Show ram ga j A L asder admy jomn JOHN T TAYLOR idor a in the bowdy in M general conference ad ax 1665 REPORTED BY 0 D WATT itis good gabd to meet together as we are imet inet et on the present occasion it is good to speak on the goodness of god and it is pleasant and instructive to hear we enjoy a privilege that is not possessed by any of the inhabitants of the earth T except ourselves it is a privilege which when properly understood by the saints they will esteem to pe be greater than any other earthly blessing that can be be stowed upon them we assemble together in a diffie different rent capacity from that of any other people we meet here as khe representatives of god upon the earth yet occupying the high position 04 that we do blessed as we are with the 14 light of truth with the holy priesthood wi with th the falness of the everlasting gos gospel e in possession of light and intelligence telli gence genee thatis not imparted unto 19 lathers but of which they arc are ignorant we stand emphatically as gods elect as nis his representatives on the earth at the same time there is mixed up with us a great amount of weakness infirmities and and follies and we need continually the aid teaching and protection of the almighty god to govern guide lead and direct us in the right path As I 1 before stated we stand in a different position to the almighty and to the world from that of any other yeo peo people le to us god has revealed his ditre will he has opened the heavens to us among us he lias has organized the holy priesthood and revealed those principles which exist in the eternal world bif us he has made messengers of 11 life ilfe swid said salvation to us he has commini abed sated gated his law and from us he expects obedience ebed ienco lenco and a ready operation cooperation co with him in bringing to pass those great avents events that must transpire in the building MI up and establishment of the kingdom of god in the last davs days the lord 1 Is anxious to do us good to enlighten 1 our minds to inform our judgment to unfold unto usHi us swill andio strengthen 4 us and prepare us for the great events that must transpire in these last days he is desirous to show us how to save ourselves how to bless ourselves temporally and spiritually intellectually morally physically politically and in every possible way that he is capable of bestowing his blessings upon fallen humanity he is desirous to perform arat great work upon the earth to bring about ou a great revolution among men to establish correct principles of every kind and to make the ca earth rth and the in habitants thereof fulfill fulfil the measure of their creation and prepare all that are capable or worthy to receive everlasting life and exaltation in the celestial king fi dom where he dwells he is desirous of making use of us as his instruments in the development of this great work in which he has engaged we have been in the habit of reading i the words of the prophets in relation to to the establishment of the kingdom of god and what they have said and ang the spirit by which they were inspired we have reflected a good deal upon what the lord would do in relation to establishing correct principles upon the earth in id the last days we have read about these things andee and we have believed them in part and as the spirit of god has beamed upon our minds datterl latterly we have been enabled to comp comprehend rehe n more fully some of the things that the prophets in ancient times wrote about eu but t of which they understood very little and we can only understand them as we are taught we can only comprehend the designs of god as he reveals them to us we can only understand our duty ditty as the spirit of god makes it manifest either through the elders of israel 1 or by the revelations of god to our it is ii in vain for the elders of israel to teach the principles of truth unless the 1 people are prepared to receive them and it is vain for the lord to communicate his will unto the people unless the people possess a portion of his spirit to c comprehend amp something of that will and the designs of god towards them v and towards the earth upon which they dwell nor can the lord work with them unless they are prepared to cooperate with him in the establishment of his kingdom upon the earth there are a great many things of 0 which we speak that seem to he be very 1 simple and very unnecessary in the estimation of some for us to talk about we have heard in this conference reports from different parts of the territory about their crops about the way the land ia cultivated about the kind of improvements the neove people are making about the prospects that lie lle ie before them for sustaining themselves with all the common necessaries of life etc and tome some some people thY think we might w when h en wei we convene together tall talk about cabout something elsei eisei else eise about something which they would desi designate glike as being loore spiritual we meet together as men of intelligence as men possessing natural wants who have natural bodies which bodies have to be clothed to bo be fed and provided for we meet together as rational individuals and as heads of families who have children growing up that need in the first place to be instructed in the common laws of life and in those things that are necessary to promote our common well being the first thing that devolves upon all human beings so far as I 1 can comprehend it is to provide a way for their own sustenance one of the very first commandments that god gave to adam was when he placed him in the garden he told him to dress or till it so that he might be able to provide for his necessities the fiat of the almighty at the time that Adam was expelled from the garden of eden was that man should I 1 eat his bread by the sweat of his brow that we cannot avoid by this inscrutable law we are compelled to attend to some of the first necessary affairs of life or to go without bread and necessarily die conse quent ly when we talk about land and possessions an inheritance etc we talk taik about things that the first necessaries pertaining to human existence we livo by breathing the air that god gives us by drinking the water that he causes to flow tiow for our sustenance te nance and by cultivating the carthin earth in order that we may partake of the products of the earth this is lg one of the first duties pertaining to man and hence when we meet together to form new settlements as part of the body politic as part of the tha kingdom of god it devolves upon all of us always tu ta ascertain how we can sustain ourselves in the position in which we are arc placed hence when we hear of any difficulties such as we have heard of in the south at various times and from other sources perta pertaining inin tato to the existence of man it causes a thrill rill of feeling to go through the whole of the people that form part of the kingdom of god for if one member of the body suffers they all suffer with it and if one member of the body rejoices the rest rejoice with it when we hear from the south as at the present time that they are raising their bread and that that thab there ia is every ble prospect of them being enabled to sustain themselves we feel comforted by the report when we hear from the north of the destruction made by the early frosts and yet notwithstanding this disaster of the prospects that lie lia before them and the encouragement that they hold hoid out to 6 us of the prosperity of tb their air settlements there and that tb they ey will be bd able to provide for themselves we feel comforted the thereby reily relly and feel thankful to the god of israel that he is providing for and taking care of his saints we believe that the kingdom of god is a temporal kingdom as well as a spiritual and eternal kingdom to use this expression according to our comprehension and when men are depT deprived ived of thle the common necessaries of life and have not wherewith to sustain them themselves they have but very little time to attend to religious matters and they cannot be of much benefit to their brethren in helping to establish the kingdom of god upon the earth but when on the other liand hand we see that the saints are blessed in the north northy in the south in the east cast and in the west when we see them industrious industrious indus persevering and diligent and d using all lawful measures to provide for themselves and their families and those that depend upon them and when we see them cultivating tiva ting the spirit of god in them and living their religion cleaving close to the almighty and drawing blessings les ies sings from his hand then we the hand of god in all things and feel to bless the name of the god of israel every one of these things is of great imp importance ortance to the saints of god and we feel interested in all these matters are they prospering in the south we acknowledge the hand of god in it Is the climate tempered in the north we acknowledge the hand of god in it do the rains descend upon our parched land ami and cause it to bring forth luxuriantly we acknowledge the hand of god in it and so we do in everything every thing that we see and in every thing that we have to do with for we read that the wrath of the almighty is kindled against none but those who do not acknowledge his hand in all things we are gathered together here as a peculiar people we differ as I 1 stated before in almost every respect from the world of mankind with which we are surrounded the lord gives to them seedtime seed time and harvest summer and winter and pours the rich blessings of heay heaven en into r laps caps he gives them em mechanical tale taie talent fht hit fit andin anch ingenuity f gehu ity he inspires them with witha a knowledge of the ther arts and sciences he ife has hai been pouring upon them the rich blessings of intelligence gence ence and of plenty for ages buttrey ao do not acknowledge his hand ha nd men boast of their own intelligence of their own wisdom of their own power might and understanding this is a general rule with but few exceptions they feel a good deal like the king of babylon did when in his pride he rose up and said Is Us not this great babylon that I 1 have built have I 1 not done these things by my wisdom by my intelli intelligence 1 ence by my power and might with wit us it is different wo we are indebted to god for the first rays of light and intelligence that ever beamed up upon onus us who among us knew know the first principles of the gospel of christ until we heard them from the tho elders of israel there is not a man among us that did there is not a man in existence today to day that knows them only as they have been communicated to him from god who told us that it was right to be baptized in the name of Jesu jesus for the remission of sins sin who taught us it was right to receive the holy ghost by the laying on of hands who taught us that it was right that there should be an authority given en by go god to man to enable him to 0 officiate clate elate legally in his name and that everything in the shape 0 of religion upon the earth was spurious and not of him it was communicated to joseph smith by the opening oo 00 the heavens by the ministering of likely holy angels and and by the voice of god until that voice was heard until these communications were made known the inhabitants of the world were wrapped in ignorance they knew nothing about god nor the principles of eternity nor the way to save themselves nor anybody else wo we have nothing to boast of in this particular I 1 do not speak of these things by way of boasting but I 1 speak of them to acknowledge the hand and mercy of god towards us as a people what would a man give in exchange for his soul we are told that a man will give all he hath bath foghis for fon his ilfe life what will he give then in exchange for his soul or has he aily ally anything thing to barter for it what is it that hath bath loosed us us from the shackles of ignorance error superstition and folly with which we were bound it is the light of heaven the rev rex revelations relations elat ions lons of god the ministration of the holy priesthood that has imparted to us intelligence in re lation to these things without this it is impossible that we could know anything in relation to them who is ia there thero in the world that understands anything of god 0 or his is wl will they e ca cannot ii not be e foun found they know nothing of him it would oui be needless to tal tai taik talk about the folly of many of their priests and their ideas and notions in relation to these matters what do they know of god they tell us he is a spirit what else that he is is without body parts and passions some tell us sits on the top of a topless throne etc it is not necessary to enter into these matters we know them and we do not wish at the present time to reflect upon them I 1 am simply reflecting upon my own ignorance as one of them when Iwas ivas I 1 was among them I 1 was a teacher and what i did I 1 know simply nothing I 1 knew nothing of god of the principles of eternal truth and and life and I 1 could not find anybody anywhere that knew any aby more than I 1 did I 1 am indebted to dior Alor mormonism monism to the light of truth to the revelations of god to the administrations trat ions of the hol hoi holy priesthood for all the knowledge an and light and intelligence that I 1 may possess in relation to these matters and this is the case with all of us we were all ali wit with 11 god with the holy priesthood and with the way to obtain cn en life and the same ignorance that beclouded clouded be our minds previous to the opening of the heavens to joseph smith and the coming forth of the fullness of the gospel through him be clouds the rest of the world at the present time they know not where they are going to nor where they came from 1 I used used to ask myself sometimes questions like tb the e following who am I 1 where did I 1 come from what am I 1 doing here what is the object of my existence who organized the world and for what purpose was it organized could I 1 answer them no and nobody else could answer then theu for me for they know nothing about these things neither priest nor philosopher nor statesman nor any man that I 1 could associate with could unravel these questions they could not tell the whys ghys and the wherefores in relation to some of these simple things that have been given iven to us the gospel we are told il in n one place is the law of the spirit of life in christ jesus and it hath made us free from i i ti WB t the h e law 0 of f sin an and d d death cath 11 We weare retold told in another place that itis it is good news and glad giad ti tidings dInks butla we e comprehend it correctly the gospel holds the keys through the priesthood of the tire mysteries of god the gospel brin brings life and immortality to light aai and anh wherever it exists in whatsoever bosom it dwells whoever has engaged in the propagation of the gospel has a knowledge of life and immortality it is that which unveils the heavens and without it men are ignorant in relation to the future and of that salvation of which they talk so much the gospel places men inen in communication with the I 1 lord ord so that they can understand something of god and aud something of his law and nd without the gospel they cannot understand anything about him and hence some will think one thing about him and some seme another whoever has possessed pos essed the gospel whether in former or in latter times ic it has brought life and immortality to light to them it shows men who they are and what they are it shows them something about god and it was said in former times that this is life eternal to know god and jesus christ whom hemath he hath sent without the gospel it would be impossible for men to have any knowledge of god or of jesus jestus christ whom he hath bath sent |