REMARKS
Made at the Salt Lake Stake Confer-
ence, Sunday, .
by
PRESIDENT WILFORD WOODRUFF.
-[REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER.]-
"Wide is the gate, and broad is the
way, that leadeth to destruction, and
many there be which go in thereat:
"Because strait is the gate, and nar-
row is the way, which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it." [Matthew 7:13-14]
I look upon that as one of the most
important sayings of Jesus Christ while
teaching the people in His day. Few
there are that find the straight and
narrow way. To read such sayings of
the Savior as those sets one to reflect-
ing. If it is necessary for the children
of men to receive the Gospel of Jesus
Christ and to attend to the ordinances
of His house, in order to be saved in
the kingdom of God, certainly it would
appear as if very few will be saved
in the celestial kingdom of our God.
When the Lord called Joseph Smith,
he received the ministrations of Mo-
roni, an angel of God from heaven. [Joseph Smith-History 1:30-47]
According to the teachings that were
given to him by the Lord and by the
angels of heaven, there was no organi-
zation on the face of the whole earth
at that time that was accepted of the
Lord as His Church. Joseph Smith
had received the holy Priesthood by
the administration of angels from God
out of heaven before he himself was
prepared to preach the Gospel. The
work that he commenced was like a lit-
tle mustard seed. Those that followed
him were very few in number;
and the same spirit of opposition
which was manifest in the days of the
Savior and in the days of the prophets
was manifest in his day and time.
He met with the same fate as the Son
of God and His Apostles did. All laid
down their lives and sealed their testi-
mony by the shedding of their blood,
excepting John the Revelator, and he
was preserved by the power of God.
This is a subject of vast importance
to the inhabitante of the earth, in-
cluding the Latter-day Saints. Accord-
ing to statisticians, there are about
fourteen hundred millions of human
beings on the earth. Now, if the Latter-
day Saints are all who have received
the Gospel of Christ since the organiz-
[a]tion of the Church, then the numbers
who are preparing to go into the
celestial kingdom of God are certainly
very few. Even if the Latter-day
Saints numbered a half million, they
would be a very small percentage of the
inhabitants of the earth.
There was a small congregation of
Latter-day Saints here this morning,
and we listened to a number of the
Bishops represent their wards and tes-
tify concerning tithing, the expense of
caring for the poor, and the position
they were in. I thought to myself that
if we had the desire in our hearts to
be one of that number who will go to
receive eternal life in the celestial
kingdom of God, and to be where God and
Christ dwell, it would certainly pay
us to thoroughly keep the command-
ments of God and do our duty. It
causes singular reflections to look upon
the history of the inhabitants of the
earth. It does not make much difference
what part of the world you take, nor
what age, mankind have been prone
to evil and to yield to the enemy. One-
third of the hosts of heaven are repre-
sented as having been cast down from
heaven to earth. They are fallen
angels, who have been on the earth,
I suppose, ever since they were cast
out of heaven. What is their
mission? It is to work against God
and against Christ; to lead the chil-
dren of men to do that which is evil,
that they may have power and domin-
ion over them in this world and in the
world to come. The children of men
in every age have had these fallen
spirits to contend with. These powers
have been manifest from the fall of
Adam down to our day, and will con-
tinue until He who holds the keys of
death and hell will bind Satan and
shut him up in prison for one thousand
years, after which he will be liberated
to perform his last act for the destruc-
tion of the sons of men.
In reflecting over these things, and
seeing how it has been in days that are
past and gone, it seems, if we are to
judge from the revelations and from
the saying of the Savior which I have
quoted, that there are very few who
find the straight and narrow way that
leads to eternal life. But the Latter-
day Saints have a desire to be saved in
the kingdom of God. This is a great
desire, and it should be with all men.
We should understand that it will pay
us to strive to do right and to keep the
commandments of God, that when we
get through we may receive those
blessings that we are looking for; that
we may meet with the Lord, meet with
Father Adam, with Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob, with the patriarchs and
prophets, and with the few Saints that
have been in the flesh on the earth. I
believe this is your desire. It is my
desire. I have desired it from my boy-
hood up. I have thought sometimes
that I have made rather a poor at-
tempt at it; perhaps many of us have
felt the same; but I think that the lit-
tle time we have to be here it will pay
us to look carefully to our ways and to
keep the commandments of God. It
will be worth our while to pay our
tithing and attend to every other duty
that God requires at our hands while
we dwell here, that when we get
through we may be satisfied. This is
my desire with regard to the Latter-
day Saints. For when we realize the
few that will enter into eternal life
compared with those that will go the
broad road, it is lamentable.
As Latter-day Saints we have re-
ceived the Priesthood; the command-
ments of God have been made known
to us; and we have set before us,
through the mouths of inspired men,
those principles that shall lead us in
the path of life and salvation. Now,
in view of these things, what will it
profit us to sin? What is there in this
life that will pay us to lose all those
blessings which belong to the first
resurrection and to the kingdom of
heaven? It is within our power, by
keeping the commandments of God, to
come forth out of our graves, clothed
in immortal, celestial bodies, with our
wives, our children, our fathers, our
mothers, our relatives, and our friends,
and occupy high and exalted positions
in the presence of God and the Lamb,
and dwell with them forever and for-
ever. What is there, brethren and sis-
ters, in this world or anywhere else,
that will pay us to pursue a course
whereby we shall lose the fulfillment
of these blessings? There is nothing.
Far better for us never to have lived
in the flesh than to pursue a course
whereby we forfeit these blessings.
We, as Elders of Israel, have labored
faithfully to try to save our fellow
men in the Gospel of Christ. We have
been blessed in this. We have traveled
among the nations of the earth and
the islands of the sea to instruct the
children of men upon these principles.
There is no better calling that a man
can have than to go and preach the
Gospel to his fellow man and to save
the souls of the children of men. The
Lord said to Oliver Cowdery and David
Whitmer:
"And if, it so be that you should
labor all your days in crying repent-
ance unto this people, and bring, save
it be one soul unto me, how great shall
be your joy with him in the kingdom
of the Father!
"And now, if your joy will be great
with one soul that you have brought
unto me into the kingdom of my
Father, how great will be your joy if
you should bring many souls unto me!" [Doctrine and Covenants 18:15-16]
Now, our Elders have saved thou-
sands of souls: that is, the Elders have
preached the Gospel to them, they have
baptized them, ordained them, and
given them their blessings.
We ought to look at these things as
they are. No matter what the world
may think of us, or what their desire
may be about us. Even if we are all
saved in the kingdom of God, our
numbers will be very few compared
with the millions upon millions who
have never been willing to receive the
Gospel in the earth, and who will oc-
cupy positions elsewhere than in the
presence of God and the Lamb. I lis-
tened to the Bishops this morning talk
about tithing. It will be profitable to
us to pay our tithing. It will pay us to
do anything else that God requires at
our hands. By doing it we will be
justified.
I thank the Lord for my life. I thank
Him for His blessings and mercies to
me. I have reason to rejoice in this,
and I am obliged to give God the glory
for all I have ever received. If I have
ever done any good; If I have been able
to preach the Gospel and to pursue a
course whereby I have edified my fel-
low man, at home or abroad, it has
been by the power of God, upon Jesus
Christ, upon the Holy Ghost, the tes-
timony of the Father and the son. This
power has been with us. That is why
we are here today. That is why this
Tabernacle stands here today, in ful-
fillment of the predictions of the pro-
phets of God in ancient days. It is
why the Zion of God is planted here in
these valleys of the mountains. It has
all been by the power of God, and not
of man.
I hope we may contemplate our posi-
tion, and realize the condition we are in
and the obligations we are under to
God. I feel thankful that I have the
privilege of meeting with the Latter-
day Saints. I have met with this peo-
ple nearly all my life when I have had
the opportunity. I embraced the Gospel
the first sermon I ever heard. That
was in 1833. From that day till this
I have rejoiced in the Gospel of Christ,
and in meeting with the Latter-day
Saints, wherever my lot has been cast.
I came to these valleys with the Pio-
neers, led by President Young. He
finished his work, as Joseph Smith
finished his. But President Young
labored more years than was the lot
of Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith, how-
ever, labored long enough to perform
the work that he was ordained to. He
organized the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints in the earth—a
thing that all the nations under heaven
could not have done. There was no
man on earth could have done that,
only by the power of God. Joseph
Smith was the man appointed and
called of God, and he was a noble man;
yes, a glorious man, a man filled with
the wisdom and power of God. His
life was short, but see what he did dur-
ing that time! During the fourteen
years he labored for God in the flesh
he brought forth more than any other
man that ever lived, excepting the Sa-
vior. The organization of the Church
itself was one of the most glorious
works a man ever had the privilege of
performing among the sons of men.
Then he brought forth the Book of
Doctrine and Covenants, containing the
revelations of God to us. Well, he laid
down his life for the word of God and
testimony of Jesus Christ. He was
martyred. His brother Hyrum was
martyred. Christ was martyred. His
Apostles were martyred. Several have
been martyred in these last days, be-
sides the Prophet.
We should not forget these things.
Let us labor faithfully and pray unto
the Lord for wisdom day by day, that
we may have power to conquer and
overcome. When I get through I
want to go where the Savior is, where
the Prophet is, and where our people
are that have gone who have been true
and faithful. If I miss that, I miss
the object of my creation; and
so will any other man who has
received the Gospel. We should
be very careful what we do, and watch
over ourselves and our course in life,
that we may be justified when we get
through.
I want to ask this congregation a
question. Can you point me to any
emperor, king, priest, denomination or
power on the face of the whole earth,
outside of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints, who has power
to go forth and redeem one of their
dead? There never was a soul any-
where that could do this until God or-
ganized His Church upon the earth.
One of the leading principles with
Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, John
Taylor and Wilford Woodruff, and the
Apostles and leading men of this
Church, has been the redemption of
their dead. The Lord said He would
raise up saviors in the last days upon
Mount Zion while the kingdom should
be the Lord's. This is a duty resting
upon all Israel, and one that we should
comprehend. The signers of the
Declaration of Independence and the
men that laid the foundation of this
great American government know full
well that there has not been a power
on the earth where they could apply
to have this principle carried out in
their behalf, only the Apostles that
held the keys of the kingdom of God in
this generation. They have gone to
them and plead with them to redeem
them because there was no other pow-
er on earth could do it, and this has
been accomplished. This principle is
today with the Latter-day Saints.
There is no more glorious principle
given to man than the power which
you have while holding the Priesthood,
to go forth and redeem your fathers,
your mothers, your progenitors. It will
stand with you in the morning of the
resurrection. Such principles are wor-
thy of contemplation. There is no man
living that can point to any church or
people that have this power on the
earth, but the Latter-day Saints.
Whether the world believe it or
not, it is true. I remember very
well the first word that was given
to us by the Prophet Joseph
Smith after we returned from our mis-
sion in England. He called us to-
gether and told us that the Lord had
revealed to him a principle whereby
we could go forth and redeem our dead.
It was like a shaft of light from the
throne of God to our hearts. It opened
a field wide as eternity to our minds.
The first thing that entered into my
mind was that I had a mother in the
spirit world. She died when I was 14
months old. I never knew a mother.
I thought to myself, Have I power to
go forth and seal my mother to my
father? The word was, yes. Well,
I attended to that, and to everything
else, with the help of my friends, un-
til I have thousands of my dead rela-
tives on the list that I have redeemed.
These are blessings the world do not
comprehend. We should lay this to
heart and not neglect this work. I
do not want to go into the spirit world
and meet with my progenitors who
never heard the Gospel in their day
and generation, and have them tell me,
"You held in your hand the power to
go forth and redeem me, and you have
not done it." I do not want to meet
that. I do not want the Latter-day
Saints to meet it. I think we are do-
ing pretty well. We have four tem-
ples reared in these valleys of the
mountains, and they are fairly well
occupied by the Latter-day Saints.
But we want to continue this until we
have redeemed all within our power to
redeem. If we will carry this prin-
ciple out, we will have the blessing of
it. It will be with us in the morning
of the resurrection, when our fathers
and mothers and our progenitors come
up with us because we have redeemed
them. Jesus Himself went and preached
to the spirits in prison, that they might
be judged according to men in the
flesh, but live according to God in the
spirit. [1 Peter 4:6] That principle was manifest
in that day; it is with us today.
Brethren and sisters, you have my
faith, you have my blessings, and my
desire for your welfare. I want to see
Zion arise, and the glory of God rest
upon her. I have faith to believe that
what has been promised concerning
this people, and concerning our poster-
ity, will be fulfilled. The Lord will not
desert Zion. It will continue to grow
and increase and have power in the
earth, until the coming of the Son of
Man. We have been called to this work.
It will rest upon our shoulders, and
afterwards upon the shoulders of our
children, as those raised up through
the loins of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob
in former times. God bless you, and
give us all wisdom to guide and direct
us. This is my prayer, in the name of
Jesus Christ. Amen.