John Taylor

“ We are the friends of all men, and are the friends of this nation; we are the friends and supporters of the Constitution of this nation, we are the friends of right, of freedom and of good administration and good men everywhere, and that on the principle of which I spoke a while ago—on the principle of freedom, liberty, believe, and let believe, worship, and let others worship, worship as you please according to the dictates of conscience, and let others do the same. ”

“ And again when I see our young men and young women associating themselves together for mutual instruction and edification, learning to comprehend correct principles and educating themselves to become efficient laborers in the work, the great, the important, the eternal word of God which He has committed to us—when I see our young men and women engaged in that way, I say to such, God bless you, and may the peace and the blessing of God be with you. ”

“ But the world do not comprehend our principles; they cannot. But we can afford to teach them the Gospel even if we are abused for doing it; we can deal justly with them, and then suffer their abuse. No matter. We can do all this and a good deal more, and also advocate the rights of men, look after our own interests and welfare, and the interest of the community we are associated with and sustain all just laws and correct principles. And then we can leave those men who violate correct principles in the hands of God. ”

“ To put down wrong and corruption, lasciviousness, lying, thieving, dishonesty and covetousness, with every kind of evil, and also to encourage faith, meekness, charity, purity, brotherly kindness, truthfulness, integrity, honesty, and everything that is calculated to exalt and ennoble mankind, that we may be the true and proper representatives of God our Father here upon the earth, that we may learn to know His will and do it; that His will may be done on earth as in heaven. And hence, Zion is spoken of as being the pure in heart. ”

“ We have not been coerced to come into the Church, we are not coerced to remain in it. But we have taken upon ourselves a profession of faith in God, and as Latter-day Saints we believe that God has spoken, that the heavens have been opened, that the everlasting Gospel has been restored to man, and we believe that God has organized His Church by revelation, through his servant, Joseph Smith, in the form that we now have it. This is our faith. We cannot help that faith. ”

“ Well, if you haven't paid your Tithing, and you seem to have forgotten God, why is it that you want to get married according to the laws of God? Why not get married in some other way, seeing that you observe not the laws of God? ”

“ A good Saint perhaps, may be honorable and upright and honest in dealing; may be a tolerably good neighbor; he may be zealous to a certain extent, according to his ideas and notions in regard to the propagation of the word of truth; he may be active and energetic in many things, but if he does right in the main, Tithing is a matter of very little importance; it is only a temporary idea, it does not concern us much, it is only meant to meet the financial affairs associated with the Church—and that is a matter of very little importance. ”

“ Each one, if he is living his religion, is supposed to have the spirit of light, of truth and intelligence within himself, the spirit of revelation, the Holy Ghost given unto him by the laying on of hands which, if he follows in all its guidings and dictates will lead him into all truth. Each man and each woman is placed in the position that they can draw nigh unto God through Jesus Christ: to have the light and intelligence of the Spirit of God imparted unto them ”

“ Again, the Lord says: "If my people observe not this law, etc, it shall not be a land of Zion unto them."
We have to build up Zion, and make it the praise of the whole earth; but to do this acceptably to God, we must be governed by the principles of purity and honesty; truthfulness and integrity and all the sterling virtues which God has pointed out for man to be governed by. ”

“ As I said yesterday, as I say to-day, if it were a son of mine I could not give him the recommend; and other men's sons under the same circumstances are no better than mine. It is principle we are to be governed by. I am not here, you are not here to carry out our own designs, and feelings, and purposes. Why, Jesus himself did not come to do that. ”

“ A feeling has more or less prevailed among the people that Tithing is a matter to be decided on exclusively by the individual paying it, and that if he pays it, all right; if he does not pay his Tithing, it is not quite so right, but it makes not so much difference. ”

“ We pay our Tithing and we pay Temple donations, we attend to the duties of the House of the Lord; we go forth and proclaim the Gospel of peace to the nations of the earth; we convert people, under the blessing of God, and they come to a knowledge of the principles of the Gospel, and we continue our labors to build up Zion ”

“ We are here to carry out the purposes and designs of God, and as I understand it we have been gathered together according to certain revelations which have been given for the establishment of His Church upon the earth, and that we, as a people, profess to be the Lord's people, and under His guidance and direction. ”

“ When the Tithing on the whole is paid, that is all straight enough, because what is made is the proceeds of the united labor of the family, and the family are all, of course, represented until they come to age. ”

“ We are here, then, to build up Zion. We have a temple going up here, and we have others in course of erection in other places. Now, while we have no disrespect for the world, no disrespect for the nations in which we live, or for the authorities thereof, if they act wisely, well; if they do not act wisely it is not so well. ”

“ We are full of infirmities. We pray to the Father to forgive our trespasses as we forgive them that trespass against us. How often do we sin against God? Many times, and ask His forgiveness. How often should I forgive my brother? I hear people say, "here is such and such a man, he has wronged me, and I cannot forgive him." ”

“ That the earth might be delivered from oppression, cruelty, tyranny, from corruptions, infamy, licentiousness, debauchery, and all the evils that afflict humanity, and which have been introduced by the powers of darkness for the overthrow and destruction of the human family. ”

“ It is not of man, nor did it proceed from man, neither can it progress nor be perfected by man without the direction of the Almighty. In fact, with all these helps, with all these organizations, with all these principles, owing to the weakness and infirmities of man, we find it difficult to preserve in purity those sacred institutions that God has given unto us, and we continually need the greatest care, humility, self-denial, perseverance, watchfulness and reliance upon God. ”

“ But should we be hard with such people? No. If they have been under influences of this nature and been wrongly taught, I will say, as a certain party said to me who had been doing these things, "I will switch off and pay my Tithing according to the law." You, Bishops and Presidents of Stakes, switch off and get the people to do things right. There is no commandment about donations, but there is about Tithing; and I am not at liberty to change this, neither any other man.
I will follow this subject a little further. We are talking about building up Zion. ”

“ And when the Saints arrive at, this state of perfection, thus fulfilling this scripture with regard to the greatness and splendor of Zion, God will make His people not only the richest of all people in spiritual things, but also in temporal things. ”

“ Then we have Relief Societies, and Mutual Improvement Societies, and our Sunday Schools, and Primary Associations, and all the various organizations and institutions which are organized for the instruction of the rising generation, male and female. ”

“ But we have to bear with them until they are better informed; but until then they must do the best they can, for they cannot go into the House of the Lord, they cannot be sealed up to eternal lives, they cannot have part in the blessings which God has conferred upon us until they bring forth fruits meet for repentance. ”

“ If we bear with men in their weakness and infirmity and are obliged to carry a lot of men like so many automatons, the time will come and it must come when they will be shut out, they will not be found worthy to abide among you ”

“ But they cannot comprehend these things, they do not possess that spirit which alone enables men to fulfil those principles, which are given by the Almighty for the benefit of the human family. We do understand them, I mean, those who are faithful to their profession, as Latter-day Saints ”

“ I think the people ought to be instructed in these things, and then if they do not live up to them you will not then be held responsible to the authorities that preside over you. The Lord tells us that they shall not be worthy of a place among us. ”

“ Now it is proper that we should be correctly informed in relation to these matters, and as I stated yesterday, there is a great diversity of opinion existing among men, and even men in authority in the Church, say, Bishops and probably Presidents of Stakes and others, in relation to the principle of Tithing. ”