page_0001

DISCOURSE
BY
PREST. WILFORD WOODRUFF,

DELIVERED

In the Salt Lake Assembly Hall, at
the Half Yearly Conference, of
the Salt Lake Stake of Zion, Sun-
day Afternoon. Jan. 9th, 1881.

REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE.

"WOE unto me, if I preach not the
gospel! For if I do this thing willing-
ly, I have a righteous reward: a dis-
pensation of the gospel is committed
unto me." [##1 Corinthians 9:16-17##] These were the words
of the Apostle Paul. Again he said:
"But though we or an angel from
[heaven preach any other gospel unto
you than that which we have preach-
ed unto you, let him be accursed."] [##Galatians 1:8-9##]
And he repeats this. Again he
says: "But if our gospel be hid, it
is hid to them that are lost: In
whom the god of this world hath
blinded the minds of them which
believe not, lest the light of the glo-
rious gospel of Christ, who is the
image of God, should shine unto
them." [##2 Corinthians 4:3-4##] I will say as Paul did,
"Woe be unto me if I preach not the
gospel." I will say the same for the
Apostles, the High Priests, the Sev-
enties, and the Elders, as far as
they are called to declare the words
of life and salvation to this genera
tion; the judgments of God will rest
upon us if we do not do it. You
may ask why. I answer, because
a dispensation of the gospel of Jesus
Christ has never been given to man
in ancient days or in this age for
any other purpose than for the sal-
vation of the human family. Again
the Lord says (in ##Doctrine and Covenants 1:4-7|sec. 1 of the Book
of Doctrine and Covenants##): "And
the voice of warning shall be unto
all people by the mouths of my dis-
ciples, whom I have chosen in these
last days. And they shall go forth
and none shall stay them, for I the
Lord have commanded them. Be-
hold this is mine authority, and the
authority of my servants, and my
preface unto the book of my com-
mandments, which I have given
them to publish unto you, O, inhab-
ants of the earth. Wherefore, fear
and tremble, Oh, ye people, for what
I the Lord have decreed in them
shall be fulfilled * * Where-
fore I the Lord, knowing the calam-
ity which should come upon the in-
habitants of the earth, called upon
my servant Joseph Smith
Jun'r, and spake unto him
from heaven, and gave him com-
mandments; and also gave com-
mandments to others, that they
should proclaim these things unto
the world; and all this that it might
be fulfilled which was written by
the Prophets." [##Doctrine and Covenants 1:17-18##] Again, the Lord
has said, "Behold, now it is called
to-day (until the coming of the Son
of Man), and verily it is a day of sac-
rifice and a day for the tithing of my
people; for he that is tithed shall
not be burned (at his coming) * *
and I will not spare any that remain
in Babylon. Wherefore, if ye be-
lieve me, ye will labor while it is
called to-day." [##Doctrine and Covenants 64:23-25##] This is the word of
the Lord to the Elders of Israel.
And I say the same to the Latter-
day Saints. It is no light thing for
any people in any age of the world
to have a dispensation of the gospel
of Jesus Christ committed into
their hands, and when a dispensa-
tion has been given, those receiving
it are held responsible before high
heaven for the use they make of it.

I feel to back up the testimony
given to us this forenoon by Presi-
dent Taylor. I have had the same
feelings resting upon me for the last
year of my life. I feel that our con-
dition, our position, the responsibili-
ty we hold, the relationship we sus-
tain to God, and the relationship we
sustain to this great and last dispen-
sation—I feel that many of us, as
Latter-day Saints, hold too lightly
these important trusts committed to
our charge. The angel of God, as
declared to St. John, the Revelator,
while upon the Isle of Patmos, had
come forth in the last days, flying
through the midst of heaven, hav-
ing the everlasting gospel to preach
to them that dwell upon the earth,
and to every nation, kindred, tongue
and people, saying with a loud
voice, Fear God and give glory to
Him; for the hour of His judgment
is come. [##Revelation 14:6-7##] This gospel was commit-
ted to Joseph Smith, and connected
with this gospel was the proclama-
tion, "Fear God, and give glory to
Him; for the hour of His judgment
is come." [##Joseph Smith-History 1:44-45##] This was the position
is which Joseph Smith was
placed when he was in the flesh; it
was the position of those that were
connected with him, his brother
Hyrum and others of his father's
house, as well as the Twelve
Apostles, the Seventies and those
early Elders of Israel who were
called to make the proclamation of
this pospel [gospel] to the world. They were
sustained by the power of God.
They were called and commanded
to go forth into the world and preach
this gospel to the inhabitants of the
earth, without purse or scrip. This
is the manner we travelled in early
days. The early Elders of the
Church were called to pass through
a great deal. Joseph Smith himself,
from the hour that he received the
records from the hand of Moroni,
and commenced to proclaim the re-
storation of the gospel, to the day of
is death, had to suffer tribulation.
The whole world arose against him
—priest and people. What was the
matter? Simply that Joseph Smith
[was like other prophets and apos-
tles. He brought forth a dispensa-
tion of the Gospel of Jesus Christ,]
which came in contact with the
traditions of the people—traditions
that have been handed down from
generation to generation. He was
the first man since the day the
Savior was put to death, and the
apostles and the priesthood taken
home to God—he was the first and
only man that ever attempted to
establish the gospel of Jesus Christ
according to the ancient order of
things. But he was sustained in
his work. He knew very well
when he undertook to introduce this
gospel that it would be unpopular,
his brethren knew this also; but be-
ing called of God and a dispensation
of the gospel having been commit-
ted to his hands and the hands of
his brethren, the gospel had to be
preached.

This is our condition to-day. O
ye Elders of Israel who have receiv-
ed the holy priesthood, we have this
work laid upon our shoulders,
we have to take hold and build
up this kingdom or be damned.
This is our condition; we cannot get
away from it; the ancient Apostles
could not; we cannot. It is the
greatest dispensation God ever gave
to the human family in any age of
the world, and we are commanded
to carry it forward. We cannot af-
ford to treat lightly this work. We
cannot undertake to serve God and
mammon. We cannot undertake
to serve the world and fulfil our
missions as Apostles and Elders of
the Lord Jesus Christ. We have
got to take one side or the other.
And I will also say we cannot be
fruitful in the things of the kingdom
of God except we are diligent in
searching for the things of God. It
is our duty to do so. We have been
called by the spirit of revelation, by
the voice of God from heaven
through the mouth of his prophets,
to preach the gospel and build up
this kingdom. This is the word of
the Lord unto us. The Lord said in
the beginning, some fifty years ago,
in the first revelation almost that
was given to us, that the harvest
was ripe, and that whosoever would
thrust in his sickle and reap the
same is called of God. [##Doctrine and Covenants 6:4##]

I have given you my views and
feelings with regard to these things.
I have my faith, my hope. I be-
lieve that God Almighty reserved a
certain class of men to carry on his
work. They have been born into
the world in this generation. I be-
lieve this was the case with Joseph
Smith. I believe he was ordained
to this work before he tabernacled
in the flesh. He was a literal de-
scendant of Joseph who was sold in-
to Egypt, and the Lord called him
and ordained him. He gave unto
him the keys of the kingdom. He
received the record of the stick of
Joseph from the hands of Ephraim
to stand with the Bible, the stick of
Judah, in the last days as a power
to gather the twelve tribes of Israel
before the coming of Shiloh, their
King. [##2 Nephi 3:7-15##]

We have been under the necessity
of carrying this gosoel to the gene-
ration in which we live. The Lord
has never sent judgments upon any
generation that we have any know-
ledge of until he has raised up pro
phets and inspired men to warn the
inhabitants of the earth. This is
the course the Lord has dealt with
all men from the days of Father
Adam to the present time.

I need not stop to tell you that we
live in a day of darkness, wickedness,
unbelief, and transgressions of every
kind; I need not tell you this; the
heavens know it, the earth knows it,
the devils know it, all men know it
that are acquainted with the human
family in the day and age in which
we live. The Lord told us fifty years
ago, that "Darkness covereth the
earth, and gross darkness the minds
of the people; and all flesh has be-
come corrupt before my face." [##Doctrine and Covenants 112:23##] But
He has sent forth the warning voice
to them. He has called upon all
men to repent and obey the gospel
of Jesus Christ, that they may be
counted worthy to escape the judge-
ments of God.

President Taylor treated this fore
noon upon the law of Tithing. Per-
haps the Latter day Saints do not
want to hear much more upon this
subject; but I have felt a long time
that we as a people were somewhat
ignorant of that law. We have looked
upon it as a matter of little conse-
quence; we have looked upon it with
a great deal of indifference whether
we paid tithing or not. But the sub-
ject was clearly set forth this fore-
noon by President Taylor. He has
no power to change this law, nor
has any other man; and if we do
not obey it, we can lay no claim to
the promises made to those who
obey it. These things are very
[plain and pointed. The principle of]
tithing has been a principle of [sacri-]
fice in almost every age of the world;
in fact, it was peculiarly so among
the people in ancient days, and
among even the heathen nations of
the earth. Now I have thought
many times that some of those an-
cient kings that were raised up
had in some respects more re-
gard for the carrying out of some
of these principles and laws
than even the Latter-day Saints
have in our day. I will take as an
ensample Cyrus, on account of his
temperance. He was one of the
kings of the Medes and Persians. I
believe his father was a Persian and
his mother a Mede. To trace the
life of Cyrus from his birth to his
death, whether he knew it or not it
looked as though he lived by inspi-
ration in all his movements. He
began with that temperance and
virtue that would sustain any Chris-
tian country or any Christian king.
And even when he was sent in his
youth to his grandfather Astyages,
the king of the Medes, he showed
that he had been carefully brought
up, and he followed his early train-
ing in a great measure throughout
his life; while as king or leader of
the Median armies he conquered
nearly the whole world, in fact I do
not know that he ever lost a battle.
His grandfather was living in lux-
ury, and when young Cyrus was
sent to him he offered to serve him
as a butler—only he didn't do as
butler's sometimes do—that is, taste
the wine before putting it on the
table. Cyrus, when offered wine,
said, "I am afraid it is poison." "You
are afraid it is poison?" "What makes
you think it poison?" "Why, be
cauae I have seen it make you and
some of the princes act very strange,
you would stagger and act very cu-
rious." He followed this principle
of temperance during his whole life.
Before a battle he offered sacrifices to
the Gods; when he finished a battle
and had a victory he did the same
thing. I have been struck in read-
ing his history with the course he
took in this matter. He would
never enter into revelry or debauch-
ery over the nations he had c[o]n-
quered. He taught such principles
until the day of his death. Before
he died he told those by whom he
was surrounded, that he did not
want his body put into a gold coffin
or a silver coffin; he simply desired
his body to be laid in the dust and
covered with the earth. Many of
these principles followed him, and I
have thought many of them were
worthy, in many respects, the at-
tention of men who have the gospel
of Jesus Christ. But the law of
tithing was carried out by all Israel
from the creation of the world down
to the present time—that is, when-
ever God had a people upon the
earth they observed the law of
tithing. And I believe, as President
Taylor has stated, that it is our duty
to pay our tithes and offerings before
the Lord. It is a commandment of
the Lord that we should do this, and
I do not feel myself called upon as a
member of this church and kingdom
to require the President of this
church to attempt to change this
order, or attempt to find fault with
him because he does not permit
young men who curse and swear,
who do not pay their tithing, etc.,
to enter the Lord's house and there
have sealed upon their heads the
highest blessings that were ever
given to Patriarchs and Prophets,
who have sealed their testimony
with their blood. He has told the
Bishops and Presidents of Stakes
not to give recommends to young
men or old men, or anybody else,
who do not obey the laws of God in
this respect, and I feel to back him
up in this matter, for I know he will
be justified before the Lord. If we
attempt to please the world on the
one hand and serve the Lord on the
other, we will fail.

I feel to say to my brethren who
have received the holy priesthood:
We occupy a position in the world
that is of great importance to us.
We have received the teachings of
heaven; in fact, I believe there
never was a people since God made
the world, who received more teach-
ings than the Latter-day Saints, for
the last fifty years. The world has
rejected the light of truth, and the
fulness of the gentiles will come in.
But it is our duty to preach the gos-
pel to them until the Lord says, "It
is enough." We must round up our
shoulders and bear off this kingdom.

The Lord compared the kingdom
of heaven to ten virgins; five were
wise and five were foolish; five had
oil in their lamps and five had not. [##Matthew 25:1-13##]
Now the question is, how can we
keep oil in our lamps? By keeping
the commandments of God, remem-
bering our prayers, do as we are told
by the revelations of Jesus Christ,
[and otherwise assisting in] building
up Zion. When we are laboring for
the kingdom of God we will have oil
in our lamps, our light will shine
and we will feel the testimony of
the spirit of God. On the other
hand, if we set our heart upon the
the things of the world and seek for
the honors of men, we will walk in
the dark and not in the light. If
we do not value our Priesthood and
aad the work of this Priesthood, the
building up of the kingdom of God,
the rearing of temples, the redeem-
ing of our dead, and the carrying
out of the great work unto which
we have been ordained by the God
of Israel—if we do not feel that
these things are more valuable to
us than the things of the world,
we will have no oil in our lamps,
no light, and we shall fail to be
present at the marriage supper of
the Lamb.

I have felt for a good while that
we required stiring up with regard
to the law of tithing and other
things. The question is here: If
this is the work of God and the
Lord has given us commandments,
will we be blessed in obeying these
commandments. The Lord holds
our destiny in his hands. The earth,
the riches of the earth, the crops,
the herds, or flocks, our food and
raiment are all the gifts of God to
us.

Of course, we are required to prac-
tise what we preach. I believe in
that doctrine. Now, I know for my-
self that the Presidency of this
Church pay their tithing. As chair-
man of the Auditing Committee, I
know what their tithing is. The
Twelve Apostles pay their tithing.
Bishop Hunter and his Counselors
pay their tithing, as well as
a great many others in this
Church and Kingdom. I
would not preach tithing if I did
not pay it. I consider it my duty to
pay my tithing. I consider it is
a law of God to me, and I am no
poorer for obeying it. I wish my
brethren and sisters to take this
principle to heart. As the President
has said, the Lord does not care any
thing about our cattle, our gold and
our silver. The law of tithing is a
law of God to us. Obedience is bet-
ter than sacrifibe. We are building
temples to the name of the Lord.
What are we building them for?
That we may enter in and rede[e]m
our dead. The Lord has had his en-
dowments a great many years ago.
He has ascended to his thrones,
principalities and powers in the
eternities. We are his children. He
has given us a law, and he has plac-
ed us here on the earth to obey that
law. We are here to fill a probation
and receive an education, I once
read a man's view of education—he
was not a Mormon, but a man of
the world—who said, "No man is
fully educated unless he can tell
where he came from, why he is
here, and where he is going to."
That being the case, I thought there
were few fully educated in the
world. No man can tell where he
came from unless it is re-
vealed to him. We have
had these things revealed to us
in the Bible, Book of Mormon,
and Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
We have thus come to the know-
ledge that we had an existence be-
fore we came here, and that we had
a probation before we came here.
We are now upon our second estate,
and our eternal destiny depends up-
on the few years we spend in the
flesh. We are placed here that it
may be seen which law we will
keep. Our Heavenly Father has
placed before us the laws celestial,
telestial and terrestial. If any man
will obey the celesti[a]l law, he will
be preserved by that law; all the
glory, power and exaltation, belong-
ing to that law will be given to
him. What does the Savior, the
Son of God, say to us in our Testa-
ment? He says, in speaking of the
Priesthood of Melchisedek, that
"they who receive this Priesthood
receiveth me, saith the Lord; for he
that receiveth my servants, receiv-
eth me; and he that receiveth me,
receiveth my Father; and he that
receiveth my Father, receiveth my
Father's kingdom; therefore, all
that my Father hath shall be given
unto him; and this is according to
the oath and covenant which be-
longeth to the Priesthood. There-
fore, all those who receive the
Priesthood receive this oath and
covenant of my Father, which he
cannot break, neither can it be
moved." [##Doctrine and Covenants 84:35-40##] Who in the name of the
Lord can apprehend such lan-
guage as this? Who can comprehend
that, by obeying the celestial law,
all that our Father has shall be given
unto us—exaltations, thrones princi-
palities, power, dominion—who can
comprehend it? Nevertheless it is
here stated. How few there are on
the earth to-day, or in any other dis-
pensation, who have been able to
abide the celestial law of God. It
brings down the hatred of the whole
generation in which we live. No man
can live the celestial law without
bringing upon his head persecution.
It cost the Savior his life; he suffer-
ed an ignominious death upon the
cross. Joseph Smith sealed his tes-
timony with his blood, as also have
others connected with this Church
and kingdom.

Now, our position is this: We have
been chosen out of the world, the
world hate us, our nation hates us,
indeed the inhabitants of the earth
in a great measure hate us. Of
course there are honorable excep-
tions. But a great many despise us;
a great many wish our destruction.
Why? Because we are trying to
abide the celestial law of God; we
are preaching the gospel of Jesus
Christ and endeavoring to carry out
its principles. Now the question is,
will it pay us to do so? Will it pay
us to be faithful? Will it pay us to
pass through whatever trials or af-
flictions, or persecutions, or even
death itself for the kingdom of God,
for salvation and eternal life,
the greatest of all gifts that God
can bestow on the children
of men? I say it will, and I
[h]ope that the Latter-day Saints,
that all men in authority—that we
will all be faithful before the Lord,
that we will remember our prayers,
labor for the Holy Spirit, labor to
know the mind and will of God, that
we may know the path to walk in,
that we may obtain the spirit of the
Lord and the Holy Ghost, and that
we may overcome the world and
magnify our calling till we get
through this probation. There is a
long time hereafter. Our aim is
high. There are a few in this gene-
ration who have attemsted to keep
the celestial law. I desire to keep
that law, so that when I have finish-
ed my probation here I may get into
the presence of my Heavenly Fath-
er, where our Savior is, where the
old patriarchs and prophets are,
weere Joseph Smith and his breth-
ren the Apostles and those who have
lived faithful unto the day of their
death are. That is my desire, and
I say I desire this for myself, I de-
sire the same for my family.

I pray God my Heavenly Father,
to let His blessings rest upon us; I
pray that his Holy Spirit may be
with us to guide us in the path we
should walk in; I pray that we may
magnify our calling and overcome
the world, the flesh and the devil,
and inherit eternal life, for Christ's
sake. Amen