The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1881-08-30
SUNDAY SERVICES.

sunday dICeInOOH were opened ny
the choir singing the hymn begin
ming:
Though nations rise and men conspire,
Their efforts will be vain;
Jehovsh mocks their vile desire
His Zion to defame
Prayer by Elder Theodore Nc
Kean.
The choir sang:
How great the wisdom and the love,
That filed the courts on high, etc.
ELDER 7. B. LEWIS addressed the
congregation. He said he thought
that when tie people assembled for
the purpose of communing upon
those things which pertain to life
everlasting, there was a necessity
for the spirit of the Lord to be with
the speakers and the listeners in
order that they might understand
the principles which God had re-
vealed for the government of his
people. The position Of a servant Of
God was highly responsible, being of
the greatest Importance. The elder
invoked the inspiration of the spirit
of the Lord to guide him in his re-
marks and in the things of the
gospel. He also asked that his
hearers be operated upon by the
same spirit. The gospel of Christ
covered such vast area that it
would be impossible for one to cover
it all upon single occasion: he
would therefore devote his remarks
to one subject. The saints were
here for the purpose of receiving
spiritual SuStenance, Of Worshiping
God, and doing it understandingly,
and he could see no better way than
that of WOrshiping according to the
plan that God had established. That
plan has been made so plain that a
person of most limited powers of
understanding could comprehend it,
although it pertains to our lives
here and hereafter. 1t. was estab-
lished upon everlasting principles
which did not recognize death as an
angel or power that was going to
counterfeit any of it's principles.
The religion of the Latter-day Saints
was the gospel of life, its principles
being eternal. The first principle
was that of faith-faith in God who
created US, faith in Jesus Christ, the
Redeemer, who came upon the
earth, and by living up to those
principles in every particular estab-
liShed their truth beyond doubt;
and who, going down into the grave
was reSurrected therefrOm, when he
testified to the potency of the prin-
cipleS in overcoming all evil; who
showed to man that it was possible
to live the virtues of heaven upon
earth. Christ was the being, the
character that the saints worshiped,
and in him they must have faith.
The second principle was repent
ance OF sins, which meant a forSak-
ing Of them. If the believers asSo-
Citations or practices had been evil,
he must depart from his previous
course, and cast from his heart all
that caused him to do evil, not re-
turning to his wicked ways, but re-
solving that he will thereafter walk
in the path that had been
marked out. This would prepare
him for the third step, which was
baptism for the remission of Sin-a
step that had been taken by Christ,
and which was rs necessary as any
other, for the Savior had said that
unless one were born of the water he
could not enter the kingdom of
heaven. He must be buried in the
water and come forth as re-
suTrected. Then came the laying
on of hands for the reception of the
Holy Ghost. This was instituted
when Christ was upon the earth.
But all these ordinances or GER
emonies must be performed by one
having athority. Whenever God had
had a people upon the earth, who
practiced these principles, they did so
only by authority from on high. If
Christ's proposition to save mankind
were accepted, then it was necessary
to have authority from him to act
in the ordinances that he had
instituted. The saints claim
that the necessary authority
had been taken from the
earth, which for a long time was in
spiritual darkness, without a priest
hood, until a few years ago when
the Lord sent angels who conferred
it upon Joseph Smith. The speaker
awarded praise and credit to John
Wesley and every good man for
what they had done, but when it
came to the possession of the priest
hood or authority to act in the ad-
ministration of the gospel, the
saints were the only people on earth
who laid claim to these things.
The power had been regularly con-
ferred upon Joseph Smith, who, the
world said was an ignorant boy.
He did not come up to the popular
idea Of what man should be who
was called for so important a mis-
sion. Therefore the world ignored
the profession made by him.
Elder Lewis here related briefly
his own experience in embrac-
ing the gospel, which he did
after thoroughly investigating it and
becoming convinced in his own
mind of its divinity. He was then
sent to the state whence he came to
preach its doctrines-doctrines that
were antagOniStic to those with
which he had been surrounded as