Brigham Young

“ No person, either in heaven or upon earth, can enjoy and understand these things upon any other principle.
"Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power." The death that is spoken of here is the death that is opposite to the eternal life the Saviour spoke of. If you dishonour that body—transgress the natural laws pertaining to it, you are not worthy, in your sphere, to possess this body in an immortal state. What will become of it? It will return to its native element. That is the death that never dies. That is endless death. ”

“ All mankind have the principles of eternal life implanted within them. Much has been taught in regard to this and to the agency of the children of men. God has organized the spirit and placed it in a tabernacle—has given it certain capacity and certain laws, and it is as independent in its sphere of action as are the angels and the Gods in the heavenly worlds. ”

“ When the angel who holds the keys of the resurrection shall sound his trumpet, then the peculiar fundamental particles that organized our bodies here, if we do honour to them, though they be deposited in the depths of the sea, and though one particle is in the north, another in the south, another in the east, and another in the west, will be brought together again in the twinkling of an eye, and our spirits will take possession of them. ”

“ In all such sayings, and in every part and portion of the revelations of God as given to the children of men, or to any individual in heaven or on earth, to properly understand them, a man needs the Spirit by which they were given—the Spirit that reveals such matters to the understanding, and makes them familiar to the mind.
In the Scripture above quoted, the death spoken of is a death that the intelligent being undergoes, and never recovers from: it is an eternal death. For the body to decay, like a kernel of wheat that is cast into the ground, is not considered a death. ”

“ When the wicked seek to destroy this kingdom, I can endure it tolerably well; but when I see those who profess to be Latter-day Saints taking a course to destroy themselves, and to prove themselves children of folly, children of darkness, it is a great source of grief and regret to me. ”

“ It is beyond the power of man to fully unfold it, though a portion has been beautifully portrayed, and it seems that the people should see things that are so plain. Were it possible for the nations to gain power to destroy this kingdom on the earth, by so doing they would seal their eternal damnation. ”

“ But probably, in most cases, the change from mortal to immortality is no greater, comparatively speaking, than when a child emerges into this world. We shall suffer no more in putting off this flesh and leaving the spirit houseless than the child, in its capacity, does in its first efforts to breathe the breath of this mortal life.
After the spirit leaves the body, it remains without a tabernacle in the spirit-world until the Lord, by his law that he has ordained, brings to pass the resurrection of the dead. ”

“ God will overrule the acts of the children of men in this kingdom as well as among the nations. After the children of Israel had travelled thirty years in the wilderness, they thought that they had prospered tolerably well, though they were still travelling. In their travels they crossed their tracks many times, whereas we, in our travels, have done so but a few times. How many times we may have to do so, I do not know.
Strive to prepare your hearts as fully as possible to enjoy a great portion of the Spirit of the Lord at our Conference; strive to enjoy that Spirit above all things. ”

“ If any of us could now see the God we are striving to serve—if we could see our Father who dwells in the heavens, we should learn that we are as well acquainted with him as we are with our earthly father ”

“ Spirits, when they leave their bodies, do not dwell with the Father and the Son, but live in the spirit-world, where there are places prepared for them. Those who do honour to their tabernacles, who love and believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, must put off this mortality, or they cannot put on immortality. This body must be changed, else it cannot be prepared to dwell in the glory of the Father. ”

“ A few moments' reflection and the Spirit upon the vision of the mind, and that same Elder would say that he does know. Such statements arise from a want of the vision of the mind being opened to see things as they are for a few minutes.
The whole Scriptures plainly teach us that we are the children of that God who framed the world. Let us look round and see whether we can find a father and son in this congregation. Do we see one an elephant and the other a hen? No. Does a father that looks like a human being have a son like an ape, going on all fours? ”

“ It is for us to act upon that intelligence that is ours in every sense of the word; and if we do honour to our tabernacles and to the spirits God has given us, we have the promise of eternal life, which is the gift of God. This promise is made to every son and daughter of Adam, if they obey the conditions laid down; and their names have been written in the Lamb's book of life from the beginning, before we came into the world, and they will remain there to all eternity, unless we blot them out through a wicked course. ”

“ Every species is true to its kind. The children of men are featured alike and walk erect.
The Bible clearly teaches us that we are the children of the very Being who framed this earth and peopled it. ”

“ There is an endless variety of distinction in the few features that compose the human face, yet children have in their countenances and general expression of figure and temperament a greater or less likeness of their parents. You do not see brutes spring from human beings. ”

“ He has not granted to man to bring out the result of his works, but he he has given him the ability to work as he pleases—to go here or there—to do this or that—to obey the Gospel or disobey it. He has not committed the keys of the results of the acts of the nations of the earth to any man on the earth ”

“ He placed himself in a clairvoyant state beside the bed of a sick person and observed the spirit of a lady leave her body. He saw the spirit ascend from the head of the mortal tenement—saw it walk out into the open air in company with another spirit that came to escort her away. They appeared to him to ascend an inclined plane, and continued to walk away until they were out of his sight. Do you not believe that your spirit will be in existence after it leaves the body? ”

“ They cannot inherit eternal life upon any other principle."
How far does our agency extend? There are certain bounds to it. What we have witnessed in thirty years' experience teaches us that man can appoint but God can disappoint. Man can load his gun to shoot his neighbour, but he cannot make the ball hit him, if the Lord Almighty sees fit to turn it away. He can draw the sword to hew down his fellow-man ”

“ So, then, neither is he that planteth anything, neither he that watereth, but God that giveth the increase." You may plead with the people and beseech them to embrace the truth; but unless God touches the heart your labours are vain. ”

“ A great many do not discern this, because they have not eyes to see, nor ears to hear; for, if they had, they would discern the footprints of the Almighty and hear his voice, and would understand that he leads this people by the right hand of his wisdom and power, and that no power can prevent it. ”

“ The Lord will bring about the results, and mankind cannot prevent it. The wicked may design an evil against the righteous, and he causes it to result in good. That is making the wrath of man praise him. ”

“ Why? Because he is the heir of the family. The Father and the Son are now doing all they can to save his children, and all the heavenly hosts are exerting their powers to accomplish the same great end. ”

“ His design is to exalt the human family, and to bring them back to the presence of the Father and the Son. The heir of the family died to take away our sins. He has suffered, that we may live. He has offered himself up for the sins of the world. ”

“ At a glance we should know and understand many things that some are still in more or less dubiety about. One Elder will say that he knows nothing about God. "I believe in the Father and the Son, and in the revelations given through Joseph Smith ”