Brigham Young

“ If we continue to learn all that we can, pertaining to the salvation which is purchased and presented to us through the Son of God, is there a time when a person will cease to learn? Yes, when he has sinned against God the Father, Jesus Christ the Son, and the Holy Ghost—God's minister; when he has denied thee Lord, defied Him and committed the sin that in the Bible is termed the unpardonable sin—the sin against the Holy Ghost. ”

“ The Scriptures will be opened to you, and you will see how clear and reasonable everything is which this or that Elder teaches you. Your hearts will be comforted, you can he down and sleep in peace, and wake up with feelings as pleasant as the breezes of summer. This is a witness to you. You ask the Lord to heal you, or your sick child, and if He is disposed to do it He will, and if not it is all right. If He is disposed to open the heavens and give us a visit from an angel, it is all right. If He is disposed to reveal to us, by natural philosophy, what is going to take place, that is right. ”

“ Because they give way to temptation; they may have had great light, knowledge, and understanding, the vision of their minds may have been opened and eternity exhibited to their view, but when this is closed up, in proportion to the light given to them, so is the darkness that comes upon them to try them. ”

“ Are you going to apostatize when you are in darkness? That is the time to stand firm. I know there are some people right in our midst, only about on a par with good quakers; say they "I pray when I feel like it." Have you prayers in your families? "Yes, sometimes, but I do not always feel like praying, and then I feel as though it would be a sin." ”

“ I hope and trust that we will order our lives so as to be worthy of the blessings promised to us, and live to the glory of God, that we may have a glorious resurrection, and enjoy each other's society in the kingdom of our God. This is our constant prayer concerning you, in the name of Jesus Christ. ”

“ If you feel that you are tempted not to open your mouth to the Lord, and as though the heavens are brass over your heads and the earth iron beneath your feet, and that every thing is closed up, and you feel that it would be a sin for you to pray, then walk up to the devil and say, Mr. Devil, get out of my way; and if you feel that you cannot get down upon your knees for fear you will swear, say, get down knees; and if they don't feel right when they are down, put something under them, some sharp sticks, for instance, and say, knees come to it. ”

“ The tabernacle is subject to sin, but the spirit is not. A great many think that the spirits of the children of men, when they enter the tabernacles, are totally depraved; this is a mistake. They are as holy as the angels; the devil has no power to contaminate them, he only contaminated the bodies. When your spirit wishes to worship the Father, and your body is so full of weakness or wickedness, that you feel as though you could not do it, go to and bring your body into subjection; bow the knee and confess that Jesus is the Christ, if it is darker that 10,000 midnights in your minds ”

“ We were taught that the commandments of the Lord were this, that, and the other, in our former lives, but when we can know and understand, by the revelations of Jesus Christ, the will of our Father in heaven and do His will, He will make us pure and holy, and fit for the society of angels and Himself. ”

“ Then the greater the vision, the greater the display of the power of the enemy. And when such individuals are off their guard they are left to themselves, as Jesus was. For this express purpose the Father withdrew His spirit from His Son, at the time he was to be crucified. Jesus had been with his Father, talked with Him, dwelt in His bosom, and knew all about heaven, about making the earth, about the transgression of man, and what would redeem the people, and that he was the character who was to redeem the sons of earth, and the earth itself from all sin that had come upon it. ”

“ We have just heard brother Morley's testimony concerning the religion that we have embraced. The extent of knowledge, incorporated within the salvation extended to the children of men, will vastly exceed the researches of the human family, and when they have passed the veil, they will then understand that they have but just commenced to learn. Brother Morley says he never expects to be too old to learn; I believe that doctrine. ”

“ That makes me think of a great many Christians in the world; when they are sick and in trouble they will pray; if they are in fear of starving to death for want of food, of freezing through lack of raiment or fuel, then they will call upon the Lord. I know the old Prophet said, "In the day of trouble they draw nigh unto me." Get out, say I, in my feelings, in regard to such a religion. When I am starving to death it is time for me to be diligent in getting something to eat; when the ship is in a storm, it is then time to look out for the rigging. ”

“ That is the time when a person will cease to learn, and from that time forth, will descend in ignorance, forgetting that which they formerly knew, and decreasing until they return to the native element, whether it be one thousand or in one million years, or during as many eternities as you can count. They will cease to increase, but must decrease, until they return to the native element. ”

“ What should the wicked hear? They should hear a man testify that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet of God, that he was a good man, and that he did plant and establish the kingdom of God on the earth, and we know it. "How shall I know?" says one. By obeying the commandments given to you. The Lord has said, go into the waters of baptism and be baptized for the remission of your sins, and you shall receive a witness that I am telling you the truth. ”

“ There is only one thing which the people lack on this point, in order that their traditions and former education may do them good, and that is to know how to sever the good from the bad, how to assimilate to themselves every good trait of character they have seen in their fathers and mothers, teachers and neighbors, and every good thing that has been taught them from their youth, and how to gather to themselves every good principle they have been traditionated in, and store that up as their individual property, and then dispense with every erroneous idea and every inconsistency. ”

“ So when individuals are blessed with visions, revelations, and great manifestations, look out, then the devil is nigh you, and you will be tempted in proportion to the vision, revelation, or manifestation you have received. ”

“ We shall never cease to learn, unless we apostatize from the religion of Jesus Christ. Then we shall cease to increase, and will continue to decrease and decompose, until we return to our native element. ”

“ I said, upon natural principles, that this people had to go to a country that the Gentiles do not desire. I can tell you another thing, when you see any member of this community wishing to withdraw and go to where there is a beautiful country—where it is easy to live, let me tell you that that man will apostatize, or be driven from his favorite locality: write that down brother George as the word of the Almighty. ”

“ I like this country, and if it is not bare enough, cold and disagreeable enough, to those who wish to live in ease, we will find another location a little farther off. When we came here we were one thousand miles from everybody. Are you afraid of the Gentiles coming here? Should we all move from this city and give the Gentiles liberty to occupy our houses, our farms, &c., in five years you would not find them here; they could not live here, for this is not a place that would suit them. ”

“ Often when the spirit would do good the body overcomes, then one does the evil that brings into subjection the spirit. When the spirits of men are subject to the body, and continue to be, and commit the amount of evil necessary to fill up their cup, they are cast out and their names will be blotted out from the Lamb's Book of Life. ”

“ I never received one iota of intelligence, from the letter A to what I now know, I mean that, from the very start of my life to this time, I have never received one particle of intelligence only by revelation, no matter whether father or mother revealed it, or my sister, or neighbor. ”

“ You have gathered the idea from me that it is not the miracles that are performed before a person's eyes that convince him that one is of God, or of the devil; yet, if the Lord designs that a person should heal the sick, that individual can do so ”

“ They are like dry limbs, and have become so decayed, that the moisture leaks through them, and seeks its way into the heart of the tree, and, by and bye, if we do not cut away such branches, the tree itself will die. ”

“ If we are not now in the right place, the Lord will lead us to where we can gather up our strength, and multiply and sanctify ourselves, so that we can go forth and serve the Lord with clean hands and pure hearts. ”

“ I can pick up scores of Yankees here, who have lived in countries where they could have fine orchards, and live like nabobs, and yet, in the winter season often ride in their sleighs over fences five feet high. ”

“ Many things which have been taught us m our childhood, or in our early lives, are truly inconsistent, lay them aside and cleave to the traditions which actually tend to virtue, holiness, chastity, loveliness, kindness, honesty, and truthfulness in every respect, and gather all the good into our own store house, and let each one say, that belongs to me. ”

“ That which is to be learned in the eternities of the Gods pertains to life, and that life is exhibited to the human family in the degree which they are capacitated to receive it, that they may be taught as we teach our children, that they may learn the first rudiments of eternal lives. ”

“ He did not convince them by one or all of the acts, which were called miracles, that he performed upon the earth. I know that many think that they are a great proof, that it is astonishing that people will not believe, when they read over the history and miracles performed in the days of Jesus and his Apostles. ”

“ Men who have professedly seen the most, known and understood the most, in this Church, and who have testified in the presence of large congregations, in the name of Israel's God, that they have seen Jesus, &c., have been the very men who have left this kingdom, before others who had to live by faith. I have a witness right before me, and I am fearful every time that a man or woman comes to me and relates great visions, saying, "I have had a vision, an angel came and told me thus and so; the visions of eternity were opened, and I saw thus and so ”

“ If, by the whispering of a small, still voice, He dictates you to do this or that, showing you which is right and which is wrong, it is all right, and it is right to acknowledge the hand of the Lord in His so doing. ”

“ I do not desire to dictate the Lord in that matter; all I have to do is to concern myself with the things He requires of me, for it is His right to pursue His own way, and take His own time and course in dealing with me. Can you gain a victory? ”

“ Bring the names of such men to this stand and I will cut them off, if no other person will, and ask no odds of the quorum, and you will go in with me. Bring the names of men who take the name of God in vain and do wrong in any way, and I will not ask for a High Council or Bishop's Court to deliberate on their case ”