| Show RELIGIOUS sunday services religious services were were held at the tabernacle salt lake city sunday aug 1890 1893 commencing at 2 p rn elder henry P richards presiding the choir sang on the mountain tops appealing lo 10 the sacred herald stands I 1 prayer was offered by elder theodore curtis Curf cis the choir sang how dark and gloomy was the night when satan did his hid powers array P PRESIDENT RE SIDE NT GEORGE Q CANNON nd addressed dressed the congregation he said the saints are often told when they come to worship god that it is their privilege to have his hia holy spirit to give tile the instruction st ruction best adapted to lo them the field of the gospel is is very extensive there is no end of subjects to be treated on in connection with it but there is no one but god who knows the wants wid and needs of men discourses may be prepared as many are by professed ministers of the gospel but what man is there who knows the necessities of the humble followers foll of jesus therefore it is 19 commanded that his servants should depend upon his spirit to give that which they should say it is in this way that the elders eldera of israel have taught the gospel and whatever glory there is for their success is due to and not to man if tile the teachings of the elders have borne fruit it la is because god has convinced con vinced those w who ho have heard the word the preaching of the gospel has had a great effect wherever it has gone gonrand and the hearers as well as the preachers have been tried especially the latter whenever they have gone forth without purse or scrip I 1 know of no people who have given greater evidence of their willing ness nees to trust in god than have the latte rd saints I 1 am very thankful for this and am thankful that god lias has raised up a people and told thern them his will concerning their lives it is comparatively easy for men to go and preach when they receive a regular stipend for their labor it is no particular hardship fur for a mau man to go to a foreign land and preach when he knows that his wants will be supplied by the society which sends him but when a roan goes among strangers and puts his trust in god for his food and shelter and raiment it requires some faith iee he must have reliance upon god but by taking this course men get a knowledge knew ledge of god if they axe are hungry and destitute and have no means it requires faith on their part to ask god to bestow the things they need and to have confidence that their prayers will be answered I 1 am thankful today in reflecting upon tile the fact that god has restored his is fal faith th a and n d raised u up p a people w who ho have exemplified in their lives the confidence they have in him I 1 thank him for the experience he has given to me to all his faithful elders and to his people it is a testimony that we are doing his will ta in this mariner manner all have been bene cited those who have preached and those who have received the gospel it was a great trial to tile the first elders to go out in this mn manner ner it was so different from everything then practiced for it was a fashion that ministers should be paid as other laborers they had means for their sustenance and for traveling expenses but the elders in israel had faith in god md went forth without purse and scrip and the experience of sixty years has shown that god is ia able to administer to the wants of his servants today as he was anciently tle he has shown that his arm is not shortened hort ened nor his power les lessened ened rhe gospel has been preached by I 1 men en who trus trusted in him and who wf were re chosen b by him they were not educated in seminaries but were calle I 1 from the farm and the workshop to go forth and proclaim the truth he promised that he would provide for them that they should not lack for food raiment or friends rhese promises have been fulfilled these valleys have been peopled hy by the prea preaching ebing of the gospel in this manner this gospel of christ which T the world calls Mormonism has been carried to the ends of the earth by men of faith and power A great people have been gathered from the remotest parts of thee sAll an and d united in one body and all this has been in harmony with the plan which god revealed anciently and which has been again revealed in this age it is a marvelous work accomplished by such and in such a way men may scoff and deride as they did anciently for the latter day faints have no more beefs held up to public opprobrium than were the immediate dis disciples of jesus chrls christ t pure and U noble as the apostles were they nevertheless died violent deaths they were not killed because they were thought to be innocent but because the people thought them too vile to live it was thought to be a praiseworthy act to take their lives peter was crucified at his own request his head was placed downward because he be thought himself not worthy to die in the manner jesus did paul whose memory is now PO greatly honored was be headed and so on with the others except john who was immersed in a caldron of boiling oil and who was an exile on the isle of patmos w heu he received the book of revelations but thes cause they labored and suffered for foi like that the latter day saints are e en n in is the work of the lord and he will care caire fur for it gods ways are above man he never attempted to perform any work on earth that was not opposed by men therefore with the history of the past men should mAs mistrust trust their own judgment lest they commit the same errors their forefathers did jesus asked the jews which of the prophets their fathers had not slain nearly all had bad been killed and all had been persecuted the present generation appears to be as ready to persecute and destroy as any generation that has preb preceded eded it jesus said by their fruits ye shall know them in this way he taught the people to judge of his doctrine the same rule applies today if a people are serving god their lives will ill be the proof of their doing so they will exhibit the proofs of their profession by their conduct we can judge ourselves and each other by this rule and form an excellent idea concerning the truthfulness bf our lives if we are saints of god we will bring forth fruits of sucha such life if we are true followers of jesus there will be n trouble on the part of a sincere seeker for the truth to distinguish us if I 1 wanted to find a people of god I 1 would look for a people who brought forth beeh fruits as did the disciples of jesus the lord did not select the learned lea rued but he chose humble and teril teru men through obedience they received the power of god jesus called and ordained them and sent them forth and they reported to him that the very devils were subject to them they had a power which they could not receive in seminaries of learning and were able to perform many works if I 1 were seeking for the people of god and found whose fruits were like tb those ese of ef the disciples I 1 would stop and investigate their claims and lives I 1 should want wanta a people who believe in christ and had faith in him who believed in repentance and in baptism which follows who also believed in the laying on of hands bands for the gift of the holy Gh ghost and who had that spirit to be with them this is the kind kina of people the former day saints were as we find recorded iu in the bible if anyone should say that the gifts of the holy ghost were done away with as a seeker for the truth I 1 should demand their proofs but the evidence is to the contrary after jesus was crucified and had bad arisen he appeared to his disciples and commanded them to go into all the world and preach to every creature he told them of the signs which should follow the believers in the wonderful works that should be manifest among them As a searcher for the church of christ I 1 would require a church that exhibited the sume powers as were shown in his church anciently where do we find such a church today where are the precious powers which glo goo d wad said should distinguish his people we behold the he divisions which exist among those who claim to be the followers of christ Is this the fruit of the gospel are the many disagreements as to the ordinances of the gospel evidence that those who disagree are right paul says there is one lord one faith and one baptism it is said that the christian world are like men going to a mill by different roads but that all will get there with the discord which exists among christendom what kind of a heaven would aliey have christ sought to bring that union between 1118 disciples and himself that there was wasI between him and his father any thing short of perfect union 11 I 1 als aja short of what jesus taught therein there i no religion from heaven that does not unite the people there Therel is siao BO division among the followers of christ asto as to the doctrines necessary for salvation the gospel un unites tea the people and those who received the teachings of the apostles anciently were brought nto into I 1 the fold and made one so it is in these days if there are the di divisions among us that there are in christendom it ii would be because we had lost the spirit men wonder that we say that angels have restored the gospel but how else could it be restored when the apostles and those who held the keys of the priesthood were desi destroyed royed Is it any wonder that the gifts of the gospel were lost under such a condition who has the authority such buch as the apostles once had when joseph smith was called there was no one among men who held the apostleship Is it any wonder then that god sent his angels and ordained two men to this authority when this authority was restored the gifts of the holy ghost were again made manifest ar an from that day to the present many wonderful works have been performed in the church it was necessary esstry for this restoration and the saints have shown its fruits in their hearts was aroused a love greater grealer than that for father or mother brother or sister or kindred what is it that has drawn the saints together in this land causing them to cross oceans and continents and endure hardships to be associated with the people of god men call this imposture but where is the power of god could anything else have accomplished this great work it could not and here among the saints is manifest the power of of the almighty the spirit which u unites them here in love is his spirit I 1 can believe in heaven when I 1 see what exists here and when we are dis enthralled from sin we can dwell in peace and love together I 1 see the people here dwelling in that condition and bearing meekly persecution se for forthe the truth s sake these are the fruits of disciples of the lord jesus persecution has no effect upon a people who manifest such fruits none who have experienced the feelings which actuate such a people can understand what it is that unites them god pours out upon men and women his spirit accord according Mg to their faith and sincerity he loves the whole human buman family who are his children his providence is over all his salvation is for all and he will eventually save all according to the laws which they obey except those t pose who commit the unpardonable sin christ died for all and will save all our hearts should swell with thanksgiving to god for the blessings we have received let us keep his laws that we may be prepared to dwell with him let us seek to understand god godliness line s that we may live godly in all things and assimilate in that likeness which he be has given unto the choir sang the anthem 0 unto 04 lord benediction was pronounced by by alaor john i |
