Discourse 1887-04-07 [D-943]

THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR.

FEAR NOT, LITTLE FLOCK; FOR IT IS YOUR FATHER'S GOOD PLEASURE TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM."—##Luke 12:32|Luke xii, 32##.

No. 22, Vol. LI. Monday, June 3, 1889. Price One Penny.

DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, SALT LAKE CITY, ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, APRIL 7, 1887.

(Reported by Arthur Winter.)

WHILE the Sacrament is being passed to this congregation, I will try to make a few remarks; but whether or not I shall be heard by this assembly I cannot say.

If after the scene we have passed through during the last hour any man can answer his mind and satisfy himself before an assembly of this kind to occupy the position that I do, unless he is assisted by the God of Israel, he is made of different material to what I am. That which we have had before us this afternoon is a testimony to heaven and earth that what has been presented here could not have been witnessed in the midst of any other people on the face of the earth, unless that people were the children of God. Here we have had ten thousand men and women lift up their hands in a vote to sustain not only the Presidency of the Church and the Twelve Apostles, but other men in their various positions, and without a dissenting vote. Where on the earth can a scene of this kind be seen except among the Latter-day Saints?

I feel it my privilege, right and duty to now make a few remarks with regard to myself and the dealings of God with me. But before doing that I will say that the Lord has never set His hand, in any age of the world, to perform a work among the sons of Adam, but He has prepared an element for that work. You will see this in the whole history of His dealings with the human family. It is so in the generation in which we live. The God of heaven, having set His hand to carry out His great purposes and decrees, which have been revealed in the records of Divine truth, has been under the necessity of preparing a people to take hold of and to perform the work which He has decreed should come to pass. Ten thousand of that people are before me to-day, with tens of thousands throughout the land.

With regard to myself, I will say that in my early youth, while reading the Bible—the record of Judah, and the New Testament—I read of Jesus Christ, of His Apostles, their works, and the dealings of God with them, and of the doctrines which they received and taught to those around them. There was something glorious in those principles which the Savior of the world and His disciples taught in their day. I had a great desire in my boyhood and youth that I might live to behold a people who were inspired of the Almighty, and who had power and authority to go forth and teach those principles which I read of within the lids of the Bible. At that time I could not hear them taught. They were not taught by any person within my knowledge. But, as I have said, I had a longing desire that I might live to behold a people on the earth who would teach these principles to me. I spent many a midnight hour in my mill, and among the rocks, in the forests and in the fields, in pouring out my soul to God and praying that I might live to behold a people on the earth who would teach these principles. In answer to my prayers, the God of heaven promised me that I should live to find such a people. He promised me that I should have a name and a place within the House of God and among His people—a name that should not be cut off. I am strongly impressed to-day, in reflecting upon our history and the history of myself, and the position which I occupy, with the promises of God to me in those early days. They have been fulfilled, and this day has crowned the pinnacle of the responsibility which is placed upon my head. I marvel when I contemplate these things, which are in fulfillment of the promises of God unto me. And when I say this of myself, I speak of hundreds of the Elders of Israel who have been moved upon in the same manner that I have been. Those with whom I stood connected in the early period of the Church—the Prophet Joseph Smith, Hyrum Smith, and those men that laid the foundation of this Church and kingdom, together with other prophets and patriarchs—have passed away. They are on the other side of the veil. I still have the privilege of remaining, and I this day have been called to this responsibility in the midst of my brethren—a responsibility that no man can fill unless he is inspired of God.

But I will say this to my brethren and sisters, in the name of Israel's God: The Almighty will never permit me, nor any other President who holds the keys of the kingdom of God, to lead you astray. If I do not walk in the paths of righteousness and do what is right in the position that I occupy, He will remove me out of my place, or any other man who attempts to lead the people astray. The position which I occupy, and that occupied by my brethren the Apostles, should not have a tendency, if we have the Spirit of God, to make us lifted up or exalted in our spirits before the Lord. I know, as the God of Israel lives, that I have no power, nor have I had, in this Church, to perform any work pertaining to this kingdom, until it has been given unto me by the God of heaven. I know Joseph Smith had not, nor Brigham Young, nor John Taylor, nor any Apostle or Elder in this Church and kingdom. And the moment that I attempt to become lifted up in the pride of my heart, because of any position that I hold, that moment I become a very unwise man. So with anyone else. The higher our position the more our responsibility. During the little time I may spend here in the flesh, I stand in need of the prayers of the Latter-day Saints—of those who have faith in God. So do my brethren that surround me. So do all the authorities of the Church. We all stand in need of the Holy Ghost and the power of God. Without this we are not qualified to fill the positions which we are called to occupy.

I know that this is the work of God. So do all you who have ever had the testimony of the Holy Ghost with you. The God of heaven has set His hand to establish His kingdom, in fulfillment of the revelations of heaven which He has inspired men to declare and put on record from

generation to generation. His hand has been manifest from the beginning of the work until the present day. It will be until this scene is wound up. I have a great desire that, as a people, we may be united in heart; that we may have faith in the revelations of God, and look to those things which have been promised unto us. We should be humble before the Lord. Trace the history of Jesus Christ, the Savior of the world, from the manger to the cross, onward through sufferings, mingled with blood, to the throne of grace, and there is an ensample for the Elders of Israel, an ensample for all those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ. In meekness and lowliness of heart He labored faithfully, while He dwelt in the flesh, to carry out the will of His Father. God has laid upon our shoulders and has sealed upon our heads the holy and eternal priesthood, which is from eternity unto eternity. Without that priesthood we have no power to administer in the ordinances of the Gospel of Christ, either for the living or the dead. But with that priesthood we have power to perform the work that is assigned unto us. By that priesthood we have preached the Gospel, we have administered in the ordinances of the House of the Lord, and we have gathered together the sons and daughters of Zion into these valleys of the mountains.

I feel as though I want to bear my testimony to the truth of this good old book, the Bible, for a few minutes —the book that all the Christian world profess to believe in. There is an effort made to-day by the infidel and unbelieving world to ridicule the Bible, as not being the word of the Lord. I will refer to a few things that have been manifested in fulfillment of the record. To commence with, I will touch upon the first dealings of God with man. The first son that was begotten by Father Adam, whose name was Cain, proved to be a murderer. He slew his brother Abel, who held the priesthood, and the Lord pronounced a curse upon him. He showed Cain the position he was in, and told him what the result of his crime would be; and Cain said unto the Lord:

"My punishment is greater than I can bear.

"Behold, Thou hast driven me out this day from the face of the earth; and from thy face shall I be hid; and I shall be a fugitive and a vagabond in the earth; and it shall come to pass that every one that findeth me shall slay me."

But the Lord said unto him:

"Therefore, whosoever slayeth Cain, vengeance shall be taken on him sevenfold. And the Lord set a mark upon Cain, lest any finding him should kill him." [##Genesis 4:13-15##]

What was that mark? It was a mark of blackness. That mark rested upon Cain, and descended upon his posterity from that time until the present. To day there are millions of the descendants of Cain, through the lineage of Ham, in the world, and that mark of darkness still rests upon them. Though nearly six thousand years have passed and gone, this mark is visible to the whole human family. Yet the fool and the infidel say there is no God, and they ridicule the Bible.

The Lamanites, on this continent, suffered a similar experience. They went to war against the Nephites; they thirsted for blood, and they painted themselves red, and the Lord put a curse of redness upon them. Hundreds of years have passed since then, but wherever you meet the Lamanites to-day, you see that mark upon them.

-[TO BE CONTINUED.]-

THE LATTER-DAY SAINTS' MILLENNIAL STAR.

"FEAR NOT, LITTLE FLOCK; FOR IT IS YOUR FATHER'S GOOD PLEASURE TO GIVE YOU THE KINGDOM."—##Luke 12:32|Luke xii, 32.##

No. 23, Vol. LI. Monday, June 10, 1889. Price One Penny.

DISCOURSE

DELIVERED BY PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF AT THE GENERAL CONFERENCE, SALT LAKE CITY, ON SUNDAY AFTERNOON, APRIL 7, 1887.

(Reported by Arthur Winter.)

-[CONCLUDED FROM PAGE 339.]-

Read the history of ancient nations and the dealings of God with them, as contained in the Bible and other historical works. When those ancient kingdoms and peoples became wicked and corrupt, when they turned away from all that was virtuous and holy, the Lord raised up prophets to warn them; and these prophets, though perhaps unpopular in the eyes of those with whom they dwelt, warned these nations and cities of the judgments that would overtake them. What followed the warnings of these prophets? Read of the fall of the mighty cities of Thebes, Nineveh, Memphis, Tyre and Sidon, Babylon the Great, and Jerusalem itself. All these great and mighty cities and nations were warned by the servants of God of the judgments that would overtake them. Did the inhabitants of those cities believe the words of the prophets? They did not. But did those words come to pass? They did; and those cities were laid waste and their inhabitants destroyed. Thus the words of the prophets and inspired men were fulfilled to the very letter, not one jot or tittle failing unfulfilled. And yet the infidel says there is no God. These same prophets and patriarchs also saw, by vision and revelation, our day; they pointed out the generation in which we live, and they all declared that, in the latter days, the God of heaven would set His hand to gather together His people and establish His kingdom. The Revelator St. John also declared what should come to pass in the latter days. In the ##Revelation 14:1|14th chapter of Revelations## he says:

"And I looked, and lo, a Lamb stood on the Mount Zion, and with Him an hundred forty and four thousand, having His Father's name written in their foreheads."

These one hundred and forty-four thousand were sealed out of all the

twelve tribes of Israel, because they were righteous in the latter days.

Following this, John says:

"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people,

"Saying with a loud voice, Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come." [##Revelation 14:6-7##]

Again, John says:

"Again there followed another angel, saying, Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication." [##Revelation 14:8##]

Following this, he speaks of the reaping down of the earth and of the judgments of God which were to come upon the inhabitants thereof.

In fulfillment of the declaration of St. John, the angel of God has flown through the midst of heaven. He has delivered the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the inhabitants of the earth, and revealed unto them the word of the Lord. The Holy Priesthood has also been restord. This Gospel was to be preached "to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people." It has now been preached almost sixty years —from the organization of the Church until to-day; and in fulfillment of the revelations of these inspired Prophets and Apostles, a multitude of people are to-day gathered together in these valleys of the mountains. In fulfillment of those revelations I stand today in this Tabernacle, which the Prophet saw was to be built upon the tops of the mountains, as a covering from the heat and the storm. In this Tabernacle to-day, also, are ten thousand Latter-day Saints, which is a witness to Jew and Gentile of the fulfillment of the promises of God. Yet the infidel says, "Behold, there is no God." The man who says there is no God is a fool. We are here in fulfillment of prophecy and revelation. We have received the Gospel of Christ. The kingdom of God has been organized. It is rolling on; and it will continue to roll on until this scene is wound up.

Now, I want to give a little exhortation to my brethren. Brother Geo. Q. Cannon touched upon a very important principle this forenoon—a principle which has often rested upon my mind; that is, with regard to the spirits that surround us. He said that one-third of the hosts of heaven were cast out because of their rebellion. I suppose we may say that at least one hundred thousand millions were cast down from heaven to earth. Where are they? Some are in Salt Lake, some in New York, some in Amsterdam, some in Constantinople, some in Jerusalem; in fact, they are in every city and hamlet wherein the inhabitants of the earth dwell, and especially where there are any Latter-day Saints. And whether there are one hundred or not to every man, woman, and child, there are enough of them, at least, to labor for our overthrow. I say to my Counselors, to the Apostles, to the Seventies, the High Priests, the Bishops, and all men who bear the Holy Priesthood, do you suppose these devils are around us without trying to do something? Are they asleep? Have they not a work to perform? I say to my brethren who bear the Priesthood, we have got a mighty warfare to wage with these spirits. We cannot escape it. What will they do to you? They will try to make us do anything and everything that is not right. These devils would be very glad to make me and my brethren think we are great men, smarter than anyone else; to divide us one against the other, and to cause us to seek to confess our brother's sins instead of our own. We should, therefore, watch ourselves well. I should do this; my Counselors and the Apostles should; we all should. And unless we are united together, as has been said before, we are not the Lord's. But to-day we have certainly manifested a union here that the world is not acquainted with. We have, however, a mighty responsibility resting upon us. The eyes of all the heavenly hosts are upon us. The eyes of Father Adam, and the patriarchs and the prophets, both ancient and modern, who have gone to the other side of the veil, are over us. And if our eyes are open to comprehend the things of God, we can comprehend our responsibilities;