Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1910-01-01

title thus given: "Onc who prevails
with God" Is what the name means.
He rose to the possibilities of tnat
| God-given title, and until this day the
followers OF the Lord Jesus are glad
to be known also as the children OIL
| Israel" There Is a vital difference
between the names given of men and
the titles of worldly import and those
| that have meaning beyond the mean
! ing of earth. Call to mind, If you Will
| the incident of that outcaSt wife, Ha-
gar. who fled from the house of her
| mistress. She was 4 plural wife OF
| Abraham. given unto him by Sarah;
| but she fed from the house because of
| the treatment she received. and went
| into the desert. There, in her anguish.
| she wept. But there came unto her
| an angel OF the Lord and he badc her
| be of good cheer and sought to COM
fort her troubled heart; said he. Il
bring you q blessing: You shall be the
| mother of a son of promise; and as that
| boy grows up he shall turn out to be
| a Wild man; his hand shall be against
every man and every mans hand
| against him. He shall live in the desert
and shall wander from place to place"
Indeed. it would seem that this was
little of blessing. the promise of such
a son. to be an outcast permanently. as
his mother seemed to be an outcast for
the time; but the angel told her some
thing more. he said: when that child
Is born. his name shall be Ishmael."
Then she rejoiced. because that was
a name given of God, through his APP
pointed messenger. and it is an honor
to own and be entitled to such a name,
IL means: God shall hear him when
he calls" That WAS blessing indeed.
So with the names given OF God unto
his people His chosen servants have
been named ofttlmes before their birth,
and names that did not suit him have
been changed.
RELIGION NOT MERE FORM.
Is 1t any wonder then. that when he
established HIS Church upon the earth,
he should be so particular as to the
name by which it should be known?
But that name carries with 1t RESPONSE
bility. My friends, if we are in very
truth members of the Church of Jesus
Christ IL Is required of us that we live
as would become members of such a
Church, This religion OF ours is no mere
matter of form. 1t has been said that
in our theology we are painfully ma
terial: there Is little mystery in the the
ology of this Church. Why, we believe
in God who is Just as tangible, as a
being, as you are and as l am. We be-
ievc that he Is an exalted, perfected
and perfect being of the same race TO
which you and / belong. We don't be-
licvc in the metaphysical conception
cf Deity which represents him as a
mere force, or power or influence. or
essence we believe in him as a being
controlling these forces of nature, op-
Grating through the forces which are so
often mistaken for him. We rejoice In
h.. .rlN
unto US from the sun, but we do not
believe that the light and warmth
are the sun. or that either of
them is the sun, and We do not
believe that the force and influences of
God are to be confounded with the
Deity himself. We believe the Father
to be just as tangible n being as was
the Son while he lived In the flesh. and
as he was after his resurrection, and
as he is now If, after he had taken up
his pierced and wounded body from the
tomb. it was possible for the few priv
ileged ones to actually feel the print of
the nails in his hands and feet. and
the mark of .he soldiers spear in his
side, if they could feel his body. feel
his flesh and his boncs-such we be-
lieve Will be the condition of the human
soul after the resurrection of the body
For we look upon the man-the ndiVid-
ual-as being more than a mere body
aye, and more. If you please, than a
mere body and mind: We believe that
there was being identical with the be-
Ing that lnhabits, now, the body of each
Of us. that existed before the elements
of earth were called together to form
this tabernacle; and We believe that
that being Will exist after this taberna-
Gle has gone to decomposition and de-
cay. We believe that the physical the
mental and the spiritual man consu-
tute the soul Man is more than n dual
being; he Is a triple being, if you
please; and the object of the religion OF
the Church of Jesus Christ Is to de-
yeloD the entire man: the body, the
mind and the spirit, in short, to per-
feet the soul of man. We have regard
and respect for these bodies of ours, be-
heving that they are given unto us
as priceless heritage, and believing
that We Will have use for them: that
although we have occasion to Law them
aside for the time, put them under the
protection of the earth from the ele-
ments OF which they were formed, we
shall again take them up. Indeed, after
we have finished our work in this school
of life, and after we have been adjudged
worthy. these bodies will be glorified,
and we viii wear them. through all
ttelIllS, tilS TODtS oil nOnOr, the
graduation robes of the school of life.
to which we are entitled. if we have
well learned the lessons of this great
school The curse pronounced upon
those spirits who failed to keep their
first great and high estate was that
they should be thrust out from the
presence of God, and should not be per-
mitted to take upon themselves bodies.
LIFE A STAGE OF ADVANCEMENT
We are apt to regard this stage of
life as fallen one; we speak of man
as fallen being Well, in q sense
he is: nevertheless this life Is stage
of advancement. far ahead of that pro-
baton in which we lived before we
c3me here. and is absolutely necessary
to our future advancement. Without
the experiences that we may gain in
this school of mortality. we never could
become what our Father is: and. hence
though we are away from home for the
time, and have TO put up with a great
many of the little Inconvenience which
students have to bear when they are at
tending school-tcmporary contrivanceS.
sometimes without the comforts to
which they have been accustomed, sac
rl6ces often being required of them