Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, Sept. 5, 1869.

I am called upon this afternoon to make some remarks upon the life and death of Brother Ezra Taft Benson, who has been suddenly taken out of our midst—from time into eternity.

I have long since considered it unnecessary to make any excuses for performing my duty upon any occasion in public; but if there is any position where a man might have doubts about satisfying his own mind or the minds of his friends, perhaps it is on an occasion like this. It is well known, at least to the Latter-day Saints, that the Elders of Israel rise to speak without any written sermon or preparation of any kind. Many of us have been engaged the greater portion of our lives in preaching the Gospel to the world, and on every occasion we depend for assist– ance and preparation upon the Spirit of God. This is my position this afternoon. I rise before you with no prepared sermon, and with no particular principles that I have settled in my mind to address you upon; depending, as on all occasions, upon the Spirit of God and the faith and prayers of my friends. This dispensation of Providence causes me many reflections; and I presume it is the case with every Latter-day Saint present. In the first place I will ask the question, “What position did Brother Benson occupy while in the flesh, and how many have ever held the same position on the face of the earth? The words contained in the 7th verse of the 52nd chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah are brought to my mind. While contemplating the great work of building up the Zion of God in the last days, he says—

“How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!”

What position can any man occupy on the face of the earth, that is more noble, Godlike, high and glorious than to be a messenger of salvation unto the human family? What more responsible position can a man occupy than to be an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ? I do not know of any in this or any other generation. The thought also arises in my mind, how many individuals have ever held this position on the earth? I find in the history recorded in the Bible, from the days of Adam down through the different dispensations and generations, that prophets have existed on the earth. Adam, himself, was a prophet and he ordained his sons to the Melchizedek Priesthood; the Gospel of Christ was taught to him after the Fall, and he attended to the ordinances of the house of God. He was a High Priest, and, as a High Priest, held the keys of the kingdom of God. There were many sons who were High Priests, having been ordained to this office by their father Adam. Three years before his death he called together Seth, Enos, Jared, Cainan, Mahaleel, Methuselah, and many other of his descendants in the Valley of Adam-Ondi-Ahman, and there rose up and blessed them with his great and last patriarchal blessing. This has been given to us by revelation; and these men were prophets and High Priests.

Tracing down the sacred history through the different ages and dispensations, we learn that many prophets existed among the children of men. Moses was a lawgiver in Israel, and held the office of a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. When I say that many prophets have existed, it probably needs some qualification. The number of persons thus honored of God has not been many when compared with the whole of the people who have lived; but in every Gospel age and dispensation God has had His prophets and servants upon the earth to make known His will to its inhabitants. In the days of Moses Elders were chosen as his counselors; and seventy Elders were ordained to bear record of the things of God and to assist Moses in the work to be performed in his day; but we do not read of Apostles being chosen under Moses’s dispensation. Jesus tabernacled in the flesh to establish the kingdom of his Father upon the earth, and when he was thirty years of age he went forth administering in the ordinances of the house of God, and he chose twelve Apostles to assist him, and he gave to them the keys of the kingdom of God. And the highest office that any man has ever held on the face of the earth in this or any other generation is that of an Apostle.

We read that God set in His Church first Apostles, then prophets, evangelists, pastors, teachers, gifts, graces and helps; and the office of an Apostle entitles him to hold the keys of the kingdom of God; and what he binds on earth is bound in heaven, and what he looses on earth is loosed in heaven. The history of the Twelve whom Jesus chose is to be found in the New Testament; within the lids of that book their travels, the course they pursued and the doctrines they taught are published to the world. Nearly the whole of them sealed their testimony with their blood. Some were crucified as their master was; some were beheaded; and all, except John, suffered martyrdom in some way for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ. This was the fate of the first quorum of Apostles we have any history of.

After the death and resurrection of the Savior, when he ministered to his disciples the last time on earth, he informed them that he had other sheep not of this fold whom he was going to visit and minister unto. The Book of Mormon is a record of the descendants of the House of Israel who dwelt on this continent anciently. It gives us the history of the Jaredites who came from the Tower of Babel; of Lehi and his family, who came from Jerusalem, and also of the Lamanites and Nephites, the descendants of Nephi and Lemuel, sons of Lehi. In that record we find that Christ, after his death and resurrection, visited that branch of the house of Israel which dwelt on this continent. On the occasion of that visit we are informed that Jesus chose Twelve Apostles and gave to them the same power, keys, gifts and graces that he had given to his Apostles on the eastern continent, and they went forth and magnified their callings. All of this quorum of the Twelve Apostles had the promise of departing and being with Christ when they were seventy-two years old, except three of them. To these three Jesus gave a promise similar to that which he gave to John the Revelator—namely, that they should tarry in the flesh until he came. History informs us that the wicked tried to kill John in various ways, placing him, on one occasion, in a cauldron of boiling oil, but his life was preserved; and that finally, in the reign of Domitian Caesar, he was banished to the Isle of Patmos to work in the lead mines. While there he was blessed with visions, revelations, knowledge, light and truth, a portion of which we have recorded in what are called the Revelation of St. John. In the reign of Nerva, John was recalled, and afterwards wrote his epistles. The first quorum of Apostles were all put to death, except John, and we are informed that he still remains on the earth, though his body has doubtless undergone some change. Three of the Nephites, chosen here by the Lord Jesus as his Apostles, had the same promise—that they should not taste death until Christ came, and they still remain on the earth in the flesh.

Thus we have an account in the Bible and Book of Mormon of but two quorums of Twelve Apostles being chosen previous to this dispensation; but in these last days the Lord called upon Joseph Smith, gave him power and authority to organize His Church and kingdom again upon the earth, and gave him the Holy Priesthood and the keys of the kingdom of God. Joseph was ordained to the Apostleship under the hands of men holding the keys of the kingdom of God in the days of Jesus—namely, Peter, James and John.

I shall not occupy time with entering into the details of these things. I have referred to them to show the importance of the office held by Brother Benson. He was a member of one of the three quorums of Apostles that have ever been chosen on the face of the earth since Jesus Christ tabernacled in the flesh, that we have any knowledge of. The first chosen when Jesus commenced his public labors in the flesh; the second after his resurrection, here on his continent; and the third, since the revelation of the Gospel in our own day. Here we find only thirty-six men, chosen at various times and dispensations, in six thousand years, to hold this order of Priesthood, unless they were chosen in the days of Enoch and at times in which the Bible does not inform us. This number has been increased, however, by others who have been chosen to fill vacancies in these quorums, as in the case of Judas, and others; but it is safe to say that the entire number who have held this office from the days of Adam until today has been very limited. As to the number of inhabitants who have dwelt on the earth during that period, it is a pretty difficult matter to form any correct idea in relation to it. I do not think that any statistician could tell this to any degree of correctness. It is a kind of a given point in these days to say that the population of the earth is about a thousand millions, and that this number pass away every generation. It is also estimated that about three generations pass away in a century; this gives three thousand millions in a century, thirty thousand millions in a thousand years, and one hundred and eighty thousand millions in six thousand years—about the period that is supposed to have elapsed since the creation of man upon the earth. Whether these statistics are anything like correct it is not of much importance to discuss; but it is an important reflection that Brother Benson, who has been associated with us so many years, is one of the chosen few, of all the immense numbers who have dwelt on the face of the earth, who have been called to hold the office of Apostle. Well might the prophet say, “How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet,” &c.

I will say that in my boyhood, while attending Sabbath school in my native State, Connecticut, there seemed something glorious to me about the Apostles of Jesus Christ who were called to preach the Gospel of the Son of God to the inhabitants of the earth; and I have many times felt that I would willingly walk a thousand miles to see a prophet, an Apostle, or any man called of God, who could teach me the way to be saved, a man who held in his hands the power of the Priesthood, who could command the elements and they would obey him, and who could declare the words of life in their truth and purity to the inhabitants of the earth. I always looked upon the lives and missions of these men, though despised by the world generally, as the most important of any men who ever dwelt in the flesh. Jesus himself was called master of the house of Beelzebub, and traveled through a constant scene of poverty, ridicule, persecution and affliction; yet there was something great, good, grand and glorious in the life of the Savior of the world. This was the fate of him and his Apostles; and though they descended below all things, they held in their hands the destiny and salvation, not only of that generation, but of all the human race; and woe be to that house, nation, kindred, tongue or people who rejected their words and testimony, for they will rise in judgment against them.

From the days of my childhood until I heard the fulness of the Gospel, as taught by the Latter-day Saints, I had a great desire to live to see a prophet or Apostle. I have lived to see this day. I have lived to see the Church and kingdom of God on the earth, with all its gifts, graces, power, glory and dominion, revealed and organized by the ministrations of angels from God in heaven and by the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ. I have lived to see Apostles and the full organization of the Priesthood again officiating in and administering the ordinances of salvation to the children of men.

Brother Ezra T. Benson, whose death has occurred so unexpectedly, was one of the few called in this day to bear testimony to the nations of the earth of the restoration of this Gospel, and he has traveled many thousand miles to do so. He has been true and faithful unto death, and he will receive a crown of life. He has gone from our midst to the spirit world to mingle with the Gods, or at least with his brethren who have gone before him; whether he will mingle with the Gods until after the resurrection perhaps it is not for me to say. He has gone home to receive his reward. What a cloud of reflection it brings to the mind! It speaks in loud language to every Apostle, prophet, Elder and Saint of God, and to all the inhabitants of the earth, “Be ye also ready!” That is what it says to all men. If you have anything to do, any work to perform that is of consequence to yourself or friends, living or dead, do it.

Is there any sorrow or mourning in my heart with regard to the departure of Brother Benson? I would rather follow a thousand Apostles and prophets to the grave and see their lifeless remains deposited in the dark and silent tomb, than see one man who has tasted the good word of God and the powers of the world to come, make shipwreck of his faith, lose his crown and go to perdition. I have had more sorrow in seeing men, with whom I have traveled and preached the Gospel, turn from the truth, commit wickedness, and lose their standing in the Church, than over all the faithful Latter-day Saints I have seen laid in the tomb. When I see a man depart who, like Brother Benson, has been ever willing to go and come and do the bidding of those over him, I look forward with great joy to his reward. He is the first man in the Quorum of the Twelve, who, for the last forty years, has had the privilege of dying a natural death; for most of the Apostles who ever tabernacled in the flesh have died as martyrs. We have had two in our quorum who have died thus, besides our Prophet and Patriarch. True, they will receive a martyr’s crown, so will all men who are true and faithful unto death and lay down their lives for the work of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.

Brother Benson has died among his friends; he had not been in pain or suffering, or endured a lingering sickness. Thank God he died in the harness and has gone home to receive his reward. During the time he has been a member of the Church he has been on many missions. I will here remark, without entering into details, that, at the time the Saints were driven from Illinois to this land, he was called upon and sent east, as one of the agents of the Church, to prove the eastern country—our Puritan fathers and friends in New England, after we had been driven from our homes, country, and the graves of parents, wives and children, to see if they would stretch out their hand to assist us while in the wilderness. He labored faithfully on that mission, visiting Boston and other leading New England cities, calling for contributions to help the poor, the widow and the fatherless, who were, in a measure, in a state of starvation in the wilderness, after having been driven from their homes in the midst of an inclement winter. I believe he got fifty dollars. If he had gone into Missouri and split rails by the day, I guess he would have made considerable more money in the same time. But never mind! He was faithful on his mission, and returned faithful, and continued so from the commencement of his career as a Latter-day Saint until the day of his death. I rejoice in this, and it is a consolation to his family and to all Israel to know that he has been true and faithful to his calling. When I contemplate and realize that the little time spent here in this mortal life will fix and mold our destiny for all the endless ages of eternity, I try to realize what manner of men we all ought to be.

I have traveled a good deal with Brother Benson and have been acquainted with him, as you have, a good many years past, and I can bear this testimony of him—he has always been ready and willing to labor in either temporal or spiritual things. Here on this road he labored faithfully during the past year in building a hundred miles of the railroad; he and those associated with him finished their job with punctuality. All these things show the untiring industry and perseverance of the man.

This is the way with all of us. We are all called to labor in temporal and spiritual things in building up the kingdom of God in these last days. We have to preach the Gospel to the children of men; we have to warn the nations of the earth. We have been called to do this; this is the command of God to the Elders of Israel. In obedience to this they shoulder their knapsacks, and without purse or scrip, travel the world over to declare to the children of men the words of life and salvation. In doing this they swim rivers, wade swamps, and endure much toil and privation. During the last thirty-seven years of my life I have traveled one hundred thousand miles in obedience to this command. It will be well with all men who are faithful in the performance of these duties. Brother Benson never performed a mission or any other duty but what he will rejoice over forever and so it will be with us all. The reward of the faithful will amply repay them for all the labors they ever performed or for the privations they have endured. No labor we have ever done that has helped to promote the happiness and well-being of our fellow men will go unrewarded. Brother Benson today, instead of being with his family in Logan, that is in the flesh, he may be with them in spirit, is privileged to mingle with his brethren who have gone before—Joseph, Hyrum, David, Parley, Heber and the prophets and Apostles of former days. He is mingling with them. They have finished their work in the flesh. So has he. He has been suddenly called away from his labors, but his works will follow him.

I wish to speak to my friends a little with regard to the position which we occupy as Elders of Israel, and as the Church and kingdom of God upon the earth. I feel impressed to do so. I do not know that I wish to say a great deal more with regard to Brother Benson. His labors are before us and the world, and they are before God and angels. I am satisfied with them, and I do not know who is not who was acquainted with him. I wish now to say something with regard to the organization of this Church and the position occupied by Joseph Smith, Elder Benson and the Apostles and Priesthood of this Church.

We are living in a very important age, an age in which preparations are making for the second coming of the Messiah to reign a thousand years upon the earth with his Saints. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testament will never be fulfilled until this comes to pass. An angel of God, the Revelator John informs us, was to fly through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach to them that dwell on the earth—to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, Saying with a loud voice, “Fear God, and give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship Him who made the heaven, the earth, the seas and the fountains of waters.” You may take up Isaiah and all the prophets, and you will find that they refer to this latter-day dispensation, when the kingdom of God should be established on the earth. There never was a prophet, from Adam down, whose records we have, but had his eye upon this great dispensation of the last days. When the Lord created the earth He placed men upon it, and though the power of sin has entered it, it has not been left by the Lord to go at random. In Adam all fell, or died; but in Christ, the Apostle says, all are made alive. Our worthy President has often said, when speaking upon the prevalence of sin in this world, that one of the greatest honors and blessings ever conferred on the sons of men was to come and dwell in the flesh in a sinful world like this, amid the power of evil, temptation and darkness, that they might have the privilege of overcoming them and of inheriting eternal life, which is the greatest gift of God. All the prophets have foreseen the establishment of the kingdom of God in the last days; they have seen Zion pass through all her travail and persecution to her final triumph, when she possessed great glory, power and dominion upon the land of Joseph. Daniel saw the kingdom of God, which he likens to a little stone cut out of the mountains without hands, which grew and increased in size until it filled the whole earth. Daniel said this kingdom was to be an everlasting kingdom.

Well, brethren and sisters, you and I have lived to see the dawn of the great day thus referred to by the prophets, in which the God of heaven has set His hand for the last time to establish His kingdom upon the earth; a kingdom not to be overthrown, but to remain until sin, Satan and the power of the devil are banished from the face thereof, and until, as the prophets have said, the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdoms of our God and His Christ.

This day we have lived to see. This tabernacle, this congregation, and the multitudes through the valleys of the mountains are the fruits of this work. How did it commence? It commenced by an angel of God flying through the midst of heaven and visiting a young man named Joseph Smith, in the year 1827. That was the time of a great awakening among the sectarians of the day—a day of revivals and protracted meetings, when the people were called upon to join themselves to the sectarian churches. This young man looked around amid the confusion among the different sects, each proclaiming the plan of salvation differently, and each claiming it was right and that all others were wrong; in the midst of this contention he did not know which to join. While in this state of uncertainty he turned to the Bible, and there saw that passage in the epistle of James which directs him that lacks wisdom to ask of God. He went into his secret chamber and asked the Lord what he must do to be saved. The Lord heard his prayer and sent His angel to him, who informed him that all the sects were wrong, and that the God of heaven was about to establish His work upon the earth. This angel quoted many of the prophecies of Isaiah and Jeremiah, and told this young man that they were about to be fulfilled among the nations of the earth; and he also told him that if he would listen and render obedience to the commands of God, he should be an instrument in the hands of the Lord in establishing His kingdom upon the earth.

These visits were repeated from time to time, during which Joseph received revelation and much instruction in the things of God. He taught some of these things to his father and some of his brothers and a few others, but he had no authority to preach or administer in the ordinances of the house of God. Why? Because, as the prophet has said, “No man taketh this honor unto himself, except he be called of God, as was Aaron.” No man, in any generation, has ever had authority to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless he was called by revelation. You may read the history of all the prophets and Apostles from the creation down, and they have all received the Holy Priesthood under the hands of God or angels, or under the hands of men who have held this authority. It was so with Joseph Smith. He could not find anybody who possessed this authority, and he called upon the Lord to know what to do, and the Lord sent John the Baptist, who was beheaded for his religion. John held the Aaronic Priesthood, and he came and ordained Joseph Smith to the same Priesthood. This gave him power to administer in some of the ordinances of the Gospel of Christ. He could baptize for the remission of sins, but could not lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Lord afterwards sent Peter, James and John, who held the keys of the kingdom in their day and generation upon the earth, and they ordained him an Apostle, and sealed upon his head every key, power and blessing, and all the authority which they exercised in their day.

This is the origin of the authority of the Latter-day Saints; and from that day until the present the little stone cut out of the mountain has been growing. The Church was organized on the 6th of April, 1830, with six members, and the Elders immediately went forth, one here and another there, bearing testimony and preaching the doctrines the angel made known to Joseph, and some few, out of many, have received and obeyed the same. This Gospel is the same as that taught by the ancient Apostles, namely, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, baptism for the remission of sin, then the laying on of hands for the reception of the Holy Ghost. These were the doctrines taught by the ancient Apostles, and the signs that followed believers anciently follow them in our day. Said Jesus, when sending his Apostles forth to preach:

“Go ye into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature.

“He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.

“And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name they shall cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;

“They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover.”

All these gifts and graces were promised by Joseph and the early Elders of the Church, just the same as by the ancient Apostles; and this is the testimony that every Elder has borne from that day until the present. Has the Lord backed up this testimony? He has. All of the Twelve who have labored abroad, and we have been doing so, more or less, thirty or forty years, traveling hundreds of thousands of miles—have made this declaration. I have preached to millions of my fellow men in my own and other countries; and I and the other Apostles, as well as hundreds of Elders of this Church and Kingdom, have all made the same proclamation, to kings, princes, presidents and rulers, and to the inhabitants of the earth wherever we have gone, as far as we have had an opportunity and have had the privilege of opening our mouths. We have borne the same testimony to all—namely, that all who would receive our testimony and obey the Gospel should receive the Holy Ghost. Would we have dared to go forth and bear this testimony if we had not known this was the work of God? No, there is not a man on the face of the earth who dare do it under any other circumstances, for his hypocrisy and deception would soon have been apparent; the very first man that received his testimony would have proved it. Could we have gathered our hundreds of thousands from the nations of the earth if we had been deceivers and had preached false doctrines? As the Apostle says, “But 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.” No, we should have had no success; we might have preached false doctrines until we were grey, or as old as Methuselah, but if we had we should never have seen Utah, this tabernacle or these valleys of the mountains. But the Lord backed up our testimony, and tens of thousands throughout this Territory and in the world, who received it, can bear record that they have received the Holy Ghost, and the revelations of Jesus Christ, and that the gifts and graces of the Gospel have followed them.

This Church is organized exactly as it was anciently—with Apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, gifts, helps and governments. Are all Apostles, or are all prophets? Do all have the gifts of healing, or do all speak with new tongues? No, but all these gifts and offices are in the Church, and, as the Apostle says, they are placed there for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, and for the perfecting of the Saints—until we are come to the unity of the faith, to the knowledge of the Son of God, and to the fulness of the stature of a man in Christ Jesus. That is what they are given for, and they are needed just as much as they ever were in any generation. But the world has been without these blessings and wandering in darkness for nearly eighteen centuries. Now the Lord has raised up a people to establish His kingdom on the same foundation as anciently. This is the work of the Latter-day Saints. We have been called to warn this generation; we understand the signs of the times and know that the judgments of God are at hand. If we had not been faithful to our calling and mission the Lord would have raised up another people, because the set time is at hand for Him to establish His kingdom.

There are one or two ideas more I wish to refer to with regard to the mission of Christ. That mission did not end when he was crucified. When that event took place we are told that his body lay in the tomb for three days, and that his spirit went to preach to the spirits in prison, which sometime were disobedient when the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing. Jesus went and preached to them in the spirit that they might be judged according to men in the flesh. Here is a principle of which the Christian world know nothing, and which has been revealed to us in our own day—namely, preaching the Gospel of life and salvation to the spirits of those who pass away without rendering obedience thereunto. Nearly eighteen hundred years have passed away since God had a Church upon the earth. In that time about fifty-four thousand millions of human beings have passed away without the Gospel. Are they to perish because they lived in generations when God had no Church on the earth? No, they will be preached to by men who go into the spirit world, who hold the keys of the kingdom of God, and the ordinances of the house of God will be administered to them by their descendants and friends here on the earth. The Apostle Paul evidently had his mind on this subject when He says, “Why then are they baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not?”

I do not know how fully Brother Benson has attended to the work for his dead, but I know that he has worked hard for the living; and when he goes into the spirit world and meets with those for whom he has been baptized and been the means of liberating them from prison in the spirit world, what joy he will have! And it will be so with others. And this work of administering the ordinances of the house of God to the dead, I may say, will require the whole of the Millennium, with Jesus at the head of the resurrected dead to attend to it. The ordinances of salvation will have to be attended to for the dead who have not heard the Gospel, from the days of Adam down, before Christ can present this world to the Father, and say, “It is finished.”

Brethren and sisters, let us be admonished by the death of Brother Benson, and if we have anything to do let us do it. Let us go to and attend to our ordinances, then when we go to the spirit world and meet with father, mother, brother or sister they cannot rise up and accuse us of negligence. I have attended to the ordinances for a great many of my friends, and I want you to do the same, so that when we get to the other side of the veil we may look back and be satisfied. This power has been placed in the hands of the Latter-day Saints, then let us go forth and use it for the salvation of the living and the dead. With regard to the unbelief of the world, it will not make the truth of God without effect. These ordinances have been revealed to us; we understand them, and unless we attend to them we shall fall under condemnation.

I rejoice in the work of God and I rejoice to live in this day and age of the world. I want to live as long as I can do good; but, not an hour longer than I can live in fellowship with the Holy Spirit, with my Father in heaven, my Savior, and with the faithful Latter-day Saints. To live any longer than this, would be torment and misery to me. When my work is done I am ready to go; but I want to do what is required of me. The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, both Jew and Greek. Let us be faithful, keep our covenants, do our duty, and attend to all the ordinances of the Gospel as far as we can, both for ourselves and our dead. When we have done this we shall be satisfied. I pray that God may bless you; that he may bless the Apostles who dwell on the earth; that His power may rest on the presiding Twelve, the Seventies, the High Priests, the Bishops, Elders, Teachers and Deacons, and all who have entered into covenant to keep His commandments. Let us be faithful and we shall obtain our reward; we shall overcome and obtain eternal life and a crown of glory if we magnify our calling by living the religion which we have received, which may God grant for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Remarks by Elder W. Woodruff, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt Lake City, July 19th, 1868.

I am requested to occupy a little time this afternoon in speaking to the people. It is a great satisfaction to me, and I presume it is to all Latter-day Saints who enjoy their religion, to contemplate and realize that God is our friend, and that we have the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Religion is very popular in the world, and has been for many generations; and the religions of the world are as various as the temporal governments of the world. But for a person or community to know and understand for themselves the true gospel, the gospel of Jesus Christ, must be a source of great consolation.

I have taken a great deal of satisfaction in the gospel of Christ; in fact it has been my life. I have traveled and preached this gospel for the last thirty-five years, more or less, either to the world or to the Saints of God. And in my contemplations and meditations, when I have had sufficient of the spirit of God upon me, I have realized the gifts and graces and blessings pertaining to the salvation of men in the gospel of Christ.

The governments of the world are varied. We have despotic, monarchical and republican governments, and in order to become a citizen of any one of them we have to obey the laws of that government. A great deal has been said about the form of government, and the constitution under which we live. They have been the praise of all Americans, and perhaps of people living in other portions of the earth. We consider that we have been blessed as a nation in possessing the freedom and privileges guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States. They have been a rich legacy from our fathers. We consider our form of government superior to any other on the earth. It guarantees to us “life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.” And while the inhabitants of many other governments have been tyrannically bound up, and their minds controlled in certain channels, and they have been deprived of the right of liberty of speech and of many other rights valued by freemen, ours has guaranteed unto us all the liberty that can be enjoyed by man. Still, I have many times thought that we, as American Citizens, have not prized the gifts and blessings guaranteed to us by the Constitution of our country. For the last few years, especially, the Constitution at times, has been looked upon as a matter of the smallest consequence. In some respects, however, it has been a blessing to us as a people, and it is to the whole nation, as far as it is carried out. But in order to fully receive its blessings we have to honor its precepts.

Now it is just so with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those who believe it and obey it in sincerity enjoy far greater blessings than are enjoyed by others. But we have to abide by the laws of the gospel in order to enjoy its blessings and privileges.

From my childhood up, I have prized the gospel. Before I heard it proclaimed, I felt when perusing the account of the blessings and privileges enjoyed by the ancient Saints and servants of God that I would have been glad to have lived in those days when the priesthood had the keys of the kingdom of God, when they had power to unlock the heavens and to command the elements and they would obey; when they had power to heal the sick, cast out devils, cause the lame to walk, and the blind to see; when they could receive communication from God, and commune with holy angels. I could see a power, glory and exaltation in those principles for which I looked in vain among men in my day; and I desired to live to see a people by whom such blessings would be again enjoyed. I have lived to see that day. The first time I ever heard this gospel preached, I felt that it was the first gospel sermon I had ever heard; and I went forth and was baptized and received the testimony that it was true, and I have rejoiced in this gospel from that day to this, because I know it is true. And I have wondered many times that there are not more of the inhabitants of the earth who will open their ears and hearts to hear and receive it that they may enjoy its blessings both in time and eternity.

This Gospel makes us free. Was there ever a more free people than the Latter-day Saints are? No, there never was in any age of the world. There is not anything that will give a man joy or consolation, or any blessing temporal or spiritual, but what is within our reach as far as man in a mortal state has a right to receive.

When we contemplate the gifts and blessings the Gospel of Christ has given to us, we of all men should be the most cheerful, thankful and faithful, and should honor our calling, and acknowledge the hand of our God in the mercies which we enjoy.

All men who have obeyed this Gospel for the love of the truth, and whose minds have been inspired by the Spirit and power of God, have felt to rejoice and take consolation in it, and they have felt a great desire to spread the knowledge of its principles among their fellow men. When first embraced by them it has seemed to them as though they could convince the world; and they have been anxious to lay these principles before their father’s household, their uncles, aunts, cousins, neighbors and friends, believing that they would receive it. I felt so myself. But I, with many others, have found myself mistaken in a great measure. I have traveled hundreds and thousands of miles to preach this Gospel. In my travels I have warned many thousands of my fellow men; but have been the instrument, in the hand of God, in gathering very few when compared with the many I have preached to. This has been the experience of all the Elders. We have found, when we came to lay these principles before the world, that they were not ready to receive them. There would be one of a family and two of a city who would open their ears and hearts and would receive the truth, and gather home to Zion. That is the way the Kingdom of God has been built up in this and every other age of the world. There have been but a few here and there that have been qualified or prepared to receive and abide the law of God. The minds of the majority have been prone to evil as the sparks to fly upward; and it has been a hard matter to get the inhabitants of the earth to listen to our message, and then make it a subject of prayer and receive and obey it, and abide in its laws and ordinances in faithfulness and truth unto death.

When Father Smith gave me my patriarchal blessing he told me I should bring my father’s house into the Church and Kingdom of God. I had never seen any member of my father’s house from the time I obeyed the gospel until I received my patriarchal blessing, and I rested a good deal on this blessing. Now, all men who were acquainted with Father Joseph Smith know that when he laid his hands upon a man’s head it seemed as if the heavens and the hearts of men were open to him, and he could see their past, present and future. And that is the way all men in the holy priesthood should feel; and whether patriarchs, prophets, apostles or elders they should live so as to enjoy the spirit and power of their office and calling. This is our privilege, but we do not always live so; but this was the way with Father Smith. After I had been with Zion’s Camp up to Missouri I returned east, and on my way I visited my father’s household in Connecticut and preached the gospel to them, and baptized my father and all who were in his house. In this I was blessed. I also baptized some of my uncles, aunts and cousins; but I left a numerous host that did not receive my message; they were not ready to receive my testimony; a few of them did, and some of them have gathered to Zion. I have rejoiced in this and also in preaching the gospel to the world, because I have known that the gospel and the message which I had were from God. I knew then that they were true, and I know it today; and I know they will have their effect on the nations of the earth.

The gospel which we preach is the power of God unto salvation to every one who believes, both high and low, rich and poor, Jew and Gentile. There is no man who will receive salvation without it; no man can receive exaltation and be crowned with the fullness of salvation in the presence of God without receiving the fullness of the everlasting gospel of the Son of God.

All men who have received a glorious salvation and resurrection and have gone to receive their reward in the presence of God, have had to go there by keeping the laws that He gave them. They have had to obey the gospel of Christ on the earth; they have had to receive the law and abide that law in the flesh that they might receive a fullness in the resurrection. It will take just as much to save the Latter-day Saints and the inhabitants of the earth in this generation as it did to save Adam, Enoch, Seth, Moses, Elijah, Elias or Jesus and the apostles. There is no change nor variableness with the gospel of Christ; its ordinances are the same today, yesterday and forever. As the Apostle Paul said “If we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel than that we have preached, let him be accursed.”

This gospel has been revealed to us. We have received the light of it and rejoice in it. By it and its Author we have been sustained from the commencement until today. The gospel of Christ has never disappointed any man of woman that ever dwelt in the flesh. The God of heaven—the Author of this gospel—has never disappointed anybody who ever proved faithful to its precepts. And if the inhabitants of the earth expect salvation through any other medium they will be disappointed. Whatever salvation they may get, they will not be saved in the celestial kingdom of God. If they have another glory it will be the glory of the law they keep in the flesh. If a man cannot abide a celestial law, he cannot receive a celestial glory, if a man cannot abide a terrestrial law he cannot receive a terrestrial glory; and if he cannot abide a telestial law he cannot receive a telestial glory, but will have to dwell in a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory. This is according to the revelations of God to us.

Here is where we differ from the world of Christendom. Because we have received the Gospel in its fullness and plainness, with its ordinances, its organization, with the priesthood, with its keys, powers and blessings, its revelations and its light, truth and inspiration and its Holy Ghost. Everything which belongs to it in one age of the world belongs to it in another. In this the Gentile world lie in darkness; they have followed the same example of unbelief as ancient Israel, by rejecting the Gospel and persecuting the Saints, and putting them to death, and shedding the blood of the prophets and apostles and those who held the Gospel of the Kingdom of God in their day; and they have gone into the wilderness of darkness and unbelief, and remained so, until God restored the Gospel in this day.

Well, we as a people should rejoice in this Gospel, for in possessing it we are blessed above our fellow men. No matter what the feelings of the world may be, they do not make the truth of God without effect, not a bit of it. God has set His hand in these last days to restore Israel, and to call upon the inhabitants of the earth for the last time. Anciently the Jews were called first. Jesus came to them—his brethren—first; the Gospel of the Kingdom was established, and the Church organized among them first; they rejected Him and put to death their Shiloh, their King who had come to deliver them. He did not come as they expected; they looked for a King, a monarch, a leader, a warrior coming in the clouds of heaven with power and great glory to lead them to battle and to set up an earthly kingdom and rule and reign over them; they did not look for him to come as the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world. They had not the light, and consequently rejected Him and His message and put Him to death, and the Kingdom was given to the Gentiles—first to the Jews, then to the Gentiles. In these last days it came to the Gentiles first; and when they have proven themselves unworthy, it will be given to the Jews. It is to the Gentiles that we have been called to preach the Gospel.

For the last thirty-eight years, since its establishment, have the Elders of this church been laboring and traveling for the spread of the principles of this Gospel. You may track history from the days of the ancient patriarchs to the days of Joseph Smith, and you cannot find any account of men who have traveled as the Elders of Israel have. Jesus told His disciples to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every living creature, and he that believed and was baptized should be saved, and he that believed not should be damned. But we can trace almost every mile of the travels of the ancient Apostles, and with the exception of Paul, their travels were confined to Asia, and chiefly to Jerusalem and Judea. But the Elders of this church have traveled in every gentile nation under heaven that would receive the message. And as a general thing the Elders have been faithful in this work among the nations; and we have not yet ceased to send them to the gentiles, and we shall continue to do so until they entirely reject the Gospel of Christ. How long that will be, it is not for me to say. The Lord is going to make a short work in these last days, He will cut short His work in righteousness. By and by the gospel will be taken from the gentiles and will be sent to every branch of Israel, and all will hear the sound of the Gospel.

We are called to build up Zion, and to establish righteousness and truth; called to build up the kingdom of God, and to warn the nations, that they may be left without excuse in the day of God’s judgment and calamity. Now, the eyes of the Latter-day Saints, of those at least, who live their religion, are open. They understand the signs of the times. They are not walking in darkness; they should not be, at any rate. They should have the light, and understand the signs of the times, and know the signs of the coming of the Son of Man. The world does not understand these things; they did not in the days of Christ. They did not understand that Jesus was the Son of God, come to establish His kingdom and to deliver Israel, and they do not know it today; and that makes the difference between them and the Latter-day Saints. The reason of this is that they have not received the Gospel and the Holy Ghost. They have not the inspiration of the Almighty. They have a spirit within them; but the inspiration of the Almighty would give them understanding if they would embrace the Gospel. But being without the Gospel their understandings are not enlightened. They do not understand the scriptures, nor the signs of the times. They do not understand those principles which God reveals to those who keep His laws. This is the difference between us and the world. We have an anxiety for their salvation, so has our Father in heaven; but they must abide the law. The God of heaven abides a law, all the hosts of heaven abide laws; they are exalted and glorified by law. All the creations of God are governed by law. The earth abides the law for which it was created. I have many times said, and I think so still, that all the creations of God, except man, abide the law. The beasts of the field, the fowls of the air and the fish of the sea all abide the law by which they were created. I do not know of anything that breaks the laws of God but man, who was made after the image of God. And we as well as all the other creations of God must abide the law of our creation in order to receive a fullness of glory and blessing. This is the position we occupy as Latter-day Saints. We have the Gospel, we profess to abide the law of the Gospel; and we should, as a people, be awake to the fact that our Father in heaven has done all He could for the salvation of the human family. He has made known the laws necessary for the exaltation and glory of man, and has done all that can be done by law. We read that in Adam all died, and that in Christ all were made alive. Jesus has died to redeem all men; but in order that they may be benefited by His death, and that His blood may cleanse them from all actual sin committed in the flesh, they must abide the law of the Gospel. The sins done through Adam we have been redeemed from by the blood of Christ; and in order to obtain salvation we must be obedient and faithful to the precepts of the Gospel. I feel as though we as a people ought to rejoice; and we should prize these gifts and blessings God has put into our hands, and we should seek to magnify our callings, and as a people fulfill the expectation of our Father in heaven, and the ex– pectation of those who have gone before us.

The ancients are not perfect without us, neither are we perfect without them. The old prophets and apostles had their day to labor in warning the world. Noah preached to the inhabitants of the world, and showed his works by his faith, though he did not save a great many. Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, Elias and the prophets, Jesus and the Apostles all had their day. Their work is finished. They sleep in peace. This is our day, and we should labor while the day lasts; by-and-by night will come when no man can work. We shall not have 365 years as Enoch had to prepare Zion for translation.

As I before remarked the Lord is going to make short His work, or no flesh can be saved. There are great events at our doors, and the Saints of God should be on their watchtower. We should have our eyes, ears and hearts open to see, hear, understand and receive the counsels and reproof revealed through the mouth of the servants of God in our day. The Gospel of Christ is one of the greatest blessings that can be bestowed upon man. Eternal life, the Lord says, is the greatest gift of God. We can obtain that only through obedience to this Gospel. This, brethren and sisters, is our blessing. We possess it, and have been gathered here by it. Had it not been for the Gospel we should still have been in England, the United States and abroad among the nations of the earth, and Utah would have been a desert sage plain, inhabited only by crickets and Indians, as it was when we came here. The Elders of Israel might have preached until they were as old as Methuselah, and we should never have gathered had it not been for the inspiration of the Almighty. You and I, and all who have received the testimony of Jesus Christ know that these things are true. All the Saints of God among the nations, who have been faithful, have been inspired by the same spirit to gather home to Zion. Why have we gathered to Zion? To fulfill the revelations of God. Isaiah and Jeremiah and nearly all the prophets since the world began have foretold the gathering of the people in the last days to establish Zion, from which the law of the Lord should go forth to rule the nations of the earth, while the word of the Lord should go forth from Jerusalem. We are here to do these things, and to receive teachings and instructions that we may be prepared for the coming of the Son of Man. We are here to be shut up a little while in these chambers of the mountains, while the indignation of the Almighty passes over the nations. For this the Lord through his ancient servant said, “Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.”

The question is often asked by sectarian ministers, “Why could you not live in New York, Liverpool, or London, as well as going to Zion?” Because we should be in the midst of sin and wickedness and abomination, and it would be very difficult, while so situated, to keep from being polluted by the evils which reign upon the face of the earth at the present time. And to overcome these evils we have been gathered together, that we may be taught in the principles of truth, virtue and holiness, and be prepared to dwell in the presence of God.

When we embraced the Gospel we had only just begun our work. Being baptized into this Church is only like learning the alphabet of our mother tongue—it is the very first step. But having received the first principles of the Gospel of Christ, let us go on to perfection.

Brethren and sisters, let us lay these things to heart and try to realize that the eyes of God, of angels, of those who have gone before us are waiting and watching for the completion of our labors. We have everything to stimulate us to action to do the will of God and overcome evil and be humble, obedient, diligent and faithful. Let us labor faithfully while we dwell in the flesh, that we may be satisfied with our labors when we get through. We have everything to encourage us here in the valleys of the mountains. We have the blessings of God visible over us day by day in our preservation, and in the preservation of the crops and the fruits of the soil. The hand of the Lord has been over the land. Who would have been believed twenty years ago, if he had said that this barren, desolate waste would have become like the Garden of Eden? It never could have been done except through the mercies and blessings of God. His promises have been fulfilled to us, and we can just as well acknowledge His hand in these temporal blessings as in anything else, for the hand of God is in it all.

I pray that God will bless us with His spirit, and give us power to maintain our integrity, magnify our callings and to be faithful to our covenants, to our God and to each other, that we may overcome the world, the flesh and the devil and be prepared to inherit eternal life, for Jesus’ sake: Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, May 19th, 1867.

I also am a missionary, and I always considered it a great honor to be one. I received a mission when I embraced this work; it has never been taken from me yet. In company with a number of the brethren I have just returned, as br. Taylor has said, from visiting our brethren in the south. We have had an excellent time. We have been over a great many rough roads, traveled hard, and have preached from once to three times every day. We have been taught, instructed, and edified; at least I have a great deal. We have had a good time in visiting the Saints, and as President B. Young remarked in some of his discourses, we have been able to draw the contrast between preaching to the Saints and preaching to the world. My own experience enabled me to bring that subject home very readily, and I presume it is so with most of the Elders who have been on missions preaching the gospel. I have traveled a great many thousands of miles to preach the gospel without purse or scrip, with my knapsack on my back, and begging my bread from door to door. I have done many things that all the gold in California would not have hired me to do except for the gospel. My natural feelings would forbid me traveling through the world asking for my bread from door to door; I would much sooner labor for it.

We have been called to preach the gospel; the Lord Almighty has required it at our hands; we would have been under condemnation as Elders if we had not done it. We have done it, and our garments, in a great measure, are clear of the blood of this generation. For over thirty years we have labored to preach the gospel; and we have gathered together a people to these valleys of the mountains, with whom I rejoice to meet. I once asked the Lord to let me go and preach the gospel. I had a desire to preach the gospel in its beauty, plainness, and glory, and to show the worth of the principles it contained. I felt that they were of as much value to my fellow men as to me. The Lord gave me the privilege I asked for, and I believe that I have preached to the nations of the earth as much as I desire; if duty should not require it, I never wish to go and preach to the world again. I have had my day and time at it; still, if called to go, I presume I should go as I have always done. But I do enjoy the society of the Saints, I love home, and I love to travel through these settlements, and to see the boys, the girls, the men, and the women parading the streets to welcome the President and his brethren; and, on our return here, to meet with greetings from ten thousand Saints brought peculiar meditations to my mind. It brought home very forcibly the contrast between preaching to the Saints and preaching to the world.

In my early missions, when preaching in the Southern States—Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky—I have waded swamps and rivers and have walked seventy miles or more without eating. In those days we counted it a blessing to go into a place where there was a Latter-day Saint. I went once 150 miles to see one; and when I got there he had apostatized, and tried to kill me. Then, after traveling seventy-two miles without food, I sat down to eat my meal with a Missouri mobocrat, and he damning and cursing me all the time. That is the nature of the Southern people—they would invite you to eat with them if they were going to cut your throat. In those days we might travel hundreds and hundreds of miles and you could not find a Latter-day Saint, but now, thank God, we have the privilege of traveling hundreds and hundreds of miles where we can find but little else. I regard this as a great blessing.

Our missionaries are going abroad under different circumstances from what we went. We had no Zion, no Utah, no body of Saints to give us any assistance. We were commanded to go without purse or scrip, and we had to do it. We trusted in the Lord, and he fed us. We found friends, built up churches, and gathered out the honest and meek of the earth. Times have changed since then. These brethren are going to the nations of the earth where starvation stares many of the people in the face, and where it is hard for millions to obtain the necessaries of life. The people here are wealthy, and it is no more than right that we should impart of our substance to help those who are going on missions. I hope the brethren and sisters will help li– berally, and will impart sufficient to send the brethren to their several fields of labor.

I rejoice in the gospel of Christ; I rejoice in the principles that have been revealed for our salvation, exaltation, and glory. I rejoice in the establishment of the work in these mountains, and in our southern settlements. As has been already said, the Lord has blessed our brethren there. It is a miracle to see those settlements when we consider what the country was such a short time since. The city of St. George is second to none in the Territory unless it be Great Salt City; and I doubt the latter being equal to St. George, when we take into consideration the population of the two places. They have better buildings and improvements there, according to numbers, than we have here. At Toquerville, too, they are laying fine foundations for stone and brick buildings, and they are improving all through the southern settlements. The soil there is so sandy that it looks as if it would require two men to hold it together long enough for a hill of corn to grow. Like the waves of the sea, it is ever on the move. It contains, too, a good deal of mineral which destroys the vegetation and everything with which it comes in contact. Some of the brethren have spent as much as two thousand dollars to render an acre of land productive; now they have fine gardens and vineyards growing, and, strange to say, though the country naturally looks like a desolate, barren, sandy, unfruitful desert, still the cattle are fat, all kinds of stock look well, and everything was green and flourishing in the settlements as we passed through them. The whole of that mission at its commencement presented a most forbidding aspect, and really had so many discouraging features that men were compelled to work by faith and not by sight. Now, however, the soil is blessed, the climate is delightful, and plenty and prosperity attend the labors of the people. To show you the difference of the climate in the country, and of the district of country a few miles this side of it, I need only mention that the morning we left Beaver there was ice along the creeks, but when we got to Toquerville, two days’ travel further south, we found the apricots half grown, the peaches as large as peas, the cottonwood trees green and in full leaf, altogether looking like another country. It is a different climate altogether from what it is in these higher places.

The hand of God is in all the operations we are trying to carry out. We have to build up Zion independent of the wicked; we have got to become self-sustaining, and the Lord is inspiring His prophets to preach to us to lay the foundation for the accomplishment of this work. The day is not far distant when we shall have to take care of ourselves. Great Babylon is going to fall, judgment is coming on the wicked, the Lord is about to pour upon the nations of the earth the great calamities which He has spoken of by the mouths of His prophets; and no power can stay these things. It is wisdom that we should lay the foundation to provide for ourselves.

With regard to the Word of Wisdom, I must say I was agreeably surprised to see how generally the people are taking hold of it. We did not see much coffee or tea, and I do not think that one in the company drank a drop of it. I rejoice in this; it is going to make the people more wealthy, it will save us a great deal of means, besides preventing our being poisoned to death, for these things are poisoned, and the Lord understood that when He gave the Word of Wisdom many years ago. The people are improving in a great many things. There is a very good spirit and feeling among them, and the feeling to carry out the purposes of God is general.

I rejoice in this work because it is true, because it is the plan of salvation, the eternal law of God that has been revealed to us, and the building up of Zion is what we are called to perform. I think we have done very well considering our traditions and all the difficulties which we have had to encounter; and I look forward, by faith, if I live a few years, to the time when this people will accomplish that which the Lord expects them to do. If we do not, our children will. Zion has got to be built up, the Kingdom of God has got to be established, and the principles revealed to us have to be enjoyed by the Latter-day Saints. There is no principle that God has revealed but what has salvation in it, and we, in order to be saved, must observe His laws and ordinances. Where is there a man or woman who does not wish to be saved? All wish to be saved; all desire salvation, and to enjoy those blessings which they were created to enjoy. The gospel has been offered to this generation for the purpose of saving them in the Kingdom of God if they will receive it. I rejoice in all the principles revealed to us, and the more I see, hear, and learn, the more I am satisfied of the importance of the revelations that God has given to us. As President Young remarked in one of his sermons south, “Whatever the Lord reveals to this or any other people does not ignore anything revealed before.” No part of the gospel is superfluous. It is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and all the inhabitants of this world and all others have got to be saved by it, if saved at all. It is necessary, therefore, that we receive and obey all of its principles. When the first principles of the gospel were revealed to us we rejoiced in them. After them we had other principles revealed, the principle of baptism for the dead, for instance. We did not know anything of that until about the year 1840, on our return from England. I rejoice in that principle. It is a great blessing that there can be saviors on Mount Zion. It is a glorious principle that we can go forth and erect temples and attend to ordinances for the living and the dead; that we can redeem our forefathers and progenitors from among the spirits in prison. They will be preached to in prison by those spirits on the other side of the veil who hold the keys of the Kingdom of God, and we will have the privilege of attending to ordinances in the flesh for them. Then, again, the blessing that God has revealed to us in the patriarchal order of marriage—being sealed for time and eternity—is not prized by us as it should be. When that principle was revealed, the prophet told the brethren that this kingdom could not advance any farther without it; “and,” said he, “if you do not receive it you will be damned saith the Lord.” You may think this very strange, but the Lord never reveals anything that He does not require to be honored.

What would have been our position if this had not been revealed? This principle is plain, clear, and interesting; without it not a man in this Church could have either wife or child sealed to him for eternity, for all our marriage covenants before were only for time, and we, as a Church, had arrived at that point when, in order to insure a full salvation, it was necessary to reveal this principle. It is a great blessing to us. We love our wives and children, and wish to enjoy their society, but the thought of separation would mar all the happiness that the Saints might otherwise attain. The Saint who aspires to salvation and glory wants a continuation of family ties and associations after death. Without this principle we were like the rest of the world—without any such hope. From the day the apostles were slain until the Lord revealed this principle in the last days, not a man ever dwelt in the flesh who had wife or child sealed to him for eternity, so that he could enjoy their society in the resurrection. That was just our position before this ordinance was revealed, but now, whether we have one wife, two, three, or as many as the Lord sees fit to bestow upon us, when we come forth from the grave our families remain with us in the eternal world. So it is with every principle the Lord reveals—it is good for His people in time and eternity.

Brethren and sisters, let us be faithful, and look at the promises of God as they are contained in the gospel of Christ, and never treat lightly any principle, no matter what it is, whether it be faith, repentance, baptism for the remission of sins, the resurrection of the dead, eternal judgments, the marriage covenant, baptism for the dead, or any other ordinance that the Lord has revealed; they all belong to the kingdom, are necessary to salvation, and the responsibility of carrying them out rests upon this people. We know that the world looks with contempt upon us and upon the institutions of the Kingdom of God. They do not object to institutions that are corrupt and ungodly. The world is flooded today with evil and wickedness, and the earth groans under it. But because we as a people follow the example of Abraham, in taking more wives than one, we are universally decried and despised. The Christian world profess to believe in Abraham, and he, through obedience to the command of God in this respect, was called the “Father of the faithful,” and the twelve gates of the New Jerusalem will each be named after one of the twelve patriarchs, his descendants, and the sons of a polygamist, and fathers of all Israel. Even the Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who came to lay down his life to redeem the world, was through the same lineage. He was of Judah; He was the King of the Jews and the Savior of the world.

These principles are as righteous today as in any other age of the world when governed and controlled by the commandments of God. Let us prize all the principles, revelations, and blessings that God has revealed to us; let us treasure them up, do our duty to God, to one another, and our fellow men. No man has any time to sin, to steal, swear, or break any of the laws of God if he wishes to secure a full and complete salvation; but we must all do the best we can, laboring with all our might to overcome every evil, for it will take a whole life of faithfulness and integrity for any Saint of God to receive a full salvation in the presence of God.

May God bless us, and give us His spirit, and wisdom to guide and direct us into all truth, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, April 7, 1867.

I shall call the attention of that portion of the House of Israel who are present to the text which was given us at the beginning of this Conference—“Be ye of one heart and of one mind.” This is a very good text, and one that is of great importance to this people. As was quoted this morning, Jesus said if ye are not one ye are not mine. This principle has been given to us by commandment and revelation. “Mormonism” is not a fable, neither is it a Yankee trick got up to deceive this generation, but it is a living fact, a truth which God and the angels in heaven know, and which many people on earth understand.

The principles which have been taught to us since the commencement of this Conference are very important for us to understand and to carry out in our lives. This is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It has been established by the commandment of God, and it is composed of the honest in heart, the meek of the earth, out of all sects, parties, denominations, and nations. This body of people, or church, has got to build up the Zion of God in the last days, and this work cannot be accomplished upon any other principle than that of our being united together as the heart of one man.

Everywhere upon the face of the earth we can see what the effect of disunion is. The more that nations, communities, families, or bodies of people in any capacity under heaven, are divided, the less power they possess to carry out any purpose or principle imaginable, and the more union they possess, whether in a legislative or any other capacity, the more power they have to accomplish what they desire. We can see that the people of the world are becoming more and more divided every day, and the evils resulting therefrom are everywhere apparent. We are called to build up Zion, and we cannot build it up unless we are united; and in that union we have got to carry out the commandments of God unto us, and we have got to obey those who are set to lead and guide the affairs of the Kingdom of God.

There have been principles presented before us and counsel given during this Conference which are of vast importance to this people. There are many positions that we as a people have to occupy, and many branches of business to which we have to attend, not only of a spiritual but also of a temporal nature. Jesus said to the Jews—You pay tithes of mint, anise, and cummin, but you neglect the weightier matters of the law, and they, as well as your tithing, are required at your hands. So it is with us. We are one of heart and mind, as it regards faith, repentance, baptism, or the first principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ; but the same unity must exist in our midst in all our temporal labors—in building temples, tabernacles, cities, towns, villages, canals, cultivating the earth, or any other labor, if we ever accomplish the object for which we have been raised up. No people, unless they are united together, can ever build up Zion and establish the Kingdom of God on the earth.

We have been taught the Word of Wisdom. It was given to us many years ago, and the Lord said it was applicable to the weakest Saint. Very few of us have kept the Word of Wisdom; but I have no doubt that if the counsel of President Young were carried out it would save the people of this Territory a million of dollars annually. I feel that we ought to put these things into practice. We ought to unite together in all matters required of us in order to carry out the purposes of the Lord our God. The people are able to do it if they feel disposed. Why, Bishop Hardy told me here this morning that he had laid aside his tobacco; he has loved it almost ever since he was born, and if he can leave it off every man in Israel ought to be able to do it. It was said today that whiskey drinking makes fools of men; it does. Its effects are much worse than they used to be, for the liquor made nowadays contains so much strychnine and arsenic that it is enough to kill anybody, and unless those who use it do lay it aside many will die. Lay aside whiskey, tobacco, tea, and coffee, and use none of them unless it be as a medicine. We can all do it, and there is not a man or woman in Israel, with any faith in this work, but is required to do so.

This little mustard seed here around this bowery, which has sprung up in the valleys of the mountains, has either got to grow and progress and become a great tree, in whose branches the fowls of the air can lodge, or it must stop growing altogether. We have either to build up Zion in its beauty, power, and glory, to the order which has been received by the servants of God, or else give it up. We must do one or the other. If we do this we must advance, and whatever God requires at our hands we must carry out.

I know the world oppose us because we are united; they say we are governed by one man. I would to God that all Israel would obey the voice of one man as the heavens obey the voice of God. Then we would have power to build up Zion and to obtain all things necessary for us before the Lord. We have come to this. There is no division among us so far as the principles of our religion are concerned; it is in relation to some things the world call temporal that we are not one. How are you going to build up Zion? In the hearts of the people? Why you could not get Zion into the heart of any man, not even into that tabernacle, and I never saw a man in my life as big as that, and I hope we shall never see the day when we will have a house big enough to hold Israel, for I trust they will be too numerous for any house we can build. We have to build up Zion, a temporal work here upon the face of the earth, and we have got to establish righteousness and truth. When I say a temporal work, I speak of temporal things. The Zion of our God cannot be built up in the hearts of men alone. We have to build up temples and cities, and the earth has to become sanctified and to be made holy by the children of God who will dwell upon it, and to do this we must be united together.

I do not wish to preach a long sermon, but I feel that we ought to lay hold and carry out the counsel that has been given to us at this Conference. If we lay aside these things that do us no good, as has been already said, we will be better off, have more unity, have power to gather and feed the poor, to send the Elders abroad, and to do a great deal of good with the means that we have saved, instead of squandering it upon those things that are injurious to us and displeasing in the sight of God.

Brethren and sisters, let us lay these things to heart, and be united in doing all the good we can in our day and generation. We have the right to do good, but not evil. The principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ which have been revealed in our day are the power of God unto salvation to all that believe, both Jew and Gentile, in this age of the world as well as any other; and inasmuch as we will be united in carrying out the counsel we have received, we can overcome every evil that lies in our path, build up the Zion of God, and place ourselves in a position that we may be saved therein, which, may God grant, for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, Tabernacle, G.S.L. City, October 22, 1865.

There is a great responsibility resting upon any prophet, apostle, high priest, elder, or any messenger or servant of God, who is called to preach the Gospel; and any person who is called to preach the Gospel to the children of men is entirely dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord for all the principles he may present unto those who hear him. Any generation, also, to whom a message is sent from heaven, is held responsible for the receiving or rejecting of that message.

It is a very hard matter for the Lord to build up His kingdom upon the earth, where the devil has power and dominion over the minds of the children of men. It would be impossible for Him to do so in this or any other age of the world, unless he found an element to work with Him, for the very reason that He has given to all men an agency to choose the path in which they will walk. This is the reason why there has been so small a portion of time since the creation of the world in which God has had an organized kingdom upon the earth—when He has had a church that He Himself has organized, guided, dictated, directed and controlled. The devil—Lucifer—the son of the morning, has had great dominion here upon the earth; he has had great dominion over the minds of the children of men; and the Lord has taken great pains, I may say from the creation, to endeavor to establish His kingdom, to present His laws upon this earth, and to get the children of men to obey those laws that they might fulfil the object of their creation.

The Lord gave father Adam the priesthood, and the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, after the fall. When he went out into the dreary world, driven from the Garden of Eden, he received the Gospel, he received the priesthood, and he started forth upon the face of the earth with the keys of the kingdom of God, to endeavor to establish the works of righteousness upon the earth. He gave this priesthood to his sons. A number of them were ordained high priests. But in the commencement we find not only the work of God but the work of the devil manifest in the hearts of men. Cain was stirred up in anger against his brother Abel, and rose up and slew him, shedding innocent blood, and the power of evil commenced in the beginning. We find from the Bible, as well as from other revelations which God has given us, that Adam and the early patriarchs, those who were willing to be led by the law of God in that generation, received the high priesthood, and lived to a great age. It is said Methuselah lived to be almost 1,000 years old, and so did father Adam and others. They held the priesthood, and taught their children truth and righteousness to establish the kingdom of God in their day and generation. Herein is where I say the Lord commenced and labored to establish his kingdom and to guide men to receive the word of the Lord, that they might walk in obedience to His laws, fulfil the object of their creation and be saved when they got through with this probation—that they might keep their estate and receive an exaltation and glory in the presence of God.

We are informed by revelation that Adam, three years previous to his death, “called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman,” and there bestowed upon them his last patriarchal blessing; and he prophesied what should take place even till the coming of Messiah, which prophecy is said to be written in the Book of Enoch. But men soon began to work corruption and unrighteousness on the earth in that early age; and in tracing the history of the church and kingdom of God from those prophets down, we find that the majority of the human family were unwilling to keep the commandments of God or to live according to those principles which were revealed to them for their salvation. It was but a little time after, comparatively speaking, that Enoch, who was acquainted with the teachings of Adam and of his fathers who held the holy priesthood, labored to gather the people together to practice righteousness, but the majority of them would not be guided by him. He labored 365 years, we are informed by revelation, teaching them principles of righteousness, that they might become sanctified and prepared to receive celestial glory, but his labors were not appreciated by them. Why did not Enoch remain on the earth and Zion prevail? Because wickedness prevailed. The majority of the human family in that generation were wicked; they were not ruled over by the Lord; and, hence, there were not men enough on the face of the earth, in that generation, who were willing to receive the Gospel, keep the commandments of God, and work the works of righteousness, for Enoch to have power to remain on the earth. Therefore it was that the Lord took Enoch and the city of Enoch to himself; for we are informed by revelation that the city was translated and all its inhabitants. There were not men enough in the days of Enoch who were willing to sustain that which was right; one part or other had to leave the earth; and the Lord translated Enoch and his city and took them home to Himself.

You may trace the history of the kingdom of God from that time down, and you will find this prevailing among the nations of the earth. They were prone to evil, to sin, to blasphemy, to lie, to steal, to swear, to commit adultery, to pollute the earth which they inherited, in their day and generation, and hence it was an impossibility for the Lord to establish His kingdom among the children of men, unless He could find willing minds enough to receive that kingdom, to build it up and sustain it and do the works of righteousness. The devil did not make this earth. It never belonged to him, and never will; but Lucifer was cast down to the earth with the third part of the hosts of heaven, and they have dwelt here until today. They remain here yet; and they have had their effect upon the hearts and minds and lives of the children of men for nearly six thousand years—from the time that man was cast out of the Garden of Eden into the cold and dreary world.

The Lord has set His hand many times in different dispensations to establish His kingdom upon the earth, He has raised up men—noble spirits—who have come forth and tabernacled in the flesh at different periods and times. He has inspired those men; given them revelations; filled them with inspiration, with light, with truth, with the things of the kingdom of God; and many of them had the vision of their minds opened to behold the fate of the work of God in all generations—the beginning, the middle and the end. Many old prophets have seen, by revelation, our day, have seen the sorrow, calamity, war, and afflictions in various dispensations and ages of the world. The earth had become so corrupted under its inhabitants in the days of Noah, that the word of the Lord came to him to build an ark; he received revelation from God to prepare to save himself and his family, while the wicked were destroyed. Enoch before him had seen this event; he had seen the same things as Noah. The Lord had shown him what was in the future. Whenever a generation have corrupted themselves and defiled the earth, and the cup of their iniquity is full, the Lord has brought judgments upon that generation. This we have ample testimony of from the commencement of the world.

Noah was 120 years building the ark, we are informed in the Scriptures, and during that time he preached the Gospel. How many who were willing to believe his testimony? Only eight souls in all, including himself. He was very unpopular, I presume, and had as much derision heaped upon his head, for building an ark on dry ground, as any man that ever lived on the earth. But Noah was a prophet and a messenger of God, called to warn that generation and to build an ark, and if he had not done it he would have been held responsible for the lives of himself and family and all that generation. But he had the Spirit of God and was willing to do as he was told, whether the doctrine he preached was popular or unpopular. He built the ark, and went into it with his family, and they were saved. The history of the flood and of the salvation of Noah and his family is well known. He performed the work assigned him to do, and was saved; and that generation went to hell, there to remain until Christ went and preached the Gospel to their spirits in prison that they might be judged like men in the flesh. So you may trace the history of the kingdom of God through the world, generation after generation, and there is no generation that we have ever read of, the majority of whom have been willing to serve the Lord.

Look at the days of Abraham, whose faith was so great that he was called the father of the faithful. He was an heir to the royal priesthood, another noble spirit, the friend of God. He came upon this earth, not in a way of light, but through idolatrous parents. His father was an idolater. I do not know who his grandfather was; but his father had false gods that he worshipped and sacrificed to. God inspired Abraham, and his eyes were opened so that he saw and understood something of the dealings of the Lord with the children of men. He understood that there was a God in heaven, a living and true God, and that no man should worship any other God but Him. These were the feelings of Abraham, and he taught his father’s house, and all around him, as far as he had the privilege. The consequence was, his father and the idolatrous priests of that day sought to take his life. In the book of Abraham, translated in our day and generation, we are informed that Abraham was bound, and those priests sought to take his life, but the Lord delivered him from them. One reason why they did so was, that he had gone into those places which his father considered sacred, and among the wooden gods which were there, and, being filled with anger that his father should bow down and worship gods of wood and stone, he broke them. When his father saw that his son Abraham had broken his gods he was very angry with him. But Abraham, trying to reason with his father, said that probably the gods had got to fighting among themselves and had killed one another. He tried to bring him to reason, but his father did not believe they had life enough to kill one another. If he had possessed the spirit which his son had, he would have said there is no power with these gods; but he did not, and Abraham had to flee from his father’s house, confiding in the Lord, who gave many promises to him and concerning his posterity.

We have no account of the Lord having organized a kingdom upon the earth in that day; but he gave the priesthood to Abraham, who taught his children the principles of righteousness. Isaac taught Jacob; and Jacob’s sons, the twelve Patriarchs, were taught by the priesthood, and God gave unto them many great and glorious blessings. From that time until the days of Moses we can trace in sacred history that the Lord had witnesses on the earth, from time to time, who were raised up and bore record of the truth to the people. Moses was raised up and led Israel forty years, he was a high priest after the order of Melchizedek, and received his priesthood from Jethro, his father-in-law, who received it through Abraham. Moses undertook to preach the Gospel to the Israelites; but they were very dark, very prone to evil, as well as the Gentiles around them; and they had not that faith and the fulness of inspiration which the Lord desired, to build up his kingdom; consequently, they had a law of carnal commandments given to them to bring them to Christ. The Lord labored with them, and Moses labored with them; he could not leave them for a short time but they were ready to turn to idolatry and make a golden calf to worship, or something contrary to the kingdom of God.

Trace this down to the days of Christ and you will find it has been a hard matter for the Lord to get people to have faith in Him to build up His kingdom. Jesus came in fulfillment of the prophecies; He was the Son of God, and a literal descendant of Abraham. He came to his own and his own received him not, though he was the Son of God. Take the Jews today anywhere in the world, and they do not believe in Jesus. I do not say this because I wish to find fault with them. I have a great love for them as a people. But they have rejected the Messiah, and they will remain in unbelief until they go back and rebuild Jerusalem—which they will do in this generation—and until the Messiah comes. The day will come when Judah will know who Shiloh is, and that day is not very far distant. Jesus came, organized his church and kingdom and sent the Gospel to the Jews; but the Jews failed, through unbelief, and the Gospel was given to the Gentiles, to whom one of the ancient apostles said, “If God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest He also spare not you.” Did the kingdom of God remain in the days of Christ, with apostles, pastors, teachers, and the gift of the Holy Spirit? But a little time elapsed until the Lord could not find men enough throughout the whole Gentile world who would receive the kingdom of God in its purity, embrace its principles and maintain it on the earth. Hence there was a falling away; the gifts and graces of the Gospel were lost to men; those who held the priesthood were overpowered, and put to death by wicked men. The Church went into the wilderness, and all that the prophets had spoken concerning the kingdom of God in that day had its fulfillment.

Christendom professes to believe the Bible; and all we have asked of this generation is to believe the Bible, and then they will believe that God will establish his kingdom in the last days, for the Bible plainly points it out, and shows that the Lord will send an angel bearing the everlasting Gospel, to them that dwell on the earth, that it may be preached to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people. All the prophets who have spoken of the last days have spoken of this work. Daniel saw it and prophesied of it. Isaiah, Jeremiah, and all the prophets have referred to it. And the Lord sent his angel, in fulfillment of what he declared he would do, who called upon a man on the earth, a literal descendant of Abraham and of Joseph—one of the promised seed who had been prophesied of in ages past and gone, that he would come forth and lay the foundation of the kingdom of God. The angels of God ministered unto him; his name was Joseph Smith; and he laid the foundation of this kingdom, or this congregation would not be before me today. You are the fruits of the labors he commenced.

The Lord has said that in the last days his kingdom should not be taken from the earth, nor given to another people; but that the kingdoms of this world should become the kingdoms of our God and his Christ. We have the Bible, the Book of Mormon, the book of Doctrine and Covenants, and other revelations of God to this effect. Either this is the kingdom of God or it is not the kingdom of God. If it is not the kingdom of God, then are we like the rest of mankind; our faith is vain, our works are vain, and we are in the same condition of ignorance with regard to the Gospel and the purposes of God, as the rest of the world. There are tens of thousands throughout these valleys, who know that this is the kingdom of God. They know this by the revelations of Jesus Christ. It is not the testimony of another man that gives me the knowledge for myself. If I had not the testimony of truth for myself I would not be qualified to build up this kingdom. There is no man or woman qualified to build up the kingdom of God if they have not the testimony of truth for themselves.

I will say to this congregation, Jew and Gentile, believer and unbeliever, that this is the great kingdom spoken of by Daniel, the commencement of the Zion of our God, which every prophet has spoken of who has referred to the Zion of the last days. The Lord has sworn by himself, because he could swear by no greater, that he will establish it in the latter days. But to do this he must get a people to work with him. It could not be done otherwise if the world stood for a million years, for it is by the agency which men hold that he accomplishes his purposes on the earth. The Lord prepared the way for this age and generation, and he has raised up some of the noblest spirits in this dispensation that ever dwelt in the flesh. He ordained Joseph Smith from before the foundation of the world, to come forth and lay the foundation of his kingdom. Those that knew Joseph know that he was true and faithful unto death. He labored, after he was ordained with Oliver Cowdery, fourteen years, two months and twenty-one days, in the establishment of this work, after he organized the first branch, with six members on the 6th day of April, 1830. He was martyred on the 27th June, 1844. What did he accomplish, raised up, as he was, in the midst of a generation as full of tradition as the inhabitants of the earth were in the days of Noah, and almost as unbelieving as that generation were? He had to com– bat the errors of our forefathers which had been handed down for generations. He built upon the same foundation that Jesus and the Apostles built upon. He preached the same Gospel accompanied by the same ordinances that they preached. He organized the Church in the same way, with the same gifts and blessings, and the same Spirit accompanied the Gospel to those who believed. The elders went forth calling upon the children of men to repent and be baptized for the remission of sins, and have hands laid upon them that they might receive the Holy Ghost. And the testimony was, that if they obeyed the Gospel they would receive that Spirit. Did the Lord sustain that testimony by giving the Holy Ghost from the heavens? He did, as every faithful man and woman in this Church knows and can bear testimony to before God, angels and men. This was a great work. He lived until he sent the Gospel to the nations of the earth; he built temples, gave endowments to the Twelve and others, and told them that they must bear off this kingdom. He accomplished all that the Lord required of him, and he sealed his testimony with his blood; and his testimony is in force today. Had Joseph Smith shrunk from the duty which God required of him; had he said, “It is unpopular, I will not make as much by preaching the Gospel as if I were to let it alone, I will only be persecuted,” the consequence would have been he would have been damned. The Lord would have taken the priesthood from him, and held him responsible for the testimony he had given him. We are all in this position. If we do not do our duty and bear a faithful testimony to this generation, the Lord will hold us responsible. This generation, who have shed the blood of Joseph Smith and his brother Hyrum and others of the anointed of God, are held responsible for so doing before high heaven, and the judgments of God will follow them for shedding innocent blood.

But did the kingdom stop when the prophets were put to death? No, for it is the kingdom of God. It fell to the lot of brother Brigham Young to receive the priesthood and hold the keys of the kingdom. You who have been acquainted with him for the past thirty years, know his life. You know what he has accomplished. I have traveled many thousands of miles with him, and have been familiar with his labors. No man ever lived in the flesh who traveled more miles to carry salvation to the children of men, who preached more and did more for the redemption of mankind and to carry out the purposes of God, during thirty years, than he has done and is doing. The Lord has sustained him, for he is going to cut his work short in righteousness. He is determined to build up his kingdom as he has promised. Did you ever see an elder refuse when called upon to go on a mission to preach the Gospel? Hardly one in five thousand. This is because they are true and faithful unto God. The Spirit of God is in them. The Lord has planted that Spirit in them that they might go and work to build up this kingdom.

The world feel today concerning “Mormonism” and this people as they did in the days of Noah and Lot concerning the revelations of God and those who believed them then. But what of it? The unbelief of men does not make the work of God of no effect. The Lord requires faithfulness at our hands; and if we do not do our duty we will be held responsible before high heaven for the use we make of the holy priesthood which has been bestowed upon us.

While I sat and gazed, last Conference, upon the vast assembly of elders who were here in this Tabernacle, I thought of the words of Isaiah, when his mind was opened and he looked in vision upon the future. Said he, “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 do you see, Isaiah, that should cause you to break forth in such language as this? I see what the Gods of eternity see. I see what all the prophets and patriarchs before me have seen—that the Lord Almighty will build up his Zion upon the earth in great power and glory in the latter days. Yes, “But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me. Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. Thy children shall make haste; thy destroyers and they that made thee waste shall go forth of thee.” Elder Woodruff quoted from the 13th to the 26th verse of Isaiah, 49th chap.; the 1, 2, 3, 7, and 8 verses of the 52nd chap.; and the 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 13, 14, 15, and 22 verses of the 60th chap.

Thus chapter after chapter he goes on to declare that Zion’s strength is in the Lord Almighty; and his strength is with her because of her faithfulness and integrity. If the elders of Israel had the vision of their minds opened to see Zion in her beauty and glory, they would have no time to sin or do evil; but they would rise up in the strength of the Lord God of Israel and accomplish all that he requires at their hands. Zion is yet in her weakness, but the little one shall become thousands, and the small one a great nation. We talk of the future and of the promises of God to us. They are worthy to be talked of, worthy to be lived for, and to rejoice over, because they are true.

We have warned our own and other nations; and so far our garments are clear of the blood of this generation. There never were men in the flesh who labored harder and tried more to fulfil the commandments of God than the elders of this Church have done. Some of our elders have traveled over 100,000 miles in thirty years to preach the Gospel and build up the kingdom of God; and the Lord Almighty has labored with us.

I have an anxiety—a strong desire, to see the people of the Latter-day Saints—the inhabitants of Zion, rise up and put on their strength. I desire to see them increase in the knowledge of the truth, in faith and good works, and in the knowledge of the things of the kingdom of God. The Lord is not pleased with wickedness and sin. Let any man look at our own beloved country. There is more crime now committed in ten years in it, than used to be in a century. Will the Lord bear with this? No, he will not. He has already destroyed two great and powerful nations that dwelt on this continent, and the remnants of another are scattered over the country in the miserable few who bear the marks of the curse of God upon them—the Indians. If men shed innocent blood, do wickedly, and work iniquity, the seed that they sow they must reap the harvest of.

If the Latter-day Saints, to whom the Lord has revealed the light and truth of the Gospel, were to prove unfaithful and rebel against God, they would be cursed below any people on the earth, below even these miserable Lamanites that we see wandering around our settlements; for we know more than they or their fathers knew; we know better what the mind and will of God is. It is that knowledge that has sustained us for the last thirty years, and over. We know this is the kingdom of God; that we are the friends of God; that the kingdom will stand; and woe be to that nation, kindred, tongue, or people, to that individual or family under the whole heaven that lifts a hand against the Lord’s anointed or against the friends of God, for they will feel the chastening hand of God. We wish this generation well, and we have labored hard to try and save them. Whether men believe or disbelieve is nothing to us; it is our business to keep the commandments of God. If we live so as to keep the Spirit of God with us we will have power to do good and to carry out the things which he requires at our hands.

Be true and faithful; do your duty to yourselves, to your country, to your God, and to one another. When we do this we shall overcome and inherit eternal lives. May God grant that we may do so for Christ’s sake. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, Sunday, Jan. 22, 1865.

I am called upon to occupy a little time this afternoon. I will found my remarks upon the following words, viz.—He that walketh in the paths of godliness, righteousness, and truth hath not fellowship with the blasphemer and the ungodly. I am satisfied that in whatever path the children of men walk, whether that path be good or evil, the longer they follow it the more desire they will have to remain therein; and I am perfectly satisfied, also, that any servant of God who faithfully keeps his commandments and enjoys the spirit of the Lord, and walks in the light thereof continually, feels that anything which is contrary to this is unpleasant and disagreeable to him. No man who thus walks can be pleased and edified in hearing the name of God blasphemed, or in associating with the ungodly and with those who honor not the name of the Lord. Every person has more or less influence in the society where he moves, and becomes responsible not only for his acts, but for the influence he exercises over others. Those persons who will not receive the Gospel of Christ, and do not keep the commandments of God, and will not lay these things to heart, are entirely ignorant of the joy, the consolation, the gratification, and the blessings which are received and enjoyed by walking in the paths of the righteous and the godly.

The good and the evil is presented to all, and the light of Christ enlighteneth all that cometh into the world, according to their capacity and the position they occupy upon the face of the earth; the spirit of the Lord operates upon all persons, more or less, throughout the course of their days, whether they live under a gospel dispensation or not. Those who live under what is called civilized rule are taught the moral law—the ten commandments—they are taught not to lie, not to swear, not to steal, in short, not to do those things that are counted ungodly, unholy, and unrighteous in the midst of society. When parents teach their children these principles in early youth, they make an impression upon their minds, and as quick as children arrive at years of accountability, early impressions will have an influence upon their actions and throughout the rest of their lives. Children so impressed and so trained are ever after shocked when they hear their associates swear and take the name of God in vain; and if ever they learn to swear, it first requires a great effort to overcome their early impressions. Persons who are addicted to stealing, if they have not been actually taught to steal in their youth, their minds have not been sufficiently imbued with the principles of honesty by their parents and guardians.

There is a great responsibility resting upon parents in all communities and societies, and especially with the Latter-day Saints. I was brought up under the Blue Laws of Connecticut, when Presbyterianism ruled throughout the State as the religion of that State; and I dared no more go out to play on a Sunday than I dared put my hand in the fire—it would have been considered an unpardonable sin. We could not attend a ball and dance; we durst not attend a theater, and from Saturday night, at sundown, to Monday morning, we must not laugh or smile, but we must study our catechism; this we had to do whether we were members of the church or not. My father was not a member of any church. This early teaching had its effect upon me. Where Presbyterians, Baptists, and other sects have taught the youth and mankind in general good wholesome principles of morality, so far it has had a good effect upon the generation around them. It is true they had not the gospel, apostles, pastors, teachers, and presidents—inspired men to teach them how to be saved. Their religion was according to the tradition of their fathers; the true Gospel was not manifested in their time, yet they had a great many good moral principles which had a good effect and a salutary influence upon all those who were affected and influenced by them. Wherever there is an influence that leads anybody to good, or to do good, so far I feel to acknowledge the hand of God in it; for I believe that everything that leads to good and to do good is of the Lord, and everything that leads to evil and to do evil is of the wicked one.

I feel to thank the Lord for any good moral principles which have been taught me in my childhood. I am satisfied there have been tens of thousands of the human family since Jesus Christ and the ancient apostles were slain and the church went into the wilderness, who have acted up to the best light they had; for they have had moral principles among them, and they have lived up to their religion, millions of them, according to the best light they had, and they will have their reward for so doing. In the early days of my life, if a man cursed or swore, lied or stole, or broke any of the moral commandments of the Lord, it was looked upon as a disgrace, as not being comely and good, or right, in the sight of moral people in that day. Whenever a man did do wrong, so far he had an influence more or less, and those that were good would not hold fellowship with him.

We now live in another age and dispensation, and most of us who live in the valleys of the mountains have received the Gospel of Christ, which has been revealed unto us in our day and generation, and we have great respect unto the name of the Lord according to the light and knowledge which we have; we have respect unto the ordinances of the house of God, and that respect is increased with us according to the increased light and knowledge which we have. We wish to carry out the commandments of the Lord as far as we have knowledge in the things of the kingdom of God, and feel disposed always to do that which is right. It grates upon the ears of the faithful Latter-day Saint when he hears the name of the Lord blasphemed; he cannot fellowship the person who does it, and you do not find him in that kind of company, no matter whether the blasphemer is a professed Mormon or of the wicked world. No matter what their profession, if men live their religion and honor God, they will not fellowship the ungodly. There is no man that lives his religion in this church and kingdom that can associate with any person who blasphemes the name of God; he will not stay in any such society, but feels himself disgraced if he were to countenance by his presence such blasphemy, and this is so with all men who love the Lord and desire to honor his name, no matter where they may be, or what their position on the earth.

We live in a wicked generation. There is a change in the world now from what it was fifty years ago. There is a great change in comparison to the days of my youth. There is more sin committed now in one Gentile city in twenty-four hours than used to be committed in a hundred years. From the time I can remember until I was twenty years of age, there was but one murder committed in the New England States. When it was generally known that a man had murdered his wife and had to be hung up between the heavens and the earth, it caused a great sensation throughout that country. The murders committed today have become so numerous that they do not think it worth while to publish them; newspaper editors would rather give the space in their papers to advertisements, they pay better. Wickedness of every kind has increased upon the face of the earth; darkness covers the earth, and gross darkness the minds of the people. The whole earth seems to be deluged with profanity and abominations of almost every kind. This is as true as it is lamentable to think about. The Lord has sent his Gospel in its fulness; we have preached it to the nations, and sin and iniquity have increased a thousand fold since the Gospel has been offered to them and they have rejected it. The light which they formerly had is withdrawn from them, and the powers of evil have taken possession of them, and reign universally over the nations; yet, notwithstanding this it is no reason why we should follow in the same path. It is for us to walk in the path of virtue, righteousness, truth, and godliness, honoring God and those things that will exalt men to His favor. This way is open before us—it is open to all men. The Gospel of Jesus Christ has been revealed in its fulness, glory, and beauty, and offered to this generation; and every man and woman who has been willing to accept the Gospel can see and understand the blessings there are to be enjoyed in embracing it. There are blessings offered to this generation in the Gospel which they have had no knowledge of before. There are blessings pertaining to the Gospel in every age that the world were ignorant of until the Gospel was first presented to them.

The Lord gave the holy Priesthood to Adam and to his sons; he gave to him the keys of the kingdom, and all things pertaining to salvation and eternal life. Adam and all his posterity for some centuries possessed and held the priesthood, even down to the days of Enoch and Noah, and the Lord saved the world as far as he could by those principles; but the hearts of men desired to do evil, and evil increased in the world until men became subject to vanity, to sin, and to the temptations of the devil; they yielded to his influence, and the consequence was, after a few generations, and during the days of Noah, they hardly could find a righteous man—a man who was willing to walk in the path of righteousness and truth, and so the Lord brought a judgment upon the world.

The Lord has introduced the Gospel in a number of dispensations, and few have embraced it. It is so in this age of the world. The Lord has commenced to warn the world in our day, and has commenced to save all who will obey his word, that they may receive an exaltation and glory in his presence. He has revealed his Gospel and established his kingdom to save the nations, as far as they will be saved; and we have the same Gospel and Priesthood that Adam had, and the same apostleship that has ever been revealed to any generation of men. This we present to the world—it is in our midst; and the Lord has sent forth his proclamation to save this generation, which is submerged in wickedness, and corruption and abominations of every description.

Many of us have embraced this Gospel, and I will say again, if we live our religion we will have no disposition to walk in the paths of sinners, to blaspheme the name of God, nor will we have fellowship for persons who do it. Dollars and cents will not buy or lead those astray who have embraced the Gospel and live their religion. I know that a man who has been faithful in his prayers, and has become acquainted with the operations of the Holy Spirit and the blessings of it, has no desire to turn from the paths of truth to walk in the ways of the ungodly, for the path of truth and righteousness is the only path of safety.

We are sent into this world to accomplish a great purpose, and to fulfil the object of our creation we must observe the commandments of God, and obey the ordinances of his house, and walk in them while we live in the flesh, that when we have done with this body we can go back into the presence of our Father and our God and receive in fulness the blessings and promises made to his children. Any man or woman that falls short of this, falls short of fulfilling the object of their creation. We have everything to encourage us to do right, and to keep the commandments of God, and to be faithful unto death, that we may have a crown of life. We have but little time to live here—the labor of this probation is very short; and when we can really understand that our future destiny—future happiness, exaltation, and glory, or our future misery, debasement, and sorrow all depend upon the little time we spend in this world, I can say that it is not to the advantage of any man under the heavens to spend his time in doing wrong—it is no advantage to any man to blaspheme the name of God, he makes no money by it, it brings him no joy, happiness, or honor. And again, if a man ever obtains any blessings from any quarter, he has got to obtain them from the Lord, for the devil has no disposition to bless, and will not bless the children of men; but he labors to lead them astray from the paths of righteousness and truth.

Those persons who will not walk according to the light they have, must sooner or later inherit sore afflictions to themselves; they do not have joy, and happiness, and salvation like that person who obeys the commandments of God and constantly does that which is right. The wicked are always in fear. There is no inducement for a man or a woman to commit sin—it is not a paying business. It is better for us to serve the Lord; for those who serve the Lord morning, noon, and night are happy, whether they be rich or poor. I have often thought that I never saw this people more happy than in their seasons of greatest poverty, drivings, and afflictions for the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. The Spirit of God has been with them, and in their humility and sufferings the Holy Ghost, the Comforter, has been their constant companion, and they have been filled with joy and consolation, and have rejoiced before the Lord for all these things. They would not have felt so if they had not been trying to keep the commandments of the Lord.

As a people, we never were as greatly blessed in this world’s goods as at the present time. The Lord has planted our feet in the valleys of these mountains, where we can worship our God in safety and peace, where we can kneel down in our family circles in the morning and at evening, and offer up our prayers and thanksgivings before the Lord, and we can teach these principles to our children, and attend our meetings to listen to the servants of the Lord teaching the principles of eternal life. I trust that the Latter-day Saints will not suffer a desire for the wealth of this world to turn their footsteps aside from the paths of their duty towards God and one another—from rectitude, righteousness, holiness, and godliness before the Lord. If we should see a man that holds the Priesthood mingling with the profane who blaspheme the name of God, and seems to fellowship that kind of society, you may mark that man; he enjoys not the spirit of his religion, the Holy Ghost dwells not with him, or, if he enjoys it at all, it is but in a small degree, and when he enters into that kind of society it will leave him.

It does not pay any person to do wrong, and the present generation will suffer the chastening hand of God, and that severely, because that wickedness predominates throughout the whole world, and the name of the God of Israel is not honored, but is almost forgotten by the children of men, only when they remember him to blaspheme his holy name. As wickedness increases in the world, we should increase in righteousness, in faith, and in knowledge, that we may have an increased degree of the spirit of God dwelling with us, and it will take of the things of the Father and show them unto us, that we may be strengthened to magnify our calling as Saints of the Most High, doing the will of God and building up his kingdom. We should in our lives show that we are the friends of God and each other’s friends, and in doing this we shall be happy; and whether Jacob is great or small, in righteousness the kingdom of God will gain strength, for the heavens are full of knowledge, to be revealed for the use of the children of God as fast as they are prepared to receive it. We shall never see the time when we shall cease to progress and increase in knowledge, for we are the children of God, and if we are faithful in fulfilling the object of our creation, keeping the commandments of God as we are guided and directed to do, the knowledge is boundless that this people have yet to receive. We are in the school, and in a great measure we are still little children in the knowledge of the things of the kingdom of God; yet, how great and glorious are those principles that we are in possession of today when we compare them with our position and advancement ten years ago, or before we heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We were then under the traditions of our fathers—many of them good, though some of them were false and of no profit. With all the teachings we had and the Bible before us, we did not know the first step to take to secure to ourselves eternal life, for there was no man to teach us. Since that day we have heard the voice of apostles and prophets, some on this side and some on the other side of the veil, and they are all engaged in building up the kingdom of God in this the dispensation of the fulness of time.

These principles are worth more than gold and silver to us, and are sweeter than honey or the honeycomb to the faithful, for in them we receive exaltation and salvation both for the living and the dead. They are the same principles that saved our fathers, the prophets and saints of old, and they, without us, cannot be made perfect, nor we without them. I rejoice in the Gospel, for it is the power of God unto salvation to all those that believe, both Jew and Greek. When men reject the Gospel they injure themselves, not God or his Saints; they turn the key against themselves that opens the door of salvation to all believers. Anciently, the world was at war with the Savior, and there has always been a great opposition to the introduction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ from the beginning of time to this day. There has always been in the unregenerated world a spirit of warfare against the kingdom of God. Joseph Smith was an obscure individual when Moroni, the Angel of God, revealed unto him the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and gave into his hands the records of the Nephites. The hearts of men were stirred up against him, and the devil is a personage that has knowledge and great power, and he possesses that power, and has ever since he has been upon the earth. He has so much power that he leads at his will almost the whole of the generations of the earth. By his power the hearts of men were stirred up against Joseph Smith when he received the administration of an angel, because it was the germ of the establishment of the kingdom of God. The devil knew when the angel delivered that record to Joseph Smith that it was the foundation of a system that would overthrow his kingdom. The drivings, etc., that this people have passed through has not been because they have been breakers of the law, nor because they have been more wicked than others, but because they were laying the foundation of the kingdom of God that would grow, and increase, and rule, and reign until it fills the whole earth and brings the world into subjection to its authority and sway, and prepare the way for the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, who is king of kings and Lord of Lords, who will come and reign over the whole earth; and all other kingdoms, and presidents and governors, and their subjects will be obliged to acknowledge that Jesus is the Christ. The Latter-day Work which we represent will bind the power of the devil which has held sway among the children of men for 180 generations. Then it is not strange that the devil should become mad and stir up the wicked to make war against it. The Lord will inspire his servants and give them ability to maintain this kingdom upon the earth. He is at the helm. I would not give much for it if He was not the author of it; it could not stand without Him against the great power that is waged against it.

Why is this warfare? It is not because it is Satan’s kingdom or any part of it; if so, his kingdom would be divided against itself; but it is because it is the kingdom of God, and it has got to be planted in the earth, and it will continue until the scene is wound up, and Christ descends in the clouds of heaven, and the holy angels with him, and the dead in Christ shall rise first to meet him at his coming. The Lord Almighty will sustain the kingdom and back up his servants and their testimony, and he will send judgments, and plagues, and afflictions, and destroying angels, and visit the wicked nations with an overwhelming destruction. All this is the work of God, and we cannot help it if we would. The Lord has decreed that he will build up his kingdom in this day and age of the world, and he has decreed that it shall accomplish the work it is intended to do, and stand forever. The earth belongs to the Lord.

When the devil and his host were sent from heaven because of disobedience, they came to this world. And wherever the children of men are, there also those evil spirits exist to tempt the children of men to do evil, and everything that leads to destruction, and misery, and woe originates from that source, and everything that leads to exaltation, virtue, holiness, goodness, glory, immortality, and eternal life is from the hand of God. The Lord is the strongest power, and he will prevail at last. In this I rejoice, because the earth belongs to him, and we belong to him, and if we have any blessing, we have got to receive it at his hands. When the first missionaries went to England, disembodied spirits sought to destroy them, and had there not been an angel of salvation present, they would have been slain; nothing but the power of God saved them. The visions of their minds were opened, that they saw many of the devils that sought their destruction, although not in the body but in the spirit, and they stood before them like wicked, hideous men, come to destroy them. We had this same power to contend with in London. Sometimes they are invisible, and sometimes they are in the tabernacles of men. In Carthage jail they came in the bodies of men, and were under the influence of the devil, and succeeded in shedding the blood of the Prophet, and thought they would overthrow the Church and kingdom of God. This evil power is manifest and visible more and more as we progress in the kingdom of God.

Let us try to live our religion, and try to be the friends of God; and let us make war against the works of the devil. Let us seek to overcome ourselves, and all our evil impressions, and bring our bodies in subjection to the law of Christ, that we may walk in the light of the Lord, gain power with him, and assist in sanctifying the earth and in building up temples, and in attending to the ordinances of the house of God, that we may be saviors of men, both of the living and the dead.

These are our privileges, and the blessings which the God of heaven has put in our hands. Is there anything in all the dominions of the devil of more value to us than the blessing of our God, given to us through the organization of his kingdom? We have everything to encourage us, and to give us faith and perseverance in the work of God. If we do our duty we shall prosper, and progress, and spread abroad, and the stakes of Zion will be strengthened and her cords lengthened, and ere long we shall have power to return and build up the Center Stake of Zion, and the waste places thereof, and we shall accomplish all we have been called to do. May God bless us and give unto us his Spirit to guide us in all things. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, made in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, June 12, 1863.

Jesus said to those whom he had appointed to go forth and preach his Gospel, “Go your way: behold, I send you forth as lambs among wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor shoes: and salute no man by the way.” Again, “And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake, for a testimony against them and the Gentiles. But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what you shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what you shall speak. For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.”

This is one of the blessings that belong to the Church and kingdom of God in this and in every other age of the world when God has had a Church upon the earth. When people attempt to preach the Gospel without the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, they are under the necessity of study– ing or of writing their sermons, thus presenting the cogitations of their own hearts in support of the doctrines and tenets of their particular sects. When the Lord sets to his hand to perform a work and to build up his kingdom on the earth, his servants whom he calls to do this work are obliged to trust in the Lord their God and to lean upon his arm for strength, for no man can tell what the will of God is unless it is revealed to him by the revelations of Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost.

This is the principle that has sustained the Elders of Israel, in our own day, in all their labors among the nations to build up this kingdom for the last time and to preach the Gospel in the ears of all people and nations. The servants of God in Zion, in all their counsels and deliberations for the promotion of holy and righteous principles, have to be constantly governed by it. Had it not been for this principle, this congregation, gathered from almost every nation under heaven, would not have been found here today; we might have preached to them until doom’s-day, and we, of ourselves, by our own wisdom and ability, could never have convinced them of the truth of the Gospel the Lord has revealed in our day for the gathering and salvation of the honest-in-heart and for the establishment of righteousness over the whole earth.

Not only the men who bare record of these things had the testimony of Jesus Christ, but it also reached those who heard their words, bearing record of the truth to every honest-hearted person throughout all the world for the last thirty years. We cannot know the hearts of men, nor the will of God concerning nations, kingdoms and people only as it is revealed to us by the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. President Young reproves, corrects, gives revelation and teaches doctrine and principle, for the benefit of this people and mankind in general by the revelations which God gives to him. This principle inspired the hearts of ancient Prophets and servants of God and sustained them in every trying scene; it has also been the comfort and sustaining power of the servants of God in this last dispensation from the foundation of this kingdom to the present time. As the ancient Apostles were called, so have the modern Apostles and servants of God been called to go into all the world and preach the Gospel to every creature, and the gift and power of the Holy Ghost has sustained them when they were brought before kings and rulers. The Savior preached and traveled and suffered until he gave up the ghost on Calvary; that same power sustained him under every circumstance, and made known unto him the will of his Father. This is one among the many blessings which the Latter-day Saints enjoy. God reveals unto us light and truth and brings to our remembrance things which are according to the will of God which we should teach. This is a great consolation to us, and to realize our position in the mountains. We have been led here by the gentle hand of God. No man could have foreseen what would happen to the nation of the United States had it not been revealed to us in the revelations which God gave to his Prophet Joseph Smith. The revelations concerning what shall transpire in the last days can be read in the Book of Mormon, Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and in the Bible. “Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets.” When we were called upon to leave our homes and our holy Temple in Nauvoo, it was a great trial to many. When we came to this country as pioneers, we built the bridges, killed the snakes and opened the way for the emigration of Saint and sinner, saying, it is all right; but we did not know how soon the calamities that are now upon the nation would break forth, yet we knew they would come soon. By what power did we influence these men and women before me to leave their homes and their country to dwell in these distant wilds? They were influenced by the inspiration of the Almighty which always attends the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in all ages. There was a spirit in them, and the inspiration of the Almighty gave it understanding, and they were moved upon to listen to the advice that the servants of God gave them to gather to the place the Lord had appointed to locate his people. This is the hand of God, and we should be thankful for this good land and for our homes. We here dwell in peace and stand in holy places in a land which has been dedicated to God; and the power of righteousness prevails here, and hence we have power to remain here in peace. We remain here in peace because righteousness and the power of God dwell here. It is true the enemy of God and all the righteous, the Devil, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, has sought our destruction from the beginning and has stirred up the wicked to seek our overthrow; yet the Lord has preserved us. We should be thankful for this, and we should honor God and worship him with undivided hearts, doing our duty constantly and pursuing that course wherein we shall be justified before the Lord.

No man can value sufficiently the life he now holds and the place he now occupies in this world, unless he is moved upon by the Spirit and power of God to enlighten his understanding. What is the chief end of man? It, seemingly, is to get gold and fame and the honor that man bestows, to gratify their sensual propensities and desires. Do the great mass of mankind seek to honor and glorify God, seeking by every lawful means to bring their bodies into subjection to the law of Christ? Do they understand that they are the offspring of God and are made after his image and likeness, and placed in this world to pass through a short probation to prepare them to dwell eternally in the presence of the Father and the Son? Are not nine-tenths of the human family more ready to blaspheme the name of God than to honor it? Would they do this if they were in possession of the Spirit of God to magnify their calling and fulfill the object and end of their creation? No. Everything that God has made keeps the law of its creation and honors it except man. I have always marveled at this. Man– kind, who are made after the image of God to answer high and noble purposes, are the only beings in creation that will blaspheme his name and set at naught his authority. They have an agency, and the Spirit of God is offered to them as freely as the light of the sun, which shines on the just and on the unjust, if they would receive it. All the light and intelligence man ever did or will have, has come through that principle and power; and in company with this, the Lord has raised up men in our own generation, to whom he has sent the administration of angels and laid on them the responsibility of bearing record to the Gospel, with a promise to all nations, both Jew and Gentile, that, if they will receive the testimony of his servants, they shall receive the Holy Ghost, who shall bear record unto them of the truth. Have the nations received the Gospel? Yes, one of a family and two of a city, here and there one, and they are gathered together to stand in holy places and to build up the Church and kingdom of God in the last days, to prepare the way for the coming of the Son of Man. The mass of this generation have rejected the Gospel; they have shed the blood of the Lord’s Prophets and consented thereto, and have driven from their midst those who bear the words of eternal life. One of the most liberal and free Governments under the heavens has driven out from them the only people under the heavens that God acknowledges as his Church, because of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus which they bear. We have been driven to the valleys of these mountains for our good; the hand of God has led us here. Great affliction awaits the nation from which we have been driven out and the wicked nations of the Gentiles on this land and in foreign lands.

We live in a momentous age, and our responsibilities are great before the Lord and to this generation. We have borne record of the calamities that should be poured out in the last days and they are coming to pass. For thus saith the Lord, “And after your testimony cometh wrath and indignation upon the people. For after your testimony cometh the testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause groanings in the midst of her, and men shall fall on the ground and not be able to stand. And also cometh the testimony of the voice of thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and the voice of tempests, and the voice of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds. And all things shall be in commotion; and surely, men’s hearts shall fail them; for fear shall come upon all people. And angels shall fly through the midst of heaven, crying with a loud voice, sounding the trump of God, saying: Prepare ye, prepare ye, O inhabitants of the earth; for the judgment of our God is come. Behold, and lo, the Bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him.” Again, “I, the Lord, am angry with the wicked; I am holding my Spirit from the inhabitants of the earth. I have sworn in my wrath, and decreed wars upon the face of the earth, and the wicked shall slay the wicked,” &c.

If a thousand Prophets had proclaimed to this nation what has come to pass since 1860 to the present time, who would have believed them? Not a man, unless they possessed the spirit of revelation. What the Prophet Joseph Smith foretold thirty years ago is now come to pass; and who can help it? Have the Latter-day Saints been the cause of this dreadful war? No. While Joseph Smith was living, every public and private calamity that happened in the land was laid to his account. It is not Joseph Smith or his brethren that do these things, but the Lord has laid his hand on the nation. It is a consolation to the Saints when they contemplate upon what God has spoken through his servants which is now being fulfilled before their eyes. All that has been spoken by ancient and modern Prophets have had their fulfilment until now, and will have until the scene is wound up.

No man ever did or ever will obtain salvation only through the ordinances of the Gospel and through the name of Jesus. There can be no change in the Gospel; all men that are saved from Adam to infinitum are saved by the one system of salvation. The Lord may give many laws and many commandments to suit the varied circumstances and conditions of his children throughout the world, such as giving a law of carnal commandments to Israel, but the laws and principles of the Gospel do not change. If any portion of this generation be saved, it will be because they receive the Gospel which Jesus Christ and his Apostles preached. When the Lord inspires men and sends them to any generation, he holds that generation responsible for the manner in which they receive the testimony of his servants. He called upon us, and we left our occupation to go forth in our weakness to preach his Gospel; we had no power in and of ourselves to do this, only as the Lord gave us strength by his Spirit; and we have so far built up his kingdom upon this principle; we have been governed by this principle of revelation in all our public and private works which we have done for God. We shall build our Temple upon this principle, and carry out all the purposes of the Lord our God in the latter days upon the same principle and upon no other.

The very moment that men undertake to move for God in their own way and upon principles of their own coining, they will fail to accomplish that which they design. The world has tried this for generations. It is now almost universally acknowledged throughout Christendom that no man is properly qualified to preach the Gospel unless he has passed through a college or some other institution of learning to study theology and get a knowledge of Greek, Latin, and Hebrew—of languages dead and living. Does this system of learning, alone, give power to administer salvation to mankind? Does it give evidence and bear witness to the hearts of men by the power of the Holy Ghost and the revelations of Jesus Christ? It does not. The disciples of Christ, anciently, were illiterate men, yet they bore record to the learned that God had sent them with a message of salvation. Jesus Christ, whose life was a scene of affliction and sorrow, who apparently had arose from the lower grades of society, was eminently endowed with the spirit and power of revelation from his Father and bore record of his works to Jew and Gentile under its influence and power.

The servants of God in every age have always been governed by the same power; and we must build up the kingdom of God by it or not at all. We look to him for guidance in what we shall do from day to day; we have been guided in this way hitherto and shall be so guided unto the end.

I thank God that we have embraced a Gospel that has power in it; that we have the true organization of the Church and kingdom of God, with its Apostles, Prophets, Pastors and Teachers, gifts, graces, and blessings for the work of the ministry and the edifying of the body of Christ. The moment any of the helps, governments, gifts, and powers are done away from the Church militant, schism is created in the body and it no longer can cooperate with the Church triumphant in heaven against the power of the Devil and wicked men. We cannot build up the kingdom of God in our day and overcome the powers of evil which prevail over the world, without inspired Prophets and Apostles, gifts, powers, and blessings, any more than they could in the days of Jesus and his Apostles. We have this Church organization and the power which attended it in ancient days, and we seek constantly the welfare of the children of men.

We have a great Work laid upon us, and we are responsible to God for the manner in which we make use of these blessings. The Lord requires of us to build up Zion, to gather the honest-in-heart, restore Israel to their blessings, redeem the earth from the power of the Devil, establish universal peace and prepare a kingdom and a people for the coming and reign of the Messiah. When we do all we can to forward and accomplish this Work then are we justified. This is the work of our lives, and it makes life of some consequence to us. When men are destitute of the Spirit of God they do not prize life, unless to indulge the cravings of unenlightened and perverted human nature; they cross each other’s interests, become filled with the spirit of wrath and indignation and thirst for and shed the blood of each other. Would they do this if they were inspired by the Spirit and power of God? No. That which is good is of God and that which is evil emanates from the Devil.

The Lord permits judgments to come upon the wicked, but he never sends a great calamity upon the world without first sending Prophets and inspired men to warn the wicked of approaching chastisement, giving them, at the same time, space for repentance and means of escape, as witness the time of Noah, Lot, &c. And, “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the coming of the Son of man.” When the messengers of God have given a faithful warning to the wicked of their approaching overthrow, and the testimony is sealed, then will the Lord come out of his hiding place and vex them with a sore vexation. All that the Savior said should come upon the wicked Jews was literally fulfilled, and his blood is now upon them and their children. The hand of God has been zealous in holding the Jews under the rod until this day. Why? Because they rejected the testimony of the Son of God and his Gospel. That is the cause of the great trouble today that is vexing this nation and other nations in the old world. You may put all the judgments of God together that have befallen the nations and tribes of men from the beginning, and the afflictions they suffered are no greater than are now ready to be poured out upon the Gentile world.

John the Revelator saw this day. He saw, also, “An angel of God 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: and worship him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of waters.” That angel has delivered his message and thousands of Elders of this Church have been called to this ministry; it has been laid upon our shoulders. I have traveled more than a hundred thousand miles in the last thirty years to preach this Gospel, and many thousands of it with my knapsack upon my back and without purse or scrip, begging my bread from door to door to preach the Gospel to my own nation. Thirty years ago it was said unto us, You hear of wars in foreign countries, but you do not know the hearts of men in your own land, for you shall soon have greater wars in your own land, &c.

How is it, my friends, is there trouble in the eastern countries? What means this crowding of our streets with emigrants to the west? The Lord God has spoken through his Prophet; his words have been recorded, and he is backing up the testimony of his servants in fulfillment of his word; and the end is not yet. War and distress of nations has only just commenced, and famine and pestilence will follow on the heels of war, and there will be great mourning, and weeping, and lamentations in the land, and no power can stay the work of desolation and utter overthrow of the wicked.

More than twenty-five years ago I wrote a revelation which Joseph Smith gave, wherein he said that the rebellion should commence in South Carolina, and from that, war should spread through this nation and continue to spread until war should be poured out upon all nations and great calamity and destruction should await them.

I published the Book of Doctrine and Covenants in England in 1845, and since that time it has been published in many different languages, and thus we are sending the revelations which Jesus Christ has given to his people in the last days to the different nations and tongues, that they may be left without an excuse. We know these things are coming, and because of them we are here in Utah, and the Devil and the wicked do not like it. Every evil principle and power is opposed to us and our testimony. Do we not desire to do all men good? We do; and in proof of this I only need say that we have labored for many years in poverty and hardships to carry salvation to the nations. Some of the European nations have closed their doors against us, and in some of those nations we have preached the Gospel and gathered out many souls, and thousands more will yet come like clouds and like doves to the windows to join with us in the enjoyment of the great blessings which the kingdom of God offers to all people.

The highest object of man in this life should be to prepare himself to dwell with his Father and God in his presence. It is for this reason that the millions of spirits that tabernacle here are sent from the eternal worlds to pass a short probation in mortal bodies, and they are all the children of one Father. If we receive the Gospel and live its precepts we shall receive celestial glory; if we reject it we shall be punished, though we may have a redemption and a glory, but it will be in a diminished degree. We should lay these things to heart; we should endeavor to understand our true position and we should do all in our power to benefit our fellow man and to bring salvation to the nations.

I rejoice that the Lord still holds the door open, that we still have the privilege of sending the Elders to the nations; while this door remains open we shall continue to preach the Gospel to the Gentile world. When they reject it, it will be taken from them and then we go to the Jews, and the ten tribes will come from the north to Zion to be crowned under the hands of the children of Ephraim. And the remnant of the Lamanites who are cursed below all humanity that we are acquainted with—who have been filled with the spirit of bloodshed which they have inherited from their fathers—they will embrace the Gospel in the due time of the Lord. They are of the house of Israel, and this spirit of war will be taken from them and they will become the children of God, but not until the Gentiles have entirely rejected the Gospel. Anciently it was preached to the Jews first and then to the Gentiles; in the latter times it will be first preached to the Gentiles and then to the Jews—the first shall be last and the last first. This is the great work which is laid upon us today. We should be true and faithful today, and then we ought to follow this practice until death, and then shall we be entitled to have a crown of life. Is it not more honorable to do good than to do evil; to try to honor and serve God who is our Father and who has given us every blessing, than sin against him? Would not such a course bring more happiness and pleasure to us than to blaspheme the name of God and dishonor ourselves, bringing darkness and condemnation to our spirits?

I pray that God may bless us and save us in his kingdom, which I ask in the name of Jesus Christ: Amen.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Bowery, Great Salt Lake City, July 27, 1862.

Brother Taylor gave us a very interesting discourse this morning upon the first principles of the Gospel, contrasting them with the religion of the Christian world, showing the authority by which they administered in different ages the ordinances of religion according to the traditions of their fathers. He remarked that the Elders of this Church went forth as the Apostles did in the days of the Savior, promising to the people, on conditions of obedience, the gift of the Holy Ghost; and he remarked that no other people would do that, because they do not possess the authority to do it.

I do not know that I can spend the few moments that I may speak here, better than to read a little on the authority that we have for pursuing this course. This portion that I am going to read, is the word of the Lord to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, as well as to the whole world—

“Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together. For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated. And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed. And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days. And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.

“Behold, this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants, and my preface unto the book of my commandments, which I have given them to publish unto you, O inhabitants of the earth. Wherefore, fear and tremble, O ye people, for what I the Lord have decreed in them shall be fulfilled. And verily I say unto you, that they who go forth, bearing these tidings unto the inhabitants of the earth, to them is power given to seal both on earth and in heaven, the unbelieving and rebellious; Yea, verily, to seal them up unto the day when the wrath of God shall be poured out upon the wicked without measure—Unto the day when the Lord shall come to recompense unto every man according to his work, and measure to every man according to the measure which he has measured to his fellow man.

“Wherefore the voice of the Lord is unto the ends of the earth, that all that will hear may hear: Prepare ye, prepare ye for that which is to come, for the Lord is nigh; And the anger of the Lord is kindled, and his sword is bathed in heaven, and it shall fall upon the inhabitants of the earth. And the arm of the Lord shall be revealed; and the day cometh that they who will not hear the voice of the Lord, neither the voice of his servants, neither give heed to the words of the prophets and apostles, shall be cut off from among the people; For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and they have broken mine everlasting covenant; They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is in the likeness of the world, and whose substance is that of an idol, which waxeth old and shall perish in Babylon, even Babylon the great, which shall fall.

“Wherefore I, the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments; And also gave commandments to others, that they should proclaim these things unto the world; and all this that it might be fulfilled, which was written by the prophets—The weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones, that man should not counsel his fellow man, neither trust in the arm of flesh—But that every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world; That faith also might increase in the earth; That mine everlasting covenant might be established; That the fulness of my Gospel might be proclaimed by the weak and the simple unto the ends of the world, and before kings and rulers.

“Behold, I am God and have spoken it: these commandments are of me, and were given unto my servants in their weakness, after the manner of their language, that they might come to understanding. And inasmuch as they erred it might be made known; And inasmuch as they sought wisdom they might be instructed; And inasmuch as they sinned they might be chastened, that they might repent; And inasmuch as they were humble they might be made strong, and blessed from on high, and receive knowledge from time to time. And after having received the record of the Nephites, yea, even my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., might have power to translate through the mercy of God, by the power of God, the Book of Mormon. And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually—For I the Lord cannot look upon sin with the least degree of allowance; Nevertheless, he that repents and does the commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven; And he that repents not, from him shall be taken even the light which he has received; for my Spirit shall not always strive with man, saith the Lord of Hosts.

“And again, verily I say unto you, O inhabitants of the earth: I the Lord am willing to make these things known unto all flesh; For I am no respecter of persons, and will that all men shall know that the day speedily cometh; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand, when peace shall be taken from the earth, and the devil shall have power over his own dominion. And also the Lord shall have power over his saints, and shall reign in their midst, and shall come down in judgment upon Idumea, or the world.

“Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled.

“What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but all shall be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same. For behold, and lo, the Lord is God, and the Spirit beareth record, and the record is true, and the truth abideth forever and ever. Amen.”—[See Doc. & Cov., pages 65-68.]

What do you think of that revelation, brethren? Does this look like a Yankee scheme, or something made up to cheat somebody? No, this is the word of the Lord; it is a sermon of itself. The Lord has sustained that revelation from that day to the present, and that is the reason why brother Taylor and the Elders of this Church go forth declaring the words of life, and they know that they have not taken this honor upon themselves, but that they were called of God as was Aaron. I do not care how illiterate an Elder in this Church is, if he has been faithful to his calling; it is a matter I care but little about if a man can neither read nor write, if he has been called and ordained to the Priesthood in this Church and kingdom by Joseph Smith, or any of those ordained by him to that Priesthood which was given unto the Prophet by Peter, James and John, who by commandment came and ordained him to the Melchizedek Priesthood. John the Baptist held the Aaronic Priesthood, and the authority commenced there, and by those men that held the keys of the kingdom of God in former dispensations. It is that authority that has inspired this; it is this that has inspired the Elders of Israel from the commencement to the present day.

Why should the Elders and people now think it strange that those messengers who have gone forth, shouldering their knapsacks and traveling thousands of miles to preach the Gospel, should be the especial objects of his favor? The Almighty has proven them all the day long, and he has been with them, and in fact there has never been any portion of the Priesthood officiating in sacred ordinances but God has been with them. In this revelation the Lord calls upon his servants, and says, “I, the Lord, am willing to make this known to the children of men, that I have called my servant Joseph, that the world may be left without excuse.”

Joseph Smith knew just as well as the Lord knew that he was called of God, and that he was called to perform a work for the redemption of man. Has he ever disappointed anybody when he has made a promise to them? Has he ever disappointed a Prophet or lawgiver in any age of the world? No, never. But he has declared that the heavens and the earth shall pass away, but his word shall never pass away, but that it shall all be fulfilled. It is just so in our day. All the words which the Lord has spoken through his servants will be fulfilled to the very letter, whether those words are in reference to the salvation of the righteous or the condemnation of the wicked. Christ had his mind upon this point when he said, “Heaven and earth shall pass away, but my words shall not pass away.”—Matthew xxiv, 35. Again, it is written, “For I will hasten my word to perform it;” and when the Lord spake through Isaiah upon this subject he said, “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.” The Elders go forth to preach the Gospel to the nations of the earth, knowing that the Lord will back up their word by the power and demonstration of the Holy Ghost.

There is but one Gospel, neither will there be any other for the salvation of this, nor of any other world that we know of; but this we do know that this Gospel preached in any age of the world will produce the same effect. We also know that any man who receives this Priesthood, and is faithful thereunto, will receive the same blessings and power in any and every age of the world. On this account and for this reason, Utah—the valleys of Deseret are being filled with the children of men. The Almighty has sent his servants to preach the Gospel; they have not gone upon their own authority: had they done so, they might have called upon the inhabitants of the earth till doomsday, and they would not have been successful, but this land would still have been a desert, occupied only by Indians and wild beasts. But the hand of God was with us, and hence we had no fear of telling the people our message, and now there are tens of thousands who know the truth as well as we do, for they have embraced the Gospel and received this testimony for themselves. There never was a man that embraced this Gospel, but has received this testimony of the truth, if he has done so in sincerity and in truth. The Lord has always been ready to redeem his promise, and in giving that testimony which was necessary for the establishing of them in the most holy faith.

The Lord has sustained us as a people in all places and under all circumstances. We have gone forth as sheep among wolves; among a people full of tradition and superstition, and we have had all these things to cope with in our administrations among the people, but the Lord was with us wherever we went, backing up our words by the testimony and power of the Holy Ghost, and the people to whom we administered received the same testimony as had been given unto us.

We are beginning to realize that the things which the Lord has promised unto us thirty years ago are now being fulfilled to the very letter. Is there much peace in the world of mankind? No, there is not: peace is fast being taken from the children of men. We are at peace in Utah, but let me tell you that the Lord has foretold by the revelations of Jesus Christ all these things that are now fulfilling before our eyes.

I copied a revelation more than twenty-five years ago, in which it is stated that war should be in the south and in the north, and that nation after nation would become embroiled in the tumult and excitement, until war should be poured out upon the whole earth, and that this war would commence at the rebellion of South Carolina, and that times should be such that every man who did not flee to Zion would have to take up the sword against his neighbor or against his brother. These things are beginning to be made manifest, but the end is not yet; but it will come, and that too much sooner than the world of mankind anticipate, and all those things spoken by the mouths of his Prophets will be fulfilled.

We are gathering together here for certain purposes understood and in the mind of the Lord, one of which is that we may be sanctified and prepared for the great work of the future. We have carried this work to the various nations of the earth, and the people to whom we have preached have thought of us saying that there was no other Gospel than that which we had to proclaim, as was clearly and demonstratively set forth today. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is perfect in all its parts. The words of the Psalmist David will apply to our religion, where he says—“The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple. The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes. The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever: the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.”

According to the vision of John the Revelator, there are to be “six hundred, threescore and six” false sects of religion: how many of these already exist is a matter of dispute among theologists, but I suppose that the number is nearly complete. Let me now ask if you think things look or indicate that these contending creeds are all of God. It is certainly not like the order carried out in the days of Christ and his Apostles. It is much more like the confusion of the Pharisees, Essenes, Herodians, Sadducees, and Stoics, for they had different creeds, principles and notions by which they were governed, and it is just so now with the sectarian world. It is composed of every sect and party that profess religion upon the face of the earth. But the honest in heart will be gathered out of all these creeds and systems and be brought home to Zion.

There have been thousands of men and women who have listened to the preaching of the Elders of this Church, who have not embraced it for fear of their good name; and there have been many clergymen who have listened attentively to the Elders of Israel, and they have spent days and nights in meditating upon the things of God, and studying what to do, realizing within themselves that if they received this testimony they would be dishonored in the eyes of the world. They fear becoming a hiss and a by-word among the children of men in this generation. Hence the majority of them have rejected it.

Many celebrated men have investigated this subject, and far more of them have had fears that it was true than that it was false. I visited folks in Long Island in 1837; I talked with one minister named Newton, in fact I stayed with him some twelve days and preached the Gospel to him. He attended meetings, and finally became so that he could neither eat, drink, nor sleep, he was so troubled about the Gospel; but instead of embracing it, sent after a minister who lived on the south side of the island, for the purpose of having me put down or silenced. I persevered and soon baptized most of the members of Mr. Newton’s church. Mr. Douglass, a Methodist minister of the south side of the island came, stayed a short time and then returned. I followed him home and succeeded in baptizing most of his church; and instead of these men getting any honor by opposing me they were both brought into disgrace. They lost their religion, their church, and members, and were really disgraced. When I was there last, one of them was in the Penitentiary for one of the worst crimes that a man can be guilty of, except murder, and the other was traveling the streets peddling small articles for his bread. The chastening hand of the Lord will always follow those that oppose the truth of Heaven as revealed through the Prophet of God. This is in accordance with the experience of all our Elders. The Holy Ghost has been with them to back up their words, and I can say for all that, we have not done a thing but it has been backed up by the power of the Almighty, so far as we have labored for the upbuilding of the kingdom of God.

In regard to holding office in the Priesthood, I can truly say that I never asked any man for any office in this Church, and I believe I never asked the Lord but once, and my asking the Lord came about in this way. I went up to Missouri in Zion’s Camp; I saw the Prophet every day, and I knew he was a Prophet of God. About this time I had a great anxiety to preach the Gospel; this desire increased upon me, and I finally resolved to ask the Lord to open my way, so I went down into a hickory grove and prayed, during which I asked him to give me the privilege to preach the Gospel. I prayed fervently to the Almighty to give me the privilege of preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, and when I got through praying I started for the place from whence I came, and I had not walked more than about forty rods before I met a High Priest, and the first thing he said to me was, “It is the will of the Lord that you go and preach the Gospel.” I told him I was ready and willing to do anything the Lord required of me; I was therefore ordained a Priest and sent to labor in Arkansas.

I will now name a circumstance which I have never named in public before. I went into Arkansas, traveled a hundred miles out of my way to see a man that had embraced the Gospel some time before I went there. He was full of wrath and indignation when I went in; he railed against Joseph Smith, Bishop Partridge, and Father Morley. The Lord showed me the night before that I had enemies in that town. I talked over my feelings with the brother who accompanied me, and he wanted to leave the town, but I said no, I would not go away, for I wanted to see what the Lord wanted of me. All the people were mad with rage, and we could not get anybody to preach to; in fact they were all full of rage till they were mad with it. For some time I could not see my way clearly, but we finally called upon an old man named Hubbard, and engaged to go and clear timber. During the short time that we were employed at that the Lord sent me three times to visit that old apostate, and each time when I went there I could only bear testimony to him of the truth of the Gospel. When I went the third time he followed me out of the house as full of wrath as the Devil, and he had not followed me more than about eight rods when he fell dead at my feet. This is a short story and a very singular one.

At that time I had not power to lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, only holding the Aaronic Priesthood, but the Lord sustained me and his work just as well as if I had been an Apostle. We baptized father Hubbard and his wife, after which we went on our way rejoicing. The Lord has fed and sustained his servants, and manifested his power according to circumstances, and so he will continue to do through life to all that are faithful and true to their covenants.

When the United States sent an army to this land for our destruction, the Lord had his eye upon us for good and he delivered us from all our enemies. The wicked have designed our destruction from the first organization of this Church and kingdom, but our leaders have been inspired by the gift and power of God. Who frustrated that army in their design? The Lord our God; and now the judgments that have come upon the nation in consequence of their treatment to this people, are a sore vexation to them, but it is the hand-dealing of the Almighty and we cannot help it. Every Elder in this Church who lives his religion knows that this which is now transpiring is according to the mind and foreshadowings of the Holy Spirit, and those out of the Church may know if they will. If persons will believe the Bible, the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, and the Book of Mormon, they can therein learn the fate of the world, for it is there pointed out in great plainness. Who can stay this war that is devastating the whole nation both North and South? No human hand; it is out of the power of man, excepting by the repentance of the whole nation, for they have shed the blood of the Prophets, driven this Church and people from their midst, yes, the very people that hold the keys of salvation for the world they have banished from their midst, they have turned those keys that will seal their condemnation, and for this the Lord our God has taken peace out of their midst. Will there ever be any more peace among them? No, not until the earth is drenched with the blood of the inhabitants thereof. When the spirit of the Gospel leaves any people it leaves them in a worse condition than it found them, the spirit of ferocity, darkness and war will take hold of that people, and the time will come when every man that does not take his sword against his neighbor will have to go to Zion for safety.

These things sound strange in the ears of our neighbors of the nation with which we are connected, but let me tell you they are strictly true. Remember Christ’s words in regard to the temple, viz., “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.”—Matthew xxiv., 2. The Lord Jesus Christ is as truthful now as he was then, and no power can stay his hand. Have we any fears of the consequences of what will transpire? No, we have not, for we know that God is at the helm.

When this kingdom commenced it was like a mustard seed, very small, but the Lord has sustained it and he will continue to control it to the end of time. Although peace is being taken from the earth yet this kingdom will thrive and prosper until every kingdom and government shall be broken to pieces, and every power shall be subject to the God of heaven.

Here are Elders who are faithful and true who have preached the Gospel from Maine to Texas, and from the Atlantic to California, and the warning voice has been lifted in Europe and in the Islands of the Sea, and thousands have embraced it and been made to rejoice in the truth.

We know that this work is of God, and that it will roll forth and prosper though all the world oppose. War is only one of the troubles that the United States are going to receive; and I can further testify, that there is no nation that will escape the judgments of the Almighty. There is no ear but what has to be penetrated with the sound of the Gospel of Christ; and by-and-by the Elders of Israel will be taken from those nations where they are now preaching, and there will be another set of Missionaries sent amongst the people; there will be the voice of lightning, the noise of war, and of all those judgments which have been enumerated and prophesied of since the beginning of time, and they will go forth among the nations until the land is cleansed from the abominations that now reign upon the face of the earth.

When this Gospel was first proclaimed to the world, darkness covered the earth; and wherever this doctrine is preached by those having authority and it is rejected, that people become more dark than they were before, and go blindly along like the ox to the slaughter, and they will sooner or later be overtaken by the judgments of the Almighty.

This is the nature of our testimony, brethren and sisters, we know that this work is true; we also know that Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God, and the Bible could not have been fulfilled unless the Lord had raised up Prophets to declare the everlasting Gospel unto the children of men; he never could have brought his judgments upon the nations until he had raised up those Prophets who were ordained to come and warn the world. The Lord is now doing this work of warning, first by his servants and then by his judgments. In speaking of the kingdom of God I will here remark, that it is always alike, or in other words it is always governed by the same laws, by Apostles and Prophets, and you cannot have a Church of Christ without these officers; there never was such a church since the beginning of the world. If any person will show me a people that were acknowledged of God, who did not have Prophets to lead them, I will confess that to be something which I have not found.

Paul says, speaking of the Church of Christ, “And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers.” Then, in another part of the writings of the same Apostle, he shows that with such an organization one part cannot say to the other, “I have no need of thee,” but that all are necessary in the Church of Christ. It is just so with the gifts and graces of the Gospel. A great many of you have seen men without some of their limbs, and just as quick as I come to a man who has lost an arm I see it. I remember once seeing a man in London without any legs, dragging along as best he could, and of course it was very inconvenient for him to travel; but I will tell you one thing which I never did see, I never saw any man going around without any head. A man can live without arms or without legs, but he cannot without a head, and it is precisely so with the Church of Christ; one is just as impossible as the other. No other order has been manifested in this our day. We have a Prophet to lead and govern this people; we also have pastors and teachers, the Holy Ghost and the revelations of Jesus Christ right from heaven unto us, and we are realizing every day the fulfilment of these things that are promised to the faithful.

Brethren and sisters, we ought to be truly thankful to our Father and God, for he has been merciful to us, he has bestowed upon us his Spirit so that our ears have been opened to hear and our hearts to understand and to rejoice in the good things of the kingdom of God. And how lamentable it is that so few in the present generation have embraced the fulness of the Gospel, perhaps not one in ten thousand have received the truth. The Jews have suffered long and grievously for their rebellion, and they will continue to suffer for some time yet, but woe unto the Gentiles when they reject the light that is offered, for when that stone, which is spoken of in Scripture, falls upon them they cannot escape the crushing power thereof, it will grind them to powder.

Let us be faithful, serve our God and trust in him, and then, through the influence of his Spirit we shall know the signs of the times, and be prepared and made meet for our Master’s use.

I ask that this may be our portion, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

Remarks by Elder Wilford Woodruff, made in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, April 8, 1862.

The Church of Jesus Christ has had a vast amount of teaching, especially of late. We have had a great deal of good counsel and instruction in this Conference; the truth has been simplified, doctrine elucidated and made plain to our understandings through the revelations of Jesus Christ, and I really feel that we have great cause to rejoice. There is one truth that becomes still more evident to my mind, and I think to the minds of this people generally, and that is the importance and necessity of our being governed and controlled day by day by the revelations of God. Now, we may take the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and Doctrine and Covenants, and we may read them through, and every other revelation that has been given to us, and they would scarcely be sufficient to guide us twenty-four hours. We have only an outline of our duties written; we are to be guided by the living oracles. The ten commandments are very good, and the great and glorious principles pertaining to the redemption of man, the revelations pertaining to events that are past and to the things of the mysterious and unborn future, and there are also many choice and precious things relating to the redemption of man, to the present and future greatness of the Saints; but where can we find one revelation that tells us that we should raise three hundred teams, or twelve hundred yoke of cattle, to bring up the poor from the Missouri River. We have been informed by the revelations of the Lord Jesus Christ that there should be a Temple built in Jackson County; but has there been a revelation to tell us how long or how high it should be? No, we have got to be governed by the mind and will of God, and this must be apparent to this people; it shows itself more and more. President Young tells us that the living oracles should be our guide, that, in fact, we should have the living oracles within us always. Every man and woman has the privilege of being baptized, but it is not the privilege of every man to lead the Church. It is my privilege to have revelation to know truth from error, and I should also have power to cast out devils and to heal the sick, if I magnify my calling; and not only these gifts, but tongues, interpretation of tongues, and the spirit of prophecy, and of course that is revelation.

It is the privilege of every man and woman in this kingdom to enjoy the spirit of prophecy, which is the Spirit of God; and to the faithful it reveals such things as are necessary for their comfort and consolation, and to guide them in their daily duties.

I can say that I rejoice before this people and before the Lord our God, in the great blessings which he has poured out upon us; I rejoice that he is carefully watching over his kingdom and people, and it is manifest unto us. There has never been a time when a doctrine has been presented to us by the servants of God that has appeared new or mysterious, but what the Spirit of God has been ready to bear testimony to the truth of the same. When there have been cases of contention to know who was the biggest man, the Spirit of God has always made known who was in the wrong, and this is a great blessing unto us, one of the greatest that ever was given unto the children of men, to be able to discern the right from the wrong in all cases that may come under our observation. We can perform this work that is given unto us to do, for we know how to take the first step, and then we gradually advance as we are inspired from one degree to another; and if we have that portion of the Spirit of God which it is our privilege to enjoy, and magnify our calling, we shall have that testimony we ought to have within us when any new doctrine is brought forth, or old doctrine more fully explained. In this way we shall profit by the preaching of our brethren, and be able to treasure up the principles of eternal life, and we should be ready at all times to carry out the principles that are revealed to our Presidents and Bishops from time to time, as they receive the word of the Lord from the President of the whole Church. For instance, a certain number of wagons and teams are called for, and we should understand that whenever a Bishop wants anything for the public good, that we should be on hand to do what is wanted. President Young requires nothing but what the Lord requires of him and manifests unto him; and I know that if we carry out those principles that are brought forth by our President and leader, we shall be blessed in so doing.

This is the way I view our position as a people upon the earth, in the dispensation of the fulness of times. We are truly engaged in a great and mighty work, one that is sustained by the Almighty. It is like the mustard seed which grows from a small particle to a large tree. The commencement of this Church was very small, but it is now grown into a mighty kingdom. No matter what our station and callings are when those who are over us rise up and call upon us to do anything, we should be ever ready to respond when, for instance, we are instructed to stop selling whiskey, or drinking it, we ought to do it, and then our minds will be enlightened by partaking of the Spirit of God, and the spirit and power of our high and holy callings will rest upon us when we listen to that instruction that is given, and carry it out. This kingdom has got to rise up and take its stand in majesty, in strength and power among the nations, and all that the Lord has promised will be realized.

Our President has frequently told us that we cannot separate the temporal from the spiritual, but they must go hand in hand together, and so it is, and so must we act in reference to building up the Church and kingdom of God.

We should foresee the evil, and then foreseeing it we should hide ourselves, and preserve ourselves in purity and holiness. Our President has tried from the beginning to instruct us in these things, and we should listen to the counsel that is given unto us. You have all heard President Young give instructions to the Elders from time to time, and point out the course that we should pursue in order to sustain ourselves. We should all strive to so manage our grain as to turn it to the best account. We have had counsel in regard to this matter, but how slow we are to carry it out. I have sometimes marveled at the course that has been pursued in regard to the duties that devolve upon us.

Let us lay these things to heart, and profit by those instructions, and if we do, we will bring forth fruit abundantly. Let us be of one heart and one mind, in all things.

I rejoice to meet here in this Conference with my brethren and sisters, and I esteem it as a great privilege. I have been associated with this Church ever since the year 1833, and I have been looking over the Quorum of the Twelve, today, and reflecting that in our first acquaintance, we were mere boys together, while now, most of us are beginning to have gray locks. The time is passing rapidly along, and the purposes of the Lord are fast hastening forward. If we will do our duty I know that God will sustain us and bring us off conquerors; and he will open the way whereby we can be delivered from our enemies, and there will be room for us to spread out. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will spread and do good, and it will prove a blessing to the children of men. The Almighty requires his servants to maintain their integrity in righteousness and truth. We are called upon to build a Temple to the name of the God of Israel, and let us try to do our duty; let us lay these things to heart, and return home from this Conference refreshed with the Spirit of the Lord, and let us do those things that are of benefit to us, and the settlements where we live.

God is merciful to us, and if we do our duty, we shall be blessed. We have been informed that the heavens are full of blessings for the faithful. We have not yet arrived at the fulness, but we are progressing in the great work of the dispensation of the fulness of times; and I pray that the Almighty will give us power to overcome and do his will, which I ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.

Discourse by Elder Wilford Woodruff, delivered in the Tabernacle, Great Salt Lake City, December 1, 1861.

Brethren and sisters, I have been called upon and requested to occupy a portion of the time this morning, and I can truly say that I always take pleasure, when I have an opportunity, to bear my testimony of the work of the Lord in which we are engaged. I hope that what little time I may speak I may be blessed with the Spirit of the Lord, that I may speak of such things as will be edifying to you; for there is certainly not much advantage in talking to the people for the sake of occupying the time, unless it will be beneficial to us.

I know that it is our duty in this Church and kingdom to live in such a manner that we may feel interested in the things of the kingdom of our God. I reflect a great deal upon the blessings which we are enjoying here in the valleys of the mountains, and I often think that I do not fully prize the blessings the Lord has imparted unto me. When I bring these things to bear upon my mind, I realize to a great extent the necessity of prizing the gifts of the Holy Spirit bestowed upon me, and the same duty devolves upon all the Saints of God. If we can be made to rightly value the gifts which the Almighty bestows upon us, we shall certainly not do anything that is wrong; we shall not walk where we ought not to walk, but we shall be devoted to the building up of the kingdom of our God. If our eyes were opened to see things as they are, we should live and act as men of God. When my mind is quickened by the Holy Spirit to comprehend the things of God, I feel very thankful for the light and intelligence bestowed upon me by the Almighty. I feel satisfied that our President and leader would not be inspired to reprove and correct us as a people, as he is often moved upon to do, if we were living to our privileges. We should not be exhorted to turn from the course that we are in to some other, if we were all doing just right. But I can say truly, brethren and sisters, that we are a blessed people; yes, we are blessed above all other people upon the earth. We have the kingdom of God here with us; we live in a dispensation and generation in which the kingdom has been built up, and it will be permanently established, never more to be thrown down. In this dispensation the Lord has anointed men to preach the Gospel to every creature. In every other dispensation the powers of darkness have in a great measure overcome the kingdom of God, or, in other words, have had dominion—so much so that the kingdom could not live but a little while. It could not grow and spread itself upon the earth; and finally that power which was acting through the agency of the children of men, even the holy priesthood, was taken home to God, and it has remained there from generation to generation, and the world have been without these blessings for many hundreds of years. This has been the difficulty ever since the creation of the world. Even when Christ came and established the Gospel upon the earth, it was here but a little season before the Devil, the archenemy of the kingdom of God, overcame those who held the Priesthood, so that the Priesthood and authority of the kingdom was taken from the earth, and the Church went into the wilderness, leaving the people without any inspired men to say, This is the way, walk ye in it. From that time until the introduction of the fulness of the Gospel by the Prophet Joseph Smith in our own day and age of the world, there has been no Peter or Philip or any other man to teach the people the way of life and salvation; but they have had to live by the best laws of morality which they knew. Hence the division and contention that has existed in the sectarian world.

But we have had the privilege of living in the dispensation in which the Lord has promised that he would establish his kingdom, and perfect it ready for the appearance of the Great Bridegroom.

This is the privilege that we enjoy as Latter-day Saints. When the time had come, according to the decree of the Almighty, an angel visited the earth and committed the Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, and gave them instructions and a promise that they should be inspired to lay it before the people. We have embraced this Gospel, and the Spirit of God enlightens our minds, so that we comprehend, by the inspiration of the Almighty, those principles that are necessary for our present and eternal salvation; and by receiving the principles of life in our minds, we were led to come to the Valleys of the Mountains. We can all now comprehend that this is the Church and kingdom of our God that he has established, to remain forever. Therefore, instead of being given up to those evil principles and practices that reign in the hearts of the children of men, we are walking in the path of life, and those truths are now uppermost in our minds. We are constantly striving to spread abroad this truth, that the hearts of the children of men may be inspired to take hold and help this kingdom to take root and spread abroad until it shall entirely overcome that power which has always in past ages overcome the kingdom of God. It is a blessing to us, to the whole house of Israel, and to the Gentile nations; it is a blessing that the world never before have enjoyed. It is true that other dispensations have had their Prophets and Apostles, but they never enjoyed the privilege that we do of having the kingdom of God continue upon the earth until it triumphs over all other kingdoms upon the face of the earth and stands forever. Former Apostles and Prophets had the unpleasant reflection that the Church which they had built up would fall away, or be overcome by the power of the Devil and wicked men, and that when they passed off the earth and went behind the veil, they would have to take the Priesthood with them, because there would be none living worthy to receive it from under their hands. They will be crowned with the Savior according to the promises, but in their lifetime they never had the opportunity of planting on the earth a kingdom that should remain until Jesus should reign as King of kings and Lord of lords. Lucifer has gained possession of the earth by overcoming the children of men; but it does not belong to him, although he has had possession of it for a great many generations. I rejoice that the day is dawning when the principles of righteousness and truth will bear rule and bring forth fruit, until the kingdom and the dominion shall be given to the Saints of the Most High, and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of our God and his Christ.

The very idea of our becoming coworkers with Jesus Christ ought to inspire every one of us with a determination to aid all we can in the dissemination of those great and glorious principles that are calculated to exalt the human family from their low and degraded positions to the favor of God, angels, and men. This is the way I feel in relation to the Church and kingdom of which we are members.

These blessings are above the blessings of the riches and comforts of life that we are all seeking after; they are far more valuable and more lasting than any other blessing in this life. Man may have earthly wealth and honor, but his life is not his own; he has not the power to prolong his life one day; and when he dies, his honor, his wealth, and all that he possesses in this life passes away. He receives nothing in this world of riches or honor that he can carry with him; and, except he stores his mind with knowledge and obeys the fulness of the Gospel, he cannot have the blessings of a clear conscience and the comforts of the Holy Ghost. The rich man, the rulers of the land, the kings and potentates of the earth, no matter what they possess, when they die, they can take nothing with them. They came into the world naked, and they go into the spirit world as poor as the poor man who lives and dies in rags. Then all their acts of greatness and affluence sink into oblivion; but still the Lord may hold the kings, rulers, and potentates of the earth responsible for their official acts.

When an Apostle, or President, Bishop, or any man holding the Priesthood officiates, he administers by the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ; then that Priesthood has effect, and all the blessings that a servant of God bestows upon the children of men will take effect both in this life and in that which is to come. If I have a blessing given to me by the holy Priesthood, or if I receive a blessing from a Patriarch, those gifts and blessings will reach into the other world; and if I am true to my covenants through this life, I can claim every blessing that has been conferred upon me, because that authority by which they were conferred is ordained of God; and it is that by which the sons of the Most High administer unto the children of men the ordinances of life and salvation; and those official acts will have their effect upon those persons beyond the grave as well as in this life. These are the true riches; they are riches that will last to all eternity, and we have power through these blessings, conferred by the Gospel, to receive our bodies again, and to preserve our identity in eternity. Yes, we can claim this by virtue of the holy Priesthood; but it is not so in the world. There is not a priest in the world that has administered one of the ordinances of the Gospel since the Priesthood was taken away, because, properly speaking, there can be no ordinance of the Gospel administered without the authority of the Priesthood. Hence I say that, from the time the Priesthood was taken from the earth until Joseph received it again from the angel of the Lord, there were no Gospel ordinances legally administered. I admit, however, that all men will be rewarded according to the deeds done in the body, and they will be judged according to the light which was given to them. This will be the condition of all who are not called and ordained of God, notwithstanding they may have administered what they believe to be the ordinances of the Gospel; yet their ad– ministrations will have no effect beyond the veil.

When we bring this subject home and consider the difference between the blessings of the Gospel as revealed in its fulness and purity, and being shut out from the light of heaven, from the revelations of the Almighty, from the administration of angels, and from the voice of God, we ought to prize our privileges and blessings as Saints far more than we have done heretofore. Mankind in all ages search for happiness; they desire social and domestic peace; and when they think of the vast future, they desire to participate in the blessings that are spoken of as pertaining to that state of existence; but they know not how to obtain them, except a servant of God comes along and points out the way of life. We have the way open before us, and the gift of eternal life, which is the greatest gift of God, is promised unto us on condition that we will continue in welldoing; but we can attain to that through no other means than strict obedience to the commandments of God.

I refer to these things, brethren and sisters, because I think we do not sufficiently prize the great responsibility that we are under to God and to this generation. It is indeed a great responsibility which the Lord lays upon a man when he calls him to the ministry and sends him to declare to the people that he is commissioned to preach the Gospel and administer the ordinances by which they can be saved, secure a part in the first resurrection, and inherit thrones and dominions in the presence of God and the Lamb. We have received this Gospel, and many of the Elders have gone forth, having been called of God as was Aaron, and they have offered the truth to the nations of the earth. A few have received the message, but the vast majority have rejected it, and they are condemned. The Lord told Oliver Cowdery that if he labored in the vineyard and brought in but one soul, his reward should be great. Then consider how great our reward will be when you see hundreds and thousands gathering into these valleys every year—people who have been brought to a knowledge of the truth by the labors of the Elders that are now before me. Our brethren have preached the words of life to millions of people, and many thousands have given heed to their warning voice; still they are but few, compared with the vast multitudes who have been commanded to repent of all their sins, be baptized for the remission of them, and have hands laid upon them for the gift of the Holy Ghost. We are truly blest in the agency which God has given us to receive or reject whatever is presented to us, but we should remember that we shall be held responsible for the use we make of the teachings of the servants of God.

It does not make any difference how the Lord makes known his will, whether by the whisperings of the Holy Spirit, the administration of angels, or by his own voice; it is all the same; and he has told us emphatically that his words shall not pass away, but all shall be fulfilled which has been spoken of by the Prophets since the world began.

We have but a little time to labor and to exert ourselves in this kingdom. Thirty years have already passed away since the organization of this Church, and we see a numerous generation rising up before us that have been born in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is almost a generation, according to the usual reckoning of mankind, since John the Baptist came and conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery; and the kingdom has kept growing from that time to the present—perhaps not as fast as it might have done if all the Elders had been as faithful as our President has been; but still it is progressing rapidly, and it is where the Prophet had his eye upon when he said—“O Zion, that bringest good tidings, get thee up into the high mountain; O Jerusalem, that bringest good tidings, lift up thy voice with strength; lift it up, be not afraid; say unto the cities of Judah, Behold your God!” How much the Elders have talked of this and of the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands, that was to roll forth until it filled the whole earth. We are now fulfilling those predictions. We are planted here in the mountains in fulfillment of the promise of the Almighty.

In the early days of this Church the Lord told those who were first called to the ministry that they were laying the foundation of a great work, but they knew it not. They did not then understand the nature of the work to which they were called; still they felt, by the inspiration of the Almighty, and their minds were opened to see that they were called to take part in a great work—called to a high and holy calling; but still there was a veil over their eyes, so that they could not comprehend it in its magnitude and greatness, as we now do. If the Prophet Joseph had arisen up in 1831, 2, 3, or even 1834, when we went up to Jackson County in the State of Missouri—had he then told the people that this Church would be built up, and that this people would become a great kingdom, and that the United States would, in less than one generation, be in the lamentable position that we now find them, it would have required a stretch of our faith to have believed him. Our minds were not then open to that extent that we could fully comprehend the future. But we can now see that the words of ancient and modern Prophets are being fulfilled. This kingdom is rising in these Valleys of the Mountains, and it will eventually spread itself abroad through the length and breadth of North and South America. We may now look forward into the great future that lies before us, and it will require just as much of a stretch of faith now as it did in the beginning to look at the kingdom of God upon the earth as it is to be built up in this dispensation, so that the word of the Lord may go forth from Zion, the servants of God be clothed with the power of the Priesthood, to give counsel and to preside over the nations of the earth, when the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of our God and his Christ. It is our duty to live in that way that we can have power to unlock and comprehend the mysteries of the kingdom of God; and we have got this to do in order that we may see that the Lord is at work among the nations for his own glory and for the permanent establishment of his own kingdom.

We ought to be enabled to understand that there is not a single law that has ever been issued from the great Eloheim but what will be fulfilled to the letter, and that not one of those Prophets who have spoken concerning the kingdom of God in the latter days and the overthrow of wickedness and establishment of righteousness will fail in their predictions in reference to the dispensation of the fulness of times. When we look back for thirty years, we can see the vast change that has taken place.

With regard to Babylon and the wicked nations of the Gentiles, I will say that all those things that have been spoken concerning them will be fulfilled. We profess to be the children of God, the friends of God; and if the Lord has not got some friends in these the Valleys of the Mountains, I would like to know where his friends are. I have spoken upon these things, and in reference to the position we occupy before the heavens and before this generation, that we may be stirred up in our minds and be awake to our duties. If we can be made sensible of that which is required of us by our leaders, we shall go to work and do those things that we know will be for our benefit and good, and for the advancement of the cause of the kingdom of God upon the earth. If we are faithful through this warfare in which we are engaged, we shall be satisfied with the reward and with the crown that will be bestowed upon us, and also with the place that we shall occupy when we pass from this stage of existence.

I will say then, brethren and sisters, with regard to those things we have been exhorted to attend to by President Young from day to day and from time to time, Let us attend to them. He has a desire to see the people in such a position that will secure to them the favor and approbation of the Almighty. We ought to strive to understand our high destiny—to learn the mind and will of our Father in heaven, that the heavens may be opened to us, that we may be filled with light, with truth, and be clothed with the power of God. It is with this desire and design that our President calls upon us to lay aside everything that has a tendency to prevent us enjoying the Spirit of the Lord and comprehending those great and glorious principles that we are seeking after. We all ought to make an exertion, when he makes a request upon us, and strive to lay aside all those things that are contrary to the principles of our holy religion; and then we ought to take hold with him and back him up, and sustain with him all the authorities of the Church, striving at all times to do whatever the Lord requires at our hands. If we do this, we shall be blest; and if we do not, we shall meet with a loss. Let us strive to be more attentive to our duties and to listen to the words of the Lord, remembering that if we have not got the Spirit of the Lord with us, we have not got the power of God with us.

Let us lay aside all evil practices—all those habits which will prevent our communing with God. We have not yet got power to occupy a throne and to govern according to the laws of heaven. Of this we are all sensible. Then if these little things have a tendency to hinder our enjoyments and debase us in the eyes of the Lord, we ought to lay them aside, and manifest a determination to do the will of our Father in heaven, and to accomplish that work which is laid upon us to perform. When we have any exhortation from those who lead us, we should ever be ready to carry it out, remembering that the Lord holds President Young responsible for the way in which he manages and directs this kingdom; and if we obey him, we shall be blest and prospered. But if he gives us commandments and we do not listen to them, the Lord will not hold him responsible for our acts. I think upon these things when I hear our leader giving us commandments to do thus and so, and I feel that I shall lose the Spirit of the Lord if I do not comply. We have got to rise up, as a people, and have the power of God constantly with us, or we shall not accomplish that which is required at our hands; for it requires faith, temperance, purity, holiness, and the power of God to be with this people, in order to fulfil our mission and perform the work of God. When our Prophets and leaders command us to do a thing, let us obey, and then we shall gain the victory.

I have often heard it remarked, when we have had preaching against merchandising, that the next day the merchants have taken three dollars to where they had previously only taken one. I hope this will not be the case with those who make a practice of drinking whiskey, and have been counseled by President Young to let it alone.

Brethren and sisters, I do not feel that I want to occupy much more of your time; but, before I conclude, I will say that when I do anything that prevents me from enjoying the Spirit of the Lord, as soon as I ascertain that, I immediately throw it aside, so that the Spirit of God may govern and control me in every act of my life. We came here to build up the kingdom of God, and we should feel the responsibility that is upon us. This is our home; and who of us appreciates the blessings bestowed upon us? We should appreciate them a great deal more than we do. If we were set down in New York or South Carolina for awhile, we should appreciate our home; for here we are not troubled with any of the difficulties which they experience in the States. We can meet together and worship God in peace. It is truly a great blessing to be assembled in these chambers of the mountains.

Let us try to prove ourselves worthy of our high calling as Saints of God. I pray that the Lord will give us power to lay aside everything that is wrong, to magnify our callings, and build up the kingdom of God. I feel to ask this blessing in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.