The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1880-04-20
TABERNACLE SERVICES.

The services in the Salt Lake As
sembly Hall, on Sunday afternoon,
were commenced by the choir singing
the hymn Deginning:5
Glorious things of thee are spoken, otc.
Prayer by Elder Il. w. Naisbit,.
Choir sang the hymn commencing:
0, Lord of Hosts, we now invoke, etc.
ELDER ORsoN PRATT addressed the
large congregation, among which
were many of the Boston excursion
ists. HIS text was the 18th verse of
the 1921 Psalm: when the Lord
shall build up Zion he shall appear IN
his glory" He said the world hau
been blessed for several generations
past with the word OF God in the Old
and New Testaments. There was an
expectation on the part Of believers IN
the Bible of great day to come, pre-
dicted of CID, called the second al
vent of the Lord; bat many things
must be done before the coming.
pearance in his glory there will be
certain preparatory events. Among
these was the building up of Zion,
spoken CT in the text Some say Zion
has been upon the earth ever since
the day of the apostles. They cay
the Christian church is Zion. In one
sense he vas willing to admit this.
There must be true Christian church
before the Lord comes; but be was
net willing to admit that the true
Christian church had been upon the
earth since Christ. There had been
many Christian churches, hut they
had scarcely q feature of true Chris
tianity in them. All peoples who
had been acknowledged by God as
MS church had communed with the
Lord. They had prophets and apes.
ties among them; they were inspired
in their sayings and writings, and their
writings were the inspired commands
of God. So long as there was Christian
church upon the earth there were
prophets, apostles, inspired men and
signs, but when these ceased there
vas no longer a true Christian
church, and God ceased to commune
directly with men. There had been
many forms of Christian churches OF
the earth, but they were net the true
Christian church. The New Tesla
ment forstold of the great apoatacy
that wouli take place-tnst false doc
tIineB would spring up, and that all
nations would be deceived and be led
astray. The inspired men OF old I'M
derstood what would be, and if it had
not cone as fcretOlJ, the New Tesla.
ment would not be true. The ancient
prophets saw churches, and the crest
mother church, ana they saw that
they would have no men to speak by
revelation, no inspired oracles. Fifty
years ago the whole Christian world
was down on revelation They secuted
the idea that there could be prophets
In our day. The speaker said God
would not come upon the earth again
if there was no people. no church, no
faith, no Zion TO receive him. His
kingdom muat be established and |
built up before he would come, and |
that was what the ancients had fore
told in the text, "W hen Z.on shall |
be built up" This prediction indi-
Gated plainly that the inhabitants OF
the earth would be without a people |
called Zion whom the Lord would &C.
knowledge. Daniel said this Zion
should be called the Kingdom
of God. He saw it in
dream as a stone in the noun
tains, cut out without hands.
The prophet also foretold the destinies
OF all other nations, namely, that
they should become ''hke the chat
OF the threshing floors; and the wind
carried them away; that no place
WAS found for them" that all king
doms should be given into the hands
of Gods people. In his interpreta-
ton of the dream of the King of
Babylon, Daniel referred to what The
King saw as a great image, repre-
senhng all the kingdoms of the earth.
This image should be crushed BY
the kingdom from the mou1 tain
spoken of as 8 stone. As there has
not been for sixteen or seventeen
kingdom with the gifts,
offoes, inspired men, prophets and {
apostles, the kingdom OF Gcd had !
not been on the earth during that ;
time. Gods kingdom was estab- C
ished for a short time, with all its 4
yifts, powers and ordinances, but the q
kingdoms of the earth prevailed Il
.gsinst it, and swept it away. But q
when the kingdom ioretold by Daniel y
hall be established, it shall grow, il
Ind become like a mountail, filling a
he whole earth. Il God were to
sueh 4 kingdom, how would @
le begin it? He would GIVE to it I
very principle necessary to its per- n
eet organization. He would leave
lothing to be guessed at, but would II
make the pattern perfect in all its tt