A plea to have the Saints attend Sacrament

I hope that while I shall stand before you and address you a short time that I may not draw your minds away from the excellent things that have been spoken to us this morning by our President. The remarks were timely, and we all feel we ought to follow them. If we do, I know they will be a blessing and a benefit. ¶

The other day I asked a bishop's counselor about his ward, and wanted to know wherein the members of the ward needed the most encouragement. He answered, in attendance at sacrament meetings; adding, that while they had large meetings, still the percentage was low. It has also been the report from a great many places, that the percentage of attendance at sacrament meetings is low. I would like to plead with the Saints to give this matter more thought and try to raise the; percentage of their attendance ; by this I mean that they will do their duty in attending their meetings. If we are not present at our meetings when we have the opportunity we deprive ourselves of great blessings ; in fact, we will be starving spiritually. At our meetings we receive instruction, encouragement to do right, and we enjoy ¶

the influence of the Spirit of God that is present, and make up our minds that we will live better lives. If we do not go to meetings we lose these things ; and as our minds are active, they are apt to he engaged with other subjects and thoughts instead of those that should be had on a Sunday. ¶

I would like to read what the Lord says in this regard. You will find it on page 224 in the Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord says : ¶

"And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments on my holy day; for verily this is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay thy devotions to the Most High; nevertheless, thy vows shall be offered up in righteousness on all days and at all times; but remember that on this the Lord's day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord. And on this day thou shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be full." ¶

This is the Lord's command to us, that on the Sabbath day we shall rest from all other labors, and go to the house of God. His object in wanting us to rest one day in seven is for our benefit, as it is found to be physiologically true that men who work six days in the week and rest on the seventh can do more than those who work constantly. The Lord also wanted us to have our minds directed on things that are of greater value to us than simply the things that we can produce by our hands' labor. He commands us to go to the house of prayer.' Why? That we might keep ourselves more fully unspotted from the world. By attending our meetings and listening to what is said to us, partaking of the sacrament and renewing our covenants we get more strength to keep ourselves unspotted from the world. This is the great object in attending meetings, and as the Lord has commanded it, let us obey his command. ¶

Let us not look upon the commandment to keep the Sabbath day holy as a small one that it doesn't matter much if we violate. If we read the scriptures we will learn how important it was held to observe the Sabbath in Old Testament times. There is an instance of a man being punished with death for transgressing this commandment, and ancient Israel was very careful in observing the Sabbath day. We read in history how Jersualem was taken by its enemies simply because the people considered it a sin to fight on the Sabbath day. The Egyptian king, Ptolemy Soter took Jerusalem in this way. Antiochus sent one of his generals to Jerusalem for the purpose of besieging it. When the Sabbath came he ' knew that the Jews, on account of their religious scruples, would not fight, so he and his soldiers entered the city, and, fearing no resistance, cruelly slew men, women and children. We rather consider this as too strict an interpretation of the law, but such a sacredness surrounded the Sabbath in the minds of the Jews that they were not willing even to defend themselves when they believed it would be breaking the Sabbath. ¶

Not so, however, today, in the Christian world, for we find that some of the greatest battles are fought on Sunday, or the Lord's day. I bring this up, brethren and sisters, to show you how important ¶

this commandment was held to be in old Israel. I fear that the Sabbath is no1< held sacred enough among us as a people, who ought, indeed, to pay attention" to this day and make it a day of rest and worship. ¶

How can we make our meetings attractive? Why, by going there and filling up the meetinghouse. Let there be no empty benches, for they are very discouraging to the speaker. Let us feel that every one of us owes it to his fellow worshipers to go to the house of prayer and occupy his seat there, thus helping to make a large meeting, and by doing so giving more support to him who shall address us. Again, we open our meetings by singing, and singing is elevating and refining, it encourages us to faithfulness, especially when the music is accompanied by words of godliness, such as are contained in our hymns. We want to encourage good singing in our meetings. We have a great many excellent choirs throughout Zion, and I wish to say to the bishops, encourage good choirs ; have men that can lead them, and get some of your good singers together in the choir, thus giving joy to the Saints, and at the same time making the meetings more attractive. In the, larger settlements it is not so difficult to have a choir, but in smaller settlements it is, perhaps, not so easy to get together brethren and sisters who can sing, or to get a competent leader ; yet the bishops ought to do what they can along this line. If you haven't a chorister, try to induce such a one to move into your ward, even if you have to give him some advantages. It may be that you have a school teacher who can teach music and thus help you to make a choir; but, ¶

by all means, try to have good singing in your meetings. ¶

When you received the gospel abroad how you loved to attend your meetings ! I have seen Saints, old and young, walk many miles to attend meetings with brethren and sisters, who likewise lived a long distance from the place of meeting, and all rejoiced in the privelege of coming together to .enjoy the spirit of the gospel, and hear the teachings of the servants of the Lord. Generally each one would bring a hymn-book, so as to take part in the singing, a custom very general in the missions; but here at home, very few take hymn-books with them to meeting, and some do not even own a hymn-book. Now this should not be. Bring your hymnbooks along to the meetings, and when you hear the choir sing you will be much more edified by following the words in the book, and your hearts will be lifted up not only by the melody, but also by the good words that are being sung. I would ask the Saints to give this a little more attention and to take their hymn-books with them to meetings. ¶

The meetings are opened with an invocation. All should unite in earnest prayer with the elder who is called upon to be mouth. Sometimes when there are sick in the ward these may be remembered in the prayer, and the congregation join in asking the Lord for their recovery. There is much power in the united exercise of faith and prayer. ¶

Generally, after the opening of the meeting the sacrament of the Lord's supper is administered. It is one of the most sacred acts we can perform. When the emblems — the bread and water — are passed ¶

around let us not partake of them thoughtlessly, but let our minds be turned to the meaning of the sacrament, and go back to Calvary, and, with grateful hearts, remember what our Master and Savior suffered and did for us, as has been alluded to by our President, how the Savior voluntarily gave his life for his brethren. We should be imbued with that thought when we partake of the bread and likewise when we drink of the cup, and be thankful to the Lord that we have the privilege of worshiping him and of partaking of these sacred things. We should weigh every word in the prayers of dedication of these emblems. The prayers are short, but very comprehensive. ¶

In the blessing of the bread we make three covenants: We covenant with the Lord that we will take upon us the name of his Son. Do you realize how much is contained in this covenant? Taking upon us the name of Christ doesn't mean alone that we will be called Christians, but it means that we will deserve taking upon us that name, that our works and words may all be in accord with him whose name we have taken upon us. Think of this, and when you say "Amen" to that prayer, realize that you have promised that you will walk in the footsteps of him wno suffered for us, that you will show unto the world that you will bear his name rightfully, that men may not point a finger at you, and say that you are calling yourself a follower of Christ, but are going contrary to his life and example. You also make covenant that you will remember him. This was really the object of instituting the sacrament. Recall the conditions that existed when Jesus came upon the earth. Up to that time the prescribed sacrifices had been made by the priests in the temple, and these sacrifices all pointed forward to the great sacrifice that he should make. In fact, the efficacy of these sacrifices, to obtain forgiveness of sins for those in whose favor they were offered, depended upon the great sacrifice which Jesus was to come and make ; and hence during those ages that preceded his coming upon the earth, the sacrifices and worship in the temples, all pointed forward to his great sacrifice. On the Thursday evening, the night before his crucifixion, when the all-atoning sacrifice was made, he instituted, instead of an ordinance to look forward, one that should make men look back unto the great sacrifice accomplished. To me the institution of the Lord's supper is strong evidence of the divinity and foreknowledge of the Savior, and what could be more impressive and powerful to call to mind the sublime sacrifice he made than that of partaking of broken bread to remember his body ; and drinking from the cup to remember his blood that was shed for all for the remission of sins? Jesus knew that abstract teaching might easily be forgotten, that men would remember the concrete better, and hence many of his excellent lessons were given in parables, and that this the greatest event might he vividly impressed on all, he gave this glorious ordinance in a tangible form, to look at and partake of. ¶

There has been considerable difference of opinion in regard to his meaning of the phrase, "This is my body," when he said to his disciples, "Take, eat, this is my body," and also when he gave to them the cup and said, "Drink ye all of it, for this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins." A great number of Christian sects and denominations claim that this did not signify that the bread and wine were emblems, but that we partake really of his flesh and blood, in the administration of the sacrament. Transsubstantiation means that the bread changes by the blessing into his flesh, and the wine into his blood. This is not our opinion. We believe that the bread and wine are simply emblems of his body and blood. If we could imagine ourselves in that sacred, room where he and his disciples were having the last evening together, where they partook of the paschal meal, and where he instituted this holy ordinance, we should see him then standing before the disciples, saying to them of the bread, "This is my body," and1 of the contents of the cup, "This is my blood," and yet we should see him standing in the full vigor of health and the blood circulating in his veins. It was not his blood in the cup, for he calls it at the very same time, "this fruit of the vine." It was wine he gave unto them, but it represented' his blood that was to be shed for the remission of sins. ¶

When the reformation took place in Germany and the surrounding states, Luther retained the old doctrine that, "This is my body," meant that the bread changed to flesh. When he met Zwingli, who started the Reformed religion, their friends wanted to bring them together to be reconciled on this important point. But Luther simply wrote with chalk on an altar cloth : "This is my body. I cannot change my mind on this point." Zwingli held that Jesus merely meant that the bread signified the body of Christ. ¶

Luther said we must not change and give another meaning to the words of Jesus, they must be understood as spoken. Zwingli asked him then : "Does this extend also to his last words on the cross, when he said to his beloved apostle John, 'Behold thy mother,' pointing to his beloved mother Mary, and when he said to his mother, 'Behold thy son,' pointing to John?" Zwingli said that Jesus certainly meant that John should be as a son to Jesus' mother, and so when Jesus said about the bread, "This is my body," he meant that the bread signified that his body would be hung upon the cross, and when he said about the wine, "This is my blood," it signified his blood that was shed for us. To us this is clear. ¶

I was trained in a Lutheran school, and I remember our teacher was once explaining to us the difference between the teachings of Luther and Zwingli, the pupils said to him: "Teacher, it seems to us that Zwingli was right." He looked at them disgusted and said that when their minds got broader they would understand more about it. I don't think that understanding would come on this point — only as men force themselves to believe it. Luther held to this doctrine so firmly that he said: "I would rather drink blood with the . Pope than drink wine with Zwingli!" ¶

Now, brethren and sisters, we partake of the sacrament to remember the sacrifice of our Savior and to remember him. This is what he asks us to do. Whenever we put out our hands to take the bread, let the thought go with it, "His body suffered upon the cross for us;" and when we drink of the cup, let ¶

our thought likewise be of his . blood that was shed for us, for the remission of sins. ¶

We do not partake of the sacrament for the remission of sins, as they do in many of the different churches. We believe that baptism was instituted for the remission of sins, and that having received the Spirit of God, if we humbly repent of what wrongs we have done, and earnestly seek the Lord's forgiveness, that forgiveness may come to us. ¶

In speaking about the different covenants we make in the sacrament, a great covenant is also made wherein we promise that we will keep the commandments which Jesus has given us. We all believe in keeping the ten commandments, or ought to do so, at least, but did' Jesus give us any others? Read the Sermon. on the Mount, one of the best sermons ever delivered, full of good instruction unto his disciples and the whole world, and you may put together all that he taught into the words, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy might ; and thy neighbor as thyself." He made that generalization, one of the greatest ever made; all commandments can come under it, and he emphasized this once to the Prophet Joseph by saying, that "except ye love one another yet are not mine." Now we promise to keep his commandments and that includes this great commandment, sometimes pretty hard to keep, but we make the covenant, when we partake of the sacrament, that we will keep his commandments. We should study all the other commandments that are given, and be ready and yield obedience unto them. ¶

I see the time has expired. I feel happy to be present. I feel happy that I am a member of the Church of Christ. I thank the Lord that the light of ,the gospel has shone in my heart and that I have learned a few of the principles pertaining to eternal salvation ; and I believe that you all feel the same way. The Lord bless you, and help us together to serve him and to fulfil our mission upon the earth to his honor, I ask in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶