| Show SUNDAY SERVICES religious services in the tabernacle sunday february commenced at 2 pm president Pres idest angus M cannon presiding the choir and congregation sang how firm a foundation je y e saints of the lord Is laid for your faith in his excellent word prayer As s offered byrider by byR Elder lder john M whitaker the choir sang 0 my father tho that dwell eat est I 1 in the high and glorious place the bishopric ol of the first wad officiated in the administration of the sacrament J T GRANT was called to address the bongera tion he said the saints in oem enabling to worship their heavenly ther 01 should do so with a desire to 1011 of his will they should go 0 with rayer ful hearts that those v who FIC might say those things that would woi oe be A benefit to the people to f imply attend meetings for the sake of beag there was not beneficial but it ws wa the instruction st tiou received and put lo 30 10 practice tic il just at as it was the foot that was wa dia ted not the quantity that was bateu a j that benefited the 1 Ri vidual simply listening to good veo counsel aud aid lt advice in meeting was of no benefit unless that good was incorporated into the lives of the hearers ls it was gratifying to the speaker to see so I 1 large a rge a congregation present he had never known a time when the people ople at tended their meetings as welte well as during the past few months it was also gratifying to see that while the enemies of the saints were intriguing for their overthrow they wert ferrii really growing much stronger this was evidenced by the better attendance at sunday and other meetings 10 there was jan an awakening among the I 1 saints who were endeavoring to live 4 closer to the laws of bf god the scripture said that nothing could be done against the people of god that would not be for their benefit and the saints were realizing the truth of this saying at the present time the promises of the lord as set forth in 1 the hymn sung at the opening of the meeting would be realized by the saints Saint sand and this assurance gave them strength to suffer all things rather I 1 than relinquish their religion many supposed that the infliction of penalties would cause them the m to surrender Z but it would not for the testimony of the lord given to the saints afforded them thern too great a bulwark of strength punishment could not change a mans convictions and there was more pleasure in suffering for the than to have the approval of the world and be conscience stricken religion Ee ligion could not be legislated into or out of any people and the time would come when the world would realize the truth of the doctrines of ef the latter day saints it if the enemies of the saints could only bear the testimonies of thy the latter they would perhaps understand that they could not change their convictions like the ancient disciples disc iRles of jesus his hi people in the latter days clays were willing to endure persecution it if it was necessary to 9 gain a i n their great object in alifean exaltation in the presence cresence of their god they were able to bear testimony I 1 in all ail soberness that the gospel oi of christ had bien been restored to the earth that joseph smith was a true prophet and that gods work would ultimately triumph they knew not when the redemption demp tion would come and cared but little but that it would come they knew and labored and waited for it they had received the priesthood of god goa with instructions how to use it and possessed authority from the lord jesus to act in his name the world called the saints saen sacrilegious legious for malag maing making this claim but it was not sacrilege it was the truth the saints were accused of being but the accusation was utterly untrue there was no community the members of which possessed such auch independence of character men and women did not renounce all their as saints had bad done for what they conceived to te be true unless they possessed the spirit of oa independence independence to an unusual degree decree among men the saints refused to give a promise to free themselves from suffering buffering because that promise bould A be wro wrong heavenly father had comma commanded ed to do certain things and tor for the sake of avoid avoiding lug temporal suffering they would not promise to neglect that which they considered their duty the speaker then read from section of the Doc doctrine irine and covenants verses 33 to 46 relative to the powers of the priesthood he called special attention to the verse wo no power or influence can or ought to be m maintained by virtue ot of the priesthood only by persuasion by long suffering b by gentleness and by meekness and love unfeigned glied 11 if I 1 this athis revelation was snot inot carried out and men endeavored to exercise unrighteous dominion with their priesthood that priesthood would be taken from them men could only keep th this is power 0 by livin living v virtuous rt us and honorable honorade orade lives and beirl being examples of righteousness to their fellow ellow beings A man who had bad received the authority of the priesthood and who had ibb db bained a testimony of the gospel had a great responsibility under those gifts to use them for good the speaker knew that through keeping the commandments mand ments of god be could get back into his presence and that testimony was dearer to him than life he had been asked why apostates were so bitter to the saints and his bis reply was because they were anxious to wi wipe e away the testimony they had bad had of ne the truth of mormonism and it was to testimony that they sought to oTer overthrow throw mormonism onisia they would do anything to prove it was not true but no mancho bad once known that jesus was the christ and that his gospel go ea had bad been restored to earth 0 could o ad wipe I 1 e out that testimony no effort hsuch 0 of such sf et man could de destroy stroy mormonism for he knew all the time that it was the work of god and it had bad been his bis failure to keep the law that had bad caused him to go aside the speaker exhorted the saints to live lire by the principles of righteousness adl and serve god with all their might mind and strength BISHOP ORSON r F was the next speaker he had bad listened attentively to the remarks and strong testimony of brother grant and had bad joy oy in u his bis heart to know that his own i testimony was the same that his heart and its emotions were attuned to the sentiments expressed and that in the midst of much weakness he possessed the knowledge that was the power of god unto salvation he would not for worlds part with that testimony which was kindled within im as the result of faith repentance i 49 and being baptized he had received throng ast the laying on of ban bands 8 t toe e holy garost the spirit of truth which guides aides into all truth the spirit prom faed ased to every baptized believer in the church of jesus christ the spirit which was poured out upon ills his ancient disciples and which was to be with them to the end if they kept his laws as a comforter in ia his absence it was needful that he should go that the comforter might come his mission at that time being complete he returned to his father and shed forth on his disciples the promised spirit which was to show them things past and to come and take of the things of the father and reveal them it was this spirit that gave a testimony of the truth tal the saints are accused of being in the iron grasp of an ecclesiastical despotism that have no minds of their own that they serve masters through fear or hope of temporal profit that on election days they are herded toabe polls like sheep and are afraid to disobey their masters what a marvelous power is thus ascribed to the mormon leaders I 1 with of people opposed to the saints pleading warning and threaten threatening i ng the them 1 and endeavoring deavo dea vorin ring to get t them e out of this alleged bondage 0 d J to think that 15 or 15 of 60 men en car can withstand ith stand all this influence brought to bear to induce these so called mormon dupes to cume come out of bondage and shake off their chains to think that all these millions backed by the powers of the government have not the power of these 12 1215 15 or 50 men what a humiliating confession for statesmen politician editors etc to make the fallacy of the assertion was evident on its face it was something more than the shrewdness sa casity influence and magnetism of the 11 mormon leaders that bound th people together would to god the wise men of the earth could see this but the words of isaiah were being fulfilled in that when the marvelous work of god was set up the wisdom of the wise should perish there was no stronger proof of this than the baseless charge that people could thus be held together by fear why were they not afraid of the millions opposed to them I 1 or if it was for temporal bese benefit fit why did they still cling to the faith in the face of threatened confiscation of property if it was for power why do they still remain when their power is gradually being taken away why do they pre fer to go to prison or into exile or suffer untold trials it the foolish charge be true the saints were not the kind of men and women who have nothing but self interest at heart who have the pleasures of the moment and the good things of earth paramount in their thoughts no the power that binds them together and induces them to accept the counsels of those placed to lead them the spirit that enables them to cling clin together is the same power and spirit poured out upon the disciples of boure christ hr t when they went forth as lambs among wolves for for the salvation of mank mankind this power and k knowledge u enabled the apostles to meet their death like heroes following in the footsteps of their master which enabled the Chri christian titian martyrs to go to the burning stake to bear the tortures of the inquisition to be crucified torn asunder driven from city to city rather lan than relinquish their convictions those men were not the dupes of a despotism ithee were not not hypocrites they knew what they we redoing and that they were engage engaged dju in the work of the great god why can not the windom of this age see a parallel in modern modera history when they see men go meekly forth to punishment and rather than make a mere promise which would rele release a se them suffering imprisonment in a loathsome dungeon why can it not be seen that the history now being written is similar to that which thi the christian christlar world so admire because as the savior said they stone the living prophets and banki garnish sh the tombs of the dead they build temples and cathedrals to st paul bt peter and others and ignore despise and persecute the saints faints in their midst and cry away with them to prison let them be exterminated verily the wisdom of the wise is perishing and the prophets are being f fulfilled in this is one reason why the lat ter day saints cling together they see ode the inconsistency of their enemies an and d the fulfillment of the sayings s OM the prophets their tes testimony Is being stamped into viem them deep deeper erand and deeper by such things their mission is one of peace bace 1 of salvation and the world w would some day recognize the fact and rejoice to read the history of the latter day saints though it may be written in the blood and tears tears of suffering innocence and steadfast heroism the saints know what they are dolo gand saying and I 1 in n a general general way wh what atwill will be the outcome they nave have received the gospel and the spirit of god which enabled me to understand the past the present and the future the work in which they were engaged would never stop or grow smaller but would grow from a little stone into a great mountain and upon it would the nations lean for succor temporally and spiritually this was the mission ot the and god had bad chosen them because he knew the they y would stand true and by his help accomplish this work this labor was necessary because the world had bad departed from the truth darkness Dark nesb hesh covered the earths and gross darkness dat kness the people but the glory of the lord would rest upon zion these were the words of a prophet of god gave as a reason for this marvelous work that the people had transgressed the laws of god changed the ordinances broken the everlasting covenant they drew near to him with their lips while their hearts were removed far from him were there not evidences of this fact on every hand what inspired the fathers of the nation naon ti on to construct a constitution to defend by its provisions the weak against the strong it was because they foresaw a time when men would seek to tear down the safeguards of american liberty and they provided a bulwark behind which the weak might take shelter that constitution provided that congress should make no law respecting spec ting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof the fathers saw that these thase things might be b e attempted and they placed the constitutional Constitution as a check upon the majority but men were now breaking over its bounds and tearing down the bulwarks bulwa of liberty when the saints appealed for protection against lust their oppressors oppressor they were agal 0 old d they were traitors traitors to even claim the rights of american citizens that they were vv ere nullifiers nul liners and ob because they took shelter behind tile constitution when they plead forthe for the right of religious action they were answered that tile constitution does not give the right to act only to think or believe this for forsook soom was the glorious boon of american liberty we could believe and think out but could not practice our religion what a laughingstock laughing stock is such liberty in the eyes eves of the nations and what a stench an fn in the nostrils of a just god od the russian serf need not come here for such allberty Ill ll berty for he could believe though bound in chains and in the dungeons dungeons of siberia yet the mormons cormons Mor mons I 1 were told this liberty was all for which the patriots had split spilt their blood and risked their all verily the wisdom of the wise is peris peri hing shim from the earth it would yet devolve upon this people to rescue the principles of liberty from the destroyer while the nations are preparing for war while chi lahi lists and socialists are preparing to disrupt governments and destroy society the latter day saints are preparing to bring salvation temporal and spiritual to all who will receive it this is or will be zion and unto it will gather some from every nation and they will wili be the only people eople not at war one with another ahe the prophets of this people had bad declared that many would gather small bundles and ilee nee to te zion for safety the prophet joseph saw in vision the horrible destruction among the wicked until he called on god to close the vision for he be could not endure it look at the christian na nations eions bf today to dari day preparing to fugill his prophecy cal calfina ing upha the name nam of the prince of peace on the sabbath and during the week making guns and preparing to blow each other into eternity millions of men armed to the teeth in christian nations preparing to murder each other verily to is the mission of the saints needful and their work was started nose none too soon they should be of good cheer for god lives and reigns in the heavens the saints were a hard bard people to dk discourage tile the speaker had remarked to a friend recently that it would be a splendid thing if congress should fail to pass the tucker edmunds bill yes was the reply and it would be a thing if they did pass I 1 ass it you cannot make the saints belleve believe that god will not order all things for their best good they should live |
