The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1886-09-30

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Prayer by Elder James II. Anderson
Singing:
How firm a foundation, ye Saints OF tn
Lord,
Is laid Tor our faith in His excellent word!
What more can He say than to you He hat
said
You VINO unto Jesus for refuge have fed?
ELDER AUREL1Us MINER addressed tn
gathering, and prefaced his remarks b.
requesting quietness and attention. H
mentioned the fact that during the
week the minds of people were occu
pied with secular affairs, and that it wa
but right that, at least, once a week
they should attend to their spiritua
necessities and welfare, AMI seek tt
provide for them. To do this it wa
necessary to understand that the gospe
was the power of God unto salvation; i
brings to every individual that to which
he may in Justice and equity. be entitled
1t is gospel of action. In justification
of this remark, he quoted the twelfth
verse of the seventh chapter of Mat
| thew: mot every one that saith unto
me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the
kingdom of heaven; but him that doett
the will of my Father, which is il
| heaven" This word "doeth" implied
action, and required constant attention
| The theory that 1t was simply necessary
TO believe in the Lord Jesus, in order tC
be saved, was fallacious, and contrary
TO the declaration of the Savior himself
| quoted above. In order to do the will OF
| God, we must know what that will is
| and in order to obtain that knowledge
it was necessary TO be in communion
with both The Father and His Son Jesus
| Christ. There were very few had seen
Him personally. How then, were we to
know Him? The intelligence of the
Father must be revealed through the
medium of Christ, and that by the
| testimony of the Holy Spirit. God
| speahS TO His children by the voice OF
humanity, aided! by the Holy Spirit
| His creatures were required to exercise
faith IN obtaining knowledge of their
heavenly Father. They are promised
that il they do certain things, they shall
know, of a certainty, certain things. II
they believe Jesus, that they are sinners,
and 60 down into the waters of baptism
for remission of their sins, they will
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. This
is the action of the gospel. No man
can say that Jesus is the Christ, except
| through the Holy Ghost. If men did
the will of God, they should know
whether the gospel was true or whether
men spoke OF themselves. The gather
ing of the Saints to the valleys of the
mountains was another action OF the
gospel There could be no blessings
obtained from God, except by obedience
| to law, no matter whether they be
spiritual or temporal blessings. The
laws of nature are observed by the
| farmer, who sOWs and reapS the bless
| Tags according to those laws. So it is
with people IN every condition of life /;
| their rewards will be in proportion as
! they observe certain laws. In support
of this theory, the speaker read a couple
of paragraphs contained in the Book Of
lDoctrine and COvenants-oneo on page
462, and the other on page 464 By
keeping the law on which a certain bless
| ingis predicated, that blessing will surely
| be secured. Here is the law of action
on the part of the Saints to be seen.
Many people in the world object to the
| Saints paying tithiDg, saying it is OPP
pressive. The matter of tithe-paying
was one of the individuals own con-
science and will, who paid one-tenth of
his increase in the belief that he would
! LEe blessed in so doing, In order to
commune with God ana obtain a knoWl'
edge of Him, it was necessary to purify
the body, so that the Holy Spirit could
dwell within it, a fountain of intelligence,
a fountain of knowledge. a fountain of
truth. Elder Miner advised the purifi-
cation Of the Saints, and the constant
application to the laws Of the gospel. No
man would ever be forced to heaven; he
would go there by virtue of his own
actions. The same course would be
followed by him who went TO hades.
Every blessing is within the reach of the
ANTS If they will but observe the laws
upon which those blessings are Ore.
dlcated. The tyranny of the. gospel. the
tyranny OF the covenant of God was idle
talk. An individual could make his
own heaven or prepare his own bed in
hades. How many sneers are cast by
the uDgodly at those who are striving
to observe and obey the laws of God It
will be the proudest moment of any
mans life when he can say, II know
that my Redeemer liveth." The GOSPEL
is perfect system of intelligence, and
embraces all the liberty necessary for
mankind. Jesus said that in His
Fathers house there were many man
sions; that the glories OF the celestial
world were graded, and an individual
attained to those glories just as he
obeyed the laws of God ana was faith
full. The sacrament was taken every
Sunday, as an emblem that those
partaking of it were willing to take upon
them the name of Christ and obey His
laws. The word of wisdom is a great
deal talked about by many :; if an observ-
ance of that law was maintained. the
blessings predicated upon it would be
secured. 1t was tor mankind to say
what blessings they would receive at the
hands OF GOD; it was an individual pre-
rogative; it was just, equitable and
liberal. The gospel of action gave the
Saints ample scope to exercise the gifts
given them By their heavenly Father. 1t |
was the prerogative of all to say |
they would receive certain gifts !
and blessings at the price offered by !
God, which was implicit obedience to |
His laws. The time was nigh when the |
will OF God would be done on earth as it
is done in heaven.
Singing of an an anthem and bena