Show SUNDAY SERVICES remarks of bishop whitney J NECESSITY OF A PERSONAL TESTIMONY FALSE FAITH AND TRUX TRUE SINCERE BELIEVERS AND TRUTH IX IN ALL RELIGIONS GOD WORKS WITH MEN ACCORDING TO THEIR FAITH SALVATION FROM WITHIN TEE ORIGIN OF TRUTH AND LIGHT ONE THE ANTIQUITY OF MORMONISM ITS JUSTICE AND consistency religious services were held in the tabernacle salt lake city sunday marea 25 1888 commencing at 2 ad p in president angus M cannon presiding the choir and congregation sang our god we raise t thee thanks for or thy blessings free we here enjoy prayer by elder edward the choir sang behold the great redeemer die A broken law to satisfy the priesthood of the fifteenth ward officiated in the administration of the sacrament BISHOP 0 F WHITNEY was called to address the congregation he requested the saints to sustain him while he be spoke to them and draw forth by their prayers to god that which they most needed on the present occasion that bis wordy words might not be mere empty sounds but be indeed the words of life and salva sal va tion carrying with them the spirit of truth he had faith that it the saints did this their meeting together would woula be profitable otherwise he could promise nothing they had met together as an evidence ol of their faith in god and had bad come to the house of the lord to be taught of him to apt bat un n more firmly the armor of the gospel that they might be better qualified to engage io in the battle of life if the saints realized iced more tally fully the importance of assembling together on the lords day dat to te partake of the sacrament and commune with the spirit of the heavens moreon them would be alive to the great responsibility which attaches to the calling of a latter day saint either this work woric was an imposture one of the most dangerous tte tie sun ever iaone upon or it is the most important work god ever commenced afung the human family the Saints should know for thema themselves elves which position was the true one there should be no middle ground for them to aland upon so far as these two things are concerned they should not rest till the knew whether this was the work of the great god the marvelous work and wonder which his prophets Prop nets had predicted or whether it be a counterfeit counte counter neit a snare aud and a delusion for toe souls of men it is a solemn duty upon the saints and upon the world to examine the gospel on its merits and be sure of one thing or the other for all may rest assured that it this be the revealed will of god materialized on earth they can neither to despise it nor tight against it they cannot even afford to let it alone though that would be far better than fighting against it if it be the work of god man can do naught for its overthrow if of man it will come to an end itself it if it be the work of god the saints mast carry it on onDy oy being full of life and lichtas light as the work is ia itself there must be harmony between profession and practice a living faith otherwise we are not lit fit to carry on such a work it is said of some of the early settlers of new england that in trading with the indians they often used deception to gain from them the lands of their forefathers not being content to secure them in a fair and honest way the indians were much sur grimed at the uses of gunpowder and firearms reat ms and noticing their superiority they sought to understand the use of these weapons some settlers sold them gunpowder at prices telling them that if it was planted it would produce its kind the ladiana believed this planted it but reaped no reward forthe for the simple reason that their faith was not based on an eternal principle it was not dot po powerful with the heavens to produce the result desired there are different kinds of faiths and it is our duty to acquire the true faith that w which i w will 11 bring salvation no observing intelligent man can doubt there are millions of gods children who have lived and died believing their particular faith to be the true one and though the creeds of men have differed widely and numerously yet that men have been sincere in all of them there is no room f for or doubt the saints are prepared to admit there is some truth in all systems of religion that are capable of making makin men better and of keeping faith an fn in the holy one alive in the human heart for men should be believers lievers not doubters doubts are traitors and destroy the soul of man maa while faith is the life and light 1 A I the soul the men who have moved the world have believed not doubted god gd has bas said all things are possible to the believer but has viven riven no promise to tue doubter god honors the sincere religious belief of all his creatures are ale we to suppose he condemns the ignorant hindmo who sincerely bows slown down to wood and stone reason mercy justice answer no the worst torm torin ol of idolatry is in worshiping that which we do not believe in iii pretend pretending log to do something which we are not honest in doing god admires and honors the sincerity of an honest heart let it beat in the bosom of a christian or a worshiper of buddha he is supremely disgusted with the hypocrisy of a christian or a latter day saint who claims to be a foi follower lower of christ who claims to have a heart full of the love of god and yet will prove by his BIS acts that he be is un unworthy orthy of his bis high profession the latter day saint who professes to 10 be a follower of jesus ot of nazareth and yet will bow to mamon Man moo or prove himself a lover of pleas pleasure re more than a lover of god is less acceptable in the eyes of the eternal one than the honest hindmo who bows down in sincerity to a god of wood and stone and the same contrast may be drawn between the christian who schemes for te injury of his fel lowman fellowman and is a hater of any soul whom jesus died to aale the speaker did not mean to side bi ba side aids the gospel of christ nd naan man made systems 85 stems of religion though the latter being mixtures of tenth and error would attract attract by the truth hey contain edthe honest seeker at af er truth even though it jay like a diamond glittering among a heap of rubbish all men are operated upon by the spirit that ligh teth every man that cometh into the world and so long as that spirit strives with a man he cannot be utterly bad he will have some generous impulse which it inspires for god is the auth oriand inspirer of all that is good and noble worship upon on the summit of each mountain thought worship thou god for delty deity is seen from every elevation of the soul it 6 is impossible lor a man to have a generous en erous impulse and the spirit of god oe he utterly absent from his bis soul those impulses are the efforts of the spirit to bring that soul back into the presence of its creator when the spirit of god is withdrawn men have no incentive to do good the divinity divinely divi nily within them I 1 is extinguished aud and they hey no longer regard propriety decency justice mercy or truth the result is their destruction as in the the case of the ancient Nep hites they began to tear each other in pieces pieced nor did they cease till one of the grandest races of the earth went down in the depths of oblivion leaving their ruined rained cities to whisper from the dust and their records hid up for modern prophets to bring to light such la Is the end of man when left alone to himself we gigo 10 have the aspect of people who vwe B governed by the influence of the hoty spirit and the great things of which they were capable examples of this kind are scattered as jewels through through the ages who doubts that meni men like ike abraham moses loses and other spiritual giants who have stood as kloht houses along the coast of life fe ee iding the light of their heroic examples example over mankind were filled with a power not their own could one do the same works now without the same power that sustained them would any man today offer his son on the altar as did abraham unless he was sustained of gid gd are there men who could do it unless their faith in god was supreme can man claim the glory tor for suan works no god will accomplish his own works and flesh cannot glory in his presence what could induce a hebrew youth like david who was thought by his own father to be unworthy of presentation to the prophet who had come to anoint the f future king of israel to go forth to brave the philistine giant what except the power of god could have given him film his bis strength when all israel faltered and caused him to stand firm in the name of the god of israel david did this not in his hia own strength but by the power of god that he might lie be glorified A hundred men might have gone ferth without that power and fallen under the sword of the philistine men accomplish com such wonders by the power of the heavens but it requires a living jiving faith when men act in the name 0 of f the god of israel they must and know w that he has fias sent them they must have a faith that is invincible nothing can stand against a people whom god sustains bat if he is not net with them they will not stand he works with all men according to their faith when jesus visited the Nep hites he said he had bad come from jerusalem w where here he be was crucified where he had bad told his disciples he had bad other sheep not of that told fold who should yet hear bear his voice but they understood him himat not he said they thought he meant the gentiles whereas he had bad never said he would scow h himself to the gentiles the disciples in jerusalem could not understand him because ut their unbelief in the new testament it is recorded that jesus at one time departed from certain regions and did not many mi mighty lity works amor them because of of their unbelief god works with people ac according cordin t to 0 the measure of their faith 8 sodom of oin and gomorrah were no more certainly doomed to destruction than this people if they have no better faith than the inhabitants of those ancient cities but the saints have a promise that kneir faith will endure the assurance of this is in the promise that this kingdom shall never be thrown down or given to another people the faith that is in the pure and humble bumble saints will bring brine deliverance salvation comes from within the sun from heaven the water from earth may assist the development of the tree but can place within it nothing which it lias has not if it has not life in itself they cannot give it the school teacher can give no intelligence telli gence to his bis pupil be can only operate upon what is there the sun may blister the branches of a dead tree the water deluge its roots but death is still there and will produce only itself life and aad death can only bring forta after their kind bring the tie work of god is surely as perfect as a tree his kingdom has within it all the power of its own life and perpetuity when he departs from a work it ceases to te be his and will perish er all that man makess makes must pee perish A oh for or man must perish and he be cap make in ake nothing greater thas himself but bat G god od being eternal produces that which is eternal life begets life lifee why do the saints believe all systems systems of religion have some truth I 1 in them because they believe all systems have been broken off or the truth within them from the true system at some time all the light within them proceeded from the one great fountain even as the light in this building proceeded from the sun it may be filtered it may be shaded but all ligot light emanated originally from the fountain oali of light ht all nature teaches this truth the raindrops sprinkled upon the hills bills regain the ocean whence they came T they hey have one fountain oue one reservoir so with man he came cam from god and must return all of him that thai is found worthy to do so this gospel was not formulated by man it to is the work of goo call it mormonism today christianity yesterday or what you please it is gods truth you may cover it with derision heap it with calumny and scorn pile nicknames nick names upon it mono bains high these are but as the dust and an eo which may to human eyes mar mac the beauty of ef the jewel but can not detract from its value it is the gospel of jesus christ salvation to all men according to their mer merits lits the only reason why in ia the great hereafter some will shine as the sun others as the moon and others as the stars ia because of the diversity of their works for where there is 18 a difference in works there will also be a difference of rewards this is true p philosophy till true science true religion mau man may be ujust and partial he may have his favorites and heap upon them gifts they have not earned but god is a p perfect e man and deals out justice to all the soul of one man is as dear to rim as another it if it serves him a as s faithfully adam had bad this gospel AbriL abraham ham had it moses had bad it and would have sanctified his lils people by means of it had bad they been worthy but not all of gods mighty miracles could convince them they could not retain detain the gospel because their faith was ivas not sufficient fici ent christ brought the same gospel that which had bad saved adam abraham moses and others he reached out again the arm of mercy toward his disobedient family a and id only took it away because man turned from it in the latter days god has restored the gospel again this declaration is made in all humility and soberness tae almighty has baa raided up a mighty prophet whom men call joseph smith out but whom god knows by a name doubtless as sacred as the heavenly name of moses or abraham of old men may despise him just as the jews despised the son of ef joseph the carpenter they should not have cared so much about his name on an earth but thought more of his name and authority in heaven it is more important to know that god has sent a man than to know or care concerning his name and family the great fact is not what his bis name ashow much money he castor wast his bis position in society but alid god send him or not Is he a servant of god or of the devil if he is a servant of god the world owe him honor and respect if not the sooner the world knows it the better it if joseph smith was not a prophet what thrice mocked fools are we but if he be was a pro prophet het and this is the work ol at god zia which never will go down we cannot be too careful of our course cannot cherish these principles too highl labor too arduously in their behalf they are worth all they cost I 1 know as I 1 live that they re true and I 1 sayin say in the name of jesus christ if you will believe in god repent of your sins sing and be baptized and receive the holy ghost you will receive the same testimony I 1 say this to you who do not yet now it tor for yourselves As to those who already have this knowl knowledge edke may god bless you and strengthen your testimony for the day is coming when all who do r not know that this is true will not stand in the work of god amen the choir sang an anthem benediction by elder arthur stayner |