Discourse 1880-12-19
ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF
took the stand to address the Saints.
He had met with the people of Og
den many times before, but he had
not often had more occasion to feel
gratified. In several meetings, yes-
terday, he had been glad to witness
a good spirit and prayer meetings had
been organized. The speaker then
pointed out how by the principle of
faith the people of God had been
preserved in every age and time of
the world. He will always sustain
us if we exercise faith and obey His
law. Through faith the world was
created, Noah built his ark, Abra-
ham went he knew not whither, the
three youths were preserved in the
fiery furnace and Daniel in the lion's
den. [Hebrews 11:7-8] [Daniel 3] [Daniel 6] Without the spirit of the Lord
we can accomplish nothing, and in
order for us to obtain it, God has
conferred the holy priesthood upon
us. We must unite our hearts in a
feeling of harmony, in order to es-
tablish the Kingdom of God. In
various ages the Lord has visited the
wicked and iniquitous with His
punishments, while the people of
Israel were prospered and preserved
as long as they obeyed His law. In
the same ways the Father has dealt
with the human family and with
His elect people ever since. The
speaker knows of no generation that
has been blessed and favored with
such great privileges as we are in this
dispensation. Such indeed, was that
of Abraham, also those of the ancient
prophets and apostles. Jesus came
in the meridian of time that through
him all the human family should be
saved and redeemed, as through
Adam all had fallen and died. Elder
Woodruff here gave a sketch of the
Saviour mission of Christ. We know
that all these missions in the various
epochs of the world's history were
of God, some of the prophets having
been fore-ordained before they were
born, as were Jeremiah of old, and
the Prophet Joseph in the latter-
days. [Jeremiah 1:5] This the speaker illustrated
by the early history of the prophet.
The Lord always had a plan with
His creations, although the speaker
does not believe in predestination.
But there are noble spirits in the
spirit world and them the Lord has
sent to set up and establish His
Kingdom. The Lord raised up the
Prophet Joseph, he also raised up
Twelve Apostles, and every Latter-
day Saint. He has searched them
out from among all the nations of
the world and brought them hither
to assist in the building up of the
Kingdom. This kindgom is to stand
unto the coming of the Son of man.
We have all been called to assist in
it, from a thousand or fourteen hun-
dred million of people. Therefore
we certainly have nothing else to do,
no other business than to build up
this Kingdom; if we build it up, we
build up ourselves, and if we neglect
it, we fall. The Lord looks to no
other people than to the Latter-day
Saints to perform His work. Hence
we must be united in the gospel and
in the love of the Lord. For no
consideration we should sacrifice
our eternal salvation. Our aim
is high and glorious and our mission
is sublime above all others. If we
overcome our weaknesses, we will
have power to finish all our temples,
to dedicate them, to perform work
for the dead in them. We can enter
into the glory of God, be face to face
with the Heavenly Father, if we
keep the covenants. Let us, there-
fore, be one; be ready to forgive, let
us never think we have so much
dignity that we need no instruction
or chastisement. Let us be humble
and ponder what we are here for.
Earth and hell are against us, the
world hate us, and this is one of the
principal proofs that God is our
friend and will fight our battles, if
we are faithful to Him and His com-
mands.
The Lord wants us to spread
abroad, Zion's border must be en-
larged and her stakes lengthened.
Thus we are settling in Arizona; the
head and center of our settlements
there is St. John in Apache Co. Now
there are thirty families wanted from
this stake, to go thither to settle the
country, it takes men with means
to build up the country there and
secure a strong foothold in that part
of the country. The hives of Israel
are crowded and the bees are com-
mencing to swarm.
