The government of God by John Taylor

Front matter

GOVEENMENT OF GOD.

JOHN TAYLOR,

>NE OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE CHURCH OF .TESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.

Preface

It was Elder Taylor's intention to superintend the publishing of " The Government of God " in person, previous to his departure for Great Salt Lake City last spring ; but the numerous cares attending the French and German Missions, of which he was President ; the translation of the Book of Mormon into the French and German languages ; the establishment of UEtoile du Deseret at Paris, and jUortS Ranter at Hamburg ; together with a multitude of other business connected with the welfare of the Kingdom of God, rendered it impossible.

The manuscript was therefore handed to me by Elder Taylor, with a request to superintend the printing of the work, which I have done to the best of my ability.

Considering the disadvantages arising from the Author's absence during the reading of the proofs, I believe it is as correctly rendered, as was possible from a manuscript copy.

The Work is now before the Public, and from one portion at least it will meet with a cordial reception, treating as it does upon the theme most dear to their hearts — the Reign of Righteousness and Peace.

Vlll. PREFACE.

From other portions it will meet with varied reception, but will nevertheless lead the minds of all to contemplate the glory of that time when the Messiah, even Jesus, shall come with all his holy angels, and sit upon the throne of his glory, and govern all nations upon earth.

JAMES LINFORTH.

Liverpool,

August, 1852,

THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.

Chapter I. The Wisdom, Order, And Harmony Of The Government Of God

The Kingdom of God, is the government of God, on the earth, or in the heavens. The earth, and all the planetary systems, are governed by the Lord ; they are upheld by his power, and are sustained, directed, and controlled by his will. We are told, that " by him were all things created that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers ; all things were created by him, and for him : and he is before all things, and by him all things consist."* Collos. i. 16, 17. If all things, visible and invisible, are made by and for him, he governs and sustains all worlds to us known, together with the earth on which we live. If he governs them, they are under his dominion, subject to his laws, and controlled by his will and power.

If the planets move beautifully, and harmoniously in their several spheres, that beauty and harmony are the result of the intelligence and wisdom that exist in his mind. If on this earth we have day and night, summer and winter, seed time and harvest, with the various changes of the seasons ; this regularity, beauty, order, and harmony, are the effects of the wisdom of God.

* I wish here to be understood, that at present I am writing to believers in the Bible. I may hereafter give my reasons for this faith ; at the present I refer to the Scriptures without this.

B

There are two kinds of rule on the earth ; one with which man has nothing directly to do, another in which he is intimately concerned. The first of these applies to the works of God alone, and His government and control of those works ; the second, to the moral government, wherein man is made an agent. There is a very striking difference between the two. and the comparison is certainly not creditable to man ; and however he may feel disposed to vaunt himself of his intelligence, when he reflects he will feel like Job did when he said, (xlii. 6.) " I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes."

In God's government there is perfect order, harmony, beauty, magnificence, and grandeur ; in the government of man, confusion, disorder, instability, misery, discord, and death. In the first, the most consummate wisdom and power are manifested; in the second, ignorance, imbecility, and weakness. The first displays the comprehension, light, glory, benificence, and intelligence of God ; the second, the folly, littleness, darkness, and incompetency of man. The contemplation of the first elevates the mind, expands the capacity, produces grateful reflections, and fills the mind with wonder, admiration, and enlivening hopes ; the contemplation of the second produces doubt, distrust, and uncertainty, and fills the mind with gloomy apprehensions. In a word, the one is the work of God, and the other that of man.

In order to present the subject in a clear light, I shall briefly point out some of the leading features of the two governments.

The first, then, is that over which God has the sole control, such as the heavens and the earth, for " He governs in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath." It may be well here to say a few words on His moral government, in the heavens. All we can learn of that is very imperfectly set forth in the Scriptures. It would seem, however, that all was perfect order, for "He spake, and said, Let there be light, and there was light ; and He divided the light from the darkness." " He spake, and the waters were gathered together, and the dry land appeared." And in the creation of the fish, the fowls, the beasts, the creeping things, and man, it was done in the councils of God. The word was, Let us do this, and it was done. It would seem, then, that that government is perfect in its operations, for all the mandates of God are carried out with the greatest exactitude and perfection. God spake, chaos heard, and the world was formed.

We find also that transgression is punished ; when Satan rebelled he was cast out of heaven, and with him those who sinned."

Here, then, in these things consummate wisdom was manifested, and power to carry it out.

The plan of redemption was also made thousands of years ago. Jesus is spoken of by the prophets as being " The Lamb slain from before the creation of the world." The future destiny of this earth is also spoken of by prophecy ; the binding of Satan ; the destruction, and redemption of the world ; its celestial destiny ; its becoming as a sea of glass ; the descent of the new Jerusalem from heaven ; the destruction of iniquity by a power exercised in the heavens, associated with one on the earth; and a time is spoken of where John says — u Every creature which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I saying, Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb for ever and ever." Rev. v. 13. But I shall let this pass for the present, and content myself with saying on this subject, that in the councils of God, in the eternal world, all these things were understood : for if He gave prophets wisdom to testify of these things, they obtained their knowledge from Him, and He could not impart what He did not know ; but " known unto God are all his works, from the beginning of the world." Acts xv. 18. God, then, has a moral government in the heavens, and it is tbe developement of that government that is manifested in the works of creation ; as Paul says, " The invisible things of Him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead." Romans i. 20.

But when we speak of the heavens, we mean also the planetary system ; for the world, and other worlds are governed by principles independent of man. The power that causes this earth to roll on its axis, and regulates the planets in their diurnal and annual motions, is beyond man's control. Their revolutions and spheres are fixed by nature's God, and they are so beautifully arranged, and nicely balanced, that an astronomer can calculate the return of a planet scorces of years beforehand, with the greatest precision and accuracy. And who can contemplate, without admiration, those stupendous worlds, rolling through the immensity of space at such an amazing velocity,

b2 moving regularly in their given spheres without coming into collision, and reflect that they have done so for thousands of years. Our earth has its day and night, summer and winter, and seed time and harvest. Well may the poet say that they —

" Proclaim for ever, as they shine, The hand that made us is divine."

And here let me remark how different is this to the works of man. We see, then, the power of God manifested in their preservation and guidance ; but when we reflect a little further, that while our planetary system rolls in perfect order round the sun, there are other systems which perform their revolutions round their suns ; and the whole of these, our system with its centre, and other systems with their centres, roll round another grand centre : and the whole of those, and innumerable others, equally as great, stupendous, and magnificent, roll round another more great, glorious, and resplendent, till numbers, magnificence, and glory, drown the thought, we are led to exclaim with the prophet, " O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God ! how unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out. !" Romans xi. 33. Without referring again to the motions of our earth, and the beautiful regularity and precision of the whole of this elegant machinery, we will turn our attention a little to the works of creation as found on the earth. The make, construction, and adaptation of each for its proper sphere, are the work of God ; and they are all controlled by His wisdom and power, independent of man. In the conformation of the birds, the beasts, the fishes, the reptiles, the grains, herbs, plants, and trees, we see a striking exemplification of this fact. No matter which way we turn our 'attention, the same order and intelligence are displayed. The fish in their organization are peculiarly adapted to their proper element ; the birds and beasts to theirs ; the amphibious animals to theirs. The nicely organized machinery of their bodies ; their bones, muscles, skins, feathers, scales, or hair ; the formation of their bodies, their manner of living, together with the nature of their food, and their particular adaptation to the various elements and climates which they occupy, are all so many marked evidences of skill, forethought, intelligence and power. We will here notice a few examples. Plunge bird, beast, or man, into the water, and let them remain there, and they will soon die ; take a fish out of the water, and death ensues ; yet all are happy, and move with perfect enjoyment in their proper spheres. Elevate a man, beast, or fish, into the air, and let them fall, and they will be bruised to death ; but the bird, with its wings, light bones, and fragile body, is peculiarly adapted to the ariel element in which it moves, and is perfectly at home ; while the brute creation and men feel as much so on the earth. Again, their habits, food, coatings, or coverings, digestive powers, and the organization of their systems, are all peculiarly adapted to their several situations. The same principle is developed in their arrangement and position on the earth. Those that inhabit a southern climate are peculiarly adapted to that situation ; while those that inhabit a northern are equally fitted for theirs.

Take the reindeer and polar bear to the torrid zone, and they would be out of their proper latitude, and would probably die. Remove the elephant, lion, or tiger, to Iceland or Greenland, and leave them to their own resources, and they would inevitably perish.

"We will notice for a moment the construction of their systems. Each one is possessed with muscular strength, or agility, according to its position, wants, or dangers, and there is a beauty, a symmetry, and a perfection about all God's works, which baffle and defy human intelligence to copy. An artist is considered talented if he can make, after years of toil, a striking likeness of any of tLose things, either on canvas, or in marble. But when he has done, it is only a dead outline ; remove a little paint, or tear the canvas, and its beauty is destroyed; break the arm of a statue, and we see nothing but a mutilated stone. But take a man, for example, and remove the skin, there is still order and beauty ; remove the flesh, there is still workmanship and skill, and the bones, the flesh, the muscles, the arteries and veins, and the nerves, and the lungs, not to forget the exquisite fineness of the sensitive organs, manifesting a skill, a forethought, a wisdom, and a power, as much above that of man as the heavens are above the earth.

"We see the power, wisdom, and government of God, displayed in the amazing strength of some of the largest of the brute creation ; as also in the fineness and delicacy, of the arrangement of the smaller. And while we admire the stupendous power of the elephant, we are equally struck with the fineness, delicacy, and beauty of some of the smaller insects. The prescience, and intelligence of God, are as much manifested in arranging the bones, muscles, arteries, and digestive organs of the smallest animaculse, as in the construction of the horse, rhinoceros, elephant, or whale. I might touch upon the organization of plants, herbs, trees, and fruits ; their various compositions, modes of nourishment, manner of propagating their kind, &c. ; but enough has already been said upon this subject. It is one that no one will dispute upon ; Jew and Gentile, black and white, Christian and Heathen, philosopher and fool, all have one faith on this subject.

I have briefly touched upon it for the purpose of presenting in a clear light the imbecility and weakness of man ; for wherever we turn our attention, we see power, wisdom, prescience, order, forethought, beauty, grandeur and magnificence.

These are the works of God, and shew His skill, workmanship, glory, and intelligence. They reflect His divine power, and shew in unmistakeable characters the wisdom of his government, and the order that prevails in that part of creation over which He has the sole and unlimited control.

We can perceive very clearly that what God has done, is rightly done. It is not governed by instability and disorder, but continues from eternity to eternity to bear the impress of Jehovah.

THE GOVERNMENT OF GOD.

Chapter II. The Government Of Man

We will now turn our attention a little to the government of man, and see how that will compare with the foregoing, for man stands at the head of this beautifid creation ; he is endued with intelligence and capacity for improvement ; he is placed as a moral agent, and has the materials put into his hands to work with, the works of his Father as a pattern, the conduct of many of the inferior creation as an example — and might make the earth a garden, a paradise, a place of uninterrupted happiness and felicity, a heaven below. And if God had not delegated this moral agency and power to man, and thus given him the privilege, in part, of being the arbiter of his own destiny, such it would have been to this day, like the Eden from which he was ejected because of his transgression. For he had everything placed within his power, and was made lord of the creation. The beasts, birds, fish, and fowl, were placed under his control ; the earth yielded plenty for his wants, and abounded in fruits, grain, herbs, flowers and trees, botb to satisfy his hunger, and to please the sight, taste, and smell. The fields waved with plenty, and produced a perennial harvest. The fruits teemed forth in all their luscious varieties to satisfy his most capacious desires. The flowers, in all their gaiety, beauty, and richness, delighted the eye ; while their rich fragrance filled the air with odoriferous perfumes. The feathered tribes, with all their gorgeous plumage and variety of song, both pleased the eye, and enchanted and charmed the ear. The horse, the cow, and other animals, were there to promote his happiness, supply his wants, and make him comfortable and happy. All were under his control, to contribute to his happiness and comfort, supply his most extended desires, and to add to his enjoyment ; but with all these privileges what is his situation ?

With celestial blessings within his reach, he has plunged down to the very verge of hell, and is found in a state of poverty, confusion, and distress. He found the earth an Eden — a paradise ; he has filled it with misery and woe, and has made it comparatively a howling wilderness. And let us not blame Adam alone for this state of things ; for after his ejection from Paradise, the earth was sufficiently fertile to satisfy all the desires of man with moderate industry, and is at the present day, if it were not for the confusion that exists, and if men were properly situated, and its resources developed. But more of this anon.

At present we will examine some of these evils, and then point out their cause, and the remedy.

We find the world split up and divided into different nations, having different interests, and different objects ; with their religious and political views as dissimilar as light and darkness, all the time jealous of each other, and watching each other as so many thieves ; and that man at the present day (and it has been the case for ages), is considered the greatest statesman, who, with legislation or diplomacy, can make the most advantageous arrangement with, or coerce by circumstances, other nations into measures that would be for the benefit of the nation with which he is associated. No matter how injurious it might be to the nation or nations concerned, the measure that would yield his nation an advantage, might plunge another in irremediable misery, while there is no one to act as father and parent of the whole, and God is lost sight of. What is it that the private ambition of man has not done to satisfy his craving desires for the acquisition of territory and wealth, and what is falsely called honor and fame ?

Those private, jarring interests have kept the world in one continual ferment and commotion from the commencement until the present time ; and the history of the world is a history of the rise and fall of nations — of wars, commotions, and bloodshed — of nations depopulated, and cities laid waste. Carnage, destruction, and death, have stalked through the earth, exhibiting their horrible forms in all their cadaverous shapes, as though they were the only rightful possessors. Deadly jealousy, fiendish hate, mortal combat, and dying groans, have filled the earth, and our bulwarks, our chronicles, our histories, all bear testimony to this ; and even our most splendid paintings, engravings, and statuary, are living memorials of bloodshed, carnage, and destruction. Instead of men being honoured who have sought to promote the happiness, peace, and wellbeing of the human family, and greatness concentrating in that, those have been generally esteemed the most who produced the most misery and distress, and were wholesale robbers, ravagers, and murderers.

And from whence come these things? Let the apostle James answer : " From whence come wars and fightings among you 1 Come they not hence, even of your lusts that war in your members ? Ye lust, and have not — ye kill, and desire to have, and cannot obtain : . ye fight and war, yet ye have not, because ye ask not. Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts " James iv. 1 — 3. Here is evidently a lack of that consummate wisdom, that moral and physical control, that parental power which balances the universe, and directs the various planets. For let the same recklessness, selfishness, individuality, and nationality there be manifested, and we should see the wildest confusion.

Man has come in contact with man, morally, physically, religiously, and nationally, from the foundation of the earth. If God's works had done so, what tumult and ruin there would have been in the immensity of space ! Instead of the order that now prevails, man would have been sometimes Irozen to death, and at other times burned up ; one or two seasons of irregularity, even in climate, would depopulate the earth. But what if the planets, irrespective of the power by which they are controlled, were to rush wildly through space, and, with their mighty impetus dash against each other ? What fearful consequences would ensue. There would be " system on system wrecked, and world on world." What terrible destruction and ruin ! We have read of earthquakes destroying countries, of wars depopulating nations — of volcanoes overwhelming cities, and of empires in ruin ; but what would the yawning earthquake, the bellowing volcano, the clang of arms, or a nation's distress, be in comparison to a scene like this ? System would be shattered with s}rstem ; planet madly rush on planet ; worlds, with their inhabitants, would be destroyed, and creations crumble into ruins. There would be truly a

c war of planets, " a wreck of matter and a crash of worlds." These, indeed, would be fearful results, and shew plainly the distinction between the beautiful oi-der of God's work, and the confusion and disorder of man's. God's work is perfect — man's imperfect. The one is the government of God, and the other that of man.

We notice the same mismanagement in the arrangement of cities and nations. We have large cities containing immense numbers of human beings, pent up, as it were in one great prison-house, inhaling a foetid, unwholesome atmosphere, impregnated with a thousand deadly poisons ; millions of whom, in damp cellars, lonely garrets, and pent up corners, drag out a miserable existence, and their wan faces, haggard countenances, and looks, tell but too plainly the tale of their misery and wretchedness. A degenerate, sickly, puny race tread in their steps, inheriting their fathers' misery and distress.

If we notice the situation of the nations of Europe at the present time, we see the land burthened with an overplus population, and groaning beneath its inhabitants, while the greatest industry, perseverance, economy, and care, do not suffice to provide for the craving wants of nature. And so fearfully does this prevail in many parts, that parents are afraid to fulfil the first great law of God, " Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth ;" and by desperate circumstances are almost forced to the unnatural wish of not propagating their species ; while, corrupted with a correspondent depravity with that which reigns among nations, they are found using suicidal measures to prevent an otherwise numerous progeny from increasing their father's misery, and inheriting his misfortunes. And yet, while this is the case, there are immense districts of rich soil, covering millions of square miles, inhabited only by a few untutored savages, or the wild beast of the forest ; and such is the infatuation of man that in many districts of country, which were once the seats of the most powerful empires, and where flourished the mightiest nations, there is nothing but desolation and wildness. Such are Nineveh and Babylon, on the Asiatic Continent ; and Otolum, and many others discovered by Stephens and Catherwood, in Central America ; and recently discovered ruins — unequalled in the old world — a little above the head of the California Gulf. Not only their cities, but their lands are desolate, deserted, and forsaken, and the same evils that once existed there are transferred to another soil, all bespeaking plainly that we want a great, governing, ruling principle to regulate the affairs of the world, and assist poor, feeble, erring humanity.

Again, if we examine some of the details of these evils, we shall see more clearly the importance and necessity of a change. Nearly onethird, speaking in general terms, of the inhabitants of the earth are engaged in a calling that would be entirely useless if the world were set right.

If men and nations, instead of being governed by their unruly passions, covetous desires, and ambitious motives, were governed by the pure principles of philanthropy, virtue, purity, justice, and honor, and were under the guidance of a fatherly and intelligent head, directed by that wisdom which governs the universe, and regulates the motions of the planetary systems, there would be no need of so many armies, navies, and police regulations, which are now necessary for the protection of those several nations from the aggressions of each other, and internal factions. Let any one examine the position of Europe alone, and he will find this statement abundantly verified. Look at the armies and navies of France and England ; and the confusion of Germany, also of Austria, Turkey, Russia and Spain, not to mention many of the smaller nations, and let their armies, their navies, and police be gathered together, and what an abundant host of persons there would be. They would be sufficient to make one of the largest nations in the world ! And what are they doing ? To use the mildest term, watching each other, as a person would watch a thief for fear of being imposed upon, and robbed, or killed ; but generally strolling around as the world's banditti, robbing, plundering, and committing aggressions upon each other ; and if they have peace, acquiring it by the sword ; and if prevented from aggression and war, it is generally, not that they are governed by just, or virtuous principles, but because they are afraid that aggression might lead to combinations against them which would result in their overthrow and ruin.

In the city of Paris alone, at the present time, and its immediate environs, there are one hundred thousand soldiers, besides police to a very great number, not to mention the vast number of custom-house officers and others. Suppose we add to these their families, where they have any, and where they have not, notice the vast amount of prostitution, misery, degradation, and infamy, that such an unnatural state of things produces. I give the above as an example of the whole, but here the navies are not included. I say again, What are these all doing 1 They do not raise corn to supply the wants of men, nor are they occupied in any useful avocation ; but they must live, and their wants must be supplied by the products of the labour of others. There has to be an immense amount of legislation for the accomplishment of this thing, and instead of having one government of righteousness and the world obeying, we have scores of governments, all hav ing to be sustained in regal pomp, to be equal to their neighbouring nations ; and all this magnificence and national pride having to be supported by the labour of the people. Again, all these legislatures have to provide immense hosts of men, in the shape of custom-house, excise, and police officers, to carry out their designs, all of whom, and their families, help to increase the burden, till it becomes insupportable. That, together with the unnatural state of society, before referred to, in regard to the situation of the inhabitants of cities and the nations, plunges millions of the human family into a state of hopeless destitution, misery, and ruin, for they are groaning under all these hopeless burdens without having sufficient land to till to meet their demands, and as natural means fail they are obliged to have recourse to those that are unnatural. Hence, in England a great majority of the inhabitants are made slaves of, virtually to supply the wants of the greatest part of the world, and are forced to be their labourers. Thousands of them are immured in immense factories, little less than prisons, groaning under a wearisome, sickening, unhealthy labour; deprived of free, wholesome air; weak and emaciated, not having a sufficiency of the necessaries of life. Thousands more from morning till night are immured in pits, shut out from the light of day, the carol of the birds, and the beauty of nature, sickly and weak, in many instances for want of food ; and yet, in the midst of their wretchedness, gloom, and misery, you will sometimes hear them trying to sing in their dungeons and prison-houses, in broken, dying accents,

" Britons never shall be slaves."

I will here give, as one example, an iron works that I visited lately in Wales. One of the proprietors informed me that they employed fifteen thousand persons, and paid them £5,000 per week. Most of these people laboured under ground, in the pits, digging for iron ore and coal ; the remainder were employed principally about the furnaces, in rolling the iron, &c, at heavy, laborious, fatiguing work. And who were they toiling for ? Principally for the Americans and Russians, at that time, to furnish them with railroad iron. And what did they get for their labour 1 The riches of those countries 1 No. £5,000 a week among about fifteen thousand persons. I suppose, however, a number of these were boys and girls. The average wages of men was from ten to twelve shillings per week. And this is their pay for that labour ; and yet the masters are not to be blamed, that I can learn, for they are forced by competition to this state of things, and by the unnatural, artificial state of society. If they did not do this their workmen must be out of employ, and ten times worse off, if that were possible, than they are now. In the State of Pennsylvania, in America, where the railroads run through coal and iron mines both, they leave them untouched, and come to England for iron to make the rails of, that they cannot afford to make at home, because of higher wages, and an outlet to society, which prevents them from being coerced into bondage. If the world was right, the labour would be done there, and not here, and the labour of carriage saved.