| Show ni t 4 DISCOURSE Q CANNON CANNOY de D U ferg ferd in the tabernacle salt sait ah lah nake lake ajr ciby y sunday aA afternoon ermon erwon de joe 46 ato c cember comber ard 3rd 18 1871 71 U t REPORTED BY DAVID W I 1 yell 1611 read d a portion of the 3rd ard chapter of peters fl et epistle commencing atthe verse verge for christ albok hath bath once buffered suffered fur for sing bina thelast for the unjust that he might bring ua us to god being put but to death in the flesh but quickened by the spirit s by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison which sometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of god wait edin the days of noah while the ark arle was waa d a preparing wherein few that Is eight souls were saved by water the like ilke like ilke figure whereunto even baptism sm doth also aiso now save ns us not the putting away of the filth of the flesh but the answer of a good conscience toward god godl goda by the Ye resurrection of bf jesus christ who is gone into heaven and Is on the right hand of god angels and au an thorit thorl les ties and powers being made subject unto him tn f tile tiie the fourth chapter of this epistle the earne earno subject sub bub eci la is continued the apostle says w who are kept by the power of lod iod god led through faith unto salvation salv atlon ready to be rele revealed aled in the last time wherein ye yo greatly rejoice though now for a reason if need be ye are in heavin ness through manifold mini mint fold foid temptations when I 1 was called upon to speak these passages suggested themselves to my mind whether the spirit will lead me to dwell upon them at length I 1 do not know but thera are important principles embodied in these verses which I 1 have read in your hear hean hearing ingi lugi principles which when rightly under stood change the belief of men in rela timeto the f future attire that is the belief of those who receive the commonly accepted creeds of christianity for some reason or other there is an ark idea prevalent ili iri the christian world t that hat mankind when they lay down their mortal lives are consigned lo 10 a condition or place of ha pain there to remain throughout the endless ages of eternity there may be a few who do not entertain this belief but it is the general belief of most of the sects which comprise christendom there ia la ad ari idea prevalent that thal if men do riot hot re deive receive what may be termed a conversion or change of heart if they do not obtain a remission of sins through the blood of jesus and they die in this condition their doom is irrevocably nixed fixed aud sud and that they tili y consigned are to eternal never ending misery I 1 believe bb lieve ileta that I 1 do not misstate the belief in this respect of some of odthe the most prominent sects that comprise ielse the christian world so called I 1 I 1 have conver conversed abel abol with ministers of various denominations in relation to the future of the heathen those bhoge wilo wa 0 die mei without a knowledge of the narn noot loof f jesus and of his character as its th deemer and savior of the world I 1 have asked them what they thought the ebil ebli condition of the heathen would be and where afifie finito answer was wag made the feelings of such buch per persons would lean lwin to the idea that they would be consign id e d to thell theli hell heli with others eithen either no ged definite idea was entertained orp ori heing being more orb tender in their than feelings the tha answer would be they did not know kno ewh what at their future condition would be there is 19 an expression of the Skylo saviors ifa to nicodemus whish I 1 think I 1 will walli read it is fourd found in hr the third chantey of johns gosper gospel there wasl was a man odthe pharisees Pharis ees 11 john writes nam ed nicodemus a ruler of the jews the same came to jebus by night and said bald unto him rabbi wa we know thou art a teacher come from god for no man cando thead mira miracles clesi that thou doest except god be with him 0 1 i jesusy answered and said unto hin him verily verily I 1 say unto thee except a man mau be born again he cannot see the king dom bf god nicodemus saith unto him how can a man be born when he is old can lie he enter thebe the second cond time into his mo mothers thees theis womb and bo be born I 1 jesus answered verily verily I 1 say unto thed the except a man haan le be born of wasy water r and of othe the spirit he cannot enter ente into the kingdom of god god that mat which Is born or ot the flesh fleth is flesh and that which is born of the spirit v ia spirit s marvol marvel voi vol not that I 1 said sald unto thee ye must be magalD bo i 0 o here hero is a definite laid down dowa by the savior that unless a ama ams anan 34 is born again he oan can not see ohe the ging king g j dom of go god and unless he ia Is born of the water wate r ardd arid adli of the spirit hie tie aan ean can not enter in hi kingdom of gad he can not even beethe seethe kingdom without the new hew birth and he cannot can not enter that kingdom without being born of the water and of the spirit this doctrine is exceedingly positive it leaves no room for doubt there ia is no chance to evade the fact of this doctrine if there ia Is to be any tiny reliance placed upon the words of jesus then we e are forced to the belief that noman can enter into inlo the kingdom of god unless he be boril born of tho the water oster and of the spirit vye lye well weil taking these passages into con sidera tiou a large class of people have come to the conclusion that unless a man ia is born again or as they term it exper lence lenee a change of heart he is consigned c on to endless misery and there are those thos e obo nho believe that all the heathen who bave have died in ignorance of the gospel pe I 1 of jesus jesna christ are thus and in fact there are those who profess to have faith falth in jesus carlst as the thor savior of the world who believe that in hell that place of torment from which they declare there is no escape there are infants by scores and hundreds and thousands and I 1 ma may say eay by millions enduring inconceivable and endless torment because they have died before receiving the ordinances which they consider necessary to salvation I 1 donot do not thus understand the scriptures I 1 do not thus understand the plan ot of salvation I 1 do not nob thus view tho the character and dealings 0 of god our heavenly father with his creatures creature one of the mo most st prominent attributes wh which si eh we ascribe to our father in heaven is mercy th the scriptures declare moat most emphatically that he be Is a god of mercy and a god of love lovo can we even in our degraded condition consider a being endowed in the least degree with the attributes of love and mercy or even of justice who would consign millions of his creatures to endless torment because they do not believe and obey a doctrine which they never heard beard why such an idea is unworthy of intelligent beings Suppose that any of us who have families should pass a law pr or prescribe a rule ruie for their government and at the time it is passed or prescribe da portion of our children are not within hearing bearing and while still in ignorance Ignota nce uce of it they unconsciously violate it and because of this the father punishes them what would you such a father nather would you not say any that be was unjust haish harsh and cruel wiy way why certainly this would be our verdict if f we pronouns ebany wo could noi not pronounce otherwise we would be compelled to come to the conclusion that the father who would acu act a cc jn ju this manner man nor would gethel neither be kind fust jus t nor wise and shall it DO be said baia of our ilda heavenly father who Is tho the fountain of love iove mercy and justlee justice that lie he will act with less justice than man and that he will punish curse and consign to eternal misery hs his children because they have failed to obey the laws he has never made kno knolyn tn to them certainly not and it is on account of these doctrine which have been propounded and circulated io so widely in christendom that skeptics ara are cumb numbered ered by hundred thousands and it may be baid said eaid by millions the feelings of the tho recoil humanly humanity revolts at such olon men doctrines growth af pf skepticism es I 1 and infidelity may pe traced to the f principles ire are advocated by those professing to be do servants tsi of the living god and the mini ministers of jesus christ but do tha the fh a scriptures the words of eternal life as recorded in the bible bibie inculcate such ideas certainly not there Is in the p plan pian an of salvation which god our gyr hea bea heavenly venly vonly eather father has revealed perfectly perfect iove love lo ve mercy and aud justice and ovely every other othen att aft attal fl buti bute butt which pertains to the cha oha character reeter recter qt delty deity are perfectly illustrated hi in tha illan ilian ff salvation av which halx hoil he bo has revealed tie for lor ai aap gu guidance idanel I 1 the wordy words af of jesus which I 1 havel read kead to t 01 youa contain an immutable truth phat chat ea cep t a bo bom born again he lie gali gall 0 mar the king kingdom om fad it Is an immutable truth that except a man be 6 born arn of tilo tile I 1 odthe spirit he 46 carl cazl can not kingdom of god udd these words j proceeded J mouth of jes jesus hii hil the son af god the author of dbr our salvation the founder rounder of our re religion algion bo ho was perfectly acquainted ted with the laws necessary to be obeyed in I 1 order to effect an entrance in into to bis his PA fathers kingdom and belp being thus acquainted he had the right as well as ai tho the kab knowledge necessary to advance and tend proclaim this doc ine no to the children of men tr while we are upon the subject we may as a well make a a few remarks upon the na ture turo of this new now birth of which jesus jesua As I 1 have told speaks you and as you yott well know kno F there Is a large class in in chrisi chris ch ris i mendom who believe belleve that this new birt birth li consists consist s of whit what they term a change chango of heart if the ahe hearl heart undergoes a change they say the creature Is born bora again now I 1 4 dd not so understand the scriptures J ado dj no not think that tha change of heart thus refe rote referred pred to Is iq tho the new birth to which the savior re fers on the tho contrary it says hore in area ereal plainness that they must be b barn arn of shewa the wa teras well ag as of the spirit not for the tho thip puling liffin g away aviah the filth of bf the flesh gi as I 1 read road twy toy ou in the passage from peter but foi for tha the answer of ii a good conscience to toward ward god jesus jesus as YO yon will recollect on the occasion n when john toe too baptist as he was called was baptizing in jordan went want and offered himself to john as a candidate for baptism john batan having g received a testimony from the father that jesus jesua was his beloved son eon in whom he be was well pleased knowing also that he himself was theford the nore fore runner of jesus spoken of by the prophets declined to baptize him saying baying in effect it la Is better for me to submit to thee th 66 than for thee to submit to me jesus replied suffer it to be so now to tofal fulfill fill all righteousness then john took jeans jesus and baptized him here we have an example on the part lart of the saylor of obedience to a certain ordinance some say that thit in this ordinance jesus bad water poured upon him others say be he was sprinkled and a f great many of the popular pictures represent him standing in the jordan with his bis arms folded across his breast and john the baptist pouring water on his head but a careful perusal erusal of the writings of those who have ascribed described this event eveni even oven will leave but one conclusion odthe unprejudiced mind and that is that jesus went down into the water and was baptized by john an and deame came up out of the water and that if pouring or sprinkling had been the method of administering tho the ordinance of of baptism thero there would have been no necessity for john and the people of jerusalem ana and the regions round about tobaie to have gone the dis did tance tanco that intervened betwee between ii the river jordan and aud jerusalem to attend to it and in fact there ar eother passages in the scriptures which go to prove that immersion was the method of baptism and that john so administered the ordinance in one passage of scripture it is id said tha that john tJohn was baptizing at it a place near enon because there was much water there showing that thit an abundance of water was necessary for its correct administration this was the ordinance ordin anco aneo that jesus submitted to he was wm the son of god the iamb lamb slain from before the foundation of the world he was spotless and sinless in the sight of his father yet he considered it necessary necessary to attend to this thia ordinance that he might fulfill all righteousness and it is ii a remarkable fact that we have no account in the scriptures of jesus acting in his ministry until he had attended to this ordinance this as I 1 understand the scriptures and as be the latter day saints testify was the new birth he went down into one eld old element was buried in that element and emerging eberg dg was born again in other words was born of the water can you yon imagine imigine a new now birth more perfectly represented than thau by this act which I 1 h have havo 0 described ier jer performed formea formed by john upon Jesus after alter this birth ct of t tho the 0 water had taken p place ace aco the birth of the spirit followed for as soon as he came up out of the water the holy aghos in the likeness of a doye descended upon him and a voice was heard from heaven testifying that he wa was the beloved son in wiliom the father was well pleased jesus was enveloped d jd that spiritual element ardd arid was w born of the be hadl hadi been born ot of the thin water wat thus in his own base case caso he illustrated ed by his obedience and humility to tho the will of hK hist eather father the doctrine which he be taught lo 10 Nicodem nicodemus ue and which he dec declared lared lareu was necessary to prepare nut not oril only him bub bul all the children childre ii of meil mell men to enter into ag king klog dom doni of god in once one of being buried burled with christ in 1 baptism in the likeness of his libi burial in the likeness also of his hia resurrection resurrect lob iob the burial in the liquid grave being symbolical of the death and burial of the son of god and iud the coming forth of his resu resurrection erection this doctrine Is ii clearly laid down in the scriptures you will find it if you yon trace the preaching and the labors of the apostles and the men who abro wore were immediately connected with the lord in his ministrations to the veople people mou you will find that thai in every instance stanco In where the records are ar 1 0 corm corn c 0 m 1 plot piet 0 these ordinances ordin abbes were attended to the tho people ae if df they believed in jesus chrisa christ 4 and rep ent edar their sina sins were baptized in order tha that they they thoy plight be to bom born of the wa I 1 ter terp and anter after attending to this ordinance they wore were then baptize df of the spirit 0 or i 1 in n bad hands bands ikid laid upon them for fori 1 jh lne riho ogi holy 01 ost they cerepa wore were en 1 bedame and spirit and became came camo begal of aad on entitled titled to an att qa entrance into tho the Kin gilgin of god there Is not an instance of yuther ap kind found on record in im the tho scrip we often quote qute the teachings cuch cach ings of peter reter himself on ou the pay day of pentecost tp 0 prove prave |
