Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1897-12-24


ton after organization to effect these
results, and failure is written upon
every one of them. Therefore. the wis
dom and power of God We're needed.
/ say there was need for angels to
come from heaven: for there was no
man on the earth that knew what to
do, And angels have come. The
Lord Himself has come, and has re-
vealed a perfect organIzation-one that
reaches out for ALL regardless of sex
of condition. of birth or of color. 1t
embraces all humanity. Every human
being can come and be associated with
the Church of Christ and receive the
blessings that belong to him or her.
according to the promises of God given
to us as His children.
My brethren and sisters. let us take
hold of this work with energy. Let us
love the Lord our God with all our
hearts, and let us cndeavor to carry
out practically In our lives the prn-
ciples that we believe in. Do not let us
ne hypoerites. protesting to be one
thing and living another. We profess
TO be Saints Of God; let us carry out
our professions in our lives. and show
t. the Lord that We are struggling to
overcome the traditions of our fathers
with which we have been enveloped
from our birth. The traditions of ages
nave accumulated around us, and we
are prey to them, to q certain extent.
Let us endeayor to cast aside these
| traditions, and to get the light and
| power of the Spirit of God, to show
unto us how we can live better Let
our constant prayer be unto God to
| snow unto us our Weaknesses and faults
ana help us to overcome them,so that we
may be a humble and meek people be-
| fore Him-not a quarrelsome, conten-
| tlous people; not a people struggling
ior our rights at the expense Of doing
| wrong There should not be Latter
| day Saint who would want to go to
law with his brother We cannot do
II without violating the counsels of our
savior. There is no justification in our
| going to law. We cannot do 1t without
committing sin. We should not have
litigation among us. If we are sued at
the law for something that belongs to
| US, let 1t go, II we cannot keep 1t with
out going to law, and let the Lord
| judge between us and the one who
| sues us. God viii bless the men and
the women that will submit to wrong
| rather than do wrong. / know how
contrary to fallen human nature this
| 49,. 1t is the nature of man, under the
influence of the fall. when he is reviled,
| to revile again, and when he is at
| tackled, to strike back. He thinks 1t
unmanly not to retaliate. These are
some of the teachings of Satan to
which 1 refer. He would make this
| ray nation against nation, man against
man, family against family. He would
| make a hell of this earth. He has done
1t to great extent. He would make
| II sun more so, If mankind would listen
to him. But we have got to make this
earth heaven. That is our mission.
| we must take course that will result
IN the binding of Satan; for God will
bind him and he will not have power
IN the earth. And those who seek for
ana cultivate that spirit will live to see
that day and be participators therein:
sn,r not IN the flesh. they viii in the
| spirit; and their children after
them. But men end women who
| give way to the 'spirit of
Satan will not be permitted to dwell
on this earth when 1t is heaven-at
least, not where Christ is. Our wish is
has made 1t almost hell for hundreds
| and thousands of years. He has sue
| ceeded In carrying his operations into
effect until he has killed of everyone
that would oppose him. Every man
| that had revelation from God he
destroyed And he would XIII us. too.
| He has shed the blood of Prophets and
Apostles and righteous men in this
| generations; and he would continue to
| do 1t until he wiped the whole Church
| OF Christ and every element opposed to
! him from the face of the earth: but
God has made promises to this peopIe
| and those promises win be fulfilled. He
has promised that Satan shall not have
| power to destroy this people, and all
| heaven Is bound by that promise and
is laboring to that end. Therefore, let
| MS do our part to make this earth n
heaven, and to seek to prepare 1t for
| the coming of the Lord Jesus, who will
| certainly come. The heavens cannot
hold Him, because 1t has been decreed
that He shall come. Then destruction
l l.a aat.
the ungodly; but the righteous will be
preserved That is the promise of God
and It will be fulfilled.
| 1t is our duty to read and ponder
| upon the teachings of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ while He was in the
flesh. Fortunately for us, we have
some portion, at least, of these teach
ings. We have His teachings as re-
corded in the Bible and in the Book of
| Mormon. We have also His teachings
as contained in the revelations He has
condescended to give to this Church
from all these sources, and from the
| teachings of EIs servants who speak
| to us from time to time, we have
abundant sources of knowledge and, in
formation as to the will of God. Let
us make these teachings applicable to
us and part of our lives DO
heard the Gospel. You know how II
is with the churches that do not be-
lieve in revelation. They do not pro-
| gressl because they have reached
the limit of their growth. There Is
no power that they are stil reaching
out for; for they do not believe in the
bestowal of gifts and power; they do
not believe in Miracles; they think
the heavens are sealed, and they are
| content to reach certain level and
| stop there. / sometimes think we are
| like them in this one respect. We get
baptized; we have hands laid upon us
we become members of the Church,
| and then we do not strive any farther
| We do not look upward as we should
do. We do not plead with the heav-
ems for the bestowal of greater gifts,
greater powers, greater qualifications,
rs we should. We should plead with
our Father to give us more of the Holy
| Ghost, more of the gifts thereof. more
! revelation, more Of the gift of prophe-
| cy, and more of all those gifts that He
| has promised unto His Church. We
| should not be content to remain on
| the level we have reached. and think.
ooh, that is the height we ought to
go. and there Is no need for us 10 seek
TO climb any higher" This is wrong
1t is my duty, as a servant of God. to
qualify myself by faith for the office
| that God has given to me. 1t Is tho
| duty of the First Presidency to do
this, that we shall not be stngnant,
and that the Church win not stand
| still; but that we shall be alive, and
| filled with the spirit, power and gifts
OF our office and calling; that the reve-
/ lations of Jesus WIN he given TO us, and
] the I'v,plVp AuOstles alsD until 1npnlu