John Taylor

“ Satan requested Cain to offer up a sacrifice, which he did, and the Lord rejected it, but he accepted his brother Abel's. Why did the Lord refuse one and accept the other? Because the Lord knew that Cain had departed from him, and that he was not sincere in his offering, as we sometimes are not sincere in our offerings and in our worship, and therefore he rejected it. Then Satan came again and whispered to Cain, I could have told you all about it before; God is an unrighteous God; he gathers where he has not strewn, he reaps where he has not sown. ”

“ Satan, we are told, rebelled against God; and he wanted to introduce something that was contrary to the law of God and to the counsel of God; as much as to say, "O, you do not know much about it; I will go and save all; wherefore give me thy glory." Some of our folks now-a-days feel and say sometimes, they have a portion of the Priesthood, and they think they are almighty personages; they think they know better than anybody else, better than the Bishop, better that the Twelve, better than the Presidency of the Church: they are puffed up and filled with their vain imaginations. ”

“ And while He has called us to high privileges, to thrones and principalities and dominions, and to be saviors on Mount Zion, and to be kings and priests unto God, and our wives, queens and priestesses unto their husbands, while God has ordained us for this, in the name of Israel's God we will try and carry it out. And we will find enough that will be true and faithful to God and to His Holy priesthood. And the work of God will roll on, Zion will be established, and the kingdom of God built up, and no man will stay its progress. ”

“ And as the Lord organized this world; as He is said to be the God of the spirits of all flesh; and as he is interested in the welfare of all humanity, he would be the proper personage to inaugurate every measure, everything that would be calculated to promote the interests of mankind. And in the accomplishment of the salvation of the human family his designs, plans and purposes have been perfected generations long ago. ”

“ We will build Temples. And what then? Administer in them, When we get them done. Do we know how? Yes, we do, for God has told us how. And who shall we save? Our fathers and mothers, our uncles and our aunts, our grandfathers and our grandmothers, and we will look after the interest of all we can trace; we will still go to work, after we have settled individual matters and attended to our family affairs and a few little things among us—for we are a small people comparatively, notwithstanding that we talk about extending our power ”

“ They conferred on him first the Priesthood of Aaron, a descendant of Aaron, John the Baptist, who held the keys of that Priesthood in his day, came to Joseph Smith and to Oliver Cowdery, and laid his hands upon their heads and said, "Upon you, my fellow-servants, in the name of the Messiah, I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministry of angels, and of the Gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." ”

“ If the persons to whom he is indebted are willing to take him as security they will receive the security's note or obligation to meet the debt. So Jesus offered himself. Now, man could not have done that. Man could do all that he is capable of doing. But there was an eternal law of God violated and it needed an eternal, infinite sacrifice to atone therefore; and Jesus offered himself as that sacrifice to atone for the sins of the world ”

“ If he could reveal unto Adam all of the events which would transpire upon the earth associated with coming generations, he certainly must himself have had a knowledge of those things which he communicated to our first parents, or he could not have revealed them. Among other things which the Lord designed should be introduced upon the earth was what is termed the dispensation of the fullness of times, wherein he would gather together all things in one, whether they be things on the earth or things in heaven ”

“ Let us suppose that you and I were there as spirits, awaiting the privilege of taking bodies, and that we could see the wickedness and corruption that was going on upon the earth, and that we could see Prophets going about teaching the principles of righteousness and warning the peo-ple of judgments that should come, of the flood that should overwhelm them and of the prisons prepared in which the ungodly should be cast. And we say, "Father, you see the people on the earth that they are wicked and depraved, fallen and corrupt! ”

“ All men, those engaged in the work, and those who contribute to it, have an interest in these things. God is looking upon us, and has called us to be saviors upon Mount Zion. And what does a savior mean? ”

“ Because Abraham was a Patriarch, and Joseph Smith's father was a Patriarch. He was at his right hand because he was associated with the dispensation of the fullness of times, the same as Abraham was a leading Patriarch in the dispensation in which he lived. And David Patten, one of the first Twelve, what about him? Another was to be ordained in his place, but he was not to have his Priesthood; of David, we are told, his Priesthood no man taketh—he should stand in his proper position. ”

“ We meet together here and elsewhere in a Conference capacity, for the purpose of regulating, managing and directing the affairs of the Church, and submitting the reports of the several Stakes to the people, that the Saints may comprehend the position which they occupy, and that through our inter-communication with each other and through the various reports, we may become acquainted, to a certain extent, with the spirit and feeling, the desires and motives that permeate, the Saints of God, throughout all the land of Zion. ”

“ And you will assist them to do it! Woe to that man and that woman who permit their children to come under such influences! They will sup sorrow in time and in eternity, where there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. ”

“ We will suppose that a man has given his note to pay a certain amount in a certain given time, and in order to keep that note good, he agrees to pay interest on it. Now, when Jesus gave himself up as security for the sins of mankind, and God accepted of his security, what was done then? Why, sacrifices were introduced as types of the sacrifice of the Son of God, to show that the ancient servants of Go, I recognized this principle which had existed in the heavens, and many of them understood the principle with great clearness. ”

“ When Adam and Eve ate of the forbidden fruit, the mercy of God was extended to them, and they perceived as Eve expressed it, that if there had been no fall, they would have had no posterity, and that they would have been deprived of many joys and blessings relating both to this life and the life to come. ”

“ When you build it yourselves, you have a right there. You are called to be Saviors upon Mount Zion, and it is one of your privileges, of which we would not deprive you, to build a Temple to the Lord, in order that people may be saved therein." And it is not the men that wear the best clothes that are doing the work. ”

“ There are myriads who have died without a knowledge of the Gospel, that God and Jesus and the ancient Patriarchs and Prophets and men of God were interested in as they are in us, and whom we are informed shall have the opportunity of receiving the Gospel if they had it not on this earth. ”

“ We read in our newspapers from time to time of certain combinations conspiring against us, and who are they? The Methodists, the Presbyterians, the Baptists, the Episcopalians and others, and they want to petition Congress—what to do? To destroy the very people whom you profess to love; and still you would send your children to be taught by them, to drink in their influence and spirit, and in time to imitate their acts, would you? ”

“ Behind the veil. What of Seventies and High Priests? Just the same, if they fulfil their duties and magnify their callings. Has Joseph Smith ceased to minister in his office because he has left the earth No; he administers in his office in the eternal worlds under the direction of the Son of God, and a proper presiding Priesthood as it exists in the heavens. And so will we. Hence they have gone to live forever. If a man dies, shall he live again? Why, yes. A man goes to sleep, but he wakes again. It is said that Jesus possessed life in himself ”

“ And the power of God was with Enoch, and with those Elders; and the enemies of God and of his law arrayed themselves against God and against Enoch and his people, as some of our very pious people are doing to-day against us, and as others would like to do. Say they, "Look, what a wicked people these 'Mormons' are, they have more wives than one. It is true we have mistresses besides our wives; it is true we commit adultery; it is true we are covered with infamy and debauchery ”

“ Mobs, led on by Christian ministers, co-religionists of these men, are seeking the lives of your own brethren, and those who are here manifest the same spirit and would perpetrate the same acts if they had the power in the same way that is being done in Georgia, for instance: but they pretend to be so nice, and so pure and so virtuous, and to have such agreeable manners, and to be so well educated, and they want to teach your children, and to tell you the truth, to lead them to hell. ”

“ We talk about a great many subjects, and many principles are introduced to our notice. The various duties and responsibilities of the presiding authorities are referred to, as well as those of the Presidents of Stakes and their Counselors, the Bishops and their Counselors, and the Priests, Teachers and Deacons, as also the various societies and organizations which exist as aids to the Holy Priesthood in the several Stakes. All these things are very good, so far as they go; but it is proper that we should examine ourselves, and when it is our duty so to do, examine one another ”

“ And says Matthew, in referring to the same thing, "As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be. For as in the days that were before the flood they were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noah entered into the ark, and knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be." After these Elders had gone forth, under the direction of Enoch, they gathered together those who believed in their message, and they built up a city which they called Zion. ”

“ This warfare continued; and as men began to increase upon the earth, so wickedness increased, until it was decided that they should be destroyed, that they might be deprived of the privilege of perpetuating their species. Why? Let us go back to the time when Satan rebelled against the Almighty and drew away one-third of the hosts of heaven. We find that there were pure spirits that stood that test and who had given to them the promise of bodies on this earth. ”

“ The position that we occupy is indeed a very peculiar one. We are gathered here from the nations of the earth. We are gathered here because of certain plans, purposes and designs of Jehovah, pertaining to the world wherein we live, pertaining to the peoples who have existed before us, and relating to all men whether living or dead. ”

“ You should come together as men, and if you cannot compromise the matter, bring it before your High Council, and have it regulated there: and I will tell you here to-day, that if you take this matter to law before the courts of the ungodly, you shall be cut off from the Church. ”

“ Noah then stood in his day as the representative of God; and after him Abraham was selected to take the lead in relation to these matters pertaining to man's salvation, Some people suppose that Abraham was an old fogy who knew but little, a kind of dull, dumpy old shepherd. But we were informed that he was a man that followed after righteousness, and that he sought to obtain more righteousness; that he searched the records of his fathers as they had come down to him, and traced them back until the days of Adam, and even before the world was. Before the world was? ”

“ He was a representative of a certain class in the heavens who felt interested in their children. And their children are our fathers; and hence they, the fathers hearts are turned to their children; and our hearts who are their children, are turned towards them. And we begin to build Temples. Some think this is a very foolish thing to do. It does look like it to some, but not to those who are informed. Why do we build Temples? Because Elijah conferred certain keys which he held upon Joseph Smith. ”

“ And it is quite proper that we, as an intelligent people, professing preeminently to be the servants of God, should act with candor and truthfulness, and should be able to scan our own actions as well as those of others, to see wherein we come short in following the example that was set us by one of the ancient Prophets, in which he said, "Search me, O God, and try me and prove me ”

“ For instance, you Elders who have been out preaching, you told the people if they repented of their sins and were baptized they should receive the Holy Ghost, and they received it, according to the promise you made them. ”