Discourse 1889-10-06 [D-158]

DISCOURSE

Delivered by President Wilford Woodruff, at the General Conference, Sunday after noon, Oct. 6. 1889.

The following passage from the ##Doctrine and Covenants 68:1-5|sixty-eighth section## of the Doctrine and Covenants was read by President George Q. Cannon:

My servant, Orson Hyde, was called by his ordinance to proclaim the everlasting gospel, by the Spirit of the living God, from people to people, and from land to land, in the congregation of the wicked, in their synagogues, reasoning with, and expounding all Scriptures unto them.

And behold, and lo, this is an ensample unto all those who were ordained unto this Priesthood, whose mission is appointed unto them to go forth;

And this is an ensample unto them, that they shall speak as they are moved upon by the Holy Ghost,

And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation:

Behold this is the promise of the Lord unto you, O ye my servants.

President Woodruff then said: I have traveled over one hundred and fifty thousand miles preaching the Gospel to large and small congregations, to saints and to sinners; and I have never yet seen the day, on arising to my feet, that I have known what I was going to say to the people. And this is the case with the Elders generally in their ministrations. You who have attended the meetings of this Conference perceived that we called upon brethren from the right and left to speak to us; and if you have any discernment you certainly can testify that they spoke by the Spirit and power of God.

I have attended Conferences during my whole life, in company with the Prophet Joseph, Oliver Cowdery, the witnesses of the Book of Mormon, with the first Twelve Apostles, all of whom are in the spirit world, mingling with the Gods; and I have never attended a Conference when I have felt better and been more edified in listening to the remarks of the same number of men, than at this Conference. The Elders have spoken by inspiration, and they have declared unto us eternal truths. As I said last night at our Priesthood meeting so I would remark here, no man that God ever made, beginning with Father Adam down through the history of the world, that has ever been called to build up the Kingdom of God, and preach the Gospel, has been able to perform that work only by the Power of the Holy Ghost; neither can any man do it today. We are all dependent upon the Holy Ghost. And what is the Holy Ghost? The testimony of the Father and the Son. It is one of the God-head—God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost. Will the Holy Ghost deceive any man? It will not. When a man speaks as he is moved upon by the Holy Ghost, it is the spirit of inspiration; it is the word of God; it is the will of God. It cannot lie; it cannot deceive. It leads into all truth and reveals to man the will of his Maker.

Jesus instructed His disciples to take no thought what they should eat, or what they should drink. They were traveling without purse or scrip, as many of us have done in our time. The Lord knew they would have need of something to eat; and He knew that somebody would be raised up to supply their wants. He also instructed them to take no thought what they should say when having to appear before magistrates and rulers; for the same should be given them the hour it was needed.

This is the condition of the Latter-day Saints. The Apostle has said, "He hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty; . . . and things which are not, to bring to nought things which are." [##1 Corinthians 1:27-28##] This has been the case in the dealings of God with man of all ages; and it certainly is the case in this our day.

When I look upon the ten thousand faces of Latter-day Saints before me the present time; and when I contemplate what God hath wrought in establishing this people in the midst of these mountain valleys; and when I bring myself face to face with the wonderful age we live in, and sense the mighty responsibilities that rest upon us, as watchmen upon the walls of Zion, and as watchmen to this generation—when I contemplate these things, if any man under heaven feels his weakness, it is Wilford Woodruff. And in saying this of myself, I know I am expressing the feelings of my brethren associated with me in reference to themselves, as Counselors, as well as the sentiments of the Twelve respecting themselves, and those of every Elder of Israel who appreciates his calling in Christ Jesus.

We have been called from the plow, the plane and the anvil, and the various avocations of life; and without preparation the Elders of this Church are sent forth, by command of Almighty God, to preach to and warn the nations of the earth. Joseph Smith has been referred to by some of the speakers, and their testimony of him is true. A greater prophet than he, excepting Jesus Christ, I do not believe ever lived. In saying this I give it as my own personal views. I don't believe God ever raised up a greater prophet, save Jesus himself. The dispensation he was called to usher in is the greatest ever given to man; and it required just such a man to stand at the head of it—a man who was true to God and his brethren; who was a seer and revelator, and whose faith in God was such that he never wavered or doubted, but persevered himself and encouraged others to move forward in the great work before them. The world called him illiterate and ignorant. However they might regard him, our testimony of him is that he was taught of God Himself and of the angels who visited him; and that he fulfilled certain revelations and predictions referring to this age, as contained in the Bible and other records of Divine truth. And, as has been stated during this Conference, he brought forth the Book of Mormon—the stick of Joseph in the hands of Ephraim—in fulfilment of the testimony of Isaiah, translating that record through the Urim and Thummim, thereby revealing to us the history of the early inhabitants of this Continent. That book informs us that two distinct nations inhabited this land, the founders of both of which were brought here by the power of God from the eastern continent, the first, known afterwards as the Jaredites, tracing their origin to the tower of Babel. They

flourished and became a mighty people; but they turned from the right way of the Lord, and when they had ripened in iniquity they, like other nations of the earth, were finally destroyed by the judgments of God. The other nation was known as Nephites and Lamanites, being named after the sons of Lehi, the head of the family who, by command of God, left their native land, Jerusalem, some four hundred years before Christ, and traveled by land, and in ships of their own construction, crossed the great waters, and came to this land. They dwelt here for hundreds of years, and also became a great and mighty people, an outline of whose history is recorded in that book. The interesting mission of the Savior to the people of this continent is also recorded here; the establishing of the Church among the believing Nephites, and their labors in the work of perfection. And I may say the remains of some of the cities built by these peoples have been discovered and written about by such men as Stephens and Catherwood and others; and doubtless much remains yet to come to light in corroboration of the testimony of this divine record.

The Prophet Joseph not only performed this work, but organized the Church with prophets and apostles, elders, priests, teachers and deacons, as it was organized in the days of Jesus and His Apostles. And there is a feature connected with the Church as it exists today that is peculiar from all other dispensations that we have any account of; that is, nearly the whole body of its male members have received some portion of the Priesthood, until we have today in these mountains some twenty thousand men bearing either the Priesthood after the order of Aaron or Melchisedek. There is a reason for this. There never has been a time in all the dispensations of God to man, when there has been so much need for the labors of the servants of God as in this our day; and the Lord, therefore, has called a great number of men to bear the Priesthood, and directed them to go unto all nations, tongues and peoples, as He showed John the Revelater He would do in the last days, as recorded in the ##Revelation 14|14th chapter of the book of Revelations##. And in fulfilment thereof we have not only gone forth to the nations proclaiming this Gospel revealed to man by the angel of God, but in further obedience to the divine command, have come out from Babylon, until we number some two hundred thousand gathered here. And by what power have we come here? And why did you leave the States of this nation, England, Scotland, Ireand, Wales, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Austria, Germany and other nations? You heard the Elders. They told you they had been sent by God and that they had the fulness of the Gospel to offer to man, and they explained to you the principles thereof. They told you there was but one Gospel, and that God had never revealed but the one, the Gospel that Paul referred to when he said, "Though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." [##Galatians 1:8##] You believed and obeyed, and gathered with the Saints. And what was it these Elders taught you? It was that you must have faith in Jesus Christ, the Son of God; that you must repent of your sins and be baptized by immersion for remission of the same, and then have hands laid upon your head for the reception of the Holy Ghost. And this Comforter, this Holy Spirit, you received, and it bore witness unto you that you had indeed been initiated into the Church of Christ. And if I were to call upon this congregation of Latterday Saints today, and ask every man and woman who thus heard and obeyed, and who did receive this testimony for themselves, to rise to their feet, how many do you think would remain seated? Not many, if any. The fact that you are thus gathered here, and that you have these many years remained faithful to the cause you espoused, is evidence that you did receive and are still in possession of this testimony. And I would say, if there are present today any strangers who are not acquainted with the principles of our religion, let them gaze upon this congregation of over ten thousand faces; let them travel through the settlements of the Saints north and south, and contemplate the work that has been accomplished in redeeming the earth and making it habitable, and then let them ask themselves the question, are not these people in earnest? Are they not sincere? Are they deceivers, these missionary Elders who have been the means of inducing the people of all lands to thus settle and make homes in these valleys? Do you believe in their works and their mission? You say no. But let me tell you, there is not an honest man upon the face of the earth acquainted with the history of the Latter-day Saints that can say this at heart. And I testify to you, as I would to the whole world had I the power to do so, that God has set His hand to fulfil the word of the Lord as given in the Bible, the book of all books the Christian world profess to believe in; the revelations of St. John, the predictions of Isaiah, Ezekiel, Jeremiah, Joel, Micah, and others contained within its sacred lids, who spoke of the great work of the last days; and I testify that the day has come which Daniel saw, the day referred to by him in his interpretation of Nebuchudnezzar's dream, when the God of heaven should set up a kingdom which should never be distroyed.

This Kingdom was represented to him as a little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, which stone smote the image, representing the different nations that then existed and should exist, on the feet, breaking it to pieces; and it became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth. [##Daniel 2:26-47##] Was Daniel a prophet? He was, and was highly favored of God because of his mighty faith. Isaiah saw our day and time and was glad.

"Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains: for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted." What is the matter? The Lord is going to comfort Zion; He is going to have mercy upon her afflicted ones. But Zion said, "The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me." "Can a woman forget her sucking child?" saith the Lord. "Yea, she may forget, but I will not forget thee. Behold, I have graved thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me." [##Isaiah 49:13-16##] This refers to the building up of Zion in the last days; the gathering together of the people, preparatory to the coming of the Son of Man.

As far as constitutional liberty is concerned, I will say, the God of heaven has raised up our nation, as foretold by His Prophets generations ago. He inspired Columbus, and moved upon him to cross the ocean in search of this continent. The world is acquainted with the history of his course; his pleadings with the courts of Europe, and his final triumph in finding sympathy in the King and Queen of Spain, who furnished the necessary means to make the exploration. It is also well known how our forefathers found a home and an asylum in this land from the hand of persecution, and how they planted here the tree of liberty and jealously guarded it from the attempt of the mother country to uproot and destroy it. The hand of God was in all this; and it is through the intervention of His providences that we enjoy today the freest and most independent government the world ever saw. And what was the object of this? It was to prepare the way for the building up of the Kingdom of God in this the last dispensation of the fullness of times; and as long as the principles of constitutional liberty shall be maintained upon this land, blessings will attend the nation. But wo unto those who fight against Zion, said the Lord. I have heard the Prophet Joseph Smith remark, that if he were Emperor of the world, and had the power to control the whole human family, he would sustain every man, woman and child in the enjoyment of their civil and religious rights, let their religion be what it may. In saying this he expressed my sentiments, and the feelings of this entire community. For God has given to every man individual agency, and He will hold him accountable for the use of this agency. And while we in our hearts and feelings accord to the whole world this blessing, we claim the same for ourselves. To obtain this and to secure it to our children, we have struggled; and we look forward with joyful anticipation when it shall be beyond the power of man to drive it any more from the earth. Our feelings with regard to religious liberty have been manifested towards the religious denominations that have come among us. Not a single one of them can accuse us

of doing anything to hinder them in their labors by way of establishing themselves among us; on the other hand, we have opened our doors to them; they have occupied our public stands until they have had meeting houses of their own. We have never had a fear that our people or our children would be captivated by their doctrine or converted to their religion; if they have a single truth which we have not, we want it, for it is truth we are after. This Church has been organized now nearly sixty years. It certainly has been like the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands. It has withstood all the opposition that has been aimed against it; and it will remain firm and immovable, fulfiling the destiny marked out for it, until the winding up scene. Zion will arise, clothed with the glory of God, no matter what we may have to pass through. We are in the hands of God, and so are all men and nations; and if this is the work of God —and we say it is—He will bear it off triumphant.

Brother George Q. Cannon in his discourse this morning referred to the different laws which govern man, and the different glories that attend their observance. And I would say, show me a nation or people and I will tell you their future condition by the laws which govern them. All the creations of God are governed by law; and all blessings are predicated upon the observance of law. Opposition to the laws of God commenced in the councils of heaven at the time onethird of the heavenly hosts were cast out; and they are here upon the earth still opposing the work of God. They are without tabernacles; they never had bodies, and that is the curse visited upon them. Those who did not rebel were permitted to take tabernacles. The war that commenced at that time is still being waged, and the struggle will continue until Christ shall come to assume the reigns of government. There have been very few people in any age of the world ready to receive the Gospel when presented to them. In the days of Noah only eight souls believed on him, although he and his sons preached to the anti-deluvian world a hundred and twenty years. [##Genesis 7:7##] In consequence of their having become ripened in iniquity, the Lord determined to destroy them from the face of the earth. Enoch appeared in his day as the representative of God, and succeeded in raising up a Church who so far perfected themselves in the ways of the Lord as to be worthy of translation. [##Moses 7##] They, we are told, will return to the earth with Christ and the Church of the First Born, when His Saints upon the earth shall be prepared to meet Him. In the days of Jesus and the Apostles, comparatively few believed on them, and the oppos[i]tion was so strong against them that they were all, excepting one, put to death. That was a day of sacrifice; the time had not then arrived for the Lord to establish His Kingdom. The consequence was that the Church fled to the wilderness, and the Priesthood was taken home to the Paradise of God, where it remained until the restoration through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

We have at present about two hundred thousand people in these mountains who have received the Gospel, out of the millions that now inhabit the earth, and it seems, in consequence of the unpopularity of the Gospel, that we are under the necessity of passing through more or less persecution. We have these things to meet, as other men have met them. In ancient times the Apostles were ready to lay down their lives for the truth's sake. They knew that Jesus Christ was the Son of God, and that they had been called to and endowed with the Priesthood of heaven. Are we any better than they? Are the Apostles of this day any better than those of former days? If God were to require it at our hands that our testimony be sealed by our blood, I believe there is not a single member of the Council of the Twelve but what would be ready to make the sacrifice. Why? Because we, like the former day Apostles, know for ourselves that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and that we are His servants. Whatever sacrifices the Lord may require at the hands of this people, will be met by the people. But ours is not a day of sacrifice. Our special calling is to build up Zion, and prepare the people to stand in holy places while the judgments of the Lord are being poured out upon the wicked. And whatever may be before us we must meet in the fear of our God, believing that He will deliver us in His own due time. The Lord, for our encouragement, has told us that Zion shall not be moved out of her place. [##Doctrine and Covenants 101:17##] But if we do not do our part, as the brethren have said who have preached to us this Conference, we shall be chastised. This is my testimony to the Latter-day Saints.

In reflecting upon these things I have a great deal of sympathy for those who array themselves against us, as I have for the Jews who opposed the Savior and His Apostles. When upon the cross suffering the agonies of a cruel death, Christ exclaimed, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." [##Luke 23:34##] Why did the Savior feel thus towards those who opposed him? Because He had clearly before his mind the results of their acts; that they were only heaping coals of fire upon their own heads; that all He had predicted concerning them would sooner or later overtake them; which certainly has been the case.

The Lord is again calling upon the human family to repent of their sins. And while in the pursuit of their calling some of our brethren have been called upon to lay down their lives for the work of God. What will be the result of the rejection of the Gospel by this generation? The answer has been written by St. John, by Isaiah and has been reiterated by the revelations of God through the Prophet Joseph. Woe unto them, says the Lord, that fight against Zion; woe unto all nations that continue in their iniquities; they have reason to weep for themselves and their posterity.

To the Latter-day Saints I would say, be ye faithful in keeping the commandments of God the little time we have to remain here. We are as much upon a mission to this generation, as the Prophets which have preceded us were to the generations in which they lived. We have our day; they had theirs. As they have gone to render an account of their stewardship, so we shall follow, and will be held to answer for the deeds done in the body, and the manner in which we shall have used the talents entrusted to us. Brethren and sisters, be true and faithful, and keep inviolate the covenants you have entered into, that we may be worthy of eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God to man.

I rejoice in meeting with so many of the Latter-day Saints in Conference; and I have rejoiced in listening to the testimonies of the Elders. I have often said in my boyhood, I wished I could see an Apostle or some one that was able to teach me the same Gospel I had read of in the New Testament. But I could never find no man that could teach those doctrines; it was said they have been done away. They were done away, it is true, but through the unbelief of the children of men. But they are with us. The Kingdom of God is here, and the Lord will sustain it. And I can bear record as my brethren have, that this kingdom will stand; and that the Zion of God will remain upon the earth until Jesus shall come to receive us unto himself. And my prayer is that you and I, and all this people, may be true and faithful, working with an eye single to the glory of God, [##Doctrine and Covenants 82:19##] for the building up of Zion, and the establishing of His kingdom upon the earth; and when we go to the other side of the veil, we can there assemble with all those who have kept the celestial law, and honored the Holy Priesthood, from Father Adam down to our day, and with them receive our inheritance, and have part in the morning of the first resurrection, with our wives and children, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, each in the family organization in the Celestial World. Amen.