John Taylor

“ We have been dug out of the mire, been born in sin and shapen in iniquity, as it were, we have been clothed in corruption and mixed up in the abominations of the world, we have come out from a people that did not acknowledge God, and are dishonest in their acts, and it seems almost impossible for us to lay aside our dishonesty and wickedness. If we cannot attend to these little things how is it possible that we can rise in the political horizon and be as a beacon for all nations to gaze upon. ”

“ All the intelligence which men possess on the earth, whether religious, scientific or political—proceeds from God—every good and perfect gift proceeds from Him, the fountain of light and truth, wherein there is no variableness nor shadow of turning. ”

“ He felt himself a great man, and believed that the city and empire over which he reigned owed their existence to this power of his mind, to his intelligence, to the soundness of his judgment, and to the action of his intellectual facilities. ”

“ If the kings and princes of the earth have got to come and gaze upon the glory of Zion we must have some of that principle in ourselves that will attract the attention and admiration of surrounding nations. If we do not put ourselves in a way to get in possession of these principles how can we ever arrive at them? ”

“ I speak after the manner of men, and according to their phraseology with regard to temporal things. We talk of establishing a government, a kingdom, a rule and law, that will be according to the principle of justice, equity and righteousness and then we calculate in some sort of having a government that shall be self-sustaining, that shall move pleasantly and harmoniously along, like the stars that move in the firmament without clashing or conflict, confusion or disorder. ”

“ He is seeking to be put in possession of eternal life, and he knows when He who is our life shall appear, we shall appear like unto Him in glory; he can say "O death where is thy sting, O grave where is thy victory. The sting of death is sin, and the strength of sin is the law. ”

“ One man learns one thing from the Bible, another man another thing, and there is confusion, strife, animosity, bickering, secession and polemical essay upon polemical essay, and every kind of dissatisfaction and disunion that can exist in the world among those that are termed the followers of the meek and lowly Jesus. What is the matter? Why, they are not in the possession of the spirit of truth, but like the politician, doctor, lawyer, indeed like all other men who are unwilling that Jesus Christ shall reign, they are seeking to get to heaven without God. ”

“ We talk of having among ourselves, through the inspiration of the Almighty, principles of law, justice and equity that will govern and regulate and manage and control all affairs according to the wisdom and dictation of the spirit that is in the bosom of God, and according to the light and the intelligence that governs all creation. ”

“ It is good for men to be taught in the history and laws of nations, to become acquainted with the principles of justice and equity, with the nature of disease and the medical properties of plants, etc., but there is no need of their being without the knowledge of God, for in fact every branch of true knowledge known to man has originated in God, and men have come in possessions of it from His word or from His works. O, the folly of men in not acknowledging God in all things, in laying aside God and his religion, and trusting in their own judgment, and intelligence. ”

“ It seems to be very difficult for us to acknowledge the Lord in all things, and yet we are the only people who profess to do this; I do not know of any other community that has begun to acknowledge God in their every day affairs or in the management of governments and nations; for the world generally do not admit of the interposition of the Almighty, but consider themselves perfectly competent to regulate their own affairs by their own wisdom and intelligence. ”

“ We need to know how to raise wheat, and corn and potatoes and other vegetables that are necessary and convenient, and fruits of various kinds, and we need to know how to take care of them when we have produced them, and not squander them, and when difficulties are gathering thick and dark around the nations we need to know how to deliver ourselves from impending dangers; we need to know how to come to God who is over all, and whose eye penetrates into the deepest recesses of the hearts of men, whose Spirit is going too and fro in the earth and penetrates all things ”

“ So say I, if the Lord does not dictate us we can do nothing of ourselves, we cannot accomplish the purposes of God or build up his kingdom on the earth. These are important items, and there are many other small matters associated with them that we are trying to aim at, and one is to become self-sustaining. We need in the first place to begin to know some of the common and most essential affairs of human life. ”

“ If we are not honest with ourselves, and honest with our God, of what good to us are all our professions of being representatives of God, of being Elders in Israel, of being clothed with the Holy Priesthood, of being Teachers of the ways of life. The ancient Jews, the old Pharisees with all their wickedness and corruption could boast of paying tithes of all they possessed. We profess to be better than the old Pharisees, and yet it seems that it is very difficult for men among us to be honest with themselves and with their God in relation to so simple a principle as this is. ”

“ The political world have organized their governments without God, and those wise men of which we have spoken, have been making laws without God to regulate the affairs of the human family, and they have sown the seeds of death, and the principles of dissolution, in their body politic; hence God has said by the mouths of His holy Prophets, long ago, that their nations should be destroyed, that their thrones should be cast down, that empires should be overthrown, and that the powers of earth should be shaken. ”

“ And then we are in possession of a great amount of ignorance and folly; it seems difficult for the best of us to contemplate God and his designs, and the majesty of his law and government, and the principles by which we ought to be governed in all our earthly affairs in consequence of this ignorance. If in religious matters it is the best way to build up a good house for those who are living in a bad one, and invite them out of the bad house to take possession of the better one, how much more is this course necessary in relation to temporal things, that we do not consider to belong to religion ”

“ What difficulty would there be in these United States, supposing the Lord should rule and dictate—supposing His words should be listened to, all He would have to do would be to whisper a few words into the ears of some of the leading men North and South, and they would at once beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, etc., and would say why should we kill, massacre, and lay waste? ”

“ Well, if this is true, are not other things true. If it is true that the Lord has revealed a certain amount of truth in relation to these matters, is it not as true that He has revealed other truths in which we are as individuals interested; and if it is true that God has commenced to deal with other nations as He is doing with this until war and desolation shall spread through the earth, it is just as true that we ought to be very careful what we are doing to secure the favor of God and to fulfill our destiny upon the earth in a manner which will meet his designs. ”

“ He wants in the first place to get men to acknowledge God, I was going to say in one little carnal principle, one little earthly principle, he wants to get them to acknowledge him, by giving him a certain little part, or one-tenth of what he gives to them to see whether they will be honest in this trifle, to see whether they will act as honorable high-minded men or not, or whether they will, try to cheat him out of it. ”

“ For the nearer we can approach to our Heavenly Father, the more we can obtain of that intelligence which dwells in His bosom, and the more we are like our God the more we shall succeed in accomplishing our own well-being and happiness in relation to this world, and also in relation to that world which is to come. ”

“ A great amount of the work the Lord is going to accomplish is what is generally called temporal because it belongs to the earth; that is, the government, laws, and general direction of affairs among the nations that are not now fallen under the control of the Almighty, will have to be so changed and altered as to come under His entire control, government and dictation in every respect. ”

“ We are the only people that make any approach to this: and yet how feeble that approach is, how difficult it is for us to bring our minds to yield obedience to the Lord our God, we can hardly think of it. ”

“ It is not supposed that a politician should necessarily know anything about God or religion; it would be rather a draw back upon the influence of a Senator of the United States, a member of the House of Commons, or of the House of Lords in England, or a member of the Chamber of Deputies in France to be a praying, religious man. ”

“ We can only obtain correct knowledge in relation to any of these things from the Almighty. We cannot know how to govern ourselves only by a portion of the wisdom that dwells in the bosom of God; if we do not possess that wisdom we may dispair [despair] of ever accomplishing any thing in relation to building up his kingdom. ”

“ I would just as soon take the views of the infidel for my guidance to heaven as I would those of the divine, for one is as near the truth as the other. In fact, the cause of the great amount of infidelity that is in the world is the folly and nonsense of the so-called Christians. The Christian minister tells the people to get prepared for death. ”

“ We like to talk about the glory and the exaltation, and the happiness and the blessings that shall result from a certain course, but we do not like to pursue that course, we like our own way, and we like to gratify our own feelings and desires. ”

“ The fact of the matter is the people universally, almost, have departed from God, have violated His law, have trampled upon His precepts, and have turned away from the pure principles of righteousness, and consequently they have incurred the wrath of God and He is beginning to pour out the vials of His wrath upon them, and they feel it keenly, but they do not know that it comes from Him ”

“ The Lord does not care a straw whether we pay our Tithing or not, it does not make Him one particle richer or poorer, the gold and silver are his and the cattle upon a thousand hills, the world and all its fulness belong to him for he organized and framed it ”

“ It is the principle and not the Tithing we pay that is esteemed of the Lord, he cares not for our Tithing but he cares about our doing right. If we cannot be faithful in a few things, we cannot expect to be made rulers over many things. ”

“ It is customary for men in the world from which we have gathered out, to talk on Sunday about spiritual things, when they are dressed in their Sunday coats and at meeting, and then on Monday to pack up their religion with their Sunday clothes in their trunks, to have nothing more to do with it until next Sunday. This practice prevails more or less in the religious world, where men are classified into different orders; where a lawyer must be a lawyer and nothing else ”

“ They do not know that God is behind the scene governing, and regulating, controlling and managing the affairs of the nation according to the counsel of His will; they do not know that they themselves and the nation with which they are associated is steeped in iniquity, that they have departed from the living God ”

“ But the Lord gave him to see that he was like other men, for He started him off to feed among the beasts of the field, and he ate grass like an ox, and his reason and judgment, and intelligence and boasting were brought down. This great king learned that there was a God in heaven who could reveal secrets, and unravel to his servant Daniel hidden mysteries, and develop his great purposes. This was the kind of religion Daniel had, this is the kind we ought to have; it is the religion which enters into all nature ”

“ There seems to be a prospect that some will suffer before next harvest for bread, for all men are not competent to provide and manage for themselves, hence it is made necessary that a certain kind of counsel should be given to us, that we should manage these matters according to a certain law and provide and retain enough food for ourselves. ”

“ The Lord has commenced to accomplish His purposes, and to build up His kingdom, and He will do it, for His designs cannot be thwarted; will perform His great decrees whether all of us, or part of us, or none of us engage in the work—or are faithful in it or not ”

“ It is generally the case, as he has remarked, that we love to reflect upon the glories and exaltation of the Saints in a world to come, upon things that are spiritual, as we term them, to the frequent neglect of those things which are of a temporal nature and with which we are more intimately acquainted. ”