| Show BY delivered in the tabernacle salt lake city sunday apler apper afternoon I 1 noon guiv artay p 1883 REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE of meeting together our impendence dependence upon the spirit of the tha Lord Certain rights eights which belong to all manalad unpopularity of gods Ser sor vanta rants in all ages aeb of the world A man must be born bain again lieford before io ho can understand the things of god the church ohla of jesus christ of atter latter day q sainty saints ts the gospel the lamn fama in an ali how the gospel was restored the gift of the holy Ghost Utah built huilt up by the power of God Joseph smith received all the keys of tho the priesthood by the adrain of angers angera fulfillment of devole tion tto nTh tho cho plural marriage man Mar daze mago WE yde meet here upon the sabbath day for the purpose of partaking of the sacrament the emblems of the lords body and blood which were broken and shed for us and also alao to give and receive instruction as we may be led by the spirit of 0 god it Is well known to the latter iatter day dwy sainte though perhaps not to strangers that no elder or member of the church of jesua jesus christ of latter day saints who enters into this tabernacle knows who Is going to be called upon to speak to the people hanco no man cependa a a day achour an hour or a moment to pre pro pare a discourse to deliver unto the people we are all of us dependent upon the spirit of the lord upon revelation revo lalion upon inspiration upon the holy ghost wick in order to be quail fled to teach the people before whom we are called to speak and if the lord does not give me the holy spirit this afternoon I 1 promise you all you will not get much out of brother woodruff whether they be balma baima or strangers I 1 have never seen been a day bince since I 1 have been a member of this church that I 1 have felt that any man was qualified to teach saint or sinner jew or gentile the inhabitants of the earth abroad or at home only as ho he was moved upon n by the power of god I 1 believed any man was qualified from the days of father adam to our day olny to go forth among the in habitants of the earth with the do cl ciar clar atlon of the gospel of jesus christ in a way and manner to convince them hemor hemon or teach them thom the gos GOB pel pei in its truth h and purity and in the power of god only by insulin tion I 1 have never believed that any man was qualified in any age of the tha world to build up the kingdom of god or do the tho will of god only upon that principle and I 1 have felt both while abroad in the world as well as at home that when called upon to teach the latter day saints sainte or anybody else eise I 1 have felt as though my lips ought to be touched with a live coal from oss off the altar and my heart filled with inspiration from almighty god when I 1 think upon the day and age in which we lives live when I 1 think upon thid thia day olay and land dispensation in which the god of heaven haa bra elet elev hla hib hand to carry out the fulfillment fulfilment ot of the mighty prophecies contained within the lids of the bible the old and new testa Teata testaments ments the stick ol of judah I 1 realize that in order to comprehend these things a man must be in possession of the spirit of the lord day by day in tho the words of the savior as recorded in st johns gospel this is eternal life that they might know thee the only true god and jesus jebus christ whom thou hast sent 11 I 1 isay issy any many things when I 1 iam lam am called upon to speak in the pretence predence pre tence of strangers that I 1 do not confine myself to when addressing the saints because the latter are acquainted qu quain ted with our principles plair while the former are not at As latter day 8 saints into wo we respect t the rights of all ail men wo believe elleve that all ali mankind men and women in this and every other dispensation and gone generation rations have certain rights that god has haa created all men with an agency I 1 care not in what king dom empire republic or placa they dwell they have a right to enjoy their religion they have a right to worship god according to the dictates of their own conscience but li es enya one do you mean dean ean that in empires where an emperor holds the nights righta and destinies of his subjects subject a in his hands yos yoa I 1 mean there thera is no emperor who breathes the breath of ilie life who has I 1 the right to deprive one of his subjects of the freedom of his religion j r will tell teu you why no emperor no zio hing no preel president dent no ruler ol of a ny any nation under the heavens has ever given his hla subjects life their life has come from god and god has hab granted thorn thom their agency and the night right to worship him according to the light and knowledge they have this is the view entertained by the latter day saints and I 1 have heard joseph smith say that it if he were the emperor of the whole world holding the destinies of all men in hia his hands he would defend the religious rights of all men whether his hib religion was right or wrong and especially ought this to be the case la in this american nation the tho constitute constitution fon ion of 0 which guarantees to nii ali people the right to worship god according to the dictates of I 1 their own conscience this is the broad which our government has haa been founded sounded I 1 have looked upon the constitution of the united states OB one of the best beat instruments over ever devised by man for tho the government of the inhabitants of the earth I 1 look upon it ra aa fench einch today to day and while we are willing to allow the methodists the baptists stes the presbyterians rians the Cat catholics holles and every sect under heaven the right to enjoy their religion undisturbed yet we vire claim the bame same I 1 privilege as a people as a ch church u ach as the church of jesus jobus christ of latter datter day saints and henlein hene hence ein eln in expressing myself hero heno this afternoon with regard to the gospel of jeans christ or the kingdom of god if I 1 differ from any of this congregation I 1 have a right to differ the congregation I 1 ulon tion has a right to diff differ er from me vend send no man matu nas hns a krisht to bay say why do you jou so the destinies of the whole human family are in the hands of god I 1 shall bo be held accountable before the god of heaven and co BO will all men benfor for the course I 1 pursue in this life there la is one vety very peculiar feature with regard to the followers of jesus christ or those that have attempted in other dispensations to obey the law of heaven and that is their unpopularity in the world from the days of father adam to the present time trace traca it through from the beginning and you will find that men who were inspired by almighty god to go forth and end proclaim any message t to 0 the inhabitants of the earth have been most unpopular in their day and generation you will find rind it has haa been so in the tho whole history of the world you ma may y RO go back for instance to 0 the days of noah noah was a preacher of righteousness he be was called of at god he was wab warned ot of god and told what to do to save himself and family the world had become terribly corrupt and it was necessary neb nes essany essary that the people te called upon to repent to this end elid god almighty raised up a pr prophet op het hot that prophet was noah he went forth as he was commanded and preached the gospel of jesus jebus christ in its was commanded to build an ark on dry land the demple laughed at him and would not believe hib his testimony for one hundred and twenty years he warned the inhabitants of the earth of the coming flood but all that he could save were the members of his own family some eight souls the flood came and all the tha inhabitants of the earth bave eave those who had entered the ark were drowned their spirits were shut up in prison in the spirit world worlds and they remained there until after the death of jesus christ and while hia hit body lay in the tomb three and a half days he went and preached to those spirits in prison where they had bean been shut up for thousands thoua thona anda cf f years As aaita it was with noah EO it wab was with other prophets who lived in ancient days you may trace the history of daniel jeremiah ezekiel cesiah and the tho rest down to the days of jesua jesus christ and you find they were all unpopular in their day and rend generation in consequence of the wickedness that prevailed in the world those prophets were moved upon to prophesy concerning the tha destruction of babylon the great Ni Hi ninevah nevah novah tyre and many other ancient cities they de declared clarea tho the word of the lord to tile the tanta of these theae cities but their testimony was not believed and because of their unpopularity the prophets were put to death nevertheless not one jot or tittle of their predictions fell to the ground unfulfilled then again yoa soa come along down to the days of jebus jesus christ you trace traca his life from his birth ina in a stable to the tomb was ever a man on the earth a good man like the savior so persecuted opposed ridiculed ridi caled and derided as he be was by the jews pharisees Pharis eeb ees bad duches and the different sects of day no matter matten what he did it was attributed to him for evil if ho he cast out devila devils it wad attributed to ta the power of if he restored the blind to bight sight they were ready to cry out you yon give god the glory this man noan is a sinner 31 and so BO in all his works was wag he opposed persecuted and derided and his apostles Apost iea lea shared the same fate every roul soul of them with the exception of john had bad to lay jay down their lives and seal their their testimony with their blood some were be headed some were sawn aun asunder dr even in the cabe case of john they his eifel life ilfe but it was decreed that he should live and he remains on the earth to thib toja day although probably there has been a change in his body and will remain until the son lon son lon of man comes in the clouds of heaven I 1 speak of things to show that men of god in all ages of the world have been unpopular jesus warned his with regard to this opposition he raid paid to them eilf if ye were of the world the world would love its own because ye are not of the world but I 1 have chosen you out of the world therefore the world habeth you why the world iove lore the prophets and apostles in their day and generation why does the whole sectarian world vibe ribe up against prophets and apostles in this day and age of the world because in former ages agea they rebuked bin sin and in thi age they do the same they have been plain spoken men they have gon forth and declared the word of god as aa they were vere moved upon by the holy ghost now with ith ath regard to the day and age jn which we sealve live jive the badts saints are acquainted wl with th our history as a people they have a testimony to bear that the world knows not of A man must become acquainted with the lord acquainted with the principles of the gospel of jesus christ and receive them before he Is qualified to understand the work of god or the things pertaining to the kingdom of god we read of it a man named NIcO Nicodem nicodemus demus demuR ua who came to jesus by night said he we wa know that thou art a teacher come from god for no man nian can do these miracles that thou doest except god goa be with him jems jamb answered and said unto him verily verily I 1 bay unto thee except a man be born again he cannot see the thel kingdom of god wie nie nicodemus odemus saith unto him how can a man be born when hots hels he is old can he enter the second time into his mothers womb bomb and be bom botn jesus answered verily verily I 1 bay eay unto thee except a man be bom of the water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of god this is the principle that hits has been connected with the gospel of jesus christ in every dispensation of the world As an organization the church of jesus christ of latter day saints has been in existence now for 53 years yearb it was organized in the first place with six elx members on the ath day of april 1830 organized by a prophet of god a man raised up by commandment of god by inspiration inspirations eions by revelation and by the administration of angels every step that he took tooh wag was taken by com corm man dment and revelation he wai wag given to understand by the angels of god who administered to him that there had hal been a falling fabing away from the ancient order of things and that now the tuli tuii set ta time me had come when the god of heaven would azain again establish his kingdom on the earth and call forth his church out of the wilderness of darkness and err orr error erron orand and establish it upon the foundation of the ancient apostles jesus christ being the chief corner stone now any man acquainted with the scriptures can clearly understand that there is but one true gospel there never was but one gospel there has been no change in it whenever that gospel hib has been upon the earth it has been the same in every dispensation the ordinances of the gospel have never been changed from the days of adam to the present times timey time and never will be to the end of time while there were many beota beott and parties in existence in the early times timis jesus gave hia his disciples to understand that there was but one gospel he told them what it 16 was he declared unto them its ordinances he commissioned them to preach the gospel to every creature in the first place they were to preach p each faith in the lord jesus christ next nest repentance of sins bins next baptism for the remission of sins baptism was an ordinance taught by the havior savior himself we find too that he obeyed thia ordinance being baptized in the river jordan by by john the baptist why to fulfill fulfil i it t was a righteous jawand it was a type ol of baptism to be followed by the whole human family glie he that bell eveth and la baptized shall be saved but he that bell eveth not shall be damned such was the declaration of the savior to tha the twelve apostles people were to be burled buried with him by baptism unto death that like as christ was raised from the dead by the glor of the father even so eo we also should walk in newness of life what whitt next men bearing the mel priesthood apostles and elders had the authority to 0 o lay hands upon baptized believers for the recaption of the holy which they received and which led them to prophecy of the things of the kingdom of god and the signa followed those that believed these theae were the first principles of the gospel pe and paul the apostle makes makei this declaration but though we or an angel from hea hes any other gospel than that which we have preached unto you let him be accursed seemed 11 he repeats this and goes on to tell us what the gospel it if and what the church of christ is and what it always has been in the church were apostles ero isio chete pastors I 1 eachers avenge etc ete and these were for the perfecting of the saints for the work of the ministry for the edifying of the body of christ till we all come in the unity ot of the fauth fautu and of the knowledge knowlt dge of the bon eon of god unto a perfect man unto the measure of the stature of the ful fui falness nesi of chrlot the lurd ard never had and never will haveko the end of time tim a church on the earth without prophets apostles and inspired men whenever the lord llord had a people on the earth that he acknowledged as such that people were led jed by revelation no man can nind find anything contrary to ta this when the gospel was given to the jews all the gifts gifta and graces and powers thereof accompanied it it was led by the eternal priesthood which is after the order ot of the bon |
