Show 5 DIS DISCOURSE COURSIE in the tabernacle e delivered discourse Ois IDi course scours salt lake city utah bunday v november by i IF RESIDENT GEORGE 10 CANNON rupa BY ARTHUR WINTER will read a portion of the chapla r I 1 gospel according to st john of the ter the words of the prayer of the are 4 they previous to his martyrdom r bord jesus 6 se said I 1 for OT them I 1 pray not for the world I 1 pray but for them which thou hast for they are thine Kiven me iven thine and thine are mine are II 11 and all E and I 1 am glorified in them wane I 1 am no more in the world af pf T IV and now are in the world and I 1 come fut tut these holy father keep through yo to thee name those whom thou hast it thine own that the they y may be one as we 1 WV iven en in me e calr jr was with them in the world 3 I 1 thile name those that in thy P them I 1 beut and me I 1 have kept none W vest davest a thou ahou is lost but the son of ferdl tat idt them the scripture might be ful atton that F ed come I 1 to thee and these now and the world that they in bitnes tit nes asi I 1 speak fulfilled in them h have ave my joy ives and the them thy word 1 I have given hated them because they bath orld the world worl d even SLA aa I 1 am not itee not t of ak worlds orl ag e no not t that thou take oray r out t of t the e world but that thou M 0 from the evil t keep ee them aldest es not t of the world even as I 1 diey e are re of t the e world not them through thy truth thy ati fy d to is truth hast bast sent me into the world As an thou I 1 also sent them into the en n so have d I 1 sanctify my sakes f for or their ad id sanctified might be also i the that lt they the truth ough amigh I 1 for these alone but et either er pray also which shall believe on them their word through be one as thou all may chat at they thee that in aher art in me and I 1 be one in us that the may BY also believe that thou hast sent pad may k thou pat a t me chica p ry and A nd d the glory that tha MAY be them efa have ave given as we are one on e b eve even n th that at they in and t thou hou me in them I 1 lem williy b be made ade perfect in one and that that thou hast ll lla world 0 d may know them as thou loved il t me and d hast loved me ther her I 1 will that they also whom hast given me be with me where 3 i that they may behold my glory ch thou hast given me for thou ast dst me before the foundation of rad righteous rather father the world hath known thee but I 1 have known these heme have known that thou tf ferit me d I 1 have declared unto them thy name and will declare it that the love w wherewith herewith thou hast loved me may be in them and I 1 in them this prayer which our savior offered unto his father is wonderfully comprehensive and I 1 do not think anyone can read it without being deeply impressed with its meaning it gives us an excellent idea of the condition that the lord jesus desired ills his apostles and those who should believe on their words to be in he prayed that they might be one and that through that oneness the world should know that he had sent them and that he himself had been sent of the father it is evident therefore that the savior designed that the spirit of oneness and of love and union should characterize his disciples and those who obeyed his commandments he H says in a previous chapter A new commandment I 1 give unto you that ye love one another and he continued by this shall all men know that ye are my disciples if ye love one another they were to be distinguished as his disciples by their love one for another if this characteristic should be absent there would be nothing according to these words to distinguish his disciples from those who were not his disciples john has also recorded in this same book that if we love him we will keep his commandments As aa disciples of the lord jesus we should show our love for him by keeping his commandments those who love him not will not keep his commandments these features which the lord jesus impressed upon his disciples are the attractive features of the gospel which he preached and where this love and this union which he so beautifully describes are absent then there is evidence that his commandments ar are e not being kept and that those who are in that condition aie are not his disciples in these words that I 1 have read we have the means of testing his gospel and of proving who are his disciples when men say they want some evidence concerning the truth and the gospel they have in these characteristics the tests by which they can ascertain for themselves tw whether hether those who profess to be the disciples of the lord are such in reality it is these features which have attended the preaching of the gospel by the latter day saints that have always called forth my thankfulness and admiration I 1 should never have been satisfied with that which the elders of this church have taught had there been an absence of love and of union because th the faults which the savior promised and prayed for would not accompany e om pany the preaching of the word but it is one of the remarkable features of the preaching of the gospel in our day that wherever it has been carried it has been attended by a love diat that is wonderful and unexampled men have gone put carrying the message of salvation and wherever reyer they have gone filled with the spirit ot of it they have awakened awaken ed a love in the hearts of those who have received their testimony that has been entirely new to them the love of kindreds tha love of home the love of other tb things upon which mens affections have be been placed has been overshadowed by the great love which the lord has fired them with for the truth and for the work that he has established and for the people who are identified with that work one of the great objections that has been urged against the latter day saints is that they are too united it was so as far back as the time when the saints sainter resided in ohio it was wad so ao also in missouri one of the chief objections against the latter day dair saints there was that they clung together and that they were not like other people in that respect this we wasp the case also in illinois and since we dame came to these mountains and especially tor for the past forty years the same objection has been urged and it has beta been the fruitful cause of a great deal of the trouble we have had to contend with A noted man in our own nation in referring to us and our methods said why cant you be like we are if we could be like other people we would have no trouble if we wa were divided and subdivided and differences prevailed among us there would be no difficulty we would be like the rest and the great objection that la Is now urged against us would disappear if a collection of the charges which have appeared in the public prints during many long years could be h had ad it would be found that the great antl I 1 lying charge upon which al lother charges have been based lias been that we were too united that we were dangerous because of our union and that if we could be divided as other people axe are we would have less difficulty the evidence that this is the case to Is to be found in the fact that since the latter day saints have divided upon political issues and the people have arrayed themselves upon party imes there have been far fewer objections against them you will find that whenever heh there is a disposition among amon gAhe the latter day saints to unite together n outcry is raised against them because it is a feature that seems to be greatly dreaded on the part of those who do not believe as we do I 1 take it that the greatest compliment that can be paid to us in view of the words of the lord that I 1 have read and tn in view of our professions as his disciples is to say that we are united and to find fault with us on this account it is a very desirable thin thing 9 that that union and love should prevail among us as the followers of the lord jesus jedias christ does it prevail among us as it should do I 1 am sure that it does not I 1 am sure that we are far from being as loving and as united one with another as we should be I 1 sometimes fear that we ar are e departing to some extent at least from foe fe requirements of the gospel and abid that there is not that love for one ii another nother and that devotion to the principles of the 0 gospel 0 that we should entertain r 1 the lord intends to make of the utter day saints a people who shall be P obedient to him in all things through the restoration of the gospel he is establishing a new order of things in the earth we are standing as witnesses to the nations of the earth concerning a message that god has revealed in these last days the lord requires that we bear testimony that the coming of the lord jesus Is nigh at hand this is the message that has been given to us as a people to declare unto the inhabitants of the earth the elders of this church have gone forth and borne this message wherever they have gone warning the people that the judgments and calamities and destructions that were predicted by the servants of god in ancient days and by the son of god himself were near at hand and that the lard was about to accomplish his long revealed purposes concerning the earth and the inhabitants thereof this message has been carried to the nations the nations have been and axe are being warned by the servants of god f to this effect and we full fully sr believe that there will be such great destructions to in the last days that there will be but few ew men left the lord will cleanse this earth of wickedness he will destroy the ungodly and prepare the way for a thousand years of peace in the earth the elders of this church declare that that time is near at hand and that as the savior said there will be wars and rumors of wars pestilences famines and destructions of various kinds among the inhabitants of the earth every elder that goes out from the midst of the later day saints if he be goes possessed with the spirit of his calling goes forth as a prophet to warn the people and to tell them that which awaits them that they must repent of their sins and turn from their evil ways and that if they will not do so 90 the judgments of almighty god will rest down upon them I 1 do not know that all the elders who go forth have this spirit to the extent they should nevertheless this Is the message and it to is sent from the lord himself he warns all unto whom this message comes to repent of their sins and obey the gospel that he sends unto them and he promises them that if they will i obey his commandments he will give unto them the holy ghost and w will III bestow upon them those gifts and blessings which he bestowed upon his I 1 ancient disciples in conformity with this message the elders of this church have gone to the various lands and peoples unto whom they have been sent they have gone bearing in all humility these warning tidings and have called upon the people as far as they have bae had opportunity to listen to and obey it they have been empowered to make promises unto the people that if they will believe in the lord lesus christ repent of their sins and be baptized they shall have a remission of their sins and also receive the gift of the holy ghost where their messages have been received and obeyed those who have bowed in submission thereto have testified that they have had their sins remitted that they have received the holy ghost that the gifts and graces and blessings that them were promised have been received by I 1 I 1 the latter day saints thus baptized have been gathered from the nations of the earth for it Is a commandment of that those who receive this gospel shall gather together and stand lip in holy places that when the judgments and calamities which the tord lord T ord has inspired his servants to declare as being near at hand shall come they may cape arid and from this people thus gathered ix seems seema like lUtea a presumptuous ii in the minds of thousands of people to state it the lord is going to fria fri fr A fl a new generation and a new people as he did with noah and his sons none they became the progenitors of a new world in like manner the lat ter days saints wil be the progenitors of a new world They who keep the commandments mand ments of god will be preserved and their children after them and the lord will work a great revolution in the earth and will accomplish these great purposes concerning which he has spoken by the mouths of the holy prophets As I 1 say this may sound presumptuous in the ears of a great many people we would be laughed to ridicule if we were to mention it in some circles we would not be listened to any more than noah and his sons were listened to by the nevertheless th tb eless it is true god has spoken it and his words will be fulfilled the thousands of latter day saints scattered throughout these valleys and mountains have received a testimony for theme selves that it is true and they have been impelled by a spirit and power that is miraculous in its operations to gather together to come to one place or one region that should be designated or selected as a place of gathering you who are here today my brethren and sisters are witnesses of this I 1 suppose there axe are hundreds in this congregation who have received the message of which I 1 speak at different places on this continent and in foreign lands you never had any thought before receiving this of leaving the lands of your nativity of severing your associations with your kindred and friends to go and reside in a distant land but when you heard and obeyed this message a spirit rested upon you that you could not resist it burned within you it was ever present with you a desire to leave your old homes to gather with the people of god at the place of gathering wherever that might be in the first place the gathering place was in ohio afterwards missouri was the place from there the saints took their flight into illinois and from tIll illinois they came to these valleys mobs would not permit them to dwell in peace in those lands and those who retained the faith moved as a body to this land and the eyes and the hearts of the thousands who have embraced the gasrel in foreign lands have been directed here some of our enemies have said that our elders in going forth have preached to the people that they would have great advantages in coming here and that they told flattering tales and offered ered inducements of such a character as to delude them in to coming here you know how bow utterly untrue this charge Is I 1 have done considerable missionary work in my life but I 1 have under all circumstances endeavored deavo red to describe to those with whom I 1 conversed and especially where brar branches rhes of ohp th church wre were raised up the difficulties the hardships the trials that the people would have to meet if they should leave their homes and gather ather a with the saints in zion what would be the use of our inducing men and women to gather from the nations of the earth who would turn around and deny the faith when they got here we have at the present time to urge upon our elders in the united states and burone and other places to not encourage tha th people to come here at the present time but to kipp the br branches bratches organized ard not hnyp the come thorp when they are not grounded in the faith and have not had experience because there Is of their being ov overcome r bv the trials have toT domeet neet when pomp eoma to this gaind this Is aba th for the present ent thre there are mav rp pien for this ht en controlling n reason to Is that w we e do not want tr tn rn en e n to the expense and trouble of emigration to these valleys when they are pared for that which they may have to meet here and it chev axe are going to apostatize we would rather they would do so no where they live thajo to come here and turn away from the truth but there is |