Show libaw litigious a iou s sunday services taa mf religious services were held in ft fit bernacle salt lake city laday ay sept 15 1889 commena ga at 81 2 rpm pm president angus M presiding th rh 0 choir sang re god attend while zion sings singe the e teat loy joy that from thy presence springs blayer yer by elder elias morris e choir sang ye children of our god ye te saints of latter days wali priesthood estwood est hood of the seventh U officiated in the on of the sacrament DAVID M imm the congregation he IB that hat an elder of israel ala be ready beady at all times and all a circumstances to be able r testimony to the truth of the kieen of jesus ua christ which has tee red to the earth in this aatu ar rather in heaven has sent for fay ft th JEUS 16 gospel to prepare the way bagaw iafe 0 second coming of the son of ast blassl ROW how dia did he proceed in this an ahue nce ce jay H 0 introduced his work lotetta very y nian kanuer that would rec vr fahs tte I 1 itself to the intelligence ayi OW V 1 most bt ignorant if they were anse eiert eix honest in heart susceptible of elvir rt rt A tag 9 the impressions of the ani anxious to find out that 1820 in new york tji a yeung nsf atla t u boy y only in his fifteenth ito was ats anxious to ascertain the aln iia order that he might em lg the oe christian rel religion efam io by le the apostle james h he e ottle 4 let that I 1 at af any ady man lacks wis tell him ask of god who men liberally and upbraid 0 J joseph smith in the we of his heart believed the bvm bv to 5 be the word of god he d cwi a the he words of the apostle ft wh hat at f to I 1 inquire of the lord ob rt teft or not to find out whether itY was true or not tor for he be ut t 1 1 t ded there was no doubt eu but there existed a diar differ er hh hi the sects of that day in going to the al rii y V 88 48 to 0 ende endeavor avor to discover iB he should join in order orde r site ue e sight might be acceptable unto wio what hat was the result while A bright spring day in 11 ll ta I 1 oe af received a visit from ather tt IL pith her er and the son and the 3 arl 1 point pointing jug to the son said 8 ra my Y beloved son hear ti is something a ething to arrest the ve t tha brown of the world while men out dark and deadly ate tence even against the ex afe in 11 or 0 th the ne supreme being right ie e present age we have a allO cent straightforward affe S bearing testimony ta a jez r the son live for thera bem to OV e this is 18 bringing things down t u of the bof most it I 1 always that aa provided they volcient Olcie nt evidence that thas th boy was sincere that he actually beheld what he declared during a career of 24 years of unparalleled persecution joseph smith sustained his testimony by finally laying down his life tor for the same what stronger evidence could he have given of his sincerity the great pascal says 11 1 1 believe in witnesses who give the testimony of their blood and who that is honest and sincere would not when a man lansdown lays down his life for his testimony what more can be expected of him archdeacon paley the great christian commentator the man who perhaps more than any other has done a noble work in establishing the evidences of christianity says there are satisfactory evidences that the original witnesses to the christian miracles passed their lives in labor dangers danger and suffering voluntarily undergone in attestation of those accounts which they delivered what accounts did those early apostles of christ deliver they testified that they saw jesus that he rose from the dead that they conversed with him and were instructed of him and finally some of them saw him ascend into heaven with this assurance from an angel standing by that in like manner this same jesus should descend again to the earth thus his crucifixion and ascension into heaven were the conclusion of only one act in the great drama and those who shut their eyes to the fact that jesus to is to reappear appear re on earth in like manner are not likely to receive the message that in this generation at this very hour the way is being prepared for the return of the savior to reign here below but some people will say if christianity was upon theearta the earth what need of having it restored ir if the evidence of peter james and john of the apostles and disciples of old is to be taken as archdeacon paley puts it in vindication of the truth of christianity where is the need of restoration the question is a very natural one because if christianity was upon the earth if any of the various sects or religious bodies in any part of the world had bad the true gospel and were officiating under the power pow er of the priesthood that restoration of the gospel from heaven would be supererogatory when joseph smith asked the heavenly messenger which of the sects he should join he was told not to join any of them for those professors of religion were an abomination in the sight of the lord having a form rm of godliness but denying the power thereof they teach for doctrines the commandments of men and that boy joseph was surf sure that in the time which was shortly to come he would be employed as anagene an agent to restore the everlasting gospel in all its ancient falness ful ness I 1 would like to call attention to a prominent illusion which it is not difficult to get rid of that of regarding joseph smith in the light of an impostor but to prove him such it would be necessary to admit that he had in himself sufficient wisdom and discernment even at that early age to be able to see that me alt t the he denominations of christianity had gone astray Is not that asking a great deal of a peasant boy not fifteen years of age brought up in a country district hardly able to read and write I 1 have often thought when calmly reflecting ting upon the principles of the gospel that it requires far greater credulity to believe that J oseph joseph smith was an lup impostor ostor than that he was sent of god it is a staggering thought to those who profess christianity that all the denominations of thi the christian world had gone astray on the other hand it is nothing more than the ancient prophets foretold indeed if the church had not fallen into universal apostasy apo stacy the bible could not possibly be true you may take up any of the great commentators notably sir isaac newton LOW lord bacon bishop newton and a hundred others who point out olt distinctly that daniel foretold the apostasy apo stacy of the church as did also john the revelator indeed they went so far as to show conclusively that the church should be taken from the children of men and banished from the earth for a period of 1260 years and that they should be left without the gospel it fell to the lot of the boy joseph smith in these latter days to reveal the grand plan of sal salvation vadon in an all its purity having answered some of the assertions sert ions of ingersoll in regard to certain doctrinal matters elder mckenzie pointed out that in spite of the judgment and expressions of such men as ingersoll we have a revelation today from jesus christ that he did send forth his ancient Apost apostles lesto to preach the gospel to every creature hundreds yea thousands of elders their wives and children have lost their lives directly or indirectly in consequence of the gospel which they had espoused well 11 says one have riot not numbers 0 of protestants and of catholics suffered in the past for their reh religion glon laying down their lives rather lather than deny it I 1 am glad to see men cons conscientious clenti ou s and the best that can be said of the matter is that they were conscientious in their belief as far faras as it went and gave their lives for what they believed but peter james and john did not do this they gave their lives for what they knew to be true so it was with joseph smith and his brethren they were willing to die if necessary for their testimony and this gospel when it goes to the nations meets with a responsive cry in all honest hearts history tells us that the eions instigated against this church have chiefly emanated from professing christians but jesus told joseph smith to have nothing to do with any of them for their professions were corrupt the essence of christianity is the historical life of jesus of nazareth After speaking u upon on the ordinance of baptism for t the e remission of sins elder mckenzie besought his hearers to put their trust in the lord even though the wicked might rage and try to rob them of their rights this action against the people of god he added was in fulfillment fulfilment of the prophecy given in the early rise of the church to joseph smith who said that this nation would yet make war against this people I 1 wonder if they are doing it now to please him I 1 wonder if the congress of the united states is doing this to prove that joseph smith was waa a true prophet bet this is just as true now as in christy mists day when he said if ye were of the world the world would love ye but because ye are not of the world the world will hate ye 11 may god help us to improve from day to day may his blessing rest upon the righteous of every denomination wherever they are whatever their belief so long as they do no injury to their neighbors and seek to build up righteousness on the earth the choir sang the anthem lord what is man benediction by elder robert campbell |