Show ra E JA 10 1 U U S sunday services foes religious services were held in the tabernacle sunday may 19 1889 commencing at 2 pm counselor cou n charles W penrose presiding in fhe the choir and congregation sang where the voice of frien friendships ships heard sounding bounding like a sweet toned bird prayer by elder andrew jenson the choir sang he died I 1 the great redeemer died and israels daughters wept arduna the priesthood of the twelfth ward officiated in the administration of the sacrament A 1 ELDER JOHN NICHOLSON was called to address the congregation he said the larger port ioja loa of those who bad assembled had done so 80 to commemorate the sufferings and death of our lord jesus christ who died for the sins of the world by one man death came into the world so through the lord jesus christ came the resurrection and thelise th the elife life when we come together for a purpose so sacred we should be in a proper frame of ming mind to reccy and partake of this sacrament our hands should be clean ana and our hearts pure ahat that our offering may be acceptable unto our father in heaven heave ii this being the condition uron upon which the acceptance of the offering is predicated dated as WO we understand it we should come to an ap assembly of this character without anything existing in our hearts against again stour our neighbors feeling that wea we are reina in a position to love them as ourselves thus placing on our L selves in harmony with the teachings of him who as never man and who gave himself as an acceptable offering for the sins of the world it was he who introduced the plan of salvation by which man is enabled to reenter re enter we the A presence of his maker the theory of the go gospel I 1 as WO we latter day saints understand it is 10 that thit this life of mortality is what mant be termed a section of eter anity if it be permissible to state that eternity is divisible that we existed in the spirit borhi world as spiritual u di entities before we came to this thid H life f that it was provided in the economy of the almighty i that wit we should take upon ourselves physical conditions in order to obtain experience that would enable us to advance in intelligence in the scale of being and thus be prepared for a greater greater and more exceeding weight OT of re lory glory in in the eternities to come the work that was performed by christ when he came and took on mortality as the son of go goi 1 relieved us from all responsibility regarding the transgression of adam and he opened the way before u us s whereby we might be freed from our own transgressions for which we are responsible this freedom from sin is attained by following in tile he footsteps of the savior keeping the he commandments which he gave and offering our lives so far as necessary as a sacrifice for the sake of truth and righteousness all who profess christianity accept of the he atonement of our lord and savior jesus christ as a fact applicable to the whole human race and this thi s is the beginning of the christian faith it is not dim cult to ascertain what is w required of us in following in his teachings if we peruse the scriptures and accept the truth as it there stands without prejudice without Pronce pro conceived ived notions and ideas I 1 toy it down as an incontrovertible proposition from a scriptural standpoint int that in addition to this beliet belief m th the e atonement it is necessary to exercise faith in all things per kalning to the gospel of our redeem er following Vol lowing this is the doctrine of repentance pen tance unto the remission of sins that we may be freed from that load and realize the saying of the savior that his yoke is I and his burden is light then follows obedience to the ordinance so clearly defined in the scriptures known cnown as the christian rite of bap am for the remission of sins suc icing ng this is that he be who has taken the steps alread already described shall boball have the hands bands 01 of authorized servants of the messiah laid upon his 8 head that he may receive the ghost and thus by these two baptisms the baptisms of water and or of the spirit he may become a new feature creature born of the spirit into a U ew and spiritual element in consonance with the declaration of the lord ord himself when interrogated pon points pertaining to his doc billue 1 except a man be born of ater and of the spirit he cannot enter ter into the kingdom of god 11 till his then is a universal rule to bich there is no exception made NOW ow in relation to the operation of 01 faith by many people who profess to vo he be christians the exercise of this it power is exceedingly limited for os tance it is fashionable to pro claira ian that that if men will believe on the lord aid jesus christ they will be faed ed without taking into info consid aeration the comprehensive charad charac of that statement without ac of it in the spirit instead of th e letter to believe on him is to have e faith in him and faith is the allder ying lying principle or motive of all action in intelligent gangs without it there is nothing eherd re is no motion no activity no life n it is common among those who are rated among unbelievers believers un who are infidels to scout the idea of faith ins in spiritual ir a things in an ani ye yet faith is a principle that is natural and that is accey accepted in all the conditions of I 1 life e suppose u se there was no faith if that were supposable for to imagine such a condition would be to presume that there would be no looking forward to the future no attempt to grasp it and to act in order to produce results which are not at resent present seen or understood pauls deNni definition tion of faith is clealand cle clear arand and beautiful it commends itself at once to the understanding faith he says is the substance assurance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen suppose that newton and herschel had not possessed this power within them they would not have comprehended by the principle of that faith or understanding which was in them that there was still another planet that had not yet been discovered they would not have searched among the heavenly bodies in order to make the further discoveries which they did it is common amon among unthinking people to say that I 1 they ey e Y w will ill not believe in things that they cannot see feel taste or smell amell that they cannot comprehend through the natural senses yet nei ither ther newton nor herschel had handled tasted or smelled the planet uranus those objectors to the principle of faith themselves believe that tomorrow will arrive though cannot grasp it by any other process so we may cast about and reason upon natural things and we comprehend that faith is a natural principle why then not have faith in things that are spiritual having faith in this grand basic principle of the christian christiari ii religion the atonement it is natural that that position would be followed up having accepted of christ it is essential that those who do so and tinder undertake take to follow him shall place themselves in unison with him and with his spirit purify themselves and rectify their moral and mirat spiritual natures how is this jone done necessarily by the process of repentance of sin which is also ana a natural I 1 ural as well as a spiritual principle being a process of rectification if for instance im a man injuries his physical ical nature by indulging in physical ghys drunkenness run kenness licentiousness or if he break any of the laws of his physical being in order to gratify his sensual appetite it is necessary that he should repent by ceasing from such acts then his system will begin to recover from the effects of those broken laws in relation therefore to physical things so is mans nature morally and spiritual ly ceasing to do those things which are opposed to morality to spiritual requirements rectifies rectified fies and purifies the spiritual and moral nature now we have brought the believer in jesus christ to the point where it is requisite for him to make his acceptance of the theory of christianity more mere valid and binding by a practical act the question is what shall be the character of that per firmance for mance the latter day saints take the position and it is sustained ty by the scriptures that the individual shall be immersed in water taken there by one authorized by jesus christ for the remission of sins and by obedience to the requirements quire ments which have preceded this operation and the operation itself he comes out of that element freed from his I aad ad of transgression why should the rite or act by which the believer makes his theoretical position valid and binding be baptism it is ia common in all the ordinary affairs of men tomake to make agreements binding by acts of various kinds the most general method adopted is to hubn submit dt the agreement to writing entering on the document the stipulations involved both parties attach their names to the writing frequently this is done in the presence of witnesses who attest the operation by also attach ing their signatures now what shall be done by the christian in entering into an agreement with the lord jesus christ what more beautiful what more consistent than that the act which he performs should typify the death and burial of christ his rising from the tomb and opening the way to life eternal by being the I 1 ill first rat fruits 11 of the resurrection the savior shed his blood for the sins of the world he died and went into the grave when his body was wag quickened in the spirit by which c also he went and preached to the spirits that were bound in prison that they might be liberated by the freedom that the gospel gives that they in the spirit in might lit ive according to god in the BPI spirit ind d b be e judged J U d 19 ed as the apostle says ca according to isen men in the flesh the judgment upon them would be similar to that on those to whom the light was imparted here according to the course that they took in accepting or rejecting it then after he had performed ped ormed that mission in the spirit world his body laid aside corruption and arose in the bloom of immortality purified a god as he was having had bad a power that we do not possess he had the power to lay down his life and take it up again we only have the power to surrender our lives and take them up again through his merits and not through our oan own I 1 see then how sublimely typical of this process is the baptism of the believer I 1 refer not now to the baptisms which have been adopted by many professing christians sprinkling or pouring or the bap cism of infants infante but the birth of water the scriptural baptism which represents a birth or a burial of an adult who receives it intelligently it must be a voluntary act a result of its operation being a remission of sins no infant can perform this act of intelligent volition and an infant has not sinned this is the scriptural baptism there is no other there is but one lord one faith one baptism A great many IN people think that there are am numerous lords a great many faiths and a multiplicity of baptisms the baptism to which I 1 refer is this that the administrator Is ib an agent of jesus christ duly authorized and empowered to act in his name and that lie he who receives the administration is prepared ared by repentance for this operation he goes into the water in his sins and comes up out of it without them they having been remitted according to the promise as christ came out of the grave freed from physical corruption how could a any act be conceived of that would U be more appropriate to the theory of christianity itself than this this introduces the fact that the administrator must have been called of god im as was aaron otherwise he be is 18 not an agent of the savior not being authorized by him and if he is not then one of the parties to the transaction is not represented and is not bound by the conditions of the observance and has no lot nor part in the matter for he has not performed it the position is that he ako receives the ordinance takes it in his bis own proper person he who administers it christ does so by the agent whom he has empowered this is according to the principle ve 0 enunciated b by the savior when he said it is t ze the same whether his teachings were uttered by himself or by the mouths of his servants whom he has empowered this ordinance of baptism has an application to all ae accountable countable beings and its universality is a powerful evidence of its correctness besides its harmony with the christian system generally for christ as I 1 have said preached to those who had lived upon the earth and had not received the christian rite which I 1 have been endeavoring to define he had preached to them and his servants who are authorized and have hav egone gone behind the vall vail also preach to those who are disembodied and are I 1 in n the spirit world they preach to them the theory of the gospel and they likewise must receive the ordis nance of baptism for the remission of sins that they may obtain also the baptism of the holy spirit As christ said except a man be born of water and of the spirit he cannot enter into the kingdom of GW god 11 the similes or comparisons made by christ ore re the most beautiful and pointed anted that were ever app applied lleO and gore here is one that Is peculiarly applicable r li cable he compares the operation not only as the apostle laul diato did to a burial but to a birth now will any person inform me if he can enter the physical life the life we are now in except he be born into it there is no other process and if we had not been born we would still have been on the other side so christ said in effect except ye be born with this new birth birth of water and of the spirit ye must stay outside the kingdom of godfoy no man can enter it except he be be born of water and of the spirit it is ie absurd to lay down a proposition to the effect that being born of waterland wat water erand and of the spirit has reference to any other process than that of being baptized of water and of the holy ghost there is a process by which those who have not received these things in this life can have them made applicable gli cable to them although they ba have ve departed and gone to the othor life for the work of the gospel is largely vicarious in its character the fundamental da principle of christianity is of that nature inasmuch as christ died vicariously for the sins of the world hence the apostle paul reasoning on the validity of the resurrection ur as a vital fact as a true christian doctrine was wa endeavoring to show those who thought otherwise the fallacy of their position and he said else what shall they do which are bai baptized zed forthe for the dead if the dead rise not at all why are they then baptized for the the dead th this s he gave as an evidence of the resurrection of the dead almost in these words why do ye work in behalf of those that are in their graves if they are not going to rise of what value is it to them why are am ye baptized for them if they are not to be resurrected baptism for the dead was a doctrine of the primitive church of christ when it existed in its purity and power and it has haa been revealed reveal as apart a part of it in this generation irene ration through gha a prophet that god dod raised u up to usher in the last dispensation orthe of the falness of times that is the reason mason why the latter day saints build temples and travel over the earth in order to oata n genealogical information regarding their igors that they may go into those sacred edifices and do a work for the dead which the latter are unable to perform for themselves if the doctrines of christianity were not universal in their application there would be in them a lack of beau beauty tir harmony and comprehend they would fall short of that which would |