Show DISCOURSE ii i y lson ison I 1 PRATT helit delit r i alic aca w ralen caler tabernacle nacle b ody oty tl sunday after 1 I us 31 ln epo ero i r iy ay DAVI sv yr EVANS EVAINS cirii yilli il a rl portion of the word G god od f i iri lri n I 1 in the 1 th ith chapter of t tie tle TIO 1 I gc i I 1 of st matthew com monch wench iii til t h io i o ad 3 d verse verso llie 1110 lii lil rj i no c ame unto him tempt turm turn it 0 ille ilie iii r unto MAO him Is 13 it lawful i aaa aad a ina i t 11 u vay his hia wife fo for every nt i vid nd h b na lel lei and andl stid eald ebid unto tb therm thorn IM 0 ve yo o t r I 1 t lint ha he whdeh made tia i I 1 tile tiie ue t nun i u i i if lar made tunde them malo mule ma e and malc wale bild s rr 11 ad canse cause shall a man lo 10 ic ive fat fato fatu r t ia i i i in nhen r and filial shai I 1 cleave to i 3 site vite wife 1 tiey ta cy twain shall shail ba ono one 0 sh s kl here 11 are no moro more twain but one oue fl ii t ti t iv acore creore god hath joined i i lian llan ii au put asunder that hat lioa lion of these those sayings of J cyus cius to which I 1 wish moro more epe i lally to call your sour our attention is con dued ia tio vio mh verso wherefore they are no moro more twain but one flesh what therefore god hath 1 joined together let no man put sun sundel amadei sma suu doi dei there are some lew laings t angs which transpire in our world iu in which the hand lund of god is specially manifest wo we might name me imo things ordained ordain eu of god an and d which chich lue lie himself has lias given to the I hildren Aldren of men iren for their inco ince 1 flieh lich sch aich are the ordinance of apt baptism ism che ine he lords supper now ix lhing ing to the saints in t ils conre rAtion and the ordin nce ice nee of c confirmation by the laying 11 of lia J d for the baptism of fire i I 1 iid id of le 1 e holy ghost these or nave lave been ordained of gacho dihe 4 their thorand Au lie he con et e t autuori ity upon his servants to Q date oate tle rie tie kierein rein fein and altho without au dhority firina f fum om god to do so all such duons are aro illegal anad in addition to these we might name a variety of other ordinances such bordinat eis ais to the ministry ord 1 I diling a person to officiate in the rollee and calling afan of an apostle and n the offices and callings of elders ti bests teachers ac without illch ilich aich no man call can perform tilo the du lies lua lu a of these several offices so as to bo be acceptable inthe in the sight of god but to be brief wo we will come to tile the point more fully god has appointed marriage and it is as much sacred and religious ordinance 13 i baptism for the remission of sins t confirmation ordination to the ministry or the administration of the loi noi JL olds to supper there is no lio distinction with regard to the di vini y of these ordinances ono one is J jut as much divine as the other ene eno one tae is a religious ordinance as much as the other aud therefore people of all sects and parties in this tilis preat republic should be left free five to ct 0 edminister dm Joi inister them according to the dictates of their own consciences in other words congress should not assume ume to be the dictator of my conscience nor of yours what I 1 monn moan by this is that if I 1 am a minster congress or tho the president of the united states has no right by virtue of tho the constitution to say I 1 how bow low I 1 shall shail administer the ordinance of marria marriage 0 to any couple who may come to me for that purpose because I 1 have a conscience in regard to this matter it is an ordinance ance appointed of god it is a religious ordinance hence congress a a should ouid not enact a law prescribing for the people in any adny part of or the tho republic a certain form in w which ic the ordinance of marr marriage iao lao hall be administered why should should ahey not do this because it is a lo lo lation lalion of religious principle sand of f that groat great fundamental principle n the constitution of our country aich provides that congress shall inake make no law in regard to religious matters that would in the least de upon the rights of any man or woman in this republic in regard to the form of their theil religion perhaps some may make the inquiry what shall wo we do with those who make no profession of religion some of whom are infidels or what may be termed 2 believing in no particular religious principle oi 01 creed they want to enter tiie the state of matrimony and in addition to religious authority should there not b bo 8 a civil authority for the solemnization of marriage among these non religionists yes wo we will admit that inasmuch aa as marriage is an important institution it is I 1 s the right and pilvi privilege lege of tile the legislatures of states and territories to frame certain laws so tb that it all people mav may havo have the privilege vi of sei eel selecting acting civil or rel rol religious authority according to the dictates of their consciences if a methodist wishes sto to be married according to the methodist creed and institutions congress should make no law jaw infringing upon the rights of that body ot of religionists but they should have the privilege of officiating just as their consciences dictate the same argument will apply to the presbyterians rians quakers baptists baptista and every religious denomination to bo be found in this republic not excepting the latter day saints then as regards the non religion if lie wishes to become a married person and does not wish to have his marriage solemnized according to the norm form used by an any religious denomination it shon should bo be left open to him to comply with such forms as the tile legislature may prescribe this is leaving it to the choice of the individual and this is as it ought to be a and ll 11 d as it is guaranteed to us so lar far a as s other or din finances ances are concerned for instance congress would never think of making a law in regard to the form of baptism or of appointing a federal officer to e go on into one of the T territories c ri tories of this 1 union linion and decree that ho lie only should be authorized to administer the ordinance of baptism do we not know that tile the whole people of this republic would cry out against such an infringe infringement of the constitution of our country every man and every woman who knows the least about the great principles of religious liberty would at once say let the various religious bodies bodied of the terri tory choose for themselves in regard to the mode of baptism a federal officer is not the person to pre prescribe cribe the mode or to the ordinance of baptism why not this reasoning apply to marriage as well as to baptism can you make a distinction so far as the divinity of the two ordinances is concerned I 1 can not I 1 read here in the last verse of my text what god has joined too together lb let not man put asunder cit uit tit it will bo be perceived from this sentence that god has something to do in the joining together of male and female that is when it is done according to his mind and vill will we will make that a condition but we will say that in all cases under the whole heavens where a couple are ire joined together and god has anything to do with it lie he does not ask congress to make a law nor tile the president of the united united states to appoint a form and he will sanction it 11 no lie claims the tile right and his children claim that god ilas lias has hag the privilege 0 to prescribe the tiie form or caremon ceremony y and the words to be used faed and when that ceremony is performed by divine authority we may then say in the fullest sense of the term that they are ure joined together divinely and iiii not by y some civil law the union of maie male and female I 1 consider to bo be one of tho the most important ordinances which god has established and if its solemnization had llad been left entirely to the whims and notions of men we might have had as many different ways of per the matrimonial kiteas rite as we have of administering the ordinance of baptism you know that in the performance of the baptismal rite some believe in sprinkling and some in pouring some societies believe in immersion after they tiley have obtained the tho remission of sins ons others like alexander campbell and his followers believe that immersion is to be administered for the remission of sins another class believe in being immersed face foremost others again be eve evo cievo ere in being immersed three times once in the name of the father once in the name of thes and once in the name of the tiie hol hoi holy ghost taking 0 all these classes as churche th eyare no doubt sincere they tiley havo been instructed by their teachers until they sincerely be cievo in thee these several forms of baptism now if congress or the legislative assemblies in tho the different states and territories werm were ere permitted ml eted to make laws regulating this they ther the would perhaps havu have many other forms besides those I 1 have named which they tiley would force the people under heavy penalties to comp comply with and so in ja regard to marriage if congress should undertake to make a law to govern the methodists for instance in the solemnization of marriage t hey they would not like it iti neither would the nor baptists baptista A man belonging to either of these denominations would say sayi here hero is a law which prohibits me from exercising my religious faith and cb mo me to be married by a justice of the peace or a federal officer or some person who perhaps does not believe in god and who has no respect for the ordinances of heaven I 1 am compelled by the laws of the land to have him officiate and pronounce me and my intended 5 husband and wife or to remain unmarried the constitution does not contemplate this forcing of the human mind in regard to that which is ordained of iod god if I 1 believing in god and in the ordinances which he has instituted am forced to be married b by an unbeliever perhaps a drunkard and an immoral man or I 1 do not care if he is a believer in some kind of a creed if I 1 am satisfied that ho he has not authority to officiate in the union of the sexes and I 1 am compelled to be married by him would it answer my conscience could I 1 consider myself joined together by the lord it is inconsistent to suppose that I 1 could feel so and in the very natzio of things the solemnization of the marriage ceremony as well as all other religious ordinances aro are matters which should be left for all persons to act in as they feel disposed but we will pass on we must not dwell too long on this subject my reason however for making these few remarks is to prove that the ordinance of marriage is is divine that god has ordained it ivaun I 1 want it particularly understood by this congregation that in order to be joined together of the lord so that no man hias hhas has fias the right to put you asunder the lord must have a hand in relation to the marriage the same as he has in relation to baptism now I 1 inquire if any of the religious societies on the earth with the exception of the latter day saints have received any sp special cial clai form in relation to the marriage cere ceremony nony if they have from what source have they received it did they invent it themselves did a learned body of priests get together tog n conference and by their own wisdom without any revelation from heaven make up a certain form by which the male and the female should be joined in marriage or how have they come in possession of it they have invented it themselves as you can find by reading the disciplines creeds creed sand and articles of faith falth which almost every religious society po besses sease soa se and which some of them have possess sed for a long period of time if wo we go back for fon several hundred years we shall find some oft of liese these forms in existence in the roman catholic church the ritual of or marriage has existed for mapy many generations the same is true with the greek church a numerous branch of the catholics who broke off from the church established at rome a few centuries after christ martin luther also had his views in relation to the marriage ordinance he was a polygamist in principle as you will mid find in his published writings we have an account of him in connection with six or seven others ministers of his faith advising a certain prince in fineu europe rope to take unto him himself selfa a second wine wife his first wife being still alive luther and these ministers saying that it was not contrary to the scriptures john calvin had his notions on the subject but each and all of the ceremonies of marriage in use among the various christian churches the catholics as well as protestants from the days odthe of the first reformation several hundred in number down to our own day are the inventions vent ions of men for amongst them all where can you find one which claims that god has said anything to them about marriage or anything else pertaining tc their ciati ons as ministers in his cau can cause e not one the whole of them claim that the bible contains the last revelation that was ever given from heaven hence if if their claim be true god never said a word to martin luther john calvin john wesley or any other reformer about their their ministry the order of marriage baptism or anything else if their claim be true that thai the last revelation god ever gave wm wad to 3 john ohn on the tile isle of patmos what conclusion must wo we come como to in regard to them we must conclude that all their administrations are illegal if I 1 have been baptized by the presbyterians rians church of england roman catholics greek church wesleyans wesleyann Wesle wesie or by any other religious denomination which denies any later revelation than the bible my baptism is good for nothing god has hab had nothing to do 10 with 1 if it never nelver having apo n to tb or called the minister who officiated as aaron was called that isa is by new revelation well weil 11 says one that is un christianizing the world I 1 know according to the views contained in the bible that it is unchristian izing it t in one of the most fundamental 1 points it shows that all the ordinances and ceremonies of the christian world being administered in the name of the tho trinity without new revelation are illegal and of none effect and that god does not record them in the heavens though they may be recorded by man on the earth but when a man is called by new revelation it alters the case when god speaks or sends an angel and a man is is called and ordained ordained not by uninspired men who deny new revelation but by divine authority when he administers baptism or any other ordinance of the gospel it is legal and what is legal and sealed scaled on earth is legal and sealed in heaven and when such anad an administration is recorded here on the earth earthy it is also recorded in the tile archives of heaven and in the great judgment day when mankind are brought before the bar of jehovah the great judge of the quick and dead to give an account of the deeds done in the body it will then be known whether an individual lias has officiated in or received ordinances by divine appointment and if not such administration being illegal will be rejected of god oh but says one sueh suen such a person officiating or being adminis to may have been sincere yes I 1 admit that sincerity is a good thing and without it there can be no leal leai christians but sincerity does not make a person a true child of god it requires something more than that if sincerity insincerity alone where sufficient to make a p person e rao n a child of god then theu the he athens when they wash in the ganges C worship crocodiles the sun moon stars or gra graven ven images or when they fall down and are crushed beneath |