| Show sunday services C alous boub services were held at the cabera tabernacle acle salt lake city sunday october soth 1891 com commencing g at 2 V a president angus M cannon presiding the noir choir and congregation sang the byann commencing of god cod like a alre is bu burning Y ma spirit the S the latter day glory begins to come me forth rth prayer was offered offered by counselor joseph E taylor the choir sang aang ama dearest lord descend and dwell come by faith and love in every breast the priesthood of the fourth ward officiated in the administration of the sacrament ELDER JAMES jamba B E TALMAGE waa va called upon pa to address aldre 88 the th congre ration guition he said he found himself suddenly and unexpectedly placed before the discharge one of the duties n anle I 1 0 to p elder in the church 10 ing to an and kingdom of god he would ilot hot undertake to comply with the request to address the audience if fused he did not feel that the latter day salute saints were exercising their faith and wavers in behalf of those CA called 11 it UP upon to instruct them he had long 9 ago 0 siwu up the idea that a speaker ought to be riven given an to prepare lilt address beforehand the more a weaker ker relied on the inspiration from the more humble be would b be and the more likely to please our heavenly father and benefit his brethren i and sisters as well as himself we have faith in god in order to re daive his gifts and blessings ovive he term faith 11 is frequently used imong UR the word is almost an javery day word we have been taught f mt faith is the abe first principle of re healed religion it 1 l Is 8 the t hief chief corner awne of toe the superstructure of the gos goo pel without it it is impossible to amas please god it is therefore well worth while to i inquire aquire into the full meaning of that word faith to is older than the I 1 banian race yet many may not have I 1 comprehended its ito real significance considering the word itself it may be observed that it signifies fies almost the same 99 the word belief faith is a species of belief but setting philological logical considerations aside for vie tie time being it may be said that faith la in god is implicit confidence in him a means whereby we may know him recognize him as abe father of our spirits and the author of the whole universe without which knowledge we cannot worship him acceptably or intelligently it is true we cannot fully comprehend all the powers aud and attributes of for man is capable of understand jg g only those attributes of which he can calm form his bis ideas by means of comparison par lson this is recognized as a true philosophic principle for instance to io form a correct idea of the length of ten yards to is necessary to know the real length of the unit one yard anyone any one who has this can easily by by bv comparison comprehend the longer measure in the same way we obtain knowledge of abstract things thing by comparing them to concrete of unseen things by comparing them to that which is seen een thus thug we are enabled to understand to some extent the attributes of god for he has been pleased to allow us to compare some of them to attributes of which we have already formed an idea we have been told to call him father everybody understands what that means 14 is a name familiar and dear to all of up we know him to be an individual with all the attributes which we have though in higher perfection fec tion he is loving he isa is just bet this we can perceive both from his words and his actions and as we obtain such knowledge we can exercise faith in him those who had erected an an unknown god thereby declared that they could have sio BO faith for we can place no confidence ina in a being whom we do not know being that faith is in absolute confidence in god we may ask the question how can we learl lean to exercise faith holy writ abounds of instances setting forth the results obtained by placing byn lacing implicit confidence in god these theme can be studied to great advantage it is always good to study the biography of good men and to imitate their example abraham is an illustrious instance that man with whom god delighted to walk was called to leave his native land and go to a country he knew not but he be trusted in god and obeyed the call and went guided by the lord the speaker here dwelt at length upon the remarkable history of that great patriarch showing how he was tried but that he be in the most severe trials placed implicit confidence in III his bis dod god a faith that was rewarded with an a abundance bun dance of the choi choicest blessings referring to the command of the lord to abraham to sacrifice his only child a test teat which must have touched his heartstrings heart strings to their utmost ten slon sion the speaker remarked that many have thought it unfair of god to command abraham to do such an act it has been held bold up as an instance of god demanding a servant of his to defy the laws of the land in which he lived and infidels have said it is a impossible to have confidence in a god who can command such ouch violation of law and of grature but we must consider the circumstances under which abraham lived the government at that time was patriarchal the head of the family was not merely the owner of his bis property property but of his household too an and life and death of the children were to a large extend confided into his hands bands during the tourney journey in the wilderness the lord sometimes called upon the heads of the families to exercise this power in order to exterminate blasphemer and other sinners from among the people such was the law at that remote time and the lords command was no violation of any existing law the first instance of the lord requiring his servants to defy the laws of any land remains yet to be found revelations both ancient and modern have always been in compliance with the just laws of the country the lord never called upon his people to set such laws at defiance abraham in this great trial no doubt felt like job the lord lard gave and the lord bad a right to take that back which he had bad given when one places implicit confidence in the lord the result cannot be but beneficent to man we must not judge the almighty according to ourselves he who holds subject to his control the flask flash of the lightning and to whom time and space apace are no obstacles he who controls even the hearts of men and can change them to conform to his plans and purposes his promises can never fall fail he will fulfil fulfill them in his own time and in his own way it has been observed that w 1 ka ha ow some men to is in itself a good education and there is a great deal of truth in that but if this is so what is it to know the lord it to is indeed life if eternal and the more we know of him the more faith the more confidence we can place in him faith is the great principle by which all things in the universe are operated paul says the worlds were made by faith the father and the son who organized these worlds had to exercise their faith in order to accomplish this great work yes for or god never asked us to do anything which he would not do himself christ always told H his Is disciples to follow him when he preached the necessity of baptism he proved it by going down into the water himself anait and it is lo therefore but reasonable to suppose that god our father and his son exercise faith since we are required to do so the lord exercises faith in the principles kles and laws whereby he operates he because he bad confidence in th the power he possessed and creation was organized he may speak sneak again to us and the power of persecution may be stayed his power his faith are now the same as they were before if we are his children we may expect to find in us up to a certain extent some of the attributes belonging to him think of the mechanic who das breathed as it were his own genius into tile the work he has completed he speaks because he knows the exact nature of his work and the laws governing it he has hith faith in it and it at his commanding word the machine moves so does the creator command the work he has made A man who doubts is not perfect but he who has absolute faith can exclaim though he slay me yet I 1 will serve him it is not always easy to trust in the lord for sometimes he tries his children but in trials it ic must be remembered often turns the greatest blessings faith is a gift of god Is manthen man then accountable for not exercising faith the son of god has said that pearls should not be cast before swine he does not lavish his gifts on those who do not appreciate them but those who open their hearts shall ball have them filled with this heavenly gift and god is no respecter of persons the centurion cornelius and many others had no right to the blessings of god by means of their connection with the chosen seed yet when they prepared themselves for the acceptance of faith they received it their prayers were answered even a heathen who will live up to the light he be has will receive faith while a saint who does not live according to his light will loose it everybody will be hold held accountable for what light and other spiritual gifts have been bestowed upon him hence even the idolater who is earnest t jn in his bia worship will be rewarded at least for his earnestness but if there be one who has received faith and light he must exercise that faith or he be will stand condemned some people think their individual efforts are lostan the multitude with which they mingle they feel as if it were useless to continue the struggle the speaker remembered mew bared a man who had once entered a place of worship as the choir was singing a sacred hymn their voices however mingled in the most fearful discord be had bad ever heard and this being particularly painful to him he thought of either shutting his ears or leaving the place but as he feared to show any discourtesy to those whose guests he be was for the time being he remained and presently he be heard a remarkably sweet soprano not very loud but in perfect harmony with the instrument and by and by one after the other of the singers unconsciously fell in with the sweet singer till finally the whole choir was in harmony what a lesson jo ie thial we should not stop our efforts because of the discords that bat surround us we are tempted sometimes to let the discords discord have their own way but that is entirely wrong what is it to you if the harmony of the great song of life is no not perfect so long as you do not swerve from the part assigned to you by the great corn com poser keep on faithfully and you will won soon find that those associated with you will fall in with you and when this time has passed a universal re repertoire of praise will begin in the m menial reign of peace this we can hasten on by faithfully performing each our own part the great being although incomprehensible hen sible in his majesty is susceptible to the influences which you can exercise he can smile with pleasure or weep nith sorrow should we not then endeavor to please him by placing absolute faith in him may god bless us and may our testimonies increase till we shall join the heavenly choir above the choir sang the anthem father let thy blessings at parting bo be upon us benediction was pronounced by elder william B dougall |
