THE DESERET NEWS.
TRUTH AND LIBERTY.
NO. 1 GREAT SALT LAKE CITY, WEDNESDAY, JULY 1, 1863. VOL. XIII
REMARKS
By Elder WILFORD WOODRUFF, Great
Salt Lake City Bowery, .
REPORTED BY G. D. WATT.
Jesus said to those whom he had appointed
to go forth and preach his Gospel; "Go your
way: behold, I send you forth as lambs among
wolves. Carry neither purse, nor scrip, nor
shoes: and salute no man by the way." [Luke 10:3-4]
Again, "And ye shall be brought before gov-
enors and kings for my sake, for a testimony
against them and the Gentiles. But when
they deliver you up, take no thought how or
what you shall speak, for it shall be given
you in that same hour what you shall speak.
For it is not ye that speak, but the spirit of
your Father which speaks in you." [Matthew 10:18-20]
This is one of the blessings that belong to
the church and kingdom of God in this and
in every other age of the world when God has
had a church upon the ear[t]h. When people
attempt to preach the Gospel without the in-
spiration of the Holy Ghost, they are under
the necessity of studying or of writing their
sermons, thus presenting the cogitations of
their own hearts in support of the doctrines
and tenets of their particular sects. When
the Lord sets to his hand to perform a work,
and to build up his kingdom on the earth, his
servants whom he calls to do this work are
obliged to trust in the Lord their God and to
lean upon his arm for strength, for no man
can tell what the will of God is unless it is
revealed to him by the revelations of Jesus
Christ through the power of the Holy Ghost.
This is the principle that has sustained the
Elders of Israel, in our own day, in all their
labors among the nations to build up this
kingdom for the last time, and to preach the
Gospel in the ears of all people and nations.
The servants of God in Zion, in all their coun-
sels and deliberations for the promotion of
holy and righteous principles, have to be con-
stantly governed by it. Had it not been for
this principle, this congregation, gathered
from almost every nation under heaven,
would not have been found here to-day; we
might have preached to them until dooms day
and we, of ourselves, by our own wisdom and
ability, could never have convinced them of
the truth of the gospel the Lord has revealed
in our day, for the gathering and salvation of
the honest in heart, and for the estab[l]ishment
of righthousness over the whole earth.
Not only the men who bare record of these
things had the testimony of Jesus Christ, but
it also reached those who heard their words
bearing record of the truth to every honest
hearted person throughout all the world for
the last thirty years. We cannot know the
hearts of men, nor the will of God concerning
nations, kingdoms, and people only as it is
revealed to us by the gift and power of the
Holy Ghost. President Young reproves, cor-
rects, gives revelation and teaches doctrine
and principle, for the benefit of this people
and mankind in general by the revelations
which God gives to him. This principle in-
sp[i]red the hearts of ancient prophets and ser-
vants of God and sustained them in every try-
ing scene, it has also been the comfort and
sustaining power of the servants of God in
this last dispensation from the foundation of
this kingdom to the present time. As the
ancient apostles were called so have the
modern apostles and servants of God been
called to go into all the world, and preach the
Gospel to every creature, [Mark 16:15] and the gift and
power of the Holy Ghost has sustained them
when they were brought before kings and ru-
lers. The Savior preached and traveled, and
suffered until he gave up the ghost on Calva-
ry; that same power sustained him under ev-
ery circumstance, and made known unto him
the will of his Father. This is one among
the many blessing which the Latter-Day
Saints enjoy. God reveals unto us light and
truth and brings to our remembrance things
which are according to the will of God which
we should teach. This is a great consolation
to us, and to realize our position in the moun-
tains. We have been led here by the gentle
hand of God. No man could have foreseen
what would happen to the nation of the Uni-
ted States had it not been revealed to us in
the revelations which God gave to his proph-
et Joseph Smith. The revelations concerning
what shall transpire in the last days can be
read in the Book of Mormon, Book of Doc-
trine and Covenants, and in the Bible. "Sure-
ly the Lod God will do nothing, but he re-
vealeth his secret unto his servants the proph-
ets." [Amos 3:7] When we were called upon to leave
our homes and our holy temple in Nauvoo, it
was a great trial to many. When we came
to this country as pioneers, we built the bridg-
es, killed the snakes, and opened the way for
the emigration of saint and sinner, saying,
it is all right; but we did not know how soon
the calamities that are now upon the nation
would break forth, yet we knew they would
come soon. By what power did we influence
these men and women before me to leave their
homes and their country to dwell in these
distant wilds? They were influenced by the
inspriations of the Almighty which always
attends the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ in all ages. There was a spirit in
them, and the inspiration of the Almighty
gave it understanding, and they were moved
upon to listen to the advice that the servants
of God gave them, to gather to the place the
Lord had appointed to locate his people—
This is the hand of God, and we should be
thankful for this good land and for our homes.
We here dwell in peace, and s[t]and in holy
places, in a land which has been dedicated to
God; and the power of righteousness prevails
here, and hence we have power to remain
here in peace. We remain here in peace be-
cause righteousness and the power of God
dwell here. It is true the enemy of God and
all the righteous, the devil, who goes about
like a roaring lion seeking whom he may de-
vour, has sought our destruction from the be-
ginning, and has stirred up the wicked to seek
our overthrow; yet the Lord has preserved us;
we should be thankful for this, and we should
honor God and worship him with undivided
hearts, doing our duty constantly, and pursu-
ing that course wherein we shall be justified
before the Lord.
No man can value sufficiently the life he
now holds, and the place he now occupies in
this world, unless he is moved upon by the
Spirit and power of God to enlighten his un-
derstanding. What is the chief end of man?
It, seemingly, is to get gold and fame, and the
honor that man bestows, to gratify their sen-
sual propensities and desires. Do the great
mass of mankind seek to honor and glorify
God, seeking by every lawful means to bring
their bodies into subjection to the law of
Christ? Do they understand that they are
the offspring of God, and are made after his
image and likeness, and placed in this world
to pass through a short probation to prepare
them to dwell eternally in the presence of the
Father and the Son? Are not nine tenths of
the human family more ready to blaspheme
the name of God than to honor it? Would
they do this if they were in possession of the
Spirit of God to magnify their calling and
fulfill the object and end of their creation?
No. Every thing that God has made keeps
the law of its creation and honors it except
man. I have always marveled at this. Man-
kind, who are made after the image of God to
answer a high and noble purposes are the only
beings in creation that will blaspheme his
name and set at naught his authority. They
have an agency, and the Spirit of God is of-
fered to them as freely as the light of the
sun, which shines on the just and on the un-
just, if they would receive it. All the light
and intelligence man ever did or will have,
has come through that principle and power,
and in company with this, the Lord has rais-
ed up men in our own generation, to whom he
has sent the administration of angels, and
laid on them the responsibility of bearing
record to the gospel, with a promise to all
nations, both Jew and Gentile, that, if they
will receive the testimony of his servants
they shall receive the Holy Ghost who shall
bear record unto them of the truth. Have the
nations received the Gospel? Yes, one of a
family and two of a city, here and there one,
and they are gathered together to stand in
holy places and to build up the church and
kingdom of God in the last days, to prepare
the way for the coming of the Son of Man. [Jeremiah 3:14]
The mass of this generation have rejected the
Gospel; they have shed the blood of the Lord's
prophets and consented thereto, and have
driven from their midst those who bear the
words of eternal life. One of the most liber-
al and free Governments under the heavens
has driven out from them the only people un-
der the heavens that God acknowledges as
his church, because of the word of God and
the testimony of Jesus which they bear. We
have been driven to the valleys of these moun-
tains for our good; the hand of God has led us
here. Great affliction awaits the nation from
which we have been driven out, and the wick-
ed nations of the Gentiles on this land and in
foreign lands.
We live in a momentous age, and our re-
sponsibilities are great before the Lord, and to
this generation. We have borne record of the
calamities that should be poured out in the
last days and they are coming to pass. For
thus saith the Lord, "and after your testimo-
ny cometh wrath and indignation upon the
people; for after your testimony cometh the
testimony of earthquakes, that shall cause
groanings in the midst of her, and men shall
fall on the ground and not be able to stand,
and also cometh the testimony of the voice of
thunderings, and the voice of lightnings, and
the voice of tempests, and the voice of the
waves of the sea, heaving themselves beyond
their bounds. And all things shall be in
commotion; and surely men's hearts shall fail
them; for fear shall come upon all people; and
angels shall fly through the midst of heaven,
crying with a loud voice; sounding the trump
of God, saying, prepare ye, prepare ye, O in-
habitants of the earth; for the judgment of
our God is come: behold, and lo! the Bride-
groom cometh, go yet out to meet him." [Doctrine and Covenants 88:88-92] Again,
"I the Lord am angry with the wicked; I am
holding my Spirit from the inhabitants of the
earth. I have sworn in my wrath and de-
creed wars upon the face of the earth, and
the wicked shall slay the wicked," etc. [Doctrine and Covenants 63:32-33]
If a thousand prophets had proclaimed to
this nation what has come to pass since 1860
to the present time, who would have believed
them? Not a man unless they possessed the
spirit of revelation. What the prophet Joseph
Smith foretold thirty years ago is now come
to pass; and who can help it? Have the Lat-
ter Day Saints been the cause of this dreadful
war? No. While Joseph Smith was living
every public and private calamity that hap-
pened in the land was laid to his account. It
is not Joseph Smith or his brethren that doeth
these things, but the Lord has laid his hand
on the nation. It is a consolation to the
Saints when they contemplate upon what God
has spoked through his servants which is
now being fulfilled before their eyes. All
that has been spoken by ancient and modern
prophets have had their fulfillment until now,
and will have until the scene is wound up.
No man ever did or ever will obtain salva-
tion only through the ordinances of the gospel,
and through the name of Jesus. There can
be no change in the gospel; all men that are
saved from Adam to infinitum are saved by
the one system of salvation. The Lord may
give many laws, and many commandments to
suit the varied circumstances and conditions
of his children throughout the world, such as
giving a law of carnal commandments to
Israel, but the laws and principles of the
gospel do not change. If any portion of this
generation is saved it will be because they
receive the gospel which Jesus Christ and his
apostles preached. When the Lord inspires
men and sends them to any generation, he
holds that generation responsible for the
manner in which they receive the testimony
of his servants. He called upon us and we
left our occupation, to go forth in our weak-
ness to preach his gospel; we had no power in
and of ourselves to do this only as the Lord
gave us strength by his Spirit; and we have so
far built up his kingdom upon this principle;
we have been governed by this principle of
revelation in all our public and private works
which we have done for God. We shall build
our temple upon this principle, and carry out
all the purposes of the Lord our God in the
latter days upon the same principle and upon
no other.
The very moment that men undertake to
move for God in their own way and upon
principles of their own coining, they will fail
to accomplish that which they design. The
world has tried this for generations. It is now
almost universally acknowledged throughout
christendom that no man is properly qualified
to preach the gospel unless he has passed
through a college, or some institution of learn-
ing to study theology and get a knowledge of
Greek, Latin and Hebrew—of languages dead
and living. Does this system of learning
alone give power to administer salvation to
mankind? Does it give evidence and bear
witness to the hearts of men by the power of
the Holy Ghost and the revelations of Jesus
Christ? It does not. The disciples of Christ
anciently were illiterate men, yet they bore
record to the learned that God had sent them
with a message of salvation. Jesus Christ,
whose life was a scene of affliction and sor-
row, who apparently had arose from the lower
grades of society, was eminently endowed
with the spirit and power of revelation from
his Father, and bore record of his works to
Jew and Gentile under its influence and power.
The servants of God in every age have
always been gover[n]ed by the same power; and
we must build up the kingdom of God by it or
not at all. We look to him for guidance in
what we shall do from day to day; we have
been guided in this way hitherto and shall be
so guided unto the end.
I thank God that we have embraced a
gospel that has power in it; that we have the
true organization of the church and kingdom
of God, with its Apostles, Prophets, Pastors
and Teachers, gifts, graces and blessings for
the work of the ministry and the edifying of
the body of Christ. [Ephesians 4:11-12] The moment any of the
helps, governments, gifts and powers are done
away from the church militant, schism is
created in the body and it no longer can co-
operate with the church triumphant in heaven
against the power of the devil and wicked
men. We cannot build up the kingdom of
God in our day and overcome the powers of
evil which prevail over the world without
inspired prophets and apostles, gifts, powers
and blessings, any more than they could in
the days of Jesus and his apostles. We have
this church organization and the power which
attended it in ancient days, and we seek con-
stantly the welfare of the children of men.
We have a great work laid upon us, and we
are responsible to God for the manner in
which we make use of these blessings. The
Lord requires of us to build up Zion, to gather
the honest in heart, restore Israel to their
blessings, redeem the earth from the power of
the devil, establish universal peace and pre-
pare a kingdom and a people for the coming
and reign of the Messiah. When we do all
we can to forward and accomplish this work
then are we justified. This is the work of our
lives, and it makes life of some consequence
to us. When men are destitute of the Spirit
of God they do not prize life only to indulge
the cravings of unenlightened and perverted
human nature; they cross each other's in-
terests, become filled with the spirit of wrath
and indignation, and thirst for and shed the
blood of each other. Would they do this if
they were inspired by the spirit and power of
God? No. That which is good is of God, and
that which is evil emanates from the devil. [Moroni 7:12-13]
The Lord permits judgments to come upon
the wicked, but he never sends a great calam-
ity upon the world without first sending
prophets and inspired men to warn the wicked
of approaching chastisement, giving them, at
the same time, space for repentence and
means of escape, as witness the time of Noah,
Lot, etc. And, "as it was in the days of
Noah so shall it be in the days of the coming
of the Son of Man." [Matthew 24:37] When the messengers
of God have given a faithful warning to the
wicked of their approaching overthrow, and
the testimony is sealed, then will the Lord
come out of his hiding place and vex them
with a sore vexation. All that the Savior
said should come upon the wicked Jews was
literally fulfilled, and his blood is now upon
them and their children. The hand of God
has been zealous in holding the Jews under
the rod until this day. Why? Because they
rejected the testimony of the Son of God, and
his gospel. That is the cause of the great
trouble to-day that is vexing this nation and
other nations in the old world. You may put
all the judgments of God together that has
befallen the nations and tribes of men from
the beginning, and the afflictions they suffered
are no greater than are now ready to be
poured out upon the gentile world.
John the revelator saw this day. He saw
also "an Angel of God fly in the midst of
heaven having the everlasting gospel to preach
unto them that dwell on the earth, and to
every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and
people, saying with a loud voice, Fear God,
and give glory to him; for the hour of his
judgment is come; and worship him that made
heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the foun-
tains of waters." [Revelation 14:6-7] That angel has delivered
his message and thousands of Elders of this
church have been called to this ministry; it
has been laid upon our shoulders. I have
traveled more than a hundred thousand miles
in the last thirty years to preach this gospel,
and many thousands of it with my napsack
upon my back, and without purse or scrip,
begging my bread from door to door to preach
the gospel to my own nation. Thirty years
ago it was said unto us, You hear of wa[r]s in
foreign countries, but you do not know the
hearts of men in your own land, for you shall
soon have greater wars in your own land, etc.
How is it my friends, is there trouble in the
eastern countries? What means this crowd-
ing of our streets with emigrants to the west?
The Lord God has spoken through his
prophet; his words have been recorded, and he
is backing up the testimony of his servants in
fulfillment of his word; and the end is not yet.
War and distress of nations has only just
commenced, and famine and pestilence will
follow on the heels of war, and there will be
great mourning, and weeping, and lamenta-
tions in the land, and no power can stay the
work of desolation and utter everthrow of the
wicked.
More than twenty-five years ago I wrote a
revelation which Joseph Smith gave, wherein
he said that the rebellion should commence at
South Carolina and from that war should
spread through this nation and continue to
spread until war should be poured out upon
all nations, and great calamity and distruc-
tion should await them. [Doctrine and Covenants 87]
I published the book of Doctrine and Cov-
enants in England in 1845 and since that
time it has been published in many different
languages, and thus we are sending the revela-
tions which Jesus Christ has given to his peo-
ple in the last days to the diff[e]rent nations
and tongues, that they may be left without an
excuse. We know these things are coming,
and because of them we are here in Utah, and
the devil and the wicked do not like it. Every
evil principle and power is opposed to us and
our testimony. Do we not de[s]ire to do all men
good? We do; and in proof of this I only need
say that we have labored for many years in
poverty and hardships to carry salvation to
the nations. Some of the European nations
have closed their doors against us, and
in some of those nations we have preached
the gospel and gathered out many souls, and
thousands more will yet come like clouds and
like doves to the windows to join with us in
the enjoyment of the great blessings which
the kingdom of God offers to all people.
The highest object of man in this life should
be to prepare himself to dwell with his Father
and God in his presence. It is for this reason
that the millions of spirits that tabernacle
here are sent from the eternal worlds to pass
a short probation in mortal bodies, and they
are all the children of one father. If we re-
ceive the gospel and live its precepts we shall
receive celestial glory; if we reject it we shall
be punished; though we may have a redemp-
tion and a glory, but it will be in a diminished
degree. We should lay these things to heart;
we should endeavor to understand our true
position, and we should do all in our power to
benefit our fellow man and to bring salvation
to the nations.
I rejoice that the Lord still holds the door
open, that we still have the privilege of send-
ing the Elders to the nations; while this door
remains open we shall continue to preach the
gospel to the gentile world. When they re-
ject it it will be taken from them and then we
go to the Jews, and the ten tribes will come
from the north to Zion to be crowned under
the hands of the children of Ephraim. And
the remnant of the Lamanites who are cursed
below all humanity that we are acquainted
with; who have been filled with the spirit of
bloodshed which they have inherited from
their fathers; they will embrace the gospel in
due time of the Lord. They are of the house
of Israel, and this spirit of war will be taken
from them and they will become the children
of God, but not until the gentiles have en-
tirely rejected the gospel. Anciently it was
preached to the Jews first and then to the
gentiles; in the latter times it will be first
preached to the gentiles and then to the Jews,
the first shall be last and the last first. [1 Nephi 13:42] This
is the great work which is laid upon us to-day.
We should be true and faithful to-day and
then we ought to follow this practice until
death, and then shall we be entitled to have
a crown of life. Is it not more honorable to
do good than to do evil; to try to honor and
serve God who is our Father and who has
given us every blessing than sin against him?
Would not such a course bring more happi-
ness and pleasure to us than to blaspheme the
name of God and dishonor ourselves, bring[i]ng
darkness and condemnation to our spirits?
I pray that God may bless us and save us
in his kingdom, which I ask in the name of
Jesus Christ: Amen.