I am called upon this afternoon to make
some remarks upon the life and death of
Brother Ezra Taft Benson, who has been
suddenly taken out of our midst,—from time
into eternity.
I have long since considered it unneces-
sary to make any excuses for performing
my duty upon any occasion in public; but
if there is any position where a man might
have doubts about satisfying his own mind
or the minds of his friends, perhaps it is on
an occasion like this. It is well known, at
least to the Latter-day Saints, that the elders
of Israel rise to speak without any written
sermon or preparation of any kind. Many
of us have been engaged, the greater portion
of our lives, in preaching the gospel to the
world, and on every occasion we depend
for assistance and preparation upon the
spirit of God. This is my position this af-
ternoon. I rise before you with no prepared
sermon, and with no particular principles
that I have settled in my mind to address
you upon; depending, as on all occasions,
upon the spirit of God and the faith and
prayers of my friends. This dispen-
sation of Providence causes me many
reflections; and I presume it is the
case with every Latter-day Saint pres-
ent. In the first place I will ask the
question what position did Bro. Benson
occupy while in the flesh, and how many
have ever held the same position on the
face of the earth. The words contained in
the 7th verse of the 52nd chapter of the pro-
phecies of Isaiah are brought to my mind.
While contemplating the great work of
building up the Zion of God in the last
days he says:
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings
of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith
unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"
What position can any man occupy on the
face of the earth that is more noble, God-
like, high and glorious than to be a messen-
ger of salvation unto the human family?
What more responsible position can a man
occupy than to be an apostle of the Lord
Jesus Christ? I do not know of any in this
or any other generation. The thought also
arises in my mind how many individuals
have ever held this position on the earth?
I find in the history recorded in the Bible,
from the days of Adam down through the
different dispensations and generations,
that prophets have existed on the earth.
Adam, himself, was a prophet and he or-
dained his sons to the Melchizedek priest-
hood; the gospel of Christ was taught to him
after the Fall and he attended to the or-
dinances of the house of God. He was a
high priest and, as a high priest, held the
keys of the Kingdom of God. There were
many sons who were high priests, having
been ordained to this office by their father
Adam. Three years before his death he
called together Seth, Enos, Jared, Cainan, Mahaleel, Methusaleh and many others of
his descendants in the Valley of Adam-Ondi-
Ahman, and there rose up and blessed them
with his great and last patriarchal blessing.
This has been given to us by revelation;
and these men were prophets and high
priests. [Doctrine and Covenants 107:53-56]
Tracing down the sacred history through
the different ages and dispensations we
learn that many prophets existed among
the children of men. Moses was a law-
giver in Israel and held the office of a
prophet, seer and revelator. When I say
that many prophets have existed, it proba-
bly needs some qualification. The number
of persons thus honored of God has not
been many when compared with the whole
of the people who have lived; but in every
gospel age and dispensation God has had
His prophets and servants upon the earth
to make known His will to its inhabitants.
In the days of Moses elders were chosen,
as His counselors; and seventy elders were
ordained to bear record of the things of
God and to assist Moses in the work to be
performed in his day; but we do not read of
apostles being chosen under Moses's dis-
pensation. [Numbers 11:16-17] Jesus tabernacled in the flesh
to establish the Kingdom of His Father up-
on the earth, and when he was thirty years
of age he went forth administering in the
ordinances of the house of God, and he
chose twelve Apostles to assist him, and he
gave to them the keys of the Kingdom of
God. [Matthew 10:1-4] And the highest office that any man
has ever held on the face of the earth in this
or any other generation is that of an apos-
tle.
We read that God set in His church first,
apostles, then prophets, evangelists, pastors,
teachers, gifts, graces and helps; and the
office of an apostle entitles him to hold the
keys of the Kingdom of God; and what
he binds on earth is bound in heaven, and
what he looses on earth is loosed in heaven.
The history of the Twelve whom Jesus
chose is to be found in the New Testa-
ment; within the lids of that book their
travels, the course they pursued and
the doctrines they taught are published
to the world. Nearly the whole of them
sealed their testimony with their blood.
Some were crucified as their master was;
some were beheaded; and all except John
suffered martyrdom in some way for the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus
Christ. This was the fate of the first quor-
um of Apostles we have any history of.
After the death and resurrection of the
Savior, when he ministered to His disci-
ples the last time on earth, He informed
them that He had other sheep not of this
fold whom He was going to visit and min-
ister unto. [John 10:16] The Book of Mormon is a
record of the descendants of the House of
Israel who dwelt on this continent an-
ciently. It gives us the history of the Jar-
edites who came from the Tower of Babel;
of Lehi and his family, who came from Je-
rusalem and also of the Lamanites and Ne-
phites, the descendants of Nephi and Lem-
uel, sons of Lehi. In that record we find
that Christ, after His death and resurrec-
tion, visited that branch of the house of Is-
rael which dwelt on this continent. [3 Nephi 11:1-17] On the
occasion of that visit we are informed that
Jesus chose Twelve Apostles and gave to
them the same power, keys, gifts and gra-
ces that He had given to His apostles on
the eastern continent; and they went forth,
and magnified their callings. [3 Nephi 12:1] All of this quorum of the Twelve Apostles had the
promise of departing and being with Christ
when they were seventy-two years old,
except three of them. To these three Jesus
gave a promise similar to that which He
gave to John the Revelator,—namely that
they should tarry in the flesh until He
came. [3 Nephi 28:4-12] History informs us that the wicked
tried to kill John in various ways, placing
him, on one occasion, in a cauldron of boil-
ing oil, but his life was preserved; and that
finally in the reign of Domitian Cæser he
was banished to the Isle of Patmos to work
in the lead mines. [Revelation 1:9] While there he was
blessed with visions, revelations, know-
ledge, light and truth, a portion of which we
have recorded in what are called the Reve-
lations of St. John. In the reign of Nerva
John was recalled, and afterwards wrote
his epistles. The first quorum of Apostles
were all put to death, except John, and we
are informed that he still remains on the
earth, though his body has doubtless un-
dergone some change. Three of the Ne-
phites, chosen here by the Lord Jesus as
His Apostles, had the same promise—that
they should not taste death until Christ
came, and they still remain on the earth
in the flesh. [3 Nephi 28:4-12]
Thus we have an account in the B[ible]
and Book of Mormon of but two quorums
of Twelve Apostles being chosen previous
to this dispensation; but in these last days
the Lord called upon Joseph Smith, gave
him power and authority to organize His church and kingdom again upon the
earth and gave him the Holy Priesthood
and the keys of the kingdom of God. Jo-
seph was ordained to the apostleship under
the hands of men holding the keys of the
kingdom of God in the days of Jesus,—
namely, Peter, James and John. [Doctrine and Covenants 27:12]
I shall not occupy time with entering
into the details of these things. I have re-
ferred to them to show the importance of
the office held by Brother Benson. He
was a member of one of the three quorums
of Apostles that have ever been chosen on
the face of the earth since Jesus Christ tab-
ernacled in the flesh, that we have any
knowledge of. The first chosen when Je-
sus commenced his public labors in the
flesh; the second after his resurrection,
here on this continent, and the third, since
the revelation of the gospel in our own day.
Here we find only thirty-six men, chosen
at various times and dispensations, in six
thousand years, to hold this order of priest-
hoo[d], unless they were chosen in the days
of Enoch and at times in which the Bible
does not inform us. This number has been
increased, however, by others who have
been chosen to fill vacancies in these quo-
rums, as in the case of Judas, and others;
but it is safe to say that the entire number
who have held this office from the days of
Adam until to-day has been very limited.
As to the number of inhabitants who have
dwelt on the earth during that period it is
a pretty difficult matter to form any correct
idea in relation to it; I do not think that
any statistician could tell this to any de-
gree of correctness. It is a kind of a given
point in these days to say that the popula-
tion of the earth is about a thousand mil-
lions, and that this number pass away every
generation. It is also estimated that about
three generations pass away in a century;
this gives three thousand millions in a cen-
tury, thirty thousand millions in a thousand
years, and one hundred and eighty thou-
sand millions in six thousand years,—
about the period that is supposed to have
elapsed since the creation of man upon the
earth. Whether these statistics are any-
thing like correct it is not of much impor-
tance to discuss; but it is an important re-
flection, that Brother Benson, who has been
associated with us so many years, is one
of the chosen few, of all the immense num-
bers who have dwelt on the face of the
earth, who have been called to hold the
office of apostles. Well might the prophet
say, "How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet," &c.
I will say that in my boyhood while at-
tending Sabbath School in my native State, Connecticut, there seemed something glo-
rious, to me, about the apostles of Jesus
Christ who were called to preach the gos-
pel of the Son of God to the inhabitants of
the earth; and I have many times felt that
I would willingly walk a thousand miles to
see a prophet, an apostle or any man called
of God who could teach me the way to be
saved; a man who held in his hands the
power of the priesthood, who could com-
mand the elements and they would obey
him, and who could declare the words of
life in their truth and purity to the inhab-
itants of the earth. I always looked upon
the lives and missions of these men, though
despised by the world generally, as the
most important of any men who ever dwelt
in the flesh. Jesus himself was called
master of the house of Beelzebub, and trav-
elled through a constant scene of poverty,
ridicule, persecution and affliction; yet
there was something great, good, grand
and glorious in the life of the Savior of the
world. This was the fate of Him and His
apostles; and though they descended below
all things they held in their hands the des-
tiny and salvation, not only of that genera-
tion but of all the human race; and woe be
to that house, nation, kindred, tongue or
people who rejected their words and testi-
mony, for they will rise in judgment against
them.
From the days of my childhood until I
heard the fulness of the gospel, as taught
by the Latter-day Saints, I had a great desire
to live to see a prophet or apostle. I have
lived to see this day. I have lived to see
the church and kingdom of God on the
earth, with all its gifts, graces, power,
glory and dominion, revealed and organ-
ized by the ministrations of angels from
God in heaven and by the revelations of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I have lived to see
apostles and the full organization of the
priesthood again officiating in and adminis-
tering the ordinances of salvation to the
children of men.
Brother Ezra T. Benson, whose death
has occurred so unexpectedly, was one of
the few called in this day to bear testimony
to the nations of the earth of the restoration
of this gospel and he has traveled many
thousands miles to do so. He has been
true and faithful unto death, and he will
receive a crown of life. He has gone from
our midst to the spirit world to mingle with
the Gods, or at least with his brethren who
have gone before him; whether he will
mingle with the Gods until after the resur-
rection perhaps it is not for me to say. He
has gone home to receive his reward. What
a cloud of reflection it brings to the mind!
It speaks in loud language to every apostle,
THE DESERET NEWS. 379
REMARKS
On the death of Elder Ezra T. Benson, by
Elder WILFORD WOODRUFF, delivered in the New Tabernacle, Salt
Lake City, .
I am called upon this afternoon to make
some remarks upon the life and death of
Brother Ezra Taft Benson, who has been
suddenly taken out of our midst,—from time
into eternity.
I have long since considered it unnecessary to make any excuses for performing
my duty upon any occasion in public; but
if there is any position where a man might
have doubts about satisfying his own mind
or the minds of his friends, perhaps it is on
an occasion like this. It is well known, at
least to the Latter-day Saints, that the elders
of Israel rise to speak without any written
sermon or preparation of any kind. Many
of us have been engaged, the greater portion
of our lives, in preaching the gospel to the
world, and on every occasion we depend
for assistance and preparation upon the
spirit of God. This is my position this afternoon. I rise before you with no prepared
sermon, and with no particular principles
that I have settled in my mind to address
you upon; depending, as on all occasions,
upon the spirit of God and the faith and
prayers of my friends. This dispensation of Providence causes me many
reflections; and I presume it is the
case with every Latter-day Saint present. In the first place I will ask the
question what position did Bro. Benson
occupy while in the flesh, and how many
have ever held the same position on the
face of the earth. The words contained in
the 7th verse of the 52nd chapter of the prophecies of Isaiah are brought to my mind.
While contemplating the great work of
building up the Zion of God in the last
days he says:
"How beautiful upon the mountains are the
feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace; that bringeth good tidings
of good, that publisheth salvation; that saith
unto Zion, Thy God reigneth!"
What position can any man occupy on the
face of the earth that is more noble, Godlike, high and glorious than to be a messenger of salvation unto the human family?
What more responsible position can a man
occupy than to be an Apostle of the Lord
Jesus Christ? I do not know of any in this
or any other generation. The thought also
arises in my mind how many individuals
have ever held this position on the earth?
I find in the history recorded in the Bible,
from the days of Adam down through the
different dispensations and generations,
that prophets have existed on the earth.
Adam, himself, was a prophet and he ordained his sons to the Melchizedec priesthood; the gospel of Christ was taught to him
after the Fall, and he attended to the ordinances of the house of God. He was a
high priest and, as a high priest, held the
keys of the Kingdom of God. There were
many sons who were High Priests, having
been ordained to this office by their father
Adam. Three years before his death he
called together Seth, Enos, Jared, Cainan,
Mahaleel, Methusaleh and many other of
his descendants in the Valley of Adam-OndiAhman, and there rose up and blessed them
with his great and last patriarchal blessing.
This has been given to us by revelation;
and these men were prophets and high
priests.
Tracing down the sacred history through
the different ages and dispensations we
learn that many prophets existed among
the children of men. Moses was a lawgiver in Israel and held the office of a
prophet, seer and revelator. When I say
that many prophets have existed, it probably needs some qualification. The number
of persons thus honored of God has not
been many when compared with the whole
of the people who have lived; but in every
gospel age and dispensation God has had
His prophets and servants upon the earth
to make known His will to its inhabitants.
In the days of Moses elders were chosen,
as His counselors; and seventy elders were
ordained to bear record of the things of
God and to assist Moses in the work to be
performed in his day; but we do not read of
apostles being chosen under Moses's dispensation. Jesus tabernacled in the flesh
to establish the Kingdom of His Father upon the earth, and when he was thirty years
of age he went forth administering in the
ordinances of the house of God, and he
chose twelve Apostles to assist him, and he
gave to them the keys of the Kingdom of
God. And the highest office that any man
has ever held on the face of the earth in this
or any other generation is that of an apostle.
We read that God set in His church first,
apostles, then prophets, evangelists, pastors,
teachers, gifts, graces and helps; and the
office of an apostle entitles him to hold the
keys of the Kingdom of God; and what
he binds on earth is bound in heaven, and
what he looses on earth is loosed in heaven.
The history of the Twelve whom Jesus
chose is to be found in the New Testament; within the lids of that book their
travels, the course they pursued and
the doctrines they taught are published
to the world. Nearly the whole of them
sealed their testimony with their blood.
Some were crucified as their master was;
some were beheaded; and all except John
suffered martyrdom in some way for the
word of God and the testimony of Jesus
Christ. This was the fate of the first quorum of Apostles we have any history of.
After the death and resurrection of the
Savior, when he ministered to his disciples the last time on earth, He informed
them that he had other sheep not of this
fold whom He was going to visit and minister unto. The Book of Mormon is a
record of the descendants of the House of
Israel who dwelt on this continent anciently. It gives us the history of the Jaredites who came from the Tower of Babel;
of Lehi and his family, who came from Jerusalem and also of the Lamanites and Nephites, the descendants of Nephi and Lemuel, sons of Lehi. In that record we find
that Christ, after His death and resurrection, visited that branch of the house of Israel which dwelt on this continent. On the
occasion of that visit we are informed that
Jesus chose Twelve Apostles and gave to
them the same power, keys, gifts and graces that He had given to His apostles on
the eastern continent; and they went forth,
and magnified their callings. All of this
quorum of the Twelve Apostles had the
promise of departing and being with Christ
when they were seventy-two years old,
except three of them. To these three Jesus
gave a promise similar to that which He
gave to John the Revelator,—namely, that
they should tarry in the flesh until He
came. History informs us that the wicked
tried to kill John in various ways, placing
him on one occasion, in a cauldron of boiling oil, but his life was preserved; and that
finally, in the reign of Domitian Caesar, he
was banished to the Isle of Patmos to work
in the lead mines. While there he was
blessed with visions, revelations, knowledge, light and truth, a portion of which we
have recorded in what are called the Revelations of St. John. In the reign of Nerva
John was recalled, and afterwards wrote
his epistles. The first quorum of Apostles
were all put to death, except John, and we
are informed that he still remains on the
earth, though his body has doubtless undergone some change. Three of the Nephites, chosen here by the Lord Jesus as
His Apostles, had the same promise—that
they should not taste death until Christ
came, and they still remain on the earth
in the flesh.
Thus we have an account in the Bible
and Book of Mormon of but two quorums
of Twelve Apostles being chosen previous
to this dispensation; but in these last days
the Lord called upon Joseph Smith, gave
him power and authority to organize His
church and kingdom again upon the
earth and gave him the Holy Priesthood
and the keys of the kingdom of God. Joseph was ordained to the apostleship under
the hands of men holding the keys of the
kingdom of God in the days of Jesus,—
namely, Peter, James and John.
I shall not occupy time with entering
into the details of these things. I have referred to them to show the importance of
the office held by Brother Benson. He
was a member of one of the three quorums
of Apostles that have ever been chosen on
the face of the earth since Jesus Christ tabernacled in the flesh, that we have any
knowledge of. The first chosen when Jesus commenced his public labors in the
flesh; the second after his resurrection,
here on this continent, and the third, since
the revelation of the gospel in our own day.
Here we find only thirty-six men, chosen
at various times and dispensations, in six
thousand years, to hold this order of Priesthoo, unless they were chosen in the days
of Enoch and at times in which the Bible
does not inform us. This number has been
increased, however, by others who have
been chosen to fill vacancies in these quorums as in the case of Judas, and others;
but it is safe to say that the entire number
who have held this office from the days of
Adam until to-day has been very limited.
As to the number of inhabitants who have
dwelt on the earth during that period it is
a pretty difficult matter to form any correct
idea in relation to it; I do not think that
any statistician could tell this to any degree of correctness. It is a kind of a given
point in these days to say that the population of the earth is about a thousand millions, and that this number pass away
every generation. It is also estimated that about
three generations pass away in a century;
this gives three thousand millions in a century, thirty thousand millions in a thousand
years, and one hundred and eighty thousand millions in six thousand years,—
about the period that is supposed to have
elapsed since the creation of man upon the
earth. Whether these statistics are anything like correct it is not of much importance to discuss; but it is an important reflection that Brother Benson, who has been
associated with us so many years, is one
of the chosen few, of all the immense numbers who have dwelt on the face of the
earth, who have been called to hold the
office of apostles. Well might the prophet
say, "How beautiful upon the mountains
are the feet," &c.
I will say that in my boyhood while attending Sabbath school in my native State,
Connecticut, there seemed something glorious, to me, about the Apostles of Jesus
Christ who were called to preach the gospel of the Son of God to the inhabitants of
the earth; and I have many times felt that
I would willingly walk a thousand miles to
see a prophet, an Apostle or any man called
of God, who could teach me the way to be
saved; a man who held in his hands the
power of the Priesthood, who could command the elements and they would obey
him, and who could declare the words of
life in their truth and purity to the inhabitants of the earth. I always looked upon
the lives and missions of these men, though
despised by the world generally, as the
most important of any men who ever dwelt
in the flesh. Jesus himself was called
master of the house of Beelzebub, and travelled through a constant scene of poverty,
ridicule, persecution and affliction; yet
there was something great, good, grand
and glorious in the life of the Savior of the
world. This was the fate of Him and His
apostles; and though they descended below
all things they held in their hands the destiny and salvation, not only of that generation but of all the human race; and woe be
to that house, nation, kindred, tongue or
people who rejected their words and testimony, for they will rise in judgment against
them.
From the days of my childhood until I
heard the fulness of the gospel, as taught
by the Latter-day Saints, I had a great desire
to live to see a prophet or apostle. I have
lived to see this day. I have lived to see
the church and kingdom of God on the
earth, with all its gifts, graces, power,
glory and dominion, revealed and organized by the ministrations of angels from
God in heaven and by the revelations of
the Lord Jesus Christ. I have lived to see
apostles and the full organization of the
priesthood again officiating in and administering the ordinances of salvation to the
children of men.
Brother Ezra T. Benson, whose death
has occurred so unexpectedly, was one of
the few called in this day to bear testimony
to the nations of the earth of the restoration
of this gospel, and he has traveled many
thousand miles to do so. He has been
true and faithful unto death, and he will
receive a crown of life. He has gone from
our midst to the spirit world to mingle with
the Gods, or at least with his brethren who
have gone before him; whether he will
mingle with the Gods until after the resurrection perhaps it is not for me to say. He
has gone home to receive his reward. What
a cloud of reflection it brings to the mind!
It speaks in loud language to every apostle,
Select a date to see more documents from that day.
