Discourse 1897-12-12
ence, Sunday, .
by
PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF.
-[REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER.]-
"Wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat:
"Because strait is the gate, and nar-
row is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it." [Matthew 7:13-14]
I look upon that as one of the most
important sayings of Jesus Christ while
teaching the people in His day. Few
there are that find the straight and
narrow way. To read such sayings of
the Savior as those sets one to reflect-
ing. If it is necessary for the children
of men to receive the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and to attend to the ordinances
of His house, in order to be saved in
the kingdom of God, certainly it would
appear as if very few will be saved
in the celestial kingdom of our God.
When the Lord called Joseph Smith,
he received the ministrations of Mo-
roni, an angel of God from heaven. [Joseph Smith-History 1:30-47]
According to the teachings that were
given to him by the Lord and by the
angels of heaven, there was no organi-
zation on the face of the whole earth
at that time that was accepted of the
Lord as His Church. Joseph Smith
had received the holy Priesthood by
the administration of angels from God
out of heaven before he himself was
prepared to preach the Gospel. The
work that he commenced was like a lit-
tle mustard seed. Those that followed
him were very few in number;
and the same spirit of opposition
which was manifest in the days of the
Savior and in the days of the prophets
was manifest in his day and time.
He met with the same fate as the Son
of God and His Apostles did. All laid
down their lives and sealed their testi-
mony by the shedding of their blood,
excepting John the Revelator, and he
was preserved by the power of God.
This is a subject of vast importance
to the inhabitante of the earth, in-
cluding the Latter-day Saints. Accord-
ing to statisticians, there are about
fourteen hundred millions of human
beings on the earth. Now, if the Latter-
day Saints are all who have received
the Gospel of Christ since the organiz-
[a]tion of the Church, then the numbers
who are preparing to go into the
celestial kingdom of God are certainly
very few. Even if the Latter-day
Saints numbered a half million, they
would be a very small percentage of the
inhabitants of the earth.
There was a small congregation of
Latter-day Saints here this morning,
and we listened to a number of the
Bishops represent their wards and tes-
tify concerning tithing, the expense of
caring for the poor, and the position
they were in. I thought to myself that
if we had the desire in our hearts to
be one of that number who will go to
receive eternal life in the celestial
kingdom of God, and to be where God and
Christ dwell, it would certainly pay
us to thoroughly keep the command-
ments of God and do our duty. It
causes singular reflections to look upon
the history of the inhabitants of the
earth. It does not make much difference
what part of the world you take, nor
what age, mankind have been prone
to evil and to yield to the enemy. One-
third of the hosts of heaven are repre-
sented as having been cast down from
heaven to earth. They are fallen
angels, who have been on the earth,
I suppose, ever since they were cast
out of heaven. What is their
mission? It is to work against God
and against Christ; to lead the chil-
dren of men to do that which is evil,
that they may have power and domin-
ion over them in this world and in the
world to come. The children of men
in every age have had these fallen
spirits to contend with. These powers
have been manifest from the fall of
Adam down to our day, and will con-
tinue until He who holds the keys of
death and hell will bind Satan and
shut him up in prison for one thousand
years, after which he will be liberated
to perform his last act for the destruc-
tion of the sons of men.
In reflecting over these things, and
seeing how it has been in days that are
past and gone, it seems, if we are to
judge from the revelations and from
the saying of the Savior which I have
quoted, that there are very few who
find the straight and narrow way that
leads to eternal life. But the Latter-
day Saints have a desire to be saved in
the kingdom of God. This is a great
desire, and it should be with all men.
We should understand that it will pay
us to strive to do right and to keep the
commandments of God, that when we
get through we may receive those
blessings that we are looking for; that
we may meet with the Lord, meet with
Father Adam, with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, with the patriarchs and
prophets, and with the few Saints that
have been in the flesh on the earth. I
believe this is your desire. It is my
desire. I have desired it from my boy-
hood up. I have thought sometimes
that I have made rather a poor at-
tempt at it; perhaps many of us have
felt the same; but I think that the lit-
tle time we have to be here it will pay
us to look carefully to our ways and to
keep the commandments of God. It
will be worth our while to pay our
tithing and attend to every other duty
that God requires at our hands while
we dwell here, that when we get
through we may be satisfied. This is
my desire with regard to the Latter-
day Saints. For when we realize the
few that will enter into eternal life
compared with those that will go the
broad road, it is lamentable.
As Latter-day Saints we have re-
ceived the Priesthood; the command-
ments of God have been made known
to us; and we have set before us,
through the mouths of inspired men,
those principles that shall lead us in
the path of life and salvation. Now,
in view of these things, what will it
profit us to sin? What is there in this
life that will pay us to lose all those
blessings which belong to the first
resurrection and to the kingdom of
heaven? It is within our power, by
keeping the commandments of God, to
come forth out of our graves, clothed
in immortal, celestial bodies, with our
wives, our children, our fathers, our
mothers, our relatives, and our friends,
and occupy high and exalted positions
in the presence of God and the Lamb,
and dwell with them forever and for-
ever. What is there, brethren and sis-
ters, in this world or anywhere else,
that will pay us to pursue a course
whereby we shall lose the fulfillment
of these blessings? There is nothing.
Far better for us never to have lived
in the flesh than to pursue a course
whereby we forfeit these blessings.
We, as Elders of Israel, have labored
faithfully to try to save our fellow
men in the Gospel of Christ. We have
been blessed in this. We have traveled
among the nations of the earth and
the islands of the sea to instruct the
children of men upon these principles.
There is no better calling that a man
can have than to go and preach the
Gospel to his fellow man and to save
the souls of the children of men. The
Lord said to Oliver Cowdery and David
Whitmer:
"And if, it so be that you should
labor all your days in crying repent-
ance unto this people, and bring, save
it be one soul unto me, how great shall
be your joy with him in the kingdom
of the Father!
"And now, if your joy will be great
with one soul that you have brought
unto me into the kingdom of my
Father, how great will be your joy if
you should bring many souls unto me!" [Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16]
Now, our Elders have saved thou-
sands of souls: that is, the Elders have
preached the Gospel to them, they have
baptized them, ordained them, and
given them their blessings.
We ought to look at these things as
they are. No matter what the world
may think of us, or what their desire
may be about us. Even if we are all
saved in the kingdom of God, our
numbers will be very few compared
with the millions upon millions who
have never been willing to receive the
Gospel in the earth, and who will oc-
cupy positions elsewhere than in the
presence of God and the Lamb. I lis-
tened to the Bishops this morning talk
about tithing. It will be profitable to
us to pay our tithing. It will pay us to
do anything else that God requires at
our hands. By doing it we will be
justified.
I thank the Lord for my life. I thank
Him for His blessings and mercies to
me. I have reason to rejoice in this,
and I am obliged to give God the glory
for all I have ever received. If I have
ever done any good; If I have been able
to preach the Gospel and to pursue a
course whereby I have edified my fel-
low man, at home or abroad, it has
been by the power of God, upon Jesus
