Amasa Lyman

“ But I never thought the kingdom could be built up in a man's heart. I wish you as Latter-day Saints, when you go home, would sit down and study rationally, and see what principle there is that will be developed in building up the kingdom of God, according to the light of inspiration; you can read in the good book, and according to all that has ever shone around you, or in your own heart; and if you can find a principle in building up that kingdom, you will find one that, in the first place, is to be developed in the circle of every human being that hopes to be associated in building it up. ”

“ What will it be, if the confidence and quietude that we enjoy to-day, that pervades our souls to-day, is the result of our comprehension of the truth? It will be the same ever and always: the history of the future will never reveal that we have departed from the truth—that we have professed to know, to understand, to comprehend, and feel the blessings of the truth, and then have at a subsequent period of our lives departed from it. ”

“ Why has not the Gospel brought salvation to our firesides and to our homes? Why, we have naught but imperfections of our own. But these could not stand in the way; for the blood of Jesus could have cleansed us from sin, aside from our own works, according to the feelings of some. Then why is it that we are these slaves of sin, and are afflicted with the consequences thereof? Why is it that the sanctuary of home is deprived of these blessings? ”

“ Here is a God that I see, a God that I have heard, whose voice is uttered by all time, and millions of earths, and suns, in the magnitude of the universe, and thousands of universes, associated together, shadow forth His greatness and glory. Then there is a God who is gentle and kind, easy to be entreated, full of compassion and tender mercy, whose store house of good is richly filled to make—who happy? Those that seek for happiness. ”

“ If we wish our children to have an exalted taste for the lovely and beautiful, create something lovely for them to look upon, let them behold a practical example and exhibition of the beautiful and lovely when they are at home; when they go into the garden let them see the development of beauty, and when they come to maturity and remove far away they will think of the paternal home with delight and pleasure as the place where peace reigns, where joy is developed, where the odor of sweet flowers are inhaled by the visitors, greeting our early rising or cheering us when we retire to our rest. ”

“ Have we made peace within ourselves and in our homes? Have we made peace in that territory over which we preside? Is the same unanimity of feeling, the same union, the same singleness of purpose developed within us, as individuals and families, that marks the action and the conduct of this great people when the public safety and the interests of the people require effort? When labour is to be performed or sacrifice to be made, and it is called for, is it made? ”

“ I want to show you that it is not merely the labor that you can perform, that will give you eternal life; I want you to understand that if you have eternal life, it will be when you comprehend the truth, so that it becomes your property; so that you can apply it—the same as it is when you have got money in your pocket, you can buy bread with it or anything else you want.
You may sing, or pray, or just do what you please, but if you do not learn the truth, and fully comprehend it, you will fail to obtain salvation. I want you to understand this, that you may not waste yourselves away. ”

“ I want to see the kingdom of God grow from this small beginning that is right around us, until the whole earth is filled and blessed with its glory as it now blesses and fills the valleys of Deseret in a degree. We are connected with an enterprise that is great, noble and honorable, with an enterprise that is not satisfied with a limited acquisition, with a small victory over sin, but it is an enterprise that grasps the world's emancipation from sin, darkness and death; it looks at no smaller object than the world's freedom from sin and its consequences. ”

“ I suppose, when the Bishop was made or ordained, you all thought that you ought to have been made Bishops,—you were so clever, so accomplished, and so well qualified to rule, in your own estimation. I want you to prove that you are capable of being Bishops, by keeping your mouths shut when a storm of passion arises within you. Let it die. Never let the world hear the breath of heaven wafting away the ill-spoken word—the hasty declaration. ”

“ I do not care whether you regard them as the consequences of the fall or not, I care not what you name the ills that afflict men, and keep them from the enjoyment of a fulness of happiness and glory; from them mankind have need to be saved; they constitute the chains with which men are bound—the clouds of darkness which obscure the light of truth, that prevents the sun light of truth from rendering the whole sphere of man's being, radiant, glorious, and resplendent. ”

“ If the same prayers were to ascend to God with the same degree of fervency—was the same attention paid to the propriety of examples that are set—was the same word of wisdom and truth and goodness and virtue constantly flowing from them in the midst of the home circle that might characterize all their labours abroad, then the misery at home would become prolific in truth, in which plants of righteousness would spring up and yield the fruits of peace. ”

“ You come to the Tabernacle and enjoy the Spirit of peace and of truth that is here—the Spirit of God. Well, now, you ought to enjoy that Spirit, the Spirit of peace, just as much at home as anywhere else: you should have it there all the time. There is a fruitful field for the cultivation of practical purity and virtue, that is as imperishable as truth itself, that will render you secure in that victory that is anticipated in the conquest before us. ”