The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1882-07-04

opened by the ch OR singing tn
hymn on page 119:
Praise ye the Lord my heart shall JON
In WORK go pleasant, sn divine,
Now while the flesh is my abode,
And when my sodl ascends 10 God.
Prayer by Elder James w. Cum
mings.
The choir sang the hymn on page
125'
How sweet communion is on earth
With those who've realized the birth
Of Wster-who the spirits powers
Receive in genial quiekning showers,
ELDER JOHN NICHOLSON adj
dressed the congregation. He said
the Latter-day Saints occupied a po-
sition entirely different from that OF
any other people. They had re-
Gently been attacked legislatively
on account Of their marital rela-
tions. God had given revelations
on the subject of marriage for the
guidance of those who would give
heed thereto. The Lords ancient
servants, speaking by divine
Interpretation, had predicted that the
Lord would perform certain work
in these days, and those predictions
were being literally fulfilled, one of
them was that GOO would set up a
kingdom Of saints, God had raised
up prophet for beginning the work,
Joseph Smith icing the prophet.
Besides revealing the first princi-
pies OF the gospel as taught by the
Savior and his disciples, many other
things had been revealed IN this
age. The first principles alluded to
were faith IN God and Jesus Christ,
and that whosoever should believe
in him should have everlasting
life, that there must be a repent
ance Or sins, for nothing impure
could enter the presence CT the
Lord then comes baptism in water
for the remission of sins. Another
was the having of hands laid upon
by the elders for the reception of
the HolyiGhost. Other things besides
these had been revealed, one of them
being that of celestial or plural
marriage, which was the occasion
Of the attacks upon the saints. Most
of those attacking the Mormons on
this score were believers in and ex-
Founders of the scriptures; yet
there was nothing in the Bible con-
demning the revelation in regard to
marriage, while there was much in
its approval. Moses, the great law
giver, was practical polygamist,
and the Lord rebuked those who
censured him on account of taking
plural wives. There are passages in
the Bible making plural marriage
compulsory, as when a man died
withouT issue it became the duty OF
his brother TO take the widow and
raise children to the dead. Some say
that when Christ came, a new dis
pensation was ushered in, which
was true, but the old was not put
away, Christ coming to fulfill the
law and not to destroy it. The
saints had not adopted plura
marriage because it was sustained
in the Old and New Testaments, buI
because the Lord had revealed it tC
them as one Of the principles for
building up his kingdom. The world
had it i'll its power TO ascertain foI
itself as to the genuineness of the
revelation by repeating of their sins
and seeking the spirit which wor "a
be given. The system Of the san IS
was sometimes called a relic of bar
barism, but the speaker invited
those who said this to go through
the territory and see the churches
and schools, and the absence of
everything that is barbarous, and
then say whether there is any bar
barism in the religion of the sain :.
1t was barbarous to make laws that
would demand that man make out
casts Of his wives, turning them
loose upon an unfeeling world.
President John E. Taylor present.
ed the authorities of the church,
general and local, who were all
unanimously sustained by the votes
of the congregation.
President Joseph T. Smith adj
dressed the congregation. He re-
joiced in the work in which the
saints were engaged, and was salts
fed it was the work Of God, de-
signed for the salvation of all the
human family. 1t is not alone for
the members of the Church Of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, but for all that will
yet embrace the gospel, and for all
the world if they will yield obedi-
ence to the laws of God; and not
only for the living, but for these
who have passed behind the veil
without having an opportunity for
hearing and embracing the gospel.
While the world called the saints
exclusive and narrow in their views,
the saints said their gospel was de-
signed for all who had ever been
upon the earth. The ordinance of
the baptism for the dead was that
the living might perform it for
their relatives and friends, that the
latter might enjoy all the other or
finances. There was not one law
for the living and another for the
lead. There was no ordinance in
5he gospel that was not essential to-
,he living as well as those who
larry in the spirit world. If it is
necessary for the living to repent of
heir sins, so also is it for those who
have passed away. Baptism is
necessary for the dead, no less than
ior the living. If it is necessary for
nan and woman to ba Joined in the