Show ad iel tel S E by elder Q CANNON dc i livered tim jiw jim the ae old tabernacle S all alt lakia lake city jan 1869 n REPORTED BY david W evams EVANS to those who ho are not fa familiar millir with the tho operations of the gospel of christ the spectacle which is to be wIt vit witnessed nested in this territory ofa of a people gon con congregating gregat together from BO so mahy nations and united in their fait falt faithana faith falth hand haud an A worship is something that is ia very strange and must of necessity create considerable inquiry and remark it is ls wonderful r and is without a parallel on an the earth at present and yet when viewed in the light of the gospel which Jesu jesus staught slaught there ought to be nothing particularly wonderful about it for that which we see in these valleys la lef what we might t expect to see from the teachings of jesus desus anahis and his apostles jesus taught 0 his HIE disciples the plan of salvation he gavel gave unto them the pow power er and authority to go forth and proclaim that pla pia plan pian n to every creature creata rei commanding them to baptize and abid promised promise d them that they who bowed iii in obedience to their teachings in g 8 should receive the holy ghost one on e of bf the peculiarities of the holy ghost as we read of its effects in the fhe scriptures I 1 Ws to unite lanite the hearts of those those who wib fib received elved it and to makh mako them one ve we and no de decounte account in the history that is given gien unto us of the labors of the apostles holt bolt leso ieso oathero lf being any division them or among their disciples although Alth aith bugh paul had abt been brought into contact with peter nand rind the rest crest of the thuy twelve for some bome years as us we jerusalem to meet peet with them ho he found that he taught m the same principles and was convers conversant ant with the doctrines of jesus as they were and so go much was he impressed with the importance of hibi hird and his brethren and those who received the principles principle 4 they taught believing in in one form of doctrine and duie brie plan wan of salvation sal gal that he left oil on record to ono one of the churches which lie he raised up ti this sentiment though wo we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which we wo have prea pred preached ched unto you lathim let iet him wlm be tib jib ac cursed he her endeavored to impress upon those with whom chehad coni communication rauni and over whom he had influence that the form lorm of doctrine which he had delivered to them and which he says he received by the holy ghost aghos t was the only form of doctrine that could be preb preached ched to the inhabitants of the earth without the curse of almighty god resting upon them who preached and propagated it hence itis but re rea ai a i nabie dable to suppose that had bad the doctrine which paul taught ic aught which he received from jesus and the doctrine which was taught by peter james john and andrew and cherest th the erest reat teat of the apostles been p preached reached and ach adhered ered to by the whole 0 of f the inhabitants of the earth we should see today today through all the nations of the earth that which is witnessed ia utah one form of worship and one faith and all the people every where worshipping wor shipping in the same tet tbt temples liples and tabernacles and tind being governed by the same game principles it cannot be exp eap expected by any perean who has any faith or confidence dence denee in the plan of salvation I 1 or in the script scriptures ures utes which contain an account of that plan i that tho holy ghost would reveal unto man two different kinds of wt faith falth that it would lead them to believe belleve in in did dit erent forms of doctrine or that it would teach one class of men mer that one portion of tho the gospel was necessary yand and another portion unnecessary or cause an any V portion of the people to believe th that 9 t a certain item of the gospel was essential to salvation and cause ar another portion of df i the people to believe that the same itera of the gospel was ddn nonessential such a view is irreconcilable with the teachings of jesus and H his hib I 1 s apostles and of all that is left on record concerning the gifts arnd arid power of the holy ghost and its office among the children of men on the contrary all that is recorded leads us to suppose that if the holy ghost were to be bestowed upon an inhabitant of europ europe upon another person in asia another in africa and upon a fourth in america and again agaid upon another on the islands of the sea that these individuals were they to como come together and converse upon the plan of salvation would entertain precisely similar views respecting that plan to think otherwise would bp b to make god our heavenly father the author of strife and alid division it we will remember the prayer of jesus the last isa which he offered up of which we have any account before H his hib is arrest and wid betrayal we shall find that be 6 prayed that nig his apostles might he one eVen as he and the father were one ne and said he neither pr pray ny I 1 for these alo aio alone lug R but t for thern them balo ralo I 1 which shall believe belleve on me through their word that they all may way be bp ode oue as althou Thou father art rt in me and abd I 1 I 1 in thee that they also may be one in us that the world may believe that thou hast bast sent me this prayer it 14 pre su wa wm recorded in ih heaven and it is also thatis that thad it was the design of god that it should answered upon the heads beads of those in whose behalf it was vas offered this ness did c characterise charac fracter terise I 1 se the church in those days and q as I 1 have already said gaid there Is nothing left oh on record to prove to us that thai there was anything but bud oneness harm harmony I 1 and union in the midst of th the e cb church kiz kih during the lives ilves of the apostles the prayer of jesus mas waa her beard ferdand dand and answered the spirit af pf god wai wal was poured out apon tho the apostle and not on only y upon them but those who believed I 1 in h their words audibe and the world i in looking on their union had an evidence that they could not contra vert that jesus had been sent by the vather father and that he dvis ivis was indeed the very christ it may be supposed therefore that this thi s being the condition of things during the lives of f the apostles had the inhabitants of of th the earth continued to ples plea which they far fau taught dh tithe the same results would have followed noi not bial only in the first century of the christian erat but bit through gh ever every y succeeding century ventury down to pur own day eor eor eoy it is s recorded ded bcd in in tha the scriptures I 1 and none who believe in lix i them an can ean doubt douht the truth of tho the saying that god is 14 the same same bame yesterday today to dagand day and for aver ever he himself bays says for I 1 am fira the lord change not ye lyel sons dt daj jacob arb are not consumed this ia is the character af our father and our god at all times and under unde all circumstances cum stances in every age and genera tion when men have bowed before him and have sought him in t the way ay he ha has appointed he has hear heard heir their prayers and granted to them the desires estres of 0 their heartland heart hearts sand and has blessed them according to the faith they have exercised in him cad everything very vers thing that we have on record efrom from those who have had any ac acquaintance with kith his or who have bad familiar intercourse with bim bam confirms this view of his character when men sought after him in faith in n the days of enoch noah abraham moses and the prophets and then again in the days of jesus anahis and his apostles the saine sanae results followed the exercise of their faith all may not have had direct and personal intercourse with him but all received the tha blessings they sought and the guldan beof his unerring wisdom has been granted unto them thea this is pr proved oved from the first record made by moses down to the last made by john the revelator on the isle of patmos we have hareno no account of a generation or of an individual even who served god and kept his RIB commandments that did not receive peculiar manifestations and blessings from him no one was left in doubt or darkness s no one had bad to be guif gulf guided I 1 aed by tradition or by the teachings of others alone but every one in in eve eye every y aie sie age and generation received peculiar manifest manifestations actions and blessings blessing downto down to the time that john yohn clo cio closed sed his record seeing that this is the character bour olour r father ath r 1 in heaven and of the gospel of his 90 son n jesus jews christ how is it that 10 9 day there is opposition strife and uncertainty among those who call themselves the disciples of jesus if he is as the scriptures say the same yesterday dy today to loday day and forever this isan is an inquiry that every man who professes any faith whatever in carist christ should make even if he does not indorse the idea that has been taught and bestif testified toby dt day saints f vla via that rod god god is a agod god of re v a and nd that he has revealed himself again in these latter days as he did in former days for my part with the vie view w I 1 now have respecting god with the light that has been thrown peo reo upon n my mind by the teachings of the elders of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints I 1 could not be satisfied unless I 1 had something more than the world bay say it is possible for men to obtain at the present time I 1 could not be satisfied with the records that we have in our midst containing the testimony of men who lived hundreds of years ago I 1 could not be satisfied to base my faith and my hopes of salvation and future glory upon a testimony of what they realized any more than I 1 could be satisfied when hungry by reading an account of a good meal partaken partaker par taken of by somebody y else elge I 1 should want something more than this I 1 should want to know for myself that god is what others have bave s ald raid Hels helb he is I 1 should want to know that he lives today to day aa as heald he did 1800 or 2000 years ago or as he did in the morning of f e creation fe a and if it were possible for men b by y the exercise of fath fate to obtain a knowledge for themselves I 1 would contend for that knowledg knowledge e until I 1 obtained i U but buti the lord b be e raised we are not in this con eon condition know that god ia Is the ahe bame same that thai he was wag yesterday odin orin of in the bays aya of jesus we know he is the tha thea bama ameGod god thab that he was in the days of or noah moses abraham ana other prophets tacho who lived previous to til the e coin com lug ing of jesus christ we know this be caubet causel we have obeyed the of doctrine taught anciently which has been revealed again in our days ard and and ard we have received the same test testimony idony that tho the people of god enjoyed anciently we have repe repented nad of on our r sins have been baptized for thep remission of f them by those haying authority have had haq hands laid upon us for the reception of the holy ly ghost according to the prad practice tiet of the apostles of bf jesua jesus in ancient times and we have bave received the promised spirit and its which bear witness unto us that we are born of god that he H e is pleased atho with our oun ux offering and has accepted us i it is na monaei wonder that we are united it is 13 no io wonder that in men manfrom from various nations who wiio have come to the territory of utah are united they have been alike in their obedience and are alike in ther their faith and testimony it is no wonder that for nive five hundred miles from froni the extreme north to south ot of this territory settlements have been formed whose inhabitant inh abitanta s dwell together in palt unity andie andje ace aee I 1 worshipping wor shipping god in the samo same manner submitting su to the same requirements and obeying the same aidin ordinances 1 alices these are the results of obedience to the gospel of jesus christ The these thebe seare are the xe results suits which followed obedience to that anciently and aad these aliese results would have continued to the present day had that gosp gospel eland and the authority to preach it been preserved from the apostles downward there is no better evidence that new revelation lalon is is needed than is to be found today to day throughout so called christendom visit the cities of christendom outside of ta this lis territory and what do you see confusion and division the churches and meeting houses of various denominations with their thein spires po pointing I 1 nt heavenward and people passing and re passing to fill these places of or worship all professing to worship the ph same god and to believe in jesus C christ rist and the bible upon which they profess their faith ia Is founded and yet when you converse with them aa as to their form of doctrine one will tell you that to believe in jesus christ and to repent of sin is all that is necessary to secure salvation another will say that in addition to this you must be baptized and that if you are baptized having faith in jesus christ and repenting of your sins you are ara sure of salvation if you continue one will tell you that sprinkling constitutes baptism anet alast a few drops of water sprinkled on you forehead is all that is necessary another will contend that thi this s alope ia ip not suffix clent elent but that you must musti have water poured upon you another says neither of these methods is right b bue buc u that you must be immersed in water while still another will tell you it makes no difference whether you are sprinkle sprinkled dj immersed or have the water poured upon you I 1 and that whether you obey any of these ordinances or not you are sure of salvation if you only come to the foot of the cross and past cast your burden durden of sin there these are the kinds of faiths that exist in christendom at the present time and they are all professedly based upon buthe the scriptures forgetting that thad portion of pauls epistle which I 1 quoted to you though we or an angel from heaven preach any other gospel unto you than that which aich we ha have ve preached unto you let hit him him be accursed also forgetting that paul says there is one lord one faith and one baptism not tv q half a dozen or a hundred fa faiths its nor two three or four forms forma of bap baptisms t M but paul pau actually bays says one lord one falth faith and one ona baptism 11 1 I say tiera fiere flere is no better evidence to be foun found of the necessity of new revelation froal from heaven than the condition of the IV world orid orld at the present time in these respects it is gratifying co to reflect that this condition of things is likely soon to be end ed and that the same gifts blessings and powers aa as formerly existed with the same results so bo far as union harmony and love are concerned are restored and are now ia in existence among the inhabitants of the earth it ought to be a cause of thanksgiving not only to the latter day saints but to every man who loves loveli his fellow meng men to witness that which ia Is now being produced in the midst of the earth eartha earthy the results of which we see in this territory I 1 no not be clevethal lieve llev uthai ethal soa ava a inan man who has any love for his fellow men can contemplate this condition of things without havin rayln having E his heart filled with joyous feelings it is a source of wonder and gratitude to con tein template plate the fact that a few years agoa few apparently insignificant and illiterate men went forth |