Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-02-05
Harmony and Inspiration.
"A Discourse by Elder David o. Mckay, at the Taber
= nacle, Salt Lake City, Sunday Dec 12 1909
Reportcd by F. w. o,tcrstrom., .,

understanding. Do we believe that
gy belief l do not mean a mere ac.
ceptance as formal statement o
doctrine. But. in our heart of hearts
3 do we accept it as truth In his open
ing prayer. President Cannon prayed
That God would grant unto us his Holy
spirit He prayed that our spirit:
rnIzht be in harmony with the eterna
spirit, that our meeting together might
be profitable. He was speaking 70
God. ust as though the Eternal Fa-
ther were present here. Now. is that
real2 or is 1t a mere form OF prayer ?
The Bstter-day Saints accept the
statement in Job as absolute truth:
lhat there is a spirit in man. and that
IL is subject to the Inspiration of the
AlmIghty-our Father, real tang.
fble personal being. We accept it. is IL
true?
AT the very heart of the Christian
faith lies this principle of inspiration
Z Through the Holy Spirit. All the Chris
,tlan world profess to receive lnspira-
lion through the means OF the Holy
Ghost but 1 wonder If il has not
drifted into kind OF form. and that
the HOLY Spirit seems something in
away beyond us-and our spirits are,
alike. intangible, unreal. l say. | Won
der II we accept these references to
inspiration $50 far as they relate to the
4 Holy Spirit and his instructIng us) as
veritable facts? The choir, today. sang.
AN Angel from on high. the long, long
silence broke. Is that n fact? Is il
true that supernatural beings are now.
in this material age, in communica-
Mon with human bripoSo or
questions! Do they not strike right
home 20 all of us? Does not the SIN
cere heart say: OH to know these
things; oh! to feel that l can, today.
put myself In a condition to receive
thought, to receive ideas, to receive
truth. from another source than from
. these five material sensesi / say the
sincere neart yearnS for such knowl-
edge, Every person who thinks about
life and It's purpose has that longing
that desire. The soul reaches out for
the unknown, and desires to mako that
unknown known.
This afternoon. 1 feel to direct NV
remarks along the line of HARMONY
! the necessity of being in harmony with
this Holy Spirit. Granted. now. that
this Christian doctrine is true: that
thero Is spirit in man, and that the
Inspiration of the Almighty elveth him
inspirations Gomez Lot me read hero
! q quotation from F. w. Robertson. an
eminent divine:
y, God hath revealed them to us by
',his spirit. Christ is tho voice of God
without the man; the spirit is the
voice of God within the man. He. the
Spirit, shall take of mine and shall
show II unto you"
DIT Joseph Parker says:
~ God ba fin revealed tho,,
his Spirit So, the Christian secs a
world which is invisible to others. The
horizon Is the prison line of other men;
out' TO the man who is enlightened and
ruled by the Holy Ghost. it Is tho door
OF his. Fathers higher kingdom. He
mas spiritual foresight, because he has
SPIRITUAL insight. Grleye not the HOLY
spirit of God by wishing for another
ministry than his own. pinlng after the
revelations given TO the infantile world
Jie has all gifts in one. One great Of
nee OF this holy Comforter should new
er be wanting from rromory of
MS people He doth not call them TO a
set OF notions and opinions only: bur
nc works In them a change of heart
newness of life. Their tenants. there
loTe, are things rather than words. and
~eAst ~ IN facts more than in specula-
tons A carnal man may know the
FORM OF the gospel, but only tho true
believer knows the matter OF it,"
HOW REVELATIONS COME
I'VE believe all that God has reveal
cd, all that he does now reveal: and
we believe that he Will yet reveal MANY
great and important things pertaining
10 the Kingdom OF God" A mere he
netI think not-but a knowledge
that Gods interest-as a parents
10 hAr
and II only remains for you and me 10
place ourselves in harmony. that we
might hear and know his voice. But.
some of us are not in harmony: that
is the trouble. We do not know: we
cannot hear. Why2 Because we are
not In harmony, II you saw a young
man some distance from you walking
INTO danger. and you cried out to him
that there was danger ahead. and he
didn't respond, you would wonder why
Suppose the young man were bllnd
and deaf so he could not respond to
your call Sickness or accident per
haps had deprived him of a faculty,
the loss OF which had put him out OF
harmony with the medium through
which you were appealing to him. You
might cry to the top of your voice,
warning him of the danger ahead. You
could see II. and you had in your heart
desire TO save him from the I'M
pending danger. but he did not re-
spond. His ears did not respond to
the sound waves of air because he was
out Of harmony with that medium
Was 1t your fault that he went into
that pitfall? No. Might we not be
blind and deaf to the voice calling us
TO heed the danger. the pitfalls that
lie In our path? 1 believe such Is too
often the case. / believe that Is the
condition Of the world today, and 1t is
because that which appeals to US, Ihat
which seems so real. that which We
ran taste, that which we can smell.
That which we can see OF hear, or
which we can feel seems so real that
II occupies our minds. our time. our
attention. We arc Influenced too much
by the things that please the appetite
Or crafty the passions: these things
Z engross our minds and our attention.
so that we are deaf to the cries of the
Holy Spirit: and yet VIC pray that we
might be led by that spirit. In a cur