| Show TO GOD AND EA EACH CH OTHER discourse delivered at the salt sall lake stake slake conference in the tabernacle sau salt lake city cily sunday Afier afternoon noon march yd ibos by ELDER FRANCIS M LYMAN y X tREFOR TED BY ARTHUR WINTER 4 I 1 am pleased to meet with the latter aay ay saints in the conference in this IA it is a pleasure I 1 rarely bave ve I 1 enjoyed the services this morn ate Z listening to a number of our visit al brethren bret bren and I 1 only regret that you theople ti eople I 1 e were not hereto here to hear them it ap encouraging to hear the testimonies vf our brethren that we do not frequent hy have the privilege 1 I e ge ot of listening to 1 I have f felt elt that there is a spirit that to be cultivated more extensive exten extensively siv ely shan AM a it is in the souls of the latter day stints and that is the spirit of loyalty d fi fidelity delity to the kingdom to the iest bood to the discipline of th the e lurch and to each other it is a irit it ahat that should be emphasized in ary soul in regard to all matters ming to the kingdom of god AME behave awve been blessed as no other ale we have been favored as no her r people upon the earth claim r have been favored As we heard is ma orning morning from elder ivins we have favored with the restoration of the Bt espel el by an angel and I 1 do not re ber to have heard that any other jtB Cople le upon the fa face ce of the earth have tade e th that at claim anil and in connection ith tile the Gosp eland as a very important art of it we have had given to us the boly ay ghost which bears record that angel has come and that the gos and the Priest hoods of Melchi sedek aaron have been restored through js engers sent from heaven no jer er people have made this claim but ie 0 followers of the prophet joseph anith ith and I 1 feel that the spirit of alty should be cultivated in the aarts aria of the latter day saints toward chis mission that has been established mong men we understand what loyally means to a sovereign or a prince to a husband or a wife and that same spirit of loyalty that we should manifest toward our sovereign king should be also aho manifest toward each other and toward coward every rule and requirement of the church we have regulations given in regard to every quorum of the priesthood and every organization branch lr anch ward or stake and there should he be cultivated in the heart of every A father alfather loyalty to his ward to his stake tv tu his quorum t to 0 his family the same spirit should be e cherished also by every son it should be pronounced loyalty toward the institutions of zion and the requirements of heaven there should be loyalty to this sacred ordinance the lords supper of which we are partaking now it we are loyal to this ordinance we will be at the places where the sacrament is prepared for us we will not only be there but we will be prepared to partake of it worthily I 1 say that lathers fathers should plant carefully and securely in the hearts ot of their sons loyalty to bod and to the principles of eternal life mothers should labor to plant that spirit ot of loyalty in the hearts 0 of f their daughters that they will be to god and to the laws of his gospel if sons and daughters are as loyal to the of salvation as they ought to be they will never become unequally yoked joked with the unbeliever for a man cannot be loyal and true to heaven that would become unequally yoked joked with those wh are not of our t laith aith men who would do this must be weak in the laith faith and lacking in loyalty where the spirit of loyalty is properly cultivated there is no dissension no contention no inclination to be at war with the powers that be no inclination to be in opposition to the rules and requirements of the lord and his church but this spirit will make us true to every requirement if we are loyal to the principle 0 of tithing I 1 which the lord has laid down in H his is church for us to follow we will take pleasure in the payment of at our tithing it we are loyal to the requirements of the lord in regard to the offerings necessary for the sustenance ot 01 the poor we will not neglect the poor if we have the spirit of loyalty within us it will impel us to meet every aaion and requirement it comes from the inspiration ot of the holy ghost and ought to burn continually within us when we are called to leave home upon missions it always beings bungs our hearts back to this centre ot of gravitation this gathering spot of zion and never allows us to entertain a feeling of alienation from the people ol of god or from the institutions of Z zon on I 1 knits our hearts closely to these and causes us to be so devoted to zion and her interests that our happiness and joy are in her prosperity and advancement we sn uld not only be loyal to the church as a whole but we should be loyal to the ward loyal to the quorum loyal to the associations that are formed loyal to the institutions ot of learn learning ingin in zion loyal to every labor and rule established in the of the church lor for the benefit ot of the people that we would never allow a feeling in our hearts of appo to what is determined upon as the proper policy or course in in a ward in a quorum or in a stake but that we would be loyal to thi we should be loyal to the teachers who v visit is it 0 our ur homes loyal to the bishop loyal to the bishops court and its decision loyal to the institutions that are given to us by the inspired servants odthe of the lord who stand immediately at our h head for bishops are inspired men they tha are entitled to give forth the word and wis will of the lord to their war wards and ad in relation to i he affairs that are r trusted tp to them they aree are authorized by their ordinations and appoint appointments appointment men ts to preside over all the interests inheres ts of their sri air wards and every department of the ward should be loyal to that head and the more profound and perfect the loy alty ally can be in the ward the greater the inspiration through the bishop through his bis counselors and through the teat teachers who labor in the midst of the people and the more successful they in w wol be in seeing that there is no iniquity fai the church if there is a spirit of d disloyalty its in heads beads of families in amard a ward w what h at chance do teachers stan stand d i in a ther labors they work at a very gre gret t disadvantage you who have been teachers know the variety of spirit trayou that you have to meet in some families a mii meek and lowly spirit is manifested they seem to welcome you and feast up upon an the instructions you give them other families you will find in 0 opposition always in contention and in difficulty between parents sometimes at other ohp pr times between parents and childred chil dreo and again between children there ika 19 a lack of that spirit of loyalty to which I 1 am referring and which ought to be 90 00 carefully cultivated in the hearts of glie be latter day saints and it can only lie be cultivated and maintained by tife the fqy holy ghost which dwells where the soul as is pure where the body is uncontaminated and where righteousness is characteristic of every movement where there is a love in the heart for the truth for or honesty and virtue there the spirit of the lord increases where this love lobe diminishes the spirit of te t e lord withdraws itself until the soul is left barren bairen and unfruitful tor lor the want of that spirit there are local policies and regulations that pertain to the various departments ol of zion to which every member of tile the church should always be committed they should always be in favor of order anu and 01 ol good government the spirit of opposition when discovered in ourselves and in those we have influence over should be checked and th the spirit espirit of loyalty and fidelity should be cultivated we may know whether we re going in the right direction cuon or not for tile me spirit of toe tae lord will satisfy our souls when we are walking in n the right direction when we become accustomed to the operations of that spirit the very moment we start out in the wrong direction and undertake to do something that is not pleasing in the sight lit of the lord we will feel rebuked alln by the withdrawal of that spirit an when it is withdrawn we feet feel unhappy and uncomfortable and we doubt and hesitate the latter day saints are not led kd blindly we are led by the spirit of the lord and we are entitled to know plainly and distin aly that every step we take is proper and right for the spirit ol of the lord will bear testimony concerning this to every faculty ol of the soul the withdrawal ol of that spirit is a certain indication that we are starting out in the wrong direction that we have said or done something that is not right lor for the spirit of god is never grieved with anything that is right and proper it rather increases and warms the heart ane n the marrow in our bones when we do that which is right but when we take the opposite course and it withdraws itself from us there follows a chilly sensation so that we are placed in a condition where we may positively know whether our course ot of lile life is right in the sight of god and such as we can be proud of this is the unction that is bestowed upon us in answer to our faith in ia god our repentance our baptism and the laying on of hands for the re caption of the holy ghost we are also entitled to know and we do know that the gospel is true we know that the angel came to the prophet joseph and conferred upon him the priesthood we know that tha t peter james es and john the apostles ot of the I 1 lord jesus christ did come and lay their bands upon the prophet joseph and 01 ol ver cowdery and conferred upon them the apostleship with all ail the keys and powers oi of that priesthood this we know as we know that we live and we know that others may know it as we do and we know too that the light of heaven the revelation of god the holy ghost the truth attend upon the souls of men everywhere if they will but allow their souls to be open so as to receive the light from heaven it is given e n to every man born of woman to ce have power to believe and do right as well as to do wrong the lord has not sent us here and so determined our conditions that we cannot do light t we can do r right ht that power is within us and us to exercise it to do his will and to accomplish his purposes oses and in addition to that natural power aba that we enjoy through being the legitimate sons and daughters of god he has bestowed upon us the gift of the holy ghost he has given to esthe us the holy ghost to be clr companion to in spire our hearts that we shall not be left in doubt or to wander witt ait oit some power to guide us safely to eternal life these are the privileges and blessings that have come to the latter day saints and there is no people in the earth that thai have the independence ol of spirit that latter day saints have they must have that independence to be latter day saints coupled with the help of the lord he comes to our aid and gives us strength to comply with his requirements by conferring the holy ghost upon pon us that same spirit by which holy men of old wrote and spoke and their writings were scripture and the n 1 IT th i is tax ahat th wll wl promote in the hearts of the latter day saints the loyalty that I 1 am speaking of yesterday I 1 listened to reports in davis stake I 1 think they were a little the best reports that I 1 have ever heard in a stake of zion in fact they were so encouraging that I 1 almost trembled for fear they would not remain as good as they seemed to be at the present time but I 1 did rejoice exceedingly in listening to the very flattering and promising reports from every corner of davis stake it seemed to me as though the presidency of that stake had taken in hand every bishopric the high council and the presidents of quorums qu and a nd every department of the stake and had given them careful and personal attention that they had labored with them and brought them to a spirit ot of improvement and advancement such as they had bad not reached before I 1 felt that I 1 must urge them to continue and to keep it beep the ground that they had gained when we have gained a little ground by doing well lor for a while we should be secure thereon and not lose the advantage thus gained for every successful step we take helps us to another we expect to gain t y degrees step by step until we come into the presence of our heavenly father it takes persistence determination and constancy for us to succeed in our efforts as latter day sai ts and it is important that we should possess these qualities we should not only be firm enough to stand out against the whole world but we should have that devotion that will enable us to stand firm to our convictions vict ions and to our determination to do the will ot of god our repentance should be genuine and genuine repentance is eternal repentance it is not repentance tor for a man to be a good man fo for r thirty years only what is repentance it is ib to be good always from the time that a man is convinced ot of his sins and sees the importance ol of reformation his repentance pen tance to be genuine must be from that time henceforth and forever that reformation is not genuine that needs to 10 1 e reformed ormed rel every little while for when a man who has been forgiven lor given returns to his wickedness the former sin comes upon him again and he becomes like the sow that is washed returning to her wallowing in in the mire or like the dog to his w v mk mit to have exaltation and eternal lile life it is important that we not only commence being saints but we should end being saints there is no power on earth that can deprive us of this glory only that which is within us A mans salvation does not depend upon his bis neighbor or his kindred the lord has given to every individual soul power if he will but exercise it and do the will of the lord to eurn earn eternal life and he has power also to go to destruction it he wants to do so it 11 a man has power to do wrong be has power to do good but we are of the earth earthy and we are inclined to lean toward the things of the earth we are rather inclined to take the downhill road it is difficult to travel uphill but it is the grade that we undertook to travel when we embraced the gospel rising higher doing better advancing upward toward our heavenly father the downhill road leads to destruction and to death but the spirit ol of loyalty to the kingdom and the king and to the principles of sa salvation thal thai have been revea ed will bring us out successfully at the end for that reason I 1 would impress upon the minds of the latter day saints the necessity of cultivating that s spirit of loyalty to all that there is abou arou around us in in our everyday walk ot life and to every requirement of the G gospel osper that we may make our calling and election sure and be exalted in th the presence of our father amen |
