Discourse 1884-04-05
PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF
Said this was the fifty-fourth anniver-
sary of the establishment of the
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints. He considered the human
voice a poor medium to convey the im-
pressions upon the soul of man. It
was a matter of impossibility in the
few moments he had to stand before
the people to ezpress his reflections
upon the things of God and the duties
of the Saints. There was a vast
amount of subjects of great interest to
us as a people. He endorsed the senti-
ments advanced on the subject of home
industries. He wished to say a few
words on the conflict between truth
and error, light and darkness. We
were in the midst of it and so were the
servants of God from the beginning.
It would be so down to the end of time.
This warfare commenced in heaven
One third of the host of heaven rebel-
led against God and His Christ while
the two-thirds kept their first estate.
This made a tremendous number of
fallen spirits who were cast down to
the earth, without bodies, constituting
those evil ones who tempted those who
had bodies to do evil. Whenever there
were men on earth who labored to es-
tablish righteousness and introduce a
celestial law, these spirits worked
against them and influenced the ma-
jority of mankind to reject the ser-
vants of God. It cost the servants of
God their lives. It cost Joseph Smith
his life. This warfare would continue.
These evil spirits would war against
the Saints, against God, against Christ,
against His work until the time came
when Satan and his hosts should be
bound for a thousand years. But we
had the promises of the Lord for our
encouragement that this work should
stand. God had decreed that He would
establish His work in the dispensation
of the fulness of times never to be cast
down. There was no higher calling on
the face of the earth than to become a
witness for the Lord Jesus Christ. The
day had dawned when the God of hea-
ven had stretched out His hand to re-
store Judah and Israel, and set up His
dominion. Our business was to labor
for this cause. It had come here to
stay. Though the Prophet and Patri-
arch were martyred, and this people
had been driven, the progress of this
work had not been and could not be
stayed. The God of heaven required
us to warn this generation, who were
approaching a very important day and
time. A class of beings would follow
the Elders in their testimonies to the
world, beings who would command the
thunders and the tempests and the
destroying elements as witnesses to
the truth of our testimony and the
truths we proclaim would rise in judg-
ment against the wicked in the great
day of the Lord.
