DISCOURSE BY PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF,
IN THE MEETING HOUSE, KAYSVILLE, DAVIS COUNTY, SUNDAY MORNING,
.
(Reported by John Irvine.)
HARDSHIP THE HERITAGE OF THE SAINTS—THE NECESSITY OF TRIAL
FORGIVENESS OF ENEMIES—INSPIRED DREAMS, "GET THE SPIRIT
OF GOD"—THE GREAT WORK EXPECTED OF THE SAINTS—LABORS
AMONG THE LAMANITES.
We have met again this morning
to hear and receive instruction and
worship the Lord and honor Him
upon this holy Sabbath day.
The heavens are full of knowledge,
full of instruction, full of revela-
tion and of principle and decree,
and I may say of judgment, all to be
made use of in their day and time,
and we have a right to all the know-
ledge, all the revelation, all the
principles of truth, that we can
claim by faith and diligence in serv-
ing the Lord and in the performance
of our duty.
I look upon the Latter-day Saints
as occupying a position, I may say
equal, at least, to that occupied by
the people of any other dispensation
that God has ever given to man.
We are a blessed people; we are
favored of heaven and have received
at the hands of our heavenly Father
a great many blessings both of the
heavens and of the earth, and we, as
a people, should be grateful to the
Lord our God for the many kind-
nesses He has bestowed upon us.
We live, in fact, in the dispensation
of the fullness of times, the last
dispensation in which the Lord will
reveal his mind and will to the in-
habitants of the earth, the last time
in which the Lord will prune his
vineyard, the last time in which he
will set up his kingdom upon the
earth, establish His Church, and
build up His Zion, to prepare for the
coming of the Son of Man. And
while we sometimes feel and have
felt in days that are past and gone,
to complain because we meet with
oppression, persecution and afflic-
tion, yet I wish to say to my breth-
ren and sisters that these things are
the heritage of the Saints of God.
Any people whom God calls will
meet with opposition from those
who will not receive the Gospel of
Jesus Christ. This has been the
legacy of the Saints of God in every
age from Father Adam down to
our own day. Those that live
godly in Christ Jesus must suffer
persecution. I believe myself,
from the reading of the revelations
of God, that it is necessary for a
people who are destined to inherit
the celestial kingdom to be a tried
people. I have never read of the
people of God in any dispensation
passing through life, as the secta-
rian world would say, on flowery
beds of ease, without opposition of
any kind. I have always looked
upon the life of our Savior—who
descended beneath all things that
He might rise above all things—as
an example for His followers. And
yet it has always, in one sense of the
word, seemed strange to me that
the Son of God, the First Begotten
in the eternal worlds of the Father,
and the Only Begotten in the flesh,
should have to descend to the earth
and pass through what He did—
born in a stable, cradled in a manger,
persecuted, afflicted, scorned, a hiss
and bye-word to almost all the world,
and especially to the inhabitants of
Jerusalem and Judea. There was
apparently nothing that the Savior
could do that was acceptable in the
eyes of the world; anything and
almost everything he did was imputed
to an unholy influence. When He
cast out devils the people said he
did it through the power of Beelze-
bub, the prince of devils; when he
opened the eyes of the blind, the
Pharisees and priests of the day told
the man to "give God the glory; we
know this man is a sinner." And
so all his life through, to the day of
his death upon the cross. There is
something about all this that ap-
pears sorrowful; but it seemed
necessary for the Savior to descend
below all things that he might
ascend above all things. So it has
been with other men. When I look
at the history of Joseph Smith, I
sometimes think that he came as
near following the footsteps of the
Savior—(although no more so than
his disciples)—as any one possibly
could. Joseph Smith was called
to lay down his life; he sealed his
testimony with his blood, and passed
through some serious trials and
afflictions. In section 122 of the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants—
the word of the Lord given to the
Prophet while in Liberty jail—the
Lord showed him his condition
and position. He refers there
to the trials and troubles he was
called to pass through, and then
compares them with what He Him-
self (the Savior) had to endure. He
says: [Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-9] "And if thou shouldst be cast
into the pit, or into the hands of
murderers, and the sentence of death
passed upon thee; if thou be cast
into the deep; if the billowing surge
conspire against thee; if fierce winds
become thine enemy; if the heavens
gather blackness, and all the ele-
ments combine to hedge up the way;
and above all, if the very jaws of
[Doctrine and Covenants 122:7-9] hell shall gape, open the mouth
wide after thee, know thou, my Son,
that all these things shall give thee
experience, and shall be for thy
good. The Son of man hath de-
scended below them all; art thou
greater than He? Therefore, hold
on thy way, and the Priesthood
shall remain with thee, for their
bounds are set, they cannot pass.
Thy days are known, and thy years
shall not be numbered less; there-
fore, fear not what man can do, for
God shall be with you for ever and
ever." The Lord showed him in
this revelation that these afflictions
were necessary. We have been
called to pass through trials many
times, and I do not think we should
complain, because if we had no trials
we should hardly feel at home in
the other world in the company of
the Prophets and Apostles who were
sawn asunder, crucified, etc., for the
word of God and testimony of Jesus
Christ.
How should we feel towards our
enemies? President Taylor of late
has called upon us, to exercise
towards them the same spirit that
was manifested by our Savior upon
the cross: "Father forgive them
they know not what they do." [Luke 23:34] We
should endeavor to exercise that
spirit. Our persecutors, those who
would seek to destroy us, do not
know what they do. They do not
comprehend us at all. Why, bless
your souls, if the veil was lifted from
off the eyes of the President of the
United States, from off the eyes of
the members of the Congress of the
United States, and from off the eyes
of our enemies, if this veil were
lifted they would bow before the
Lord and plead for these "Mor-
mons;" they would do this if their
eyes were open to see the future
consequences of taking a stand
against this Church and kingdom.
But there is a veil over their eyes,
because of their works of evil; and
the day will come when all peoples
will mourn who take a stand against
the kingdom of God, the Zion of
God, the Church of God, and the
Lord's anointed; unless they repent
they will, when they pass into the
other world, go into outer darkness,
where there is weeping and wailing
and gnashing of teeth. It is impos-
sible, however, for the Saints of God
to inherit a celestial kingdom with-
out their being tried as to whether
they will abide in the covenants of
the Lord or not.
Well, I feel we are a blessed peo-
ple. We have prospered. The
Lord is fighting our battles. The
Lord holds the destiny of this nation
and all other nations in His hands.
Our enemies can go no further than
He permits them.
We live in a day and time when
the Lord has decreed to set up his
kingdom for the last time upon the
earth. That is the reason we have
the privilege of building these
Temples and these meeting-houses
in the mountains of Israel. The
Lord has set his hand to establish
his kingdom according to his for-
mer promises, and it is going to
prevail upon the earth. He has
told us to fear not our enemies;
that though earth and hell combine
against us, they shall not prevail,
if we are built upon the rock of
Christ.
We have come to this earth upon a
mission; and we have been gathered
to the valleys of these mountains
that we may be taught and in-
structed in the things of God; that
we may magnify our calling before
the Lord; that we may become saviors
upon Mount Zion; that we may
have power to go forth and warn the
nations of the earth. I look upon
the mission of the Latter-day Saints
as being as important as that of any
people that ever lived in any age of
the world. I have often expressed
my views with regard to this. As
Elders of Israel, very few of us fully
comprehend our position, our calling,
or relationship to God, our responsi-
bility, or work the Lord requires at
our hands. The Lord has given unto
us the Priesthood. This is conferred
upon us that we may administer in
the ordinances of life and salvation.
But to enable us to perform our
duties acceptably, there is one thing
we need, one and all of us, and that
is the Holy Spirit. While in Winter
Quarters, President Young had a
dream in which the Prophet Joseph
Smith appeared to him and said:
"Brother Young, you exhort this
people to obtain the Holy Spirit;
with it they can do anything that
is necessary; without it they cannot
build up the kingdom of God." In
one of my dreams while in Arizona,
I had the same admonition from
President Young. I thought he
was attending one of our confer-
ences. I said to him: "Can you
speak to us?" "No," he replied, "I
have done bearing my testimony in
the flesh; I have merely come to see
the people, to see you, to see what
you are doing. But I want you to
teach the Latter-day Saints to labor
to obtain the Holy Spirit. It is
one of the most important gifts that
the Saints of the living God can
possess. You all need this," he
said, "in order to build up Zion. If
you have not this Spirit—the Spirit
of the Holy Ghost, the testimony of
Jesus, the testimony of the Father
and Son—you cannot get along.
But if you are in possession of this
Spirit, your minds will be open to
comprehend the things of God."
This is true. There is not a man in
this Church and kingdom to-day,
who, if he is in possession of this
spirit, will set his heart upon the
things of this world. Any man that
loves the world, the love of the
Father is not in him. We have
received something better than the
love of gold, silver, houses and
lands; we have received the
promise of eternal life. We have
had conferred upon us the eternal
Priesthood by which our heavenly
Father has created all worlds and
redeemed all worlds and has per-
formed all his works from eternity
to eternity.
Then, we should labor to obtain
this Spirit while we are upon the
earth that we may overcome every
evil. We have a mighty warfare on
hand. We have to contend against
the world, the flesh and the devil.
There are temptations that surround
every man and woman, that is, if
they attempt to keep the command-
ments of God, and no man or woman
can inherit eternal life without
passing through this warfare in the
flesh. Other generations have had
their turn. As a people it is our
turn to-day. The old patriarchs
and prophets have gone, their mis-
sions are ended, so far as their testi-
mony in the flesh is concerned; but
they were valiant in the testimony
of Jesus Christ; they kept the law,
and they will inherit a celestial
glory.
I often reflect upon the promises
made concerning the Priesthood.
The Lord, in a revelation upon this
subject, says, Doctrine and Cove-
nants, 33rd to 41st verses: Whoso-
ever is faithful unto obtaining these
two Priesthoods of which I have
spoken, and the magnifying their
calling, are sanctified by the spirit
unto the renewing of their bodies.
. . . All that my Father
hath shall be given unto him.
Therefore, all those who receive the
Priesthood, receive this oath and
[Doctrine and Covenants 84:33-41] covenant of my Father, which he
cannot break, neither can it be
moved." Now, I sometimes ask
myself the question, Do we compre-
hend these things? Do we compre-
hend that if we abide the laws of the
Priesthood we shall become heirs of
God and joint-heirs with Jesus
Christ? I realize that our eyes have
not seen, our ears have not heard,
neither hath it entered into our
hearts to conceive the glory that is
in store for the faithful. We are
placed in a position to be proven and
tried; we must be, we have been, we
shall be, until we get through with
our labors in the flesh. The Lord
told Joseph Smith that he would
prove us in all things, whether we
will abide in his covenant, even
unto death, that we may be found
worthy: "for if we will not abide in
his covenant, we are not worthy of
him." [Doctrine and Covenants 98:15] Jesus Christ abode in the
covenant; he kept all the com-
mandments while he was upon the
earth. He even was baptized by the
hands of John, although it was
not for the remission of sin, but to
fulfill all righteousness. There was
no part of the Gospel that Christ
did not fulfill, and he called upon
Joseph Smith to fulfill the same.
This he did. He laid down his life.
He went to the spirit world, and he
is there watching over this people.
He has power there, and so have our
brethren who have gone to the other
side of the veil. They are laboring
for us. They are watching to see
how we perform the work left to our
charge.
I hope we live our religion. I
hope we strive to keep the command-
ments of God. We occupy a very
important position in the world.
There are very few of the inhabitants
of the earth who are laboring to
build up Zion. There are very
few, apparently, who are able to
abide the law of God. There are
very few who are willing to sacrifice
anything for eternal life and salva-
tion, and thousands will have to
inherit a kingdom other than the
celestial.
Nevertheless, my brethren and
sisters, we are laboring and progress-
ing in this work. Zion is advancing;
the kingdom of God is rolling on.
The progress of this kingdom has
never stopped from the day of its
organization; it never will until
it has accomplished all for which it
has been organized and established
on the earth to accomplish. We
have a great work to do. We are
commanded to preach the Gospel to
the nations of the earth. The
Elders of Israel have been doing this
for the last fifty years. We are still
doing it, in the United States and
other parts of the world. We shall
continue to labor among the Gen-
tiles just as long as the Lord says
we must do so. But at the same
time we have now been commanded
to turn to a branch of the house of
Israel. Here are the Lamanites,
thousands and thousands of them
surround us. They look to us for
the Gospel of Christ. It is our duty
to go to them and organize them,
and preach to them the words of life
and salvation.
Then, again, we have temples to
build in our day and time, that we
may go into them and do a work
both for the living and the dead.
Our mission is more extended and
extensive than we realize. There
have been no Prophets, no Apostles,
upon the earth for the last 1,800
years, that we are much acquainted
with, except Nephi, who dwelt upon
this continent several hundred years
after the death of Christ. There
has been no one upon the earth
with authority to preach the Gospel
to the nations of the earth. Many
generations have passed away.
Many thousands of millions have
passed into the spirit world. We
are now at the end of the sixth
thousand years. We are bordering
upon the millennium. We are living
in the great and last dispensation,
in the which the God of Israel ex-
pects us, his servants, his sons and
daughters, to perform the work
which has been left to our charge.
It is our duty to build these temples.
It is our duty to enter into them
and redeem our dead. Joseph Smith
is preaching to the spirits in prison;
so are all the Elders who have died
in the faith. There are millions
of them there, and they must have
the Gospel offered to them. Joseph
Smith and others cannot baptize the
spirits in water, it is not the law;
but their posterity, their sons and
daughters who are living in the last
dispensation, are expected to go into
these temples and there redeem
their dead. This is a good work,
and it is a great blessing for men and
women to have this privilege. We
have one of these temples finished,
and we are doing a great work in
that temple. A hundred and sixty-
two thousand persons have been
baptized for the dead, and nearly
seventy thousand endowments have
been given in that temple. We
have only just begun this work.
We want the Logan temple finished,
as also the temple at Manti, that
the people may go forth and redeem
their dead. Our forefathers are
looking to us to attend to this work.
They are watching over us with
great anxiety, and are desirous that
we should finish these temples and
attend to certain ordinances for
them, so that in the morning of the
resurrection they can come forth
and enjoy the same blessings that
we enjoy. We are living in the
flesh and have the privilege of receiv-
ing the Gospel of Christ for our-
selves. Our forefathers had not
this privilege; and as their
posterity when we meet them in
the spirit world we shall have the
joy and satisfaction of knowing
that we did our duty by them while
here upon the earth. We occupy
a position in this capacity towards
them the same as we do to this
generation. We occupy the po-
sition of Saviors upon Mount
Zion.
There are a great many things I
might mention that are of interest
to the Latter-day Saints. We should
humble ourselves before the Lord.
We have been called to set our
houses in order, that we should seek
to obtain the spirit of the Lord that
it may enable us to magnify our
callings in the Priesthood. We are
under great responsibility. It won't
pay to apostatize; "there is no money
in it." Any man who receives this
Priesthood and tastes of the word of
God, and of the powers of the world
to come—any man that turns away
from these things, apostatizes, and
turns away from the Church of
God, shall not, in accordance with
the revelations of the Lord to Joseph
Smith, "have forgiveness of sins in
this world nor in the world to
come."
The Lord is laboring for his
kingdom. In his hands he holds the
destiny of this people and of this
generation, and if we will do our
duty he will sustain and uphold us
and Zion will not be moved out of
her place. I am anxious to see the
Latter-day Saints rise up and mag-
nify their calling. We (the Twelve
Apostles, Seventies and others) are
called to go forth to preach the Gos-
pel to the Lamanites and organize
them. I am glad of it. I have felt
for a long time that we should turn
our attention to them. They are the
literal descendants of Abraham,
Isaac and Jacob, and the Lord is
working in their midst. The vision
of their minds is beginning to be
opened, and they are to be taught
the things of the kingdom of God. I
have thought sometimes that they
have more faith than the Latter-
day Saints. I traveled among them
for one year in Arizona and New
Mexico. I visited those that dwell
in the walled cities. They have some
seven villages on the top of a moun-
tain from 500 to 1,500 feet high.
One thing struck me very forcibly
while there. Although a good many
of these people are superstitious,
some of them sun-worshippers and
so forth, yet they seem to be im-
pressed with the idea that there is go-
ing to be a famine. They have enough
grain and dried squash laid up to
last them for years, and they think
the day is not far off when they will
need that which they have stored up.
Don't we believe that a famine will
come? I know some of our sisters
are laying up wheat, I hope the
Relief Societies will continue to do
so, and the brethren should help
them. I believe that the Latter-
day Saints ought to store up grain
against a day of want. The Bible
tells us that prior to the coming of
the Son of Man there shall be wars
and rumors of wars, famines, pes-
tilence, and earthquakes. All these
things will come to pass.
It is a good time with us. The
Lord has blessed us. He has blessed
the earth for our use; and we ought
to dedicate our families, our fields,
our crops, our herds, to God. We
should pay our tithing according to
the law of God. We should attend
to all the duties required at our
hands. We should not neglect our
prayers. Men should seek to enjoy
the spirit of God, and the fellowship
of His Holy Spirit. We should seek
to do all the good we can, so that we
may feel satisfied when we get
through.
I pray God to bless you with His
Holy Spirit; I pray that he will
give us power to fulfill our calling in
the Priesthood, power to build up
Zion, power to finish these temples
in which we may redeem our dead.
This is my prayer in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.