| Show ia ta C t t S by president BRIGHAM YOUNG delivered in in the tabernacle ogden aey city july loth 1870 REPORTED RY BY DAVID NN VV EVANS if I 1 can have the attention of the congregation gation gatlon I 1 will peak speak to them a short time I 1 frequently ask myself what object of the tile people in coming together in their assem assemblies nes on different forent dlf dif occasions sometimes when I 1 have seen a gathering of the people I 1 have said what in the world nave have the people come here for the answer has come to me they have ooma coma to see and be seen and to learn what Is going on when I 1 see the people gather ta together as they have this morning I 1 still feel to ask what have we assembled ourselves together for what is the object of our coming into this house this morning to see gee and be seen to hear and be heard the christian Christia nw world orld orid are in the habit of assembling themselves together at different times to worship god I 1 sometimes tim es feel to ask them who they are wor w wor or shipping do you know the character that you yon call upon as god do you understand his nature and ills hla requirements far enough to call upon and worship him acceptably I 1 recollect reading of a certain minister who was preaching through the world and teaching the peo poo to be saved sava who came along to a cen certain tain iain fain city and beheld an inscription on a place erected to the worship of god alid aad it readi read road 6 to ato the unknown god Is this the case me with those who believe in the old and new testament as a general thing Is it the fact that those who profess to belie belle veon the lord jesus christ and in his father worship an unknown god a being that they do not in the least comprehend how is it with the latter day saints do we assemble ourselves together to worship a being who is unknown to us in many respects and to a great degree we can answer this question by saying that we do not know him as he knows us wo we are not acquainted with him as he is acquainted w with ith us he understands from first to last with regard to our being hore hare he heun houn understands der stands the nature of his children he reads their very thoughts he understands every desire and the result of every at ast this we do not understand of him but we understand as far aa as it is necessary the character of him Hirn whom we worship as our father and our god he is our heavenly father we acknowledge believe and partially understand this I 1 say partially understand for we have but just commenced to learn that the inhabitants of the earth are the children of that god whom we worship who dwells ix the heavens this is a thought and a reflection that can hardly be admitted by the christian world though they pray and say our father who art in heaven hallowed be thy name thy kingdom come thy will be done as in heaven so in earth yet they do d not realize the fact the latter day saints sainta realize and understand I 1 and feel the effect of it unless we realize in our hearts feelings of obligation to him for his mercies unless we realize the truth that he has revealed and ita its necessity to save the children oi of men unless we love the truth because it is truth and do not profess attachment tach ment to it for mere custom or fash fashions lons ions sake safe our worship of the lord will be in vain tain j justson so far as we render him lip service only just so far our worship is vain when I 1 reflect upon the facts pertaining to the history of the son of god and the gospel which he taught to the inhabitants of the earth it is one of the greatest marvels to me e that everybody does not believe what good 0 od reason had the jews for their disbelief fi ef in him what argument could they bring against his doctrine or against his practice so far as we have the history of it was there the least blosor blot biot or stain upon his character or the least sentiment of infidelity in all his teachings not one not the least blemish and yet the people the zhe great multitudes that assembled at jerusalem jews and gentiles who heard the doctrines that he taught and became acquainted with the miracles that he wrought and understood preal precisely sely the nal ture of his sentiments and teachings rejected him one would think that all would have believed on him this is one view of the question the view through h honest eyes by the spirit of truth E I 1 the s spirit in t of the gospel the same by which ius ins jesus taught looking at it in another light or I 1 will say looking at it in darkness rather than light it is no marvel or wonder that the people as a general thing did not believe in and follow jesus and the reasons ane aro sl simply I 1 these the natural heart that is in m man ant the L fung feelings and beatings of this life that we possess natural naturally U according to the sin and fall that is gitil each and every individual leads to opposition to god the natural heart is not subject act to the law of god neither indeed can be and hence it is no marvel that the gospel of heaven is rejected if every heart could feel the truth if every eye could behold the truth and ana discern the things of god from the things of the children of i men then every person in the days of jesus would woula have mell leli believed eved eyed on ou and followed him but after traveling and foiling rolling for about three and a half years teaching he the people raising the dead and doing ding other wonderful works very few believed on him the reason was they did not possess dand and enjoy the same spirit which he enjoyed and possessed and hence they could not see as he did the same causes are operating in the christian world today to day and they lead to the same results general unbelief in christ and it is no more a marvel or wonder now than then how can it possibly be that the christian world are what they profess to be that is in honesty and uprightness ri atness say nothing of morality and ME falth faith how is it that they do not believe in jesus at this day have they the spirit of christ yes there is no man or woman born on the face of the earth but what has the light of christ within them at times and they will possess it from time to time until they have passed through ordeals in they prove that they are unworthy of it until they sin against light and intelligence to that degree that the spirit is forever withdrawn from them and they walk in darkness henceforth how much of this spirit must you and I 1 possess to believe the gospel in these theto latter days just enough to lead us to forsake every error falsehood and false doctrine trine on the earth this is the amount we must have have the christian world got honesty yes and the heathen world too but how far what is the nature of our honesty as christians we might ask we are just honest enough many might say to have havo the lord own and bless us we are honest enough to acknowledge him but do you know him no but we believe beheye there is such a character as god we are honest enough to believe as far aa as we know how and to acknowledge that jesus is the christ are they I 1 mean the christian world honest enough to take up their cross and follow him if they were they would believe the doctrine that we the latter day saints preach I 1 can say of a truth that I 1 have preached the gospel of the son of god enough to save the world the tho last man and woman and to bring them into the kingdom twenty times over if all had bad been as honest as the tho very few how much honesty must a person have to obey the gospel of the son of god I 1 say again just enough to sacrifice every will every false idea every false principle and practice every sectarian notion and every vague idea with regard to religion 0 n to acknowledge that jesus is the christ and and to take up the cross and follow him according to his dictation lahat hat does he dictate we and the christian world acknowledge that jesus established the gospel of life and salvation that he was the authority that he held the keys of life and death according to his declaration and the tho doctrine he taught he is and was and ever will be the mediator god and man ila ha possesses the keys of the holy priesthood to open the door of salvation to every living being on the face of the earth all this many of the individuals of the christian world but not the nations and communities acknowledge so far this is good it is right as far as it goes where Is the man in all the popular world who says 1 I believe enough to go forth into the waters of baptism and to be 0 baptized for the remission of my ray sins many would say so if it were popular say they make this a leading question make it popular and I 1 will believe it with the rest but if the popular world denies it we will reject it then you have not quite enough of the spirit of tho the lord upon you the christian world may say we nave have not light enough within us to receive the gospel when it is preached unto us I 1 dropped a word yesterday that I 1 will refer to in this way let jesus or any of the old apostles go into the city of rome or within the confined the holy see and say to the pope 1 I have the words of life for you I 1 possess the keys keya of the holy priesthood of the son of god and I 1 can officiate clate and open the door and admit you into the kingdom of heaven I 1 can seal on earth and it will be sealed in heaven I 1 can bind on earth and it will be bound in heaven I 1 can loose loosa on earth and it will be loosed in heaven what would be the result doorkeepers you yon lock up that house do not admit such a man would be the cry from the rope pope cardinals archbishops Arch bishops bishops and members of the holy catholic church and not only from them but from the ma members miers of the greek church and so on down to the very last protestant sect that lives on the face of the earth I 1 do not know that there would be an exception if there was a griest priest who would open a house to the savior or to one of his apostles I 1 expect er peet the deacons would steal the keys and lock it up so that they would be prevented crossin the threshold of their sanctuaries to preach to the people the words of life aad salvation we may ask have they the spirit of the lord yes they tiey they thoy have at times have they enough of it not quite how much must they have enough to receive the truth what proportion do they receive of the spirit of the lord enough to convict them of sin of righteousness and of bf judgment and to enlighten their minds and to instruct them the candle of the lord is with every individual when born into the world erld As job says there is a spirit in inan dan and the inspiration of the almighty it understanding all are entitled to thia this spirit of conviction and the condl condi dionot 01 the christian world forty fifty or sixty years ago was proof that lie ito the influence ottola of Ws spirit spi bpi rit nit was very generally felt amongst them what their condition is now I 1 do not know but then there was 0 reformation after reformation protracted meeting after protracted meeting camp meeting after camp meeting prayer meeting after prayer meeting anxious bench prepared after anxious bench and the people entitled to those benches were prayed for that they might get religion did they get it yes what kind of religion the same as the others enjoyed thes they felt the influence of the spirit of the lord lor enlightening their minds convicting them and teaching them that they were sinners did they receive enough to justify them many of them did would it justify them provided the gospel was preached to them and they rejected it it would not they received enough to justify them according to the knowledge which they possessed and I 1 am happy to say that many of that class have been gathered together by the preaching of the elders of this church they are the ones we are after they are the ones who will receive the gospel many of them do receive the spirit of conviction and justification j and they feel that god has forgiven their sins ag as far as possible and as far as they can understand it but let lot the gospel be preached to them let light come ana them reject it and condemnation follows jesus said this is your condemnation that light las has has come into the world and again he says men imen choose darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil eyll 11 and they will not come to the light lest their deeds should be reproved the popular world fear the consequences of accepting the truth for the truth is not popular many of you my brethren and sisters have experienced this you know very well what you have passed through what sacrifice of feeling you have had to endure was it hard for many to give up their good name to have the linger finger of scorn pointed althem at them now how was it with you my brethren and sisters who worked in old england and other foreign lands at this or that trade have you not often felt if they find out that I 1 am a latter day saint they will turn me out ont and I 1 shall not be able to procure bread for my family I 1 but when your employers did find out and you were put to the test how was it with you did you deny your religion to save your bread No youat once acknowledged 1 I am a I 1 mormon as you call it or a member of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints then you can have no more work here in numberless instances the members of this church have been exposed to poverty and suffering on account of their religion but they have felt and said 1 I will starve sooner than I 1 will give up my religion I 1 have received the truth I 1 have obeyed the truth I 1 believe in jesus I 1 have obeyed his command commands sI have been baptized for the remission of my sins I 1 have been healed when sick by the administrations of the elders I 1 have seen others healed and foul spirits cast out I 1 have spoken with new tongues the spirit of prophecy is upon me and I 1 can prophecy that if you turn me out of your factory woe woo unto you evil will come upon you I 1 can prophecy that the lord will sustain his people he will fight their battles and he will open up the way for me to gather home to the land landof of zion has this been the experience of any of the latter day saints yes of many of new now how much faith and of the spirit of the lord must you enjoy to bojuso be lust luat right night enough to yield strict obedience to the requirements of heaven any man or woman that is short of this comes short of obeying that law which will bring them into the celestial kingdom again I 1 will ask do the tho christian world enjoy the spir spirit I 1 t of the lord yes yea they have enough to convict them of sin 11 when I 1 was quite young I 1 was talked to a great deal by the elders and ministers of various christian sects those who led and dictated the re formations I 1 said nothing but thought within myself your talk is right enough perhaps but I 1 cannot understand this religion it is nothing like that of which I 1 can read in the new testament I 1 and my heart would beat this sentiment lord save and preserve me until I 1 can judge for myself in riper years I 1 would say to them iii iti 1 I cannot understand your religion I 1 will search and see what you believe in I 1 can read your creeds and doctrines but I 1 cannot understand this co coming m ing to the anxious bench this being prayed for and repenting and sinning and sinning and repenting ac I 1 cannot understand this god that you talk of but whom you know nothing about 11 when I 1 got older I 1 would ask the ministers can you tell me where heaven is can you tell me any anything thing of the character of the god you yon say you worship can you give any idea of the doctrines of faith repentance baptism for the remission ot of sins and the laying on of hands for the reception of the holy ghost can you tell about the gifts and graces tb that at god set in his |
