John Taylor

“ I understand that it is to build up the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth, and to prepare the earth and the people of the earth for the things that are coming on the earth; and to prepare ourselves, as a people, to receive further intelligence, wisdom and knowledge from God, that he may have a people in whom he can place confidence, and whom he can bless, and through them confer blessings on mankind. He expects us to build up his kingdom, and that is the first consideration with us. ”

“ I spoke about the Twelve, the seventies, the elders and the high priests; and stated that a great many of them had been out preaching the Gospel, and that some of them felt as though it is hard work. It is, no doubt, very up-hill business for a man to be a Saint if he is not one; and if he has not the principles of the Gospel in his heart, it must be very hard work, I may say an eternal struggle, for him to preach. ”

“ God has introduced his kingdom after his order, and it is for him to guide that kingdom and direct it, and manage it, and manipulate it in the interest of the honest in heart, and of all nations. He has commenced it among us that he might have a little nucleus where he could communicate and reveal his will, composed of such as would carry that will out, and do his bidding and obey his behests. That is what we are here for, and not to do our own will, any more than Jesus came to do his will, but the will of his Father. What do we know about building up the kingdom of God? ”

“ I will tell you in the name of Israel's God that if you keep his commandments you will be the richest of all people, for God will pour wealth upon you; but if you do not, you will have to struggle a good deal more than you have done for the Spirit and blessings of God will be withdrawn from us, just in proportion as we withdraw ourselves from God. We are living in an eventful age, an age in which many wonderful changes are to be wrought. We are told many other things of a similar nature, that he who will not take up his sword against his neighbor, must needs flee to Zion for safety. ”

“ The Latter-day Saints will see the day when people will flock to Zion, and many of them will say, we do not know anything about your religion, but you are an honorable, just, industrious and virtuous people, you administer justice and equity, and the rights of man are protected and maintained. You maintain good government, extending protection to everybody, and we want to live with you and be one with you. ”

“ But if a man has got the pure principles of the Gospel in his heart, it is quite easy for him to expound the truth. Well, now, I will take the words of Jesus: "Except a man can forsake father or mother, wife and children, houses and lands, for my sake, he cannot be my disciple." And let me say to you, my brethren, that that Gospel is just as true to-day as it was then, that except a man is prepared to forsake his earthly interests for the sake of the Gospel of the Son of God, he is unworthy of it., and cannot be a true Saint. ”

“ We often wish the Lord would not exact certain things of us; we would rather have our own way. But let us look at things calmly and dispassionately. As I understand it, the Lord has gathered us together to do his will, to observe his laws and keep his commandments. And we have certain obligations devolving upon us in the holy priesthood which God requires at our hands. He requires, for instance, of the Twelve to go, when called upon, to the nations of the earth and preach the Gospel to those nations. ”

“ But we do not have this kind of feeling, and we are divided up in our interest, one man pulling against another, so much so, that we have to-day all kinds of Gentilism among us. Even our newspapers give circulation to certain classes of advertisements which are a living lie, and it is a shame and disgrace that such things should be seen in Zion. Some call it Gentile trickery, the tricks of trade etc., but I call it chicanery and falsehood, and it is so in regard to many other things. Does this comport with the position we occupy as men holding the holy priesthood? ”

“ We must carry out the word and will of God, for we cannot afford to ignore it nor any part of it. If faith, repentance and baptism and laying on of hands is right and true and demands our obedience, so does co-operation and the United Order. ”

“ In many places co-operation and the United Order have been started under various forms; in some they have succeeded very well, and in other places people have acted foolishly and covetously, seeking their own personal, individual interests under the pretense of serving God and carrying out his designs. Others have been visionary and have undertaken things which were impracticable, while others have not acted in good faith at all. There has been every kind of feeling among us as a people, that is possible to exist anywhere. ”

“ We have met here in a capacity of the holy priesthood, and all of us profess to be elders in Israel, and to be disposed at least to walk according to the order of God, and to seek to establish the principles of righteousness as far as lies in our power, and to try to build up his kingdom on the earth. ”

“ If we believe that these principles are true, let us be governed by them; if we do not, let us abandon them at once, conclude that we have made a mistake and have no more to do with them. For we, all of us, profess to be at least honest men, and to act conscientiously. If there is anything wrong in these things, let us know the wrong; and if it is not a command of God, and not binding upon us, let us quit it. And then the question naturally arises, Are we prepared to do this? ”

“ But he will not leave us as long as we manifest a desire to do right; and I am pleased to say there is a feeling generally among the brethren to listen to counsel, yet at the same time we are apt to get confused forgetting the object we have in view, amidst the variety of things that present themselves. Shall we, my brethren, give up co-operation or shall we consider men in good fellowship who are pulling off in either direction, or shall we not? What shall we do? Shall we be true to our religion, true to our faith, true to the principles that God has commanded ”

“ If we must introduce something that the Lord has commanded, we would like to put it off just as far as we can, and if we cannot do it any other way we will fight against it, according to circumstances, and how things move and operate. ”

“ The Lord has blessed us with endowments and covenants of which the world know nothing, neither can they know anything about it. And he has given unto us these things that we might be brought into closer union with God, that we might know how to save ourselves, our wives and children, as well as our fathers and progenitors who have gone before us. ”

“ And I have thought sometimes in regard to our co-operative institutions, that some of those who are engaged in them and sustained by them are as much opposed to co-operation and United Order as any other class of people we have. ”

“ We will not forsake them, and the brethren generally do not feel like doing it; but there are a few now and then who get off the track. We want to get together and unite our hearts and sympathies into one, placing ourselves under proper direction, holding ourselves in readiness to perform any work required by God at our hands. ”

“ We purge them out, we cut them off according to the laws God has laid down; but we do not stop the operations of the Gospel, such a thought never enters our minds, for we know the work already commenced is onward and upward. ”

“ Such enterprises tend to give employment to the people, and this is what we want, and what we must have sooner or later. There is one thing, however, I would here say about forming unions and partnerships in any line of manufacture: Let them be formed with the understanding that when the proper time shall arrive they can merge into co-operation, or the United Order. ”

“ We are not, to-day, all of us, preparing for these things. We can hardly manage a few miserable apostates and a few Gentiles, and we feel very creepy sometimes about anything that transpires, not knowing how or what may be the result ”

“ That, at least, is our profession, and I believe is the sentiment of the hearts of most of the brethren now assembled. At the same time we have different ideas about many things, particularly things of a temporal nature, so called, We go in a good deal for what is called "free trade and sailor's rights"—we want to enjoy a large amount of liberty. ”

“ And all that we do should be done with this object in view. We have all kinds of individual interests and enterprises among us; some men are operating quite considerably one way and another, and some are not. ”