Show V jg f 3 00 00 j v ity isy eldir ELDER E ORSON PRATT BY GEO OEO P V GIBBS GIDES tiete ill ile aa a cri ure uro will i reads read ev ert betiru io son of man shall shafi he And tind faith falth on the earth these words of the savior have bave just occurred to me and ju in dwelling on them for a short time I 1 earnestly p pray ray that the tile spirit of god pod god may dictate me for for I 1 do not wish vish to speak to you in my own strength C neither by my own wis 11 dom doin bull IMI desire demro tb speak to you by the wisdom lia lla hati conies agines down from beav heaven erl crl ind strength thatis that is imparted by the power of tho the holy ghost si sent ent forth from the father nather alwo ajae profess pro fessas as day saints TO T O be a tiie the childr children u of light god is light and in him there ere ero oia ola i no darkness at a all ali the light that proceeds forth from him shines shiner ill in 6 Y dark placed places blit bilt buot it is not always the case that thi c children of this world comprehend this light that light may be round about them it mayi may shine before them illuminating their p pathway a but they loving the dark darkness e ss rather than 11 liht light ht prefer kowalk to walk contrary to the light they prefer the pathway pat liway of darkness aythey they lovo love because became e the they y lavo av ev 11 they ahey lovo love sin in they tildy lovo lovd wickedness tl they thes Y love iove those principles 1 that are contrary to the tile light of of lihaven hea hen ven light is something that comes aa from god it ift cleaves unto i light it rejoices jn the light and jie lie that hath light 7 litin in his heart heartt that 0 comes from heaven rejoices in the reception of still greater light now this is what tile the children of god the latter day saints should most seek for that their minds may way be full of that light that shines from heaven beaven thatis may illuminate their t linder understandings stan dings v that when they eff iff I 1 wear hear anything thing that is spoken by the principle of light by the spirit of truth that thab it may commend itself 4 to their hearts and understanding and that they tiley may cleave and 1 thus maui maul manifest fest before and before god wod the eternal father that they tiley are indeed the children of light digh t lioi 11 how oi shall we obtain this pure unadulterated principle of light that conies canies comes froin from god by faith and in no other way jn in vain do mankind beek seek seek after ii lit fit and truth w without iilo the illuminations op of tho spirit of god and without wit liput faith in him L 11 thes they wa may reel natural light they may understand many y things tha that tare lare natural according to the tile definition of therom tile word natural na tural tunal the natu ralman raiman max may discern things that are re yla ila natural tural by tile the ila iia natural ural unal 63 eye ese e lie he may perceive per ceiva celva the natural light that shines shiney 3 and may obtain much information malion mallon and knowledge herta bertA pertaining ining to natural th things ings th things jugs intended of the lord to be given to mankind in common bobil io his children as ai well weli as the tile wicked who become not lil jil his s child children rent reft beca use of their dis and sinfulness but if you would be enlightened beyond the natural man if you would possess knowledge that reaches beyond his knowledge if you would obtain wisdom wis doni donl that the tbt natural things of this tilis world cannot impart it must be by faith and how shall we obtain faith how shall the inhabitants of the earth begin to lay the foundation of falth faith j jp their hearts they they must take those ste in the holy word of god they must be born again in order to obtain the 1 spirit it ortruth of truth the thir light light of truth 0 o become spiritual men mien and it ual women momen new creat creatures tire lire as it were having baving gj put T the tile natural man with all his evil deeds havin having hasing 9 C counted atheni themselves relves reives so far as natural understanding Q and knowledge are concerned b but t fools in erthe ertho tile sight of god foal por for the wisest among dvonc tiie tile wise those i who have sought most earil earll earnestly lastly and diligently to find out god to understand his ways and to know him without beng being feng um bom again havo have made mado shipwreck of themselves though they may attain attala to lucli 7 earthly earthy knowledge e though they thay t I 1 datomo a 4 wie small tle ale gree grce i ned red that which t around them though they inay may able to compre liena liand in some measure by their thoi r jf Je arning aud and natural wisdom all kinds that is calculated to benefit the children of mon men in a greater gi eater degree though they they may extend their natural knowledge e into the tiie heavens heaven and inquire in to the jhc thc mechanism of the Uni universe fand ana into some of tho the pla A laws lawa that are discovered and mao tuh til and vo uder uden themi them i W 9 v 11 res ives very vary learned larned and wise se ye yet yei th til air this iley iles hey ore are bu but t A fools bc fore god unless they have been born lorn again unless they have been filled with the tile spirit of ligh light t unless they llave have been mad made e partakers par takers 6 of V they have been caufy taught t t of god unless they know god not by theirl th air natural wis vis wig ut jon joa ire lre I 1 ahe the gift eidt and power of f ti the e holy ghost blied shed forth upon them tile tiie in ta these wi e are everlasting truths fis tile tiie they y were wele ir truths orllis llis r hj in beginning e when vl iti man was vm first placid placed on th the e cartil carill they fulvo nehn been truths in ill every evers succeeding 0 generation from the beg ining laing of the tile history of man on our globe until the present time no man therefore from the day of adam down to our day has been in a condition to be saved gaved saved in the ful ness riess of the glory of god 10 to dwell in his presence without being bo born M anew hii hi mind being renewed his under stan ding being filled with the spirit of truth and the ahola man as it were both the spiritual pirl piri tuai nian man as well as th the e tabernacle in irL which lie resides be being ing invigorated and quickened by the power power of the hoty holy ghost it is a lawa laiva nixed fixed unchangeable law laly which god ordained before he placed mahan tile the earth that that should be the way and the only way that man mau should know god and know concerning heaven heave n and heavenly ti lings written but the natural man mau ide receive th not nob ot the things of the spirit of god for they are aro foolishness unto him lihn neither pan yan can he know them because they are spiritually discerned but our philosophers have labored with worldly wisdom to understand god how they have llave toiled tolled all the day long to comprehend his nature to understand hh ways to dic alc discern ern his power and odid to inow inov know concerning his existence but all hll their labors have been in fil vain so far as exper experiencing 1 fencing I 1 these things according to the law of the gospel is concerned 4 but there have llave been dispensations of god to man there have been periods since the crea creation ol 01 man and his being on the earth when mankind have placed themselves jn in communion with jehovah when they have fulfilled the Z laws jas pertaining to this communion communion when they have havo prepared themselves to receive divine instruction and aud have been taught from on high and sueh such have known god it is is by falth faith that mankind put themselves au m a condition to obtain this divine information so desirable on the tile part of every goodman good mau man and every good woman daiv shallie we obtain this faith falth is file he grand question can cau we obtain it by disobedience no in disobedience no man or woman since the world began has bas been able to obtain true and genuine ine lne fal fai faith falth th before god gad so far as he or she understands his word woid ho how w for instance in this the 19 th century of the christian ern era shall shail mankind re turn to that griat faith which has been abundantly exercised by some of the human fiuman family in hi last past generations it is by hearing bearing the gospel nud und then by obedience to that gospel in dinall ball its principles in all its ordinances by obeying it with allt all nil hoir their hearts in all sincerity and meekness and lowliness 0 of heart in other words by comporting comforting com porting themselves like little children whom the savior on a n certain occasion seaforth set get forth a as an example a of those who shall inherit luicle t the ae kingdom of heaven and lie he informs us that except we become by our repentance by our faith in the lord jesus christ by our diligence in serving him as a little child we can in nowise no wise inherit the kingdom of heaven now how there is no deceit about a little child it feels feal i openhearted open hearted and is without guile guilt it may have its little imperfections that have come COMO into our fallen world but its feelings feeling are submissive humble ready to believe the te teachings achin gs of its parents or gaurd ians unless it learns that they tell falsehoods and then so far as their salvation is concerned satan has has lias no power over them to destroy them until they arrivo arrive at the years of understanding andthil and this by reason of the great redemption that has baa been wrought gut our out through the atoning of our and savior jesus esus christ chris L while thor eforo it is necessary to for rus nus us become like a little eb child iid ild iq la order to be become codie codio worthy of so great a blessing tt it is not necessary of counse course that we imitate it atall all ali respects for instance it is I 1 not necessary that we should again begin to creep or lisp broken sentences or juil imitate tate a great many other actions of the child but itis lois essentially necessary that we become pure without deceit without guile an and d that we hu mill ty which we seu sou ce exhibit edin the little child ana alq in that wa way we nye preparo prepare prepare our se ell tes kes es fa foy toy i thu the reception rc n of t I 1 i oapl of ohl oni ins fils sacred and boi bol holy or ordinance inana r repentance and baptis baptism for the remission of the sins ae we bave hare committed during all the thelt our lives and ahlen wh en bellave we have e s of all past sins we naturally feel anxious in our hearts to live a b ette ranu purer lifey and lwi lul EW to ji udon upon ou our relvA reiva elves our nallen fallen nat nature t reg res 6 we know how basily we 3 yield lelito to that chich is sinful before ged gad we need n eed something to strengthen us b because of our fallen condition we vve nood need strength imparted to ouk our minds t to our zur bodies to our intel leet to every power and bacill faculty ty that god has given to us something to strengthen us against all these little h perfections imperfections n of our fallen natures tures what is it it is truth from h heaven eaven is that truth imparted the gift and power of the tho holy y ghost sent forth idom the bosom of the tile eather father through his well be lived son to quicken and ana regenerate our bodies and our minds and baptize us as it were with this renewing in ril Pil spirit irit this spirit that anfin animates ates and quickens and makes alive that ima lma imparts arts light to the understanding that makes mahl mahi manifest fest the things of god and that eliat no natural inan man can understand when whim we ive embraced the gospel we were promised obied this glorious gift to be with us to dwell wi thinus to quicken our minds to impart ini happiness and fillas fill as with that love which surpasses all understanding and to open up communication between us and the them heavens and sakeus ac quaint quainton quain mod tod odwith edwith with heavenly things and heavenly beings and not only kive give us to understand some few parts of the word of bf god but reveal to us a knowledge of god himself and in some measure his glorious power pov er and his glorious economy and wisdom I 1 have told you now how to get faith falth first believe in the first principles caples of or the gosp gospel elof of the son of god as laid doan in the scriptures aser i tures of truth and revealed anew in this glorious record of ancient america aiso also alo al aio o revealed anew by the power of the holy ahot sent down upon the great prophet tind and seer of the latter fatter days instructions fx oom 0 bhea heaven a voice from heaven the glori ous oua of eternal truth revealed from heaven beaven and made manifest to mortal man not only in ancient times but nut also in our day clearly plainly distinctly in sueh such a manner that all may understand that all may inay compres comprehend end that 2 all ali may discern who receive the light and who desire the light and who wish to walk wilkin in the light t when we we thus repent when we thus reform when wilen we ve thus become like a little child ahen we thus begin to put away our sins when we thus feel to make our covenants with god that we will serve perve M him aim that we will oley obey olei his gospel th that M a we will if reform our lives that we will lif be obedient to his word that we will walk in newness of ilde life when we have done this we are prepared then to have our former sins s I 1 us washed away through the atoning blood of jesus chiist christ tha the plan of redemption that he has ordained boutwe but we mastbe must be baptized I 1 lil iii m wafer bacr that is is abne one of the conditions forus to repent forus forns for fon us to confess our sins to god for us to pray Y to him for us to promise to do mt better ter and then if we are baptized by one having authority from jesus christ to minister in such ordinances we may expect a remission of our sins the tile lord may in some instances forgive sins aus before an in is bopf baptized tided lie he has done it and arid lie he may do it buc the tho plan that lie he has ordained is to be baptis ed lb atthe ralio remission of sins after naith faith arid repentance why ho does in home tome instances vary from froni the 0 plan is very evident IN when lieu we understand the circumstances connected with his doing so for in instance the lord lias ilas a set time to accomplish 0 epli some me of his gre great at designs that he iii purposed ur 0 sed in the beginning 1 in relation to the inhabit inhabitants tan t s of or ou our l globe and when lie he begins to work according to those set times to fulfill fulfil his righteous pu purposes lie he may commence under linder certain circumstances in a little mile different ivay way from what devould he would do after the foundation is full laid but when the plan js is once laid as 1 it were then he requires us to receive forgiveness in ift one way the purposes of the lord he designed that after the jews should have the gospel preached to them by the apostles that the tile apostles should then go to the gentile nation that they should pro claim it to those who were not of the seed oi of 1 abraham that the gentiles be benefited advell t as tile jews but could the narrow con tf and be bo con cou convinced vInced i e traditions of their vu V u 1 piral elders and priests priest and aft after r all tile the darkness that had reigned over judea for some four centuries before christ could they be convinced that any other people were to to benade bonade be ens orth 6 glorious gospel of the son of god except themselves vea Q and aud their nation tz lo 10 all ali the r t wor ast agy ej oay a 13 wi or uw rc scarcely mr avo I 1 e crumbs which ii fell from their thir masters waste rs table weare we |