Show DISCOURSE DELIVERED BY ELDER C U I 1 sill STIA L yann VANN in the tabernacle sait salt take zake city C i y on sunday afternoon may 1879 P I 1 n REPORTED BY aeo GEO geor aeo OEO r GIBBS i IN rising to addreen the congregation this afternoon a brief passage of scripture ia Is suggested to my mind as the basis borsuch lor tor buch such remarks remi reni arks as I 1 may make it is ahe he latter iatter part of the seventh verse veree of the fourteenth chapter of the book of revelation Be and reads as follows follow and worship him that made heaven and earth earlb and the hes hed sealand and the fountain et of wa waters relieving eilev bellev with the ancient apostles that no prophecy of scripture is of any imy private interpretation bu holy I 1 men of god aa as they were moved by the holy ghost and that sil nil all sll scriptures were written for our profit and learning that we through faith in them thim might have hope I 1 am firmly convinced that the words of the text have a profound significance for although it is acknowledged that thattie the sacred writings contain the most sublime language and furnish the most poetic quota eions ati still llIdo I 1 do not belleve believe that those holy men bought sought to round off their sentences simply for the sake of the music they would afford to the ear of the reader but that beneath all the poetry and sublimity of the language languages there is a beautiful meaning to every sentence recorded involving the most moat important truths for fox the benefit of mankind in order to reach clearly the correct significance of ther the passage we have read let us first consider by whom it was uttered and inquire into the circumstances under which it was recorded history tells ua us that the venerable apostle john who wrote the book of revelations Be was sentenced by the emperor of the roman boman empire to be scalded ed to death in a cauldron cauldren caul dron of boiling oil that thia this cruel Ben sentence tence was carried out as fully as it was in the power of men to execute it the cauldron cauldren caul dron of oil was heated to boiling bolling heat and the great apostle was submerged in the ec alding scalding fluid but through divine interposition he was delivered like daniel from the geli lions onya onla den and meshack and abednego abed from the fiery furnace by the power of that god whom he lie arved and obeyed BO so that he suffered no harm and simply looked like he had bad been anointed the cruel emperor waa was BO so enraged at this wonderful deliverance that be he instantly sentenced the doomed apostle to banishment on the isle laid of patmos while in exile in accordance with this sentence st john was made the happy recipient of the most wonderful visions of things to come to pass paes in the future history of the world En wrapped in heavenly vision he beheld among other important matters an Fa angel fly in the midst of heaven heavens having the he everlasting gos gob gospel pelto to preach unto them that dwell on the earth and to every nation and kindred and tongue and people saying with a loud voice pear fear god and give glory to him for or the hour of his judgment judg mentis mentia is come add and then the words of our text and worship him that made heaven and earth and the sea and the fountains of waters thus Thu then we wo find this text was the enunciation of an angel and as the time when this angel was to come is plainly shown to be at a most moat important crisis of the world worlds history the hour of gods judgment it may way well be supposed he didlot did not waste time in poetic fancy or simply the elegant round 1 ing of periods but that every word wp rd he uttered carried with it a d depth fth ith of meaning and was in every way calculated to impress those to whom he was sent with the importance of his message what then was his reason for using this particular language why did he not close without uttering the last latt words or 1 why did ha ho not call the atten attention ti on of earths inhabitants to sonie some other peculiarity 0 of f the divine greatness first because it la Is cus cua customary tomary with the k loid llord and hihi his augello messengers to generally give some reason for the tho requirements made mado by them god ia Is ever willing to show sh ow his children why wo we should obey his hia corn commands m ands we nind find hla hia doctrines reasonable his requirements reasonable and his rev revelation reasonable hence hel hei the angel added by way of reasonable aud alid and arid worship him that made heaven and and th the e sea and the fountains of waters but why did he not call attention to some of the great things in the unseen world why not refer to the hosts of heaven or the majestic j estic glory of godas he bat sat upon lilb any other the numerous existences that create joy beyor or wonder behind the vail vall vo no doubt because the angel could see cally dally that when the time should arrive for him to deliver his heavenly message at the hour hoar of bf gods judgment the whole world would nave bave reached what may bei be called balled a scientific age an aft epoch of materi matern alisma allsma il time when the universal scientific thought would be centered on mat that which waa material in its character char keter heter and that people would be more devoted to searching out the matters of the visible world than mhd hidden mysteries that lay beyond the vail hence he called attention itte antion to chri things which were most engrossing their thoughts he saw that men would leach reach as they have done bome some conclusions concerning the phine phene planetary tary bodies and establish some theor leethe correctness jot of which has in certain instances been proved as particularly shown in the precision with which eclipses are predicted that frequently occur within a minute minutes and even a few seconds of the time designated although men mon have discovered comparatively little with regard to such matters and even in our own solar system are at a loss in bome some things still enough has been discovered to create wonderment and inquiry as to the origin of the worlds tha troll upon their wings in the firmament and I 1 believe I 1 shall be endorsed by the highest scientific authorities when I 1 say that they acknowledge the existence of a master intelligence that organizes sustains and controls the universe but who or what that power and intelligence is 19 they do db not mot comprehend neither can they without he should reveal himself unto them but when the inquiry arises aa as to who is thib thih or gani zei the voice of the angels comes ringing down the cycle of time worship god who made the heavens s for as tho the psalmist gives it the heavens declare the glory of god and the firmament kho fe howeth his handiwork 1 v how charmi charming ngit it is to contemplate the beauty 0 of the heavens and then think of the discoveries that have been made concerning light for instance bow hovy wonderful won dertil it is to think that light traveling aa as scientists assort assert from the sun to the earth in eleven minutes a distance that would occupy a cannon ball twenty fave five years in transit tra n sit bit and yet notwithstanding its velocity it is so composed as not to tp har harm m in the least degree the kenderest ten derest of animal or vegetable substances the minutest plant the most lecate de flower is blessed by its influence 1 and not in the least injured by the rapidity of its motion how is this accomplished shed by the particles of which it is composed being so minute as not nov to ommen offen any resistance to the and yet a single sunbeam bun Aum beams beamy which no one can paint or define deaine I 1 looking eo innocent and colorless is found to consist of beven seven colors and will penetrate the deepest dar darkness and reveal all exiting objects in their proper and actual form torm and color the beneficial effects of the suns light cannot be too highly appreciated and in contemplating its blessings wear we are 0 cons constrained to Gc worship god who made the heavens 11 let isett us now gon pon consider sider the earth take for instance ice ico the atmosphere which we breathe and by which wa are ure sustained ve find it in a pure pue condition originally but we j ascertain in hat that t it impure bybe ing breathed rea thed passing through thi the tho lungs it be so highly carbonized that it itis iris is unfit for our use the thi large infusion of carbonic dioxide it receives through the process of respiration renders ithol 1 men and animals emals but strange to say any it Is then in the most proper condition to nourish the life of uila ilia vegetable kingdom plants thal thrive on it and vegetation generally receives its chief nutriment from thab thai ty which animals could noi not not el endure laure scientific hoe boe experiment has lias proved that a sprig of mint placed in a bottle D of f I 1 air r rendered ui dered impure by resper agon avon or br putrefaction will so absorb the impurity nourish itself on thi the 0 unwholesome carbonic acid gas gass as 09 to gain tender render the air sufficiently pure to sustain human and animal life thu zhu wo nio find that the atmosphere which would otherwise become unfit to sustain our lives is purified and at the bame came time la Is enriching us through the medium of the vegetable creation orea crea tiou from which we derive much of our support and ance then think of the richness of our fields of the mineral minere Cl wealth in these hugo mountains of the beau ties to bd seen and studied in the floral creation of the grandeur of earths eartha scenery and the capacity of the soil to support its wonderful population think of what is on the earth lia surface and consider what is discovered in its deepest recess recesses esl and when the inquiry arises as to the originator of these there blessings and men of science and reflection ask who antl and what la is the controlling power that and regulates all these things the loud voice of the angel comes down through the ages worship god who made the earth then there is the mighty ocean that covers such a large portion of our globe now some people have thought that there was too great a is proportion of our earth covered by bywater water but scientific mentho men who have thought deeply on this subject that if it there were any less there would not be sufficient buff moisture for the tho fertilization ol 01 the land here thea is an element prepared from fro m which through the action of the atmosphere the moisture ia Is dr drawn awn up into thee ibee the louds clouds and what is very wonderful it ia not emptied out in torrents to ravage and destroy by its furious our fields and gaudens wardens Ra gai denb idene but ia its carried in the clouds blonds as they are gently wafted wafred by the wind I 1 and beautifully distributed tri buted in grateful Bh showers to refresh fr eshand and nourish the crops of the husbandman then again seethe beethe see bee the pro provision vision for preserving those large bodies of water called seas so that they may not become putrid and malar loup ioup they are stron atron strongly gly supplied with salt and thus thud turned into brine brines which preserves pre erves the water in a wholesome state upon the surface 0 of f he the t eoas EOW EO bew W i ido lijo the ves el es s of the commercial world laden with treasure and down in those almost unfathomable depths are arc found end ond lees varieties 0 of the tinny finny tribes that delight to dwell there and are so usef man main the sea is their home from the smallest specimen that floats near the surface to the huge levia levla leviathan that laches the ocean in his bis fury they are perfectly adapted to live there and the element is specially fitted to supply their necessities then too beneath itis its surface we discover beauteous and precious gems for the adornment of ot the person providing even for the pleasures and fashionable tastes of them that dwell on the earth and when we w e ask as k what intelligence and beneficent power has thus provided for our happl happi happiness nes we still hear the voice of the angel as lie he cries worship god who made the sea there is still another branch of the subject to which cliwe we must briefly refer and that is the fountains of waters what can be more delightful than a fountain or spring of pure water up in these glorious ains which have inspired the saints with a love bf liberty we can see fee and hear the rippling bro brook ok aa as it escapes from a bright cold pure spring in the nook of 6 f a canion cannon or the crevice of a rochl how is it formed and sustained we find that through the process of evaporation alluded to moisture is drawn from the oceans and lake lakes arup up into the clouds cloud Q some of these i clouds pas pis over the mountains t a ins and ano deposit depoe at sheets of snow and howera of rain min in the cannons and on the mountain sides these sink into the crevices between the rocks and hem hero and there burst forth foith in bubbling springs of fresh water which feed the rivulets and a nd streams and form the creeks that descend to the land in the valleys then pass into rivers and finally return to the bosom of the and lakes from whence they came there to be again preserved till again evaporated nut but one peculiarity we should notice here and hat is jho he water in these springs is a fresh jand sweet although the hodie bodie odies of water from whence it is evaporated are salt here we live on brithe tho borders of the great salt lake jake yeu yel did you ever notice any salino flavor to tho springs aud and streams area sustained by tho the evadora lons from the lake no and yet this is a body of water having he strongest saline character in the worldly world I 1 what a gloriod gio glo riou rlou louR provision to havo have pure fresh nater in pon I 1 and lio blo hav to contemplate is the prel present gwit swit fertility of these valleye val vai leyel when whence we look back to tho the time when those grand old pioneers set their feet on this soil and realize its past barren arid cond condition itic w we are led to thank god who made the fountains of waters and we can see the literal fulfillment of his word through the ancient prophets he would turn the dry gronna into water springs and make pools in the desert desern we see that fountains of water have sprung up in unexpected places to enable this dry and unpromising soil to yield an equitable return for the toil toll of the laborer and we can now eay any that indeed the desert debert has baa been made to blossom aa as the rose lose in short it seems that the heavens and the earth and the bea and arid the fountains of waters have formed a grand combination to introduce their united evidences of the divine existence and the rich divine dealings with mankind Through 3 the ages that are past every method consistent with the perfection of omnipotence las haa been adopted to impress man with reverence for the deity angels from the heavens declare the glory of god and the of the spheres as they perform their wonderful course in the firmament invite our attention to his bis glorious handiwork god has written his being on the imperishable rooks has hag recorded ded the existence of deity nalty in the granite mountains and among the everlasting 9 hills 1 if it we go down into the he depths of the sea he is there and at his bidding fountains of water burst burat forth in fertilizing streams to nourish the barren soil that it may bring forth its rich fruit for the thebus bus eus cenance of the hainta saints thus the i heavens in their glory the we earth with its rich blessings the seas upon u which we ride rides and an tho the foun bains of waters anat supply ua us with an element without which wo we could not live furnish us with a chain of material evidences of the existence and goodness of the deity that cannot ba |