Show D DISCOURSE 1946 0 U E v BY enen elen JOUX DELIVERED C y althe inthe anthe fourteenth courle anth ward jard assembly lioums sunday afternoon february 1874 f REPORTED HY liv DAVID IV MA ewans EVANS 5 I 1 HAVE wave had a note forwarded to me since I 1 came here by a party who is a stranger to me that I 1 would speak on our leading doctrines there are so many great principles developed in the eternal truths of god that we believe in that it is a somewhat difficult task to attempt i in so short a time any adequate exposition thereof and if I 1 touch upon any of these principles it must be very lightly the request reminds me of an anecdote which J 1 I read a short time ago A lady met with a gentleman who had mid traveled very extensively over the world he was a statesman a phi erand quite a celebrity he e and the lady were going to take dinner toge together and some ten or fifteen minutes before dinner was served the lady baid eaid to him mr I 1 am very happy to have the privilege of seeing and speaking with yoland now while they are preparing dinn erwe shail shrill have ten or fifteen minutes will you please tell me all you know and have seen in your trav els elsi in regard ingegard to oun our religion I 1 will say that it embraces every principle PI of truth and intelligence pertaining talk ing to us a as moral intellectual mortal and immortal beings per tain ingo this world and the world that is to come we are open to truth of every kind no matter whence it comes where it originates or who believes in it truth when preceded by the little word all comprises everything that has ever existed or of that over ever will exist and be known by and among men in time and through the endless ages of eternity and it is the duty of all intelligent beings who are responsible and amenable to god for their acts to search after truth and to permit it to influence them and their acts and general course in life independent of all bias or pre con notions however specious and plausible they may be we as latter day SaInts belleve believe first in the gospel and that is a great deal to say for the gospel embraces principles that dive deeper spread wider and extend further than anything else that we can conceive the gospel teaches us in regard to the being and attributes of god italio it also aiso teaches us our relationship to that god and the various responsibilities we are under to him as his offspring it teaches us the various duties and responsibilities that we are under to our families and friends to the community to the living and the dead it unfolds to us principles les los pertaining to futurity in facia fact according to the saying I 1 of one of the old di disciples iscia I 1 es I 1 it t brings life and immortality to light brings us into relationship with god and prepares us for an exaltation al in the eternal world there is something grand profound and intellectual associated with the principles of the gospel as it stands connected with the salvation and and exaltation of man A man in search of truth has no pe peculiar pec pee ulfar dullar system to sustain no peculiar dogma to defend or of theory to uphold he embraces all truth and that truth like the sun in the firmament shines forth and spreads its effulgent rays over all creation and if men will divest themselves of bias and prejudice and prayerfully and ind conscientiously search after truth they will findig nind find it where aver ever they turn their attention but in regard to the leading principles of the gospel there ahre are some distinctive tive features connected therewith which like all the laws of nature and of natures god require implicit obedience and compliance therewith in order bide r to insure a realization of the tile results which flow the earth on which we live the matter of which it I 1 is is composed the elements with which we are surrounded as well as the planetary system have certain inscrutable eternal une unc unchangeable unchanged hangea hangen ble bie laws connected with them that can not be departed from we talk sometimes about the great discoveries men have made connected with electricity steam light and its properties and a variety of other principles that vlist iii ill nature all these principles are governed by certain specific laws which are lin immutable m u tabie table and unchangeable and all of the great discoveries which men lave made have only developed certain erlain properties that have always isted istel they have not created anything and their discoveries are nothing particularly worth boasting of A child chil chaildin din in its infancy possesses assesses oss esses certain reasoning faculties rut tut but they are only developed by a long course of training and experience it possesses arms legs beeta feet a head and 6 yes ears cars nose ac but it is consel bus of this by and by when its reasoning faculties begin to bo be developed it discovers that it has hands it llad them before but it did not know it it is a good deal so with us and generations the which have preceded us we livland live and have lived in a world in which from the beginning there have existed principles organisms and systems all that are now known or that ever will be discovered but we bave have e been ignorant of them and only become aware of their existence by what is called the progress of science and nd the discoveries of scientific and ingenious men and arid as earthly t things are governed and controlled by unchanging laws so it is with h heavenly things in optics certain lenses are needed for the reception and refraction of light in chemistry a certain combination of elements in ants is necessary to produce magnetism or electricity and you may have these elements ever so perfect and wi without tb out the wire you cannot use them to convey intelligence and you may have themire the wire without the necessary combination of chemical elements and the result is the same I 1 have a watch if I 1 wind it up it will tell the time if I 1 neglect to do that it will stop you have your steam engi neif you shut up the valve you turn off the steam and it ceases to move you havea have a waterwheel water wheel possessing certain power but turn off the water from that wheel and its power ceases it is just so in regard coall th opera eions of nature they are governed by certain laws which are understood by those who study them there are laws pertaining to eternal things the things of god that are justas immutable and unchangeable as those of which I 1 have been speaking and alid to realize the results they are calculated to produce you must submit to and obey them god has distinctly distinctly told us in hi lil revelations that no man knows the things of god but by the spirit of god even as no man knows the things of inar mar but by the spirit of man that is within him then how can men obtain a knowledge of the things of god except they first take the course which he has pointed out they can not do it if the laws which govern terrestrial things are immutable the laws which govern celestial things are certainly not less boand this brings me to the consideration of some of the first principles of the gospel which we as asa a people believe in we believe that it is necessary for man to be placed in communication with god that he should have revelation from him and that unless he is placed under the influence of the inspiration of the holy spirit he can know nothing about the things of god I 1 do not care how learned a man may be or how extensively ten he may have traveled I 1 do not care what his talent intellect or genius may be at what college he may have studie dhow comprehensive his views or what ills his judgment maybe may be on other matters matters he cannot understand certain things without the spirit of god and that necessarily introduces the principle I 1 before referred to the necessity of revelation not revelation in former times but present and immediate revelation revelation which shall lead and guide those who possess it in all the paths of life herband here and to eternal ife lie hereafter ere cre after A good many people and those professing christians christian swill will sneer a good deal at the idea of present revelation whoever heard of true reil roll religion without glon gion communication with god 0 1 to me the thing is the most absurd that the human mind could conceive of I 1 do not wonder when wilen the people generally reject the principle of presen present revelation that skepticism and infidelity prevail to such an alarming extent I 1 donot do not nob wonder that so many men treat roli roll religion with contempt and regard elo aio it a as ili something not worth the attention attenni on of intelli intelligent kent beings for without revelation religion ia is a mockery and a farce if I 1 can not have a religion that will lead me to god and ane ant place me on en rapport with him and anc unfold to my mind the principles of immortality and eternal life I 1 want nothing to dewith do with it the thi principle rin ciple elpie of present revelation then en is 1 4 the very foundation found atlon of our rell reli religion giL the Uh christian ristian world worlds reject that and say rho jho bible nible Is 3 itil hil fill all sufficient I 1 can kemem ier yer in my younger days searching Dg rg its ta contents very diligently it is a glorious book to study and I 1 earnestly recommend it to the attention of our young men and young women and of our old men and md old women earcil earcle search the scriptures was the command of jesus for in them yo ye think ye have llave eternal life and the they are they that testify of me atwould would not only search the scriptures that we now have but I 1 would search also ever every revelation that god has given does give or will give for the guidance and ind direction of ills his people and then ihen I 1 would reverence the tile giver and those also whom lie he makes use of as ills his lio llo honored nored instruments to promulgate and make known those principles and I 1 would seek peek to be governed by the principles that are contained in that sacred word now then let me look back a mittle little and examine bilings as they have existed what hindom a gospel was it that jesus introduced we ve are told that it was wag the tile gospel but what sort of did his church hav have apostles prophets pastors teachers and aud evangelists inspired men meu men who had the ministering of angels the spirit of prophecy and the principle of revelation men who had the heavens opened to them so that they could contemplate the purposes of god as they should roll along throughout 0 every subsequent period of time until the winding up scene whence did they obtain this knowledge they obtain obtained edit it through obedience to the gospel of jesus christ and hence it Is very properly said that eliat life and immortality are brought to light by the gospel well who were the ancient apostles they were men chosen and selected by jesus christ the son of god who avit were these prophets men alen who were in possession of the spirit of prophecy and you show me a man who is called calle dand and inspired of god godio td preach the gospel of jesus christ and I 1 will sho show you u a prophet for we vvo are told that tha ty the testimony of jesus is the spirit of prophecy and if a man has not the spirit of prophecy and tion he is not the man to teach the things of god for that is the principle by which all gods chos chosen enand and authorized ministers in every age have been inspired and by which they have taught the things of eternal life to the children of men now sow was it with jesus he said that he came not to do his own will but the will of the tile father who sent him and said he lie the words that I 1 speak I 1 speak not of myself but the eathen father which dwell eth in behe deeth the work 1 I 1 when the disciples went vent forth to preach the gospel jesua jesus them to go without purse and i listing in him alid aud he told them thein ut mat when they were brought before kings rulers and governors they were not to think beforehand before beforehand hanf hana what they should say for it should be given to them in the selfsame self same hour that they needed it paul said that ohp the gospel that lie he preached he received not of man neither by man but he received it of god and tap tae the words that he lie were not his own for he told the people definitely and distinctly that their words came to them not in word only but in power and in the demonbra demonstration of the spirit of god and with much assurance they were under the inspiration of the almighty and where did we get our bible from no scripture is of any private interpretation rive live we are told but holy men of old tw as they were moved upon by the holy ghost fand land while under tion they uttered the word of god and that word became the scripture of truth as we here find it it was given by dreams visions and iov icv clatious cia cla ions tiona and that tha t which was thus communicated to man was written and lias has become what we call the bible when the inspired revelations which wo call the gospel were werd given to men there were apostles and pro teachers and evangelists and how did jesus tell ills his disciples to teach ills his gospel hobold he told them to go into all the world and preach to every creature the promise being that lle ile lie he that believed and was baptized should be saved and it was also said that certain signs should follow them that believed ell eli eved they should cast out cut devils in the name of jesus they should lay hands on the sick and they should recover ac showing that there was a living vital energetic power associated associated with the gospel that was enunciated by jesus Jj inist irist and taught caught by ius lifs td aist aisH ies ies les it it was not connected alone with tho the apostles as some suppose it does not read these signs signa shall follow the tho apostles who bellev believe eor or the disciples who believe but the signs would follow them that believe wherever the gospel was preached in all the world the gospel and its blessings were not restricted either to time person or place but were to be enjoyed in all the world by all who believed paul tells us that apostles prophets evangelists pastors and teachers were placed in III the tile church for what for the tile establishing of christianity no it does not read in that way for the benefit of the apostles and those immediately surrounding them no to con convince vium the pagan gentiles and unbelieving jews no he tells us they were placed in the church for the per perfecting of the saints 11 that the they y who believed in and obeyed the gospel might go on from strength to strength and be enabled to endure faithful to the end it was for the perfecting of such persons that as ini mortal immortal beings they Iiii might 0 lit increase in light intelligence and hand be prepared to d well dwell wa with t h the gods and the sanctified hosts in the tile eternal worlds these officers olti cers were for the perfecting of the saints then were they for anything else yes yea for the work of the ministry and for the edifying of the body of christ why that they should be no more chil chii children drep dred tossed about by divers winds of doctrine and the tile craft of cunning men whereby they lie ue in wait to deceive but that they might be built on the foundation of the apostles and prop prophets liets jesus christ himself being the chief cornerstone ner stone 11 that they might have a knowledge of the truth of the gospel for themselves glowing in characters of living liro lire written in their heart which no man influence I 1 or power could obliterate but that it might dwell there like a fire upon the ultan eternally burning and alid from thence spread its radiant effulgence glowing in creag t ing and spreading this is the kind of gospel the and anc ancients an lents |