Show sunday Servi services oes religious services were held at the tabernacle salt lake city sunday february 21 1892 commencing sit at 2 p m president angus M cannon presiding the choir sang the hymn beginning hark I 1 listen to the trumpeters trum peters I 1 they sound tor for volunteers prayer was offered by elder willard young the choir next sang the hymn hyma come dearest lord descend and dwell by faith and love in every breast ELDER WILLARD DONE DOME was as called to add address ress the congregation S 00 ft said the object for which they together on such occasions 49 the present was primarily that they ight ht partake of the emblems emblem of the to y and blood of our redeemer we J V been jae commanded to do this in re ambra ce of him and hence our minde ids should be concentrated upon holy ordinances in which we lere r a participating there were many outward d signs and ordinances pertaining ha t to 0 the gospel of salvation which wd been revealed to us in these days there was not one of those outward ordinances that did riot have an inward principle and spirit watch vivified and made what otherwise would be dead and meaningless alive and full of significance this wille we particularly the case with the ordinance of the sacrament there was a principle underlying this single act t ot of partaking of the bread tn in remembrance mem brance of the body and of the water erin in remembrance of the blood of our redeemer and in one of his epistles the apostle paul set forth as the reason why many were sick and many had died among the people to whom he WAS writing that they had partaken partaker par taken of holy ordinance without discerning christ without discerning his fife body in those el emblems lems of which ibey partook I 1 it hadlen to them a doad dead and meaning meaningless form and the result was that instead of receiving blessings they were the recipients of the opposite the speaker referred to the doctrine known lit iii the roman catholic church go as transubstantiation which meant he aid id ittai when the priest pronounced the blessing blaming upon the brea i 1 it became part of the actual body of chirst and so alp with the wine which it was believed became actually his blood such a doctrine was of course without foundation in fact they rhey were taught in the gospel to look upon these emblems beems as of a sacred character but still to regard them ionly an am emblems much indeed might be said upon this subject but it was all summed up in the short declaration that he who partook of these emblems unworthily instead of eating and drinking salvation ate and drank condemnation unto his own soul he believed that this thic in common with all purposes which god had revealed reveal bd would be wrought out upon unon natural principles elder done referred to various other ordinances to in the church among them baptism forthe for the remission of sins al no and the laying on OB os of hands lor the gift qt at the holy ghost he believed the mistake was made by many who pro tossed to be latter day saints in that they depended rather upon the outward boim foi in than upon the inward ariu ciple we should see gee to it that we recognized the spirit in which those these ordinances were performed else we were under condemnation in our advancement in knowledge and understanding we were held back to A very great extent by influences that surround us a and nd therefore it was not always possible for us to understand fully the spiritual iii IL fluence unless there was something of a temporal nature presented to us whereby we might comprehend for we had bad been told that all spiritual things were made so that temporal things could for the time being depre represent rent them the gospel of christ was made plain unto all those who sought or attempted to study it christ was the one to whom we must look for our salvation he was the one who had bad come between us and sin who gave up his own life in order to redeem us on from the effects of the fall and hence the necessity for our faith in him for by boother no other means could we gain the salvation and exaltation to which we aspired let us not then amid the anres and anxieties of the world forget the duty which we owed to our eternal father may the spirit rest upon usand inspire our leaders and all those who are placed before us ua to instruct and edify us may his hiar spirit rest upon all people in the church and out of it that those who have not yet joined the fold of christ may understand their position and be led unto him and become heirs to the blessings which he has promised to the faithful APOSTLE ABRAHAM H CANNON was wag the next speaker in the course of his remarks he be said it would be a blessed thing for us if we could practice r atice in our lives the truths which xea god baal revealed in these last days for the salvation of his children but how few there were even among the best of those who called themselves latter day saints who could approximate to a life of purity and holiness in K his sight it was said that many are called but few are chosen 11 1 and our experience proved to us the truth of this there had been thousands of persons who had received the ordinances of the tha gospel in this age and had fallen away it was stated indeed that the number of those who had apostatized from this church since its organization was greater than those who were now included clouded in it though this might be an exaggerated statement yet certain it was that very many had turned away from the truth but this was no new thing for wa we read in the scriptures scripture that even in the days of jesus many lost the faith became darkened in their minds and the spirit which was given them through obedience to the ardi nances bances of the gospel was withdrawn leaving them in darkness of the apostles who traveled with jesus and ministered under his direction one of them fell into transgression and was even guilty of betraying his bis master speaking of the great and growing deelbe in the world today for the accumulation of wealth apostle cannon said aid the power which it could command among men mb was not to be despised and the possession of wealth in itself was no sin bin but it was the great love of wealth which which was wag the root of all evil As AB latter day santa our hearts should not be set met upon these things for they were of the earth earthy and with the passing away of the world they would be destroyed our desire rather should be to lay up in heaven those stores gores of treasure which neither moth nor rust datri corrupt and where thieves do not break through nor steal I god hold held under his control the riches of this earth in the mountains which surround us lay buried inexhaustible stores of minerals and god would in his own due time reveal them to the of his children when their hearts were right before him and they would use that which he gave them for the advancement ochia of his cause here upon the earth but the greed for gain was a passion which few men could subdue they found this spirit existing in all classes of society but when it took hold of latter day saints it was apt to make them forget the covenants they bad made with god we should so live that the people of the world might ste see our good works and be constrained to tive give us credit for sincerity of purpose god bod had been ever weady seady to hear bear our prayers and as we sought to walk in humility before him he would magnify us in the eyes of the people and they would yet be led to acknowledge that this was the zion of our god As latter day saints we could growling grace and in the wisdom and knowledge of god we could grow in wealth also if we would pursue the proper course the joseph had predicted and none of his predictions thus far had remained unfulfilled that god would make of us the richest people on the face of the earth but not so long as our hearts were fill ed with covetousness we were living in a day of trial when every maws mans faith would be test ed to the uttermost how could we stand the ordeal it was only by seeking the lord constantly and carrying out that which he had told us to do in the affairs of life holding everything subject unto him yielding obedience to his commands in all things we should be careful not dot to destroy the trust which god had imposed upon us but be faithful in I 1 every respect and he would pour out wis his holy spirit upon us in such measure that men would see our good works and in the days of trouble which were to come they would turn their eyes and seek among this people that refuge and safety which were denied them among their own in the places in which they now dwelt how happy we should be in the of trial how faithful when attacked by the worl dand when persecution ran mountains high seeking to overwhelm us how bow comforted in the knowledge that god was wa at the head bead of this work and that whatever happened was with hip permission and under his direction for the strength of his people and the glory of his name in these latter days the choir sang the anthem unfold ye portals portal everlasting Bese benediction diction by elmerjohn elder Elde john rJohn alford |