Show DISCOURSE delivered in the tabernacle salt lake city sunday afternoon may ath 1898 by ELDER ORSON JB WHITNEY I 1 realize my brethren and sisters the responsibility of the position that one occupies who is called to be a teacher even temporarily to the latter day saints and I 1 feel the need of depending upon god this afternoon for what I 1 shall say aay I 1 pray for his holy spirit that it may inspire the words which shall be spoken that nothing may be said that ought not to be said and that nothing may be left un unsaid aid that should be spoken it is a great mission that rests upon men to be made teachers in the midst of their fellow men I 1 am now thinking of three great teachers whom god pent forth to teach his truths to man kind ind truths that perhaps have become so familiar to us that they seem like an oft told tale but which were strange and startling to the generation to which they were first delivered these three teachers I 1 regard as probably the greatest that ever caina oam forth from god they are moses jesus christ and joseph smith an investigation of the truths they taught will fully warrant the declaration that I 1 make concerning them there is no question among ong christians christiana as to the preeminence pre eminence of the great teacher the greatest of alleven all even jesus christ our lord it to is conceded by all who believe in him that he as never man and many there be who accord to the prophet moses greatness and eminence as an a teacher it is in recognized that the ten 0 commandments which god save gave through him are the basis of modern jurisprudence but when it comes to joseph smith the prophet of the last dispensation a smile of incredulity perhaps of scorn wreathes many a face at the bare suggestion that he was a teacher and a great teacher come from god but let us judge the tree by its fruits men do not gather grap grapes of thorns or figs of thistles whistles es jesus christ laid this down as a principle by which all men might be tested by their fruits ye shall know them not by idle rumors not by the slanders of their enemies but by what the men themselves teach by the truths or errors they bring forth by the works they make manifest for said he A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit neither can a corrupt tree bring borth glod fruit 0 0 wherefore by their fruits shall know them we who are the dig disciples of joseph smith or rather the disciples of the so son n of god through the teachings of joseph smith are perfectly willing that his life and character his teachings and bl his works should be submitted to this divine test teat judge joseph smith by the doctrines he be enunciated by the nobility of hla his character by the sincerity of his life by the earnestness and honesty of hla his heart made manifest in his willingness to die tor for the saxe sake of hla his condic T i tlona do not judge him by idle tales and rumors look at the man himself take his teachings and his works and judge him and them by the light that ligh teth every soul that god has sent ent into the world first however let us speak of moses mosea in what consisted the greatness of his teachings A glance at the condition of the world in his time to is sufficient to show this he it was waa who brought to man the knowledge of the true and living god men had been worshipping wor shipping various deities in the nations round about away off in india they worshiped the god brahma and saw in all the forces of nature and all the passions of men good and evil so many separate and distinct manifestations of the one god brahma god was in everything and these manifestations of natural power were manifestations of deity a doctrine that modern philosophy would call the amman immanency of af god who warms in the sun refreshes in the breeze glows in of stars and blossoms in the trees lives through all life extends through all extent spreads undivided operates unspent but was this a god that men could get very near to could they appreciate such a divinity and worship him in a satisfactory manner could the yearning soul of man longing to draw near to its maker feel eel that such a divinity as a this was its father in heaven vena down in egypt they were wor shipping b beasts and reptiles the ox the goat the crocodile the beetle these to the egyptians were gods oy or shrines which the gods inhabited down to the earth to w who h had come watch watch mankind such was the reverence ae paid by these ancient people to these deities that when one of the animals died it was regarded as a national calamity and the goat or the ox was burled with costly and magnificent ceremonies it is supposed that one of the secrets of the hatred of the I 1 for the israelites was because ca luse the latter were shepherds and at tai times mes the fallings fat lings of their flocks in phoenicia round about the land of canaan towards which moses was waa about to lead the children of israel w who bo had just emerged from Egypt egyptian la bondage they worshipped wor shipped the sun as aa baal and the moon as Ashtoreth the also worshipped wor shipped the stars the seasons and the forces of nature everything in sight was wae a god for polytheism prevailed therland there and they worshipped wor shipped these divinities with all manner of licentiousness you remember the worship of baal and ashtoreth was the great seductive influence that prevailed at times against the children of israel and led them away from the worship of jehovah such were the ideas prevailing in these three centers of religious thought and philosophy when moses the man of god came forth he proclaimed p these practices this idolatry ife H e said in effect you must not wor ship the sun or the moon or any object in nature these axe are the creations of god they axe are not the creator you tou must worship god in heaven the invisible jehovah the eternal rather father the maker of heaven and of earth who created man in his IMe nessin hla his image male and female lift your thoughts above the visible things ot of life walk not by eight bight but walk by faith and believe in god and trust in him although you do not see him this was the substance of the teaching of moses regarding the person personality aliby of god he taught them that the being they were to worship had created man in his own image that was wad not the sun nor the moon nor the trees nor the flowers it meant that god was waa in the form of man for if he had bad created man in his own image lie he himself must be in the image of man this was the great service that moses rendered to mankind it to is an aa old song an oft told tale to us who have inherited this knowledge even by tradition from the earliest times and have had it restored to us in these latter times we cannot half appreciate except by a great effort ot of imagination agi nation the value of the service rendered by moses the prophet of god when he taught men whom they were to worship jesus christ taught the same truth he had been speaking of the father to his disciples and jphilip said to him lord show us the father and th us the savior answered have I 1 been so BO long time with you rou and yet hast thou not known ne me philip he that hath bath seen me hath seen the father christ was in the form of a man paul teu us that he was the express likeness of his fathers person here waa W a re enunciation of the same principle taught by mows but which had bad be com come e dim in the minds mind of men as aa truth will ever become dim through the lapse of ages it if we do not take A course to keep the testimony thereof alive in our hearts it if we do not live near to god practicing the he has revealed and if we do not have among us inspired men to teach us and remind us continually of the truth any fire will die butk out it if it la Is not sv lip plied piled with fuel any lamp will be extinguished it if it is in not replenished with oil the testimony of the truth however miraculously it may have been kindled in the human heard hear however brightly it may burn for a time ime will grow dim will gradually die and the living embers will become dead ashes ashe the works that god has enjoined uon us be neglected it if we do not meet together often as he has commanded and hear his word taught if we do not submit ourselves to the discipline that he has instituted for the purpose of renewing and keeping alive our faath and if we do not have living prophett tc tp and oracles of god to guide us ua to remind us to admonish us and to teach us anew the everlasting truth these things come about very naturally very gradually but surely and inevitably it if we vre do not take the course that god has marked out and so it was that although moses had taught the knowledge of the true god to the children of israel they were continually turning their backs upon jehovah forgetting the invisible deity and worshiping baal and ashtoreth things that they could see ee you remember how prone they were to idolatry even in the days of moses tainted with it no doubt from their long sojourn in egypt so that while moses was up in the mount receiving the knowledge of the true god conversing with him face to face in order that he might testify that he had both seen and heard the god that israel was to worship the people persuaded aaron to make them a golden am one of the egyptian gods god s olf it is the tendency of the natural man to demand signs and outward manifestations fe stations the israelites wanted a god hat they could see and hence they erected the golden calf and bowed down before at they were seduced again and again because they neglected to do the things that god required efthem of theba them and their minds were darkened ebwin in consequence the knowledge that tabt mo moses es had Ivind kindled led in their hearts became dim and gradually died away TW they forgot that their god was in heaven and they worshipped wor shipped the sun and the moon like the heathen nations around them hence it was necessary for the te lord ta to send prophets again and again to rekindle go the old fire to revive in the hearts of his chosen people the he original knowledge that they received from moses reminding them that they must not walk by sight but must have faith in the invisible god and believe tha th testimonies of those who had been worthy to see and converse aoe with him the masses of the people were not worthy to see god moises modes tried to make his people worthy but they would not submit themselves to the necessary discipline so ae fhe priesthood and the Nill fullness of the gospel were taken takeki into the 64 heavens when moses departed and israel was left lef t with the law of moses with the law of carnal commandments with the priesthood to rule iber over them thein until the dawning of a brighter da day W ahen bm jesus christ came he taught them new doctrines that is they wore were new to that ge generation who were at them and because he tau taught t them as one having authority ve atod luyt not as the scribes he told them he wast he son of god and that he W yaa in the image of his ais rather father he taught them that up above world in a heaven heaved of oc happiness peace and abry ary dwelt their father from whom he e 64 had come come in fulfillment of moses a and the prophets who had testified fl bt b him he came to restore the baledge knowledge that was lost he came to fulfill bifid the requirements of the law which had pre floured by its sacrifices and offerings the offering up of this great floe the lamb of god in the mer meridian lUan of time think not said he tha that t I 1 am come to destroy jahe law or the prophets I 1 am not come to destroy but to fulfil fulfill but he came to beach a new principle A new commandment man dment I 1 give unto you that ye love one another this was to his disciples re he aliis also said as ile he sat upon the mount of olives delivering that great IM mount called the sermon on the ye te have bave heard that it hath been said aid thou ahalt love thy neighbor and hate thine eamy but I 1 OX ay unto you love your a bleto hera th that at curse you do ato 0 ahm at hate bate you and pray baem eibi which hl 1 despitefully spitefully use you e you bt y may be ohp th of your ira which is in heaven helvon tor for he mabeth his sun to rise on the evil and on the good and senneth rain on the just and on the unjust for if ye love them which love you what reward have ye do not even the publicans public ans the same and if ye salute your brethren only what do ye more than others do not even the publicans public ans so be ye therefore perfect even as your father which is in heaven is per deot they were astonished at his doctrine why was it a new doctrine no it was as old as eternity it was a part of that everlasting gospel that had been formulated in the heavens before the world was and had been upon the earth in different dispensations this same principle had doubtless been taught by enoch who with his city reached such a state of perfection that they were taken into the heavens by translation can you conceive that enoch did not teach his people that they should love each other that they should return good for evil I 1 cannot I 1 believe that wherever the fullness of the gospel has been preached whether by an adam an enoch a noah an abraham or a moses men have been taught to love each other as the children of god and to return good for evil but it was a new doctrine to the generation to whom christ was sent for fifteen hundred years the jews had been schooled under the law of moses it was a law of strict justice with little or no mercy it was the law of retaliation an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth this was as aa high a principle perhaps as they could comprehend and was good as far as it went for justice cannot be abolished men will receive the measure that they mete unto others christ taught this principle along with the principle of mercy and forgiveness and the return of good for evil judge not nor says he that ye be not judged for with what judgment ye judge ye shall be judged and with what measure ye mete it shall be measured to you again he did not do away with the principle of justice but re enunciated it but re he did seek to take butof out ot the hands of individuals divi duals the infliction of vengeance upon those who had wronged them leave leava these things to god was vms what he meant vengeance to is mine I 1 will repay the lord do good to each other forgive all men serve god and he will avenge your injuries perhaps no other principle Is so closely associated with the name of jesus christ except it be the atonement and the resurrection which he came to teach and exemplify as the principle of the golden rule the return of good for evil now it seems a hard thing to do but there is always some difficulty in obeying god there la Is always something to be conquered in ourselves when w make up our minds to live near to the lord but that Is what we axe are here for self elf conquest to is the object of the revelation of gods will to man it Is to make man godlike to lift him up to make him more like its his I father in heaven for he is destined to be like him but how long would we have to wait it if men continued to hate each other to avenge their wrongs and inflict injury in return for injury how long would we have to wait before mankind would be godlike and the world worthy to be rolled back into the presence of its creator the prophet joseph smith that muth much misunderstood man gave at one iane a striking illustration of this principle it was when zions camp was going down to missouri in the year 04 A member of the camp awoke one morning found a rattlesnake tn in bed with him called kad ad asleep near hla his pillow he arose arid and his farat thought was to get a stick OT or a stone and kill the snake the prophet told him not to do it said he the snake has not harmed you it has trusted in you do not kill it for how Is that great era of peace |