Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1891-04-27

"Thia Gospel Of the kingdom shall be
preached IN All the world for witness
unto all natlonn, and then shall the
emu come" In tho revelation given
through Joseph Smith the zane state
ment occurs IN another form. "a
light rhall break forth among them
that sit In darkness amt Il shall bo the
tulness Of my Gospel but they receive
II not lot they perceive not the light.
etc." This IL one OF the percursory
signs. The true Gospel shail 10
preached NJ a testimony Ia the nations
before the King Of kings shall appear.
~ would now be proper 10 direct your
attention TO the nature OF that Gospel,
AMI the necessity for IL restoration, 30
that the rvrdiction OF Christ might be
fully verified.
The Scrip,urce say TINT In tho latter
days THE last shall 10 the ffAt and the
INT the last" when the Lord was
on the earth and personally admlnis-
tered 70 the children OF men, the Cos.
pol was carried 10 the "lost sheep Of the
house u Israel" At tho beginning Of
His mission he ndmOnishcd Hts SER
wants TO 70 not 10 the Gcniilcs, hut to
limit theirlabors 10 tue chosen people.
But subsequently this restriction WIS
taken OIL, and Cornelius was the first
GENTLE who embraced the Gospel,
Peter having been specially directed 10
admit him 10 the fold. Amer this the
message was 10 be declared 70 all the
world. In this age there IL n reversal
u the progrnmmc. Tho last were TO be
the ftst and the iirsi last, for the
light was 10 break forth among
the dentlr, aud 20 from them
TO the ho06c Of Israel. In con-
sequence Of this, the Latter.iay
Saints are hero gathered from the vari.
Gus nations Of the earth, and We claim
that II dcvolvcs upon W, who have rc-
ccivcd the everlasting Gospel, to prcach
II 10 every people In order that the
LORDS purposes may he accomplished.
Now, rs to the character OF the Cos
pei 10 which Christ referred, aud
which He designated as that Of tho
Kingdom, itepjoin- upon US that we
shall believe In Christ, accept Him m
our Redeemer and OF the sacrifice He
made for tho whole human family.
Having taken this step we must seek
10 become new creatures, by placing
our feet upon the path " regeneration,
repenting Of our sins aud all false
traditions. This repentance must be-
genuine, resulting In the putting away
Of all unrighteousncss. We must TO.
pent with n repentance that need not
10 be repented Of.
Having placed ourselves In an
obcdicnt attitude, we are prepared 10
descend into the waters OF regeneration
being immersed for the remission OF
sins, that these may be no more re-
fIll.
must be- attended 10 by one having
authority TO act In the name Of Christ.
Otherwise II would be Of no avail, NJ
the Redecmer must be represented In
the transaction. He must be- present
through His agent, whom He hns
authorized In order that the admins
stration may be recognized by Him.
Hence our Lord says 10 His duly COM
mission servants: clio who re-.
ceivcth you rocelvetb mo and
he who reIecteth you rcDecteth me, and
he who rejecteth me rcjecteth my
Father who sont me-" showing
that tho Lord honors his authorized
agents when In tho line Of their duty.
Hence. when . repvntant believer Ii
baptized and thu ordinance IL admin.
istored by servant OF God who holds
the authority TO act, his sins are re-
mitted and win never more be held
against him. He IN now prepared 10
receive the Holy Ghost, and the spIr-
itual gifts thereof, without which q
church would DO only dead body,
having ga form u godllnees but deny.
Ing the power thereof.
This Spirit OF Truth IL communicated
by thc impositlon OF hands by author.
lied servants Of Christ, who can
say: "llecelve ye, tho Holy
Ghost" This spiritual influence con.
solldates the Church, making all
her faithful members one, an tho
Father and the Son are one; not one IN
person, which would 10 impossible,
but one In spirit.
The Church Of Christ anciently was
distinguished byaspeclal characteristic
created by the Holy Spirit. There
was no doubt In the minds of her true
members, rs 10 the course they We're
following. They knew the work they
were engaged In was OF Divine origin,
They had the assurance that their feet
were planted on the rock ofages. They
could say With the full assurance Of
faith: ~ know that my Re.
dremcr llves;v therefore they had
courage TO confront all kinds Of
prosecutions, even death In It's most
appalling forms. Unmoved they faced
tho second OF two natives-deny.
Ing their Lord or being slowly burned
TO death over pills OF ignited fagots.
There are no cha racteristics Of the
ancient apostolic Church that do not
have their counterparts In the Church
OF Jesus Chsist OF Latter-dny Salnts,
Tho principles arc the same, aud IN.
antagonisn II awakens Ia not dis
similar. One OF the principal objections
raised against the Saints In this age Is
based on heirunity, which ls regarded
by some ~ dangerous feature. The
opposers say In substance: II we would
Introduce strife and contentions among
US, thoy would gladly extend TO US tho
hand OF fellowship, for then We would
10 Ia a situation similar 10 theirs. Hut
the Saints know the correctness Of
their position. Where 10 there u faithful
member Qf the Church, either here or
among the various nations OF the
earth, whore some OF them still live 10
the number OF thousands, who cannot
truly say, without fear, favor or hope
OF reward, | have received for myself
q testimony that the work In which |
am engaged is Of divine srisinP There
Is the same effect OF the Power
wrought among tho ancient Saints.
There are also tho spiritual gifts,
These may become TO some extent
latent by lack Of exercise or neglect OF
duty, but they are among the people.
IL would he Illogical n say that we
have the Spirit, but not His manlfesta-
lions. II would DO just as unreason-
able ~ TO say that an Individual pos-
sessing Intelligence could be present. In