundness cf the trunk even though many twigs and branches have died it requires great discrimination to be able to r rightly i decide upon tile tho condition of pers perg ns in their rei legious views their honesty and integrity before god there are rn ny tny in this kingdom who ar are as foolish as men and women can well be so much so that it would seem as though thear nevo had lied sensed moral instruction they give way to wickedness and outrage the feel feelings ingi lugi of those who are truly moral yet in their hearts they go all lengths for the kingdom of god on the earth they battien are willing to stand in the front of iio ilo lie the battle battiel tien tiel to go to the ends of the earth to preach aha tha gospel or to do anything they are called upon to perform yet when you examine their morality it highly outrages the feeling feelings 3 of or those who are bre ore strictly moral and 11 onest ili in all bleir wa ways do yow you believe this yes and many eryou of yoa you know cowit it many of our boys who play in it tile streets and use profane language know not what they are doing bi t L there are old men members of the high quorum and of the tile high chun ells eill eil ell wh who when get intha a n the hady hany kanyon hanyon on and are perplexed will get angry and aid curse curle every everything thing around them awill I 1 will insure that I 1 could filid find high Priests who conduct in this manner but on an their way home their feelings become mollified and they v isai to plead with the ther lord to forgive them bould could you lilace place yourselves in some of our kenyons kan or in some soine other difficult places out of sight but ing and hear some of the brethren curse and swear at their cattle and horses borses you would not I 1 have the least dea ea that they had lied ever known knodt n any an tiling about mormonism niam lim but follow them home homa and yoa you may find them pleading with the tile lord for pardon there aa a adjust a just such euch characters in cur nur midst doyon dodou think they should be he cut off from the church I 1 I 1 think thit if the of quorum would chastise them it might be beneficial efi cial at any rate it would gould not hurt them and ard if it that thai will not do da them and iet let them know that they must observe the law a i 0 f iii ili this is kingdom or eventually be cutoff if y dusol 0 oot oct wish to 0 o them who ere aro without sin take such men luto into the kanyon where they may beliew and bellow in vain and give them a good grod until they will re pr and ba asher ashamed ned of themselves then selves when they t fc ke tile the name of gol goj in ili vain or lie you may take this counsel spiritually or temporally po rally just as you please such characters ought lifto to be whipped so that they would redfern remember it to the day of their death and inthey if they do rot riot then stop lying swearing cursing and slid pil pilfering ferina I 1 w will ill lii tell them that sooner or later lafer they will ler ber cut ot off from the them church and go to bellino unrighteous egus per person sony soul no person who is ii filthy in their feelings will ever enter into the kin kingdom dara duna of gud bd I 1 know that the inquiry is of often teu ten made haill we do da with such meat ment men I 1 say say clias chas tue lUe tiel hueham hem them ham I 1 have reprimanded some of the brethren ren yen severely and made them first rate men it brought them to their senses bournay you yon may chastise them or take tako any judicious course coursed to bring them air senses that they may know whether sh ether they vi ev wish to th bo be saints or not hot if we continue to sin ff if we continue to ne neglect our duty and disobey counsel counsell the light afflictions which have visited us in these mountains are but as a drop to a bucketful when compared with what awaits us what a pity it is 1 1 b hat at taen who wh 0 do not kno know W how to govern themselves in the kingdom of god do hot know enough to observe the counselor coun those who do know A pity itis it is that men and women of matui matut P age but who have not got a fair stock of good sene senke do eo not know how bow to control and apply what hey they do know such persons do not know enough to sit still and hear from others but they must always be indulging in their awn own gabble their tongues are like aflutter flutter a wheel i in rapid motion and their chatter clatter flows in a continual stream we have men here who will come into this stand and preach you and I 1 perfectly y blind figuratively speaking and when they are pre are through they do not know themselves vos s fro from in a 11 nde ade of sole sid leather with regard 0 to o the things of UM cod they are all gab what a pity it is lt itsek ged sed to think until I 1 was forty five years of a aze age that I 1 had not knowledge sense or ability enough to enable me to associate with the men of the world until I 1 learned earned I 1 that the inhabitants inba bitante of the earth were groveling in darkness and agnor that their professed knowledge contain edu adb ut fe few correct principles |