John Taylor

“ It was in the interests of humanity; it was for the welfare of the world; it was to teach man, through those heavenly principles which he had communicated, the laws of God, to put them in possession of those rich treasures of eternal life, opening the kingdom of heaven to the believer who would obey his laws and be governed by them. This is the message that God has always proclaimed to the people. ”

“ It has been the feeling, the design of all good men to benefit their fellow-men; and even the philosophy of the heathen has advocated this to a certain extent. What was the message of Moses when he was sent as a deliverer to the children of Israel, whom the ungodly Egyptians had oppressed and made slaves of? He, as the sent of God, delivered a message, Thus saith the Lord, let my people Israel go. A message of mercy to Israel, and not even injurious to the Egyptians, unless opposed by them. Did he deliver them by any inherent wisdom or intelligence in him? ”

“ Are we all magnifying our calling? No; we are not. We have indeed a sort of skeleton fixed up; but I think sometimes it needs flesh on the bones and the breath of life, the spirit of the living God breathed into it. We need to realize the position we occupy and the duties devolving upon us. We see this in almost everything around us associated with the Church and kingdom of God. While many men are diligent and their whole hearts are engaged in the work of God, there are a great many astride of the fence, saying Good Lord and Good Devil, not knowing whose hands they will fall into. ”

“ These men did not come as the censors of the world; they did not come to aggrandize themselves, to build themselves up, nor to control or coerce others. What was the great blessing conferred upon Abraham? "In thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed;" not cursed, not destroyed, not annihilated; but as a messenger of God, as the elect of heaven, as a man whom he had chosen to accomplish his work, and whom he would use through those principles that existed in eternity to pour blessings upon fallen humanity. ”

“ I see those around me that have traveled hundreds and thousands of miles without purse or scrip, in the midst of persecution, contumely and reproach, to deliver the message of life to the people, because God had commanded it, and because they were desirous to promote the weal and happiness of the human family. How have they been treated? Just as Jesus was treated; just as his Apostles and just as the prophets of old were treated. Men have always killed the prophets and stoned those who were sent to them. ”

“ And you Bishops, act as fathers over the flock of Christ, that you may magnify your calling, and that in your judgment you may seek for the inspiration of the Almighty, that you may administer justice among the people; that righteousness may prevail in Zion, and that it may spread and grow and increase, that the glory of God may rest upon us, and that we may rejoice together in the fullness of the Gospel of peace. And will it go on? It will Will the kingdom spread? ”

“ We feel that God has blessed us more abundantly with wisdom and knowledge regarding himself, his ways, his laws and in relation to eternal things, through our obedience to his will than he has others, and that we are moving in a higher plane than the rest of the sons and daughters of Adam. Admitting this to be correct, there is nothing whereof we as individuals or as a people ought to boast. If we have received any intelligence or knowledge pertaining either to the present or the future, it has been solely through the communications that God has been pleased to make known to us. ”

“ We look upon these men as great men, and justly too, as wise men, as intelligent and philantrophic men; as men who were interested not only in their welfare, but in the welfare of the peoples by whom they were surrounded and the world in which they lived. ”

“ But; all things, as I remarked, are under the influence, control and government of law, just as much as the planetary system with which we are connected is governed by law. It makes no difference what a few of us may do, or how the world may act, the sun rises and sets regularly, the earth revolves upon its axis, and so it is with all the planetary systems; there is no confusion, no disorder in any of the movements of the heavenly bodies. They are governed by a science and intelligence that is beyond the reach of men in mortality ”

“ But God, and the holy priesthood behind the vail, that have lived and operated upon the earth, and who operate in eternity, felt interested in regard to the things that we are connected with, and interested in the welfare of the world. We talk about the wisdom of men. What true wisdom or intelligence has man that he receives not from the Almighty? ”

“ We wish to train our children in the way we wish them to go; other people wish to do the same. Talk about the Catholics, Methodists, Presbyterians, Baptists and other denominations, no matter what their ideas or feelings may be, no matter how inconsistent and foolish we may regard their manner of worship, yet many of them are quite sincere in trying to benefit their children. And God is sincere in trying to promote their happiness and welfare as well as he is ours, both in regard to this world and the world to come. ”

“ To build up the kingdom of heaven upon the earth, where the voice of God shall rule and where the law of God shall have the dominion, and where men shall be instructed with laws of heaven and be taught of God. A great many revelations and changes have yet to take place, we have got to put ourselves in a position to be guided and directed of the Lord in temporal as well as spiritual things, or we will never obtain that glory for which many of us are looking. ”

“ We are sent to teach the principles of life, not to be taught of them; and we are required to be governed by the principles, laws, intelligence and truth that come from God, that we may magnify our calling, build up His kingdom, gather together the elect, save the living and redeem the dead, and then when we get through, unite with the assembled throng in the Celestial kingdom of God ”

“ If men do not love the truth we cannot help it; if men become corrupt and unrighteous and full of infidelity we cannot help it, we did not place them in that position, it is their own act. Can you find a set of men to-day in the wide world, men who are filled with more philantrophy and benevolance, or greater benefactors to mankind than these Elders who are around me? ”

“ When Jesus was put to death in the flesh, he remembered them. "He went," says Peter, "and preached unto the spirits in prison, which sometimes were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, etc." What did he preach? The Gospel. And what is it he has told us to do to-day? Not only to preach the Gospel and gather the people, but to build Temples. What for? To administer in them. Who for? For the dead who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel, that they might participate with us in the blessings which they had not the privilege of enjoying on the earth. ”

“ It is indeed true that God has conferred upon us many great and peculiar blessings for which we are indebted to him; but at the same the Lord feels interested in the welfare of all men, and all peoples of all nations, of all creeds and all religions—not in their religions as religions, but in the people who profess to believe in them; and he is acquainted with the peculiar ideas, habits, dispositions and feelings of men everywhere. One of the old apostles in speaking upon these things, says, "God hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth ”

“ And you people, be taught of your teachers; and you teachers, get the Spirit of the Lord that you may teach aright, and you Seventies and Elders prepare yourselves to go to the nations of the earth. Say, here am I, send me; I am on hand, I am ready to fulfil my duty and to magnify my calling, and with the help of the Lord I will lift up a warning voice to my fellow men. And as High Councils to sit in judgment with honesty, truth, fidelity and integrity, without fear or favor of any man to act and administer in righteousness. ”

“ They know a very little of the earth whereon we dwell, much less do they know of things pertaining to the heavens or of God or of eternity. And let me tell them furthermore, that no man knoweth the things of God, save by the spirit of God—or, to use the text as it is given: "For what man knoweth the things of man, save by the spirit of man which is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the spirit of God." And they cannot get that spirit without first obeying the first principles of the Gospel of Christ. Talk about their intelligence, it is a curious sort of intelligence to me. ”

“ There is a feeling prevailing more or less among all the branches of the human family, that the nation or people to which they belong is superior in many respects to others, either in government, in morals, in science, in manufactures, in the arts or in religion, as the case may be, and the Latter-day Saints are not without this sentiment. ”

“ A great many of these people in the world, thousands and hundreds of millions of them, will be a great deal better off through the interposition of the Almighty than they have any idea of. But they cannot enter into the celestial kingdom of God; where God and Christ are they cannot come.
God has made use of various means, in various ages of the world, to teach and lead men in the right path. He sent forth his servants in different ages into the vineyard, and gathered a few here and a few there who would obey his law, that they might be saved in his kingdom. ”

“ For those who are ready to listen to him and be brought under the influence of the Spirit of God and be led by the principles of revelation and the light of heaven, and who are willing to yield obedience to his commands at all times and carry out his purposes upon the earth, and who are willing to abide a celestial law, he has prepared for them a celestial glory, that they may be with him for ever and ever. ”

“ For naturally we are very like other men—not much taller, not much shorter, not much more intelligent, not much more ignorant, than they are. There is not so great a diversity among peoples as some imagine, other things being equal; it may be well for us to reflect a little on the position we occupy in relation to others, in relation to our God, in relation to the world in which we live and the peoples by which we are surrounded ”

“ God expects his message to go to all nations, and the priesthood ought to be seeking after God and to be clothed upon with the power of God and with the light of revelation, that they may stand forth as his messengers to the nations: and then by and by, after having cleared their garments from the blood of this generation, to go and administer for the dead in the temples of the Lord, and keep laboring and doing until God shall have accomplished his purposes. ”

“ I will prepare a prison for them, in which they shall be confined for generations, where they shall not have power to propagate their species; for these pure spirits in the eternal worlds shall not be, contaminated with their corruptions: I will take them off the earth, and I will raise up another people. ”

“ As eternal beings we all have to stand before him to be judged; and he has provided different degrees of glory—the celestial the terrestial, and the telestial glories—which are provided according to certain unchangeable laws which cannot be controverted. ”

“ We read of many prominent men who have existed in the world in various ages. For instance, there was Adam, Seth, Enoch, Methusaleh, Noah, Abraham, Moses, the Prophets, Jesus and his disciples, the people who came to this continent, Ether, and the brother of Jared, Lehi and Nephi, Alma, Moroni, and many other prominent individuals who held intercourse with the Almighty, who were placed by the Lord in a position whereby they could receive communications from him, could learn his will and teach it to others. ”

“ And about the wicked and the ungodly, protect yourselves against them as well as you can; unite yourselves together and be one, and never mind their ideas and feelings. God has called us to be one, to be united; and that man who tampers with the Gentiles and with their vices and follies will go down to death. ”

“ These things were given us for what? To gratify our ambition? to enable us to ride over and trample under foot our fellow creatures? to place power and authority upon us? No, not for any individual affair, not for any man's emolument or aggrandizement. Although there is nothing more honorable, nothing more dignified, nothing to which a man ought so much to aspire to, as to be a servant of the living God, and to be commissioned by him to do his work upon the earth. And what is it for? To spread correct principles among men ”

“ It is not proper for us to be censorious, to upbraid people for things that they do not comprehend and that are beyond their ken; we should be courteous and charitable to all, and not find fault with men because they do not comprehend things as we understand them. ”