Show DISCOURSE by elder GEORGE Q CANNON delivered in the thirteenth ward assembly booms salt sall lake city sunday afternoon marca march the lith chapter of the ali hebrews being read as a text REPORTED BY D IV EVANS A more comprehensive chapter than this in its description of the effects of faith when properly exercised cased by the children of men I 1 think is not contained within the the lids of the bible the entire history of gods dealings with the children of men so far as the jewish record is concerned is epitomized therein the apostle in the plainest possible language describes the leading events that lad had transpired u up tah to his i s day among the fathers of M his nation t ion ton setting forth with unmistakable clearness the power that they wielded through faith in god in accomplishing accomplish in the work t that hat was assigned unto t them em and he tells the hebrews in writing to them upon this subject that it is impossible to please god without faith for those who come unto him must believe that he is the of them that diligently seek him I 1 expect that the apostle paul had a generation to deal deaf with that were not dissimilar to the generation in which we live a generation who had in their midst the scriptures the predictions of the holy prophets ministers who professed to have received the authority which they exercised in ministering to the people from a high so source uce and who were in their own opinion at least called of god an elect people le 1 a chosen generation who rejoiced f 0 iced in the power that had been made manifest to and in behalf of their fathers and which to a certain certa in 1 extent they had receive received d the apostle in this cha eha chapter ter pointed out the power which their fathers exercised through faith and to the mighty works that had been wrought thereby and he endeavored to stir up within them a desire to exercise the same faith at the time that paul wrote this epistle istle to the hebrews the jews nd did not believe in living revelation they they did not believe that god spoke to his people by any manifestations such as their fathers had received we are told that they garnished the sepulchres chres of the dead prophets that they reverenced reveren ced the places of their birth honored the their IT memories and declared that if they had lived inthe in the days of their fathers they would not have been guilty of putting the prophets to death but the son of god and his apostles s were treated by them precisely as their fathers had tre treated eted the prophets of old it is a good thing for us who live in this generation that we have this record in our midst it is an encouraging thing to read the history of the past and to leam learn about the treatment that men of god received in ancient days it is encouraging for those who contend for the same faith to know that slander persecution ignominy and shame and even death itself are not evidences of the falsity of a system or of the falsity of the doctrines taught by any individual because we have the history of the apostles some of the best men that have ever trod the earth and of jesus the holiest hollest and best man that ever trod the earth or that ever will and we find that he and they were persecuted hated and despised and their names were cast out as evil end they were slain by a generation who professed to honor god and be very righteous and who claimed to be the descendants of the patriarchs of old who were called the friends of god if this story were told to us without our knowing anything of the circumstances we should be reluctant to believe belleve it it would be a difficult thing to persuade us that human beings could have been so base and degraded and so lost to every feeling of humanity as to persecute and crucify a pure being lik ilk eJesus who had come from the father for the express purpose of laying down dow P his life ufa as an expiation for their sins but the record is before us we have been familiar with it from our infancy and in the minds of those who profess to have any faith in god there is no room to doubt it it is most fortunate for us that this oon conchas ecord con Thas bas has been preserve preserved 4 for b by it wa we am are enabled to understand what what kind hind of a generation lived in the day in which the chapter I 1 have road read in your hearing was written they werm vere a people who spoke highly of religion who built synagogues and places of worship who honored the sabbath day who wore long phylacteries on which were written select passages from scripture who had the word of god written on their very doorposts door posts who prayed at the comers of the streets who fasted and apparently I 1 sought in every way to glorify god go d they believed in abraham and moses and in the covenants which god god made with them they believed and practiced the law which moses had revealed unto them and so strict were they in in observing servi nig njg many of its principles that they were ready on one occasion to have a woman slain for the violation on of the commandment respecting adultery and at another time their wrath was kindled against the disciples I 1 es because they plucked some ears of corn on the sabbath day to appease their hunger they considered that act a violation of the sabbath and their righteous souls were shocked thereat they were shocked even at the idea of jesus eating with unwashed hands and 0 at 6 t him who professed to be a teacher ef associating with publicans public ans and r sinners miners they thought it was beneath the dignity of a man of god to condescend to associate with the low and degraded this was the kind of people that existed when paul wrote this chapter yet with all their professions and with all their apparent sanctity they were u utterly t destitute of the knowledge and power of god they drew near to god with their lips but their hearts were far from him they made a great parade of their religion but they tiley dwelt on the glories of the past on the evidences of gods favor which their nation and religion had formerly received but did they themselves possess the spirit ot prophecy an and the faith which paul describes if they had they would have recognized jes jesus us when he came amongst them and they would have gladly received him and his teachings and would have obeyed and practiced in their lives the principles of his gospel butash I 1 have said they were utterly destitute of the spirit of god they were darkened in their minds and instead of receiving rec receiving eivin elvin g jesus and his teachings they hounded 10 u him until they got him into their power 0 and then they slew him win and aud a 1 wi they treated his apostles in the same manner mannen it is truly said that history repeats itself we weare ame are familiar with this in the history of our race when the prophets who preceded Jesu jesus went into the midst of the people and preached unto them the word of god they found them believing lievin in the prophets who had beform before they were to go gone willing receive the lestini testimony ony of Mose sand of some who succeeded him samuel after his death was recognized as a great prophet by the jews and so were some others who were dead but while they lived they were treated much the same as jesus and his apostles were treated the wicked could not recognize the character of the men of god who labored among them and they rejected and persecuted them and slew many of them this is characteristic act of the human family one of the most unreliable things connected with mankind is popular opinion so far as gods dealings with the children of men are concerned and the sending of prophets and apostles to them those who have been guided by popular opinion have always erred the opinions of the great majority concerning the truth habein ha vein almost every instance been unreliable moyes moses moses notwithstanding the mighty miracles he performed was not appreciated by those among whom he jived anu and and narrowly escaped being toned stoned by the people whom lie he led across the red bed sea when they got into the wilderness wilde mess they murmured at him and were ready to choose others to lead them back to egypt it was so with samuel although the nation was comparatively a righteous nation they rejected him they thy were not content with the power and authority which he exercised over them and they wanted a king so with other prophets the more wicked the generation the harder they were to convince of the truth of the predictions that were uttered among them by the servants of god and so much was this the case that it became al almost mos t an infallible rule when a majority of the people decided d against a man helas he was vas sure to boa irya servant of god it may be asked why has jias this been the case oase I 1 know that men say if god be god and is the bo be ing that he is described to be 1 why has he not manifested his po power powen ver ven in the midst of his children to such an extent that they are compelled to receive the testimony of his servants there is a class of people who can not understand why it is that truth cannot can ean not be made roade so plain to the human understanding that men can not reject it infidels advance this as an evidence that there is no such thing as divine power oberno no such being 0 as god and trat that there is no supreme providence presiding over the amm aff mairs affairs of the children of men they say that if god be the kind of being that he is described to be in the scriptures it would be inconsistent with ills character to withhold from the children of men such manifestations of power as would convince them beyond all controversy that the men he sends to declare his will unto them are his divinely appointed servants it is very plausible taking one view of the subject for men to imagine that this ought to be the way in which god should ast act act but there is one saying written in in ancient days that is as true today to day as when it was written that is that as the heavens are higher than the earth so are gods wa ways hl higher berthan than our ways and goc goo gods s gs thoughts IT t t s higher than our thoughts in our degradation and ignorance we can not comprehend the e purposes and plans of our heavenly father ko no man can do this if any man were capable of doing this he would be unfit to dwell on earth and he might perhaps be translated as enoch was anciently no man can rise to the wisdom of deity and comprehend the purposes and designs of him who created the earth and placed us upon it and who regulates the movements of the universe of which we form a part and when we try to do it it is like a child just beginning to talk seeking to dictate and comprehend the movements actions and thoughts of men who are in possession of the wisdom and experience of mature age in fact the diff difference brence is g greater our father and god has made it plain to us that he has placed us here on this earth in order that we may be tested and proved in the exercise the agency that he has given us and if when he sends forth ills his prophets he were to manifest his power so that all the earth would be compelled to receive their words there would be no room then for men to exercise their agency for they would be compelled to adopt a certain course and to receive certain teachings and doctrines regardless of their own wishes and will but god has sent us here and has given to everyone of us our a agency 0 c lucyl as much so as he has his I 1 in my sphere have my agency a as much as god my eternal father father r ns v jesus my elder brother has in his I 1 can do right or I 1 can do wrong I 1 can serve god or reject him I 1 can keep his commandments or violate them I 1 can receive his spirit or reject it this agency god has 9 given iven unto man and hence it is hs that when he sends his truth and his servants to declare it unto the people he does it in such away a way that man is left to the free exercise exercise of his ag agency e ncy ney iii in receiving or rejecting them at the same time we are assured that whoever receives that gruth truth truth will also receive the convincing power of the spirit of god to bear testimony to him that it is divine and this is the reason why as the apostle says in the chapter I 1 read to you the ancient though they were stoned sawn asunder tempted slain with the sword though they wandered about in sheep skins and in goat skins being destitute afflicted and tormented were able to endure to the end they had llad received a tes tea from god through obedience to his gospel in the exercise of their agency in in the right direction and this enabled them to endure all these things i cheerfully looking forward as aa paul ul says moses did when wilen he fled from egypt to the recompense of reward in this manner the servants of god have gone forth in every age and preached the gospel to bring the matter down to our own day d ay when joseph smith commenced to preach the gospel to tell the people that god had once more spoken from the heavens a great many said where are the signs or evidences that god has done this can you not show some sigri sign or work us some miracle that shall convince us that this is true if you will work us a miracle if you ou will walk on the tile water raise tim the dead or do some other work then wo we will believe that he has spoken to you yott and that the words you testify to are true they wanted wati ted signs and yet they had the bible in their midst th the position of those to whom joseph taught the gospel was very similar to that of the jews in pauls day only the former were more blessed blessed than the jews were unto whom jesus came they had the prophets and apostles that is they had their words they had the record odthe of the gospel as taught tau lit by jesus and his apostles witt with the account of the miracles brou wrought h t by them they had a form of goUnes godliness sand and they thought they were on the road of salvation but they did not believe in miracles they did not believe that god was a god of revelation hence they would not receive the testimony of the prophet joseph but they wanted miracles to colv convince ince them in this they made a great mistake as many others have done in other ages of the world in relation to this matter it is written of jesus that he did not do many mighty works in galilee because of of the tho of the people and he said it was a wicked and and adulterous generation that demanded a i sig sli sign n and none should be given t them em when the people demanded miraculous signs of joseph smith to convince them odthe of the tho truth of his testimony they would not or did not exercise their agency but wanted some over powering 0 evidence to convince ph t them in the lord does docs not operate in that way among the children of men he sends forth his servants with the truth and he makes this promise he made it through joseph smith if they will wili believe in jesus christ repent c of their sins be baptized for the remission thereof by one having authority they shall receive the holy ghost and a testimony from him as to the tho character of the work in which they ha have ve engaged A man who comes to god must believe that he ia is god that he be has power to do as he be says this is the way the tile ancients received their faith falth the difficulty difficult y today to day is IS that the people do not believe eat bat that god is a being of this character you talk to those men who profess to be ministers of the gospel ea and ask them do you have the gifts powers and blessings 0 of f the gospel as they were enjoyed by the saints sainte in ancient days daye and the reply will be invariably that power is withdrawn those gifts and blessings are no longer enjoyed among men god does not reveal his will unto the children of men as he did in ancient days and it is in vain for you ou to ask god for those |