Discourse 1898-02-13
Sunday afternoon, February
13th, 1898 by
PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF.
-[REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER.]-
There is a saying that "whatever
leads to good and to do good, is of God;
whatever leads to evil and to do evil,
is of that wicked one." The first re-
mark I wish to make is in relation to
the mystery in my mind concerning
events that have transpired since the
world was made and God created man.
We all belong to Him. We do not belong
to the devil. He never made us. He
never made the world. He does not own
it. But he is here on earth. The mys-
tery to me is why the God of heaven
is so much more unpopular than the
devil on the face of the earth; why
the inhabitants of the earth, who are
the children of God, feel so much more
prone to do that that is evil than to
follow the commandments of God. The
Son of God, when He came to the earth
in the meridian of time, died to save
the world. The devil did not do it. Still
Jesus Christ was the most unpopular
man that tabernacled in the flesh in His
day and generation. He had more ene-
mies than almost any other being that
ever lived. The nation in which He
dwelt warred against Him, and after a
little while they put Him to death.
Why do men feel that the devil is of
so much more consequence than Christ,
and show themselves more ready to
do evil than good? There is no being
that has power to save the souls of men
and give them eternal life, except the
Lord Jesus Christ, under the command
of His Father. Take the whole history
of the world, from Father Adam down
to this day, and the commandments of
God and those ordinances that will
save men have always been very un-
popular. How was it in the days of
Jesus? Jesus spent about three
years and a half after He
entered the ministry, and then
He was put to death. They warred
against Him and His principles; and
not only against Him but al[so]
against His followers. His Apostles
were all put to death, excepting one,
and he would have been destroyed if
the people could have killed him; but
John the Revelator was preserved by
the power of God, while the others were
slain. Why were they killed? They
were unpopular. The world did not re-
ceive their doctrines. Read the history
of the world in the days of Adam, Seth,
Enos, Jared, Mahalaleel, Canaan, Me-
thusaleh, Noah, when men lived al-
most a thousand years, and you will
find that even in those early times the
children of men turned against God.
They sought that that was evil, and
pursued a course wherein the Lord was
angry with them, and He swept them
off the face of the earth with a flood.
Noah and his family were saved, and
the only ones that were saved. Do you
ever meditate upon this strange pre-
sentation to our minds in the history
of the dealings of God with men? It
does not matter what age of the world
you look at, whenever the Lord has
raised up Prophets and Apostles, Pas-
tors and Teachers, and commanded
them to do a work, they have been un-
popular and their work has been un-
popular. Take Jeremiah, for instance.
When the Lord sent him forth to teach
and warn the people he was very un-
popular. They put him in the stocks;
they cast him into a pit: they persecut-
ed him continually, until it seems to
me he must have felt like saying, "You
may all go to hell, for aught I care; I
am not going to bother my soul about
you any longer." [Jeremiah 20:1-2] But he could not do
that. The Lord had said to him in
sending him forth:
"Before I formed thee in the belly I
knew thee; and before thou camest
forth out of the womb I sanctified thee,
and I ordained thee a Prophet unto the
nations." [Jeremiah 1:5]
He commanded Jeremiah to go and
do as He commanded. What was the
consequence? Jeremiah was persecut-
ed, and when he complained of the con-
dition of things, the Lord told him to
go unto Zedekiah, the king of Jerusa-
lem, who had persecuted him,
and say unto him that the judg-
ments of God would come upon him,
his eyes would be put out, he would be
carried captive to Babylon, and he
would die in captivity.
I need not dwell upon these things:
but they are worthy the contemplation
of the Latter-day Saints. It has seemed
such hard work to do right, and so easy
to do evil. Temptation to do evil is on
every hand, from the day of our birth
until we go to the grave.
How is it in our day? These Latter-
day Saints know our position. The
God of heaven sent an angel to Joseph
Smith. That angel taught him many
things, and told him what to do.
Among other things, he told him there
was a record of the ancient inhabitants
of this land hid up in the hill Cumorah
and commanded him, in due time, to
go forth and receive that record and
translate it into the English language.
We have that record before us, and it
is true. It has come forth in fulfill-
ment of revelation. John the Revela-
tor said:
"And I saw another angel fly in the
midst of heaven, having the everlasting
Gospel to preach unto them that dwell
on the earth, and to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue, and people.
"Saying with a loud voice. Fear God,
and give glory to Him: for the hour of
His judgment is come." [Revelation 14:6-7]
That angel appeared to Joseph Smith
in his youth. The Lord also gave unto
him many revelations. He received the
Holy Priesthood from under the hands
of heavenly messengers who held the
keys of the Priesthood. He received
the Aaronic Priesthood and the Mel-
chisedek Priesthood, by the administra-
tion of angels from God out of heaven.
He organized the Church of C[h]rist. That
man lived fourteen years after he en-
tered into the ministry. He brought
forth the Book of Mormon and the
Doctrine and Covenants; he organized
the Church, and then he, like the Apos-
tles of old, was slain for the word of
God and testimony of Jesus.
What has been the history of the
Latter-day Saints, even on this great
American continent, and under one of
the most liberal governments God ever
gave to man? Joseph was tormented
and persecuted. His followers were
persecuted. They were driven from the
lands they occupied, and scarcely had
a place to plant their feet. Tribulation
followed them, until they were com-
pelled to come to these valleys of the
mountains. We have had a hard time
to live in a free country like America
and under our great and glorious gov-
ernment. Why this persecution, why
this oppression and this opposition?
Why this warring of the world against
the Gospel of Jesus Christ? There is
but one Gospel; there never was but
one, and never will be but one Gospel.
That Gospel God has revealed to us.
It is the Gospel of faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ, repentance of sin, bap-
tism for the remission of sins, the re-
ception of the Holy Ghost by the lay-
ing on of hands, and the gifts and grac-
ces following those who embrace those
principles. You are my witnesses of
the truth of these things. We have
found it to be an uphill work to get the
rights of American citizens. God has
established us here in these valleys of
the mountains. We came here as pio-
neers. We found a barren desert, with
no mark of the white man anywhere.
You see what there is today. It is in
fulfillment of the revelations of God.
Why is this spirit in men to persecute
one another, to fight against God and
His people, as has been the case from
the creation of the world down to our
day more or less? It is wrong, and ev-
ery man that takes a course of this
kind will have to bear the burden of it.
There is but one power in heaven or
on earth that can give man a part in
the first resurrection, clothed with
glory, immortality and eternal life, and
that power comes from God, and not
from the evil one. We ought to look
at these things as they are.
I have a few remarks I want
to make on a certain subject con-
nected with this. We have, as you all
know, lately put forth before the
public a document concerning a cer-
tain man who has been associated with
us—that is, Colonel Isaac Trumbo. It
has been a marvel to a great many
why the Presidency of the Church put
that forth and published it to the world.
It is because what we wrote there,
brethren and sisters, is true. Whether
he is unpopular or not, it makes no
difference to us. We have had so few
men who have not been in this Church
that have stepped forth and done what
he and some others have done, we have
felt it our duty to acknowledge it. I
want to say to you, one and all, that
I do not want to have Colonel Trumbo
go before God, whether before or after
the resurrection, or any other time,
and say that Wilford Woodruff, the
President of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, deprived him of
the honor that he should have had for
trying to assist the people in their
calamities and in obtaining a State
government for Utah, etc., as we have
rehearsed in that paper. I am willing
to acknowledge Colonel Trumbo, or any
other man, who has gone forth as he
has for years and assisted us in the
days of our trial. He is responsible for
his own acts. We have had some
friends in the midst of our difficulties.
It has been uphill work with us all
the way through in these valleys of the
mountains, but we have managed to
pull through, by the blessings of God
and the labors of a few friends with
our own. Colonel Trumbo was one of
those friends. He took hold and labored
with us, and I feel it is my duty to
acknowledge him before my brethren.
I do it for that reason. I would do
it for any other man that labored with
us. We have had a great many that
labored against us and for our destruc-
tion. We have had to bear these things
from the organization of this Church.
I was associated with Joseph Smith
from 1833 to the time of his death. After
his death I was associated with Brig-
ham Young. I brought him into
this valley in my carriage. I traveled
with him and labored with him
up to the day of his death. So with
John Taylor, and so with the
Apostles and this people. I know, as
God lives, that this is the work of God.
I know the Gospel has been revealed to
us, and we have it. It is our duty to
abide by it. Inasmuch as we will do
this the blessings of heaven will attend
us, and we will have power to build up
Zion in fulfillment of the promises of
God. I am a firm believer myself in
rewards and punishments, and in the
gifts and graces of the Gospel. I have
from my childhood been a firm believer
in the Patriarchs, the Prophets, and
the teachings of Jesus Christ. What
He and His Apostles taught was true.
They were put to death for those
truths, and so have our leaders been
put to death for those truths. Some of
us have been preserved in the earth.
The Latter-day Saints are gathering
together to fulfill these revelations that
have been given to us. Let any man
read the revelations in the Bible; read
the 49th chapter of Isaiah:
"Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O
earth: and break forth into singing, O
mountains: for the Lord has comforted
