Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1904-04-25

liberty that God gives TO mankind. II
II the liberty that He gave 10 our first
parents In the Garden of Eden. He
gave liberty TO that pair In the garden.
To partake OF the fruits Of all the trees
that grew there. But he gave them n
commandment not to partake OF the
fruit of certain tree because In the
day they ate thereof they would surely
die, They partook OF that fruit and they
suffered the consequences. In the days
Of Moses the Lord said II have placed
before you good and evil choose now
which you will serve That command
ment has been given 10 all people.
The Lord reveals His word and viii
and makes II plain to those who will
receive /, and His spirit Is sent to en-
tighten them and make 1lngs clear to
them. And the agency Is given them
TO receive or reject 1t; but, Of course,
they individually, must take the con-
sequences OF their acceptance or re-
lection, Some people cannot UNDER
stand this. Some eminent men say
they do not understand the kind of a
God that the "Mormons' believe In,
who tells us what is right and then
leaves us TO obey or not. | believe In
God whom should obey and honor,
bescause lie Is my Father my God and
my King that ! should obey him I'm all
things, so far ms can understand His
law, because | am his son. But | be-
lieye in a God who gives to all his
children their free agency, the power
to do good or TO do evil. and that He
gives laws and commandments predicat-
ed upon that agency and power TO do
right or TO DO wrong TO choose the
path in which they will walk, to re-
ceive the word or reject IT, For all
these things His children viii be
brought to account, and II VIII be per.
fecty right to punish the guilty and
reward the faithful, because OF the eX-
ercise OF that agency
/ Will read few words from the BOOK
OF Doctrine and Covenants on That
point which | desire to draw your par
tIcular attention to-" The speaker then
read from the ninety-thIrd section OF
the Doctrine and Covenants commenc-
ing with verse 81
Behold, here Is the agency OF man,
and here Is the condemnation OF man,
because that which was from the be-
ginning is plainly manifest unto Them
and they receive not the light.
And every man whose spirit receiy-
eth not the light Is under condemnation.
For man is spirit. The elements are
eternal and spirit and element insep'
arably connected, receiveth a fitness
OF joy
And when separated, man cannot re-
ceive fulness OF Joy
what / have read to you II Scripture
not found In the Old Testament neither
In the New Testament. but In perfect
accord with those books though very
much palmer Let me say here That
the word Of the Lord has not been con-
fined to any one age or any one people.
That which Is now has been before, and
there If no new thing under the sun.
our God is eternal. His truth is eternal
Every principle is eternal and His laws
were In operation ages and ages before
this globe on which We live was called
into being at the bidding Of the Al"
mighty. God governs everything by
law. lie governs Himself by law, by
reason Of which he is God, Truth may
be crushed to earth for a time but II
will rise again. and prevail Now this
Scripture that I have read this after
noon is the word OF the Lord. IL has
been given to us in this dispensation.
What difference Is there to truth,
whether II be revealed now or million
years after. or was revealed million
years before?
People have had the mistaken Idea
during these later centuries that Goa
revealed some things long years ago
and then stopped, no more to speak
again. Some Of these revelations are
contained In the Bible, and the idea
prevails that God will never reveal any
more. This Is a great blunder Ike
many others in the religious world, The
Bible does not contain all that God re-
yealed in former times. The book It.
self tells us Of a great many books ana
which are not In the book
Itself, and therefore It Is only a partial
collection OF Gods word spoken In for
mer days. His will may be made known
in one age as well as another, But when
he reveals anything to people II Is Tor
that people and that age In particular,
and therefore more applicable and valu-
able to the people OF that age, We be-
lieye the Bible contains the word Of the
Lord But IL also contains the word or
the devil. II contains the words Of
good men and OF bad men; Of good wo-
men and bad worsen and II Is book
that contains the word Of the Lord and
many other things What | have read
to you is from book called the Doc
trine and Covenants, which contains
number OF revelations given to the
Prophet Joseph Smith and others In re-
latlon to the work Of the Lord IN this
age Of the world
Everybody can get this book; II Is no
secret work; It has been on public sale
for n great number OF years. II what
! have read TO you Is true, why Is II not
Just as good though revealed In this
age as something revealed long ages
ago? According TO those words of the
| ord, man is allowed to act for himself
TO receive that which comes from above
or that from beneath. He can act upon
Il or refuse TO do so. He can do good
or evil, by his own choice, There are,
II Is true, environments which seem so
strong that the individual appears not
10 be able to overcome them; and there
are inherited tendencies which people
have received from their ancestors.
These come down by natural means In
our bodies. We receive such impress
slons upon our bodies, which have come
from the earthly elements through the
laws Of generation We have inheEted
some tendencies for good and some
for evil. We can understand the truth
when we sec II, and we have power TO
receive or reject II, This Is the voli.
tlon OF the spirit Of man. For as |
have read TO you, MAN Is spirit This
body that tends 10 drag man down TO
earth Is not the real man Of itself, 1t
Is the spirit that is the responsible man.