Show BY a mm ri ii georke lib tib Q moi CAIM delivered in the tabernacle sunday afternoon oct 5 1879 up j REPORTED BY GEO F GIBBS IK Iii standing tip up to address this congregation there is one feeling til that at rests ts apon me and that isi jai is my inability to instruct so numerous a people unless god shall pour out his holy spirit upon me and upon you awe have come together today to day according to our custom to be instructed ted in those dutle duties 4 that devol devolve vo us and also in irr aile the principles of our holy religion these meetings are to me exceedingly precious they are seasons of great re rejoice io fleeing ing and having the opportunity as we have today to day of assembling in peace and quietness without any to molest or make afraid we should feel thankful exceedingly thankful to that god who has brought us here who has preserved and protected us a since we came the tho instructions which we have had fiad tod today to day d ay since we have assembled together if fully obeyed by us and carried out in our lives will make us a people who shall be worthy leworthy the name we bear the name of latter day saints and as was remarked this morning the great object in teaching the people and 7 impressing upon them the cotin counsels sels that ar aro are given from time to time la Is to have us carry out practically in our lives the principles of that religion which we hava espoused mlis this is the great labor devolving upon us it is not to be theoretical alone it itis is not to dwell with great interest and with great eloquence i alpan those heavenly doctrines that godhan god has revealed and to become enraptured over them while listen p ing to them but bait it is to make a practical application of them to our thoughts to our words and to all the actions of our lives and in this way nione can we acceptably serve the lord our god whose name we bear and wa whose people we profess to be there is is no reason why this people called latter day saints should not have all the power powers sand and all the gifts and all the graces that ever characterized the church of god upon the earth at any time there is no reason I 1 say why they should not have all these if they themselves are true ft to the principles which have been revealed and seek earnestly to carry them out who is there of this congregation who is there that belongs to this church in any part of this territory who does not have llave adesime in his or her heart for those blessings and those gifts and qualifications uail ficat ions that were promised prom promised isea to the ancient all ati elent blent saints and which have been renewed in our day to those who embrace the gospel with all their hearts the lord Is the same yesterday today to day and forever this is the cornerstone corner stone it may be said of our faith it is upon this foundation we have built that lie he is an unc unchangeable gc god that he does not manifest his mind and his will in plainness and simplicity to one peo pie and hide the same from a suc beeding people who are equally bally faithful but the great truth ea has been impressed in zat mat upon us the great truth that runs through all the writings of every man of god concerning whom we haye any account from the beginning down to the last revelation that has been given that god is now respecter eter of persons r that he lie is today to day as he was yesterday and as he ever was and that he will continue to be the same being as long as time endures or eternity continues and we have been im impressed p with this as I 1 have said by every man who ild has spoken concerning god and spoken by authority from him I 1 say therefore there is no reason why the latter day saints today to day should hnot knot not obtain and enjoy the gifts and graces races and blessings of the gospel the e same as they were enjoyed in ancient days by bf the ancient servants and people of god has god geown grown old have havo gods ears become heavy has his sight become dim has his arm become shor shortened has age affected him or the lapse of time detracted from his powers has it had the mine same effect upon him as upon mortal be ings who are subject to decay and L death Is this the kind of being we worship Js Is this the kind of being concerning whom the prophets and apostles have spoken and writ written tem tee certainly not we worship him we adore him we lift up our eyes to him not as we do to mortal man not as we do to fallible humanity not as we do to creatures of our own kind but we wo aror ship him wo we adore him we lift up our eyes to him bifia we rely upon him as the supreme being the creator of the heavens and the earth the founder of the universe the builder of the planet which we inhabit and which we tread the being over whom centuries lave have passed without making any change to his injury eternity has rolled and continues to roll and will continue to roll without in the least affecting his power or his capacity for good his eye does noti nott grow dim by the lapse of ages his ear does not become heavy by jy til the ef passage of time neither does doea hisari his arm become short hort or feeble he is the god whom we worship when we call upon him though he be may be remote from us dwelling in his hig holy habitation in the midst of the eternities the very thoughts of or our hearts lie lle arts the very conceptions olour of our minds the feeble whisperings whisp eringa of our voices voice they ascend to him are carriel carried to him bis his e ea ar i comprehends them his bowels of or compassion are moved towards us his children his all ali pierc piere in ing eye eyo e penetrates eternity and tg the he glan gian jdee eyce glance of his vision reaches us there is not a single thought of our hearts which he does not comprehend there is nothing connected with us lie he does not know we may hide ourselves in the i bowels of the ea earth rib rih but we cannot conceal ourselves from his all ali pierc piere ing lug sight we may climb cilmi the highest mountains or descend into info the deepest valleys or we may go to the uttermost parts of the earth but wh wherever brever we may go lie he is there his power is there his vision is there to hear and to comprehend the desires and the wishes of our hearts this being the case why should I 1 we not approach him in fath what reason is there that men and women living in this the century should not approach him with the confidence of those who lived in the lath century of the world or the or the 4 of the year world if he could hear their cries if he could answer their prayers and if he could grant to them the desires of their hearts if he could open the heavens to them and reveal his mind ani and will unto them when they called upon him in faith believing that he would do so is there any reason why we should not have that same faith and exert e it and obtain those same blessings and receive them at his hands who is there that can stand up and say there are reasons why this should not be the case if we admit as we must do that he be is this being which I 1 have attempted so feebly to describe lawe iff lff we admit thaha that thai he iq hi the god of gods the lord of lords the creator of all the father of ah all the sustainer of all if we believe this why cannot we believe that if bestowed he be his blessings upon other generations and other people he will do so to us also that he will hear our prayers that he will grant unto us the desires of our hearts now my br ethern and sisters I 1 look upon these conferences and these assemblages as having for their object the enforcement of these great truths upon us and upon our attention the object of them as I 1 understand them is to make us latter day saints not in name alone but in word and in deed to bo be men and i women of or god to td place us in com communion m union with god to receive communication from him to have our false tradition our im proper ideas our unbelief our hardness of heart and those feelings that surround us that grow up with us to have them removed from us Is there any reason why this should the cadeno reason excel which nay may be found in ourselves there in in no reason outside of this god is willing he has made promises and he has fulfilled his liis promises so far as we have placed ourselves in circumstances to receive them when we wd have complied with the conditions he has bas never from the beginning to the present time failed in his part he is incapable of failing if there be tile failure it is due to us the fault is ou are the guilty ones let me ask you when did you ever any one of you humble yourselves before god when did you in secret call upon on him in the name of jesus and ask him bim for his holy spirit and the blessings thereof and fail fall to receive an answer to jour your prayers if there are any latter day saints in thi this s condition then there is something wrong with them god has enado made e promises unto us Vs that if we will do certain things if we will obey certain commandments commandments and ordinances he will bestow his blessing and he will answer the prayers of those who take this course but how many are there of us who go on from day to day and from week to week and from mont month h to month careless upon these points failing to live so as to receive the blessings that he has promised until it would seem when they bow down to call upon him that their prayers scarcely ascend higher than the tile tops of their heads As I 1 have said god in ancient days was wasa a god of revelation god in our day is a god of revelation and he be communicates his mind and his will unto those wha who seek after ihnot to the president of the church alon enot to the apostles of the Church alone alonia not to ole the high priests priest sor or seventies or any of the officers or bil bli all hil of them alone but ac he communicates his mind and his will to all who seek after him in humility and meekness and lowliness of hearty obeying his commandments to the latter day saints alone alove no not even to them alone for the there thero re is no human being that is 19 born of wo inan there is no son ar or daughter of adam that has ever lived upon the face of the earth who lias has not the right and who has not obtained at some time or other in his or her life reye rese revelations lations from god but butcho wild may not have understood what those revelations were the latter day saints are not so cramped in their feelings as to imagine that they are the onby onty and peculiar people above all others who nave have in this sense received revelation they believe themselves to be the people of goland Go boland dand the only people who have bare obeyed obb sel sei yel the commandments of god but they do not think that of all the children of god they are the only recipients of his blessing god ha has revealed himself at various times and in various ways to many people the heathen have had communication from him all th e light th at exist gail gall the truths that are taught and add all the correct prin caples and knowledge that have been commune communicated and ind exist among the children cli cil ildren lidren of men men mon have come from god he is the author of them all socrates plato confucius the heathen philosophers who knew nothing about jesus christ and the plan of or salvation received important truths from him and sadid so did many other people to a greater or lesa less extent according to their abilities in improving upon the knowledge communicated to them but the difficulty has been concerning these matters that mankind have not re cognized god in all this A man has a dream he relates it to his friends it is most wonderfully fulfilled he has a presentiment his presentiment is fulfilled atia aria and he relates it to his friends friend sas as a most remarkable thing A man has h a truth communicated to him which comes to him pio plo probably bably babiy after study and research ho he com to his friends as a most wonderful Vond erful discovery does he acknowledge god in ili it sometimes but in many instances he does not acknowledge god but on the contrary he thinks jt it the product of his own thought of his own mind if it be a drea dream M or ionic some remarkable manifestation that partakes of the supernatural instead of giving god the glory and praising go god d for having made the communication some other principle is glorified or some other thing is talked about the remarkable character ol 01 it is dwelt upon without the person think thinking int that god has bas anything to do wa with th I 1 it well there thero th ere ero i is s as I 1 have s sald said dd no human buman being but that has lias at some time or other had com communication munica t on from the almighty eather fattier so some m e have recognized god and have given the glory to him for it 0 others have hot rot done so the remarkable discoveries co that are being made in the world of science in fact all the remarkable discoveries that have been made from time to pime time ime are produced by the operations of an unseen influence upon the mind of the child children reil refi of men for instance it has frequently happened in astronomy and aud other branches of science that when an important discovery has been made two or three men about the same time timo widely separated from ea eacle C li other ila lia have haxe T e r received L e 6 ive lve d the tile communication and dispi disputes ites have arisen as to which of them was w sus entitled to the credit was the case as to the application of steam and tho tue principles of or telegraphy and also ako many discoveries in astronomy and other sciences disputes have arisen in various nation these points where whereas the truth is that rodj god is s the aut author it is god that moved upon the minds of those individuals it was god that inspired them to do as they iid ild did lid it was lie who led them on from step to step until they achieved the results which have made them famous and sometimes quite unexpectedly un expect edly to themselves what is this which has led these famous men in the path of discovery the latter day saints call it the spirit of revelation th the espirit spirit of revelation resting down upon the children of men some men possess it to a greater reater extent than others some have the gift in one direction and they are capable of receiving communication from god in in a direction that others are ate not riot their minds are better prepared to receive revelation upon a given subject than are the minds of others some will receive great moral truths others great scientific truvis truths and these men differ jn in their organisms but the light they receive all comes from our heavenly father it is he who gives the inspiration and so man has progressed from one degree of knowledge to ta another fr from om tb the e rude of the indian with which he navigates the stream to those mighty steam ships whose keels plough every sea and circum circumnavigator nav gato gate fi globe now in what respect do the latter day saints differ from the rest reit of mankind in relation to mothese matters inthis in this we god as supreme the fountain all knowledge tae the fountain of all power the fountain of all 41 intel intelligence the fountain of everything that is good who are mena men tile the creatures of his workmanship if you please his ilis descendants descendant sy hi hie his a own down children begotten by him bim descended by lineal descent from the god we worship the same being eing whom we lie worship is our pur god is our drea creator is our father Xa ther NV when I 1 worship himl him I 1 worship him army as lay fay father that which 1 posse ityl there beany thing godlike c in it I 1 attribute him as having come from him lineal descente every er y aspiration on every noble thought every eveny desire every everything thing that i is s grod holy and pure elevating ell eli ennobling and |