John Taylor

“ I would say to the friends of the departed dead, be comforted, all is right, all is well, and all will continue to be well with us, if we will only fear God and keep his commandments. It is far better to die in the fear of God, than to live without God. When I see people die who are prepared, having a claim on eternal life, do I feel sorry? ”

“ How encouraging to all who live according to the revealed principles of truth, perhaps more especially to those whose lives are pretty well spent, who have borne the heat and burden of the day, to know that ere long we shall burst the barriers of the tomb, and come forth living and immortal souls, to enjoy the society of our tried and trusted friends, no more to be afflicted with the seeds of death, and to finish the work the Father has given us to do! ”

“ If I were one of those spirits—and I expect I was there, and perhaps we had a hand in it for aught I know—if, I say, I were one of those spirits in the eternal world and saw the corruptions of their hearts when the Gospel had been preached to them, and the spirit of God was withdrawn from them, and they left to themselves to indulge their wicked desires and acts, preparing themselves for perdition and teaching their children iniquity, I should have felt like saying, "O Lord, have we got to go to the earth and receive bodies through such corrupt men? ”

“ When we entertain and speak of the things of God and his dealings with humanity, we do not deal with things small and insignificant in their character, but with things great and stupendous, things that are worthy the care and supervision of the great God. When the Gods created the earth, they did it for certain purposes. Having organized it according to the eternal purposes of God, they separated the waters from the dry land, so that the land appeared. ”

“ Not only our nation but other nations will crumble. Thrones will be cast down and empires will be no more. The whole earth will be shaken and men's hearts will fail them, in consequence of the things that are coming upon the earth. Why? Because of all their sins and iniquities, and further because they reject God in rejecting the Gospel of the Son of God, which is being preached among them, loving darkness rather than light.
Did God punish the people anciently who thus rejected him and his servants? Yes, he cut them off from the face of the earth, and planted another seed. ”

“ By the time we shall have had a little more experience we perhaps shall have become a little more prudent, realizing the position we occupy to the authority of the Priesthood and power of God, and our dependence upon Jehovah, realizing too our own failings and weaknesses, and learning to lean upon God and go forth as his servants in his holy fear, and developing within us those nobler attributes that exalt man to the presence and image of his Creator. ”

“ So all mankind, the righteous and the unrighteous, shall stand before God, having been quickened in the flesh. "As in Adam all died, so in Christ shall all be made alive."
What, will every body be resurrected? Yes, every living being; "but every man in his own order, Christ the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming. Then cometh the end." That is, the Saints shall live and reign with Christ a thousand years. One of the Apostles says, "But the rest of the dead live not again until the thousand years are expired." ”

“ Enoch received many revelations and obtained great power from God, and unquestionably the influence of that power was felt by the surrounding peoples. For when certain peoples gathered themselves together against him and his people in a belligerent attitude, Enoch stood forth and prophesied, and the earth shook and trembled, and the people stood afar off and fled from his presence. ”

“ We find the powers of darkness beginning to prevail in the hearts of fallen man. For instance, the first two living sons, one of them killed the other and was a murderer. What a prospect; how the devil would laugh, saying, "Since Cain has slain his brother Abel, there is no son remaining but a murderer, so what becomes of your kingdom? But God gave unto Adam another son named Seth, who represented the interests of his father and the interests of God. ”

“ I know that some people of very limited comprehension will say that all the parts of body cannot be brought together, for, say they, the fish probably have eaten them up, or the whole may have been blown to the four winds of heaven, etc. It is true the body, or the organization, may be destroyed in various ways, but it is not true that the particles out of which it was created can be destroyed. ”

“ Again the Savior says, "Abraham saw my day and was glad. Ancient people of God, in whose hearts was enkindled the flame of inspiration, looked forward to that memorable event when the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world would offer himself as a sacrifice, whilst we look back to the same thing. We break bread and eat, and we drink water in the presence of each other every Sabbath day, and we do it in remembrance of the broken body and shed blood of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ ”

“ If the husband of this our departed sister continues faithful to the end, maintains his integrity to God, and fights the good fight of faith, he will claim her in eternity, and they twain will be one flesh. This young man, some one will have to act for him over the marriage altar in having some one sealed to him. He and his wife, through their faithfulness, will by and by become the father and mother of lives, and in this way the eternal purposes of God will be consummated, and his work be perpetuated. ”

“ But if he should contend against these powers and spirits and against every weakness his flesh might be heir to and come off victorious, he is promised celestial glory in the eternal worlds and eventually to become as a God. ”

“ It is for this purpose the Gospel is restored, and man placed again in communication with God, and hence we have received the Book of Mormon as one of the events which were to transpire in our day, as it is written, "The Jews shall hear the words of the Nephites, and the Nephites shall hear the words of the Jews, and the Nephites and the Jews shall hear the words of the ten tribes." He will gather his word in one, and will gather his people in one, even all things he will gather together in one, whether they be things that are in heaven or things on the earth ”

“ As the gold and the silver and other minerals can be mixed together and again separated, so the different kinds or particles of flesh may be united, one going into the other through natural processes, but the same God by whose wisdom the laws were made which so govern the mineral bodies, separating them one from another, has also framed and made laws by which the various particles of the different kinds of flesh can be separated, each returning and cleaving to its respective element. ”

“ For Satan had already been struggling in the heavens among the sons of God, from whom he dissented, and thus he became the devil, and they that took sides with him became his angels. We are told they numbered a third of the hosts of heaven, and whilst they fought and struggled with the Gods for the power and supremacy, they were cast out from heaven and they came here, where Satan became the prince and power of the air. ”

“ The Apostle Paul in answer to the question, "How are the dead raised up, and with what body do they come? said, "Thou fool, that which thou sowest is not quickened except it die. And that which thou sowest, thou sowest not that body that shall be, but bare grain, it may chance of wheat, or some other grain." ”

“ The Bible and Doctrine and Covenants speaks about certain books which should be opened; and another book would be opened, called the Book of Life, and out of the things written in these books would men be judged at the last day.
To continue. We find Satan getting great power. Enoch there appears, who is commissioned to go forth and preach the Gospel, as we are doing in this our age. He succeeded in converting people, and they gathered together and built up a city, and they were three hundred and sixty-five years in becoming fully established in the truth. ”

“ What, just to destroy a whole people? Certainly, it was the very best thing that he could do for them. If I were going at it, I do not know that I could do things any better. What, kill so many millions of people? ”

“ We have read here some remarks in relation to these matters, and the Gospel unfolds these things to our view. We are told that there is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body. The natural body is sown in corruption, and it is raised in incorruption, etc. We shall all pass away by and by, as these our friends have; they have gone to sleep for a little while, to rise again, and to bear their part among the sons and daughters of God in the eternal worlds, and we shall have to follow and pass through the same ordeal. "It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory ”

“ Man is placed upon the earth. For what? The very first command given to him was to be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth. Or in other words, "I have put you in possession of certain faculties for a certain purpose. I have prepared the earth for you. I have my spirits living with me in the eternal heavens, and in the proper time it is my will that they shall come forth to inhabit tabernacles." ”

“ We read of certain men that lived at various times, who, by virtue of the Priesthood they held, identified themselves with the cause of God, and interested themselves in the redemption of the world• The Priesthood they had is everlasting, it administers in time and eternity ”

“ To tempt and try fallen man. They wander up and down the earth for this purpose, thus man is placed in a position to be tried, combatting as he has to do with all manner of influences which seek his overthrow.
While in this condition it was necessary that man should receive additional power and intelligence to enable him to combat successfully these evil influences; hence the Gospel was revealed to him. ”

“ They are eternal; they never were created. This is not only a principle associated with our religion, or in other words, with the great science of life, but it is in accordance with acknowledged science. ”

“ Next comes the dispensation of the fullness of times, when God is to gather together all things in one, for the Gods have decreed, and the ancient Prophets and Apostles have witnessed to it, that in the last days these things shall be accomplished. ”

“ The component parts of man can no more become the flesh of beasts or fishes than gold can become silver, lead turn to iron, or copper to gold. Each is separate and distinct from the other.
These things are strictly scriptural, they are strictly scientific and philosophical, and are in accordance with the laws God has revealed to us, and who can refute them? ”

“ If after receiving this light and knowledge he should fall a prey to the enemy of his soul, he would become more or less subject to the rule of this evil power, and thus suffer according to the extent of his fall. ”

“ If these spirits in prison receive the glad tidings of great joy and live accordingly, they will, as we are informed by the Lord in the Book of Doctrine and Covenants inherit a terrestrial glory, because they were found not worthy of propagating their species, they were not worthy to become fathers and mothers of lives. ”

“ We need not be too anxious for the destruction of the wicked, for it will be indeed terrible when it comes, it will make every feeling man weep for sorrow over the trouble and affliction that will come. ”

“ In the days of Peleg the Lord divided the earth, hence the eastern and western hemisphere, doubtless thinking by doing so he would have a better opportunity to preserve some of the human family from going down to perdition. ”

“ There are men now living among the descendants of Abraham, who expect to see that promise fulfilled, when his descendants will again inherit that land of promise, and when all things spoken of by the mouth of the Prophets will be accomplished. ”

“ You may take particles of silver, iron, copper, lead, etc., and mix them together with any other ingredients, and there are certain principles connected with them by which these different materials can be eliminated, every particle cleaving to that of its own element.
Our text says, "All flesh is not the same flesh: but there is one kind of flesh of men, another of beasts, another of fishes, and another of birds." ”

“ All these people who have lived have died, and live again; they have passed away, forgotten as a dream, or as night at the approach of the opening day. That is so in one sense, according to human ken; yet there is a reality associated with this matter, pregnant with importance to the human family. ”

“ They next caused light to shine upon it before the sun appeared in the firmament; for God is light, and in him there is no darkness. He is the light of the sun and the power thereof by which it was made ”

“ The Lord then commenced the race again with Noah, but according to the history we have of his family, the Lord had to bear a great deal with them. There was nothing very remarkable about them, they got into trouble often enough, and the prospect even then, judging after the manner of men, was not very flattering for poor humanity. ”

“ It is a sad thing to meet together as we have done on the present occasion, and to find here two of our friends from different families who have been smitten by the hand of the destroyer, thus having to attend to a double funeral ceremony. ”