Show u iem abs mr ISS s a BY BT apostil i viti piti ERASTUS SNOW DELIVERED in the stake slake take meeting bouse ephrat ephraim M saturday afternoon anber abner quarterly conference may sl 31 st 2 1884 REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE TRULY we are a blessed people of all people eople upon the face of of the earth we rave eave have most reason to be thankful that the lord our god has been mindful of us and has set ills his hand the second time to recover israel ap the c prophet ro het bet Is isaiah lah in the lith chapter kis took says tour of his book says i i and there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of jesse and a branch shall grow out of his roots and the spirit of the lord shall rest upon him the spirit of wisdom and understanding in the spirit of counsel and might the spirit 12 r 1 it of knowledge and of the f fear sear ear of the vr lord d and shall make moke him of quick understanding in the fear of the lord and he be shall not judge after the sight of his eyes neither reprove e after the hearing of his ears but with righteousness shall lie he ludge judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek of the earth and he shail shall smite the earth with the rod of his mouth and with the breath of his lips shall ho he slay the wicked I 1 understand this to have reference 0 our savior who after the flesh was descendant of jesse jesse being the father of eln ein king xing david out of the stock of jesse came the royal house that not only ruled in israel anciently but the savior who is a appointed hinted of ills his father to be be king of kings and lord of lords because he is anointed to be the savior of mankind and when he comes the second time according to the revelations of st john ile he will have the name I 1 have mentioned 1 and he shall not judge after the sight of his Ps eyes neither leither reprove after the hearing bearing of his ears but nut budwith with righteousness shall he judge the poor and reprove with equity for the meek lbs of the earth this too is a lesson for all his people for f or ills his servants ants who minister on theearta the earth for the judges in israel the bishops high councils not always to lidge judge after the sight of the eye or t to 0 o reprove after the hearing earin of f the ear budwith but with righteousness shall shail 1 he ludge the poor sometimes we find nind the poor oppressed though this is not common among the latter day saints who are influenced generally by a spirit of chanty and love but sometimes in our midst as in the world people are accused wrongs wrongfully ully things are and for this reason thear the prophet tet of the savior ashe as he does ove I 1 we arc not always able to determine with certainty the character of any transaction that is to say of the spirit and motive that influence and promote action merely from what we see nor yet from what somebody may tell us it is necessary that we become enlightened by the holy spirit to enable us to see as god sees and to understand the motives I 1 purposes pu exposes and designs of the hearts ot of our f fellow ellow men god judges us all according to the motives and designs of the heart if our purpose is to do jo good and that which is right in ills his sight ile he judges us accordingly though thou chwe we may through our weakness or through circumstances that we are not always able to control do things that are not strictly in theli their outward appearance ri right ht and to zo do that correct or we nay may neglect nevelt which we should do the he lord judges all men according to the motives that prompt the action rather than f from rom the thet action itself it is not murder in the sight of heaven always when a man is killed for sometimes he brings his blood upon his own head by thrusting himself upon some other one to destroy him and is aimse himself if slain in the attack and his blood is therefore and it itis is not counted u upon on his own head en murder to the man that slew mm nim the one who only F saw aw a part of the transaction might accuse the other ot oi murder but when it comes to be sifted to the foundation and both hearts can be scanned and the cause that resulted in the conflict discovered it is found that the man moan that coat slew is innocent and the man that was slain is the guilty guity one I 1 refer to this as a sample so with many of the transactions of lite ilfe so also we may neglect duties that we should attend to but we neglect them in our ignorance the lord when we are does not lay it to to our charge until we are better instructed and our defects pointed out to us uis then if we neglect them he holds us responsible for that neg neglect lect elect so also we may do things that in themselves are not ria rig right ht not strictly correct and yet if we are not posted and blud are ignorant of the evil of the transaction it is not imputed to us as evil this thi s is the doctrine that jesus laid down that servant which knew his lords will and prepared ared not himself neither did according ing to his will shall be beaten with many many stripes but he that knew not and did commit things worthy of stripes shall be beaten with few stripes that is a few si stripes shall be meted out to him merely to vindicate the law and to make an impression upon him that what he had done was wrong though he was ignorant of it before but a little punishment Is meted out just enough to satisfy and vindicate the le law and to correct the impression upon the individual to show him that he must be careful care fult for he had trodden upon forbidden ground this is a rule that our father is gov arned by in judging Ms nis children and it Is a rule that we should strive also to be governed by in regard to 0 one ine lne another and especially those who are called to be judges in israel or whose calling and duty it Is to settle difficulties and assist in adjusting differences among 0 their r fellow brethren r en and sisters and he shall shail shall smite the earth with the his mouth month and with the breath ot of his lips lipa shall he slay elay the wic wicked feed I 1 understand this to be amt amm a figurative curative e expression of the prophet isaiah the ro rod ag of 0 his ili lil mouth by which he should smite the earth I 1 understand that to b be e theford the word that proceeded out of his mouth the i words given of ills his father for his word was that which lie he received from the father and that which goeth forth among the children of men conquering and to conquer it Is t hat that word that has made impressions upon the latter ol day ay iy saints in other lands and countries where they were born and brought them to believe and obey the gospel and gathered them to this land and it is that word also which condemns the wicked and therefore the prophet says I 1 with the brea breath of his lips shall lie slay the wicked for the gospel of life and salvation 1 is a savor of death unto death or of life unto life so says the apostle paul it was so in his days in in the days when jesus and his lils Apo apostles siles first proclaimed this gospel to the jews in palestine when they went among the gentiles it it was the same it is the same to day it has been the same in all ages of the world when the gospel is sent forth the word of god among the people peoples it is a savor of death unto death or of life unto life therefore while the le righteous leous are governed and exalted an and blessed lesse through the word the wicked perish this is illustrated in another lorm form form of expression by the A postle apostle paul when he 8 dys lys that lie he was slain through the law says he for I 1 was alive without the law once but when the commandment came sin revived and I 1 died lie he is using this illustration to the jews sin revived and I 1 died that is when the law was made known when therill the will and commandments of god were revealed and made known woe be unto those who should hear them and disobey for if lhez they disobeyed condemnation would follow this illustrates the principle contained in t this his verse I 1 have read from isaiah with the breath of his lips shall he slay the wicked and this is equally true of his f fellow ellow laborers and servants who have the word of god in faith and speak in the name naine of the lord and by the power of tile the holy ghost and have authority so to speak and act their testimony their words and the counsels of god that go unto the people through them are a savor of life unto life or of death unto death the gospel el exalts those who receive it it and brings condemnation and destruct destruction loft upon those who refuse to obey it but without the gospel being sent out by authority and power from god the inhabitants of the earth could not be ripened for destruction truc tion we read in many places in the scriptures concerning the destruction of the wicked in the file last days but we read also in other scriptures that the lord destroy senem only when they are ripe in their iniquity jesus in prophesying of ills his second coming and the destruction that shall fall fali upon the wicked speaks in this wise that they shall till fill up the cupol their iniquity this principle we see referred to and illustrated in the days of abraham the lord promised r c unto nim him the land of canaan fo for r an everlasting po possession session nevertheless his seed inu int must be brought into bondage in egypt and remain there until those who dwelt in the land of canaan had filled up tile the cup of their iniquity the people were not yet ripe for destruction and therefore the lord could not displace them and put abraham and his seed in possession po session of his lils land so the lord has dealt with nations and generations from the beginning and so will ile he in the latter times we if need not marvel because the latter of day y saints are arc everywhere spoken on against and the wicked conspire to overthrow ove throw them we need not marvel that even in this boasted land of freedom and liberty statesmen rulers and judges should place the iron heel of opar oppression upon the latter d day saints a and 11 d seek by every way in day gay their air power to bring evil upon them to discourage them to hedge up their way and to destroy them they must needs do these things they must needs harden their hearts a against a hist the lord and against ills his commandments they timy must needs do mary marv thin things that are wicked in his sight and opples oppressive dve to his people in order that god may judge them and that they till lill up tile the cup of their iniquity and it must needs be that the tile saints too should be tried in all things devenas even is abraham was tried when he was commanded to offer up his onla ion lon it must needs be that when the gospel found us in our scattered condition mid the nations of the earth pirth and we yielded obedience to it that we ve should be despised of our f fellow ellow creatures that we should be reviled so ho that we vye 1 should f egl egi it a pleasure to leave our fatherland the graves of our ancestors the home of our youth and childhood hood and gi her to zion were it not for these tw liners mugs that are arc working in theeart the earth hwe WL ouid quid not be gathered to gether we should not be willing to do it we should love the home of our ancestors and the country that gave pave us birth but because of the persecutions and hatred of the wicked we are arc weaned from them As the savior said on a certain occasion think not that I 1 am come to send 1 peace ace on earth I 1 come not to send peace dut ut a sword for I 1 am come to set a man at va variance against his father and the daughter against h her er mother and the the daughter in law against her mother in law and a mans foes shall be they of his own household A at t first thought it would seem a strange idea that the prince of peace whose birth was announced by angels to the shepherds saying glory to god in the highest and on earth peace good will toward benl men I 1 say at first thought it would seem i strange that the prince of peace so announced should say I 1 come not to send peace but a sword I 1 am come to set a man at variance against his father etc and a mans foes shall be they of his own household but it is all easily explained by our experience and observation hild and by considering ills his teachings and the effects thereof and the words of the apostle concerning the preaching of the gospel being a savor of life unto life or of death dem unto death we go out into the gentile world and we find a great variety of religious opinions and mn many different religious sects we find catholics J Protestant sand various denominations and sects of protestantism ism they are all laboring together in the same field preaching different doctrines and items of falth faith faith falth and all professing to be the religion of christ all their teachers profess to be preachers of the gospel and their followers all profess to be be christians and yet there is not power enough in all the doctrines and systems that they are teaching and establishing to produce a separation between the ous and the wicked they all continue to harmonize together at least so far that they all cou con count ut each other christians and it I 1 is s very verv difficult to distinguish tile the christian from the ass jess it be that the christian is the worst but not so when shen the falness of the gospel of jesus christ is preached preacher it always did produce a separation between the righteous and the wicked it drew the line of distinction it was always like putting yeast into a beer barrel it sets it to working and whoever has examined a leer beer barrel while the beer is working in it under a microscope cro scope will see the way that the beer works itself clear it is by bv the different properties it contains running in different directions you will see the liquid f full fuli 11 of little animals running in different directions and it continues to work in this sort of a way until it becomes clear well the working of beer in a barr barrel barrei e I 1 reminds me of the preaching deachin of the gospel in the earth it sets saints to running together it works wor s out apostates from among us and t they ey tak take c the opposite direction it draws the tile line of distinction between the righteous and the wicked and that tha work begins f from rom the moment tile the gospel is sounded among the people the spirit of truth operates upon the hearts of those who are arc open to receive it it draws them to the f fountain oun onn of life and light it draws them into the water and then to zion and then keep keeps 4 drawing them nearer and nearer r to god while with those that reject the gospel they keep going f further ur and further furulie f from rom the lord and his people they harden their hea hearts arts more and more against them and give way to wickedness and all manner of corruption but while the wicked on the one hand are thus filling up their cup of iniquity the righteous on the other handar kandare han dare called to sanctify themselves and be prepared for the glorious coming of the savior it is for this cause that we build temples and that god reveals to us the ordinances for the sanctification of ills his peppie people and further glory and exaltation the ordinance of batt bait baptism ihm ibm simple as it is is appointed by t the e father as the first fruits of repentance that is baptism in water for the remission of sins he did not appoint pres presbyterian sterlan lan ian baptisms and roman catholic baptisms sprinkling enkling a little water on the forehead d and calling that baptism god never appointed these there is no place in the tho bible to indicate that lie he ever sanctioned such a thing the savior set the example to the human family himself in going down into the water and being imin immersed eased ili in the river jordan ny jolin john the baptist but this same order of baptism had |