THE DESERET WEEKLY.
REMARKS
Made by President Wilford Woodruff,
at Cache Stake Conference, held at
Logan, Sunday Afternoon, Novem-
ber 1st, .
-[REPORTED BY ARTHUR WINTER.]-
I would like to talk a little to the
Latter-day Saints who have assembled
here this afternoon, if I can get the
faith of the Saints and the Spirit of the
Lord to assist me.
This morning, before coming to
meeting, I studied with a good deal of
interest some paintings at Brother
Moses Thatcher's—"Christ before
Pilate," and "Christ on Calvary." I
thought to myself, in looking at them,
that the Savior, as Brother Joseph F.
Smith bad said, certainly descended
below all things. He came down
here to earth, was born of woman, in
a dispensation appointed of the Father,
and tabernacled in the flesh. See him
travel from the manger to the cross,
onward through blood to the throne of
grace appointed unto Him, in poverty
and in affliction, never handling any
money that we have any account of.
Think for a few moments the short
time that He labored in the flesh
after His appointment by the Father—
three years and a half. Look at the
suffering that He went through, the
labor He performed—the organization
of the Church of God, the appointing
of Twelve Apostles, of seventy Apos-
tles, and a few disciples, who followed
Him during that period. Then reflect
that not only He himself was con-
demned and crucified, shedding His
blood for the redemption of the world,
but every one of His Apostles was put
to death for the word of God and testi-
mony of Jesus Christ, excepting John
the Revelator. They could not kill
him, the Lord having appointed him
to live; otherwise, he would have been
slain with the rest. While looking at
the Savior nailed to the cross—a Jew,
through the loins of Abraham and
David, condemned by the Jews as well
as the Gentiles, I thought of our own
condition in these mountains. We have
passed through sixty years as a people,
and why have you got the Presidency
with you today? Why have you
Apostles living in your midst, walking
your streets in freedom, after sixty
years? Why do you have upwards of
two hundred thousand Latter-day
Saints gathered together in these val-
leys of the mountains, in the midst of
a generation of sixty millions of peo-
ple? These are questions which should
be answered in the minds of the Lat-
ter-day Saints. There is a meaning,
brethren and sisters, to all these things.
We live in a different dispensation,
and under a different order of things,
in one sense, to what the Savior and
the Apostles did. That was a day of
sacrifice. Those holy men who bore
the Apostleship in that day were ready
to lay down their lives with the Savior,
and their lives were short compared
with the history of the Church of God
in our day. They were all slain, with
one exception, and God took them to
Himself. He also took the Priesthood
from the earth, and it remained in the
hands of God the Father and His Son
Jesus Christ until 1829. Long centuries
passed away. Millions of human
beings were born, dwelt on the earth,
died, and went into the spirit world, and
not one soul of them, so far as we
have any knowledge, had power to go
forth among mankind and administer
in the ordinances of the Gospel of life
and salvation. There were, doubtless,
millions of good men, who acted up to
the best light that they had. There
were such men as John Wesley, Martin
Luther, Wickliffe, Zwingli, Melanc-
thon, and thousand of others, who
came forth in their day and preached
the Gospel according to the light which
they possessed. But they did not have
the power to administer in one ordi-
nance which had any force after death.
They did not hold the holy Priesthood.
Now, in our day and generation, we
have arrived at a point in the history
of the world when this Priesthood is
restored. The Lord raised up Joseph
Smith. He came forth in the proper
time. He organized a Church. Who
was Joseph Smith? Was he a lawyer?
Was he a doctor of divinity? Was he
what is called a great man, a learned
man? No, he was but a youth; the
world would say an illiterate, ignorant
youth. He was an unlearned youth
in the things of the world. But he was
a pure man. He came forth through
the lineage of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob. He was prophesied of by
the ancient patriarchs and proph-
ets. The Book of Mormon gives his
name. Joseph Smith was moved upon
by the Holy Ghost, and he was admin-
istered unto, in answer to his prayers,
by the Father and the Son; and the
Father said to him, "This is my be-
loved Son, hear ye Him." [Joseph Smith—History 1:17] He list-
ened strictly to the words of Jesus
Christ, and continued to do so until
he, like the Savior, was put to death,
though he was not crucified, because it
was not the custom of the day. I may
say that it seemed strange to me at that
time why the Prophet and his brother
Hyrum were permitted to be taken out
of our midst. But Joseph Smith, by
commandment of God and by the
power and revelations of heaven, was
ordained and laid the foundation of
this great dispensation and fulness of
times. He was brought into the world
and ordained to organize this Church
of Christ for the last time upon this
earth, to prepare it for the coming of
the Son of Man. After his death, on
reflection, I became convinced that he
had been ordained to die—to shed his
blood as a testimony to this dispensa-
tion. But that does not take away the
judgment from those who put him to
death. "It must needs be that offenses
come; but woe to that man by whom
the offense cometh." [Matthew 18:7] As I have
said, Joseph Smith was an illit-
erate man; but afterwards his
teachers and instructors were
angels—Apostles who had dwelt in the
flesh in the days of Jesus. He was in
a condition where he received testi-
monies and teachings from men that
the world did not receive; and he had
power to organize the Church in a
manner that all the Christian world
combined could not do. Why? Be-
cause a man, no matter how wealthy
or how learned, cannot give a thing
that he does not possess. They had
not power to organize this Church, be-
cause they did not possess the Priest-
hood. But Joseph Smith held that
Priesthood and had power to organize
the Church?
From that day until the present this
Church has continued to grow, in the
midst of persecution, in the midst of
drivings and afflictions, in the midst
of death and destruction. Millions of
fallen spirits, with millions of the
human family, have been arrayed
against this Church, but they have not
had power to destroy it. Why? Be-
cause God Almighty has ordained it
to stand. The Lord has ordained
Zion to be built up. He has proclaimed
this through the mouths of inspired
men, who spake as they were moved
upon by the Holy Ghost; and today
you who are here in this Tabernacle in
Logan are testimonies of this before
heaven and earth. This is the reason
why the Presidency can visit you to-
day. It is the reason why Brother
Thatcher and Brother Merrill can
dwell in your midst, and why the
other Apostles can visit you, without
being destroyed. Were it not in the
dispensation of the Almighty to carry
out this principle, you would not have
an Apostle to visit you; they would be
put to death, the same as those in other
dispensations have been. But the Lord
has granted this privilege to you Lat-
ter-day Saints. I feel to thank God
that we live in such a day, when we
have power to build up Zion and fulfil
the words of the Prophets. The inhabit-
ants of the earth have to be warned.
This is the reason why we are here;
why Brigham Young, John Taylor,
and the Twelve Apostles that have
filled their missions have been able to
lie down in their beds, surrounded by
their wives and children, and give up
the ghost, leaving their bodies in the
hands of their friends to carry to the
tomb. These Apostles and Elders,
thousands and thousands of them who
are in the flesh in this day, would just
as readily lay down their lives as did
Peter and the Apostles in the days of
Christ, if called upon to do so, for the
word of God and the testimony of
Jesus Christ. But God has ordained
otherwise.
The Lord has chosen the weak things
of the world to lead this people. Joseph
Smith was but a young man when he
died—not forty years of age. He lived
nearly fourteen years after the organi-
zation of this Church. President
Brigham Young followed him. Who
was Brigham Young? He was a
painter and glazier. He was a humble
man. But the Lord called him to lead
this people. You know Brigham
Young. You know what he has done,
and the spirit that was with him. The
Lord was with him, and he continued
to lead this people by the power of
God and by the revelations of Jesus
Christ. He laid the foundation of a
great work in these mountains of
Israel. Many strangers who have
recently visited us have marvelled and
wondered at Salt Lake City being laid
out in the manner it was. I have told
them that I helped Brigham Young
lay out this city in the midst of sage-
brush, in 1847. There was not a
white man's house then within a
thousand miles of us. What was
John Taylor? He was a wood turner,
and he led the Church for quite a
time. Wilford Woodruff was a miller
and a farmer; that was about the high-
est ambition he ever arrived at, as far
as this world was concerned. That is
about the way the Lord has chosen
these men. Why did he not choose
these learned and great men? As I
have often said, He could not handle
them. God has always chosen the
weak things of the earth. He showed
Abraham, in his day, the spirits that
dwelt in His presence, "and among all
these were many of the noble and
great ones;" and God said unto
Abraham, "These I will make my
rulers; . . . and he said unto me,
Abraham, thou art one of them, thou
wast chosen before thou wast born." [Abraham 3:22-23]
Abraham stood at the head of Israel in
the beginning. He is our great pro-
genitor. God raised up the Savior
through the loins of Abraham.
The Latter-day Saints should not
get the idea that the Lord has forsaken
His people, or that He does not reveal
His mind and will; because such an
idea is not true. The Lord is with us,
and has been with us from the begin-
ning. This Church has never been
led a day except by revelation. And
He will never leave it. It matters not
who lives or who dies, or who is called
to lead this Church, they have got to
lead it by the inspiration of Almighty
God. If they do not do it that way,
they cannot do it at all. [Official Declaration 1] The Lord
will not fail in these last days, and He
will fulfil all that He has promised
through His Prophets and Apostles,
until Zion arises in its glory, and the
Bride, the Lamb's wife, is prepared
for the coming of the great Bride-
groom.
I made some remarks last Sunday at
Brigham City upon this same princi-
ple—revelation. Read the life of
Brigham Young and you can hardly
find a revelation that he had wherein
he said, "Thus saith the Lord;" but
the Holy Ghost was with him; He
taught by inspiration and by revela-
tion; but with one exception he did not
give those revelations in the form that
Joseph did; for they were not written
and given as revelations and command-
ments to the Church in the words and
name of the Savior. Joseph said
"Thus saith the Lord" almost every
day of his life in laying the foundation
of this work. But those who followed
him have not deemed it always ne-
cessary to say "Thus saith the Lord;"
yet they have led the people by the
power of the Holy Ghost; and if you
want to know what that is read the first
six verses of the 88th section of the Book
of Doctrine and Covenants, where the
Lord told Orson Hyde, Luke Johnson,
Lyman Johnson and William E. Mc-
Lellin to go out and preach the Gospel
to the people as they were moved upon
by the Holy Ghost:
"And whatsoever they shall speak
when moved upon by the Holy Ghost
shall be Scripture, shall be the will of the
Lord, shall be the mind of the Lord,
shall be the word of the Lord, shall be
the voice of the Lord, and the power of
God unto salvation." [Doctrine and Covenants 68:4]
It is by that power that we have led
Israel. By that power President
Young presided over and led the
Church. By the same power President
John Taylor presided over and led the
Church. And that is the way I have
acted, according to the best of my abil-
ity, in that capacity. I do not want
the Latter-day Saints to understand
that the Lord is not with us, and that
He is not giving revelation to us; for
He is giving us revelation, and will
give us revelation until the scene is
wound up.
I have had some revelations of late,
and very important ones to me, and I
will tell you what the Lord has said to
me. Let me bring your minds to what
is termed the manifesto. [Official Declaration 1] The Lord has
told me by revelation that there are
many members of the Church through-
out Zion who are sorely tried in their
hearts because of that manifesto, and
also because of the testimony of the
Presidency of this Church and the
Apostles before the Master in Chance-
ry. Since I received that revelation I
have heard of many who are tried in
these things, though I had not heard
of any before that, particularly. Now,
the Lord has commanded me to do one
thing, and I fulfilled that command-
ment at the conference at Brigham
City last Sunday, and I will do the
same here today. The Lord has told
me to ask the Latter-day Saints a
question, and He also told me that if
they would listen to what I said to
them and answer the question put to
them, by the spirit and power of God,
they would all answer alike, and they
would all believe alike with regard to
this matter. The question is this:
Which is the wisest course for the
Latter-day Saints to pursue—to con-
tinue to attempt to practice plural
marriage, with the laws of the nation
against it and the opposition of sixty
millions of people, and at the cost of
the confiscation and loss of all the
Temples, and the stopping of all the
ordinances therein, both for the living
and the dead, and the imprisonment of
the First Presidency and Twelve and
the heads of families in the Church,
and the confiscation of personal prop-
erty of the people (all of which of
themselves would stop the practice),
or after doing and suffering what we
have through our adherence to this
principle to cease the practice and
submit to the law, and through doing
so leave the Prophets, Apostles and
fathers at home, so that they can in-
struct the people and attend to the
duties of the Church, and also leave
the Temples in the hands of the Saints,
so that they can attend to the ordi-
nances of the Gospel, both for the liv-
ing and the dead?
The Lord showed me by vision and
revelation exactly what would take
place if we did not stop this practice.
If we had not stopped it, you would [Official Declaration 1]
have had no use for Brother Merrill,
for Brother Edlefsen, for Brother
Roskelley, for Brother Leishman, or for
any of the men in this temple at
Logan; for all ordinances would be
stopped throughout the land of Zion.
Confusion would reign throughout
Israel, and many men would be made
prisoners. This trouble would have
come upon the whole Church, and we
should have been compelled to stop the
practice. Now, the question is,
whether it should be stopped in this
manner, or in the way the Lord has
manifested to us, and leave our
Prophets and Apostles and fathers free
men, and the temples in the hands of
the people, so that the dead may be re-
deemed. A large number has already
been delivered from the prison house
in the spirit world by this people, and
shall the work go on or stop? This is
the question I lay before the Latter-day
Saints. You have to judge for your-
selves. I want you to answer it for
yourselves. I shall not answer it; but
I say to you that that is exactly the
condition we as a people would have
been in had we not taken the course we
have. [Doctrine and Covenants OD 1:15]
I know there are a good many men,
and probably some leading men, in this
Church who have been tried and felt
as though President Woodruff had lost
the Spirit of God and was about to
apostatize. Now, I want you to under-
stand that he has not lost the Spirit,
nor is he about to apostatize. The Lord
is with him, and with this people. He
has told me exactly what to do, and
what the result would be if we did not
do it. I have been called upon by friends
outside of the Church and urged to take
some steps with regard to this matter.
They knew the course which the Gov-
ernment were determined to take. This
feeling has also been manifested more
or less by members of the Church. I
saw exactly what would come to pass
if there was not something done. I
have had this spirit upon me
for a long time. But I want
to say this: I should have let
all the temples go out of our hands; I
should have gone to prison myself, and
let every other man go there, had
not the God of heaven commanded me
to do what I did do; and when the
hour came that I was commanded to
do that, it was all clear to me. I went
before the Lord, and I wrote what the
Lord told me to write. [Doctrine and Covenants OD 1:16] I laid it before
my brethren—such strong men as
Brother Geo. Q. Cannon, Brother Jos.
F. Smith, and the Twelve Apostles. I
might as well undertake to turn an
army with banners out of its course as
to turn them out of a course that they
considered to be right. These men
agreed with me, and ten thousand
Latter-day Saints also agreed with me.
Why? Because they were moved upon
by the Spirit of God and by the revela-
tions of Jesus Christ to do it.
I leave this with you, for you to con-
template and consider. The Lord is
at work with us. [Doctrine and Covenants OD 1:17] He is doing things
here that you do not comprehend.
Make these matters a subject of
prayer. Do not worry; do not feel bad
about them.
I rejoice that God has revealed to us
the gospel. I rejoice I live in a day
and generation when we have the
Church of God on the earth. We
have had prophets and apostles among
us. They have worked here in the
flesh and saved many souls. They
have died and gone to the spirit world.
Joseph Smith holds the keys of this
dispensation. He will hold them to
the endless ages of eternity, no matter
who may lead the Church after him.
The Lord has given us power to come
here and build temples. We have
three temples erected in these moun-
tains, and many of the dead have been
redeemed in them, and they will have
a part in the first resurrection. There-
fore, we ought to be thankful to the
Lord. We want to continue in these
temples. We want them to be oc-
cupied by the Latter-day Saints.
We want our brethren and sisters to
continue to go there and redeem the
dead and bless the living. The Lord
will take care of you and your families.
He will take care of Zion, and of this
generation, and He will fulfil all that
He has said.
I say, God bless you. And He will
bless you if you will hearken to His
counsels.
I want the Latter-day Saints to stop
murmuring and complaining at the
providence of God. Trust in God.
Do your duty. Remember your
prayers. Get faith in the Lord, and
take hold and build up Zion. All
will be right. The Lord is going to
visit His people, and He is going to
cut His work short in righteousness,
lest no flesh should be saved. I say to
you, watch the signs of the times, and
prepare yourselves for that which is to
come. God bless you. Amen.