Show REMARKS ur jay president BRIGHAM YOUNG tabernacle april 1 1860 REPORTED DY BY OI GD 01 WATT the elders who have addressed you have imparted much excellent instruction many great and glorious principles have been advanced the audience have been put in possession of them and there are a great many more in store for us we constantly behold an endless variety in the appearance of the human family and in their dispositions no two persons are perfectly alike in form appearance expression disposition and quality of character we have seen a talent exercised before us today to day that is new to many of us I 1 have been acquainted quain ted with br mace more than twenty awen ty years and never naver heard him speak in a meeting b until today to day I 1 am pleased with his discourse his ideas are arc bright and arid active yet he will learn more and we will learn many th things ings that have not yet entered into our hearts to conceive and know better how to correct one thin thing with another and more clearly understand stai these seeming discrepancies in doctrine etc that so often cause persons to differ the subject presented to you this morning I 1 explained two weeks ago in a manner to be satisfactory to persons of good understanding it is the subject of faith and belief perfection in conveying ideas is not yet given to the children of men our language is altogether inadequate for always conveying our ideas with precision and the same ideas are generally advanced in diffie different rent words by differ different eat eit persons this peculiarity has been observable today to day it has often been told you that all people sects and denominations have more or less truth none of the religious sects have bave a perfect system of salva 1 tion though all of them have a portion of true doctrine and suppose that they have the per feet f act plan elders in this church men who have been members for years often speak of principles in the abstract when they would be better etter understood if they spoke of them in connection with other kindred principles faith and belief for instance should not be separated belief is inherent in the creature implanted within him for his use and benefit toi to believe or disbelieve your own experience may satisfy 3 you yoli oli that faith is not brought into requisition by the presentation of either facts or falsehoods to the ext external erdal erual senses or to the an fn inward perceptions of the mind if we speak of f aith faith in the abstract it is the power of god by which the worlds are and were made and is a gift of god to those who believe and obey his commandments on the other hand no living intelligent being whether serving god or not acts without belief he might as well undertake to live without to live without the principle of belief but be he must believe the truth obey the truth practise the truth to obtain the power of god called faith belief and faith continue in the person who is is in in possession of faith it is thought b by some that the time will come when we shall shail no leinger longer believe so far as I 1 now know I 1 shall have a few hundred thousand years before I 1 come to that conclusion I 1 am satis fled lied that belief will eternally exist with me whether it will with others or not when I 1 am in full possession of faith and the power of god if I 1 should say to that mountain be clucked plucked up and placed in the sea it would be done one or to a tree be rooted up it would be done I 1 ex expect act that objects will come within the scope of of my belief to act upon before I 1 have faith to act upon them but I 1 never expect to see the time when there will not be room and opportunity for belief andio advance adrance I 1 an am pleased pleas edwith with the remarks made by br mace blace and br pratt br er mace is right and wrong in bis his ideas upon the birth of the water and spirit as he is with regard to faith in the abstract there is such a thing as the birth of the spirit while we live in the flesh and when we understand more perfectly our own independent organization which god has given us and the 8 spirit p i rit world and the principles and powers that tha t act on this organism we will learn that a person can be so fully and solely devoted to the spirit of truth and to t god and be so wrapped up in that spirit that it may be called with propriety a new birth I 1 read in the scripture that a man must be born of the spirit before he can see the kingdom of b god and yet I 1 have seen hundreds of people in my experience and travels who after hearing the elders preach and the spirit of truth has found wa way to their heart shave yielded fielded to it and testified that this is the kingdom of god and after all have never come into it the love of the truth wasso far lacking in them or they were so far wanting in moral courage coura ge that they did didiot not embrace the truth the writers of the new testament were e e asp disposed osea oved to call it a birth and I 1 have no objection tio to their use of the term jesus jerusis Je susis is the jf hirst first begotten from the dead as you will understand neither enoch elijah moses mose s nor an any other man that ever lived on earth no na matter how strictly he lived ever obtained obtain ee a resurrection until after jesus christs body was called from the tomb by the angel he was the first begotten from the dead he is is the master alaster of the resurrection the first flesh that lived here after receiving the glory of the resurrection the resurrection from the dead may also with propriety be called a birth all we can do in these matters is to exclaim 0 the poverty of our langu language agel the poverty of our idea the power of our oar conce conception tion but we shall leara learn more and come to a better ietter getter understanding it is 13 for br mace and all othus to under stand that because we believe in the ordinance of baptism the ordinance of the sacrament ia Is not to be done away to learn that if you believe in the laying on of hands for the reception of the holy ghost you are not to deny the laying on of hands for the healing of the sick it is not for people to take oni only ohly r one part of the religion of christ and say it is all we require but take the whole truth wherever you find it it is good claim it take I 1 it to yourself and cleave to it for it will do greaven you ou good cease to separate truth from truth heaven ia is full of truth earth is full of truth and falsehood the power of god the power of angels and the power of the devil are all more or less exhibited before the children of men let us yield ourselves to the lord our savior that we may truly be his servants and it will be well with us and there will be go no danger but that we will be right let us learn to seethe see bee the harmony of truth and love and practise it until we are made perfect and fully prepared to be received into the kingdom of our father and god may the lord god almighty bless the saints and every one who will wilf perri permit lit kit his blessings to come upon them I 1 am under the I 1 same obligations to bless sinners as I 1 am to I 1 bless saints if they will receive my blessings I 1 pray for the blessings of heaven upon the work of his hands for we are all his children the sons and daughters of our parent who I 1 dwells in the heavens let us do honor to his character and to our own being and so live that we may have knowledge of the light of eternity that we may be prepared to dwell eternally with him this ibis is the greatest gift that can be conferred on intelligent beings to live forever and never be destroyed may the lord help us in so living as to enjoy his society through the merits of his son jesus christ amen |