Show sunday services religious eel vices were held at the Tater tabernacle nacle salt lake city sunday april A 17 1892 commencing at 2 z pm president joseph E taylor presiding the services ser vicea commenced by bv the choir and congregation singing the hymn commencing the spirit of godlike a lite flie is burning I 1 the latter day glory begins to come forth player was offered by elder elias A wright W right I 1 the union glee club then sang the temple ode all hall hail the glorious day jap professor 0 J thomas cou ducting deleting the priesthood of the ninth ward officiated in the administering of the sacrament APOSTLE REBERT GRANT I 1 addressed the congregation he earn estly hoped that he might be enabled to may flay something that alvernoon which would be for their mutual benefit and calculated in its nature to strengthen and build them up in their most holy faith falth the hymn and anthem just tung eung he said reminded them of the recent laying of the temple caps capstone an event long to be remembered by all who had bad the pleasure of being present on that occasion he believed that all the latter day saints who had embraced the gospel and wo desired to serve god were an aa faithful in that portion of their labors pertaining to the erection ot at temples temple a and the work therein as in any of the other duties devolving up on them the elders in israel icrael came as aa near perfection in responding sp to the calls of the priesthood in going forth to proclaim t t the he gospel as was possible and he be knew of none ot of his associates assod latto pro to be latter day saints but who were ready and willing if called upon to leave their homes families friends and business 9 and go forth for a term of years to preach the gospel without money and without price 22 he had never yet listened to the testimony of a single elder in irsael who had been on a mission without hearing his bis acknowledgment that the joy and peace which he be had received while proclaiming roe ming the restitution of the ape to the earth and endeavoring to win souls to christ were greater than all the pleasures he had ever before experienced the universal testimony of the faithful miss missionary ionar y upon his return home was that he would not barter away the experience he had bad had and the testimonies he be had bad received from god approving of his T labors for all the wealth of the world me he believed the latter day saints were nearly Dearly perfect not only in responding to the call to go goon on missi missions ouA but also to the calls made upon them for the erection of temples and the work therein after their completion A vote ot of the people was taken at the recent toon conference ference when it was resolved to contribute of their means labor and ia la fluence with the object of completing the temple by the ath of april 1893 1891 so that it could then be dedicated me be regretted to hear bear that there were som axne however who had bad taken the grou pound iid that ft would be to finish the building by that time and some had eve even gane so far is as to say aay that 0 it could not be completed in two years from now DOW in the gospel the promise was made that we should be blessed an n our labors and rewarded according to our faith were there were some same lectures contained in hi the bookoff book of doctrine aud and covenants upon the subject of faith which Ms commended to the attention loB of uP Saints for he felt sure that if they would read them they would thereby be aided very materially in making up their minds that there would be no particular difficulty in finishing the temple during the year As AB we received by faith all temporal blessings so in like manner we received by faith all spiritual blessings faith was not only a principle of action but also of power in all intelligent beings whether in heaven or on earth thus said the author of the epistle to the hebrews he believed that tire the man who was inspired by faith from god and had an abiding conviction burning within his bis heart could accomplish certain labor within the th bounds of reason a man so inspired could accomplish those things which to the human eye and understanding were not within such blunde it was by faith that daniel was preserved in the lions den that the three hebrew children went unharmed through tile the flery fiery fur furnace DRee that moses led the children of israel out of bondage and it woud be faith coupled with works for faith without works is dead that would enable this people to finish the temple within the period sti stipulated pu there was no question whatever ver in his own mind that they could do this work if they went to with a will but no half dozen men no one hu hundred nd red men nor two hundred mon men among the latter day saints would alone be able to complete this undertaking it would require united effort on the part of the elders and women in israel all must contribute as tar as their means would allow and those who were engaged in the actual work of the building would have to labor with all their might it would be a standing source of regret for years to come if this work which they had bad covenanted with god to consummate within a certain period was not accomplished accomplish id the presidency of the church had called upon bishop john B R winder to 10 superintend this labor and it was a duty of which he could well be proud that of seeing g the finishing touches put upon this house of god he felt to give brother winder his bis faith and prayers as well as of his means and if the subscription which he had ad already given was not sufficient and further help were needed he himself would gladly yield more it was a very serious matter for them to make a covenant with the lord to promise to do a thing and then fall fail to do it we were told in the scriptures that to whom much to is given of him much shall be required ly and if we had much light given unto us and many blessings from the lord and then did not live any better than those who did not possess them we would be under greater condemnation he felt satisfied however that in this instance the flatter day saints would be true to their coye covenant nant and that the temple would be ready for dedication at the next april conference the speaker read from the sec tion book of doctrine and covenants verses 26 to 33 38 we had here he be said the admonition f from rom our heavenly father that we must bring forward much righteousness of our own free will willand and not wait to ae be commanded he trusted that the saints would not wait to be drummed up by the bishops of their respective wards in this thin matter there bad been a great many promises made by god to this people which were to be fulfilled upon their headd but these had bad been made upon certain conditions if we ful filled the law upon which the blessing was predicated we would obtain that blessing but if we expected to receive the blessings promised in these temples we must perform our part in helping to build them by paying our tithes v and offerings one of the conditions upon which a man was permitted to enter into a temple was that he should be faithful in the payment of his tithing which would enable him to obtain a recommend to enter into these Hoti houses ses of the lord if a man had not been a he was not entitled to this privilege if then we wished for the blessings of the temple we must fulfil fulfill the law of tithing he had heard some people complain against this requirement saying that the gospel should be free to all he himself was waa of a practical turn of mind and his own view wea this that those individuals who desired to have the blessings of the tern tem j pie without paying their share towards its erection were dishonest because they wished to appropriate the labors of others they might take the forty thousand or more persona who w werey are present at the recent laying of the gov cap stone and with all their comb combined inid belp without a little faith attached that point would never have been reached let those he urged who had been careless or indifferent hitherto in regard to this matter at once seek to reform fard orm keep the commandments of god perform the tabors labors devolving upon them faithfully and they would be forgiven for part neglect let all such turnover turn over a new leafa and endeavor to fully qualify and prepare themselves to receive the bJes blessings sings of god in this his holy temple when it was completed the latter day saints believed in baptism for the dead in salvation for those who had bad died without a knowledge of the gospel that all human beings should have the privilege of receiving or rejecting the gospel the speaker here read from the section of the doctrine and covenants and said he be tied had heard beard it advanced by some persons in opposition to the ordinance of baptism for the dead that this absurd doctrine why the very foundation stone upon which the christian religion rested was the vicarious work which je jesus fine christ chalat himself performed for us he came on earth and was crucified crusi fied for our sine he laid down his very life in our behalf the whole fundamental system of christianity rested upon the vicarious work of christ apostle grant referred to the vast amount of time and labor that had been expended by the latter day saints sair is in the compile uon tion of genealogical records and remarked that the fact of f their having spent millions of dollars in erecting T temples amples showed their faith and integrity if bod god bad given us talent strength of mind and body to accomplish the labor before us let us go forward resolved to do it and if we labored in proportion to the ability and strength we possessed he would ask no more of us COUNSELOR JOSEPH E TAYLOR said the subject of temple building 9 had been happily chosen by brother orant grant that afternoon his bis remarks being truly appropriate to the occasion easter which was generally observed throughout christendom in com ne of christs christ resurrection drom the tomb the latter day saints were essentially a temple building people this was one of the labors which rested with full foree force and power upon their shoulders and it was one which they had bad assumed to carry cany out to the extent stent of their ability the preaching of the gospel to the living the administering of ordinances of a sacred character to those in the flesh was really a small work in comparison with the great labor which must be performed Der form for thase who had bad passed away and were now in the spirit world but who did not enjoy the privileges privilege of the gospel while here below upon us then rested the responsibility of baptism for thedeas the dead and in order that this hia holy ordinance might be successfully accomplished there devolved upon us the work of building temples places designated by god bod the architectural designs of which had been revealed from heaven indeed scientific men and nd the world generally had acknowledged ais aa to the design of those temples especially the one here that there was nothing like it upon the earth if we were poor and pen ni less god bod would accept the oraid ordinances ances tor for ourselves and our dead outside of buildings erected for this purpose but when his people had bad the means and it was within their power he expected them to build those houses bouses in order that the sacred ordinances might be carried out the speaker said he was present when the ground on which our temple now stood was dedicated february 1858 he commenced to labor with a pick and therland there and continued till the cornerstones corner stones were laid kod on april ath working upon udon the excavations for thirty nine years he be had watched with in interest lerest the slow progress of the building while some had bad asked the be question why has it not been completed before this time be himself had ever felt satisfied that in this regard all was going on ob right they had bad in the meantime built three other temples one in the extreme south another in the extreme north and another was perhaps about centrally located in the territory spose of them who had had bad the pleasure pleasure and privilege of passing the thresh hold of either of these sacred edifices and received the ordinances for the tha living as well well as for their dead I 1 and who had partaken partaker par taken of the spirit of these holy places could readily recognize and understand and knew for themselves that god was well pleased with ith this work but the work of re redemption demil tion would not be fully completed until every soul had bad been brought to possess some condition of floryin glo one of the kingdoms which god had provided for them save the ons fons f of perdition after referring to the authority conferred on the prophet joseph smith in regard to the gathering of the remnants of scattered israel and completing the covenant which god made with moses moon concerning israel uie speaker said gald he bad cled of our young people would live to see the day when they would be able to count temples by hundreds upon this land for the lat ter day saints sainto would continue to be a temple building people if diligent in responding to the calls made upon us in reference to the work of erecting temples and then entering into them to receive the sacred ordinances i for our dead who were helpless but worthy of salvation we should have performed our duty we should be accepted of god and our dead would be redeemed but if we were negligent in this regard we perchance might be rejected as well its as our dead for the time and would lose our blessing and reward brother grant had remarked upon the doubt which seemed to prevail in the minds of some people that this temple would not be completed within the period specified he thought the resolution adopted at the recent conference was wa an intelligent one in all respects and if we would go on with all our might he felt convinced that there would be no difficulty whatever in accomplishing the praiseworthy object in view thus they would gratify the feelings of their venerable and revered president who bad expressed a strong desire to see the building finished by april next in order that be might have the opportunity of taking part in its dedication unity was strength and if they were united in this as well as in other matters they could do a great deal he had no doubt whatever that the work before them could be completed by the time appointed if each one on e would take his or her share of the responsibility the choir sang the temple anthem after which the benediction was pronounced by counselor charles W penrose |