John Taylor

“ When shall the blood of the Righteous be shed, that all they that mourn may be sanctified, and have eternal life? And the Lord said, It shall be in the meridian of time, in the days of wickedness and vengeance. And behold, Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of Man, even in the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying, The Righteous is lifted up, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through faith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me! ”

“ And now the plan of mercy could not be brought about, except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also. Now repentance could not come unto men, except there were a punishment, which also was eternal as the life of the soul should be, affixed opposite to the plan of happiness, which was as eternal also as the life of the soul. Now, how could a man repent, except he should sin? How could he sin, if there was no law? ”

“ And in that day the Holy Ghost fell upon Adam, which beareth record of the Father and the Son, saying, I am the Only Begotten of the Father from the beginning, henceforth and for ever, that as thou hast fallen thou mayest be redeemed; and all mankind, even as many as will. And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying, Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God. ”

“ Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer; for thou hast beheld, that in the fulness of time he cometh to bring salvation unto men. And thou hast beheld in thy youth his glory; wherefore thou art blessed even as they unto whom he shall minister in the flesh; for the Spirit is the same, yesterday, to-day, and forever. And the way is prepared from the fall of man, and salvation is free. And men are instructed sufficiently, that they know good from evil. And the law is given unto men. And by the law, no flesh is justified ”

“ It may here be asked, What difference is there between the Son of God, as the Son of God, the Redeemer, and those who believe in Him and partake of the blessings of the Gospel?
One thing, as we read, is that the Father gave Him power to have life in Himself: "For as the Father hath life in himself, so hath he given to the Son to have life in himself;" and further, He had power, when all mankind had lost their life, to restore life to them again; and hence He is the Resurrection and the Life, which power no other man possesses. ”

“ Man, as man, can only make use of the powers which are possessed by man. Made, indeed, as represented in the Scriptures, in the image of God, as monarch of the universe he stands erect on the earth in the likeness of his Great Creator; beautifully constructed in all his parts, with a body possessing all the functions necessary for the wants of humanity; standing, not only by right, but by adaptability, beauty, symmetry and glory, at the head of all creation ”

“ God is unchangeable, so are also his laws, in all their forms, and in all their applications, and being Himself the essence of law, the giver of law, the sustainer of law, all of those laws are eternal in all their operations, in all bodies and matter, and throughout all space. It would be impossible for Him to violate law, because in so doing He would strike at His own dignity, power, principles, glory, exaltation and existence. ”

“ As a God, He descended below all things, and made Himself subject to man in man's fallen condition; as a man, He grappled with all the circumstances incident to His sufferings in the world. Anointed, indeed, with the "oil of gladness" above His fellows, He struggled with and overcame the powers of men and devils, of earth and hell combined; and aided by this superior power of the Godhead, He vanquished death, hell and the grave, and arose triumphant as the Son of God, the very eternal Father, the Messiah, the Prince of peace, the Redeemer, the Savior of the world ”

“ Christ is the Author of this Gospel, of this earth, of men and women, of all the posterity of Adam and Eve, and of every living creature that lives upon the face of the earth, that flies in the heavens, that swims in the waters, or dwells in the field. Christ is the Author of salvation to all this creation, to all things pertaining to this terrestrial globe we occupy. ”

“ Giving thanks unto the Father, which hath made us meet to be partakers of the inheritance of the Saints in light: who hath delivered us from the power of darkness, and hath translated us into the kingdom of his dear Son: in whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins: who is the image of the invisible God, the first-born of every creature. * * * And he is the head of the body, the church: who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have the pre-eminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell ”

“ Nevertheless, death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam's transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come. But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if, through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many. And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift; for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification. For if by one man's offence death reigned by one ”

“ In a manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, he bore the weight of the sins of the whole world; not only of Adam, but of his posterity; and in doing that, opened the kingdom of heaven, not only to all believers and all who obeyed the law of God, but to more than one-half of the human family who die before they come to years of maturity, as well as to the heathen, who, having died without law, will, through His mediation, be resurrected without law, and be judged without law, and thus participate, according to their capacity, works and worth, in the blessings of His atonement. ”

“ The world was made by Him, and without Him was not anything made that was made, and, therefore, having made all things He has given to all things a law; and hence those laws which we have briefly alluded to, are the productions of His comprehensive, intelligent, and infinite mind: He is the Alpha and Omega, the Beginning and the End, the Fountain of all life, of all light, of all truth, of all intelligence, of all existence. He is also the sustainer of all life and all light in all created beings; in Him all animal life of every form has its being. ”

“ For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partook of the tree of life, he would have lived for ever, according to the word of God, having no space for repentance; yea, and also the word of God would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated. But behold, it was appointed unto man to die; therefore as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth, and man become lost for ever ”

“ Hear O ye heavens, and give ear O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is God, and beside him there is no Savior: Great is his wisdom, and marvellous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out ”

“ But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of Him who knoweth all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy. And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. ”

“ These extracts are taken from the revelations and writings of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
"And God spake unto Moses, saying, Behold, I am the Lord God Almighty, and Endless is my name; for I am without beginning of days or end of years; and is not this Endless? And, behold, thou art my son; wherefore look, and I will show thee the workmanship of mine hands, but not all; for my works are without end, and also my words; for they never cease; wherefore, no man can behold all my works, except he behold all my glory ”

“ Hence what was lost in Adam was restored in Jesus Christ, so far as all men are concerned in all ages, with some very slight exceptions arising from an abuse of privileges. Transgression of the law brought death upon all the posterity of Adam, the restoration through the atonement restored all the human family to life. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." ”

“ The Lord shall send the rod of thy strength out of Zion; rule thou in the midst of thine enemies. Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power, in the beauties of holiness from the womb of the morning: thou hast the dew of thy youth. The Lord hath sworn and will not repent, Thou art a priest forever after the order of Melchizedek."—Psalm cx, 1-4.
"Thou lovest righteousness, and hatest wickedness: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows."—Psalm xlv, 7. ”

“ After this angel had communicated to John many great and important events yet to transpire, the Apostle was so overawed by his presence that he fell at his feet to worship him; whereas the angel said, "See that thou do it not; I am thy fellow servant, and of thy brethren that have kept the testimony of Jesus: worship God; for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev., xix, 10.) In other words, he had held the holy Priesthood on the earth and had officiated therein; he had been subjected to all the obloquy, contumely and reproach which the Prophets of God generally suffered. ”

“ Thou hast put all things in subjection under his feet. For in that he put all in subjection under him, he left nothing that is not put under him. But now we see not yet all things put under him: but we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honor; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man. For it became him, for whom are all things, and by whom are all things, in bringing many sons unto glory, to make the Captain of their salvation perfect through sufferings. ”

“ And Noah smelt a sweet savour, and he said in his heart, I will call on the name of the Lord, that he will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; and that he will not smite any more every thing living, as he hath done, while the earth remaineth; and that seed time and harvest, and cold and heat, and summer and winter, and day and night may not cease with man. ”

“ They had heard their fathers say, a wonderful man had come to that country * * * who performed many miracles, cured the sick with water, caused it to rain that their crops of grain might grow, kindled fire at a breath, healing the sick and giving sight to the blind; and that he spoke with as much propriety and elegance in the language of their country as if he had always resided in it, addressing them in words very sweet and new to them, telling them that the Creator of the universe resided in the highest place of heaven, and that many men and women, resplendent as the sun, dwelt with him. ”

“ All the works of God connected with the world which we inhabit, and with all other worlds, are strictly governed by law. So accurate are the movements of the heavenly bodies that even with our limited knowledge we can compute, after the departure of most of these bodies, the time of their return to a minute. The sun rises and sets with great regularity, and we can tell to a moment, by calculating the revolution of the earth, at what time it will make its appearance in the morning and disappear in the evening ”