Discourse 1889-02-24 [D-170]

PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF

was the next speaker. He said: I feel that I want to say to you, my brethren and sisters, God bless you. And I feel to bless you. I am thankful that I have the privilege of spending a few moments here and bearing my testimony to the Church and Kingdom of God here on earth, backing up the testimony of Brother Cannon.

The God of heaven has set His hand to carry out one of His purposes concerning the history of this world and its inhabitants. In the formation and creation of the world the Lord had before Him the whole history of the children of God, of the inhabitants of the earth. All men who have been readers and are acquainted with the revelations of God in those records that have been handed down to us, can clearly see that if God has had a people on the earth, He has given unto that people the Holy Priesthood, the revelations of heaven, and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We read in the Revelations of St. John and other portions of the Scriptures, that in the last days the God of heaven would set His hand to establish His kingdom to be thrown down no more forever. [##Revelation 11:15##] [##Daniel 2:44##] You and I have lived to see that day. The Lord has set His hand to call forth the children of men to receive His Gospel and His Priesthood. There is this one peculiar principles connected with the Kingdom of God in every age of the world, and that is, every man and woman is dependent upon God Himself for all the blessings and all the power that they possess to carry out His purposes. There is no change of the Priesthood from eternity unto eternity. It has dwelt with the God of Israel from eternity unto eternity, and will remain unchangeable. There is no change in the ordinances of the Gospel of life and salvation. There never has been; there never will be to the endless ages of eternity. And whenever that Gospel has been offered to the sons of men, the Holy Priesthood has had to be sent down to aid in carrying out God's work. There is no man who ever breathed the breath of life since God made the world who has had power to go forth and administer in the ordinances of the Gospel of Christ without that Priesthood.

Another thing I wish to say: Almost sixty years have passed since the Church was organized here on the earth, and the Lord has carried out one peculiar principle, and that is this—He has chosen the weak things of the world to confound the wise, and things which are not to bring to pass things which are. You may begin with the creation of the world. You may take all the servants of the Almighty that the God of Israel has ever made use of in any age of the world to carry out His work, and they have been the weak sons of Adam; they have been the weak instruments, from a worldly standpoint, in the hands of Almighty God. Why has the Lord chosen that class of men? Because they have been in a position that they were obliged to acknowledge the hand of God in all the power they possessed. Take our own day. Brother Cannon has referred to this people, to this Church and Kingdom. He has told you the truth. When the time came, in fulfillment of the revelations of St. John and the ancient patriarchs and prophets, for Him to establish His Kingdom on the earth, He raised up a class of men suitable for the purpose. I will here say, the Lord has never undertaken to perform any work, in any dispensation or generation, without preparing a people for it. The Lord raised up a young man —Joseph Smith. His spirit was kept in the eternal world for six thousand years, to come forth by appointment, through the loins of ancient Joseph and Ephraim, to stand in the flesh and to establish this Church and Kingdom. And he only lived long enough to perform it. He only lived long enough to bring forth the record of the Book of Mormon,—the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim, and put it with the stick of Judah, in fulfillment of the revelations of God; and then go forth and organize the Church, with all the instruments, all the knowledge, that all the divines throughout the world did not have power to do, neither did they know how to perform that work. [##Ezekiel 37:15-20##] He was the first man in the last days that ever organ[i]zed a church upon the foundation of Apostles and Prophets, Christ Jesus being the chief corner stone, according to the order as it was in the days of the Savior. And when He established this work, he established it with prophets, with apostles, with pastors, with teachers, with gifts, with helps, with graces, with the Holy Priesthood, with the power of God, and with the ordinances thereof. It is true, he waded in deep water. It is true that he was sacrificed. When he had got the foundation of this work laid, he himself laid down his life. He was martyred in a Christian country for the work of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. He was martyred for his religion. He sealed his testimony with his blood, as Jesus and other patriarchs and prophets sealed the dispensations in which they lived.

From that day until now, this Church and Kingdom has continued to grow and increase. It mattered not what amount of persecution, what amount of affliction, what amount of opposition we had to meet with. That God who created the heavens and the earth holds this Church and Kingdom on His hands. And I here say to my brethren and sisters, the Church and Kingdom of God is here. It has come to stay. It has been organized to stay; and that God who has organized it will sustain it until the scene is wound up.

I have been reflecting since sitting in the stand here, where are our brethern to whom we have listened for years and years? Where is President Young? Where is Brother Kimball? Where are Orson and Parley Pratt? Where is George A. Smith? Where is President John Taylor? And where are all those other Apostles who have passed away? They are in the spirit world, mingling with the Gods, connected with all the patriarchs and prophets who have ever lived on the earth. You may ask the question: Why is it, then, that God, with the Savior, with Father Adam, with Noah, with Enoch, with the ancient patriarchs and prophets, and with all the Apostles who have lived in this day and generation, counseling together on the other side of the vail, do not have power to turn away this persecution that Brother Cannon has been speaking of? Jesus told His disciples that if he were to pray to the Father, He would give Him a legion of angels who would come to defend Him; but, He said, the will of the Father would not in that way be fulfilled. So I say to you. If many things that we might desire in our hearts should be fulfilled, the work of the Lord would fail in being consummated. We should remember that this generation, like all other generations, have their own agency. The nation in the midst of which we dwell today has its agency. The nations of the earth all have their agency. All sects and parties have; in fact, all the human family. And the God of heaven will hold them responsible. He will hold us responsible, according to the course we pursue. If we work and fight against God and the Kingdom of God, we have got to meet that in days to come.

Brother Cannon has referred to the situation of men who have fought against this work. Yes, brethren and sisters, we have seen this from the organization of the Church; we shall see it until the scene is wound up. But I want to tell you one thing, and that is, the God of heaven has not gone to sleep; neither has He gone on a long journey; nor has He forgotten His people. Does He intend to withdraw His hand? "Leave judgment with me; it is mine, saith the Lord; I will repay." [##Romans 12:19##] It is our business to leave judgment with the Lord in all these matters. Let us do our duty.

Joseph Smith said fifty years ago last June, in speaking of the Priesthood—you can read it in the history of the Church—"Men profess to prophesy. I will also prophesy. I say, in the name of the Lord, that the signs of the coming of the Son of Man have already commenced in the earth, and from this time henceforth will the judgments of God be manifest among the nations of the earth. Wars, bloodshed, earthquakes, storms, thunder, lightning, pestilence, famine and the judgments of God will follow in their turn; and when these things go forth upon the earth, they will never be returned or withheld until the work of God is wound up." Let Israel read, let the inhabitants of the earth read, with regard to the signs of the times, and what do you see? There are a great many things manifested that the world do not acknowledge the hand of God in; but we do and we should. Therefore I would say to the Latter-day Saints, it is the will of God that you should not be discouraged; that you

should have faith in the revelations of heaven and in those records that have been left for us and our guidance. Remember your brethren before the Lord. Be true and faithful unto this Church and Kingdom of God. It has been organized and established by the power of God, and not of man. [##Doctrine and Covenants 5:25##] How did Joseph Smith have power, as I have before said, to organize the Church as it has been organized— the best organization on the face of the earth? It is because it was organized by revelation. How did these hundreds and thousands of Elders of Israel, many of whom are here to-day, have power to go abroad, without purse and scrip, and preach the Gospel to the convincing of the sons and daughters of Adam? It has been done by the power of God. No Elder in this Church has had power to go forth and do the will of God only by the power of God. If we have any power, it is of God, and we should trust Him with regard to all things.

Brethren and sisters, do not be discouraged. The Kingdom of God is established here in these valleys of the everlasting hills. These are the valleys and these are the mountains given by our father Jacob to his son Joseph—the utmost bounds of the everlasting hills, promised unto Joseph, who was separated from his brethren, and whose sons and daughters ye are. Let us be faithful. Let us try to do our duty. Let us endeavor to honor God. We have a long eternity before us. We have a great future before us. Zion will arise and shine, and the glory of God will rest upon her. Israel will be gathered, Jerusalem will be rebuilt, Zion be established and thrown down no more forever. These things are in the record of divine truth. Not one of them will ever fail of fulfillment. They were given by revelation. No matter what the feelings of our enemies may be. No matter what the feeling may be of those who differ in principle from us. They have the right to their own religion, and we have no right to disturb them. But if they war against God, against His Zion, against His people, they have got to pay the bill, the same as we have for the deeds done in the body. This nation will be held responsible for the course they have pursued towards the Zion of God. It has always been to me one of the strongest evidences—and it should be to all Latter-day Saints, if not to the world—the fact that all earth and hell, if I may be allowed to use such an expression, have been combined against this Church from the day that Joseph Smith brought forth the Book of Mormon and organized this Church with six members. Why is this? Would this opposition have been if it were not the Kingdom of God? It would not. For that reason the powers of darkness are stirred up. Darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people. [##Doctrine and Covenants 112:23##] The judgments of God are in the land, and the day will come when the nations will learn and understand that there is a God in Israel.

I bear my record and my testimony that this is the work of God. The Lord has called us here; and we should not forget Him. We should not forget our prayers. Go before the Lord and make our wants known, and He will hear our prayers and sustain us in carrying out this work until the scene is wound up.

I pray God to bless you and clothe you with the Spirit of God. What a responsibility it is to hold this heavenly, this eternal, this everlasting Priesthood? And we shall have to give an account of it. Apostles, Seventies, High Priests, Elders, and all men who bear any portion of this Priesthood that has been given unto us, will be held responsible for it until our spirits return unto God who gave them.

I marvel sometimes, when I reflect, why I am alive. I was going to say that there is not a man living, scarcely, that I was acquainted with in Kirtland. A whole quorum of Apostles has been taken into the spirit world. But for some reason the Lord has preserved my life until the present day. And I sincerely desire, in the remaining days I have to spend here, that I may do what little good I can. I wish to magnify my calling. I wish to do my duty. I wish to know the mind and will of God, and try to do it. I pray not only that these blessings may be given to me, but to all the Elders of Israel and the Latter-day Saints, which may God grant, for Christ's sake. Amen.