John Taylor

“ They find out something which God has made, just as the little child when it discovers its fingers for the first time. It had them long before, but when they first attracted its attention it seemed to fancy it had made a great discovery. God organized the child and placed its spirit within its body, and it at last found out that it had a hand. And the scientific babies of the world just discover some of the properties of matter, some of nature's laws created by God long before, and like Nebuchadnezzar they cry, in the pride of their hearts, "Is not this great Babylon which I have built?" ”

“ It is a fact, to-day, that the wise men and great men, and statesmen, and men in position in various parts of the world, as they come here to visit, us with all our failings and infirmities, tell us that we are the best and most orderly people they have ever seen. And they say we have a beautiful country, and that we are governed by wisdom, by sage counsels, and by a high order of intelligence. ”

“ If God can organize us as a Church, if he can unveil the heavens to us, draw aside the curtain of futurity, and enable us to penetrate the veil and gain a certain knowledge in regard to the future, certainly he can make known or reveal something about a few temporal things, such as plowing, sowing, building, planting, trading, manufacturing, making railroads, and a thousand other little things that have to be attended to in this world. ”

“ We know very little about the world we live in. We know very little about ourselves, about our own bodies, about the spirit and mind of man, or the operation of the Spirit of God upon that spirit and mind, and much less about eternity, about God and heaven, and about the designs and purposes of the Almighty; and it is folly for man, unaided and undirected by the Almighty, to attempt to teach things pertaining to the kingdom of God or to the welfare and happiness of the human family. ”

“ If he can do the bigger things, I think he can do the less.
"Well, we are capable of doing that ourselves," say some people, some of these philosophers I have referred to—they are all wise men, and you would think wisdom would die with them, but it will not be entirely extinguished when they are gone, not quite. God will still lead, govern and direct his people. "But," say they, "we think we could do things so much better than somebody else. Well then, go at it and try; there is plenty of room in the world for you to exhibit your intelligence. ”

“ They have established every kind of government, as they have every kind of religion. Do you not think that we need revelation about government as much as anything else? I think we do. I think we need God to dictate to us as much in our national and social affairs as in church matters. Some people are willing to have their souls looked after, but they think they are smart enough to look after temporal affairs themselves. In the world they want a doctor to look after their bodies, a parson to look after their souls, and a lawyer to take care of their property. ”

“ God is at the helm—he manages, he guides, he directs and controls, he influences his people, and he will continue to influence them. Well, we are here, in the capacity, say, of a kingdom, and people tell us that we are different from anybody else. Of course we are; we do not expect to be like others. It is true that smoke goes out of our chimneys, as out of the chimneys of others, because it is a law of nature. ”

“ What difficulty is there for other people? Can they live then? I am sure we can, No law of any land will interfere with or molest the man who does not cheat or defraud his neighbor, but pursues an honorable, honest, upright course. Laws are made for the unruly and turbulent, for lawbreakers and for men who violate right. Then there are many other things besides these in which we differ from the world, in their social, political and religious affairs. I will refer to one—their method of treating the acknowledged head of the Government, the President of the United States. ”

“ It is true we have to attend to the common affairs of life—eat, drink, sustain ourselves, clothe and keep ourselves warm, as others do, and we have to take care of and protect ourselves from the incursions and machinations of those who seek to destroy us. In all these respects we have to take the same course that other people do; but the difference between us is—we have an organization, a Church organization, given by revelation from God, and which does not exist anywhere else in this little world. ”

“ He may, through another, develop the power of steam, but they say, Some wise man did it. Through another, God may make known the light-giving power of gas, to another the tapping of the earth to bring forth oils for illuminating purposes; but the world say, "Some wise man has done this." ”

“ Well, God has commenced to do a work, and he began, in the first place, with the very first principles of the Gospel, and he has led us on gradually, until we find ourselves in our present position, and we have got a beautiful land here, haven't we? And yet they call our leader a murderer, and those who are his co-laborers the most infamous blackhearted scoundrels that ever existed. ”

“ We are here to help the Lord to build up his kingdom, and if we have any knowledge of electricity, we thank God for it. If we have any knowledge of the power of steam, we will say it came from God. If we possess any other scientific information about the earth whereon we stand, or of the elements with which we are surrounded, we will thank God for the information, and say he has inspired men from time to time to understand them, and we will go on and grasp more intelligence, light and information, until we comprehend as we are comprehended of God. ”

“ And if you have, are you surprised that men begin to expose themselves, and to manifest the works of the devil in every form—religiously, socially and politically, trampling under foot every principle of honor and integrity? ”

“ This is the kind of feeling that the Spirit of God imparts to every Latter-day Saint who lives his religion and keeps the commandments of God.
We are engaged in a work that God has set his hand to accomplish, and he has made use of us as instruments, and he will also use others who shall yet be gathered, to build up his kingdom, and to introduce correct principles of every kind—principles of morality, social principles, good political principles; principles relative to the government of the earth we live in ”

“ You want police to guard you from the inroads of wicked men, either among ourselves or outsiders, no matter who, to protect the peaceable, industrious, honest and virtuous, and you must have some kind of government to do it. In a church capacity, whether here or abroad, we could cut the thief or drunkard from the Church if we had a mind to, but here, if we cut a man from the Church, we can not cut him from the State, he is still a citizen of the United States, and in the United States. ”

“ It is true that we blunder and stumble; it is true that we are surrounded with all the weaknesses and infirmities of human nature, but with all our weaknesses and foibles clinging to us the Lord has called us from the nations of the earth to be his co-adjutors and co-laborers, his fellow-work-men and assistants, in rolling forth his purposes and bringing to pass those things that he designed before the world was. ”

“ They have built cities, and some have raised themselves to fame by trampling under foot thousands of others. They have waded through seas of blood sometimes to get upon the throne of power. What to do? That they might trample still lower poor humanity, and bring men down, as it were, to the dust of death, and make serfs of them. ”

“ I expect things will grow worse and worse. As we increase in power, the power of Satan and his emissaries will increase also. I expect that all the time; but in the future God will put the opposers of his cause and people to shame, as he has done the wretches now in our midst. ”

“ Under the teachings of Joseph Smith and President Young, the Elders of the Church have preached the gathering, and this is a gathering dispensation. But there is something else to be done besides simply being introduced into the spiritual ordinances of the Church of God: there is a kingdom to be established. We have gathered from the east and the west, from the north and the south, for a spirit rested upon the people to gather together, and no man could prevent them. ”

“ Then the only thing we ought to do is to act as wise, intelligent beings before God. The world have no idea of God, and they do not acknowledge him. He may develop, through one person, the principle of electricity, but the world will say it is some wise man that did it. ”

“ Empires will be overthrown, kingdoms destroyed, and the powers that be will fade away like "the baseless fabric of a vision;" and he will exalt and ennoble those who put their trust in him, and work the works of righteousness. ”

“ It is true that the Lord made man perfect, but man has found out many inventions, and he is very much degenerated, and is all the time prone to weakness, corruption, folly and vanity, and God knows it, and he knew it when he selected us. ”

“ This kingdom will advance, the purposes of God will roll forward, and no power on this side of hell, or the other either, can stop it. God will sustain his people, and Israel will rejoice and be triumphant. ”

“ Don't be particular about having your own way, for it is not always the right way, and that which seems pleasing in our eyes is not always right, and that which looks the most profitable is not always right. ”

“ I do not care how profoundly learned they may be in the arts and sciences of the world; they may have studied mathematics, examined the physiology of the human system, and may have made themselves acquainted with geology, mineralogy, and the structure of the earth on which we live, and of the planetary system and the motion of worlds with which we are surrounded ”

“ We find ourselves, as I said before, in a governmental capacity, and perform our duties as good citizens and attend to all the duties and responsibilities thereof. But then it is no trouble for us to keep the laws of the land. ”

“ To be thus situated is the most honorable position in this world or the world to come. Now, God could not get the world to do anything towards building up his kingdom, they would not do it, they could not, see it, and he had to get you baptized before you could see it ”

“ This is what we are after. We are here to introduce correct principles upon the earth on which we live; but we cannot do it any more than any of these men can understand the laws of nature, unless God reveals them to us. ”

“ I am pleased that these meetings have been instituted, that the people get together, and that we have a chance to talk with them, in their assemblies, about the things of God. We are God's people, God is our Father, and we should spend a little time in these things. ”

“ Our Bishops have to take care of the poor, and see that they are provided for, that is, see they have something to eat, and they have also to attend to many secular affairs that are naturally connected with common humanity. ”

“ They can not conceive of it; they can not comprehend the laws of life, nor understand anything pertaining to the kingdom of God. I do not care what intelligence they may possess in regard to other matters ”

“ It is true they do not carry them out; they do not care to do it, but they have such laws, and a variety of others to regulate property matters, and so forth. And we are compelled to enact such laws for safeguards around the whole community, for among other things we are beginning to possess property. ”