Brigham Young

“ We have left our homes and everything for the sake of our religion. Many women in our community have left their husbands; many men have left their wives and children; young boys have left their parents and brothers and sisters, and young girls have come away, and left all. They had friends, homes, plenty, parents, brothers and sisters; yet when the spirit of the Gospel came upon them they were so enamored with it, and it gave such light, knowledge and intelligence, that they were willing to forsake all, and follow with the Latter-day Saints for life eternal. ”

“ We hope for life, salvation and exaltation; we have the privilege of the Gospel and the ordinances of the house of God, while the inhabitants of the earth, with the exception of comparatively a very few, have not as yet availed themselves of this privilege. We preach the Gospel to the people, but they are so erroneously traditionated and so ignorant with regard to the facts pertaining to the revelations and will of God to the children of men, that they turn aside from it and think it no evil in so doing. They are so educated that they can neglect the Gospel, and feel measurably justified. ”

“ I am the director and counselor to this people for building up the kingdom of God on the earth. I am the one who will tell what shall be done, and how it shall be done, and any man who deviates or says that there is any design in connection with the United Order other than to put the people in a condition and situation to be better and freer, and in which they will enjoy more of the blessings of heaven and earth than they can out of it, does not tell the truth. You all know that it takes intelligence to enjoy. Persons in good-health enjoy their food. ”

“ I want everything that the Lord places in my possession, my time, my talents, every ability I have, every penny that he has committed to me to be used to his glory, and for the building up of his kingdom on the earth. ”

“ How blessed are you when you are for God and none else! Then you are ready for whatever he reveals. How sweet you can sleep! Your dreams are pleasant and delightful, and the days, weeks, months and years pass away easily and joyfully, you are so happy. ”

“ If a person does wrong I am for exposing that, and chastening the perpetrator if he persists in it. I want wrong doers to refrain. Now, I say, brother Jacob, teach the things of God. Do not have a doubt about this any more than about baptism, nor say a word against it. How many are there in this Church who are now wavering and shaking because they have spoken against the ordinances of heaven, and especially against that ordinance which God has revealed for the exaltation of the children of men in celestial marriage? ”

“ The Latter-day Saints say at once—"This is correct, certainly it is right that we should have no other object and aim in our feelings and affections but to do good and to promote the kingdom of God on the earth.' But the weakness of man is such, the humanity with which our spirits is clothed is so frail that we are liable to be overcome. ”

“ But the Gospel to us is all in all. To know the will of God, and do it, is the happiest life that intelligent beings, the children of our Father in heaven, can live. There is no other condition in life that produces the same amount of good feeling, peace, happiness, joy, comfort, contentment and intelligence that the service of the Lord will bring. ”

“ Now have we profited by all that we have, passed through and experienced, so that we really do consider that we are sanctified and prepared for the celestial kingdom of God, or do we believe that there is something more yet to be done? Why, all hearts reply—There is still understanding in this kingdom; every heart echoes—We expect to learn more, we expect to receive more, we are not yet perfect, we are not complete in our stature as men and women in Christ Jesus. ”

“ The very first act after believing is a temporal act. After I hear the Gospel preached and believe it, I go down into the waters of baptism, which is a temporal act: it is an act that pertains to my will and my body, I will that my body shall go down into the water and be immersed for the remission of my sins, consequently I have to go to the Elder who taught me the Gospel, the spiritual portion of the kingdom, and apply to him to administer this temporal ordinance, and he has to do it ”

“ All that the Lord requires of us is strict obedience to the laws of life. All the sacrifice that the Lord asks of his people is strict obedience to our own covenants that we have made with our God, and that is to serve him with an undivided heart. ”

“ When I awoke in the morning I did not find any fault with those who wanted to go to California; I said, "If they want to go let them go, and we will do all we can to save them; I have no more fault to find, the sheep and the goats will run together, but Joseph says, "they are all good in their places."
This will apply precisely to what we are doing at the present time. We are trying to unite the people together in the order that the Lord revealed to Enoch, which will be observed and sustained in the latter days in redeeming and building up Zion ”

“ Did the Lord speak from the heavens through Joseph, commanding his people to gather out from the wicked before the scourges—sickness, pestilence, wars, bloodshed, and the various calamities spoken of by the Prophets and Apostles, should pass over the nations? Yes, we believe the Lord has called upon the people who received the Gospel to come out of Babylon, to separate themselves from the wicked and to stand in holy places preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man. ”

“ And if you do not feel to come into the Order, assist those who do, and do not say anything against them. You who come into the Order, do not lisp anything against those who do not; if you feel right you will not have the least feeling against them. Come along, for, as I have said, if I do not find more than fifty men in the kingdom of God who will go with me to organize the Church and kingdom of God more perfectly, I shall go ahead. What for? More knowledge, wisdom, and perfection in the management and control of our temporal affairs. ”

“ We want to sacrifice enough to do the will of God in preparing to bring up those who have not had the privilege of hearing the Gospel while in the flesh, for the simple reason that, in the spirit world, they cannot officiate in the ordinances of the House of God. ”

“ No, it is the only way on the face of the earth for you and me to become free, and we shall become the slaves of our own passions, and of the wicked one, and servants to the devil, if we take any other course, and we shall be eventually cast into hell with the devils. ”

“ We ask the question again, Do we expect that we have already become perfect, and that we are prepared to be numbered with the sanctified, and that we are now prepared to be gathered with God's elect, and that, if we were to hear the voice to-night—"Behold the bridegroom cometh"—we should be numbered with the wise? ”

“ Who is it that can not see the beauty and the excellency of celestial marriage, and having our children sealed to us? What should we do without this? Were it not for what is revealed concerning the sealing ordinances, children born out of the covenant could not be sealed to their parents; children born in the covenant are entitled to the Spirit of the Lord and all the blessings of the kingdom. ”

“ We were in the spirit world, and we came here into this time, which is in eternity, nothing in the world only a change of time and seasons allotted to a change of being that makes it time to us. It is in eternity, and we are just as much in eternity now, as we shall be millions of years hence. ”

“ If we do we are wrong, for we are not prepared. We have passed through a great many scenes, we may say, of tribulation, though I would have all my brethren understand that I do not take this to myself, for all that I have passed through has been joy and joyful to me; but we have seemingly sacrificed a great deal, and passed through many scenes of trial and temptations, no doubt of this. We have had to suffer temptation more or less, and we have taken the spoiling of our goods joyfully. ”

“ I have not come here to scold you, or anybody else. I am sometimes very rough in my language to the people, and I give them a rough scolding, but I do not wish any evil to the individual, it is to his wrong acts. ”

“ But it is time measured to finite beings, and it is changeable, and we call it temporal, while the fact is it is all spiritual in the first place, then temporal, then spiritual, and made immortal, consequently you can not divide them. ”

“ It is from the enemy, and because a person has not the Spirit of the Lord to see how things are. There is not a man of us but what is willing to acknowledge at once that God demands strict obedience to his requirements. ”

“ God does not require any such sacrifice as this; neither does he require any of these sacrifices which involve the shedding of blood or the loss of life. Such things do not belong to God's religion, they come through sin and transgression. Perhaps they who show such manifestations of their faith strengthen it and do themselves some good. ”

“ Every spiritual mind knows this. I will now say to my brethren and sisters, that while we were in Winter Quarters, the Lord gave to me a revelation just as much as he ever gave one to anybody. He opened my mind, and showed me the organization of the kingdom of God in a family capacity. I talked it to my brethren; I would throw out a few words here, and a few words there, to my first counselor, to my second counselor and the Twelve Apostles, but with the exception of one or two of the Twelve, it would not touch a man. ”

“ These children who were born in this city or Territory, know what they can remember, and many of them are old enough to have many reflections and can see and understand a great many things; but the older ones know that this people have drifted just as far as they can without a reformation. ”

“ The Lord has offered his sacrifice in the character of his Son; but he does not require us to sacrifice our children or ourselves as the heathens sacrifice to their gods; consequently our sacrifices and our sufferings are not to be compared with those of the heathens. ”

“ They want exaltation, they want to be in the great family of heaven, they do not want to be cast off, then they must be taken into the families of those who prove themselves worthy to be exalted with the Gods. ”

“ It is not called for, it is not needed, and it will not do the least good in the world. We must manifest and show to our brethren a purer life than we have heretofore. I will say to you, who want to be organized in this Order, we will not take one red cent from you, but the Lord will add to you riches and honor, if you will take counsel. ”

“ They said so to Joseph, and they said so much about it, that I went into the Temple at Kirtland, and challenged the men who were querying on this, to prove or bring up one instance where God did not manifest his will concerning temporal things whenever he made known his will to the children of men for establishing his kingdom on the earth. They always came to the floor ”

“ There is a portion of this congregation who are young, and know but little about the United States, or about the people there; and there is a large percentage of our community who know nothing by experience of the outside world. Ask them if they know anything of California? ”

“ There are professing Christians in our midst, who are so strict in their religious notions that they would rise in the morning at five o'clock, and walk miles, if necessary, rather than miss their religious services ”