Discourse 1891-04-05 [D-56]

President Wilford Woodruff.

After a few prefatory observations, said he never wished to address any body of people upon the Gospel of Christ unless he could do so by the Spirit and inspiration of Almighty God; and that was his feeling this morning.

Those who were at Conference yesterday listened to some very strong testimonies presented by the Apostles. There was one discourse in particular to which he desired now to refer; that of Brother Abraham H. Cannon, who alluded to the views of certain persons as to the great mistakes which had been made in this world, some of them by people calling themselves Prophets, Apostles, and Saints of God. One of these alleged mistakes was in God permitting Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit; another was the mistake made in the Savior being born in a stable and cradled in a manger, instead of his coming as a conqueror, as the leader of the inhabitants of the earth; another was that the Apostles and Prophets ceased to have revelations when Joseph Smith died. It was to these principles that he wished to refer.

When the Prophet Joseph was called of God to lay the foundation of this Church and kingdom he was a mere boy. His first prayer to the God of heaven was offered when he was only fourteen or fifteen years of age. He had read and studied the scriptures previously and was anxious to know what religious sect to join. An answer

came to him from the Lord thereon. The heavens were opened; God the Father and God the Son appeared to him, and the Father said, "This is My beloved Son; hear ye Him." The history of Joseph Smith from that time until he organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, on the 6th of April, 1830, was a constant scene of revelation and visitation. His counselors were the angels—those who held the Priesthood in the flesh while on the earth and administered upon this continent to the sons of Adam, to the children of Israel who dwelt here. They were his teachers and continued to be so until he was called to organize this Church and Kingdom upon the foundation laid by the ancient apostles and prophets, "Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone." [##Ephesians 2:20##]

The speaker said he would like to ask that assembly of Latter-day Saints, what power would the Prophets of God in those early days have had to organize and build up the Church of Christ upon earth unless they had been taught either by the angels of God or the Lord Himself? There was no other way; and every step that the Prophet Joseph took, up to the very day of his death, was a proof of this.

Any man or woman who read the Book of Doctrine and Covenants would find there a code of the most sublime revelations ever given by God to mankind. True, Joseph Smith was illiterate, in a measure, so far as learning was concerned; but those who had read those revelations could see that no ignorant boy, without inspiration, could have prepared such a code. It required revelation almost every day. When this code of revelations was given, after the Church was organized, with Prophets, Apostles, Seventies, High Priests, High Councilors, Elders and Teachers, it was not particularly necessary while those revelations were before the people that the Lord should give special written revelations to President Young, though the latter had revelations. He had the power and Spirit of God with him; it was a living witness day by day to guide and direct him in all the works which he had to perform here in the flesh. What he accomplished had shown this. He (the speaker) wanted to make these remarks because he did not know to what extent the minds and feelings of the Latter-day Saints might be led in these channels.

The God of heaven had not forsaken the Presidency of this Church. He had not closed the heavens against them nor those associated with them. His Spirit and power were with this people, and would never be withdrawn from them up to the time of the coming of the Son of Man.

President Woodruff next adverted to some of the early missionaries of the Church, including Orson Pratt, Parley Pratt and Orson Hyde, who were ordained Elders and sent forth to work in the Lord's vineyard and to warn the world. They held the Priesthood, they had authority to preach the Gospel of Christ to the children of men. He asked the congregation, had not Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, backed up the testimony which had been borne by these men and scores of other missionaries since their day? Where would Utah and its inhabitants have been today but foh Latterter-day Saints? It would have been a barren desert, just as they found it on the 24th of April [July], 1847.

Turning to the subject of the Priesthood, the speaker remarked that they could trace the history of Israel, the dealings of God with men, from the time of Father Adam down. Not an iota of evidence could be adduced proving that a man ever went forth, called of God, and successfully preached the Gospel of Christ without he bore the Holy Priesthood. The Lord had chosen the weak things of the earth to confound the wise. This had been the nature of His dealings with men in every age, and thus it was that humble men had been called in this last dispensation of the fullness of times to go forth and warn the generations in the midst of which we stood today.

Great responsibilities rested upon the shoulders of all Latter-day Saints, and the leaders of Israel would be held responsible before high heaven in the day of judgment for the manner in which they exercised their Priesthood. He advised the Saints to read ##Doctrine and Covenants 121|section 121 Doctrine and Covenants##, relating to the Lord's answer to the Prophet Prophet Joseph's prayer. This was, he said, one of the mightiest revelations that God had ever given to man, and it had been fulfilled. The Lord had said, "Many are called but few are chosen." [##Doctrine and Covenants 121:40##] Why was this? Because their hearts were set so much upon the things of this world. The rights of the Priesthood were inseparably connected with the heavens, and the heavens could be controled only on the principles of righteousness. The people should understand this. The Lord would not withdraw himself from this work, for He had set His hand to fulfil the promised made through the mouths of inspired men.

Some of the brethren on the previous day bore testimony that this Church was the work of God. They certainly would not be qualified to preach the Gospel and undertake to build up Zion if they did not know this. And how did they know it? By the revelations of Jesus Christ, by the inspiration of Almighty God, that Spirit which belonged to every man who was faithful to his covenants. The testimony that we had in our day a[n]d generation was the same as was given in every age of the world.

Speaking next of the gifts and graces which had attended this Church and those who labored in it both at home and abroad, President Woodruff said he did not refer to this in any mere spirit of boasting. No member of this Church could undertake to preach to the people unless moved upon by the inspiration of God. What man was there that ever arose to speak on the stand who knew beforehand what he was going to say? If anyone else did, certainly he himself did not. These principles were before them, and they knew them to be true. He prayed to God his Heavenly Father that their hearts might be united. He could say for himself that if the inspiration of the Holy Spirit had not been with him, he would have been in his grave years ago, and hundreds more with him. If the Lord had not been with him in his travels many a time he would have been lost. President Woodruff in this connection, mentioned a remarkable incident. On one occasion he said he was in charge of a company of Saints numbering upwards of one hundred. They had engaged passage on a steamboat at Pittsburg; but the Spirit of God said to him, "Do not go," and but for that the entire company would doubtless have been lost. They did not go, but went by another boat. The one by which they were to have gone took fire at night some five miles down the river and all on board were lost either by fire or water. So the Spirit of God had been with them all through this work.

It was the duty of all to pray, and one of the requests which he had to make of the Latter-day Saints was to be a prayerful people. They did not pray enough. They should go before the Lord in their secret place and plead with Him to guide and direct them in all the affairs of this transitory life. When the prayers of 100,000 Latterday Saints reached the Lord they were always heard and answered.

The Lord would build up Zion. He would establish His work and gather Israel together. They had to warn the world, so that all would be left without excuse in the day of judgment. The earth was heavily burdened with the sins of its inhabitants, and they were even increasing, causing pain and affliction on every hand. But before the judgments came the Lord had raised up men to warn the world, and he prayed that those warnings would not be without effect.