DISCOURSE BY APOSTLE WILFORD WOODRUFF DELIVERED In the Tabernacle, Sunday, May 14th, 1882. REPORTED BY GEO. F. GIBBS. I feel disposed to read a chapter in the Bible; the chapter that I shall read contains, perhaps, a stronger chain of truth concerning life and death, the fall and redemption of man, the redemption and resurrec- tion of the dead, than any other I know of in the Bible. The speaker then read the 15th chapter, of 1st Corinthians, and said: Before proceeding to make any remarks upon this chapter, I wish to say that there is no person who knows, before entering this building, who is going to address the assem- bly, and, therefore, we have no pre- pared sermons to deliver, it may be a miller, or it may be a mason, it may be a carpenter, or it may be a farmer, a lawyer, a merchant or otherwise; this practice is peculiar to the Church of Jesus Christ of Lat- ter-day Saints, and the tendency is to make the speaker, whoever he may be, depend upon the spirit of inspiration to guide his thoughts and dictate his remarks. And, as a general thing if God, through this means, gives us nothing to say, we can say nothing to instruct the peo- ple. I have often expressed my views with regard to the position we oc- cupy before heaven and earth, be- fore God, angels and men, and the views of Jesus and His Apostles and Elders as they have come down to us give a key to what I wish to say upon this subject. If there is an Emperor, a King, a President, a ruler of any nation or people, whe- ther a monarchy, kingdom or repub- lic, that takes away from any of his subjects or fellow-citizens the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscien- ces, he deprives them of a right which the God of heaven has guar- anteed unto them. These are the sentiments of the Latter-day Saints. We believe in giving to all men freedom, freedom in spirit and action; we believe in religionists of every creed and faith enjoying the liberty to worship God according to the dictates of their own consciences, which right is guaranteed unto them by God Himself; and the man or set of men that would de- prive their fellows of this God-given right assumes a responsibility that they must answer for before the bar of God. If I had the power and control of the whole world I would never think of depriving any man, woman or child of this natural; this inherent right, whether their reli- gious views were true or false. Can you find from history that God at any time forced any man to heaven or Hell? No, you can not. And we as Latter-day Saints claim this right and privilege for ourselves to wor- ship God, to believe in God, and to believe in the records of divine truth—the Bible, the Book of Mor- mon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the revelations of God. A public speaker, a teacher of the people is held responsible before God and his fellowmen for the doctrine he teaches; if he teaches any other gospel than that laid down in the Bible and taught by the ancient Prophets and Apostles he is under condemnation, no matter who he may be. Paul realized this fact so keenly that he, in speaking about it on one occasion, said: "Though we or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed;" [Galatians 1:8] and he re- peats this sentiment two or three times over. I wish to say a few words on one of the verses I have read, the 22nd: "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." The world, more or less, has found a great deal of fault with Mother Eve and with Father Adam because of the fall of man; what I have to say with regard to it, I express as my own opinnion. Adam and Eve came to this world to perform ex- actly the part that they acted in the garden of Eden; and I will say, they were ordained of God to do what they did, and it was therefore ex- pected that they would eat of the forbidden fruit in order that man might know both good and evil by passing through this school of expe- rience which this life affords us. That is all I want to say about Father Adam and Mother Eve. Adam fell that man might be, and men are that they might have joy [2 Nephi 2:25]; and some have found fault with that. It has been said that God commanded Adam to multiply and replenish the earth; and it has been said that Adam was not under the necessity of falling in order to multiply and replenish the earth, but you will understand that the woman was deceived and not the man; and according to the justice of God she would have been cast out into the lowly and dreary world alone and thus the first great com- mand could not have been complied with unless Adam had partaken of the forbidden fruit. We acknow- ledge that through Adam all have died, that death through the fall must pass upon the whole human family, also upon the beasts of the field, the fishes of the sea and the fowls of the air and all the works of God as far as this earth is concerned. It is a law that is unchangeable and irrevokable. It is true a few have been translated, and there will be living upon the earth thousands and millions of people when the Messiah comes in power and great glory to reward every man accord- ing to the deeds done in the body, who will be changed in the twinkling of an eye, from mortality to immortality. [3 Nephi 28:8] Never- theless they must pass through the ordeal of death involved in the change that will come upon them. The Savior himself tasted of death; He died to redeem the world; His body was laid in the tomb, but it did not see corruption; and after three days it arose from the grave and put on immortality. He was the first fruit of the reuurrection. There was no prophet, no saint or sinner, from the days of Father Adam to the days of Jesus that ever rose from the dead through the keys and power of the resurrection. Al- though we read of some who were restored to life, but this was not what is termed the resurrection. With regard to redemption, Paul said: All the children of Adam are redeemed from the fall by the aton- ing blood of Jesus, and all infants are redeemed as well as other peo- ple. [Romans 5:12-21] There is no infant or child that has died before arriving at the years of accountability, but what is redeemed, and is therefore entirely beyond the torments of hell, to use a sectarian term. And any doctrine, such as the sprinkling of infants or any religious rite for lit- tle children is of no effect whatever neither in this world nor in the world to come. It is a man-made doctrine, and therefore not ordained of God; and I will defy any man to find in any of the records of divine truth any ordinance instituted for the salvation of little innocent chil- dren; it would be unnecessary on the face of it, and the only thing that can be found is where Jesus took the little ones in his arms and blessed them, which is and would be perfectly right to do according to the order of God. But the sprinkl- ing of infants or the doctrine that infants go to hell under any circum- stances is a doctrine ordained of man and not of God, and is there- for of no avail and entirely wrong and displeasing in the sight of God. So much about the infants. I will say again they are redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ, and when they die, whether of Christian, Pa- gan or Jewish parentage, their spirits are taken home to God who gave them, and never go to suffer torments of any kind. Another subject I wish to say a few words upon: "In Christ all are made alive." [1 Corinthians 15:22] Since the day that sin entered into the world men have been held accountable for their own acts, and it has been known upon this earth from the day, at least, that Cain slew his brother Abel. [Genesis 4:1-16] And sin has presented itself in dif- ferent grades; there are murder, blas- phemy, lying, stealing, whoredom, and abominations of many different forms, which have followed man from generation to generation. For there was a power that dwelt upon the earth in the form of thousands and millions of fallen spirits, one- third of the hosts of heaven, which had been cast out of heaven with the devil in the great rebellion, who remain in that condition and who do not possess tabernacles, and they make war upon the Saints of God wherever or whenever they are found upon the earth, and upon all men; they seek to destroy the whole human family, and have done so from the beginning until the present day, and they have not ceased their labors nor do they intend to while Satan remains unbound. All the children of men who arrive at the years of accountability are guilty of sin, all being inclined to do evil as the sparks are to fly upwards. "What shall we do to be saved" was the cry of the people who heard the preach- ing of Peter on the day of Pentecost, and the same may be said to be ap- plicable to all men in every genera- tion. [Acts 2:37-38] The answer would be, obey the law of the Gospel. This is the safe means given for the salvation of the human family. The law of God, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, which Gospel contains the laws of God; it contains the ordinances, it contains the commandments, and any man that breaks them is guilty before God. And I will here say, as I wish to be understood by all men, that our faith is, there never has been but one Gospel upon the earth though to-day there are six hundred three score and six different religi- ous faiths, all more or less diverse one from another; but there is but the one true and everlasting Gospel, and never will be any more, and it is the same Gospel that was taught to Adam, to Noah, to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and the Patriarchs, and which Jesus and the Apostles preach- ed; it never did vary in the least in one single instance, nor never will. And I say, if we teach any other Gospel than that which was taught by Jesus and His Apostles, we teach a false Gospel, and shall be under condemnation before God, angels and men. What is the Gospel as taught by Jesus himself? The very first prin- ciple was faith in the Messiah; this was the first principle ever taught to man. When Adam, after being driven from the garden of Eden, went to Adam-ondi-Ahman to offer sacrifice, the angel of the Lord asked him why he did so. Adam replied that he did not know, but the Lord had commanded him to do it. He was then told that the blood of bulls and goats, of rams and lambs should be spilt upon the altar as a type of the great and last sacrifice which should be offered up for the sins of the world. [Moses 4:6-8] The first princi- ple, then, ever taught to Father Adam was faith in the Messiah, who was to come in the meridian of time to lay down His life for the redemp- tion of man. The second principle was repentance. And what is re- pentance? The forsaking of sin. The man who repents, if he be a swearer, swears no more; or a thief, steals no more; he turns away from all former sins and commits them no more. It is not repentance to say, I repent to-day, and then steal to-morrow; that is the repentance of the world, which is displeasing in the sight of God. Repentance is the second principle. I have heard many men say, no ordinances are necessary, that belief only in the Lord Jesus Christ is ne- cessary to be saved. I have not learned that myself from any reve- lation of God to man, either ancient or modern. But on the contrary, faith in Christ, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins were taught by patriarchs and prophets and by Jesus Christ and His Apos- tles. Baptism for the remission of sins is an ordinance of the Gospel. Says one, baptism is not essential to salvation. Jesus not only taught it but rendered obedience himself to that requirement, not that He was baptized for the remission of sins, but, as He said, "to fulfill all righte- ousness," thus in this, as in all other respects giving the example for all who follow. [Matthew 3:13-17] When these principles of the Gospel are complied with a man is then a fit subject to receive the Holy Ghost; and this holy gift is bestowed to-day as it was ancient- ly, by the laying on of hands by men possessing the authority to ad- minister in the ordinances of the Gospel. These are the first princi- ples of the Gospel which we Latter- day Saints believe in and teach to our fellow-men. Joseph Smith received the minis- tration of Angels, and he by revela- tion organized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he was taught by those who ministered unto him what to teach to the peo- ple, which was the everlasting Gos- pel. Again, men received the Holy Ghost through the imposition of hands, after being baptized for the remis- sion of sins. The Holy Ghost was imparted in that way, according to the promise of those who preached the Gospel. Joseph Smith when he organized this Church in 1830 organ- ized it by revelation; and while we had hundreds of churches and sys- tems and religions, not a single de- nomination upon the earth at that time preached the Gospel as taught by the ancient prophets and Apost- les, or had a church organized on the earth with prophets and Apostles, or with signs following the believers as in ancient days. [Doctrine and Covenants 21:1-3] Can you tell of one? I never heard of one until I heard the Elders of this Church preach the Gospel and set forth the order of God. When God commanded Joseph Smith to go forth and organize the Church, what authority had he to do so? None at all until he was ordained under the hands of those who had held the keys of the priesthood upon the earth. [Doctrine and Covenants 27:8-13] And I will say to this assem- bly, in the days of Jesus Christ He taught these principles to the Jews; He brought the Gospel to the Jews and established His kingdom among them, and it came with all its gifts, graces and powers: the sick were healed; devils were cast out; the gifts were mani- fested among them. But the Jews rejected Him, and they finally put Him to death,—He and His Apos- tles. He came to His own Father's house but He was not received; and then, according to command, this Gospel went to the Gentiles—we are all Gentiles in a national capacity, we are not Jews, the Jews are another class of men; they put the Savior to death, and have suffered for 1800 years in consequence,—they have been trodden under the feet of the Gentiles even until the present day. Those that took part in that deed and those who sanctioned it said, Let His blood be upon us and our children after us. The Gentile Judge was willing to release Him because he could find no fault in Him; but the feeling and senti- ment of the Jews was, "Crucify him! Crucify him l [!]" [Luke 23:21-33] What in- fidel is there, no matter who he is, who does not believe in God, let him read the revelations of heaven and see the fulfillment of prophecy from the beginning of Genesis to our day, and he will see them ful- filled to the very letter. There is nothing that has been predicted by Jesus or the Apostles but what has already been fulfilled to the very letter as far as time will admit, and what has not will be. When, I say, the Gospel was preached to the Gentiles it went to them in all its power, its beauty and glory, Priest- hood and ordinances as it was of- fered to the Jews. And Paul, in writing to the Romans told them not to be highminded, but to fear; for if God spared not the natural branches, who were the Jews, be- cause of their unbelief, how could he be more merciful to the unna- tural branches, who were the Gen- tiles? [Romans 11:20-21] Has there been the true Church of Christ upon the earth since the Apostles were slain? Can you find a Church upon the earth organized as it was in that day? No not one. The Gentiles followed the example of the Jews in their unbelief and in putting to death those who bore the holy priesthood; and in- stead of the Church of Christ has sprung up every kind of Church during the last 1,800 years. But in these the last days, God has again restored the everlasting Gospel; and any man who believes the Bible must believe the fulfillment of reve- lation, and he cannot believe in the fulfillment of prophecy without be- lieving that God would send again to the earth angels to deliver that Gospel. And why send an angel for this purpose? Because the Gos- pel was taken from the earth in consequence of the unbelief of the Gentiles and the powerful opposi- tion that was brought against the comparative few who represented it. And in fulfillment of the revelation of St. John, John the Baptist came to Joseph Smith and conferred upon him, after a period of preparation on his part, the Aaronic Priesthood which authorized him to preach and to baptize for the remission of sins, and to administer the sacrament, but not to lay on hands for the recep- tion of the Holy Ghost. In due time, however, Peter, James and John appeared to him also and con- ferred upon him the Melchesi- dek order of Priesthood and Apostleship, which gave him the power to organize the kingdom of God upon the earth. [Doctrine and Covenants 27:8-13] These are truths whether the world believe them or not. It makes no difference; it is the work of Almighty God, and he is the originator of it. How is it with the Elders of Israel? God has called men from the plow, the hammer and anvil, from the car- penter's bench, etc., unlearned and weak mortals, and they have been sent out to the world to bear record of this new and everlasting gospel restored in our day. And what have they said to the methodists, the Baptists, and all other religionists and classes of men. God Almighty has given unto me a dispensation of the Gospel and I offer it to you; he that believes on the Lord Jesus Christ, and that I am his servant having His Gospel message to de- clare to all those to whom I am sen[t,] and repents and is baptized for th[e] remission of his sins, shall receiv[e] the Holy Ghost. This has bee[n] the purport of the message [we] have borne to men and nations [for] the last fifty years. And now [if] God has nothing to do with thi[s,] how is it that we have been able [to] gather together thousands and te[ns] of thousands from about all natio[ns] under heaven by the simple p[ro-] clamation of the Gospel-mess[age?] How long would it be before Jo[seph] Smith or any other man who w[ould] go forth bearing the message [like] we do, and making the promises [that] we make, would be found out t[o be] an imposter unless the promises [we] made were genuine and looked [upon] in such a way as to give entire [satis-] faction to those who hearken[ed] his word? The whole secret o[f our] success as far as making conve[rts] concerned is, that we preach [the] same Gospel in all its simplicity [and] plainness that Jesus preached, that the Holy Ghost rests [upon] those who receive it, filling [their] hearts with joy and gladnes[s un-] speakable, and making them [as one;] and they then know of the do[ctrine] for themselves whether it be [of God] or man. And this Gospel of [Christ] which we offer is what has le[d this] Church from its first [organ-] ization until to-day. And, as I [have] often said, had it not been fo[r the] Gospel revealed to us, we [might] have labored until we were as [old as] Methusaleh, and Utah [to-day] would have been as barren as [it was] in 1847 when we first came to [these] valleys. At that time we fo[und a] barren desert, yes, as barren [as the] desert of Sahara, with no ma[rk of] the Anglo Saxon race. But [travel] through Utah to-day and we [find] houses and cities, gardens [and] orchards, meeting-houses and [taber-] nacles and school-houses and [dwell-] ings, with the blessing of G[od at-] tending the labors of the p[eople;] and a community of people [from] almost every nation taken from [the] various sects and parties, and [they] are here through the inspira[tion of] Almighty-God, and I know it. [We have] not had power of ourselv[es to] influence any man or woman [with] regard to these things. They [have] been influenced by the testimo[ny of] Jesus Christ and by the Gosp[el of] the Son of God. These are [prin-] ciples by which all men are s[aved.] All men are saved by and thr[ough] the blood of Jesus Christ, th[rough] obedience to the Gospel. I realize our condition and [the po-] sition occupied by this generat[ion. I] know we are looked upon as [a bad] people, and we are considered [a very] ignorant people. There never [were] more epithets heaped upon [Jesus] Christ and the Apostles than [upon] the Latter-day Saints. W[hy is] this? Are we so much wors[e than] the world? No, we are not. [What] then is the matter? The Lo[rd Al-] mighty has set His hand to [gather] His people, and to build up H[is Zion] and to establish his Church in [these] the last days; and the world [do not] like the doctrine we teach, as [it lays] the axe at the root of the tre[e, and] consequently we have been [perse-] cuted from the time tha[t this] Church was organized until t[o-day;] and the persecution will co[ntinue] more or less until He reigns [whose] right it is to reign, [Doctrine and Covenants 58:22] until the [Lord] Jesus Christ comes in the clo[uds of] heaven to reward every m[an ac-] cording to the deeds done [in the] body. Now I want to say to the L[atter-] day Saints, we are called to a [great] work, and we have been ca[lled of] God, and we, as Elders, hav[e gone] forth whithersoever we were [sent,] taking our lives in our hands, [trav-] eling hundreds and thousan[ds of] miles without purse or sc[rip. I] have waded swamps and swu[m riv-] ers, and have asked my brea[d from] door to door; and have d[evoted] nearly 50 years to this work[. And] why? Was there gold eno[ugh in] California to have hired me to [do it?] No, verily; and what I have don[e and] what my brethren have don[e, we] have done because we were [com-] manded of God. And this [is the] position we occupy to-day. W[e have] preached and labored at hom[e and] abroad, and we intend to co[ntinue] our labors, by the help of G[od, as] long as we can have liberty to [do it,] and until the Gentiles prove [them-] selves unworthy of eternal life, [and] until the judgments of God ov[ertake] the world, which are at the [door.] Does this generation know [what] awaits them? Does our own n[ation?] No, the world is ignorant of [what] must, sooner or later, befall the[m.] Here is the Christian world [pro-] fessing to believe the Bible, ca[n you] show me wherein any of the p[redic-] tions of the prophets, whether [those]