Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1893-02-04

| not MS cOnmhnutDeutr,F III tueu,
the unbeliever Is blessed upon this
choice land, how much more blessed
will the believer he N he Will only he
faithful, honor the name OF God, and
acknow iedge his hand cheerfully in all
things.
This IL the object for which the Lord
has raised up n Prophet In this dispen.
sation. This Il thu object for which
He has organized His Church In the
midst OF the children Of men. IL II for
Thu. reason that the Holy Priesthood
has been restored TO the earth. God
| has opened the windows OF heaven
and again appeared In person unto
man In this age Ia order that NE
world might not 20 into absolute
| darkness In relation to Himself, but
that InfideIiiy might be stayed, that
UNI elief might be checked. that faith
might again spring up In the hearts OF
| the children OF men, and thst there
might bc people gathered from every
nation anu from every tongue and
people whU would acknow ledge the
hand OF God In all things, who
would love Him with all their
might, mind anu strength, who would
seek tn love their neignbOr as them.
selves, who would seek TO do unto
others ~ they would have others do
unto them, who would seek RICH sous.
ness rather than iniquily, who would
bless God In their hearts and honor
Him Ia their lives, anu who would
bless the earth, and ask God to bless It,
aud sanetify It by their good works anu
by their faitbiulne,s unto the name Of
the Most High God.
Now, n you " ant the land to become
more blessed, II you wnHt 10 enjoy
IN greater abundance the good
things OF the earth, do better, be
more fighteUu., be IN ore honest be.
fore the Lord, honor His laws and keep
His commandments mote faithfully
than you have done In the past, anu
the Lord Will pour out more apd
greater blessings; for II IL said here In
the revelations that He designs to
make Us the Richest OF all people. The
riches OF the mines, the riches OF the
soil, the riches OF our flocks and herds,
NJ well ms the riches OF eternal iifo,
which IL the greatest Rift Of God, He
has designed TO bestow upon HIS
children that will keep His com.
mandmen,s and honor His name.
Hut wbosoever will not do this,
there will time come when
i tuc luslcc VI oou WIN IehCu tuht pbf-
son or people, and they will receive
their reward.
| Let us pause right here for q mo.
ment. We do not preach the gospel Of
fear. We do not seek to torrorizs the
souls OF men. We do not ask man
| to be righteous because OF the terrors ~
the damned. We do not want you TO
be good because you fear the punish
i al ~ ls,l IA. a
you 10 do right because Of the penalty
tnat attaches " the doing Of wrong.
We want you to choose the right he.
cause IL II right, and because your
heart loves the right, AMI because II IL
choice above everything else. We
want you to be homes not merely be.
cause 1t Us tho best policy, but because
IN No dong you honor God and you
carry out His purposes In your lives;
lor can honest msn,"it IL an old, ani
perhaps n hackneyei, saying-"is the
uo0lest work Of Co.," We want
10 be honest because We love God, nnd
W. cannot be thc saints Of God with.
out we are. We should be good because
We love 10 be- good, and not because we
fear the consequences Of evil. Yet We
should not de.pise the Judgments Of
Goa that viii beiall the wicked aud
ungodly; for l tell you he that uoes ues.
pise stho Judgments OF God Is more
foolish than the little child who burns
Its hand; TOR when the child burns It,
self II afterwards breads the hre aud II
has Intelligence enough to avoid IL Ia
the future; and lie VINO sees the judy
ments OF God anu does not shun Ills
evil way exhibits less wisdom An the
child aud 10 certainly worthy Of pun,
ishment.
These are my feelings In relation "a
this Gospel which VIZ have recei we'd.
love the truth. 1 thank God that |
do love It. Why do I love the truth?
Is Ia not because am Ia some small
degree living IN touch with my
Heavenly Father? II | were not llv.
ing Ia touch with Him, II had no
association whatever with Him In
spirit or In desire, would I love the
truth, would love 20 do good, would
love the Leople II God? No; but II
we live In harmony with the designs Of
our Heavenly Father, II our hearts are
drawn out toward Him, anu towar
our Elder Brother, ths Son OF God our
glorious Redsemrr, through Him we
are raised not only from the dead, but
are nj o redeemed, or may los redeemed,
from spiritual death, aud be brought
hack Into the presence Of God. II
l. through this love that We have fol
Them, and through our wish TO live IN
harmony with Their Z quirements mud
to become like Them, that we c.n love
one another, aud that we can have
more pleasure In doing good than we
ever could have In doing evil. There
IL no real pleasure In doing wrong, In
committing sin. Nothing beneath the
celestial Kingdom can give you real,
permanent JOY and neverfailing hap.
piness except the doing Of the will oil
God. That Is the only way that you
can possibly become the children ofGod.
Therefore, IL IL necessary that We
should do good TO the uttermost, aud
that we should seek to love one another
anu to carry out the commandments of
God. IL Ii right that We should seek
for His word, then carry 1t out In
our llves, honor Him In all things, and
thank Him that we have desire to
serve Him, for He 1t IN who gives us
that dcsire. We may not be righteous
as He IL righteous, or just AZ He IL
Just, or pure MS He Is pure; but n we
are In some degree In harmony with
Him and seeking TO do His will upon
the earth, we will have Joy In that
which Ia good, and we will not
have pleasure In that which IL not
good. Upon this principle hang all
the law and the Prophets. One Of
old asked the Master which was the
greatest OF all the commandments aud
He said unto him: Chou shalt love
I - A.