God as it exists today. And what has
been the consequence of this? I desire
to bring the minds of the brethren to
those days. Just as quick as the Twelve
Apostles were appointed and the Church
was set in order, the devil labored with
all the power that he possessed to turn
aside these men and inspire them to
leave the Church of God. Because of
this it seemed to be very hard work
many times for men who had received
the Priesthood and even the Apostleship
to magnify that Priesthood and to stand in
their calling until they could finish their
work in the flesh. I have made a re
mark once or twice in my teachings with
regard to the great apostasy in .
I passed through that scene, as did
some others who are now with us, and I
wish now to refer to it because it is
something we should lay to heart.
Even Apostles took occasion to rise up
and endeavored to dictate and direct the
Prophet of God. Here, brethren and
sisters, was a manifestation—and a very
strange one, too—of the power that the
devil had over the leading men whom
God raised up to assist in laying the
foundation of this Church and in bring
ing forth the Book of Mormon. Those
who testified to the Book of Mormon
were led away through not keeping the
commandments of God and thinking
that they themselves were great men.
Some of them were learned men; some
of them considered themselves very
smart men, and they were so smart
that they wanted to dictate and direct the
Prophet of God. The consequence of
all this was that they turned aside from
the commandments of God. Some of
them had been true and faithful in their
labors in the ministry. I have heard
testify of the Book of
Mormon by the power of God when it
seemed as if the very earth trembled
under his feet. He was filled with the
Holy Ghost and the power of God
while he was faithful; and so were many
of these men. But Oliver Cowdery
yielded to the temptation of the evil one,
and we may say he apostatized. So did
, and several others con-
nected with them. They left the
Church, they turned against , and
they said he was a fallen prophet, and
they themselves wanted to direct the
Church. I have remarked that there
was a time when there were but two of
the quorum of the Twelve Apostles
then in the town of Kirtland who stood
by Joseph Smith and upheld him as a
prophet, seer and revelator. I was not a
member of that quorum at that time; I
was a Seventy. Several of these men
called upon me in the time of this apos-
tasy and asked me to join them against
the Prophet; the Prophet was fallen,
they said. Now, I had seen enough
myself of the Prophet of God, and I had
read enough of the revelations of God
through him, to know that he was a
Prophet of God and not a fallen prophet.
I saw that these men were yielding to
the devil, and I told them so. Said I:
"You will all go to hell unless you
repent. Joseph has been raised up by
the power of God; he has organized this
Church, he has been true and faithful to
God and to the Church and here on the earth, and you will fall
and go to perdition unless you repent
of your sins and turn from the position
you are in today." A good many of
them did fall. I will here name one
instance. I saw of these apostles in
the , while the was being passed, stand in the
aisle and curse the Prophet of God to his
face while he was in the stand, and
when the bread was passed around he
reached out his hand for a piece of bread
and flung it into his mouth like a mad
dog. He turned as black in the face
almost as an African with rage and with
the power of the devil. What did he
do? He ate and drank damnation to
himself. He did not go and hang him-
self, but he did go and drown himself,
and the river went over his body while
his spirit was cast unto the pit, where he
ceased to have the power to curse either
God or His Prophet in time or in etern-
ity. I may say that was
not in Kirtland at this time; he was in
. He never apostatized, but
died a martyr.
Brethren and sisters, I have passed
through these scenes, and it was a
serious time. And I will tell you the
devil is not dead today, but will war
against us and against this Church, as
far as he has power, while we dwell in
the flesh. I thank the Lord, however,
that I know for myself that this Church
will stand, and the Lord will bear it off
triumphant. We have passed those
days of affliction and sorrow; but I want
to say to my brethren, one and all, we
still have got to watch unto prayer. If
there is any place where the devil can
lead us astray he will do it. We are not
safe until we get through with this pro-
bation. I thank God for one thing:
I am satisfied for myself that those days
are passed and gone. There is no man
in heaven or on earth will ever live to
see such a day again. We are too near
the end; we are too near the of
the Son of Man. The Lord Almighty
has called a class of men upon whose
shoulders He has laid the responsibility
of this great work. He has chosen the
weak things of the world, and we have
these responsibilities resting upon us.
I am satisfied for myself that the whom He has chosen will,
as a rule, be true and faithful unto
death. How dark a man must be in his
mind to get into such a condition as
these Apostles were. I heard some of
them bear testimony before God, angels
and men that they had received the
ministration of angels, and having that
knowledge, what a condition they must
have been in when they apostatized!
We want to guard ourselves with
regard to these matters. We have got
to look to the Lord to assist us in the
cause in which we are engaged. I hope
and pray that I may live to see the union of the Twelve Apostles
with the of this Church and
the union of the whole Church. We
have this work upon our shoulders, and
the Lord is watching over us. I will say
to all the nations of the earth, you can-
not turn aside or overthrow the designs
of the Lord; they will come to pass in
the earth exactly as they have been
promised to the children of men.
We are here upon a mission, and it is
a great mission. We are blessed in
living in this day and generation. We
ought to try and make the most of it we
can. We ought to try and improve our
time, magnify our calling and do our
duty. I will say to the , the Lord has called and chosen
us to stand as the leaders of the people
—the Presidency, the Twelve Apostles
and the various quorums and positions
which we are in, and we are responsible
to God for the course we pursue in
these matters. True, we need the faith
and fellowship of the Saints; we need
their assistance; but inasmuch as we do
our duty the blessings of God will be
with us. I know for myself that the
Lord has set His to carry out His
great purposes and prepare the way for
the coming of the Son of Man. We have
passed through a long period of time,
as men count time, in our history. I will
here refer to one incident: When Christ
and , and , went into
the mount, and were mani-
fest to them, and Jesus was transfigured
before them. [Matthew 17:1-3] The last time the Apostles
ever met with the Prophet Joseph
Smith, there were eleven of us present
—nine Apostles, himself and his brother
. He likewise was transfigured
before us, as far as mortal man can be.
The room which he was in was filled as
with consuming fire by the power of
God. His face was clear as amber, he
was clothed with the power of God.
We did not know he was going to leave
us any more than the Apostles knew
the Savior was going to leave them in
that day. But he told us what our
duties were. He laid before us what
God required at his hands and the unto which he had been
ordained by the power of God. He
said the Lord had sealed upon his head
every ordinance, every key and every
power belonging to this ; and,
he added, "I have sealed these things
upon your heads; now you must go forth
and bear off this kingdom or you will
be damned." That was a very strong
remark to us. I have never forgotten
it from that day to this. I realize that
God was with him. And He has been
with His people. He is with Zion to-
day. He will continue to be. Though
all the powers of darkness may war
against us, the Lord is our Friend, and
He will sustain us and give us power to
build up Zion and to carry out this
work until the coming of the Son
of Man. Therefore, let your hearts be
comforted. These Apostles, I am
satisfied, are of one heart and mind.
I know they are united with us; I know
we are unit[e]d with them. This is a
great joy and consolation to me. We
all should be united in the cause in
which we are engaged. Inasmuch as we
do this we shall come off [t]riumphant.
I have no fear about Zion; I never had.
It is written, as with a pen upon a rock,
and is the voice of God, that Zion shall
stand. All the prophecies that the Lord
has given as contained in the Bible,
the Book of Mormon and the will be fulfilled to the
very letter. Not one jot or one tittle
will fall unfulfilled. Zion will arise and
flourish, and the glory of God will rest
upon her. When I cast my mind over
the signs of the times, when I look at
the fulfi[l]ment of prophecy and observe
what is taking place in the earth I see
the hand of God manifest and the fulfil-
ment of prophecy and revelation.
These angels of God that have been
standing in the temples of heaven
holding sharp sickles day a[f]ter day plead-
ing with God to let them go forth to
reap down the earth have been com-
manded of the Lord to wait until the
wheat was gathered into the garner, and
then they might go forth and reap down
the eart[h]. If the world wants to know
what is coming to pass, let them read
the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the
Doctrine and Covenants; let them read
these revelations of St. John. As God
lives they will come to pass. Not one
of them will fall unfulfilled. And the
578 THE DESERET WEEKLY.
God as it exists today. And what has
been the consequence of this? I desire
to bring the minds of the brethren to
those days. Just as quick as the Twelve
Apostles were appointed and the Church
was set in order, the devil labored with
all the power that he possessed to turn
aside these men and inspire them to
leave the Church of God. Because of
this it seemed to be very hard work
many times for men who had received
the Priesthood and even the Apostleship
to magnify that Priesthood and to stand in
their calling until they could finish their
work in the flesh. I have made a remark once or twice in my teachings with
regard to the great apostasy in .
I passed through that scene, as did
some others who are now with us, and I
wish now to refer to it because it is
something we should lay to heart.
Even Apostles took occasion to rise up
and endeavored to dictate and direct the
Prophet of God. Here, brethren and
sisters, was a manifestation-- and a very
strange one, too-- of the power that the
devil had over the leading men whom
God raised up to assist in laying the
foundation of this Church and in bringing forth the Book of Mormon. Those
who testified to the Book of Mormon
were led away through not keeping the
commandments of God and thinking
that they themselves were great men.
Some of them were learned men; some
of them considered themselves very
smart men, and they were so smart
that they wanted to dictate and direct the
Prophet of God. The consequence of
all this was that they turned aside
from the commandments of God. Some of
them had been true and faithful in their
labors in the ministry. I have heard
testify of the Book of
Mormon by the power of God, when it
seemed as if the very earth trembled
under his feet. He was filled with the
Holy Ghost and the power of God
while he was faithful; and so were many
of these men. But Oliver Cowdery
yielded to the temptation of the evil one,
and we may say he apostatized. So did
, and several others con=
nected with them. They left the
Church, they turned against , and
they said he was a fallen prophet, and
they themselves wanted to direct the
Church. I have remarked that there
was a time when there were but two
of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles
then in the town of Kirtland who stood
by Joseph Smith and upheld him as a
Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. I was not a
member of that quorum at that time; I
was a Seventy. Several of these men
called upon me in the time of this apos=
tasy and asked me to join them against
the Prophet; the Prophet was fallen,
they said. Now, I had seen enough
myself of the Prophet of God, and I
had read enough of the revelations of God
through him, to know that he was a
Prophet of God and not a fallen prophet.
I saw that these men were yielding to
the devil, and I told them so. Said I:
"You will all go to hell unless you
repent. Joseph has been raised up by
the power of God; he has organized this
Church, he has been true and faithful to
God and to the Church and kingdom of
God here on the earth, and you will fall
and go to perdition unless you repent
of your sins and turn from the position
you are in to-day." A good many of
them did fall. I will here name one
instance. I saw one of these Apostles in
the , while the Sacrament was being passed, stand in the
aisle and curse the Prophet of God to his
face while he was in the stand, and
when the bread was passed he
reached out his hand for a piece of bread
and flung it into his mouth like a mad
dog. He turned as black in the face
almost as an African with rage and with
the power of the devil. What did he
do? He ate and drank damnation to
himself. He did not go and hang himself; but he did go and drown himself,
and the river went over his body while
his spirit was cast into the pit, where he
ceased to have the power to curse either
God or His Prophet in time or in eternity. [note in CD: The only Apostle fitting President Woodruff's description was , a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from 1835 to 1838, who was disfellowshipped during a conference held in Kirtland, 3 September 1837. After making appropriate confessions, he was restored to his original position a few days later. Johnson was, however, excommunicated at , , on 13 April 1838. He drowned in the at , , 20 December 1856.] I may say that was
not in Kirtland at this time; he was in
Missouri. He never apostatized, but
died a martyr.
Brethren and sisters, I have passed
through these scenes, and it was a
serious time. And I will tell you the
devil is not dead to-day, but will war
against us and against this Church, as
far as he has power, while we dwell in
the flesh. I thank the Lord, however,
that I know for myself that this Church
will stand, and the Lord will bear it off
triumphant. We have passed those
days of affliction and sorrow; but I want
to say to my brethren, one and all, we
still have got to watch unto prayer. If
there is any place where the devil can
lead us astray he will do it. We are not
safe until we get through with this probation. I thank God for one thing:
I am satisfied for myself that those days
are passed and gone. There is no man
in heaven or on earth will ever live to
see such a day again. We are too near
the end; we are too near the coming of
the Son of Man. The Lord Almighty
has called a class of men upon whose
shoulders he has laid the responsibility
for this great work. He has chosen the
weak things of the world, and we have
these responsibilities resting upon us.
I am satisfied for myself that the servants of God whom He has chosen will,
as a rule, be true and faithful unto
death. How dark a man must be in his
mind to get into such a condition as
these Apostles were. I heard some of
them bear testimony before God, angels
and men that they had received the
ministration of angels, and having that
knowledge, what a condition they must
have been in when they apostatized!
We want to guard ourselves with
regard to these matters. We have got
to look to the Lord to assist us in the
cause in which we are engaged. I hope
and pray that I may live to see the perfect union of the Twelve Apostles
with the Presidency of this Church and
the union of the whole Church. We
have this work upon our shoulders and
the Lord is watching over us. I will say
to all the nations of the earth, you cannot turn aside or overthrow the designs
of the Lord; they will come to pass
in the earth exactly as they have been
promised to the children of men.
We are here upon a mission, and it is
a great mission. We are blessed in
living in this day and generation. We
ought to try and make the most of it we
can. We ought to try and improve our
time, magnify our calling, and do our
duty. I will say to the Latter-day Saints,
the Lord has called and chosen
us to stand as the leaders of the people--the Presidency, the Twelve Apostles
and the various quorums and positions
which we are in, and we are responsible
to God for the course we pursue in
these matters. True, we need the faith
and fellowship of the Saints; we need
their assistance; but inasmuch as we do
our duty the blessings of God will be
with us. I know for myself that the
Lord has set His hand to carry out His
great purposes and prepare the way for
the coming of the Son of Man. We have
passed through a long period of time,
as men count time, in our history. I will
here refer to one incident: When Christ
and Peter, James and John went into
the mount, Moses and Elias were manifest to them, and Jesus was transfigured
before them. The last time the Apostles
ever met with the Prophet Joseph
Smith, there were eleven of us present,
--nine Apostles, himself and his brother
Hyrum. He likewise was transfigured
before us, as far as mortal man can be.
The room which he was in was filled as
with consuming fire by the power of
God. His face was clear as amber, he
was clothed with the power of God.
We did not know he was going to leave
us any more than the Apostles knew
the Savior was going to leave them in
that day. But he told us what our
duties were. He laid before us what
God required at his hands and the ordinances unto which he had been
ordained by the power of God. He
said the Lord had sealed upon his head
every ordinance, every key and every
power belonging to this dispensation of the fulness of times; and,
he added, "I have sealed these things
upon your heads; now you must go forth
and bear off this kingdom or you will
be damned." That was a very strong
remark to us. I have never forgotten
it from that day to this. I realize that
God was with him. And He has been
with His people. He is with Zion to-day.
He will continue to be. Though
all the powers of darkness may war
against us, the Lord is our Friend and
He will sustain us and give us power to
build up Zion and to carry out this
work until the coming of the Son
of Man. Therefore, let your hearts be
comforted. These Apostles, I am
satisfied, are of one heart and mind.
I know they are united with us; I know
we are united with them. This is a
great joy and consolation to me. We
all should be united in the cause in
which we are engaged. Inasmuch as we
do this we shall come off triumphant.
I have no fear about Zion; I never had.
It is written, as with a pen upon a rock,
and is the voice of God, that Zion shall
stand. All the prophecies that the Lord
has given as contained in the Bible,
the Book of Mormon, and the Doctrine
and Covenants will be fulfilled to the
very letter. Not one jot or one tittle
will fall unfulfilled. Zion will arise and
flourish, and the glory of God will rest
upon her. When I cast my mind over
the signs of the times, when I look at
the fulfilment of prophecy and observe
what is taking place in the earth I see
the hand of God manifest and the fulfil=
ment of prophecy and revelation.
These angels of God that have been
standing in the temples of heaven
holding sharp sickles day after day pleading with God to let them go forth to
reap down the earth have been commanded of the Lord to wait until the
wheat was gathered into the garner, and
then they might go forth and reap down
the earth. If the world wants to know
what is coming to pass, let them read
the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the
Doctrine and Covenants; let them read
these revelations of St. John. As God
lives they will come to pass. Not one
of them will fall unfulfilled. And the
