The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1888-07-24
AT THE TABERNACLE.
A Sermon by Elder John
Sears.
TIE PRINCIPLES OF SALVATION
Faith and its Power-Practical Re.
pentance The Doctrine of Bap-
!. tisms-Lay irg on of Hands.

|
dent Angus N. Cannon presiding.
The opening hymn:
Our God, we raise to Thee
Thanks Tor thy blessings free,
was sung by the choir and congrega-
ton.
Payer was offered by Elder John
Sears. ta-.
The choir then sang:
Behold the Mount of Olives rend!
ELDER JOHN MORGAN, who arose to
address the congregation, read the
following verses of sripture:
Therefore leaving the principles of
the doctrine of Christ, let US go on unto
perfection; not laying again the
foundation of repentance from dead
works, and of faith toward God,
OF the doctrine of baptisms
and of laying on of hands,
and of resurrection of the dead,
aud of eternal Judgment"
The speaker desired to be assisted by
the spirit which leads into all truth that
he m ght be enabled to bring forth
| those things which were acceptable
unto God and beneficial to those pres
ent. The doctrines believed by the
Latter-day Saints are not, as rule, I'M.
derstood by the Christian world, espec-
tally the first and fundamental princi-
piles By which the Saints have been ini-
| tiated into the Church. These are not
SO well comprehended by the Christians
of the world as some otner principle OF
the Gospel. These first principles must
be received and obeyed by every indi
vidual who would be possessed of the
Holy Ghost and be in communicate
with the Father. The principle O.
faith is necessary for those who would
present themselves as candidates for ad
missi q into the Church. This p.inci-
PIE Is one that Will grow in the heart of
him who receives it. AS time
goes by Lis experience in
the cause of the truth will
not only strengthen his faith but will
also impart unto him an actual knowl
edge as to whether or not be is walking
in the straight and narrow path that
leadeth unto eternal life. Paul, in writ
ing to the Hebrews, said: Faith is the
substance of things hoped for, the ev;-
depce Of things not seem" and he pro-
ceeds to show what mighty acts Gods
people had accomplished through this
principle. Through faith they sub
dued kingdoms. wrought rightt Gus
ness, obtained promises, stopped
the mouths of lions, quencEed
edge of the sword, cut of weakness
waved valiant in
fight, turned to flight the armies of the
Aliens" Owing to the decline of this
principle many of the blessings Of the
Gospel have become obsolete in the
midst of the worle, modern Chris tians
asserting that such blessings are no
longer required. This principle of faith
should apply to the world in this ege as
it did anciently.
Paul also elludes 10 another princi-
pie which he denominates repent
arce; and in writing to the
Ephesians he shows its practical
meaning when he says: "Wherefore
putting away lying. speak every man
truth with bis neighbor. for we are
members one of another. Be We angry,
and sin not; letnot the sun go down
upon your wrath; neither give place to
the devil. Let HIM that stole, steal no
more; but rather let him labor. working
with his hands the things which are gooC,
that he may have to give to him that
needeth. Let no corrupt communica-
ton proceed out of your mounth, but
that which is good to the use of edify-
ing. that it may minister grace unto the
hearers, and g1ieye not the Holy Spirit
of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the
day of redemption. Let all bitterness
and wrath and anger and clapor aad
evil.speaking beput away from you, with
all malice; and be We kind one to another,
tenderhearted, forgiviDg one ano.Her.
even as God, for Christ's sake, hath for
given you" They should no longer
walk in the path of wrong doing, but
turn from their evil ways and perform
works of righteousness. Peter preached
repentance to those who had gathered
from many nations to Jerusalem. AL
though many of them were devout men,
this principle still applied 10 them, for
if they had no heinous sins to repent of
they had to turn from the error of their
thoughts and accept the doctrines in
cuicated in the gospel OF Christ. There
are many in the world who entertain
the mistaken belief that repentance is
none other than a mere sorrow for sin
duU loohlb6 Ats 0uOA q AOpGul-
ance leadeth down to death. The re-
peutance preached by Peter places one
in position TO receive every ordinance
of the gospel. -
The Apostle also alludes to
the doctrine of baptisms. He here
mentions baptism in the plural. as
though there were more than one kind
of baptism. The Christians.of the world
have accordingly stumbled into the |
idea that there was more than one
form of baptism, They have conse-
quently instituted various modes of |
performing this ordinance. Notwith- !
standing this fact, almost the whole of !
christendom accept the idea that i'm |
mersioa was the correct mode of bap-,
uism. The reason why the Apostle |
speaks of it in the plural can be learned |
from the following passage which heI
used when writingto the Corinthians,
"Else what shall they do which are |
baptized for the dead, if the dead rise
not at all? Why are they then bap-
tized for the dead?" Very reasona-
bly,, therefore, could Paul speak
of baptism in the plural, for there |
is baptism for the living and a. bap-
tism for the dead. Temples are being |
built on Mount Zion that a work may |
b, performed for the redemption of the |
human race from under the curse, and |