Discourse 1894-09-02
REMARKS
Made at the Salt Lake Stake Conference,
in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Sunday Afternoon, September 2nd,
1894, by
PREST. WILFORD WOODRUFF.
-[REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER.]-
The angel Moroni said to the Prophet
Joseph Smith, "Whatsoever enticeth
and leadeth to good and to do
good is of God, and whatsoever doth
not is of that wicked one." That
is a true principle. I wish to make
some remarks upon this, but before
doing so I desire to refer to our meet-
ing this forenoon. There was prob-
ably not one half present this morning
of those who are here this afternoon,
and therefore many may not fully
understand what I allude to. This is
a Stake Conference, and there was a
report made this morning of the fast
offerings received from the various
wards in the Stake and the amounts
disbursed for the support of the poor.
I think that the report showed that
during the last six months this Stake
alone received from the general tithing
office $14,000 for the support of the
poor. I believe I am sa[f]e in saying that
fifty per cent of all the tithing collected
throughout the mountains of Israel is
returned to the various Stakes for
local expenses, among which is the
support of the poor. I think myself
that this is wrong. As Latter-day
Saints, we should observe our fast
meetings and our fast offerings. We
should at least make a donation of that
which we save by fasting, and give it to
the Bishop for the support of the poor.
It was remarked this morning that some
people said they could not fast because
it made their head ache. Well, I can
fast, and so can any other man; and if
it makes my head ache by keeping the
commandments of God, let it ache. If
we did our duty with regard to the
poor among us the tithing would not
be withheld from the Presiding Bishop-
ric for the support of the poor. In this,
brethren and sisters, I certainly think
we should improve. There is nothing
gained by our attempting to shirk any
duty that God requires of us. We
should be more diligent in attending
our fast meetings. We should fast as
the Lord requires. The Lord does not
ask anything of any man that he can-
not perform. Whenever the Lord
gives a commandment to the children
of men, He provides a way for the
fulfilment of that commandment.
Tithing is a commandment of God to
the people, and should be observed.
The report of what the Relief Society
has done is certainly a great credit to
them. The amount of means which
they have donated for the support of
the poor in this Stake is a large amount,
considering the labors that there are
upon that Society. I hope we will all
reflect upon these things and not forget
our duty with regard to the fast offer-
ings and the fast meetings, as well as
all other meetings that we are required
to attend.
President Angus M. Cannon referred
to the officers of the Stake not being
present at this Conference. I think if
we all felt as we should, if we under-
stood the signs of the times, we would
take pleasure in attending meetings as
far as possible. The Presidency of the
Church and the Twelve Apostles have
the conferences of the whole Church
to attend, and when they are not here
they are performing other duties.
Now, with regard to the statement I
made in the beginning, "Whatsoever
enticeth and leadeth to good and to do
good is of God, and whatsoever doth
not is of that wicked one." While we
as a people accord to every denomina-
tion the right to enjoy their religion, we
claim the same privilege ourselves. I
have often referred to this, because
perhaps it has appeared sometimes as
though we were encroaching upon
others. This, however, is not the case.
Let us compare the good with the evil
today. Where is there a man, no mat-
ter what sect he belongs to, who cannot
see a great change in the world today?
I remember very well over eighty years
of my life, and I certainly have never
seen such a time in my life in the
United States as I have during the last
year. The spirit of murder, of whore-
dom, of blasphemy that is going like a
flood over the land, and the increase of
crime on every hand, is certainly alarm-
ing. Is it from God? Does it lead to
good? It does not. There is no God
in it. When we look at these things we
can see that there is a power manifest
in our land and among the nations of
the earth that is leading men to do
evil. There is one thing very promi-
nently before my mind, and that is the
unpopularity of God himself, and of
Jesus Christ, and of the Gospel of the
Son of God. In the days of the Savior
there were a good many religious sects,
and they were all at war with the Savior
and His Apostles. They fought against
everything they did, and labored for
their destruction until the Savior and
His Apostles were put to death. Were
they led by the Spirit of God? They
were not. They were not inspired
to do right; they were seeking to do
wrong. In this dispensation the Proph-
et Joseph was an unpopular man. He
was opposed by the world, and by a
great many men who professed to be
ministers of the Gospel. They labored
against him and to overthrow his
doctrines. Now, if Joseph Smith was
right, his persecutors were not right.
Of course, every man must be his own
judge with regard to that. If Jesus
Christ and the Apostles were right,
then those men who fought against
them were not right.
We are informed by the revelation of
St. John that in the last days there
would be something like six hundred
three score and six different religious
sects and parties in the earth. Of
course, there could be but one
of them right; for there is but one
right way. There is but one Gospel;
there never was but one and never will
be. That Gospel never deviates from
one generation to another. So with
the Holy Priesthood. The Priesthood
is the same in every generation. When-
ever God has had a people on the face
of the earth, He has had the Priest-
hood among them. In fact, no man
has the right to administer in one of
the ordinances of the Gospel of the
Son of God only by and through the
power of the Holy Priesthood. The
ancient apostles and prophets who ad-
ministered in the ordinances of the
Gospel held that Priesthood. With-
out that authority they would have had
no right to administer in these ordin-
ances. So in this day, this principle is
the same.
Now, my friends, it does not pay any
man to preach false doctrine or ot
practice false principles, because there
is no salvation in it. It is for salvation
that we labor. For that the Lord
called Joseph Smith to organize the
Church of Jesus Christ once more for
the last time on the earth, so that a
body of people would be prepared for
the coming of the Son of Man. The
Gospel of Christ was with Joseph
Smith. The Priesthood was given to
Joseph Smith by those who held that
Priesthood in the days of Jesus. He
never pretended to administer in one
ordinance until he received the com-
mandment of God to do it. Those
of you who have embraced the Gos-
pel and have lived your religion know
for yourselves that the power of God
has followed this work from the com-
mencement until today. I know it has,
and I know it will if we do our duty.
All the ancient patriarchs and prophets
labored for salvation, for the glory
where God and Christ dwell, that
after death, in their immortal bodies,
they might occupy that position forever.
It paid them to do it, and it will pay
all men to do the same. We cannot
spend our time foolishly in safety. We
have a mission to fulfil. Some portion
of the Holy Priesthood has been given
to almost every man in the land of
