The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1884-08-12
SUNDAY SERVICES.

Sunday afternoons services com,
menced by the choir singing tbs
hymn:
To Him who made the void.
Prayer by Robert s. Campbell.
The choir sang another hymn:
Well sing all hail TO Jesus name.
The bishop and teachers OF ths
Fourteenth Ward administered the
sacrament.
ELDER JOIN @. CANNON addressed
the congregation. He realized the
grave responsibility that attached
itself to the preaching OF the gospel
of Jesus Christ. 1t is Independently
necessary that those so doing should
be prompted by the spirit OF God
He felt the complete need of such
guidance. 1t is a blessed and glori-
GUS privilege to be able to say that
81 know that my Redeemer lives
and that am not ashamed of the
| gospel OF Jesus Christ. This is the
testimony of every Latter day
Saint. Every honest hearted person
has Sincere desire to learn the
truth and to know what they shall
do to be saved. An explicit answer
is given in the Acts of theApostles,
as recorded in the New Te.tament (:
Repent and be baptised every one
Of you, for the remission of your
sius. This was the answer of the
Apostle Peter, and is the only way
that men and women can become re.
instated in the favor Of God, against
whom they have sinned. The
kingdom of heven wag likened by
the Savior unto little children, who
are pure and holy. This is a com.
plete refutation of the false doctrine
of infant baptism. Repentance and
baptism by imm eraion can only be
practiced By adult persons who have
arrived at an age when they are ac>
countable for their actions. The
promise Of the Apostle to the Jews
on the day of Pentecost, that those
who re emit Of their sins and are
baptized for their remission, should
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost
is experienced and realised by the
Lattersday Saints. This promise
enables every one to gain PERSONAL
knowledge and testimony of the
truthfulness of the principles taught
by the desp 'sed and much msljgned
"Mormons." The inhabitants of
this world are, h1Iever, not preps1-
ed to find The gospel among a PEG
pie so unpopular and hence overlook
the fact that esd has revealed is
truths unto the saints.
ELDER JOHN NICHOLSON said: :; Il
is observable that the elders in their
preaching lay great stress upon what
are called the first principles of the
gospeI. In fact, being the flunda-
ton of the work of God, they caonot
be dispensed wi b, and are necessary
TO be observed by all who obtain
salvation. But, the question is
asked, what are they TO do, who
lived in previous generations, dur
ing the apostscy, after the death of
the Savior and His apostles, and
when we say, the gospel was not
taught? The plans Of an all wise
and mslc.ful God have provided for
such sn emergency. The Savior
told the repentant thief on the
cross, "to-day shalt thou be with me
in Paradise. Some imply from this
that the thief went direct to Heaven.
Not so, the scriptures plainly prove
that he went where the Savior went
that ay:-into the presence of the
spirits in prison. The Savior went
there to continue the labors of His
mission, and rresched to the spirits
in prison. He did not ascend up to
heaven, 20 the presence Of his
Father and our Goa until some days
subsequently, end sf:er his resur-
rection from the dead. This shows
that the gospel can be and is
preached to the spirits in prison, so
that, ~ the apostle elsewhere tells
Us, they might repent of their sins
and live go as to be judged accord.
ing to men in the flesh. For this
reaeoD, says the Apostle Paul, are
we baptized for the dead. It will
therefore readily be seen that these
principles as taught is the New
Testament provide q way by which
all may repent aud be baptized for
the remission of their sins. The
baptism must be done by the living,
IS proxy for those of the dead who
had not the privilege in this, TO en-
title them TO all the blessings and
privileges of the gospel even IL the
REDEEM ption Of their souls
through tka resuri ection. The
principle Of proxy or substitution,
in enc person acting for another,
runs through the whole subsiratum
Of true Christianity. Jesus Christ
said I came not to 90 my own VIII,
but the will OF my Fa her that sent
me; and again: Il is net my work,
but the work Of Hin that sent me.
Tue savior came to this earth, not
on account of himself, but to suffer
AMI atone for the sins of others, as
a mediator and Savior for the whole
world of sinners, beautifully
exem plifying the principle Of proxy.
The Justice Of God cannot hold men
and women amenable for thas which
was not possible for them to yender
obedience unto. Therefore the Lat
r-day Saints actuated by the
spirit Of God through the priesthood