Erastus Snow

“ Whether we will be true in all these things; whether we have the same confidence in God, the God we serve, who has led us all our lives and been true to us in all conditions and circumstances, and to the promises made to us up to the present time; whether we will still trust in him, and face the cannon's mouth, if need be, or face death in any form it may come, or imprisonment, if that form of treatment is preferred, or anything that they have power to inflict upon us, rather than deny our God. ”

“ This is a scriptural phrase, implying that there is a rest beyond for the people of God. But I have sometimes thought that strictly speaking rest was only a change, and that a change was rest; because to be absolutely at rest, to be entirely free from labor and care would be inconsistent with our existence; in such a condition our being would be a blank, a nonentity. The course of God, we are told by the prophet Nephi, is one eternal round; that like eternity, it has neither beginning nor end, and is illustrated in the Book of Abraham by the hieroglyphic of the circle. ”

“ I speak now of man as an immortal being, having no reference to this earthly house of our tabernacles; for this mortal house which we occupy for the period of a few short years upon the earth, will not be associated with the immortal man the god in embryo. The clothing we wear covers the nakedness of the body ”

“ No one can give a stronger assurance of his devotion to the principles he has received and which he teaches to his fellowman, than to patiently endure suffering, for their sake, and, if need be, to continue that suffering and endurance even unto death.
In the economy of heaven, it has been deemed necessary, at various periods of the world's history, that such witnesses of Christ should suffer death for their testimony's sake, and that others may yet have to suffer in our own time is probable. ”

“ But no man, unsupported as he was, could have done it without sinking under this weight; none other could have grappled with devils and cast them out of individuals and held them at bay, as he did, without suffering from bodily exhaustion, and therefore had to seek retirement and rest. He, however, waged war constantly, and was well prepared for this work, having an inexhaustible source of strength to draw from, the Spirit having been given to him without measure. But at length the time came when the Father said, You must succumb, you must be made the offering. ”

“ The wonderful mechanism of the nervous system, through which the spirit makes its impressions upon the body, is, as it were, an intermediate organism between the fine spiritual body and the coarser elements of our tabernacles. ”

“ The Lord cares for us and such matters, and will order them in their time and season.
But there is a principle involved. When a man is faced by his enemies, when the wicked conspire against the righteous, threatening death and destruction if he do not turn truant and deny our God and obey their behests; all this is calculated to try the faith of the people and put them to the test, as to whether they have more confidence in God and his promises, than in his Satanic majesty and the host of his servants upon the earth, who in many instances offer them what they have not power to give. ”

“ He controls the elements that war in the heavens,—the fearful thunderstorm—that darkens the firmament and that shakes the earth with its roar, the vivid lightnings that add terror to the scene, the tumultuous waves that leap and dash in the fury of the gale, and the earthquake that bellows forth its lurid flames, which make men tremble at the gaze. ”

“ Mortals less gifted and less favored who should be the means of healing many sick by the power of God, would feel that in taking their infirmities upon them, they were sinking under the weight, and would want to hie themselves away to rest and recuperate their exhausted frames. ”

“ All phrases or expressions whether used by men, angels or God have a relative meaning, as one thing is compared with another; and to understand the full force of them, we must understand that to which it has reference by comparison. ”

“ This mortality serves the purposes intended for a few short years until it is worn out with use, like the farmer's agricultural implements, like the machinist's or mechanic's tools, or any other piece of machinery—for the human body is one of the finest and most perfect pieces of machinery known upon the earth; there is none superior. Indeed, most of the mechanism employed by men in various branches of industry is founded on the anatomical structure of the human body ”

“ For what difference does it make when we have performed a good work or so far completed it that the Lord accepts of it and is willing for us to pass behind the veil, and perhaps gives his consent whether we go by a bullet or through violence at the hands of our enemies, or whether it be by a lingering sickness? In most cases the former would be preferable, so far as we are personally concerned, for in such the pain and suffering would be slight, although it would be calculated to shock the sensibilities of living friends who would mourn over us. ”

“ And this is called eternity by man, and, as far as man is concerned, is in contradistinction to other periods and modes of reckoning known and in use among the Gods. For they have their periods and reckoning as well as we, only on a vast and, to us, incomprehensible scale. We are in a state of progression, very small beginnings, but onward and upward for a more exalted sphere, in which they move. ”

“ We look upon an aged person, say, 70, 80, 90 or 100 years old, and realize that there is a machine, a mechanical structure—shall we call it a model representing perpetual motion? Not exactly, but a machine that has been in motion say, 100 years; a double action pump that has been constantly going, distributing the fluids of the system by way of keeping up a constant circulation of the blood ”

“ He causes some angel of his to put some obstruction in the way of the march of some general and his army so that he arrives, perhaps, at the scene of battle five minutes too late; he causes a chariot wheel to fall off or some slight accident to happen to an engine of destruction, and the best calculations of the shrewdest officer and the proudest king fail; and their works come to nought. He sets up and pulls down men and nations at his pleasure. ”

“ And the functions of the body are ofttimes kept in such constant use for such a period of time without the touch of the mechanic to repair a break unless it may, perchance, be the surgeon's saw to remove a disabled limb that threatens to encumber the whole body, or the tying up of a broken artery to prevent the escape of the vital fluid. ”

“ And those who have given the most time and study to this wonderful machine are lead [led] to fully appreciate and endorse the saying of the Psalmist, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made." Its adaptability to the uses and purposes intended, with its remarkable endurance when suitably guarded and protected against disease and what we term accident, is in itself sufficient to call forth the admiration of all intelligent beings. ”

“ They may say, "you are a very great people in your way; you are a very economical and frugal people in your way, and are predisposed to be peaceful. You have redeemed the desert from sterility, and built up fine homes, and made roads, railroads, and telegraph lines, and you possess all the elements and natural advantages calculated to make a people prosperous and happy, and a nation great ”

“ So with the wrath of man and of nations that may be heard raging in the midst of the wicked, under the control of the prince and power of the air, who works and controls in the midst of discordant kings and rulers who array themselves against each other. Nations are at loggerheads, and war is proclaimed ”