. . . I thought I would speak upon
the principle of becoming a God—is simply to be in possession of a kingdom and
that makes him an Almighty man to that kingdom as Joseph said it is written in
your scriptures “to whom the word of God came—they were God”—when a man is in
possession of the principles of revelation, who obtains knowledge more than any
other being—it actually make a God of him—if you go to the heathen nations and
find a man who has knowledge more than any one else—he is a God to them—there are
a many Gods and when we get through from chief to chief of them—we shall find
there is one who is head of all—there are lords many and gods many but to us
there is but one God—and that tabernacle can be but in one place at once, but
the intelligence that fills that body can fill the immensity of space—Jesus was
but in one place at a time—the character of God is the influence that is bestowed
upon his subjects, and this is the Almighty God—if I had the influence. I could
rule all the people as an Almighty being—our Savior can come and rule as king
of nations as he now is king of saints—we are approximating to that very rapidly—unless
we learn the lesson to serve God in prosperity, we shall be whipped, and you
may make up your mind to that . . . (The Complete Discourses of Brigham Young,
ed. Richard S. Van Wagoner, 4 vols. [Salt Lake City: The Smith-Pettit
Foundation, 2009], 1:180)
