Show ID DISCOURSE isco UR SE as ELDER EIDER GEORGE J jami annona D in lyl ae the bew new lew s salt sait lake cry city sunday aelem afternoon wv REPORTED B BY DAVID W EVANS I 1 WILI WILL read a jort tort portion lon ion of the chapter of the gospel according to st sst matthew commencing at the verse athe the speaker read the irth terge terse and to the end of the chapter this chapter Is one that will bear n large amount of study there are nrc many important principles involved jn in these few words of jesus to the tho young man and to his disciples they are full fuli of R instruction and meaning to those who deslie desire to keep the commandments of gud god and who are seeking to lotain salvation in his kingdom jesus taught his disciples one lesson that seemed to be continually uppermost in his mIn mind dAnd and of paramount importance irl iri in lit his estimation and that was that in this life they should have sorrow dM difficulty culty and r suffering sunner sunned ering ing and should be called upon to endure ili iii thi things u s for the sake of the gospel which he had revealed unto them chedid he did not induce those who listened to his hig teachings to conclude that they would hatel havel ites lyes ot of ease case seif self indulgence and worldly pros aros 1 on the contrary that they would have to endure many things and berha perhaps ps to lay down their lives for the tha eake sake of the truths which he taught unto them but la ia all his teachings he endeavored to impress upon their understandings the lea mca thaviu that tha tIu tin in the world to come they would mcelve receive ait aft an ample reward for all ali the sufferings or difficulties they might have to endure or contend with h here ere ile lle commanded them to lay up their treasures in heaven where moth and rust could conid pot corrupt corrupt ald ald ard ahei e thieves could not break through and ate steal ah and he urged them to look luok forward to that life for the recompense of 01 their la bahora bors bont the life which he him himself if led was of this character when satan led him up to the pinnacle plu pin nacle nacie of the temple and to the mountain top and allowed him the kingdoms of this world and offered offered hini hinl the elory elony was was no t emata tion to the son of god he yle knew filat hat the being who made the offer did not haye hiva tle pow poa er to toi confer the blessings permanently upon him elt eit was no temp tation to him he being fully aware doubt dou bt less jess that all ah these things woula ho be his if lie continued faithful to his father in heaven shen when we reflect upon who jesus was and the glorious personage that he bad been in the eternal worlds and then con template the depth to which he descended as the apostle says below all things and ano remember his bis humility meekness and el if abnegation abne gatlon gation it ought to nil nii us who desire to be his followers with a spirit and a disposition to humble ourselves in the dust as it were beffi e him and before our fa fak ther in heaven ha was the lord of lite life and glory the son of the very eternal F father ther then the creator of heaven and earth the being who spoke to moses in the wilderness and declared that 1 I am in that I 1 am he it was who led israel out of egypt divided the red sea sealand and wrought 9 lit the mighty miracles that took place at that time yet he left the regions of glory took upon himself the form format W man and partook of human nature A d came to 10 the earth that thai ho he might expiate the transgressions grebs grebb lons ions of man and ana and prepare the way for mans salvation and final redemption oli oil he walked among men as one of lowly extraction and humble mien in luf poverty and in shame enduring all things for the sake of the gospel which bis his father had commissioned him to establish he taught his disciples that their home glory and reward were not on the earth or conflux confined conf inid d to this condition of existence and he inspired insi Insl ired them with holy loly exalted and ennoble ennobling ilg rix thoughts and aspirations to look forward to the life to come and to eo consider nilder themselves here lite itte merely rely as the gerv servants ants antt of his father to do his hisT will vill and to carry out his purposes whatever might z be bd the con consequences ae involved the joung young man unto whom bespoke and to whom he be gave the instructions which abaye I 1 have haye read in ia your hearing could not comprehend the nature of the reward that jesus held out to him he tle looked upon his earthly possessions as of ot exceeding value and probably he be had md been taught lo regard them as neco necessary abary to his happiness and comfort but jesus endeavored red cd to teach him that he could do better with these things than to use them for his own advantage and comfort or oc than to contribute to ills his own happiness there has been a time probably in the be ris history of ery every cry latter day saint within the sound of my voice when he or she has felt that there was nothing in this life that they possessed oases r cd which they would not have gladly glyen given for the t sake of the gospel gosp elthey they had 1 I rl received cled there may be some who have been born bom in the church and brought up ml U among the people who have not bad these feelings but of all who aremel are members bers hers of the church today to day aay who were an sufficiently f advanced in life to comprehend the nature of the gospel which was preached unto them and which they embraced thebe there Is scarcely any to be found who did not feel when this truth was taught unto them that they would be willing I 1 to make every sacrifice ad aud give up everything that thel they possessed for the sake fake of the glorious florl truth ruth which they were taught there is something about truth about the gospel vt of jesus christ that inspires men and women with this reeling feeling when they receive it aright there is something about the gifts of the holy ghost and tc tho 13 of god that Is so attractive and en grosses so e much of mans love that when he has this power and these bless ings resting upon him he feels as though 1 I in contrast with them bat if he should allow another spirit to get possession othla othia heart if th the e love of the world the cares of life the desirableness of riches or anything of this thib character enter his heart then tho the good spirit of god is grieved and takes its departure and the he man mari does not feel as though he could make any particular sac ance for tho gospel doubtless there are hundreds of my li hearers thia this afternoon who have seen this in their experience they have hate known knowd men and women enter this church fuli faill of zeal aseal for and love of the truth and full tull of testimony concerning it and to all appearance per pet willing to endure all things for its sake they have seen them in poverty and adversity they have geen seen them surrounded by mobs and their lives threatened persecuted and driven dind rind yet fet their faith never jailed tailed and they never flinched bome some of thebe these game same individuals have changed with a change of circumstances t threatening cir cum cu instances stances late lave dh appeared disappeared prosperity has dawned upon them and means djs has increased la in their hands hailds and with this tel tei chango change lange iange the to make sacrifice or to endure afflictions ilLions and tribulations for the saker sake or of the gospel has apparently vanished and tuey tucy liate bate lost it entirely this has bas been the case with hundreds who have been in this church and it 1 twill will no doubt be the casc case with other othena bias as lon ion as satan has power to tempt the children of men and it is tha tho great di difficulty that we as a people and as individuals have to contend with one of the great con eon necked with chri life of baines upon the earth Is to preserve within us ule uie loye lote of the truth so pure pare and dimmed undimmed nn that at al all times thries and under ull ail we will be willin willing to make what nhav we may call every sacrifice for fonts folts atti sake 1 I use thu thet word sacrifice in the in which it Is s gen gener e r ally used abed lor liy my private miler is th that t no man mau or woman can nan make a sacrifice sacrifice for the truth I 1 do not believe belleve there Is any such thin thing as making a sacrifice for the gospel of the lord J jesus esus christ and my reason far this belief is I 1 hat that the reward which is bestowed upon boe hoe who atcy wy the gospel hospel and are faithful thereto tot to the 0 end abundantly repays them for fur any anything thin thlu that may be termed a sacrifice but oe the triai trial and the temptation Is in lit bew beg being g edilie edcile ed uie nie ule the young man who went to jesus tollo tolio whal what we may way view vica as a sacrifice he lle deemed MR thiu which jesus asked of him to 10 tv ife a I 1 it L wa tva too much fur hia his faith ho he uld not rise to the gr greatness atness of the thy request or call that was made upon him and comprehend it as it really was in the mind of and he turned away he be made thia this sacrifice sorrowful orrow lyl ful the rubard reward d thai that he would nave nate J ivea ived received would have been lar mom morti aban dant t and would hayg hava compensated hit hii him far fair be beyond end the worth ol of the worldly possessions a sessions that hp hc had 1 in his charge to illustrate this tills idea still further many of you sou tame into this church inthe lathe in the midst of persecution and trial and it probably required fortitude and home iome degree 0 countie count cou rugeon ge on 3 our part to come for ward and be baptized by un an elder of the church of jesus christ or of latter day d ay saints your friends pIu plu pointed ted the anger finger of at you or at the people with whom you were about to associate yourself they derided you doubtless for being so BO lous ious as to receive the of these men whom they called impostors they perhaps told you of the ha chips you yon would have hate to endure and of thu the difficulties jou you ou would liate to con tend with when you associated yourself with the people of god every evers kind of emler wa in all ali pro ba dili ty retailed in your youn audit required a good deal of courage for many who are now members of this church to take taka the first step to connect themselves therewith namely to ta go forward aid d be baptized for the remission on of sins and doubtless some gome of you thought it was a great sacrifice fica you yon were making for the as sake bake ke of the gospel of jesus but when you were baptized and afterwards confirmed memas of the church by ing on or the hands bands of the eiders elders for abe reception of the holy ghost and you received that spirit and its gifts in power you felt if you relt reit as mist m st lat of the saints have felt that all you had done was a trifle compared with the glorious Mes jessings sings which god had bad bestowed upon you in cuu cou I 1 of your jour obedience if yoli you sacrificed I 1 friends or lost the friendship of your jour if you were separated from froni those whom you yon loved because of your faith you felt that thamm in tho the thone ne friends whom you had found in the new assoria as socia eions which you had formed nand land in the holy ghost which you had received that you had been ai a un dantly blessed and compensated pen sated for ail you yon had beell been cal cai called led to pass through and that which before baptism might have seemed teemed like a greal grel fice nice and which required consider considerable considerably abl abi courage and fortitude to perform or su submit h to ta appeared like a very trifling matter mattek compared with the blessings bles bings you then enjoyed and eo it is if you trace the his tory or of the people in their individual capacity from thi ir baptism up to the present time doubtless some of you who dvid in the eastern states or in the middle or southern slates states or who lived in other lands felt when the thought first sug gug itself to you of gathering with the people of god that you yon would be making a great sacrifice by taking sueh buch as a step tep for it involved the ios los lo 10 of friends the tho separation from long established associations and a ion lon long iong gou journey aney to a distant and remote place pie e where her you would be under the necessity i ity of leardi learning hg llew liew habits of life where you jou would it have aye ave to form new a assoni lel lei actions and where you jou would have dian colties to contend with of which you had but little it if any conception and it seemed like ilke 1 and serious step in your jire lire but after yon you had ta taen ken it orter utter you had bad gathered 0 out u land and had tx become como come established in liu the in midst ds t af the people and had tasted the lle lie blessing Ile bEing meing and joy of as asi oc latine litins with the people f your own faith and of ing with them m far removed from mobs and from difficulties of that characters character roost of yord yori if not noi all ali no douht doubt leit leil that yoLI you had been compensated sited for this sacrifice ac and it has bas seemed see seemed med mcd when you yon looked at the steps you had taken like a matter of very small smail moment comp compared bcd with the great results which had been ae en achieved by your action in this matter I 1 might go on and trace the life of the latter day saints saint in the bame same manner dwelling dwellen I 1 upon the tarpons steps t that hat we ive haire have taken taker as its A peo people lei iet lo 10 accor accordance dande with our oar aith alth faith in aoma pomp complying in ying V with the corm comm may mat maids ds of god and if I 1 were to diso do so it would be been seen that in every instance whether in gathering with the sainte saints going forth without purse pune or scrip on an missions to the nations of the earth barth which ro eo many have done with fear and trembling because of the magnitude of the under taking or in whatever position we have been acting we have realized that that which beforehand bafo i achand seemed a matter of al knost insuperable di difficulty and that tried our alth aith falth and tested our oun courage we haye haye baye regarded when performed as a mat matter ar of comparatively arthall Import importance anee when contrasted with the results which have been wrought out and the great reat bleh bieh which nave accrued to us from euce cuce now god requires of us as hl hi people that we shail bhail do that which he commands us to do no matter wha that may be the lurd lord never had a people on the face of the earth without making requirements of them lie he required noah to do a certain work he required abraham to do a certain work burki he required certain things of joeph moses and the children of lornel and in ill every age ege h ae e haq had a people on tho the earth he has required them aud and his bis servants to depart from frum the path trod by men generally who followed their own devices and who were ere guided by their uw own n irl wisdom edura and tind counsel he has made chec thee requirements upon alfeis people not upon the latter day taints alone not for the first time upon us who live in this gentra genira genf gent ra tion but in every age aud sud generation when he tic has had bad upon uvon the carta a people whom he he be has kiven riven P lea iea gem yem iem peculiar lar ear command commandments ments and made requirements of them for the exercise of laith a and nd that tested their cop cou cornal corral and aud also their elde SiDe erity in the cause which he hid bid established the history of f gods deal lugs with wilh the he children of men are ate full of incidents |