Show r tabernacle SERVICES SUNDAY MAY 1882 r ar r congregation was called to order by bishop N G flygare Ply gare the choir opened with singing the hymn on p great god attend while xion zion sings the joy that from thy presence springs bishop winslow farr offered up prayer choir san sang come conic holy Gho stour hearts inspire let na us chino chino influence prove elden EDWIN STRATFORD then addressed the congregation he was not hot ashamed of the gospel gospe of christ ghrist for it was the power of god unto Falva salvation tiou though belonging lon gring to a persecuted and despised people he ile has never seen anything to cause him to feel ashamed of being a latter day saint all his blessings have been in his associations with tho the reviled and scorned at mormons cormons Mor mons when he ile first learned of mormonism as a boy the elder who presented the gospel to tobis his fathers family waa was subjected to a great deal of ridicule the speakers family had like many other people in the world heard lie rd a great many silly slanders about the prophet joseph but on better acquaintance with tho the system of tho the latter day saints they received it gladly recognizing it as the only oni system of faiet faith which reconciled concila conci led and harmonized religion and science Eci ence having common common sense as its foundation all the latter day saints have tho the same experience and a hd should have the same testimony tes the world sometimes condemn the latter day saints as a whole on account of individual members doing wrong wron gand and indulging in evil bubby but by ho the same reasoning all alt other religious denominations could be condemned the bible in which we implicitly believe tells us that the wheat is mixed up with the tares until the great ecat day of judgment when the latter ratter shall be thrown into the unquenchable fire the speaker here dilated on the inconsistencies existing among the different churches of the tho world concerning the holy scriptures Scripture in which we have by no means all the books that written on the works and words of christ ghrist and his apostles and gave il illustrations lustra eions of the discordant acceptations and rejections of such publications the prophet joseph however received from the lord direct inspiration concerning these matters such as to the apocrypha we have the book of mormon which we believe to be just j as much inspired aa as the bible in III it we have the dealin dealings of f the lord with tho the ancient people who inhabited the american continent we have hive even better evidence of its authenticity than we have of that of the hebrew scriptures then we leavo revelations given in these latter days applicable to us in our day and nic age other revelations were given in in ancient day days to noah abraham moses and others these only applied to those men and those genc generations rations laws indeed were given to moses which arc are binding upon us while others such it as the ceremonial laws of sacrifice do not refer rifer to us at the present here E elder lder stratford pointed out how the latter day saints perceive in in the prosecution of the J jews aws in in russia and elsewhere tho the first dawning of that day w lien the hebrews Hebrew swill will gather home and inhabit palestine on account of this belief orson hyde H de was sent by the prophet joseph ceph to palestine where he on oil mount olivet blessed the holy land that it may become fertile again fain and hospitable and since since then c n it i t has begun beun to resume its pristine fruitfulness thus furnishing proof of the divine origin of revelation we latter day saints should endeavor to keep ourselves conversant conver sant with the current currant events and alic th history of tho the times so that wo we can observe and ledge led c the deal engs sin s of the lord reverting to the scriptures the speaker speaker quoted the baying of christ that man should not live by bread alone but by every word that pro from the mouth of god and showed the necessity of contini bous communication with the lord the world ignore and despise prophets and cast them out as evil when they proclaim the will and word of the almighty which ho lie had revealed god is a god of continuous revelation lie ile revealed himself to brigham young to the twelve apostles and c every ery man or woman has tho the right to sit at the fountain of revelation although althou gli only ono one man at one time has tho the right to receive revelations for the guidance of the thole whole people of israel gods spirit is is a spirit of prophecy and revelation and we all can enjoy it not to dictate to others but to guide us in our daily walk and conduct in the various duties of life in our observation of the history of the times and our transactions with one another if we are keeping keepin our covenants and living our religion wo we have the right and enjoy fit it to possess that spirit ir it to guide us in all we say and ago do it is this spirit that unites us that buoys us up and enables us to despise and disregard the contumely and vilification the world heap u pon us we are going to pass through gh a crisis in our history A line and cry is being raised against us on all ei side eq e q we have ba had to endure this tills all our lives and as a comm community unit we have had to meet it all the time the world are very inquisitive about what we aro are going to do and i biow low we feel about the inimical leg tip isolation but we feel eliat god is nt at the head and we are confident that nil all is for the best hence wo we pursue the even mtnor of our live q tiu con corned about the designs of tho the wicked reviewing past probations and privations the speaker derived a strong testimony that tho the lord lias has always delivered and prospered us therefore wo we feel that the almighty ia is atthe helm and ho ile will bring us out triumphant at last wo we are a 11 portion of tho the hou house of israel acland and we have the ns nai urance ranco that w we e will bo be gathered according to tho the purposes of the lord after a reference to the ten tribes located somewhere in tho the northern norther country which is is yet au an unsolved mystery to science el elder der stratford showed showell how the latter day saints are of tho the house of israel most of them belonging to th alic tribes of ephraim and manasseh Manas sch who are gathering 11 in it tho the last days pursuant to tho the purposes of tho the lord again referring to our eions and tribulation tribulations the speaker had no fears whatever who will stop the tha lord from consummating his purposes christian ministers rs want to see us tu extirpated by force at tho the cannons mouth and bayonets point but wo we look forward to the dav day when god will redeem his people if wo we only patiently wait for it remain faithful to our covenants our oar enemies design to despoil us of our landshut lauds lands but if they should drive us away the blessin blessings s of god would still remain with his people tho the speaker closed with an earnest prayer that wo we may bo able to understand the signs of tho the times and keep the th cLorda Lords commandments tho meeting came came to a it close with tho the clion choir sin singing I ingLet Lct zion in lier her beauty rise and benediction by elder joseph parry |