Show RE REMARKS M ARKS BY y ELDER DAVID mckenzie DELIVERED atthe althe at the semiannual semi annual Conference conferences an in the now new tabernacle salt lake f city october ith 1673 IM DAVID NY V EVANS I 1 IrE lie veel reel ELVery envery very thankful for the privilege of standing before this congregation this morning notwithstanding n g it is with some bome me de deree degree ree of dini de dence n c e yet et in common with my illy b brethren eth en I 1 have reason to 0 rest assured u re 1 I that wilen I 1 inelder stands up before a congregation with a adeside desh e to bless them with a a portion of the good news that emanates from the tile eternal throne I 1 say say I 1 have reason to believe that that being whom we serve and und worship will not be unmindful of antich as s we dr draw tw near unto him with confidence and with prayerful rayer rul rui hearts I 1 rejoiced exceedingly exceedingly nt at the words of our beloved president pr aident george georgc A smith when lie requested the congregation to lift up their hearts in silent prayer to jehovah that the elders might receive the words of or life to give unto the people this is our privilege brethren bretl iren and sisters and it is one that I 1 esteem of the greatest value and when I 1 come como comoto to a meeting to listen to the words of truth I 1 make it an invariable rule to lift up my heart in silent prayer that tile tiie lord will administer to us for without his aid and assistance our words are of very little value to the saints Lre ire I 1 realize alize tills this loraing mor mon ding that I 1 am addressing a congre congregation gation gatlon of lat te ter day saints it if I 1 were speaking to the people of the world who inv dinv jin iw nothing about our holy religion I 1 nii nil nicil iL be ue directed to admonish them to be baptized for tile the remission of their sins but I 1 realize that I 1 am talking to a people who are already acquainted with the first principles of the gospel I 1 see before me those who have left all that was ngar noar and dear to them forsaken their homes the graves of their fathers the associations of their friends and have gathered here to serve the true and living god that being who has revealed himself in this the dispensation of the falness of times for the winding up of the tho affairs of this earth according to the gramme pro that was made before the world was inasmuch as behave we have done don ethis this and have covenanted with god the eternal father that we would serve him and keep his commandments if I 1 eail can give you a word of comfort or of exhortation I 1 pray that it may be so BO ilven niven iven to me from god that it may 0 you good we have had some very excellent instructions given to us luring during the conference president young brought the gospel before us as it were in a nutshell when he told us that if there was anything good or beautiful anything that savored of virtue and righteousness anything that tended to true happiness it was a portion of the creed of the latter day saints I 1 use the term creed itis it is of itself a word that circumscribes a word that limits but there is no limit to our creed it is unbounded it comprehends all truth that is basor was or is tobe to be whatsoever oever is is good and noble whatsoever tends to the salvation of tile children of men and to their being here and hereafter to bring up to im improve prove to increase according to the order of the gods that is the religion of the latter dax day a sainta saints I 1 that is what constitutes their religion ion lon it is fashionable to desi designate 0 nate that as education which gives the young an acquaintance with letters numbers science and philosophy while that which tends bonds to a future state to hereafter and to prepare us for the presence of god is called az by the world rell reil religion ion lon with the latter iatter atter day saints A it is all education or it is all ail religion just as you piet please lse tse that which prepares us to live and enables us to provide for ourselves the necessaries and comforts of life as well as that which prepares us for the presence of god our heavenly father that we may dwell with him through all eternity with us is all education or all religion we know not where to draw the dividing line bearing this fact in mind that whatsoever is good comes from god and that whatsoever is evil comos comes from an evil soulee source I 1 trust that we are awake to these things that we do not let jet the tile time pass by unimproved for to us is committed a great and important work not only our own salvation but the keys for the ref ret redemption emption of tile the children of men from the earliest ages to the winding up scene that is the work the latter day saints have before them it is well to have this continually ill in our minds that we may not trifle away the tho time tine wt but that vint we awake to the signs that up jup on qu every liand hand and pointing out as with the finger of Jehovah that tho time is drawing near when lie whose mime right it is to reign will come and take the kingdom men uen have had it a long time their own way when I 1 read and reflect upon the tile history of the past I 1 am ain led to believe that ohp th lord has lias let men take things into hito their own hands to a certain degree degroe 0 to see vee bee ece t ce what they would do ro for r th themselves em selves you all reme remember the dream of or which daniel interpreted lie lle saw a ireat 1 treat great ima image tc tife head of which was of or nurl fill nine fine gold id the brea breast stand and arms anna of or silver ac L images inac es aro arc the tile work of mens hands fiands to was given d dominion oi over all the earth a kin kingdom which was comparatively pure and which was compared to line gold but in process of time the kingdom kill doni donl degenerated and was weakened weaken ed and subdivided sub divided as represented by the feet of the image c which were part of iron and pa part r t of miry clay but in the last days the god of heaven was to set up a kingdom A kingdom that was not a part of the tile image linage it was not the work of man mail it was the work of god and was likened to a stone cut out of the mountain without hands mark the phrase without landa handa it w was as not the work of men etwas it was a stone cut out of tho the mountain without hands that is a kingdom set up by god which was to smite tilis linage image the tile work of men acdan and an order of things was to be instituted ill in accordance with the mind an and d will of jehovah I 1 bear testimony to you this day brethren and sisters that god has set up this kingdom that it has been revealed to me to my understanding to my most positive conviction vic tion so that it is no longer a mat of doubt or uncertainty but it is as substantial and real to me as the as assurance murance that I 1 am and there are hundreds yes thousands in tills this congregation who could bear tile the same testimony were they called upon do we as latter day saints act up to this knowledge do we bear in mind that we have made certain covenants with god and that we are responsible whether we keep them or neb neg neglect gleet them I 1 am afraid brethren and sisters that although the majority of the tile latter day saints are doing very well there are many men with talents gifts and abilities given them by god who might be bright and shining instruments in his hands who are negligent and who are wandering after idols and are worshipping wor won shipping ap pp ing idols just as much as the he heathen athen who prostrate themselves before things of wood and stone what are they doing forgetful of the great aim and object which they should have in view as latter day saints they wander off after the things of tills world they seek to heap to themselves riches and spend their time hs as it if there were nothing g beyond the vail this course is not wise even so far as ils this world is concerned for what is tile the condition of such persons today their ideal does not give them that true lasting happiness that comes from god it brings care and anxiety and increases the lust for gain and what they seek to obtain flees further from froni them the acquisition of wealth entails greater responsibility as to what use the they y will make of it lo 10 acquire still more looking at it in this liblit it seems seema to me a self evident fact that although we are ostensibly engaged in seeking for and pro promoting moling our happiness we are on the wrong track when wo we take a course of this kind there is a proper course for us to td pursue eursue in order to increase our happiness we have been thrown together oil on this planet in pretty much the same circumstances in many respects we are sensitive to pleasure and to pain we have a desire to increase our enjoyments enjoy ments and there are many things 1 I might mention wherein where n we are all very much alike now dont you think that the being who wiio created you and me knew of a certain plan which if we would adopt a certain course which which if we would t arsue would give us the greatest of happiness it is a vry v ry reasonable conclusion what course is that likely to bo be I 1 the same samo course that our Plat father lier iier in n heaven has lias taken before us how shall shail we get to know what that is let us read the revel revelations at iRlis let us refer to our beloved savior when he was upon the earth what course did he pursue I 1 ile he went about doing good his admonition was to do good to to all to love your enemies do good to them that hate liate you and to do unto others as you would have them do to you these were some of tile tiie he principles laid down by our savior and redeemer he said lie came not to do liis his own will wili but tile the will of lils ills father dont you think brethren bretl iren and Ms fris tere term that if we were to follow these golden rules we should see a very dafft rent state of dr things to what we now see what would be ile tile the result if they were observed every man inan would be betl betm ai a i N ming ailing to promote pron lote the tile welfare and advantage 7 e of his ills neighbor ai aa lie would his liis own oun own when two went to trade tog together ether it would not be now let us see who wiio will get the best of the bargain or 1 I dont care what whal you vou get I 1 want to get as much as 17 I 1 call can the desire would be that each should be satisfied in III a state of society in which these golden rules were bertt observed by all there would be no grinding the face of tile the poor that tile the rich might pile unto themselves wealth which is a cankerworm no but we would be able to enter into the order of enoch and live it so that we might intensify our faith in god and receive and understand more of his will concerning us and we wd should see a state of OT things which you and I 1 havo have never dreamed of if we would overcome these feelings of selfishness which proceed from a pow power dr that iseril and that is opposed to our growth and to the progress of the kingdom of god Is it within our power to inaugurate and bring to pass such a condition of things we have the priesthood of the soli soh of god bequeathed thed to us for this very purpose it is in the mind and will of jehovah to pour out blessings upon his hia people to increase upon them everything that is calculated to thein them here liere and hereafter he has designed to make a nation of kim lungs gs and priests according to his promises made to abraham that promise has yet to be fulfilled and will as assuredly be fulfilled as that the heavens are above us he would pour out blessings on his people but if they are not able to receive them alas aias I 1 they would prove curses cursed he has given us laws and with every law given there are conditions iffe if we magnify them blessings are promised of which we are as sure to be the recipients as that we live why are we re q quiren u red to pay tithing what does the lord want with a tenth of our substance I 1 will tell you what he wants with it he wants you and me to manifest by this thing that we are his servants that we respect his commandments do not wholly set our hearts on filthy lucre luere but that we do willingly cheerfully and understandingly bring forth one tenth of our substance and say 11 here am 1 I 0 father ready and willing to lay down what thou hast required of or me that I 1 may manifest to thee iny my integrity and prove that I 1 am ht to receive more oathy of thy blessings that is the law of tithing as I 1 understand der stand it that Is 19 the condition that is iq the reward if you please which attends a person who pays it many times the saints wonder why we do not progress faster than we do and ana sometimes it crea creates tesa a feeling of regret but I 1 realize that there is an abundance abu abundance danee Dance of things before the tile people which they do not liot live up to we have the oracles of god in our midst I 1 may sit down and arid read th the c scriptures of the past the commandments command mand ments given to the children of israel graven engraved en t r aven on the tables blasof of stone or tile the carnal commandments mand ments but they benefit me comparatively little what N you and I 1 want today to day is the word of the lord to ourselves are we not his children as much as were the children of israel in the days ofA of loses moses most assuredly we want the word of the lord today to day and we require to walk up to it when we get it As I 1 said we havethe have havo the living oracles in our midst and if we receive from them admonition counsel and eom corn mand ments if you please thad thac is as much the word of the lord to this tills people as is the doctrine of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins we all look forward to the time when the arder of enoch will be established on the earth but in out our present condition with our feel ings of or selfishness lusting after the tiie things of the world and craving af ter ten babylon baby ion lon we cannot expect that the tho lord would have so little regard for his people as to require us to live this law when it would be likely to prove our condemnation but the servants of god who wiio stand at the tile head of tills this people with hearts yearning for their pro prosperity with constant r prayers ascending to god for the tho advancement of ilig icing don upon tile the earth cartil have seen geen fit lit to propose that we enter into a system of co as a step towards establishing icing this ibis order that we contemplate will exist nt no distant las day lay what should be our feelings at hearing 0 of the organization of such a thit tiling 1 g we should give thanks and praise to Ah almighty god that there is a chance a door opened by which we may t take ilce a step towards c the order of of enoch it 11 is a I 1 step in the right MI direction and if we understood our true interests we would step forth in that direction we would int lut make dike like everything bend to ua it we would centre our faith upon it we would give kive our might and our ouri means for the tile advancement of this institution called the tile operative cooperative co institution it should be as the apple of our eye rhe hie support of this tills operative cooperative co system is just as much a commandment of god as I 1 said before belore as the doctrine of baptism for tile the remission of sins what makes it so because it has been beep revealed to uis lis us as massuch by the jiving liv iiii oracles ali all and what do we c are care i for r tile the printed word as compared with the living jiving oracles Is it not lot of or more importance to you and me to know what we should do 1 today to day most assuredly we live in the present we live today to day klay and iffe live right today to day we are ready for tomorrow to morrow it Is of |