Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-05-19
SUNDAY SERVICES.
Bishop OrsOn F. Whitney the Speaker
az the Tabernacle.

Religious services were held q
the Tabernacle, salt Lake City. sun
lay, May 18th, 1880, commencin.
at2 pm, Elder Henry p. Richard
presiding.
The choir and congregation san.
the hymn commencing:
Now let Us rejoice IN the day Of salvation
No longer ~ strangers on earth meet ",
roam.
Prayer was offered Icy Elder Ed
ward Stevenson.
The choir sang the hymn:
How great the wisdom and the love,
That aIlcd she courts on high.
The Priesthood Of the Twenty
second Ward OBLIGATED in the adj
ministratiOn Of the Sacrament.
BISHOP oRsoN p. WHITNEY
VS. called upon to address the con-
gnegation. believe it Is seventy
years this spring, he said, since
Joseph Smith, the Prophet Of the
latter days, received his first vista
ton from on high. According TO
the account that we have, j. was
just such a beautiful spring morn
Ing as that which dawnei today
upon the world when this young
boy went out into the woods near his
nome, in the State Of New York, to
ask, in order that he might receive,
wisdom from the LOri in regard 10
I his souls salvation. Although the
world was full Of religious opinions.
notions and hCiieis. the aspect pre-
scented by the Christian sects 10 the
mind % this youth was not OF pre-
| possessing character. IL wasa chaos
OF religious opinions, some claiming
one thing and some another. one
priest saying, "'I.g, here i Christ, -
ami another, "L1, here i ChriS;:''
one preacher, hasing his belief upon
the Bible, claiming that baptism
was essential to salvation, anu an
other, b1sing his belief upon the
same book, claiming that it was
not essential; one preacher hold
ing that baptism 10y sprInkiing
was the proper rhode, white
another advocated baptism 10y
pouring. The heavens were closed
so the Christian world taught and
beiieved-aud God no longer spake
TO man; the visitation Of angels 30
the earth was I thing IL the PAST.
not TO be thought OF or expected in
this age, and the gifts OF the Holy
Ghost, the working OF miracles, and
the signs that were promised to
follow believers anCieutiy were all
done away with, rs being no longer
necessary.
This, in bTief, was the condition
Of the worlj-a chaos. "A BatCI Of
religious opinions when joseph
Smith, 4 boy OF only fourteen or
fifteen years Of age, went into the
woods and asked Of God which Of all
these religions was the true one. 1t
had not occurred TO him up u that
time but what one Of them was
true. He knew that there were
many thousands Of devOut ami hon
est wOrshippcrs in the various Sects.
and that 50 far rs they believed in
the Bible, many Of them were sin
cere and earnest in their belief. lie
did not regard them all rs hypo- /
critics; for this would have teen an 4
unjust view to take. But he could 1
not decide for himself which was the !
true religion, and he knew that they /
could not all be from God. because [
they opposed each other aui were I
full Of dlscOEl and disseasisn. He |
had read in the sacred scriptures.
which had been given, he be- /
lieved, 10 make men wise unto sal |
walton, the wOris Of the Apostle /
James, 'Tfany man lack vi dom. let /
him ask OF God, who givvih 10 all /
men literally, and upbraiGeth not. |
and it shall he given him, = |
Never said he, did words come |
with more force 10 the mind Of man |
than these came - mine. for I /
thought that IL any man needed 4
wisdom at that particular time il |
was myself" So he went Gu, into /
the woods and bowed down in hu-
miiity before the Lord, and asked 1
Him, in all earHestness, which Of 4
all the denominations Of the dsy /
was the Church Of Christ.
He declared that soon after he 4
began praying there fell upon him n
power which he could not cOmpre-
bend, which filed him with dark
ness and horror, and tied his tongue
50 that he could no longer pray oral
ly. But he continued to beseech
the Lord, and when he could no
longer pray with his tongue, lie I
prayed i'm his heart and mind. aud 4
asked God to deliver him.
He would not relinquish the
object which he had in view,
the spirit Of dark
ness which had fallen uuon him
strOve 10 crush ami overp0WeT him.
Just as he was about to be overcome
he saw light descending from heav-
en-, until il rested, as It were, upon
the tree tops just above his head. In
the midst ofthis pillar OF light, which
he describes as being brighter than
the sun at monday, he saw two glo-
rious percentages in the form Of man.
and one Of them, pointing to the 9th
aT and addressing Joseph said, This
Is my beloved Son, hear Him.
As soon As he could collect him
self Joseph asked Of these Person
ages what he desired 10 know
which OF all the Christian churches
was the true Church Of Christ. To
his establishment he was told that
none Of them were; that while there
We're many souls who were devout
md sincere, and living up to the
light that was within them, those
,hurches which claimed that God
was not q God Of miracles, that He
would no longer commune
ate with man by heavenly
but had delegated
% colleges and Institutions OF
earning the power and authority to
squip His ministers and send them I
'ut into the world 10 act in His ]
name, instead Of receiving from
the authority Of the Holy |
Priesthood, which holds the keys TO 4,
minister in the name Of God. that 5
hat all those churches which
leld these opinions and opposed
.ach other, and we're at ,
var with one another in their ideas. ,
nd practices, that they and their I
were an abOminatiOn [
u the eyes Of Col. He was further
tina; the true Church was I
bout TO be restored TO the earth, l
Iaving been taken away from Il 5
hundreds Of years before, after the
APOSTLES fell asleep and the true ser q
ants Of Goa were prosecuted, cast I