Show DISCOURSE by elder orson OKSON PRATT delivered in the fourteenth ward assembly rooms booms salt lake city sunday afternoon march 16 1873 reported BY D W EVANS IT la Is usual to open most of our meetings by singing and prayer but I 1 do not know that we have any special revelation level levei atlon that directs ants th peculiar pecullar pecullar kind of com commencement mence we find our savior saviors in his travels among the people sometimes times commencing to address them without crisino rising from his seat or having ng any n v vocal mal c prayer sometimes h he e would voul d get et on board a vessel and wo would uld address d LF ress the people who were on shore I 1 have sometimes been afraid lest lost we as a people might run into forms and have them so continually before our minds that we should feel reel if it we happened to devi ate from them that we were trans gressing easing the commandments of ofgus god creasing fr it t is very necessary for us to comply with any forms that god has com commanded banded and we should strictly observe any ordinances institutions or laws that he has revealed for instance we will refer to the sacrament of the lords supper he has given strict commandments that we should partake of these symbols of his crucified body and shed blood to witness unto the father that we remember the great atonement that he has wrought out and the sufferings and death of his son this is a ve very r sacred and holy ordinance which theford the lord lond has instituted and if we were to neglect it and think that we could get along just as well without attending to it we should come under condemnation it is so with regard to baptism if we were to tell the people that they could obtain remission of sins without obeying that ordinance we should come under condemn condemnation at ion lon we do not believe belleve in the forms and ceremonies instituted by men in all respects respect 6 although many of them are good yet if we do not conform to them in all points we do not feel under condemnation jesus said to nicodemus that except a man be bom born of the water and of the spirit he can in no wise enter into the kingdom of heaven thero there are many people at the present day who do not consider that the birth of the water is particularly necessary but they consider the birth of the spirit ot of all importance and that no person can enter heaven without it we the lat ter day saints believe that unless a person is born both of the water and of the spirit he has no claim upon the promise of the almighty that he shall enter there indeed in deed the savior declared that men should in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven unless they were bom of or the waterland wat water erand and of the spirit what I 1 understand by the birth of the water Is an immersion in the water and comin coming forth if jesus or our heavenly father had instituted any other form it would be necessary for us to attend there thero thereunto unto in order to obtain the blessing if he had told us that thab we should obtain remission of sins by our re repentance e tance and faith in jesus chri christ t and by being immersed seven times in water th that atway way and no other would be necessary or 1 if f he had told us to be immersed twenty times that would be the way nineteen times would not answer when the assyrian leper came to the prophet elisha ellsha and desired to bo be healed of his leprosy the prophet p et un under er t the e direction of t the e spirit of god od commanded him to go an and dip seven times in jord jordan an an and he e should bo be healed this afflicted person was about to turn away in great an anger cr saying in his heart are not the waters of assyria as good as your jordan why should I 1 go into the jordan why can I 1 not be immersed in the waters of my native country but finally ho he was prevailed upon by his servant to try tho the experiment andee and lle tie went into the jordan as ho he was commanded and he was cleansed of his leprosy supposing that he had dipped BIX six times and then thinking there was no virtue in the water had ceased ho be would probably have remained a leper to the day of bib bis death but butt when he bad complied to tho letter with a commandment given by a man having authority tho rity tho the blessing camo so on the occasion of peter healing the lamo man at the beautiful gate of the temple sald said dd peter peters silver and gold have I 1 none but such as I 1 have havo give I 1 unto thee aud and ho he commanded him lam in lu te the name of the lord jesus to rise up and walk supposing this lame man had laughed at these apostles peter and john and had said why do you command me to rise up and walk I 1 am a lame man and have been lame about forty years ever since my birth you must bo be very foolish indeed seeing my crippled p I 1 e condition to command me to rise up and walk why do you not give me a reasonable com mandone that I 1 could comply with if he had reasoned thus in his heart and had made no exertion to comply with the command given him he would not have been healed but making an exertion to obey it he was healed and when peter and john were called before the high priests and the authorities of the jewish nation to give an account of themselves they boldly declared that this man was made whole through faith in the name of jesus it required laith faith on the part of the afflicted to be healed and if they refused to make that exertion it was proof that they had no faith for instance there was a man with a withered hand came before the savior in the midst of the congregation on one occasion this mans arm was useless and it was impossible for him to make any motion with it the jews watched jesus jagus to see whether he would heal him on the sabbath day they were so strict and pious that they considered it a sin in for a man to be healed on that day jesus perceived the thoughts of their hearts and he lie was filled with just indignation at their and wickedness by and by ho he commanded this man saying unto him stretch forth thine hand and he stretched it forth and it was restored like the other if ho he had refused to stretch forth his hand would he have been healed lot not at atall all ail it is just so with baptism when the multitude on the day of pentecost for instance were pricked in their hearts convinced that they were sinners believing that jesus was the son of god and desiring to repent before god they cried out to the Apostles 1 Men iten and brethren what shall we do peter answered repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of the lord jesus christ for the remission of your sins and you shall receive the holy ghost for the promise romise is to you and your children d r n and to all that are a afar afan far ot off even to as many as the lord our god shall call the there e is no doubt that the multitude did as they were told then and there without putting ti 1 1 it T off or waiting several weeks and a n aft they h ey did not stop at repentance of sin but th they eyvere weme were forthwith baptized for the remission of their sins for we are told that on the same day there were added to the church three thousand souls boub supposing they had bad stopped with faith and repentance and that they had said we will exercise faith in jesus and we will enter into a covenant to put away evil and to work the works s of righteousness henceforth but asor as or baptism it is only an outward ordinance and we will not attend to it do you think ahat if they had reasoned and acted thus they would have had the remission of their sins or been added 0 the church by baptism no it required obedience to all three of these principles faith in jesus repentance pen tance of sin and baptism for the remission of their sins before they could be forgiven and be add edlo eato the church A great many people at the present day say repent and believe belleve in the lord jesus christ but we must believe before we can repent it is utterly impossible for any person to repent acceptably before god u unless idless he believes in the lord jesus christ as the savior of mankind when a person believes in jesus and then repents that is feels in his heart to forsake sin and to make restitution to those of his fellow follow beings against whom he be may have sinned or done wrong and this can bo be done immediately without waiting for several weeks he be is then a nt lit candidate for baptism and if lie ho will yield obedience to that ordinance his sins will bo be washed away not by the virtue alone oh oli no but through the atonement wrought out by the shedding bedding of the tho blood of tho lord jesus christ from this tills you will seo that wo as latter day saints believe that baptism is an ordinance C noial to salvation when I 1 waa was a boy I 1 heard it preached sabbath after sabbath by the secta sect sectarians arians rians in the state of now yew york that to be bom born of god we must musac bo be converted exper nence ienco what they call religion and after that we could CD norward forward and be baptized for the remission of sins I 1 did not know but this casall was all ali right I 1 was too young and inexperienced to know the difference between their teachings and those of the ancient apostles I 1 supposed that baptism was necessary that it was comply they taught that it was an outward sign of an inward grace they did not preach it as an ordina ordinance uce nce through which the lord would remit sin or by which we could become justified before god but simply as a sign or te Almony on the part of those converted to the lord and to the world of that inward grace or religion which they had experienced and as a witness that they were bom born of god when I 1 came to understand the gospel as taught in the new testament I 1 saw that it was a very diff different brent thing I 1 faw paw that mankind were ere required to be born of the water first for the remi remission sion slon of their sins and then as the apostle peter has said sald they should receive the holy ghost I 1 saw paw then that this was a gift promised ed not only to those who lived in ancient times or to those who gathered together on the day of pentecost but to all afar off even to as many as the lord our god shall call this convinced me that the holy ghost was promised to all people on the face of the whole earth providing that they would believe in jesus repent of their sins bins and bo be baptized forthe for the remission thereof when I 1 was a boy about eighteen years old I 1 used to attend tho the methodist meetings a good deal and I 1 used to hear bear them telling about their conversion one would be born of the spirit while pitying in some wilderness another while praying in his closet another in this place and another in that but when I 1 came to read the scriptures understandingly understand angly I 1 found that there were certain ordinances to be observed in order to secure the remission of sins and the birth of the spirit or the gift of the holy ghost the former was baptism the latter was the laying on of hands bands I 1 mean the laying on of the hands odthe of the servants of golnot those who are not authorized to officiate in his name they tiley might lay their hands upon your heads and upon my head until the day of our death and it would do UR no good but wilen when men are called of ad god to administer the ordinances of baptism for the remission of or sins and the laying on of hands for the baptism of the holy ghost the persons to whom they administer if they have believed on the lord jesus and repented of their sins will surely receive the promised blessings because they have com corn plied with the conditions some may not receive the blessings because though they comply with the conditions outwardly they do not from their hearts this was the case with simon magus magur we are told that philip went from jerusalem to the city of orsa samaria and he commenced preaching there and lie he baptized a great number of the samaritana samaritans Samar itans but not one among them had received the holy ghost they had believed repented and been baptized or born of the water and there was great joy among them because having complied with the conditions their sins were forgiven but as yet the H holy 0 ghost had fallen upon none 0 of f t them P neither man nor woman T I 1 why vh y as s this because it needed a man having greater authority than philip to impart it philip had authority to baptize in water but he had bad not authority to admin adain i ister lster in the higher ordinance of the laying on of hands for the reception of the holy ghost hence peter and john two apostles who had authority tho rity went from the city of jerusalem to samaria and when they came there they prayed for those thoe samaritana samaritans Samar itans who had believed on christ and been baptized and after prayer they laid taeia hands upon them and they were filled with the holy idoly ghost here then was the birth of the water and the birth of the spirit following A great many people used to refer me when a boy to the conversion of st paul how he be obtained religion and through hearing bearing ec fec f tarlan tariana 4 preach on the subject I 1 really gou got t to believe that people couin coulm could coula bo converted without attending to any forms and ceremonies for I 1 actually believed thab that paul was converted and received the remission of his bins before he be was wa baptized I 1 supposed that his sins were forgiven at tho the time he be saw tho great light from heaven and aud ud hard board hardtle the ohe adice voice of jesus siau ciak nig to tb him I 1 had lot hot nead read the bible as I 1 ought to have read it if I 1 had I 1 should have found that that was merely a sectarian notion that had been lu instilled stilled into my mind in the chapter of the acts of the apostles paul or saul of tarsus relates his experience he tells us that ho ke was going in great wrath and indignation against the early Christ christians lium with letters from the chief priests sadducees ae to persecute them and cast anem into prison while lie he was pursuing his journey lie he saw a great light in the heavens and he fell to the earth he then heard a voice saying saul saul why perse cutest thou 1110 ilir me he immediately exclaimed who art thou tilou lord he had not the most distant idea that he be was persecuting anybody up in heaven the voice answered 1 I am jesus of or nazareth whom thou persecute qt saul was exceedingly astonished he thought that jesus was real really y an impostor as he testifies 1 I verily thought that I 1 ought to do many things contrary to the name of jesus of nazareth he verily thought that he be ought to persecute his followers tb inking thinking him to have been an impostor but this voice that he heard and this light he saw in the heavens gave him faith that jesus was really and truly what he professed to be the son of god but did this remit his sins no he had not yet repented he merely believed that jesus was the christ but he cried in the anguish and bitterness of his soul lord what wilt thou have me t to do as much as to say 1 I believe th that at you are the christ but I 1 want to put works to my faith the lord did not tell him what to do to obtain a remission of lit his sins but said he be anise arise go into damascus and there it shall be shown thee what thou do saul arose but his natural sight had bad been taken away by the brightness of the light he be had bad beheld and certain scales had been produced over his eyes by its intensity and he be had bad to be led down to damascus and there he began to pray and humble himself before the lord the lord spoke to a certain man named ananias who lived in damascus saying go into a certain street and there you will find one saul of tarsus for behold he pra yeth but ananias felt a little dubious about it he had heard how saul persecuted the saints and how he be was 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