Show SUNDAY SERVICES bishop whitneys Whit discourse at the tabernacle THE SPIRITUAL AND THE TEm TEMPORAL THINGS THAT SEEM AND THINGS THAT REALLY ARE NAPOLEONS MISTAKE AT WATERLOO THE MISSION OS OF ISRAEL AND THE MISSION g OF THE GENTILES 1 religious services were held in the tabernacle salt lake city sunday may alay 6 1888 commencing coia at 2 p m president angus angas M cannon presiding the choir and congregation sang S ST we beet et is the work my god my king to prak e thy name gi give e thanks and sing prayer by elder wm win B Bi barton Erton the choir sang sane well sing all hail to jesus name I 1 honor and praise we give to him who bled on Cal hill and died that we might live the A priesthood of the birst ward officiated in the administration of the sacrament BISHOP 0 X was called to address the con congregation rega he said that no words that le he himself could speak would oe be of i writ fit to his bearers w ako vo wanted the 1 bdeau 1 eau of life and not the otter atter ances ot if a mans lips one of the most important duties devolving tn i n a ervant of god was to feed his saints with the bread of 0 life the prophet joseph was so particular on this point boint that he directed the elders not to address the people unless they nad the holy spirit the saints did not attend meetings to have their time batea and spent in vain rather than do teat that they could stay at nome and read the word of god but they were directed to meet together and partake of the sacrament end and be fed with the spirit of life therefore it was im poi for the speaker to have that spirit and he prayed that it might rest upon him great is the need of humility in times like these for by that tha alone comes the power of god the works that result irom from humility and faith are the secret of power with the almighty he who enjoys the spirit is humble bubble and sees ins his way marked out before him but the proud man is deceived by his own vanity and selfishness he does not see clearly and is apt to be deluded by semblances semb lances victor hugo tells how haw the tall fall of napoleon resulted irom from one mistake on the field ot of waterloo he swept the field with his bis glass and thought he be aw a level unbroken plain from his position to the point where the english were entrenched he thought one of the opportunities of his life had come nod and ordered his cavalry forward but before the danger could be foresees foreseen nis magnificent body of horse arrived on en the brink of a precipice a sunken road which he be had overlooked and over they went horse borse and rider pell uell mell until the gap was literally ailed with the dead and dying and cherem the remnant nant rode over on the bodies of their companions but their strength was broken and they hurled themselves in vain upon the sturdy battalions of the british infantry appearances thus deceived napoleon and the incident afforded an example of how men are liable to be so mistaken it is is the natural propensity of human haman huings i to gaze at pilings temporally and ud not spiritually and to arrive at conclusions which they think thle by bv means of their natural powers f t is well to use the natural senses when they are the best means we have that known dangers may be avoided but if one profits not by the knowledge pie he has acquired by experience he is wot a wise man gut but it is our duty to listen to the voice of the spirit in preference ap p all other pro promoters maters the spirit of prophecy reckons not by temporal means it pierces the wall of im irn probabilities it ic only knows that such things will be no matter how forbidding the it knows the end from the beginning and thereby shows its superiority over the spirit of speculation which reckons on chances and things that appear here is a congregation gathered to caher from all parts of the earth members of the church of jesus christ of latter day saints they have bave gathered in obedience to the conviction that ahat they are of israel and are thus abing abcug the will of god this get gathering hering was foretold by the spirit of prophecy thousands of years ago doubtless it skewed improbable trien then and yet to laythe lay the things spoken by the ancient prophets are being fulfilled hear ye the word of the lord said jeremiah and nd declare it in the isles afar off and say he that scattered israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd doth his flock isaiah said speaking of the same event in the last days the mountain of the lords house shall be established in the tops of the moun was I 1 and I 1 all nations shall flow unto it for out of zion shall go forth the te law and the word of the lord from i jerusalem the saints believe these are being fulfilled but the world ridicule the idea that the mor mons mond are of rarael israel and to them it seems all a delusion those who have reccea the holy ghost which leads into all truth look at this thing spiritually bally and see it as it is they deca py a spiritual eminence from which they can see afar off and more clearly than those below you can go up yonder hillside on en a clear day and gazing a hundred miles to the south behold mount nebo dimly in the distance but you cannot see it when dawn in the city amid the dust and smoke it is so with those who have ascended to this spiritual height whose minds are illumined by the holy ghost who are in a position to gaze above the clouds and beyond obstructions while those who have not faith to ascend the mountain gaze up at the clouds and cannot view that which is beyond such is the tendency of man to look upon things with the natural eye ignoring his bis spiritual faculties that it seems to have been the pro gramme of the lord to select to in all alla ages gesa a f few e w who possess spiritual natures to be the examples to the mavy many this class of spirits have been scattered among the nations as if to leaven the whole lump this doubtless is the meaning of the phrase so will he sprinkle many nations 11 he has sprinkled they these spirits spirit one of acety a city two of a family throughout the world that they by their example might draw others unto righteousness this mission was placed on the children of aoraham abraham ile he was chosen because he be was capa capable ble of great faith he fie could gaze beyond the clouds and believe the sun was shining ning whether or not it was visible to the natural eye few men have been tested and tried as he was for he be was placed in the crucible of trial before lie he became the friend of god and father of the faithful he was reared among idolaters idol aters his own father was an idolater salta an immolator of human life upon the altai of strange gods god called abraham and told him he would make ot of him a great nation if he be would follow him and chose him as ab an example to the world to bring back to man the knowledge of the living god abraham was tested all his life long in various ways by the discipline of 0 righteousness which ever involves the sacrifice of earthly things he left all and went forth at ai the command of god to settle in a new land this was because god desired to raise up a people who would serve him he chose Ala abraham as he chose this people to come out from the world and not nat tol lew their wicked ways god det desired sired to send his choicest spirits through a lineage worthy of them a class of spirits who were most valiant in the eternal worlds when the warfare was fought by which lucifer and his bis rebel host was overthrown these were not permitted to take bodies but are evil spirits wandering up and down the earth tempting and tor tormenting e bitin g the children ot of men and seducing them frow from truth and virtue the remainder of the spirits were given the privilege of coming and taking bodies and yet it seems that tha even these were divided into classes abraham says the lord showed him the he had bad organized before the world was among whom there were many noble and great ones whom the lord said he would make his rulers 1 I 1 these were entitled to be rulers by reason of their superior intelligence righteousness and humility god sent through the of abraham many a a y of these great and noble ones to be spiritual P i r i t ual rulers and sometimes temporal P r 1 1 rulers priests and kings drawing t m men en unto god and continuing on earth the work they commee commenced ed in heaves heaven and from the days of abraham his descendants have been set as a light alight to the world their mission is essentially there ia a claw claff ot spirits however who are typical of earthly things just as israel is typical of oa twi venly things the gentiles beau beautify tiff the earth build railroads raid roads steamships ftp and ana bring to light scientific and teal truths god is using them as aa instruments st of ills his will whether they acknowledge it or not in regard to israel ismel the prophet isaiah says they shall fly on the shoulders shoulder fi of the philistines toward the west what are these shoulders of the it if not the steamships and railroads ol of the Ge gentiles Attles upon which the writs saints come to zion as doves flocking docking to their windows the gentiles doubt less lees think they are doing all this of themselves and recognize no god in it israel knows better the poet says saya we see but half the causes of our deeds seeking them wholly in the outer life newton may get the credit of bringing to light the jaw of gravitation but back of newton and the falling apple was the god of revelation it was he who worked on the mind of newton and the fall of the apple simply broke the crust of things which had been growing thinner and thinner for years and this grand principle one of gods truths was brought to light did newton do it the gentile would say his gaze is bounded by the horizon of earthly things and he sees sot not the great influences fluentes fluen ces at work werk that are invisible to the natural e eye e but bat israel gives god the gly glory oj at though diac ing upon man all this credit due clue him as the instrument of deity and this is correct for it is he who has inspired all the great inventors and philosophers of ancient or modern times it is from him that all truth proceeds no matter through what medium it t comes the mission of israel is spiritual that of the gentiles temporal the one leals deals with heavenly things and the other ather with earthly things our oar veins ire are tinged with gentile blood for we have lave come through their lineage lp in these latter days and this is doubtless why we weare aare so ptole to fol follow low them for our gentile blood draws us unto earthly things while le the blood of israel draws us to heavenly things this Is the warfare tn in our hearts israels mission it is aue comprehends the blessings of earth for the spiritual includes the temporal the greater circumscribing the lesser lesser having a spiritual mission does not mean that we are not to touch temporal things no but when israel forsakes 4 the fountain of living water waterland sand hews himself out cisterns broken cisterns that can hold no water when he turns his bis hack on the spiritual and trusts to tile the temporal he be is attempting the impossible feat of making the lesser circumscribe the greater it cannot be done no firstly spiritual and then temporal seek ficat the kingdom of god and his righteousness and all else shall be added yes because suse the kingdom of god comprehends ends all that is good wise virtuous praiseworthy and beautiful tui lt it is impossible that it should be otherwise and acid it if we win the crown over tile the kingdom of god it will take in all the blessings of earth as well as ot of heaven the service of god does not exclude and prohibit all pleasure religion is not a treadmill of torture or a dungeon of despair where man is consigned to a condition destructive of hap this is a false view an earthly view of religion god sends the sunshine as well as the clouds and darkness he delights in the happiness of his cu children ildren their enjoyment of the good things of earth in moderation era tion but this liberty is not a license to go to excess in pleasure or wallow in sin and iniquity we can get too much sunlight sometimes we can drink too much pu pure water we can make a curse of every blessing he has faas given by using it to excess the mind of one alio thinks of nothing but cleasure ole Dle asure what does that mind become it is a vacuum so far as sense and reason are concerned such people are incapable of solid thou thought glit because they live in the air like butterflies ter flies having no apparent object in life but to display the beauty of their gilded wings wasting their precious time for which they must mast render up an eternal account the condition of such a mind to i warning enough that excess of pleasure is sinful partaker partaken jr Par taken of in moderation pleasure is a blessing it is the seasoning of lifes feast but the food must be there and it must be nutritious sot got all pepper and salt yet a dinner of pepper and salt would be as sensible as pat parsing through life with no object but ples plea su reliving only for far this tion for such people comes while here they cannot even think with vigor only oaly biose aase who work ean can think and I 1 speak p eak soundly only those who wisely iely use the blessings of god truly enjoy life they are preparing to be saved not only in in this life but in the life to come they are not butterflies but honeybees honey bees gathering sweets from every flower and storing it away for future use how may many who profess to be latter day saints are he heedless edless of the fact that this is boors day how joany aln are at home find aud ent or spinning the streets behind nd last fast horses here are etue tb exInA em eNs 44 uie the shed blood and body of him im who died that we might lire he who i eschewed pleasure rode not nat la in chariots doffed coffed hiti hid crown and aad laid baid ade his sceptre tre that he might give cis as eternal life a man of sorrows borrows acquainted quain ted with grief but bat also alao acquainted quain ted with the principles of salva tion Here we partake of the sacrament in remembrance of him and he says if we do remember him we shall have his spirit to te be with us those who have not life in them are those who partake tot not of imbese emblems they who absent themselves from the sac ment meetings they are spiritually starving and preparing like dead dea leaves in autumn to drop from the tree and moulder into oblivion but they who partake of these emblems are like the f arvit that is gathered in the oj the lord there are processed latter batter day saints who deew it no ott duty to co come to the house of god on te abath reto day at and 0 sonae some of then are 1 I 4 men and wo n aad w 0 have sacrificed all thila s for bi sake they live tor OF thew themselves they hay are deader than the world aty hey are dead spiritually and it la is only a question 0 of a little time when they w will lues I 1 be severed from the tree and cast into the fire there are professed prof eased saints do not believe their children should obey the laws they have obeyed they are saved and anck exalted themselves they think but their children can be damned at least that is the philosophy of their position but what it takes to exalt parents it will take to exalt their children what it has taken to exalt men and women in one age it ww will take to exalt them in another our in ss n is to be an example to the wor worl dat ut if we are not careful the worl dill ill be an example to us and the C dorn will be turned upside down vet we are of the salt of the earth t saviors 8 of men a city set upon a hill hill par far better for us never to have started out upon such a mission than to tail fall now there is no end to the degradation of a saint who lets t the he light ligh t with within in him go |