THE DESERET NEWS. Sept. 15

DISCOURSE
BY
ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF,
DELIVERED
In the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, at
the Semi-Annual Conference of
the Salt Lake Stake of Zion,
Saturday Afternoon,
3rd July, 1880.

REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE.

I HAVE listened to the instructions
given here this afaernoon by my
brethren, as well as the remarks of
Brother Cannon, this forernoon, with
feelings of a great deal of interest.
When we talk of our duties as
Latter-day Saints I think many
times that some of us, perhaps all of
us, more or less, fall short of compre-
dending and understanding the re-
sponsibilities which we are under to
God. I believe there never was a dis-
pensation or a generation of men
in any age of the world that ever
had a greater work to perform, or
ever were under greater responsibil-
ity to God, than the Latter-day
Saints. The kingdom of God has
been put into our hands. We have
been raised up as sons and daughters
of the Lord to take this kingdom, to
lay the foundation of it, to build up-
on it, to carry it out in its various
branches until it becomes perfected
before the heavens and before the
earth as God has foreordained it
should be. And those principles
which have been referred to by the
brethren in regard to our duties we
cannot safely ignore them nor turn
aside from them. I will say as one
of the quorum of the Twelve Apos-
tles, from the time I was first ac-
quainted with its organization until
to-day we have never felt ourselves
at liberty to stay away from our
meetings unless we were sick or cir-
cumstances hindered us in some
way or other. I can say that for
myself, and I believe I can say the
same for my brethren. We have
always felt duty bound to attend our
meetings, and if we do not attend
the question might arise, what has
become of the Twelve Apostles?
Where are they that they do not at-
tend their meetings? It would be a
very proper question to ask. And
if this responsibility rests upon us in
the capacity which we occupy does
it not rest upon other men? I think
it does. I do not believe the Lord
ever required Joseph Smith or Brig-
ham Young or any of their counselors
to undertake to build up this king-
dom alone. He never required them
to build these temples alone. They
were required to perform their duties,
that is true. Joseph Smith was
called of God, inspired of God, raised
up of the Lord, ordained of God long
before he was born, to stand in the
flesh, as much as Jeremiah or any of
the ancient prophets, to lay the foun-
dation of this Church and kingdom.
He performed his work faithfully.
He labored faithfully while he taber-
nacled in the flesh, and sealed his
testimony with his blood. Other
men were called also to build upon
the foundation which he laid.

We have in days that are past
and gone been under the necessity
of going forth to preach the gospel in
the world. We have had this to do.
We have been called to do it. We
have been ordained to do it. We
have been commanded of God to do
it, and so have hundreds and thou-
sands of the elders of this Church
and kingdom. We have all some
responsibility, more or less, resting
upon us, whether as regards going
on missions or anything else. I re-
member Brother Joseph Smith vis-
ited myself, Brother Taylor, Brother
Brigham Young and several other
missionaries, when we were about to
take our mission to England. We
were sick and afflicted many of us.
At the same time we felt to go.
The Prophet blessed us as also our
wives and families; and I was read-
ing a day or two ago his instructions
from my journal. He taught us
some very important principles, some
of which I here name. Brother
Taylor, myself, George A. Smith,
John E. Page and others had been
called to fill the place of those who
had fallen away. Brother Joseph
laid before us the cause of those men
turning away from the command-
ments of God. He hoped we would
learn wisdom by what we saw with
the eye and heard with the ear, and
and that we would be able to discern
the spirits of other men without be-
ing compelled to learn by sad experi-
ence. He then remarked that any
man, any elder in this Church and
kingdom—who pursued a course
whereby he would ignore or in other
words refuse to obey any known law
or commandment or duty—when-
ever a man did this, neglected any
duty God required at his hand in at-
tending meetings, filling missions,
or obeying counsel, he laid a founda-
tion to lead him to apostasy and this
was the reason those men had fellen.
They had misused the priesthood
sealed upon their heads. They had
neglected to magnify their calling as
apostles as elders. They had used
that priesthood to attempt to build
themselves up and to perform some
other work besides the building up
of the kingdom of God. And not only
did he give us this counsel, but the
same is given in the revelation of
God to us. I have ever read with
a great deal of interest that revelation
given to Joseph Smith in answer to
his prayer in Liberty jail. I have
ever looked upon that revelations of
God to that man, considering the
few sentences it includes, as contain-
ing as much principle as any revela-
tion God ever gave to man. He gave
Joseph to understand that he held
the priesthood which priesthood was
after the order of God, after the or-
der of Melchisedec, the same priest-
hood by which God himself per-
formed all his works in the heavens
and in the earth, and any man who
bore that priesthood had the same
power. That priesthood had com-
munication with the heavens, power
to move the heavens, power to per-
from the work of the heavens, and
wherever any man magnified that
calling, God gave his angels charge
concerning him and his ministrations
were of power and force both in this
world and the world to come; but
let that man use that priesthood for
any other purpose than the building
up of the kingdom of God, for which
purpose it was given, and the heavens
withdr[a]w themselves, the power of
the priesthood departs, and he is left
to walk in darkness and not in light,
and this is the key to apostasy of all
men whether in this generation or
any other.

Our responsibilities before the Lord
are great. We have no right to
break any law that God has given
unto us. The more we do so the less
power we have before God, before
heaven and before the earth, and
the nearer we live to God, the closer
we obey his laws and keep his com-
mandments, the more power we
will have, and the greater will be
our desire for the building up of the
kingdom of God while we dwell here
in the flesh.

We have no right to break the Sab-
bath. We have no right to neglect
our meetings to attend to our labors.
I do not believe there was any man
ever belonged to this Church and
kingdom since its organization has
ever made anything by going to at-
tend to his farm on the Sabbath; but
if your ox falls into a pit get him out;
work in that way is all just and right,
but for us to go farming to the neg-
lect of our meetings and other duties
devolving upon us is something we
have no right to do. The Spirit of
God does not like it, it withdraws
itself from us, and we make no money
by it. We should keep the Sabbath
holy. We should attend our meet-
ings.

This kingdom is advancing. It
has got to advance, and somebody
has got to build it up. Somebody
has got to labor in it. The God of
heaven has had a people prepared
before the world was made for this
dispensation. He had a people pre-
pared to stand in the flesh to take
this kingdom and bear it off, and the
very spirit of the prophets and apos-
tles who have gone before us has
been manifested in the lives of faith-
ful men and women from the organ-
ization of this Church until to-day
and will continue until the coming
of the Lord, as there are a great
many men and women who will live
their religion and carry out the pur-
poses of God on the earth.

It is our duty as apostles, as eld-
ers and as Latter-day Saints to con-
template, to reflect, to read the word
of God, and try to comprehend our
condition, our position, and our re-
sponsibility before the Lord. If our
eyes were opened, if the vail were
lifted, and we should see our con-
dition, our responsibility, if we could
comprehend the feelings of God our
heavenly Father and the heavenly
hosts and the justified spirits made
perfect in their watch-care over us,
in their anxiety about us in our lab-
ors here while we are in the flesh,
we would all feel that we have no
time to waste in folly or anything
which brings to pass no good. All
of us as elders of Israel and as Latter-
day Saints bear some portion of the
holy priesthood, either the Melchis-
edec or Aaronic. It is a kingdom of
priests, and there is work enough for
this people to magnify their calling.
The Lord has agreed to sustain us,
and to break every weapon that is
formed against us. He has promised
to sustain Zion, and when the Pro-
phet saw this Zion of God in the
mountains his soul was filled with
joy and he cried, "sing, O heavens;
and be joyful, O earth; and break
forth into singing, O mountains; for
the Lord hath comforted his people,
and will have mercy upon his af-
fl[i]cted." [Isaiah 49:13] Again the Prophet says,
"Can a woman forget her sucking
child, that she should not have com-
passion on the son of her womb,—yea
they may forget, yet will I not forget
thee." [Isaiah 49:15] Zion has been before the
face of the Lord since the creation of
the world! Our heavenly Father
has protected this people. We have
been favored from the day we set
our feet in the valleys of the moun-
tains notwithstanding the tribulation
and opposition we have had to con-
tend with. All the designs of the
wicked and ungodly to stop this
work have been thwarted. The hand
of God is over Zion. He is our com-
forter. He sustains us, and we have
every encouragement on the face of
the earth as Latter-day Saints to be
true and faithful unto him the little
time we spend in the flesh.

Our responsibilities are great, our
work is great. We not only have
the gospel to preach to the nations of
the earth, but we have to fill these
valleys, towns, cities &c., and we
have, among other important things,
to rear those temples unto the name
of the Lord before the coming of
Christ. We have got to enter into
those temples and redeem our dead—
not only the dead of our own family
but the dead of the whole spirit
world. This is part of the great
work of the Latter-day Saints. We
shall build these temples and if we
do our duty there is no power can
hinder this work, because the Lord
is with us. And certainly our aim
is high. As a people we aim at cel-
estial glory, we aim at the kingdom
of God. We have been raised up
for this purpose to warn the world,
to preach the gospel, to go to the
meek of the earth and bring them
to these valleys of the mountains, that
they may be delivered from the
power of sin and Satan. Our num-
bers are many compared with former
dispensations. Nevertheless, our nu-
mbers are few when compared with
the twelve or fourteen hundred mil-
lions of inhabitants who dwell in the
flesh. Still with the help of God,
we have power to redeem the world.
This is our work. We are obliged
to labor and to continue while we
are here, and when we have finished
our work our sons the rising genera-
tion have got to take this kingdom
and bear it off.

Eight of the quorum of the Twelve
Apostles are in the spirit world to-
day who were in the flesh when we
came here, and so they pass away one
after another, when they finished
their work. Do you suppose that in
their minds and feelings they re-
alized they had done too much? I
think not. Just so with those who
remain in the flesh. There is no
time to throw away, and I would to
God that the elders of Israel could
fully realize and compreehnd the
great work that God has put upon
their shoulders—the building up of
the kingdom.

This kingdom has continued to in-
crease and spread. When we came
here 33 years ago we found this place
a barren desert. There was no mark
of the white man here. It was a
desert indeed, hardly a green thing
to meet the eye. You can see to-day
for yourselves. The inhabitants of
Zion are a marvel and a wonder to
the world. They occupy these val-
leys of the mountains from Idaho
to Arizona. The valleys, as it were,
are filled with Latter-day Saints.
And who are these Latter-day
Saints? They are the people whom
the God of heaven has raised up in
fulfilment of promise and revelation.
He has carefully gathered them to-
gether by the power of the gospel, by
the power of revelation and placed
them here in the valleys of the
mountains. Has there ever been
any power formed against this peo-
ple that has been successful? Nay;
and this people will never see the
day when our enemies shall prevail,
for the very reason that God had de-
creed that Zion shall be built up,
the kingdom that Daniel saw shall
roll forth, until the little stone cut
out of the mountain without hands
shall fill the whole earth. The
people of God shall be prepared in
the latter-days to carry out the great
programme of the Almighty, and
all the powers of the earth and hell
combined cannot prevent them.
When I see the view that the world
take in regard to this great latter-day
work; when I hear it questioned as
to whether God has anything to do
with it; when I see the feeling of
hatred that is manifested towards
us, to me it is the strongest evidence
that this is the work of God. Why?
Because we have been chosen out of
the world and therefore the world
hate us. This is a testimony that
Jew and Gentile and the whole world
look at. Then if this is the work of
God what is the world going to do
about it? What can this nation or the
combined nations of the earth do
about it? Can any power beneath
the heavens stay the progress of the
work of God? I tell you nay, it can-
not be done. I do not boast of these
things as the work of man; it is the
work of the Almighty; it is not the
work of man. The Lord has called
men to labor in his kingdom, and I
wish the elders would look upon this
subject as it is and realize our pos-
ition before the Lord. Here we are
a handful of people chosen out of
some twelve or fourteen hundred
millions of people; and my faith in
regard to this matter is that before
we were born, before Joseph Smith
was born, before Brigham was born—
my faith is that we were chosen to
come forth in this day and genera-
tion and do the work which God
has designed should be done. That
is my view in regard to the Latter-
day Saints, and that is the reason
why the apostles and elders in the
early days of this Church had power
to go forth without purse or scrip
and preach the gospel of Christ and
bear record of his kingdom. Had it
not been for that power we could
not have performed the work. We
have had to be sustained by the
hand of God until to-day, and we
shall be sustained until we get
th[r]ough if we keep the command-
ments of God, and if we do not we
shall fall and the Lord will raise up
other men to take our place. There-
fore, I look upon it that we had a
work assigned to us before we were
born. With regard to the faithful
leaders of this Church and kingdom,
beginning with Joseph Smith, how
many times have I heard men say
in my travels—Why did God choose
Joseph Smith, why did he choose
that boy to open up this dispensation
and lay the foundation of this
Church? why didn't he choose some
great man, such as Henry Ward Beecher? I have had but one an-
swer in my life to give to such a ques-
tion, namely, that the Lord Almigh-
ty could not do anything with them,
he could not humble them. They
were not the class of men that were
chosen for a work of this kind in any
age of the world. The Lord Al-
mighty chose the weak things of this
world. He could handle them. He
therefore chose Joseph Smith be-
cause he was weak, and he had
sense enough to know it. He had
the ministration of angels out of
heaven. He had also the ministra-
tion of the Father and the Son, and
of the holy men who once dwelt
in the flesh.

We have been obliged to acknowl-
edge the hand of God. From out of
the pit have we been dug. We have
been taken from the plough, the
bench, the various occupations of
life, having limited knowledge of
what the world calls learning. The
Lord has called this class of men as
elders, and inspired by the power of
God they have gone forth and warn-
ed the world, and those of this gen-
eration who reject the testimony of
these elders will be under condem-
nation, for the elders will rise up in
judgment and condemn them. The
building up of this kingdom rests
upon our shoulders—not upon the
shoulders of Brother Taylor and the
Twelve Apostles alone, but every
man and every woman who has
heard this gospel and gone into the
waters of baptism will be held re-
sponsible for the light and knowledge
they received.

This is my testimony to you to-
day. You have got the kingdom of
God here. It has grown and in-
creased, and will continue to grow
and increase. I look at this building;
I look at the tabernacle here; I look
at the temples that are being built;
I see what is going on in the moun-
tains of Israel, and I ask what is it?
It is the work of God. I acknowledge
his hand in it. This is the reason
why we are inspired to build these
temples. Why we labor to build
them is because the day has come
when they are needed. Joseph
Smith went into the spirit world to
unlock the prison doors in this dis-
pensation or generation. He stayed
here long enough to lay the founda-
tion of this kingdom and obtain the
keys belonging to it. The last time
he ever met with the quorum of the
Twelve was when he gave them
their endowments, and when they
left him he had a presentiment that
it was the last time they would ever
meet. He had something to do the
other side of the vail. He had a
thousand to preach to there where
you and I have one in the flesh.
And this is the great work of the
last dispensation—the redemption
of the living and the dead.

We ought not, as elders of Israel, to
treat lightly the blessings we enjoy.
We ought not to treat lightly the
holy priesthood, or attempt to use it
for any other purpose under the
whole heavens other than to build
up the Zion of God. The counsel
that has been given this forenoon
upon this matter we should lay to
heart. The eyes of all the heavenly
hosts are over this people. They
are watching us with the deepest
anxiety. They understand things
better than we do, for our vail is our
bodies, and when our spirits leave
them we will not have a great way
to get into the spirit world. They
know the warfare we have with
wicked spirits and with a wicked
world, but what encouragement we
have when we read the revelations!
We live in a generation when the
Lord has decreed that his kingdom
shall be preserved. The prophets of
every other dispensation have been
called to seal their testimony with
their blood. My faith is that those
of this dispensation will not be called
to do this. Joseph and Hyrum, it
is true, were called to lay down their
lives. Why? I believe myself it
was necessary to seal a dispensation
of this almighty magnitude with
the blood of the testator for one
thing, and for another thing the
people were worthy that put him to
death, and will have the bill to pay
as the Jews had to pay for the blood
of the Messiah; but as far as the
leaders of this people and the people
generally are concerned, I think the
Lord intends we should live at peace.
With regards to Brigham Young, we
all know the disposition there was
on the part of his enemies to take
his life. I never believed, however,
that he would die a violent death.
Neither do I believe that we shall
be required to go forth and stain our
swords in the blood of our fellow
men in our defense. It has been
decreed that the wicked shall slay
the wicked. Now, I give you my
views regarding these things. I
speak the sentiments of my own
heart and what I believe. The judg-
ments of our God will be poured
forth, but the elders of Israel will
not be called upon to slay the wicked.
The wicked will slay the wicked.
When I read the Bible, the Book of
Mormon and the Book of Doctrine
and Covenants, I feel that it is with
us as with the generation that lived
in the days of Ezekiel. In those
days the Lord told the prophet to
tell the people that what he said he
meant to fulfil. And so it is in the
day and age in which we live. All
things will be fulfilled. The judg-
ments of Almighty God will be
poured out upon the wicked. The
harvest is ripe, and I know the
farmer has got to cut his crops when
they are ripe, otherwise they will go
back into the ground and rot.

When I see the wickedness and
abomination that prevail in Babylon,
covering the earth, as it were, like a
mighty sea—when I see these things
I feel to ask myself the question,
how long can these sins rise up in
the sight of heaven and not have
their reward? In my own mind I
can see a change at our door. In
the face of the revelations I cannot
see how it can be otherwise. The
signs of heaven and earth all indi-
cate the near coming of the Son of
Man. You read the 9th, 10th and
11th chapters of the last Book of
Nephi, and see what the Lord has
said will take place in this genera-
tion, when the gospel of Christ has
again been offered to the inhabitants
of the earth. The Lord did not re-
veal the day of the coming of the
Son of Man, but he revealed the
generation. [Doctrine and Covenants 63:53] That generation is upon
us. The signs of heaven and earth
predict the fulfilment of these things,
and they will come to pass.

Therefore, let us try to live our re-
ligion. We have the kingdom of
God. There is no question about
this. There was none with Joseph
Smith when the angels of God min-
istered unto him, and we had a liv-
ing testimony of this work from that
day to this. What is the greatest
testimony any man or woman can
have as to this being the work of
God? I will tell you what is the
greatest testimony I have ever had,
the most sure testimony, that is the
testimony of the Holy Ghost, the
testimony of the Father and the
Son. We may have the ministration
of angels; we may be wrapt in the
visions of heaven—these things as
testimonies are very good, but when
you receive the Holy Ghost, when
you receive the testimony of the
Father and the Son, it is a true prin-
ciple to every man on earth, it de-
ceives no man, and by that princi-

514 THE DESERET NEWS. Sept. 15

DISCOURSE BY ELDER WILFORD WOODRUFF, DELIVERED In the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, at the Semi-Annual Conference of the Salt Lake Stake of Zion, Saturday Afternoon, 3rdJuly, 1880. ------------------ REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE.

I HAVE listened to the instructions given here this afaernoon by my brethren, as well as the remarks of Brother Cannon, this forernoon, with feelings of a great deal of interest. When we talk of our duties as Latter-day Saints I think many times some of us, perhaps all of us, more or less, fall short of compredending and understanding the responsibilities which we are under to God. I believe there never was a dispensation or a generation of men in any age of the world that ever had a greater work to perform, or ever were under greater responsibility to God, than the Latter-day Saints. The kingdom of God has been put into our hands. We have been raised up as sons and daughters of the Lord to take this kingdom, to lay the foundation of it, to build upon it, to carry it out in its various branches until it becomes perfected before the heavens and before the earth as God has foreordained it should be. And those principles which have been referred to by the brethren in regard to our duties we cannot safely ignore them nor turn aside from them. I will say as one of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles, from the time I was first acquainted with this organization until to-day we have never felt ourselves at liberty to stay away from our meetings unless we were sick or circumstances hindered us in some way or other. I can say that for myself, and I believe I can say the same for my brethren. We have always felt duty bound to attend our meetings, and if we do not attend the question might arise, what has become of the Twelve Apostles? Where are they that they do not attend their meetings? It would be a very proper question to ask. And if this responsibility rests upon us in the capacity which we occupy does it not rest upon other men? I think it does. I do not believe the Lord ever required Joseph Smith or Brigham Young or any of their counselors to undertake to build up this kingdom alone. He never required them to build these temples alone. They were required to perform their duties, that is true. Joseph Smith was called of God, inspired of God, raised up of the Lord, ordained of God long before he was born, to stand in the flesh, as much as Jeremiah or any of the ancient prophets, to lay the foundation of this Church and kingdom. He performed his work faithfully. He labored faithfully while he tabernacled in the flesh, and sealed his testimony with his blood. Other men were called also to build upon the foundation which he laid.

We have in days that are past and gone been under the necessity of going forth to preach the gospel in the world. We have had this to do. We have been called to do it. We have been ordained to do it. We have been commanded of God to do it, and so have hundreds and thousands of the elders of this Church and kingdom. We have all some responsibility, more or less, resting upon us, whether as regards going on missions or anything else. I remember Brother Joseph Smith visited myself, Brother Taylor, Brother Brigham Young and several other missionaries, when we were about to take our mission to England. We were sick and afflicted many of us. At the same time we felt to go. The Prophet blessed us as also our wives and families; and I was reading a day or two ago his instructions from my journal. He taught us some very important principles, some of which I here name. Brother Taylor, myself, George A. Smith, John E. Page and others had been called to fill the place of those who had fallen away. Brother Joseph laid before us the cause of those men turning away from the commandments of God. He hoped we would learn wisdom by what we saw with the eye and heard with the ear, and and that we would be able to discern the spirits of other men without being compelled to learn by sad experience. He then remarked that any man, any elder in this Church and kingdom — who pursued a course whereby he would ignore or in other words refuse to obey any known law or commandment or duty — whenever a man did this, neglected any duty God required at his hand in attending meetings, filling missions, or obeying counsel, he laid a foundation to lead him to apostasy and this was the reason those men had fellen. They had misused the priesthood sealed upon their heads. They had neglected to magnify their calling as apostles as elders. They had used that priesthood to attempt to build themselves up and to perform some other work besides the building up of the kingdom of God. And not only did he give us this counsel, but the same is given in the revelation of God to us. I have ever read with a great deal of interest that revelation given to Joseph Smith in answer to his prayer in Liberty jail. I have ever looked upon that revelations of God to that man, considering the few sentences it includes, as containing as much principle as any revelation God ever gave to man. He gave Joseph to understand that he held the priesthood which priesthood was after the order of God, after the order of Melchisedec, the same priesthood by which God himself performed all his works in the heavens and in the earth, and any man who bore that priesthood had the same power. That priesthood had communication with the heavens, power to move the heavens, power to perfrom the work of the heavens, and wherever any man magnified that calling, God gave his angels charge concerning him and his ministrations were of power and force both in this world and the world to come; but let that man use that priesthood for any other purpose than the building up of the kingdom of God, for which purpose it was given, and the heavens withdraw themselves, the power of the priesthood departs, and he is left to walk in darkness and not in light, and this is the key to apostasy of all men whether in this generation or any other.

Our responsibilities before the Lord are great. We have no right to break any law that God has given unto us. The more we do so the less power we have before God, before heaven and before the earth, and the nearer we live to God, the closer we obey his laws and keep his commandments, the more power we will have, and the greater will be our desire for the building up of the kingdom of God while we dwell here in the flesh.

We have no right to break the Sabbath. We have no right to neglect our meetings to attend to our labors. I do not believe there was any man ever belonged to this Church and kingdom since its organization has ever made anything by going to attending to his farm on the Sabbath: but if your ox falls into a pit get him out; work in that way is all just and right, but for us to go farming to the neglect of our meetings and other duties devolving upon us is something we have no right to do. The Spirit of God does not like it, it withdraws itself from us, and we make no money by it. We should keep the Sabbath holy. We should attend our meetings.

This kingdom is advancing. It has got to advance, and somebody has got to build it up. Somebody has got to labor in it. The God of heaven has had a people prepared before the world was made for this dispensation. He had a people prepared to stand in the flesh to take this kingdom and bear it off, and the very spirit of the prophets and apostles who have gone before us has been manifested in the lives of faithful men and women from the organization of this Church until to-day and will continue until the coming of the Lord, as there are a great many men and women who will live their religion and carry out the purposes of God on the earth.

It is our duty as apostles, as elders and as Latter-day Saints, to contemplate, to reflect, to read the word of God, and try to comprehend our condition, our position, and our responsibility before the Lord. If our eyes were opened, if the vail were lifted, and we should see our condition, our responsibility, if we could comprehend the feelings of God our heavenly Father and the heavenly hosts and the justified spirits made perfect in their watch-care over us, in their anxiety about us in our labors here while we are in the flesh, we would all feel that we have no time to waste in folly or anything which brings to pass no good. All of us as elders of Israel and as Latterday Saints bear some portion of the holy priesthood, either the Melchisedec or Aaronic. It is a kingdom of priests, and there is work enough for this people to magnify their calling. The Lord has agreed to sustain us, and to break every weapon that is formed against us. He has promised to sustain Zion, and when the Prophet saw this Zion of God in the mountains his soul was filled with joy and he cried, "sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; and break forth into singing, O mountains; for the Lord hath comforted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted." Again the Prophet says, "Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb,—yea they may forget, yet will I not forget thee." Zion has been before the face of the Lord since the creation of the world! Our heavenly Father has protected this people. We have been favored from the day we set our feet in the valleys of the mountains notwithstanding the tribulation and opposition we have had to contend with. All the designs of the wicked and ungodly to stop this work have been thwarted. The hand of God is over Zion. He is our comforter. He sustains us, and we have every encouragement on the face of the earth as Latter-day Saints to be true and faithful unto him the little time we spend in the flesh.

Our responsibilities are great, our work is great. We not only have the gospel to preach to the nations of the earth, but we have to fill these valleys, towns, cities &c., and we have, among other important things, to rear those temples unto the name of the Lord before the coming of Christ. We have got to enter into those temples and redeem our dead— not only the dead of our own family but the dead of the whole spirit world. This is part of the great work of the Latter-day Saints. We shall build these temples and if we do our duty there is no power can hinder this work, because the Lord is with us. And certainly our aim is high. As a people we aim at celestial glory, we aim at the kingdom of God. We have been raised up for this purpose to warn the world, to preach the gospel, to go to the meek of the earth and bring them to these valleys of the mountains, that they may be delivered from the power of sin and Satan. Our numbers are many compared with former dispensations. Nevertheless, our numbers are few when compared with the twelve or fourteen hundred millions of inhabitants who dwell in the flesh. Still with the help of God, we have power to redeem the world. This is our work. We are obliged to labor and to continue to while we are here, and when we have finished our work our sons the rising generation, have got to take this kingdom and bear it off.

Eight of the quorum of the Twelve Apostles are in the spirit world today who were in the flesh when we came here, and so they pass away one after another, when they finished their work. Do you suppose that in their minds and feelings they realized they had done too much? I think not. Just so with those who remain in the flesh. There is no time to throw away, and I would to God that the elders of Israel could fully realize and compreehnd the great work that God has put upon their shoulders—the building up of the kingdom.

This kingdom has continued to increase and spread. When we came here 33 years ago we found this place a barren desert. There was no mark of the white man here. It was a desert indeed, hardly a green thing to meet the eye. You can see to-day for yourselves. The inhabitants of Zion are a marvel and a wonder to the world. They occupy these valleys of the mountains from Idaho to Arizona. The valleys, as it were, are filled with Latter-day Saints. And who are these Latter-day Saints? They are the people whom the God of heaven has raised up in fulfilment of promise and revelation. He has carefully gathered them together by the power of the gospel, by the power of revelation and placed them here in the valleys of the mountains. Has there ever been any power formed against this people that has been successful? Nay; and this people will never see the day when our enemies shall prevail, for the very reason that God had decreed that Zion shall be built up, the kingdom that Daniel saw shall roll forth, until the little stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall fill the whole earth. The people of God shall be prepared in the latter-days to carry out the great programme of the Almighty, and all the powers of the earth and hell combined cannot prevent them. When I see the view that the world take in regard to this great latter-day work; when I hear it questioned as to whether God has anything to do with it; when I see the feeling of hatred that is manifested towards us, to me it is the strongest evidence that this is the work of God. Why? Because we have been chosen out of the world and therefore the world hate us. This is a testimony that Jew and Gentile and the whole world look at. Then if this is the work of God what is the world going to do about it? What can this nation or the combined nations of the earth do about it? Can any power beneath the heavens stay the progress of the work of God? I tell you nay, it cannot be done. I do not boast of these things as the work of man; it is the work of the Almighty; it is not the work of man. The Lord has called men to labor in his kingdom, and I wish the elders would look upon this subject as it is and realize our position before the Lord. Here we are a handful of people chosen out of some twelve or fourteen hundred millions of people; and my faith in regard to this matter is that before we were born, before Joseph Smith was born, before Brigham was born— my faith is that we were chosen to come forth in this day and generation and do the work which God has designed should be done. That is my view in regard to the Latterday Saints, and that is the reason why the apostles and elders in the early days of this Church had power to go forth without purse or scrip and preach the gospel of Christ and bear record of his kingdom. Had it not been for that power we could not have performed the work. We have had to be sustained by the hand of God until to-day, and we shall be sustained until we get through, if we keep the commandments of God, and if we do not we shall fall, and the Lord will raise up other men to take our place. Therefore, I look upon it that we had a work assigned to us before we were born. With regard to the faithful leaders of this Church and kingdom, beginning with Joseph Smith, how many times have I heard men say in my travels—Why did God choose Joseph Smith, why did he choose that boy to open up this dispensation and lay the foundation of this Church? why didn't he choose some great man, such as Henry Ward Beecher? I have had but one answer in my life to give to such a question, namely, that the Lord Almighty could not do anything with them, he could not humble them. They were not the class of men that were chosen for a work of this kind in any age of the world. The Lord Almighty chose the weak things of this world. He could handle them. He therefore chose Joseph Smith because he was weak, and he had sense enough to know it. He had the ministration of angels out of heaven. He had also the ministration of the Father and the Son, and of the holy men who once dwelt in the flesh.

We have been obliged to acknowledge the hand of God. From out of the pit have we been dug. We have been taken from the plough, the bench, the various occupations of life, having limited knowledge of what the world calls learning. The Lord has called this class of men as elders, and inspired by the power of God they have gone forth and warned the world, and those of this generation who reject the testimony of these elders will be under condemnation, for the elders will rise up in judgment and condemn them. The building up of this kingdom rests upon our shoulders—not upon the shoulders of Brother Taylor and the Twelve Apostles alone, but every man and every woman who has heard this gospel and gone into the waters of baptism will be held responsible for the light and knowledge they received.

This is my testimony to you today. You have got the kingdom of God here. It has grown and increased, and will continue to grow and increase. I look at this building; I look at the tabernacle here; I look at the temples that are being built; I see what is going on in the mountains of Israel, and I ask what is it? It is the work of God. I acknowledge his hand in it. This is the reason why we are inspired to build these temples. Why we labor to build them is because the day has come when they are needed. Joseph Smith went into the spirit world to unlock the prison doors in this dispensation or generation. He stayed here long enough to lay the foundation of this kingdom and obtain the keys belonging to it. The last time he ever met with the quorum of the Twelve was when he gave them their endowments, and when they left him he had a presentiment that it was the last time they would ever meet. He had something to do the other side of the vail. He had a thousand to preach to there where you and I have one in the flesh. And this is the great work of the last dispensation—the redemption of the living and the dead.

We ought not, as elders of Israel, to treat lightly the blessings we enjoy. We ought not to treat lightly the holy priesthood, or attempt to use it for any other purpose under the whole heavens other than to build up the Zion of God. The counsel that has been given this forenoon upon this matter we should lay to heart. The eyes of all the heavenly hosts are over this people. They are watching us with the deepest anxiety. They understand things better than we do, for our vail is our bodies, and when our spirits leave them we will not have a great way to get into the spirit world. They know the warfare we have with wicked spirits and with a wicked world, but what encouragement we have when we read the revelations! We live in a generation when the Lord has decreed that his kingdom shall be preserved. The prophets of every other dispensation have been called to seal their testimony with their blood. My faith is that those of this dispensation will not be called to do this. Joseph and Hyrum, it is true, were called to lay down their lives. Why? I believe myself it was necessary to seal a dispensation of this almighty magnitude with the blood of the testator for one thing, and for another thing the people were worthy that put him to death, and will have the bill to pay as the Jews had to pay for the blood of the Messiah; but as far as the leaders of this people and the people generally are concerned, I think the Lord intends we should live at peace. With regards to Brigham Young, we all know the disposition there was on the part of his enemies to take his life. I never believed, however, that he would die a violent death. Neither do I believe that we shall be required to go forth and stain our swords in the blood of our fellow men in our defense. It has been decreed that the wicked shall slay the wicked. Now, I give you my views regarding these things. I speak the sentiments of my own heart and what I believe. The judgments of our God will be poured forth, but the elders of Israel will not be called upon to slay the wicked. The wicked will slay the wicked. When I read the Bible, the Book of Mormon and the Book of Doctrine and Covenants, I feel that it is with us as with the generation that lived in the days of Ezekiel. In those days the Lord told the prophet to tell the people that what he said he meant to fulfil. And so it is in the day and age in which we live. All things will be fulfilled. The judgments of Almighty God will be poured out upon the wicked. The harvest is ripe, and I know the farmer has got to cut his crops when they are ripe, otherwise they will go back into the ground and rot.

When I see the wickedness and abomination that prevail in Babylon, covering the earth, as it were, like a mighty sea—when I see these things I feel to ask myself the question, how long can these sins rise up in the sight of heaven and not have their reward? In my own mind I can see a change at our door. In the face of the revelations I cannot see how it can be otherwise. The signs of heaven and earth all indicate the near coming of the Son of Man. You read the 9th, 10th and 11th chapters of the last Book of Nephi, and see what the Lord has said will take place in this generation, when the gospel of Christ has again been offered to the inhabitants of the earth. The Lord did not reveal the day of the coming of the Son of Man, but he revealed the generation. That generation is upon us. The signs of heaven and earth predict the fulfillment of these things, and they will come to pass.

Therefore, let us try to live our religion. We have the kingdom of God. There is no question about this. There was none with Joseph Smith when the angels of God ministered unto him, and we had a living testimony of this work from that day to this. What is the greatest testimony any man or woman can have as to this being the work of God? I will tell you what is the greatest testimony I have ever had, the most sure testimony, that is the testimony of the Holy Ghost, the testimony of the Father and the Son. We may have the ministration of angels; we may be wrapt in the visions of heaven—these things as testimonies are very good, but when you receive the Holy Ghost, when you receive the testimony of the Father and the Son, it is a true principle to every man on earth, it deceives no man, and by that princi-