Daniel H. Wells

“ All that he has done, all the commandments he has given, are for our benefit, not for his. It would be well for us, as the President has just observed, if we would walk in the channels of truth and virtue, and in strict obedience to the commands of God, for thereby we promote our own welfare and secure to ourselves an eternal inheritance in the realms of joy and happiness. The kingdom is ours if we will live for it. We may come to an inheritance of all that is worth desiring or possessing, of all that will be of any benefit to us either here or hereafter, if we will live for it. ”

“ There is but one way, one faith, one baptism, one God, one Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the mediator between God and man; he has made it manifest unto the children of men in the day and age in which we live. ”

“ He has told us not to swear, not to take the name of the Lord in vain, not to give way to our evil passions. Our passions are good, and planted within us for a good and wise purpose, to give us strength and energy of character; but they should be governed and controlled by that heaven-inspired intellect and reason with which every person is endowed; in other words, our passions should be our servants and not our masters. ”

“ Then let us take courage and press onward if we have received the truth, as we know we have; if we have received the testimony of Jesus—the spirit of prophecy, as we know we have, let us take heed to our steps and continue faithful, never swerving to the right hand or to the left, for of all people in the world, the Latter-day Saints are the people who cannot afford to lay off the armor of righteousness for a moment. ”

“ We have been taught the precepts of men instead of the commandments of God; but in our day we have been touched with the light of truth and with the Spirit of the living God, through obedience to the principles of the Gospel. The Saints of the Most High, having heard these principles proclaimed in their ears, had faith in them and in God, and they repented of their sins and went forth into the waters of baptism, according to the words of our Savior—"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God." ”

“ Men may indulge in things they call happiness, but there is often no real happiness in them, for they bring punishment along in the sting they leave behind. It is not so with proper enjoyments—enjoyments within the scope of reason and right, where there is no infringement upon each other. ”

“ Are we obliged, in order to secure present happiness and enjoyment, to go outside the kingdom of God? By no manner of means, although it is so esteemed in the religious world. A great many so-called religious people feel that they are restrained of their liberty and enjoyment by being members of their churches. This is a wrong view. Our Father in heaven does not wish to restrain his children in anything that is right, and it is right for people to enjoy themselves, and the very acme of happiness is to be obtained by obeying the behests and commands of our Father in heaven. ”

“ This life-giving power, the Holy Ghost, I say, impels every person who has received it to bear this testimony according to the sphere and position he fills, and the duties he is called upon to perform. A person may be called to plough, sow, reap, build a railroad, work in the canyon or to go and preach to the nations of the earth, and one calling is as legitimate as another, inasmuch as he who is filling it is working in the legitimate channel, and aiding to build up the kingdom of God. ”

“ The tempter the evil one, is at our elbow, ready to enter in and take possession and blind our understandings and cause us to make shipwreck of our faith if possible.
The Saints should live humble, be courteous, be civil and live for God and his kingdom. That is the only job we have on hand. Let us work on that job as long as we live on the earth. Our religion is not a matter of enthusiasm, to last a day or a week, and then evaporate into thin air, like the religions of the world ”

“ It is easy to float with the stream; but it requires more courage, and independence of character and greater nerve to stem the tide of corruption in the world than to go down with the current; and the man who takes this course is far more independent than he who has not the courage to do so. ”

“ But the principles of the Gospel make preachers of us all, for they make us bear testimony of the same to the children of men. They impel every heart to say something, to bear testimony, if nothing more, to the truth of the principles we have received. ”

“ No man can get a greater testimony of the forgiveness of his sins by the Lord, than a knowledge within himself that he has turned away from his evil deeds. He knows it then, for God has promised to forgive every one who will comply with the requirements of the Gospel and turn from evil; and the man who forsakes evil knows it, and if he has no other testimony of his forgiveness, this is as great a one as he can possess. ”

“ When the storms come and the winds beat upon that house it will be swept away; in that day too, men will be stripped of all their hypocrisy and iniquity, and they will stand forth in all their naked deformity, then they will call upon the rocks to fall upon and hide them from the presence of the Lord. Men should live so that they can bear the scrutinizing eye of the Almighty. Persons may think they can commit this or that evil, and no one will know it; they may be very secretive in doing wrong, and think they will never be found out. ”

“ In the kingdom and government of God is every blessing that is enduring, and it will confer upon those who abide its laws all the peace, joy and happiness they can conceive of. Outside of it there is nothing worth having; all real true happiness, all that can serve our best interests comes within its purview. ”

“ No man has a right to infringe upon another. We serve ourselves, then, by serving God and keeping his commandments, and the way is so plain that no person can err therein. Our boys who have been properly raised and tutored in the Church and kingdom of God, who have attended Sunday school, learned the catechism and become conversant with the principles set forth in the Scriptures, in the Book of Mormon, and in the book of Doctrine and Covenants, and have been endowed with the authority of the Holy Priesthood, can teach men the way of life and salvation ”

“ Our Father in heaven knew better than any of us what was for our best interests, and he has condescended to make it manifest to his children here, and if they would walk in accordance therewith they would lay the foundation for eternal power, dominion and glory. ”

“ We need not be afraid of the rule and government of God, it is only calculated to benefit the children of men, and it will be a glorious happy day when it shall be established on the earth in its fulness. ”

“ If we are thus governed and influenced kindness, love and charity will fill every heart; but depart from that, let passion bear sway, then the evil influences. that attend us take possession and cause us to go astray into by and forbidden paths. When passion rules it dethrones reason and intellect, and makes a beast of a man; and he who has no more command of himself than to be governed by passion has fallen far beneath the dignity of true manhood, and the end of such a course is death. ”

“ There is evil in the world—evil influences that strive against and destroy that which is good. Men's names are written in the Book of Life, and will forever remain written there unless they do something to cut the thread and to blot them out. ”

“ Having been obedient to these principles and having had hands laid upon them for the reception of the Holy Ghost, it has been given unto us, and we know, ourselves, concerning these things, and bear testimony this day that they are true. It has come from God, it is not any "guess so;" it is not a hope within a hope, that we have a hope, but we bear testimony that we verily do know that God has spoken, and we warn all people to repent and turn to God, and partake of the waters of life freely, without money and without price. ”

“ There is a link existing between God and his children here on the earth, and that draws them towards him, and enables all who listen to the promptings of his good Spirit to increase in good, and to overcome that which is evil. ”

“ We need not lay to our souls the flattering unction that we can go hand in hand with the devil all our lives and inherit celestial glory. That is not in the programme. We can do as we please about receiving or rejecting the principles of life and salvation as they have been revealed. We have this power, because we are free agents, to act as we please in this matter; but we can not go back into celestial abodes and inherit celestial glory unless we keep the law pertaining to that kingdom. And so with every other kingdom, even a telestial kingdom ”

“ These are some of the things that we have to be told of so often, because we are so forgetful, and we oftentimes let the cares of the world choke the word of life. The latter is sown in the hearts of the children of men, and sometimes it takes root and grows fairly for a little while, and then withers and dries up. Sometimes it falls into good ground, takes root downward and bears fruit upward ”

“ It has been told to us here, to-day, and is frequently reiterated in our hearing, that God is full of mercy, and would rather that all men should turn from evil and live. He begs people to turn from their evil ways. ”

“ We think we know and understand better than the Lord, what is best for us. We say this by our acts a great many times; but we might as well learn, first as last, that the Lord knows best, and that his way is better than ours, as much so as the heavens are higher than the earth. ”

“ It has only increased and given greater velocity to the work of God. Phoenix like, it has risen from its ashes and, if there is anything about it formidable, it has presented a more formidable face than ever before, notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions of its adversaries. My testimony is that the experience of the past will be renewed in the future, if the enemies of Zion work for its overthrow. They may succeed in taking the lives of some of the servants of God ”

“ It is hardly possible for any person to live to the years of maturity without having some impression, some anxiety concerning his future state; all persons, at some period of their existence, have such impressions. ”

“ These words, are sounded in our ears continually, for the Lord would rather that all men would turn and live and come to him. Why so? He is merciful, and the invitation is as widespread as the vast domains of the world: it reaches every human being, every son and daughter of Adam upon the face of the whole earth. ”

“ Because he has taught error; he has assumed to himself the authority of high heaven, which has never been given to him. He has run before he was sent, and has taught the traditions of the fathers instead of the commandments of God. He needs to repent of his evil ways, and not only to repent of but to turn from them. ”

“ He has trodden the path, and has had the experience that we have not had, and has kindly condescended to make known a little of his experience in regard to these things. He has told us that it is not good for us to take spirituous liquors; but a great many of us think a little will do us no harm, and it is better for us to have it than not to have it. ”

“ Then let us take heed to our steps. "Let him who standeth take heed lest he fall," is a very good exhortation. We are none of us independent, and none have got so far along but we find it necessary to live humbly before the Lord. ”

“ Many who have borne faithful testimonies to the truth of this work have apostatized and forsaken the truth because they have neglected some duty and have gradually given way to evil, and the counsels of their mind have become darkened to the principles of truth, and they have finally forgotten that they ever knew them to be true. ”