Show tabernacle SERVICES march 21 the vast hall was densely crowded with nn attentive congregation the hymn before Jehova hs glorious throne well delivered by the full choir inaugurated the meeting after dedicatory prayer by elder it ballantyne the hymn ill praise my maker ahio ive breath was sung by the choir who also beautified tho solemn intervals during which the sacrament was well rendered productions of sacred music then rose to the saints he said he did so with pleasure lie had spoken to the juveniles on friday and now desired to address their fathers and mothers he intended to speak under tho inspiration of the holy ghost we a ft people occupy a peculiar position on earth different from all others our to our our principles our organizations our doctrines our ordinances differ from those of every other and it is our knowledge that the things which wo have received have been com munica ted to us by the almighty joseph smith waa net the originator of these principle nor hyrum smith nor brigham young nor the twelve apostle the lord himself com muni cate ia thear things to us and they are in strict harmony with prin have existed before asilo however as every other has a role of its own this dispensation id alje dispensation of the fullness of times embracing all that waa contained in any and fill sous dispensations all former communications manifestations and revelations are embodied in tins dis sensation ensa tion befaro the blosil there was the patriarchal which bioly hail the gospel and held communication with bod revelations from him three years before his death adam gathered his people him and unfolded to them nil the events to come until the winding up scene referring also to our present dispensation yeth enoch and others mut also havo known of thi our ago A special mission to the people was givenco gi vento enoch who had a church organization as we hare in which the people acro forewarned of the dreadful event when the one hiro god clothed him with ilas power enoch and bis people built up a city zion where they lived years un der the direct inspiration or grew aad the destruction of tho evil wa couii gum mated by a flood enoch and his city were translated to tho heavens this wo cevela ton of god tho biblo mentions checo theco things only very briefly after that tha hood camo and ca mankind then noah roso with a new to which belonged the king of salom actor order jeoug was a after omo thousand of yeara associated with another and after be was crucified ho went to the spirits in who had buffered the wrath of god ages ago jesus special mission was to preach alio gospel to the poor to open tho eyes of the blind to set free those who were bound the world have curious ideas about beaus believing him to have been without a father there also was the or Lovi priesthood descending in direct line from levi while the Melchi sedek priesthood was independent of descent and nas an everlasting priesthood abraham also had this priesthood many have the idea that he waa an ignorant man while we find that lie was endowed reat knowledge of od and ilia laws and found out that he had a right to tho priesthood to which ho was subsequently ordained by ck ho also possessed a and with which iio learned alio will of the lord lie ana also acquainted with the motions of the planetary and solar systems concerning tins we find the testimony of many discoveries by men god blessed abraham with a rich blessing and he had alio gospel and the Melchi sedek priesthood and belonged to the dispensation pensa tion inaugurated by noah another dispensation was the mosaic belive ed the children of rael from the bondage of years in egypt he received his intelligence telli gence from the almighty as we see in the story of the fiery bush god was with the people of israel when they crossed the sea and alien they wandered in the wilderness on mount sinai god gave moses the ton commandments written by alio finger of the lord on tables of stone moses also had the gospel oa wo read in paul the people however were not prepared to go into they murmured against god and moses oblivious of all UK kindness to them on account of their rebellion the law was given them a law of carnal commandments and ordinances the prophets whom they had then would often reveal lings of the wisdom of the eternal but they did not have the regular organized priesthood as we have the then dwelt on the of Elisha and which ia learned that the power of hood in that time was not regularly organized but conferred on them by god directly and individually when jesus came ho restored the gospel to mankind from the book of mormon wo see that the people of the lord on this continent had more knowledge of heavenly things than they had in asia jesus had been much prophesied about to redeem the world and offer himself up as a sacrifice for them an lion of christs atonement we find in the antory of tho of israel out of egypt at the foundation of the passover feast this feast was observed and celebrated by jesus not long before his death when he instituted the sacrament of duchai typical of the blood of the iamb of god to this we look back whenever we have the sacrament ept administered to us we ought therefore to be careful to partake of the memorials of christs atonement in the true spirit ot kindness and love to our brother lest we eat and drink damnation to our souls let us do this in a spirit of love to be worthy thereof free of strife hatred and contention this dispensation was brought to mankind first by john the baptist who was the forerunner fore runner of christ it continued for a while but by and by it began to fade away and disappear both on the asiatic continent annl on this until it came to pass that we have now n bogus priesthood and a bogus christianity on this continent they dwell together in peace and dealt justly by one another for years after they fell away in iniquity and darkness then came the time for the dispensation ot the fullness of times of the gospel of adam enoch abraham moses jesus tho gospel of love and righteousness joseph smith was called upon by the lord to institute the last despen tation to which he was ordained by john the baptist into the an l by peter james and john into the Melchi sedek priesthood elijah appeared in tho ample at kirtland and conferred upon them the blessings and keag promised the necessity of the work of baptism far the dead was then illustrated and the greatness of building temples in which glorious things are to bo performed that tho hearts of the children may bo turned to alie fathers and the fathers to tho children moses also conferred upon joseph smith the power of the gathering dispensation we will build up the zion of god with bis help and our children must bo trained and taught to assist in rolling forward those things which we have only just commenced this is the dispensation of ness of times where all things are gathered into one things on earth and things in heaven we are here to build up zion to bo governed by gods will and obey his priesthood and if we do so when the calamities predicted will take place our ion will be translated and meet the wa from above we are acie to live in honesty integrity our elders to gather all israel lo 10 zion we want to bo one ready to do tho will of him not be covetous and beek after scalf the loid is our god and to him we must conform oh I that god would purge our hearts so that wo could realize our positions we need not be afraid or the inimical action of legislators and others we ar in the hand of god many of our elders have gone out into the world fearlessly ens of thousands of miles preaching on earth fand good mill to all men and no harm over befell them let us conduro unto tho end not seeking to injure anybody dealing honestly with oil men cultivating purity integrity and liolin eM then wo anve a claim upon tho lord he will sallo apoi US wo all advance from wisdom to lindoo ec as io are scon and know 01 wo aro known by and by god will work with us in a anoro powerful way than he has yet done that thousands may nock to us seeking our protection and wishing to be ono with w vo bont want to have will of our on but wo our will merge into the will of the lord thus wo will attain eternal salvation amen with a beautiful anthem by the choir and prayer by elder M amert alie meeting cloird afcin highly enjoyed by the numerous numer ors coni many of whom had come from tho country to be edified and in tho faith |