President Wilford Woodruff.
Brother Cannon has touched upon
some very important principles here
tonight regarding the Holy Priest-
hood, and I feel disposed to make a
few remarks upon some things con-
nected therewith.
In the first place, I will say that
the Prophet Joseph taught us that
Father Adam was the first man on
the earth to whom God gave the
keys of the Everlasting Priesthood.
He held the keys of the Presidency,
and was the first man who did hold
them. Noah stood next to him.
These keys were given to Noah, he
being the father of all living in his
day, as Adam was in his day. [Doctrine and Covenants 107:40-52]
These two men were the first who
received the Priesthood in the eter-
nal worlds, before the worlds were
formed. They were the first who
received the Everlasting Priesthood
or Presidency on the earth. Father
Adam stands at the head, so far as
this world is concerned. Of course,
Jesus Christ is the Great High
Priest of the salvation of the human
family. But Adam holds those keys
in the world today; he will hold
them to the endless ages of eternity.
And Noah, and every man who has
ever held or will hold the keys of
Presidency of the Kingdom of God,
from that day until the scene is
wound up, will have to stand before
Father Adam and give an account
of the keys of that Priesthood, as
we all will have to give an account
unto the Lord, of the principles that
we have received, when our work is
done in the flesh.
Brother Cannon has given my
mind with regard to Joseph Smith.
I look upon Joseph Smith as the
greatest Prophet that ever breathed
the breath of life, excepting Jesus
Christ. Father Adam, as I have
said, stands at the head; but Joseph
Smith was reserved to lay the foun-
dation of this great Kingdom and
dispensation of salvation to the
whole human family in these last
days, to build up Zion, to establish
God's Kingdom, and to prepare it
for the coming of the Son of Man.
He held those keys. Brother Can-
non has told you the truth. No other
man held those keys while he lived.
After him, as has been said, came
Brother Brigham. I have traveled
with Joseph Smith thousands of
miles. There are some here tonight
who were in Zion's Camp. He was
a boy, in one sense of the word.
He was but a young man when he
was martyred and passed into the
presence of God. His days were
comparatively few. But he was a
great man. He lived a long life for
a few days. He performed an al-
mighty work—as great a work as
any man, save Jesus Christ, that
ever lived on the earth. We knew
him. We knew the Apostles. We
knew Brother Brigham; he was a
glazier and painter, and, in one
sense of the word, an illiterate man.
But God raised him up to do a great
work and to follow in the channel of
Joseph Smith. He magnified his
calling. He led this people to these
mountains, and he built up this
country almost from one end of it
to the other, by his counsel. The
Lord took him to Himself. Brother
Taylor followed, until he was taken
away.
Now, all of these men were what
the world would call weak instru-
ments in the hands of God. I have
been asked the question many times,
"Why did the Lord choose Joseph
Smith to bring forth the Book of
Mormon and to lay the foundation
of this great Kingdom here on the
earth? Why didn't He choose Dr.
Haws, Dr. Porter, Mr. Beecher, or
some great man?" I have never
had but one answer in my life to all
such men, and that is, "The Lord
could not do anything with them,
because of their unbelief, and their
unwillingness to acknowledge His
hand in all things." That is the
reason the Lord has chosen weak
instruments to do His work. And
I will say here, if any of you want
a weaker instrument than Wilford
Woodruff to hold the keys of the
Kingdom of God, you ought to be
ashamed of yourselves. The Lord,
however, is just as able to inspire
me, or Brother Cannon, or any
other man, when the time comes, as
He has inspired other men in past
ages. I know what the will of God
is concerning this people, and if
they will take the counsel we give
them, all will be well with them.
Now, I want to make a few re-
marks concerning myself. I never
like to do this; but I want to give
you a little of my experience in a
few things, and I want to tell you
where my strength lies, and the
greatest evidence that any Elder of
Israel can have, ever did have, or
ever will have on the face of the
earth with regard to the work of God.
Speaking of the administration of
angels. I never asked the Lord in
my life to send me an angel or to
show me any miracle. I wanted
the Gospel of Christ; and the first
sermon I ever heard preached in
this Church I had a testimony for
myself that it was the Gospel of
Christ. I had a testimony to satisfy
myself when I was baptized. I had
been looking, praying, hungering
and thirsting to find some man on
the face of the earth who had the
Priesthood, and who could teach me
the Gospel. When I heard this ser-
mon, I knew the voice; I knew the
shepherd; I knew it was true. And
from that day until this, I have
never seen one moment in my life
that I have ever had doubts with
regard to it. I have never had any
trial in this Church with regard to
my faith. My trials have been of
another nature. I have had the
administration of angels in my day
and time, though I never prayed for
an angel. I have had, in several
instances, the administration of
holy messengers. In 1835, at Broth-
er A. O. Smoot's mother's house
in Kentucky, I received a letter
one day from Joseph Smith and
Oliver Cowdery, requesting me to
stay in Kentucky and Tennessee
and take charge of the Church
there. He wanted David Patten
and Warren Parrish to go to Kirt-
land to receive their endowments.
Joseph said in that letter: "You
shall lose no blessing by pursuing
this course." That letter was a great
joy, a great comfort and consolation
to me. I had traveled with Joseph
Smith to Missouri. I had been
acquainted with him, and I knew
he was a Prophet of God. In the
evening of that day I went into a
little back room, in which was a
small settee. I was alone. I was
overwhe[lm]ed with joy and consola-
tion at the letter I had received and
the encouraging words it contained.
I knelt down and prayed. I arose
from my knees and sat down. The
room was filled with light. A mes-
senger came to me. We had a long
conversation. He laid before me
as if in a panorama, the signs of the
last days, and told me what was
coming to pass. I saw the sun
turned to darkness, the moon to
blood, the stars fall from heaven.
I saw the resurrection day. I saw
armies of men in the first resurrec-
tion, clothed with the robes of the
Holy Priesthood. I saw the second
resurrection. I saw a great many
signs that were presented before me.
by this personage; and among the
rest, there were seven lions, as of
burning brass, set in the heavens.
He says, "That is one of the signs
that will appear in the heavens be-
fore the coming of the Son of Man.
It is a sign of the various dispensa-
tions."
Now, had I been an artist, on the
next day I could have sat down
at my table and drawn, as clearly as
though I had studied them all my
life, everything I saw. I went to
meeting the next day, with Brother
Smoot. I hardly knew where I
was. I did not comprehend a being,
scarcely. I was entirely over-
whelmed with what I had seen the
night before.
Some of you have read the history
of the power of the devil in Eng-
land, when the fallen angels that
are upon the earth made war upon
Brother Kimball, Brother Hyde,
Brother Fielding and Brother Rus-
sell, who had all they could do to
live in the midst of that kind of
warfare. These evil spirits knocked
down Brother Russell and Brother
Hyde. They didn't Brother Kim-
ball; but that power fell upon him.
His eyes were opened. He saw the
spirits before him; he saw what
kind of beings they were. They
gnashed their teeth; they were mad;
they wanted to destroy the lives of
the brethren. These men held the
Priesthood. Brother Kimball held
the keys of the Priesthood, so far as
England was concerned. These
spirits had not, therefore, the power
to destroy them.
Brother Kimball, Brother George
A. Smith and myself had a similar
experience in London, at a house
where we were stopping. It seemed
as if there were legions of spirits
there. They sought our destruction;
and on one occasion, after Brother
Kimball had left, these powers of
darkness fell upon us to destroy our
lives, and both Brother Smith and
myself would have been killed, ap-
parently, had not three holy mes-
sengers come into the room and
filled the room with light. They
were dressed in temple clothing.
They laid their hands upon our
heads and we were delivered, and
that power was broken, so far
as we were concerned. Why
did the Lord send these men to us?
Because we could not have lived
without it; and, as a general thing,
angels do not administer to anybody
on the earth unless it is to preserve
the lives of good men, or to bring
the Gospel, or perform a work that
men cannot do for themselves. That
is the reason Moroni and other
angels of God visited and taught
Joseph Smith. They quoted to him
whole chapters in the Bible—in
Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel—and
told him what must come to pass in
the last days. [Joseph Smith-History 1:30-47] It was necessary for
these angels to give him the Priest-
hood. There was no mystery at all
with regard to what was taught
him. He knew it was of God.
These very principles sustained Jo-
seph Smith from the hour the
Gospel was delivered to him until
he sealed his testimony with his
blood.
Now, I have had all these testi-
monies, and they are true. But
with all these, I have never had
any testimony since I have been in
the flesh, that has been greater
than the testimony of the Holy
Ghost. That is the strongest testi-
mony that can be given to me or to
any man in the flesh. Now, every
man has a right to that, and when
he obtains it, it is a living witness
to him. It deceives no man, and
never has. Lucifer may appear to
man in the capacity of an angel of
light; but there is no deception with
the Holy Ghost. We do not par-
ticularly need the administration of
angels unless we are in a condition
similar to that in which Brother
Kimball, Brother Smith and my-
self were placed, when we could not
save our lives without them.
I say to you, as Brother Cannon
has, the Kingdom of God is here.
The Priesthood is here. The keys
of the Kingdom of God are
here. They will remain here.
It makes no difference whether
Joseph Smith, Brigham Young,
John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, or
anybody else, remain; while these
keys are here we have a right to
know the mind and will of God; and
when we do our duty, when we live
our religion, we shall have these
principles manifested to us. I know
what awaits this nation. I know
what awaits the Latter-day Saints.
Many things have been shown to me
by vision and by revelation. I know
that the Latter-day Saints have need
to repent of all their darkness, all
their unbelief and all their disunion
that they have in Zion. Our power,
our salvation, our exaltation, our re-
demption, our glory and our prepa-
ration for the coming of the Son of
Man, depend entirely upon our own
acts. As was said today, if we are
not united, we shall be chastised by
the power of God. But the Lord
said: "Fear not, little flock, the
kingdom is yours until I come." [Doctrine and Covenants 35:27]
No matter if earth and hell com-
bine against us, we are in His
hands, and He has said that He will
guide and direct the affairs of the
Kingdom. The Lord is no different
today from what He was in the days
of Adam, of Enoch, of Christ, of
Joseph, of Brigham. The Latter-
day Saints should seek for the Spirit
of God. We have great power and
great blessings given unto us. As
has been said here, look at our
condition today, and compare it
with what it has been in years
past. Some of you were ac-
quainted with our former condition.
Here is Brother Philo Dibble. He
was in Jackson County. He was
shot through the body; but his life
was preserved by the power of God.
We were driven away; our property
was burned and destroyed. The
Lord told us to importune at the
feet of the Judge and the Governor,
and if they did not heed us, to im-
portune at the feet of the President.
And if the President would not
heed us, then the Lord would come
forth out of His hiding place, "and
in His fury vex the nation, and in
His hot displeasure and in His fierce
anger, in His time, will cut off those
wicked, unfaithful and unjust
stewards, and appoint them their
portion among hypocrites and unbe-
lievers, even in outer darkness,
where there is weeping, and wail-
ing, and gnashing of teeth." [Doctrine and Covenants 101:86-91] Do
you think the Lord told the truth?
Yes, He did; and not one jot
or tittle will fall unfulfilled.
If our nation does not give us our
rights; if they continue to oppress
and persecute us, these things are in
the hands of God. More than 50
years ago the Prophet Joseph re-
ceived a revelation which said:
"Behold, verily I say unto you,
the angels are crying unto
the Lord day and night, who
are ready and waiting to be sent
forth to reap down the field." [Doctrine and Covenants 86:5] These
angels wanted to go and reap down
the earth. But the Lord said in
effect, "No; wait till the earth is
warned; wait till the nations of the
earth have the Gospel of Christ
preached unto them; wait till they
have a chance to repent and receive
the Gospel, if they will. When this
is done, then you may go down."
Brethren, the heavens are full of
judgment. And as the Lord told
the people at the commencement of
this work, "If the nation will re-
pent, if they will obey my law and
keep my commandments, I, the
Lord, will save these judgments;
otherwise they shall be poured out,
as I, the Lord, have spoken." These
things are true. The judgments of
God will increase from this hour,
until the land is deluged in blood.
War will overtake our nation. The
civil war, the war between the
North and the South, which laid in
the dust nearly a million of men
and cost the nation many hundred
millions of dollars, was only the be-
ginning of suffering. Had this na-
tion listened to the counsels of Jo-
seph Smith and heeded them, this
war and the terrible suffering which
it entailed would have been avoided.
But the judgments of the Lord are
not yet ended. He is going to fulfill
His work.
Now, my object, and your object,
is—at least it should be—to try to do
our duty. I have got to meet the
Apostles; I have got to meet the El-
ders of Israel; I have got to meet
Father Adam, in the Kingdom of
God in the heavens; and we have all
got to give an account to him, as our
Great Progenitor and the first man
who held the keys of the Priesthood
on the earth. When I go there and
meet him, I shall have to render an
account of what I do here. The
Lord has chosen the weak things of
the world to do His work. But He
is as able to teach me, or any of
my brethren, as He ever has been
in any age of the world. He has
always selected the weak things.
Take Moses in leading the children
of Israel. Moses said he was slow
of speech, and he thought that he
could not do anything. But the
Lord said he would raise up a spokes-
man for him. When the Lord want-
ed a king for Israel, he chose David,
the son of Jesse, who was herding
sheep. All the sons of Jesse, except
David, were brought before the
Prophet; but Samuel would not
anoint either of them. He asked
Jesse if he had any more sons. Jesse
said, Yes; there is a little fellow
down here taking care of the sheep.
The Prophet wanted to see him.
When he came, Samuel anointed
him king of Israel. [1 Samuel 16:2-13] So in the days
of the Apostles. Who were they?
Illiterate fishermen. So it is to-
day. Begin with Joseph Smith and
take the whole of us. Who are
we? We are poor, weak worms
of the dust. But the Lord has
chosen us because He thought He
could do something with us. I
hope He can. I suppose I have
held the Apostleship longer than
any man that has been on the face
of the earth in these last days.
Should I boast over this or be proud
and exalted because I have held the
Priesthood so long? If I did, I
should be a very foolish man. We
are obliged to honor God; we are
obliged to acknowledge the hand of
God. The devil has sought to de-
stroy me from the time I was born
until the present day. But the Lord
has always been on my right hand
and saved me. There have been
two powers at work—one to destroy
me, the other to save me. And I
am here today, a weak instrument
in the hands of God. But, as God
lives, if He will tell me what my
duty is, I am going to do it!
I pray God to bless us, and awak-
en us that we may see our position
on the earth. The eyes of all heav-
en are over us. The Father, the
Savior, Father Adam, the Patri-
archs, the Prophets, and all the
Apostles who have lived in our day
and generation, are watching over
us, and waiting for us to do our
duty; and when we perform that,
the judgments of God will be mani-
fest in the earth. I pray God to give
us wisdom, and to help us to be
humble, faithful, meek and lowly of
heart. Look at the purity of the
Savior, from the manger to
the grave, and where is there a
man on the face of the earth that can
feel anything like exaltation or
glory? I have seen Oliver Cow-
dery when it seemed as though the
earth trembled under his feet. I
never heard a man bear a stronger
testimony than he did when under
the influence of the Spirit. But the
moment he left the kingdom of God,
that moment his power fell like
lightning from heaven. He was
shorn of his strength, like Samson
in the lap of Delilah. [Judges 16:15-19] He lost the
power and testimony which he had
enjoyed, and he never recovered it
again in its fulness while in the
flesh, although he died in the
Church. It does not pay a man
to sin or to do wrong. Brother
Cannon spoke about difficulties be-
tween ourselves. What business
have we to go to law because of
a little water or anything else on
the earth? When we do this we
have lost the Spirit of the Gospel.
You have had good counsel with re-
gard to this, and if you carry it out
the blessings of the Lord will at-
tend you. I hope the people of
Provo will look to this. We should
be united and stand together in the
midst of the opposition that we will
have to meet. I hope this power
and influence will dwell in this
county and throughout these moun-
tains of Israel, which may God
grant, for Christ's sake. Amen.