| Show REMARKS by president prent george Q cannon in the eighteenth ward chapel on sunday evening february 1891 REPORTED BY BT ANGUS K NICHOLSON Nj th the e announcement of the bishop saves gaves me the necessity of asking for your faith aad prayers I 1 would not stand here if I 1 did not believe I 1 might receive the as assistance Istance and split sanit of in god I 1 have been in pub public lic life a sance ce my youth but I 1 uever arise before a congregation without feelings of timidity it seems almost incredible but it is nevertheless my weakness I 1 have always learned learne 1 to put my trust in the lord As you know it is not our practice to prepare anything beforehand to say to the people I 1 never did it in my life I 1 have pondered in my heart the principles of the gospel and of righteousness ness and have trusted to the spirit of the lord I to suggest the things to be said I 1 know it is the proper way because how impossible it is for me to know the wants of your hearts whether need or corn com fort the people have wants which the spirit of faith can supply and no matter how simple the lau language guage or trite the subject it is a remarkable feature connected with the preach lug lag of the elders that when the spirit of god accompanies the words they carry light intelligence and comfort to those who hear them I 1 think this is a very remarkable feature of the principles of truth the repetition of them does not take away from them their value or make them stale to us but they are profitable and bring intelligence to the mind it to is this great power that has attended the preaching of the gospel in our day that has convinced so many contrary in numerous oases cases to their own maclina lia clina eions for they could have no induce ment from a worldly standpoint we bear a great deal of the principle of revelation if we believe in it no doubt we have our ideas about revelation and the way it is received I 1 suppose everyone who has read the bible has derived some impression regarding this subject the principle of revelation is a gift enjoyed by the saints to a greater extent than they themselves imagine some have an idea that there must become supernatural influence or power rest down on the person who receives revelation that transforms him to a certain extent and makes it apparent to a man who knows him that he is something beyond what men naturally are and there is disappointment I 1 presume because of expectations eions snot not being fulfilled inthis in this direction I 1 need only refer you to the case of the lord jesus who possessed the greatest power of all men being a god notwithstanding his position the greatness of his callin gand the power that he possessed and manifested in the midst of the people there were very few who recognized in him the being that he was he did not come up to their expectations they did not look upon him as the messiah in fact his own apostles had to exercise a great deal of faith to understand who he was it was only by revelation that peter knew that he was the christ for jesus told him that flesh and blood had not revealed this to him but his father in heaven li eaven no doubt the apostles walked among men possessing great power attracting great attention on the part of those with whom they mingled it required however the discernment that god gives to recognize them it required spiritual perception something more than man naturally possesses to distinguish them as the servants of god the spirit opi of revelation is the spirit of light do all mankind enjoy this spirit or is there only a certain class who have haveit it every human being that comes into the world has received a portion of the spirit of god to enlighten his mind every one to is born with it who is perfectly born but that is not the gift of the holy ghost yet this gift of revelation or prophecy to is re calved by all and is enjoyed to a greater or less extent by all according to the cultivation bestowed upon it we have perhaps known persons not mem bers of the church who have had this gift to a wonderful extent they have had impressions which have afterwards proved to be true how often in life we are of a person and we meet him or receive a letter fetter from him we may not have thought of him for months but something spontaneously brings him to our mind and before many hours we perhaps either see him or hear from him this I 1 believe to is the spirit of god or the spirit of revelation how often it occurs in the experience of a person that he is prompted to do a thing and having done it he will afterwards see it to is the thing he ought to have done or neglecting to do it he has seen that he has made a mistake in not following the prompting it is almost as though he heard beard a voice the man who lives in accordance with the of this spirit is to an extent a prophet and if he live in accordance with it strictly no matter whether he never heard the gospel of the lord jesus or never knew anything of the bible and other sacred records he will be saved if he follows that light god will not judge us from a light we do not know and the more we know the stricter will be our judgment A man who possesses an understanding of the principles of the gospel will be held to stricter accountability than the man who does not comprehend them heathens heathers He athens will be saved ahead of thousands and thousands who profess belief in christianity for it is revealed that they will have part in the first resurrection where much is given much is required where little Is in given little is required in regard to revelation it is our duty to walk in its light when a matter is presented plesent ed wore before us for consideration if ir we will live as we should aft d we shall know which course is right it to is our duty to follow the light that is the spirit of revelation that is the way the church of christ is led that is the way moses led the children of israel it was by following the light as it presented itself to h his to mind the path being made very clear before him That which was dark or which produced a stupor of mind or was not clear to him was not followed by him that which is plain and clear and which our minds are not unsettled about is always safe to do when we shall do this we shall be led by the spirit of god gd till we reach his kingdom some men say aay why does not god remove all difficulties from our pathway if he did so there would be no development his reason for placing us here was to develop our divine natures if we were not surrounded by darkness we could not develop we must taste the bitter in order to relish the sweet that our spirits might be purified and that we might exercise our free agency good and evil must be presented before us we are as free agents in our sphere as the angels are in theirs we are free to do right or to do wrong and to choose the path we shall tread in ia hell call persuade direct aright bles bleb him with wisdom and with might in nameless ways be rood good and kind but never force the human mind god will force no man to heaven because he would be of no value if there when we get to heaven it will be because we have developed within our selves the qualities that make heaven we must develop heaven within ourselves so that there will be perfect harmony between us and our surroundings I 1 have seen men enjoy great happiness in the midst of the worst surroundings A man of this character might be happy in hell if he were sent there on a mission because he would carry with him the elements of happiness angels may come from heaven to earth and mingle in earthly scenes and yet be happy they do not lose their angelic qualities nor their happiness I 1 chauk god for giving us our agency because I 1 think thick this earth will be a furnace to cleanse me and prepare me for a better condition of affairs and a better life and I 1 believe this of all of us the lord has placed us here for wise purposes it is just as necessary that our bodies should be subject to law as it is that our spirits should be these bodies of ours are naturally rebellious full of strange appetites we are here to conquer these desires all of us will be sanctified and redeemed if we are faithful but we must bring this earthly substance in subjection to the will of god when men die their bodies do not leave this planet our spirits leave here not be ing created out of the elements of this planet but if these spirits of ours are subject to the spirit of god and are controlled by its influence and our tabernacles have been subject to the law of god they will be redeemed exalted and glorified every law of god that we obey tends to our exaltation the spirit that we have here will be the spirit that will animate us in the resurrection if it is a spirit of evil it will have power over us if it is one of truth and righteousness it will direct us all the progress we make here will be to our advantage in the next life the rhe intelligence acquired here will not be lost we will keep adding to it and the more we seek understanding the greater will be our endowment of knowledge fidelity industry and all the other good qualities exhibited on earth will be manifested in heaven many persons doubt the existence of god because they cannot recognize the providence of deity in the various conditions which surround men on the earth this arises from a misapprehension in their minds concerning the plan of salvation I 1 believe that false religions have made more I 1 than anything else it is natural for man to place confidence in a supreme being when he be is in trouble he naturally seeks to a superior power for aid the historian bancroft comments on the fact that men in a abate of nature already believe in a supreme power there are differences in our organizations some are naturally much more religious thau than others and others are indifferent on the subject of religion it is the duty of every person to cultivate faith in god and not stifle it it is our duty to our children to promote this couil confidence dence in them in all my troubles trials and af fictions it has been a source of unbounded consolation to me to go to mcfather my father in heaven and call upon him in the name of jesus for help I 1 never did so in my life without obtaining relief relied and having my burdens lightened and my sorrows assuaged I 1 bear you this testimony he has answered the prayers of his people in a wonderful manner in some loiue cases it might be called miraculous I 1 would not value any religion that did not give sustenance and strength to those who espoused it I 1 love my religion because it ie accompanied with power there is no proper yearning of the heart that cannot be gratified by it to the fullest extent my I 1 life ife has been made a happy one because faith in god has been an unfailing source of gratification and peace to me it was this that coi consoled i soled the savior chehad he had numerous afflictions and sorrows to contend wit hand it was the knowledge that he was doing what god required that gave him strength to exemplify in his life the principles he taught if jesus had mocked crucified and cursed his enemies and said evil things concerning them what an example it would have been for him to set while teaching his glorious doctrines the people would not have bad faith in him but he did not do this he carried out the principles he taught he has given to mankind lessons lemons as to the way they should live he lived these doctrines himself in him you seethe exemplification of all the doctrines he taught should we not in like manner carry out strictly the principles he taught to us we certainly should the savior said whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek turn to him the other also and if any man shall sue thee at the law and take away thy coat let him have thy cloak also I 1 I 1 we should carry out his examples strictly in our lives we all know it is not so difficult to teach as to practice nevertheless we should strive to attain to that perfection of character that will make these things easy when men despitefully use us we should endeavor to treat them kindly in return it Is a greater trial to do this than alian to follow the natural inclination of fallen humanity to conquer by kind ness is the greatest victory to be had we should right all wrongs by kindness and show those with whom we are associated that our love is broad enough to forgive them and that we have charity for their weaknesses weak nesses we ought to attain to this we cannot go to jod god till we do I 1 do not believe we will go immediately to celestial glory there must be preparation some means by which we shall become nearer and nearer to the glory which is promised we have had bad great promises placed upon us and they will be fulfilled if we are faithful that same authority that said unto you call yo you u by byname name bei being ng commissioned of jesus christ I 1 baptize you in the name of the father and of the son and of the holy ghost and which produced the remission of sins to you has made unto you these promises an and they will be fulfilled by your being faithful but there must be exertion rhe fhe idea taught so frequently that a murderer who repents on the scaffold and professes belief in christ goes immediately to heaven is a fallacy and leads to the commission of sin we are not going to receive blessings without we comply with the conditions on which they are predicated god will wih not force these things upon us the reason why I 1 rejoice in our religion is that those blessings that I 1 have read about in ancient time are within my reach by complying with the ordinances of god but I 1 rejoice more ea especially ally because there is power on the earth that god acknowledges A man might have all the wisdom and learning that belongs to the entire human family if such a thing were possible and if he should then attempt to ba baptize authorize a man unless he was autho authorized of god it would not have any effect if this government heard that a man not commissioned to do so was act acting as an ambassador from the united states would they acknowledge what he did would they acce accept t a treaty made by him as binding ko no they would repudiate him so it 16 is with god he will not sanction what men do in his name if they are am not authorized of him this authority is IF the binding power that holds the latter day saints together tt it is stronger than any other power on en earth some call it the priesthood when it is given to man it makes him a legal representative of the almighty if this has been on the earth how else could it be restored unless some being who had formerly held it should come and restore it to have assumed anything else would have been utterly false as this is the method that god adopted to send messengers from on high who had bad the authority before there is nota not a man outside the true church of christ possessing the priesthood from god it has been customary when a man had bad a son religiously inclined to have him educated tor for the ministry there was not a man on the earth that could say be had authority from on high and dowise could it be restored except by angels the apORt leshi bandits and its authority were taken back to GW god and therefore it should be rea restored through the ministrations of holy beings when it was restored remarkable manifestations followed and many of the people received a spirit and experienced a feeling they had bad never felt before it has united men and women of various creeds and nationalities brought them together and they are living jiving in peace and unity men may say what they please to the contrary but there is love in the hearts of the latter day saints towards each other when this people live as they should do they have an affection for each other that they never before entertained jesus in his peti tion to the father prayed that the disciples might be one even as he and |
