Show DISCOURSE i aft eoder elder geofge george Q cennon delivered in the babo tabo tabernacle er great salt lake lale city march match REPORTED BY DAVID W EVANS the lord bestows bestons his blessings upon the children of men according to their faith and diligence it is true that there I 1 f 1 a re a great many blessings which they thay receive and enjoy independent of their conduct to a very great greab extent they have this life the use of their reason athe the blessing air and earth and the elo eio ele elements which are incorporated or 2 connected with the earth the sun warms warms them with its rays raya and the showers shower bof of heaven revive tri tre them eem cem maby mahay of these 1 blessings descend on the children childre ii of v men in numerous In instances regardless of their conduct and apparently luide iride I 1 pendent of their actions but therease ther eare 1 J blessings which mankind cannot receive yel tei ire ive only through obedience to the commandments of god our heavenly father there are ard privileges and gifts which cannot be benj enjoyed ayed only through the diligence of those upon whom they are arb bestowed bestow ed the gifts laas lans that pertain to the gospel of jesus christ christ can only be obtained by obedience bedi bedl 1 enee ence to the truth and ean can only be retained by a faithful adherence cherence he rence renee to the commandments of god dod and in order that these may be multiplied upon the people they must be bead ap predated rp elated by byr those upon whom they are ro bestowed le bied bled bestowed stowed when lour tour hearts are filled with thanksgiving gratitude and praise to td god we are in a fit condition to receive ave additional blessings and to have more of the outpouring of his holy spirit when we see the deliver ances that he vouchsafes to td us and appreciate those deliver dellver ances eg we are in a fit condition condl condi tion to receive additional strength power dwer add and salvation because we acknowledge knowledge his hand in all the blessings we receive and in all the circumstances which surround us I 1 the things of god are not discerned by those who are not spiritually minded e ifor for the holy spirit reveals the things 0 of f blod god to those upon whom it is bestowed men in the world i at present place the greatest dependence dekende nce nee on the evidence which their outward senses amford afford them if they can see hear taste or handle anything with which they may come in contact they place more value upon that external evidence than upon any internal evidence hence when the elders go forth to preach the gospel to the nations there is almost a rk constant demand demaud made by those to whom they are sent for the evidence of miracles they wish to I 1 hear the elders eiders speak irpak in ina ki tong tongues W pes jor JOT r prophecy they want tose e the ta the e blind restored chesick th esick healed the d dajad ad raised dusome or some miraculous manifestation fe le of power in order that their outward senses maybe may be gratified many attach a great deal of importance to the evidence which they receive in this manner and to this cl assof persons the things of god are to a very great extent comprehensible incomprehensible il because the evidence which they look for they do not often receive orif or if they do it comes in such a form that it is not got fri entirely reliable to them the man or the woman who is convinced of the truth of the gospel by seeing the ears eara of the deaf unstopped or the tongue of the dumb unloosed unlooked un loosed 7 or b by y dreams or visions as a general thi thing 1199 ligi requires a continuation ct ion lon of these manifestations fe from that time forward to keep them in the faith of the gosp gospel e 1 of bf jesus christ this our experience confirms there is another class who obey the truth because it is the truth and receive the testimony of the spir spirit t with I 1 1 out any particular manifestations but lin i in I 1 whose hearts the spirit of god con I 1 finues to burn and increase imparting to them all its gifts and filling them I 1 i with joy and peace unspeakable T they e retain their faith in the work of god 0 and as days weeks months and years ar pass over their heads their fait falt faith falth and confidence increase cono no doubt there are many alnas present this afternoon who nho hae halve seen illustrations trat ions of this kind they wiley probably can allow their minds mindi to reper refer to their thein I 1 early experience in the churm church in n the branches to which they belon belonged geft when they embraced the gospel probably there were many of their companions who embraced the gospel at about the same time they did who received great manifestations and whose minds never seemed to be content with what they would term the small things of 0 the gospel but they were constantly reaching after visions and dreams and extraordinary manifestations of the power of god and in nine cases butof ten with th the desire of consuming those manifestations an sifi ta on their owa own lusts to have so some bome in 0 wonderful testimony to lear bear bear to b bd a little ahead of and to excel their brethren bre h and sisters in the things of god probably many present can recollect instances of this kind and have watched the course of such individuals until they have lost the faith and have gone out of the church on the other hand there are men and women who whre wore were not favored in la these respects and in consequence probably pio plo bably babiy felt that they had comm committed eted some si sin ln almost able in the sight of heaven yet through their humility and ani the fhe con bon constant stant eer exercise of faith they have continued jojin tojin abi lin crease in wisdom and ind strength and ands in 14 all the gifts of the 11 spirit irit frit necessary for the perfecting of the saints a and today to gay pay they can ean look back through their whole career in iii the church and can enthat see ee that god has hag given them the best possible kind of evidence tf td enable them thai to retain their thein standing in tho th church there ate afe probably thousands of people atthe at the present time among the nations of the I 1 eaith earth adio raio would say say bay that if they could see the sick healed or the blind rest restored dred t to 0 sight eight see a person who was on the verge of the grave afave snatched from the grasp of death and restored to perfect health eaith or hear a man speak in ton tongues ue or r interpret a language of which heya he was c entirely n ti re wil wll y ignorant agn ar ant they would be perfectly ere feet ay willing lin g to 0 embrace the gospel and become latter day saints for the rest of their lives I 1 have no doubt there are men in our midst who would say that if they could have evidence of this kind they would be latter day saints and in making such a statement they would imagine they were perfectly safe and that it would be consistent with gods I 1 plan for thein them to expect sueh such evidence experience in this work vork has proved that this is not the best kind of evidence but that there Is a kind which is of a higher hi gher order and which is calculated t to 0 preserve those who receive it from all the snares and temptations of the adversary with which they may be assailed god our heavenly father has promised the holy ghost with all its I 1 it agi gifts gifts to those who receive his gospel gospe 1 he henas has said that those who go f forth 0 rth nth in humility and meekness fors forsaking aloin g their sins and truly repenting shall receive for thenis themselves elves a know knowledge leage of the principles which they have embraced that they shall receive the comforter who will take of the things of god and show I 1 them to them and the history of this entire people has proved that such is the case a and that the spirit of god with its accompanying gifts is abundantly louea dRut out ubon w who ho r fre t ty 0 e cei cel r et them t e j f rhe irhe the e gosp elof jeus C lai lal ma ou our r obedience obediente whether wilether we receive t the gifts of the spirl spirit t or not the lord in his mercy has promised to us these gifts but when he e makes demands on his children it ignot is boot toot for them to stand still and make conditions with him rim about the principles they are going to receive and those who do so commit sinev sin iff th the ver very outset they grieve the spirit of goy god by manifesting buch such a want of confidence whereas those who go 0 forth in humility trusting trussing in i n cod god and who receive the truth because god has revealed it and because it Is Is sweet unto them have no go cause 0 o mourn that he has bas not bestowed upon them all that he has bas promised but r on the contrary thelt souls soul sarg are filled to overflowing g W with th t the outpourings botne the spirit of god and aud ud th the gifts gift of that spirit which whichard chare are atmo it this thip has even ever been the case it is 14 so tb day and ft it will be bei so as long iong 16 g as hs the church of jesus jesua of jatter day saints exists in purity on the earth or there is a man left on the earth 0 to o administer in the ordinances of the hoy holy priesthood of the son of god the great difficulty with man mankind id ad As that they MM arranged in their own minds plans for the salvation of the human race you can scarcely met with a min mon mn ill lil the world although he may acknowledge that god has not spoken to td the children of men for nearly 1800 goo years ears oars and that he never saw a divinely divined inspired servant of god one w who 0 had t the e right to exercise the the fhe i priesthood of the tha son of god as the a anci ancl ehat efat servants of gad did but bub has apian aplan arranged in his own mind respecting the course which he thinks god should take in saving his children legin to talk tack with them and the traditions they have received from their fathers pr preachers eachers Bachers or schoolmasters immediately rise up and if what you state comes in contact with those traditions no matter ho h pure pura heavenly and attractive it imy may otherwise be they will reject it this is the rock on which the nations of the earth are making shipwreck because instead n of re receiving delvIng the truth when hen p pre prett e ii dented to them in afi humility and d meekness e like little children ildren bb they t e feel to dictate and prescribe the laws and requirements quire ments of the gospel and t the 6 manner art arl in which it shoula should be preached wherever this spirit exists giu thare I 1 is no ho room for the meek and lowly lovly spirit of jesus td mohave have place another spirit has po possession session and ani controls them tham how many men are there jhb bood cone from afar and see zion being built up andlee and see the work of pad progressing onn this jana hind recognize the features that the prophets kave eave nave said should charac charae characterize terise and attend onzlow on zion and nd the he work of go god d in iff the last days why it is as much its as the latter day saints can do who come frond the nations of the earth foh for recognize in the jhb work wark vork work of god now progressing in this territory fhe the the zion of god they have their traditions and preconceived and ideas respecting the work of god alid and what it should be and when they come here and see the work in actual op operation eran many of them fail to it and fail fall to see gee the manifested why is this it is because of those preconceived notions it is because they tiley have marked out but and adopted a pian plan in their own minds upon which they ax expect zion to be built up and to which they expect zion to conform this is much more the case with those who have no knowledge of the truth and who have not received the spirit of god through baptism the laying on of hands and obedience to the other ordinances of the house of god but if they were to come here dispossessed of pro prejudice u and tradition and were to look loox at the work of god as it is now progressing through this land lahd they would be enabled to appreciate to it and to acknowledge that there is a power and a spirit manifested among this people that does doeg not belong to men and women under ordinary circumstances who does comprehend theora the work vork ork which the lord is accomplishing with such rapidity why there is not a latter day saint within the sound of my voice no matter how young humble ignorant or void of understanding he or she may iday be who knows anything about the spirit or the things of god but can see divinity and the power of god manifested in every move made and in all that has bas been done in connection with this work from the be beginning inning of their experience to the present presen t time they see god and recognize histand his hand in this work and nd they als ais understand at that n r man ian lan q could 0 uli uld not bestow lipop bpi ji them thain tiie the bleis blessings ings of tr peace ice iee and ana joyt have habein yin jin thi roly woly holy ghost ahou jC Though h aman alman ki nay may R be very learned in the an ancient cis cli an and ana d modern sciences may have traveled extensive ly may understand the various phases of of human nature and be thoroughly acquainted with the history story of our race so far as it has been han ban handed di e down to us yet if he have not the spirit of god his knowledg knowledge e fades away if placed alongside of lct that of the otherwise ignorant saint for it is found insufficient to tore rei veal to him that this is the work of god I 1 he looks at it from a worldly standpoint and he sees neither god nor divinity in it 11 neither can he recognize any exhibition of gods power in this r work and in his mind it is all ail delusion i i but that so called ignorant man or woman who stands bes beside do him who ma may not hn kaw aw one fiftieth part of that whick which heino he knows ws respecting the earth its inhabitants and its sciences recognizes god in it all he knows that this is the zion of god his faith is based on on the tock df abkes be knows andean and can bear testimony that this is the work of god and he can see the hand of god in it all the power of god is in his soul he is in communion with god and the gifts of the spirit are manifested in and through him and he rejoices in this knowledge which the man of the world has no comprehension of this is the difference my br brethren eulien elbren and sisters between seeing the things of god from A a natural or worldly stand point and seeing them from the stand point god has hag established for us Is this peculiar to the work of god in the last days no it is a peculiarity which has characterized all ages and dispensa eions when god has had a people on the i earth in the days of jesus who discovered divinity in hi him who shw saw sav in the humble son of a carpenter the lin n laments of his divine origin and recognized the deity there why a few humble ignorant illiterate men meb who as we learn from the I 1 acts bf the apostles could not speak their mother tongue grammatically bilt did the high priests or the learned among the tho jews or those Who 0 had been educated in the schools comi com i it though it was an age I 1 0 enlightenment so called j they could not ott oti reco recognize nize god in jesus nor divinity in which he performed neither they recognize any of the power of bf the apostleship in his apostles did see it why those who bowed im ini submission to the plan which God re rei i healed through hig hit son eon jeslis jesus christa they were the ones who comprehended christl christi these things and were able to distine aguish between the man of god and the mhd man of the world they were able to distinguish between the ruti ruth N of df heaven when it came dame pure pura and unadulterated from the |