Discourse 1890-02-09
PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF
said he was thankful for the privi-
lege of meeting with so many of
the Latter-day Saints upon that oc-
casion. He had not been able dur-
ing the last four or five months to
speak in public, having been af-
flicted with a cold on his lungs.
One very peculiar fact was that
God the Creator of heaven and
earth and the inhabitants thereof
had always been an unpopular Be-
ing with the world. The Gospel of
Jesus Christ whenever taught by
inspired men, in any age, had
met with a great deal of op-
position. Such had been the
case in the whole history of the
world, from the time of father Adam
down to the present. Having shown
from Bible history how nations as
well as individuals had been pun-
ished for disobedience to God and
His commandments, President
Woodruff continued: I say to all
Israel and the whole world today
that the God of heaven has set His
hand to perform this work in which
we are engaged. He has raised
up a Prophet who organized
this Church in fulfilment of
the records of divine truth. Joseph
Smith was no more popular in the
generation in which he lived, neither
are the Apostles nor the Latter-day
Saints as a body now, than was
Christ and His Apostles in their
day. But the God of heaven has
decreed certain things, and those
decrees He will carry out, whether
men believe or disbelieve. He will
establish His Church, He will estab-
lish His Zion, He will bring together
His people. The people have to be
gathered from all nations under
heaven or the Bible will be unful-
filled.
We are passing through a very
peculiar kind of history. We have
had a peculiar history all the days
of our lives—ever since we have
been members of this Church at
least; we shall probably continue to
have until the coming of the Son of
Man. No man can be godly, true,
and a faithful witness of the Lord
Jesus Christ without suffering perse-
cution and meeting with opposition.
This has been the history of
the world in every age.
Be faithful, do what is
right, and let the consequences fol-
low. Trust in the God of heaven.
He is watching over you; the eyes
of all the heavenly host are watch-
ing over you as a people, and also
over all the world. This nation and
all nations under heaven will be
held accountable for the deeds done
in the body. We likewise shall be
held accountable for our acts and
the course which we pursue. We
have a long future before us—a long
eternity. We are here upon a mis-
sion, but it is short compared with
what lies before us on the other side
of the vail. Let not your hearts be
troubled; believe in God, keep His
commandments, and all will be well.
The Lord will neither forsake you
nor His kingdom, but He will carry
out all He has promised in the day
and generation in which we live.
Have faith in Him and in His
promises. Your strength lies in the
God of heaven. Whatever you want
go to Him for it. Our prayers
should ascend unto the ears of the
Lord day and night to sustain His
Church and work among this people.
There may be some strangers here
today. I will repeat to all such what
Joseph Smith has taught us. He
said, "If I was emperor of the
world and had control over all
the human family, I would sus-
tain every man, woman and
child in the enjoyment of their re-
ligion, let it be what it may." Those
have been our sentiments all the
way through. No man, not even
emperor or king, no republic, no
government has a right to take
away from any individual his
agency in the enjoyment of his re-
ligion. Why? Because men
beget only their own children; they
do not beget their subjects. They
are responsible to God and not to
men. Every man, woman, and
child, all parties, sects, and denomi-
nations under heaven have a right
to their religion whatever it may
be. We claim that same privilege
as Latter-day Saints, we have done
so all the way through, and expect
to do so as long as we live. We have
a right to believe in God, to believe
in Prophets, in Apostles, in the Gos-
pel which they taught, in the reve-
lations of God and their fulfilment.
I suppose we shall have an elec-
tion tomorrow. Of course you know
it is treason for an Apostle, for an
Elder, or a Prophet to refer to poli-
tics. That is the way it is looked
upon by the world; but I would say
to the Latter-day Saints—those of
you who go to the polls—labor for
peace; do not create any disturb-
ance; and should any disturbance
occur in this city, let it be with
somebody else; do not let it be with
the Latter-day Saints. We do not
wish to take the rights of any man
away, spiritually, temporally, politi-
cally, or in any other capacity.
Every man has a right to vote as
he pleases, to pray as he pleases,
to believe in God if he pleases,
to renounce religion or to obey
it; because he is responsible to God
and not to his fellow-men with re-
gard to his acts any further than he
trespasses upon those around him. I
say, God bless you. Let us be true
and faithful. Zion will arise, the
glory of God will rest upon her, the
Kingdom of God will be established
upon earth.
We expect to obey the laws of our
country until He comes whose right
it is to reign. We do not expect to
set up any kingdom not to turn aside
from those laws at all. We profess
to belong to the spiritual Kingdom of
God which will be built up, and
when Christ comes He will be the
King, and will reign not only over
America, but over all the earth.
Great and mighty judgments await
this generation and will overtake
the people "as a thief in the night."
Where are the governors, the judges,
and the mobs that put to death
Joseph Smith and others? They are
in the Spirit world. Where are the
governors who have taken part in
the matters of "Mormonism?" A
great measure of them are in the
Spirit world. We shall all follow
them and meet with others who
have also gone before on the other
side of the vail. When we come to
judgment we shall be in another
sphere. We shall be where the laws
of the land wherein we dwell today
do not have jurisdiction, and presi-
dents, rulers, governors, with our-
selves, will then have to give an
account of the deeds done in the
body.
Let us be faithful to our country,
to our God, to our religion, and to
those principles which God has
revealed to us, which we have re-
ceived, and which we know to be
true.
