Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1894-01-20

people. and the people would be under
condemnation 70 they did not receive
the testimony Cf the gervlnts of Cod
for the witness OF the Spirit would be IN
their own hearts and DC would testify ID
them God has no ltit auv OF a. with
ont d witness. lie may withdraw b FROM
rs through our hardening our hearts
and committing sir. and We may be len
in the dark. hut Otherwise there b. iu
every human breast witness Of the
truth
heI have said, not only Is faith nee.
cssary. but repentance also. These ARE
two pracple ct the Gospel which we
are required 90 obey. Then come blp.
tism. Aud baptism, as ! have remarked
must DC administered by man having
auihirity-io ,lit rcas1n. ifior no other.
there are sins 10 Dee forgiven. and who
can forgive sin bat God. or some one
whom lie authorized For lie does
give thlt power 90 man sometimes,
that "Whlsc .1cyUr sins yu remit. they
. are rcmiitcd unto them. and whose 10.
ever sins ys retain, they are retained. "
but speaking generally, no mar has this
authority 10 rs God alone that can
remit sins. For man to immcrse an.
other iu water without having the
| authority from God amounts TO moth.
Ing. except TO thu wctiing Of the man
that Is immersed. 10 does not bring the
remission Of sins. The Lord must wash
away the sins OF the individual or the
ordinance Is Of no effect Therefore.
though men may have faith and may
repent. they must do something more
than this 10 obtain the washing away OF
their sins and the blessings oi salvation
that attend the remission Of sins And
80 with the reception OF the Holy Ghost.
That IS "a gil, from God. Man in and OF
himself does not possess the power
either 90 receive or bCstow u; IL must
come from the Lord. Hence the inn.
poflaucc that the Lord has always at-
i1chcd TO the sending OF men forth to
preach The Gospel who are authorized.
II Is tritc theme in this Tabernacle
that the cause of all the confusion, dis
scusi1n and contention that exist in the
religious world b. that there is no
authority which God recognizes and
whose actions God confirms by bcstow-
ing The blessings that the people need.
Paul understood this when he wrote this
cpistlc 10 thu Galatians. Slmcho ly
had come IN doubtless ard taught false
doctrine, and called Dc the Gospel, but
he said d was not the Gospel, aud that
they must have the legitimate authority.
Hence Il Is that the Catholic Church Is
SO strenuous on this point. That church
recognizes the importance OF there be-.
ing priesthood. Il Is the most s,rcnu.
Gus probably Of any Christian demon.
inaliun on this point They claim to
have q continued descent OF priesthood
from the days Of Peter down, AMI that
the Pope Of Rome stands IN the place
and occupies the position that Peter did
as the head OF the church. The church
Of England has somewhat similar claims.
but they cannot claim the priesthood
with the same proprlety and as much
force as the church Of Rome. But the
great mass Of the Protestant dcnonina-
tons, realizing how defective they arc
In this respect. discard all authority as
coming directly from the Apostles. In
the most OF instances they claim their
authority under the commission which
was given 10 the Apostles by the Son Of
God when lie told them TO 20 Unto all
the world and preach the Gospel to
every creature; he that belicvcth and Is
baptized shall be saved, but he that be.
ing at this carefully YOU can see how
destitute OF foundation such a claim b.,
because II every man on the face OF the
earth has the right to administer the
ordinances Of the Gospel, then every
man must have been commissioned by
the Lord to do so. Such a claim i
entirely bascless. Paul distinctly says
that men must be called Of God as was
Aaron, and we know how Aaron was
called. lie was called by direct rev
citation from God TO Moses. So that
today there are thousands OF well-mean-
ing men who are devoted In their feel.
ings to the work Of God, who would
like to benefit their fellow men, aud
who are educated for the ministry, going
around among the people, from one end
Of Christendom to the other, endeavor-
Ing to convert the inhabitants Of the
earth TO their way OF thinking and ad.
minislerlng to them ordinances without
having any authority whatever. When
you contemplate this condition Of affairs
you can &c the reasons there are for so
much confusion Ia the earth, there being
no regular channel OF authority NJ way
Of obtaining revelation direct from God;
because II there were, II would come
through one channel, and there would
not be any diversity of views concerning
points Of doctrine. One man would NOT
say, This Is the proper mode Of adj.
ministering baptism" and another CON
tradici him and say That is not right"
but they would all be alike, as Paul and
the Apostles were when they met.
When Paul went up to jerusalem, they
found that he was teaching exactly the
same principles that they themselves
taught, and with the same authority.
AS / have said, the Church OF Rome
claims to have a descent Of priesthood
from the days OF Peter; but those who
are familiar with the history Of that
church must have an immense amount
OF faith and confidence To believe that
the Priesthood OF the Son Of God could
have come down through that channel.
IN the midst OF the Impurities, the
wickrdncss and the wrongs that have
existed and have been practiccd from
the days OF the Apostles of lesus up %
the present IL was Only by assimilat.
ing Itself to the PAGAN practices and
adopting heather customs and ccremo.
nles that any form Of Christianity was
able To prevail or TO mlintain itself,
apparently. Every man that prliessed
10 have revelation from God was killed,
until all those who had the pure author
ity from God disappeared from among
men, and corrupuons Of an indcscfib,
able character have existed from that
day until the present time. God with.
drew the Priesthood from among men.
The men who bore IL were slam and
4 Al IA