Brigham Young

“ Your hearts need not beat; you need not think that a mob is coming here to tread upon the sacred liberty which the Constitution of our country guarantees unto us, for it will not be. The world have known, long ago, even in brother Joseph's days, that he had more wives than one. ”

“ Without the doctrine that this revelation reveals, no man on earth ever could be exalted to be a God. Do you find out now, when you are exalted, what your work will be yonder? We read in the Scriptures that Jesus declared he is the First and the Last. It is written again in this book, by the Prophet Joseph, that he is the First and the Last—the Last and the First. This principle you see in all the works of the Lord. When a man commences the work of his exaltation, he begins at the last thing that will be completed. ”

“ None of you will receive your crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives before he receives his. He will be crowned first, and then we shall be crowned, every one in his order; for the work is finished, and the spirit is complete in its organization with the tabernacle. The world is the first to be redeemed, and the people last to be crowned upon it. I leave these remarks with you, and we will now have the revelation read. ”

“ Joseph wrote a great many. He would, for instance, give a revelation to a man to go to Sanpete to labour; he would give revelations touching both temporal and spiritual things, in the building up of houses and cities, or in the proclamation of the Gospel to the world—all of which are necessary for the salvation and exaltation of the people of the Lord.
Now, brethren, the calling of an Apostle is to build up the kingdom of God in all the world: it is the Apostle that holds the keys of his power, and nobody else. ”

“ If an Apostle magnifies his calling, he is the word of the Lord to this people all the time, or else he does not magnify his calling;—either one or the other.
If he magnifies his calling, his words are the words of eternal life and salvation to those who hearken to them, just as much so as any written revelations contained in these three books (Bible, Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants) . There is nothing contained in these three books that is any more revelation than the words of an Apostle that is magnifying his calling. ”

“ I preached a short sermon here, yesterday, with regard to exaltation. I spoke but a few minutes, and brother Pratt brought up the same subject. It is all connected with the great Gospel sermon; for we can but notice parts of it, when we undertake to speak to the people.
It is all connected with the exaltation of man, showing how he becomes exalted to be a king and a Priest—yea, even a God, like his Father in heaven. ”

“ I trust I shall yet see the day when we shall be so situated, and attain to that knowledge and understanding, that every man and woman will observe and do their duty strictly—do that that is required of them—do no evil,—when all will be peace and joy, and the earth be lighted up with the spirit of intelligence. ”

“ These, my brethren and sisters, are in the habit of being here one part of the Sabbath, to hear and understand for themselves. I should be happy to see this house as full every Sabbath in the after part of the day as it is this afternoon. It is a requirement of the Lord, which is both reasonable and pleasing to all those who are diligently doing his will. We have a comfortable house to meet in, where we can preach, sing, pray, exhort, and exercise ourselves in our several capacities, according to our calling, in the worship of God. ”

“ An Elder of Israel overcomes them on the ground of their own philosophy, and drowns them in the sea of their own arguments. Could the Christian world do it? No. Brother Joseph told the people it was necessary to be baptised for the remission of sins, and proved it by the Bible: he proved it by his works; he proved it by thousands of witnesses in his day.
He also introduced the doctrine of the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and proved it from the Bible, by reason, by his own and the experience of thousands besides. ”

“ It is written in this book, (the Bible,) that the Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. It is a blessing to him. As little labour as possible should be done upon that day: it should be set apart as a day of rest, to assemble together in the place appointed, according to the revelation, confessing our sins, bringing our tithes and offerings, and presenting ourselves before the Lord, there to commemorate the death and sufferings of our Lord Jesus Christ. ”

“ He said pointedly to his friends, "If the United States do not adopt that very method—let them continue as they now are—pursue the precise course they are now pursuing, and it will come to this—that their generations will not live until they are 30 years old. They are going to destruction; disease is spreading so fast among the inhabitants of the United States, that they are born rotten with it, and in a few years they are gone." ”

“ These are institutions expressly for the benefit of man,—not imposed upon him as by a task-master, in the form of a rigid discipline; but they are bestowed upon him as a blessing, a favour, and a mercy, for his express benefit. ”

“ If it was necessary to write them, we would write all the time. We would rather the people, however, would live so as to have revelations for themselves, and then do the work we are called to do: that is enough for us. ”

“ It is true, most of the doctrine we believe comes in contact with all the prejudices and prepossessed feelings of the Christian world. In the practical part of our religion we do not differ from them in many respects. They pray, and so do we; they keep the Sabbath pretty tolerably well, and so do we ”

“ Instead of suffering our labours to occupy the Sabbath—instead of planning our business to infringe upon the first day of the week, we should do as little as possible; if it is necessary to cook food, do so ”