Show DISCOURSE h s delivered at the Ta tabernacle bernade Taber nacie salt lake city sunday afternoon june 1898 by aw ELDER BUEB GEOUGE 0 give thanks unto the lord for 4 he is good for his mercy en dureth forever let the redeemed of the lord say so whom he hath bath redeemed from the band of the enemy and gathered them out of the lands tram the east and from the west from f the north and from the south palm palms s 1 2 3 1 my soul Is full of thanksgiving and praise to god in listening to the festl r gonles that we have heard this after noon from the returned missionaries for we axe are the redeemed of the lord i we are they whom he hath gathered from bvm the east and from the west from the north and from birom the south and whom he bath redeemed from the liand of the enemy we were under the dominion of death hell and the L r arave we were without the knowl eflee of the principles of redemption f we were taught the fear of gop goi by the f wisdom of man we were subject to the darkness that covered 1 the earth and the gross darkness that tha blinded r the minds of the deop people le in consequence f the spirit of revelation having been awn from the earth we can indeed rejoice in the lord too foe he vis f ate eted d us upon the isles and upon the w continents he sent this glorious mes of salvation unto us he taught taugh t ot of his ways and of the powers and S ays eys af pf an everlasting priesthood and ire jete gave unto us the principles of evert we never could have un der stood anything about the principles 3 w sos of redemption had it not been for the apie of revelation which our ther hath bath re stored restored to the earth in 1 dispensation he has organized theearta the earth his church with apos i Meu era a SLad nd prophets eva evangelists elly its pastors and teachers he sends out his to otter offer the principles of r we afe and salvation to the world avid and to s waria warn the nations they confess that thai they oey are weak instruments and they f zb with trembling but they are told to seek unto the lord and put their trust in him because he has called them teem and they come back filled wi with th J thanksgiving and praise to god tor for N V the testimony he has given unto them t wy altia know that the principle of reve ft dmn Is in the church they know the testimony of jesus Is the of prophecy they know that foe fhe promises made to them under the in r flence of that spirit when they were at t apart for their been fulfilled they know th that at sd lives and that jesus to is the christ g I 1 want to bear my tos testimony con 4 ant these valleys of the mountains god b lias consecrated them for the hiring ng of his people the edme ever ane r principles of the gospel are taught in these everlasting val beneath leys we are beneath the shadow of a temple raised to the most high god in the which the ordinances of his house are performed and we receive the keys and blessings of an everlasting priesthood we are taught the principles that lead to endless lives we are taught the necessity of keeping ourselves clean and unspotted from the world loving the lord our god with all our might mind and strength and our neighbor as ourselves and being chaste pd and virtuous we are ar e taught that we are the salt of the earth and that we have to practice the principles of righteousness to be honest to be sincere to give our affections affect ons to god and to keep his commandments we are promised that it if we will do this we shall prosper in the land and we believe it we do prosper in the land the lord blesses and sustains us we came out of the and gathered to these valleys of the mount mountains alne bi bf cause god had said come out of her my people that ye be not partakers par 1 ar takers of her sins and that YO ye receive not of her plagues we are living in the hour of gods judgment the angel that john saw fly through the heavens having the everlasting gospel to preach to men upon the earth as described in the chapter of Revel revelations alons has come we tell the people this the lord has restored to the earth his everlasting gospel and the gospel of the kingdom is being preached in all the world for a witness prior to the second coming of our lord and savior jesus christ in fulfillment of his own prediction if salvation and redemption could be obtained without our going to the people what would be the use of wasting our time and our means to go and offer them a gospel they did not want but there are certain people who do want it hose who axe are of the house of israel those who hunger and thirst after righteousness want it and we offer it to them we do everything we possibly can call to put them in possession of these glad tidings a of great joy that god hath bath again spoken from the heavens and that he hath bath established his church upon the earth the first factor necessary in this work was an inspired priesthood how shall they call on him in whom they have not believed and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard and how shall they hear without a preacher and how haw shall they preach except they be sent romans 10 1014 14 15 to preach this gospel of the son of god it ft Is necessary to be called of god christ himself we are told did not take this honor hono upon himself but was called of the father in the esth chapter of hebrews we ve are told and no man this honor unto himself but he that is tailed of god as an was aaron so 0 also christ glorified not himself f to be made an high priest but he that t ea at said unto him thou art my son today have I 1 begotten thee As he saith also in another place thou art a priest forever after the order of who in the days of hla his flesh when he had offered up prayers and supply with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death and was heard in that he feared though he were a son yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered and being made perfect he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him called of god an high priest after the order of 11 hebrews 5 4 10 it is essential that men en should be called of god and have the priesthood to preach the gospel and officiate elate in the ordinances of it Is necessary that we should worship the living and true god not an y god we have to accept god the eternal father it is said that the tear fear of the lord Is the beginning of wisdom we certainly will have very little wisdom it if we do not reverence the lord the reverence aa of the lord is the foundation of faith and of pure intelligence the take highest intelligence Is granted by revelation it is the glory of god it comes from above it is given unto those who love him and keep his commandments he gives them line upon line precept upon precept grace for graft grace if they believe in his doctrine and worship him in the name of his son it is necessary also that we should have faith for without faith it la Is impossible to please god we must have a true falth faith too or else we may be as broken cisterns that hold no watery waters whence did these young men who have borne their testimony obtain that knowledge from our father in heaven through the spirit of revelation they had believed in the gospel they had repented of their sins they hd been baptized forthe for the remission of their sins by a man who had the authority of the priesthood they had been sabo tilled in the precious blood of christ to prepare them for the fellowship of the holy ghost they had received tilix this holy spirit and their trust was in 14 the lord then they were willing to leave these peaceful vales and all that wa was s dear unto them take their lives in their hands and go to a foreign laud land among strange people and declare the glad tidings of great joy it was just this class of men that brought the gospel to us they were hun humble able and meek not trained for the ministry by the learning of man but sent out under the direction of the immortal godt god for he does his own work it was not by wisdom not by might but by the power of his spirit that is the wy wily we were converted we heard beard the word preached and it seemed almost too ado good to be true to be told that abo signs followed the believer that the A apostleship and had bad been restored to the earth and that there was prophecy speaking in to tongues toa grues balling eal ling of the sick and miracles but we obeyed the word and proved all these things and in this way obtained redemption from death we could not obtain it in any other way it is the doctrine of christ chrict that all mankind must repent must be baptized for the remission of sins alas must receive the efficacy of the precious blood of christ and fellowship of the holy ghost that they may be redeemed of god this message is to all priest and people the difference between the latter day saints and the world is that we have received this gospel and the world has not we have come out of the various sects and systems that we belonged to the lord has converted us no and drawn us into his fold and he has bas given us a living testimony all mankind can have the same if they earnestly and sincerely desire it the reason our young men go out to proclaim claim these principles is that those who desire to obtain eternal life and A 0 standing in the kingdom of god may have bave it therefore I 1 say we who are the redeemed of the lord we who are striving to prepare ourselves tor his kingdom and coming we who have separated ourselves from the world and cannot associate with them in any of their iniquities we can rejoice in the lord and we can patiently wait tor for his kingdom and coming for if we pass behind the veil we shall come with him and if we are here we e shall meet him when he comes what is going to give us this ibis right because we have accepted of his doctrine and have obeyed these everlasting conditions if we imd had rejected them we would have no such auch hopes our christian friends aty believe on the lord jesus christ and thou be saved that is nhat khat we are preaching all the time believe on the lord jesus christ and cease believing in the doctrines of men accept the doctrine of christ and that will give you redemption from death a glorious resurrection and a hope for the marriage supper of the lamb which you never can obtain by preaching and believing false doctrines now can we wa ever be sanctified by the ath t unless we have the truth I 1 bear testimony that we have the truth that intelligence has come to us scholastic attainments alone cannot be I 1 called true intelligence no matter ht how w corrupt a man may be he can obtain scholastic education but the intelligence telli gence that comes from god to is only understood by the pure in heart those who love him and keep his commandments mand ments he gives them eyes to we imae ears to hear and hearts to understand the highest intelligence is to knew fau w things as they have been as an they are and as they will be by the power of f the spirit of god but the world will not have this it to is not popular the doctrine of christ never was popular and never will be until we all see tye to eye and there to is a separation sf of the wheat from the tares As long as they grow together there always will be opposition against the truth what does the history of the world teach us that there has al mys been antichrist anti christ and antichrist is everything that is opposed to forist and regards the doctrine of christ as nonessential non essential those who are an for christ believe in his doctrine and in living it but those who love he be world and the things of the do not have haap the love of their heartsie heart sIf we loved the world the love bove of god would not be with ith vs us our ambition should be to please goda keep his commandments and to see his righteousness established lavan the fate face of the earth because it brings happi happiness nem the love of the world does not bring happiness the greatest happiness that anyone can enjoy to is godliness with contentment and to visit tle the widow and the fatherless and keep ourselves pure and unspotted from the world that produces the most unalloyed happiness that we can attain to jesus said that whoso choso would do the will of the father should know of his doctrine and we know that jesus spoke the truth how do we know it by our experience we know that jesus 1 la the christ and that joseph smith was a true prophet sent of god to usher in a dispensation of the falness of times we never could have been born of the water and of the spirit if we had not accepted this doctrine if there had been no priesthood there would have been no ordinances it there had been no ordinances there would be no redemption because unless a man is born again he cannot see the kingdom of god jesus said to nicodemus we speak that we do know and testify that we have seen and ye receive not our witness that is the way with the latter day saints today we testify what we do know and what we have seen we plead with men to be reconciled to god and to accept these glorious principles that they may enjoy the happiness experience and have the same living testimony what a shame it would be my brethren and sisters if we did not value these blessings do we value these privileges tion and do we manifest unto him our appreciation by keeping his commandments mand ments are we magnifying our callings if we are ward teachers are we faithful in visiting the flock entrusted to us do we visit the widow and the fatherless do we comfort the hearts of the oppressed and the distressed are we seeking the welfare and blessing of th families entrusted to our careby caraby seeing that everything Is in order and that their children attend the primaries the sabbath schools and the improvement associations according to their age do we see that there is no hardness of heart no backbiting back biting no evil speaking are we expounding the scriptures are we showing the value of a well spent life are we in our lives in our ministry and in our teachings portraying the life of jesus christ this question comes to all individually am I 1 doing this we want to work out our own salvation bionto to magnify the everlasting priesthood to be true and faithful to the promises we have made to god to serve him and keep his commandments it is the only way to be saved the lord says if we will love rini him and keep vis pis commandments he will raise us up at the last day he provides tor for us today also there Is nothing that we have but he has provided tor for us he brought us into his church he gathered us to zion he gave us the priesthood he gave us our endowments and the blessings and keys of everlasting lives he gave us our companions and our children and all that he asks from us Is that we will give him our hearts and keep gifts commandments he desires ua to consecrate to him rne cne tenth of everything he gives us to demonstrate to rini him that we appreciate his blessings he his has told us up to do this that the land of 0 zion may be sanctified unto ulm him and his statutes and his judgments may be kept that it may iney be most holy dont you want his rt statutes atutes jo to be kept dont you want his power to be made maril manifest fest nn ont nt you want redemption for the th living and the dead these are the I 1 questions that come to us individually how are we living are we in har mony with these everlasting s pis alb for we are living in the days in the days of wickedness enc vengeance we are living in the days when the lard is giong to pour out hi judgments upon the people of the world preparatory to the second com ing of the messiah every man and woman realizes that the Is a short and that we have no time to w waste the testimony that was borne here la in relation to the people of scotland ob serving the sabbath day I 1 can endab endorsed I 1 labored in scotland a few years year my self and the people there belleve believe tab JW keeping holy |