John Taylor

“ You feel disposed all the day long to do unto all men as you would wish them to do unto you. What is it that will enable one man to govern his fellows aright? It is just as Joseph Smith said to a certain man who asked him, "How do you govern such a vast people as this?" "Oh," says Joseph, "it is very easy." "Why," says the man, "but we find it very difficult." "But," said Joseph, "it is very easy, for I teach the people correct principles and they govern themselves;" and if correct principles will do this in one family they will in ten, in a hundred and in ten hundred thousand. ”

“ If we do, we do not walk according to the light which is given unto us by the Spirit of eternal truth. What is more pleasant, naturally, for the mind of man to reflect upon than the things of the kingdom of God? The power, the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Eloheim in his works and designs, and our relationship to him, to the world, and to each other? ”

“ How deep and sublime and incomprehensible to us, at present, is that wisdom and intelligence that governs this world and all others, that, regulates the planetary system, that produces seed time and harvest, summer and winter, that causes all the vivifying influences that operate to supply the necessities of animal life in the myriads of the creatures of God, that spreads throughout the universe and fills all worlds as well as ours with life, being and existence. ”

“ Then look at the hills and valleys and the animal creation; the fish in the sea, the beasts of the forest, all teeming with life; and yet this intelligence which is in the Almighty, and the knowledge by which he controls all things, and which enables him to take care of and provide for all creation, the myriads and myriads of beings that fill the air and sea, and yet, notwithstanding they exist in countless numbers, his wisdom provides for all of them, and he is not bankrupt, but is still abundantly able to meet his engagements for fifty years to come just as well as he is to-day. ”

“ God is my father, he has established his kingdom upon the earth. I am one of his servants, one of his Elders, and I am trying to help to build up his kingdom, and to introduce a reign of righteousness, to roll back the dark cloud that has overspread the world, and to do something that will tend to roll forth the Redeemer's kingdom, and therefore I cannot condescend to the worldly vanity that I see around me. ”

“ Is there a true principle of government that exists in the world anywhere? It is ours, it is God's; for every good and perfect gift that does exist in the world among men proceeds from the "Father of lights, with whom there is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." ”

“ How easy it is to govern the people in this way! It is just like the streams from City Creek; they spread through the valleys and through every lot and piece of lot. So it is with the government of God; the streams of life flow from the Great Fountain through the various channels which the Almighty has opened up, and they spread not only throughout this city but throughout the world, wherever there are any Saints that have yielded obedience to the commandments of God. The fountain is inexhaustible, and the rivers of life flow from the fountain unto the people. ”

“ I think that unless there is a more comprehensive philosophy than that which has entered into the brains of our learned men, that there can be none of that intelligence that dwells in the bosom of the Great God, to control and guide a man's feelings and desires and to bring them into subjection to some law, by which all can be managed orderly and systematically. There is something in the designs of God and in all his operations that so far outstrip the operations of man in his most mighty efforts, for they are all puny, weak and childlike. ”

“ Let the lightnings flash and the earthquakes bellow, God is at the helm, and I feel like saying but little, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth and will continue his work until he has put all enemies under his feet, and his kingdom extends from the rivers to the ends of the earth. ”

“ Remember that it is a great deal better to suffer wrong than to do wrong. We have enlisted in this kingdom for the purpose of working righteousness, growing up in righteousness, and in purity that we might have a heaven in our families, in our city and neighborhoods, a Zion right in our midst, live in it ourselves and persuade every body else to abide its holy laws. Philosophers have been seeking after and searching into philosophy. The Lord has revealed unto the great family of heaven and of earth, and he is continually communicating his will and giving us good principles. ”

“ If you get the gift of the Holy Ghost and walk in the light of the countenance of the Lord you can govern yourselves and families, that is, if you retain it by your good works. You may govern people in a certain kind of way, as they have done in former days, but you will need the Spirit of the living God to dwell in your bosoms. What would be the effect of such a government? ”

“ It is God that has given every good gift that the world ever did possess. He is the giver of all good principles, principles of law, of government and of everything else, and he is now gathering them together into one place, and withdrawing them from the world, and hence the misery and darkness that begin to prevail among the nations; and hence the light, life and intelligence that begin to manifest themselves among us. ”

“ They have also deplored the fallen condition of mankind generally; they have lamented over the evil passions and feelings that prevail among the human family. They have deplored the crime, the war, the bloodshed and strife, and in their songs they have rejoiced in the prospect of the time coming when these things shall be done away, when the Lord shall take the government into his own hands, when the lion and the lamb shall lie down together, and the leopard become docile and harmless, and when there shall be nothing to hurt nor destroy in all the holy mountain of the Lord. ”

“ Others have been trying to understand the things of God by their various creeds and systems, but we have got all the truth combined, instead of having a multitude of systems. There is not a religion upon the face of the earth but has truth in it that is embraced in our religion, for it embraces all truth that has or will exist, so far as we can comprehend it. ”

“ Man with the utmost stretch of his intelligence, is unable to comprehend or introduce the kingdom of God upon the earth, and all the earth, and all the various societies separate and combined have failed to introduce any principle commensurate with the wants of humanity, and in all respects calculated to ameliorate the condition of the human family, and to place them in the condition in which the Prophets have beheld them when wrapped in prophetic vision they beheld the opening glories of the kingdom of God. ”

“ This is the feeling that governs the Saints and controls them in all their acts, and this spirit has commenced to spread abroad and will continue to spread until the earth shall be full of the knowledge of God as the waters cover the great deep. ”

“ All men admire that which is good; all men admire virtue and truth, whether they possess them themselves or not, they still admire that which is good in others. You may go to the most wicked man that exists and talk to him upon this subject, and he will say at once, "I am not an example, but, such a man is and there are certain principles that I admire, and if I could see them carried out I should be glad." ”

“ But, notwithstanding all our privileges and blessings, a great many of us seem to have ears to hear but hear not, hearts but we understand not, and although we are made partakers of the munificence and goodness of God, and notwithstanding his intelligence continues to be poured out upon us from day to day and from year to year, we seem to treat lightly the blessings he has showered out upon us. ”

“ God has sent his angels, and he has declared that he would introduce his kingdom and his government, and establish his dominion and authority according to the saying of one of the old Prophets, "The Lord is our king, the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our law-giver, and he shall reign over us." ”

“ If carried out, it would be as we sing sometimes, that
"Every man in every place Will meet a brother and a friend."
When you get the Spirit of God, you feel full of kindness, charity, long-suffering, and you are willing all the day long to accord to every man that which you want yourself. ”

“ If men would be as valiant in trying to pray to God to give them wisdom and power to control themselves and their thoughts and passions, then in all their business transactions, they would feel that they know themselves to be accepted of the Almighty. ”

“ It is our business to lean on the Lord and seek unto him for wisdom and intelligence. The Lord has opened up this work by opening the heavens, by communicating his will and unveiling his purposes and designs to the children, of men, by the introduction of the Holy Priesthood and by the manifestation of his power, and by the marvellous deliverance which has been wrought for us, for our guidance; in this way he has given proof upon proof, and intelligence upon intelligence, and testimony upon testimony ”

“ Mankind have labored under this difficulty in every age of the world. We come into existence; we find ourselves surrounded with blessings; we entertain ideas in relation to the Great God who rules and overrules in the affairs of the universe, but we are more or less beclouded in our minds in relation to the great principles of eternal truth. ”

“ Notwithstanding, human exertions may have been very necessary in many of these moves to try to better the condition of the world, it must be acknowledged that they have signally failed, and that unless something more be done, a more powerful and a better kind of religion introduced, and a better kind of temperance, of philosophy, a better kind of morality, a more wise and liberal kind of government, and a better code of laws instituted, the world has got to go on as it has done, without any amendment ”

“ There is upwards of 30,000,000 of people in the United States, and about one million of them are engaged fighting each other, and the others are busy supplying their friends' wants. It would really seem as if they were all bankrupts, notwithstanding all their financiering, their resources and their wealth; and not only is that the case with them, but look at Great Britain and what they have tried to accomplish; with all their professed wisdom they have depended upon obtaining cotton from this land and now cannot do it. ”

“ Yes, this is the way many felt, and they came here to the gathering-place of the Saints with a view to get rich, that they might eat and drink, get plenty of beer, spirits and wine, such as was made in the old countries and in the Eastern States, whereas men should come with a feeling to build up the kingdom of God. Not that you need be united with the Temperance Society, for our religion comprehends all that is good in that society. Is there a temperance society or principle necessary? ”

“ They would feel and know that they had ears to hear and hearts to understand and comprehend the mind and will of God; they would then feel ten thousand times more interest in the kingdom and to work for the spread, of true and holy principles, and in all things pertaining to the great work in which they are engaged, than in those little temporal matters. ”

“ To convert the heathen, that they may introduce among them correct principles, supposing that, they have got them themselves, and that all the world may be brought under this Divine influence which they suppose they possess, and be civilized and evangelized and obtain an exaltation in the kingdom of our God. All kinds of societies have been organized in the world, which have had for their object the amelioration of the condition of the human family. For instance, almost all have seen that drunkenness was an evil, and hence men have introduced temperance societies, which are very good ”

“ If we cannot get God to be interested in our cause, if he won't put his hand to the wheel, we may despair of ever bringing about that thing that the Prophets have spoken about, just as much as Moses did in former days when Israel had sinned against God. ”

“ The Spirit of inspiration has been given unto us, and we have had our testimony made as firm and sure as the Rock of Ages, upon the principles of eternal truth, and all this that our steps might not waver and that we might yield obedience to the laws of heaven and continue in the observation of the statutes. ”

“ It is so among the people in the world, and also among this people, although we see things more clearly and with a different vision, and understand things more correctly than the rest of the human family, yet we do not comprehend our true position and relationship to each other. ”

“ If they had been faithful the Lord would have allowed them to accomplish their journey through the wilderness in a short time, but in consequence of their hard-heartedness and their rebellion against the servants of God and the principles that he introduced, the Lord got angry, as he had a right to do, at the corruption and the prevarication and rebellion that prevailed among that people. For their hard-heartedness he got angry with them and said, "I won't go any longer with this people, you can go, Moses, but they won't be governed by my advice, therefore you can take them along." ”