Show I 1 REMARKS n by prest lieber C tabernacle jan 1 1 REPORTED dy by 0 D WATT excuse me brethren and sisters if I 1 appear atlear before you yon with my head covered as the day ayls 13 cold and uncomfortable I 1 deem it necessary to adopt every means in in my power to ward oll off death and remain as long iong as possible in this state of existence we connot cannot live too long if we live our religion worship the lord our god in the way that pleases him and continue to be his friends how can we be the friends of god we are acquainted with but ones one way we cannot approach his presence so as to see him inverson in person while in the flesh and unchanged brit bat we can approach him and see him in his representatives then to become the friends of god it is plain that we should be the friends of or his legally authorized representatives on the earth the men whom he bas has placed to lead his people the men who hold the keys of the kingdom d om of heave there thare are many no doubt who do not believe that the servants ber ser vans of god possess any greater power and authority from him than other men such persons have a perfect right to their belief and must risk the consequences of it I 1 know that president brigham young holds those keys and power to beal seal on earth and in heaven to loose on earth and in be heaven avell averl I 1 know also another thing that I 1 hold that authority in connection with him and not only do 1 I but hundred hundreds st of others all those who do should be one with him the same as the braf brad branches iches are one oae with the trunk and the roots olavine of avine a vine for it is impossible for a branch to continue in the vine and bear fruit if ir it is not one with the vine I 1 think you understand the simple timple and beautiful comparison used by jesus christ where he says 1 I 1 am the true vine and my father is the husbandman every branch in me that heareth not fruit he away and every branch that bearett fruit he prunet preneth li it that it may bring forth more fruit this applies particularly to this principle of oneness jesus jebus christ spoke very frequently by comparison and no doubt used that style of language because it is the most impressive I 1 speak a great deal by comparison and know of no better way to express myself and make plain lain iain to my hearers the idea or principle that Is on my mind what a pleasure it would be to us to see every elder of israel partaking freely of the spirit and power of god being clothed with the power and realizing the responsibility of his calling and separating himself from the wickedness of the world that we might be one in christ as he is one with the father that the holy ghost might take up his abode with us and abide with us continually showing 0 us things to come and bringing 0 0 things to our remembrance all those who possess this spirit cannot help becoming prophets and it would be as much in their nature to prophecy as it is in the he nature of the fountain of city creek to give lyo lye ivo out its constant supply of water and that fountain depends upon another for its supplies so the holy ghost of the things of the father and and reve aleth them unto us there never was a fountain that had not itself a fountain from which it drew its supplies and so it is with the creation of all things in heaven and in earth it always was and always will be there are some people in our community who feel ver very much discouraged for fear we shall have to teave leave the valleys and flee into the mountains supposing we have to flee into the mountains what of 0 it 1 I care not I 1 would as readily go into the mountains as stay in the valleys if it were the will of god but cut we never shall be forced into such a circumstance if we do right I 1 have told you president young has told you and hundreds of others have told you that we never should leave this country until the lord wanted us to there was a man here a few days ago who has been in the church nearly as long iong as I 1 have told me we should have to leave the valleys and flee into the mountains into the secret chambers and close our doors around us I 1 told him the mountains were nothing more than sloping masses of mother earth that we were now in the chambers and should not yet go on to the roof you need not trouble yourselves upon that matter i letus latua be more diligent than ever in building and improving in cultivate cultivating the earth and raisin raising from it wheat corn flax ax cotton fruit eve everything necessary for our comfort and the sustenance of life sheep and cattle and horses i and all kinds of useful animals cease to cultivate the earth and it is impossible for os us to exist in life it supplies us food and clothing silver and gold and precious brecious stones yea every eless iless thing to comfort and bless biess our mortal existence everything to adorn beautify and embellish I 1 let us then by a diligent and judicious cultivation of mother earth and by a careful hus banding of her products work woric our wa way into hito permanent independence as a people indus industry and true economy are the elements odthe of the i independence of any aby people if every man in ay this kingdom would woul pursue this and profitable course there would not exist among ua us much more trouble the ile united states and all the nations of the earth are about to have as much to do as they can attend to without troubling us not many years will pass away before we will build our temple here liere and the sons and daughters of the almighty will enter into it and receive the endowments and blessings that are in store for the faithful but do not expect that I 1 shall prophecy prop prophecy hecK that that house will be built without ands hands though the kingdom that was to be set up in the last days according to the prophet daniel was compared by him to a stone that was cut out of the mountain tain without hands we cannot suppose that temples can be built W without hands the prophet had reference no doubt in this comparison to a block of rock detached by an invisible power from a mountain side which commenced in its rough rou rouil ii and ime shed state to roll down to the plains beneat beneath joseph smith in his day used a similar comparison when speaking king of men who are polished ile he compared tiem them to a smoothly polished dished stone which when set to rolling would ro lose iose oe all its fine polish and turn up marred and bruised without even leaving a line to mark its course on the other hand set a stone to rolli rolling ng th that at is unpolished and rough from the mountain side and it will do gre great toi tol execution in its course and leave a visible path behind it and I 1 become come smoother as it rolls joseph compared himself to a rough stone what is the use of polishing stones for building purposes before they are taken out of the mountains it is not cot always the outward appearance that shows the true man that man who has a good heart is very apt to manifest outwardly good fruits there are thousands in this place who are nearly as good as they can be at the present time though the next minute it is possible for them to be better I 1 people talk much about time and eternity and they akey say they do not care so much for eternity as theado they do for time and again others say sa they do not care so much about time as they do about eternity they do not hot think for a moment what they are talking about what is time striking the pulpit that is all there is about it that little circumstance of my striking the pulpit is in eternity it is eternity on ion the right and on the left behind and before and the time being as it appears to us is the center of it so we pass on from time to eternity every day we live we are in eternity in eternity civilized nations have divided a portion of eternity into seconds minutes hours days months arid and years for their own convenience to mark their passage through time the uncivilized or savage tribes of men the american indians for instance have no other calendar than incidents in nature such as the rising and setting of the sun hence they hey count by so many sleeps the full and dark of the moon hence they count by so many moons in short the only idea we have of time is gathered from natural phenomena in eternity we might amigh ti introduce here a beautiful comparison of a ship inthe middle of the atlantic Is it not a pathless waste of waters all around to the passengers on board except on the frail timbers where they stand so it is with eternity with this di ference difference eternity is let the brethren and sisters come to the conclusion that now is the time to set out anew and then continue from this time henceforth and for ever in doing right if any of you have been in the practise of drinkin drinking spirituous liquors to excess cease at once tife tiie the wicked and destructive practice it if such a practice is committed it has its time and makes its mark on the broad face of eternity if yoli yon cease the practice no time is given to it and it cannot leave its trace on eternity from that instant until you a again gain commit the same wrong this ibis reasoning will will apply to every other wrong 0 committed by the children of men let us spend time in doing right and we shaff shail receive in the lords time right for right grace for grace if we do not associate with the wicked world any more than is unavoidably necessary for the time being do you think they will wilt have anything in common with us in eternity or we with them no this is all I 1 have to sa say y now about time and eternity if we ive were to take the right course it would not be long iong before we should be nearly independent of 0 supplies from abroad it would not be long ere we should be able to sustain ourselves independently independent y and then with greater abilia ability bring about the purposes of our god and t this lis make all men amenable to him and to his rule ruie A man will give all ali he has to save his natural existence for the time being at the same time he be can neglect with perfect impunity the things that pertain to his eternal existence and interests Is it not better for us with one accord to determine to be saints sainta indeed to live our religion every moment by servIn serving our god goa and keeping his commandments how now can a man keep the commandments of god and suffer himself to be dishonest to be deceitful to steal and take the advantage e of his neighbor in every possible way an and lie to him to gain a dollar A man cannot both be a saint anabe and be dishonest no doubt the dispose dispositions ons of the parents arents have some influence in la laying in the foundation of the character of t th child NT morally and physically and god in one of his revelations to joseph smith has said rali but behold I 1 say unto you that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine only begotten wherefore they cannot sin for power is not given to satan to tempt little children until they begin to become accountable before me for it is given unto them even as I 1 will accordia according to mine own pleasure that great things may te be required at the hands of their parents and jesus said stiffer suffer little children to come unto me roe and forbid them noty not nob for of such is the hing kingdom 0 doin doln of heaven li eaven how do people become dish dishonest ala dia honest oneat I 1 by in the first place yielding to temptation ani suffering the spirit which is in them to become contaminated by the power ower of the evil one men become confirmed confirmed confirm ey drunkards by nourishing a depraved appetite for spirituous liquor and thus they become slaves to a destructive habit if men by their organza arganza organizations eions were compelled to steal t murder and do a thou thousand sand sard other evils they could not be held accountable and the agency of man would be destroyed satan tempts men to evil and they have power to resist the temptation the more sin is cultivated tiva ted the stronger it grows until it binds down men with strong chains satan whispers in the ears of those who list to obey him lie a little deceive a atle li tle take the advantage of your neighbor a little drink whiskey a little it will not harm you bouy leading them along as it were with silken cords until he binds them with his strom strow strong chains and readily leads them down to de destruction st a do 0 you inquire who I 1 mean I 1 mean those w wiio wilo ar are e guilty guilt are there any of this character here yes I 1 see some of them now are they to be seen dis disgracing racing themselves in the public streets yes you may go go down into whisky street androl and you yoa can se see ethern them every day how does it appear in the eyes of goo good men and in the eyes of god and angels when they see those pi of asing to be saints sainte and elders in israel li holding the priesthood of god drinking whisky and swaggering with those who hate god and his leople keople they had the power would kill president young and me and daniel and any of our friends who are determined to uphold and sustain r righteousness g the scene that occurred down that street on christmas lay day is still fresh in our minds 0 heavens what a celebration of the day on which christ the savior of the world was born borni 0 horrible example for men professing to be saints and friends of god with murder in their hearts to thirst for each others blood the duty of the seventies and elders of this chur church chis is plainly defined I 1 would separate all such unprofitable branches from the vine and let them wither and be burned I 1 say unto you seventies ye authorities of the churchon church of god you are not doing a your duty if you do not do this president young has cried unto yon loud and long iong ye ye elders of or israel and he has shaken his garments and the responsibility is upon uron you it seems as though you cann canut t prune the vineyard in the righteousness of your calling unless less he shall step forward and do it at tha the peril of his own life hear this ye bish bishops and elders for I 1 will tell you of it why do you not do your duty why some of you perhaps can say in great truthfulness 1 I was drunk myself last week and dare not for fear of being told of it then go forward and repent of your sins before the people and then step forward and separate take the diseased sheep from the rest of the flock 9 0 ye elders of israel how long iong are you coing going to sit under these things in tame inac civit ivirty and let the wickedness of the word debauch and lead astray this people how long iong shall we wait for you to go forward in tha the faithful performance of your duties shall we have to wait until the spirit shall say cut cui ot off the unprofitable servants in the few remarks I 1 have made I 1 have expressed my feelings very pointedly and mean what I 1 say I 1 am now near sixty years of age and I 1 have hava no need of spirituous liquor I 1 do not use it I 1 feel much better without it than with it without it I 1 enjoy the natural exercise of tha the functions of my nature whereas were I 1 to use it the opposite would be the case I 1 look upon men who keep whisky shops and vend it in the same light as I 1 do those who frequent such places and get drunk and swear and wallow in the mire A few days ago a drunkard was severed from the church and it will not be long before more of them will beit belt them they do not repent I 1 I 1 would ouid I 1 buffer suffer a wicked man manlo manto to hire my house to sell whisky in no tf if I 1 did the tha moment he went out of it I 1 would put fire to it and clean the whole thing out there are men whom we have nourished arid cherished in our midst and purchased their goods and comforted them invited them to td our parties and blessed them and made them rich and for the space of |