DISCOURSE
BY
PREST. WILFORD WOODRUFF,
At the General Conference, in the
Tabernacle, Salt Lake City,
Saturday a.m. .
REPORTED BY JOHN IRVINE.
I want to preach a short sermon
to this congregation. To begin with,
I have heard President Young and
President Taylor a great many times
from this stand ask the people to
keep quiet until the meeting was
dismissed; but as soon as the ser-
mon ends there are a hundred boys
and girls, or two hundred of them,
rush for the doors. I do not like it.
It pains me to see the President of
the Church make this request and
the people pay no attention to it.
Now, in this fast age we are pass-
ing from a polite age to a very rude
one in many respects. When I was
a boy 65 years ago and went to
school, I never thought of passing a
man whom I knew in the street, or
a woman, without taking off my
hat and making a bow. I never
thought of saying "yes" or "no" to
those that were placed over me. I
was taught to say "yes, sir" and
"no, sir;" but to-day it is "yes" and
"no," "I will," "I won't," "I shall"
and "I shan't." Now, when I see
this rudeness amongst us I some-
times wish that the spirit of
the New England fathers
was more among the people,
but I do hope, brethren, sisters and
friends, when a man stops talking
and the choir rises to sing, that you
will keep your seats. You can af-
ford to do this as well as the Presi-
dent of the Church, the Twelve
Apostles, or others who are sitting
on this stand. You don't see us
jump up and run for the door the
moment a speaker is done. The
Lord is displeased with any such
thing. I hope you will pardon me
for so speaking. I felt to say that
much.
We have a variety of teach-
ing and preaching, and I have
sometimes thought that we have
more preaching and teaching than
any other people on the earth. I
expect it is all right. I think we
need it. The world need teaching,
we ourselves need teaching; but I
have thought that the Latter-day
Saints have had more of the Gospel
of Christ proclaimed to them than
any other generation that ever
lived.
My mind reverts to the channels
of communication from God to man.
Here we have the Bible which gives
a history and prophecy of the pro-
phets from Adam down to our own
day extending through a period of
near 6,000 years. The Lord, through
all the destruction that has taken
place in the various libraries of the
world—like the great library of Al-
exandria, for example—has preserv-
ed the record of the Jews, at least
we have a portion of it to read.
Then, again, we have the Book of
Mormon, the stick of Joseph in the
hands of Ephraim, giving a history
of the ancient inhabitants of this
country from the time of their leav-
ing the Tower of Babel to their dis-
appearance from the land, and of the
visitation of Christ to them. We
have these books from which to ob-
tain knowledge. Then we have the
Book of Doctrine and Covenants, our
Testament, which contains the most
glorious, godlike, solemn and eter-
nal truths ever recorded within the
lids of a book on the earth. All these
records are the words of God to
man; and though the heavens and
earth pass away not one jot or title
will ever fall unfulfilled.
Then the Lord has other ways of
communicating His mind and will.
We have the living oracles with us,
and have had from the day that
Joseph Smith received the ministra-
tions of Moroni, the Nephite, John
the Baptist, Peter, James and John,
Moses, Elias, Elijah, Jesus Christ—
from that day we have had the liv-
ing oracles to teach us the word of
the Lord.
President Joseph F. Smith yester-
day spoke of the gifts and graces.
Now, the Lord has many ways in
which He communicates with us.
Freq[u]ently, as has been the case in
every age, truths, principles, warn-
ings, etc., are communicat-
ed to the children of men
by means of dreams and visions.
There is a great vision recorded in
the Book of Doctrine and Covenants.
When Sidney Rigdon and Joseph
Smith saw the visions of heaven
they were commanded to write
while in the vision. The Lord was
in that. It is a communication to
man. But we have had a great
many dreams—I have had in my
life, and I suppose you have more or
less—which amounts to nothing. I
will tell you just about what I re-
fer to. A man eats a hot supper
and goes to bed; he gets the night-
mare; he is chased by a bear; or he
falls over a precipice and as soon as
he strikes the ground he wakes up.
Now, the Lord had nothing to do
with that. A man may go to bed
half worried to death, tired and
dream about something that will
never take place. Last night, for
instance, I dreamt I was making
glass houses out of blocks of glass
two feet square. Now, I don't know
that the Lord was in that. Yet I
have had dreams of a very different
character. When I was a boy 11
years old, I had a very interesting
dream, part of which was fulfilled
to the very letter. In this dream I
saw a great gulf, a place where all
the world had to enter at death, be-
fore doing which they had to drop
their worldly goods. I saw an aged
man with a beaver hat and a
broadcloth suit. The man looked
very sorrowful. I saw him come
with something on his back, which
he had to drop among the
general pile before he could enter
the gulf. I was then but a boy. A
few years after this my father
and mother removed to Farmington
and there I saw that man. I knew
him the moment I saw him. His
name was Chauncy Deming. In a
few years afterwards he was taken
sick and died. I attended his funer-
al. He was what you may call a
miser, worth hundreds of thousands
of dollars. When the coffin was
being lowered into the grave my
dream came to me, and that night
his son-in-law found one hundred
thousand dollars in a cellar belong-
ing to the old man. I name this
merely to show that in this dream
I had manifested to me certain
things that were true. I think of
all the inhabitants of the world
having to leave their goods when
they come to the grave. After this
scene had passed before me I was
placed in a great temple. It was
called the kingdom of God. The
first man that came to me was Un
cle Ozem Woodruff and his wife I
helped into the temple. I assisted a
great many into that temple. In
process of time, after embracing the
gospel, and while on my first mis-
sion to Tennessee, I told Bro. Pat-
ten of my dream who told me that
in a few years I would meet that
man and baptize him. That was
fulfilled to the very letter, for I af-
terwards baptized my uncle and his
wife and some of the children; also
my own father and step-mother and
step-sister, and a Methodist priest or
class leader—in fact I baptized every-
body in my father's house. I merely
mention this to show—that dreams
sometimes do come to pass in life.
Then, again, there are
visions. Paul you know, on
one occasion was caught up
to the third heaven and saw
things that were not lawful to utter.
He did not know whether he was
ln the body or out of the body. That
was a vision. When Joseph Smith,
however, was visited by Moroni and
the Apostles, it was not particularly
a vision that he had; he talked with
them face to face.
Now, I will refer to a thing that
took place with me in Tennessee. I
was in Tennessee in the year 1835,
and while at the house of Abraham
O. Smoot I received a letter from
Brothers Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery, requesting me to stay
there and stating that I would lose
no blessing by doing so. Of course,
I was satisfied. I went into a little
room and sat down upon a small
sofa. I was all my myself and the
room was dark; and while I rejoiced
in this letter and the promise made
to me, I became wrapped in vision.
I was like Paul; I did not know
whether I was in the body or out of
the body. A personage appeared
to me and showed me the great
scenes that should take place in the
last days. One scene after another
passed before me. I saw the sun
darkened; I saw the moon become
as blood; I saw the stars fall from
heaven; I saw seven golden lamps
set in the heavens, representing the
various dispensations of God to man
—a sign that would appear before
the coming of Christ. I saw the re-
surrection of the dead. In the first
resurrection those that came forth
from their graves seemed to be all
dressed alike, but in the second
resurrection they were as di-
verse in their dress as this congrega-
tion is before me to-day, and if I
had been an artist I could have
painted the whole scene as it was
impressed upon my mind, more in-
delibly fixed than any thing I had
ever seen with the natural eye.
What does this mean? It was a
testimony of the resurrection of the
dead. I had a testimony. I believe
in the resurrection of the dead, and
I know it is a true principle. Thus
we may have dreams about things
of great importance, and dreams of
no importance at all. The Lord
warned Joseph in a dream to take
the young child Jesus and His
mother into Egypt, and thus He
was saved from the wrath of Herod.
Hence there are a great many things
taught us in dreams that are true,
and if a man has the spirit of God
he can tell the difference between
what is from the Lord and what is
not. And I want to say to my
brethren and sisters, that whenever
you have a dream that you feel is
from the Lord, pay attention to it.
When I was in the City of London
on one occasion, with Brother George
A. Smith, I dreamt that my wife
came to me and told me that our
first child had died. I believed my
dream, and in the morning while
at breakfast I felt somewhat sad.
Brother George A. noticed this and
I told him my dream. Next morn-
ing's post brought me a letter from
my wife, conveying the intelligence
of the death of my child. It may
be asked what use there was in
such a thing. I don't know that
there was much use in it except to
prepare my mind for the news of
the death of my child. But what I
wanted to say in regard to these
matters is that the Lord does
communicate some things of im-
portance to the children of men by
means of visions and dreams as well
as by the records of divine truth.
And what is it all for? It is to teach
us a principle. We may never see
anything take place exactly as we
see it in a dream or a vision, yet is is
intended to teach us a principle.
My dream gave me a strong testi-
mony of the resurrection. I am
satisfied, always have been, in re-
gard to the resurrection. I rejoice
in it. The way was opened unto us
by the blood of the Son of God.
Now, having said so much on that
subject, I want to say to my breth-
ren and sisters that we are placed
upon the earth to build up Zion, to
build up the kingdom of God. The
greater proportion of the male mem-
bers of Zion, who have arrived at
the years of early manhood, bear
some portion of the Holy Priest-
hood. Here is a kingdom of Priests
raised up by the power of God to
take hold and build up the kingdom
of God. The same Priesthood exists
on the other side of the vail. Every
man who is faithful in his quorum
here will join his quorum there.
When a man dies and his body is
laid in the tomb, he does not lose
his position. The Prophet
Joseph Smith held the keys of
this dispensation on this side
of the vail, and he will hold them
throughout the countless ages of
eternity. He went into the spirit
world to unlock the prison doors and
to preach the gospel to the millions
of spirits who are in darkness, and
every Apostle, every Seventy, every
Elder, etc., that has died in the
faith as soon as he passes to the
other side of the vail, enters into
the work of the ministry, and there
is a thousand times more to preach
there than there is here. I have
felt of late as if our brethren on the
other side of the vail had held a
council, and that they had said to
this one, and that one, "Cease thy
work on earth, come hence, we need
help," and they have called this
man and that man. It has appeared
so to me in seeing the many men
that have been called from our
midst lately. Perhaps I may be
permitted to relate the circumstance
with which I am acquainted in re
gard to Bishop Roskelly, of Smith-
field, Cache Valley. On one occa-
sion he was suddenly taken very
sick—near to death's door. While
he lay in this condition, President
Peter Maughan, who was dead,
came to him and said: "Brother
Roskelly, we held a council on the
other side of the vail. I have had
a great deal to do, and I have the
privilege of coming here to appoint
one man to come and help. I have
had three names given to me in
council, and you are one of them. I
want to inquire into your circum-
stances." The Bishop told him
what he had to do, and they con-
versed together as one man would
converse with another. President
Maughan then said to him: "I think
I will not call you. I think you are
wanted here more than perhaps
one of the others." Bishop Roskel-
ly got well from that hour. Very
soon after, the second man was
taken sick, but not being able to ex-
ercise sufficient faith, Brother Ros-
kelly did not go to him. By and by
this man recovered, and on meeting
Brother Roskelly he said: "Brother
Maughan came to me the other
night and told me he was sent to
call one man from the ward," and
he named two men as had been
done to Brother Roskelly. A few
days afterwards the third man was
taken sick and died. Now, I name
this to show a principle. They have
work on the other side of the vail;
and they want men, and they call
them. And that was my view in
regard to Brother George A. Smith.
When he was almost a[t] death's door
Brother Cannon administered to
him and in thirty minutes he was up
and ate breakfast with his family.
We labored with him in this way,
but ultimately, as you know, he
died. But it taught me a lesson. I
felt that man was wanted behind
the vail. We labored also with Bro-
ther Pratt; he, too, was wanted be-
hind the vail.
Now, my brethren and sisters,
those of us who are left here have a
great work to do. We have been
raised up of the Lord to take this
kingdom and bear it off. This is our
duty; but if we neglect our duty and
set our hearts upon the things of
this world, we will be sorry for it.
We ought to understand the respon-
sibility that rests upon us. We
should gird up our loins and put on
the whole armor of God. We should
rear temples to the name of the
Most High God, that we may redeem
the dead.
I feel to bear my testimony to this
work. It is the work of God. Jo-
seph Smith was appointed by the
the Lord before he was born as
much as Jeremiah was. The Lord
told Jeremiah—"Before I formed
thee in the belly I knew thee; and
before thou camest forth out of the
womb I sanctified thee, and I or-
dained thee a Prophet unto the na-
tions." [Jeremiah 1:5] He was commanded to
warn the inhabitants of Jerusalem
of their wickedness. He felt it a
hard task, but ultimately he did as
he was commanded. So I say with
regard to Joseph Smith. He receiv-
ed his appointment from before the
foundation of the world, and he
came forth in the due time of the
Lord to establish this work on the
earth. And so it is the case with
tens of thousands of the Elders of
Israel. The Lord Almighty has
conferred upon you the Holy Priest-
hood and made you the instrument
in His hands to build up this king-
dom, Do we contemplate these
things as fully as we ought? Do
we realize that the eyes of all the
heave[n]ly hosts are over us? Then
let us do our duty. Let us keep the
commandments of God, let us be
faithful to the end, so that when we
go into the spirit world and look
back upon our history we may be
satisfied. The Lord Almighty has
set his hand to establish
His kingdom never more to be
thrown down or given to another
people, and, therefore, all the pow-
ers of earth and hell combined will
never be able to stay the progress of
this work. The Lord has said he
will break in pieces every weapon
that is raised against Zion, and the
nations of the earth, the Kings and
Emperors, Presidents and Gover-
nors have got to learn this fact. It
is a fearful thing to fall into the
hands of the Lord. [Hebrews 10:31] It is a fearful
thing to shed the blood of the Lord's
anointed. It has cost the Jews 1800
years of persecution, and this gene-
ration have also a bill to pay in this
respect.
I bear my testimony to these
things. The Bible, the Book of
Mormon, the Book of Doctrine and
Cove[n]ants contain the words of
eternal life unto this generation, and
they will rise in judgment against
those who reject them.
May God bless this people and
help us to magnify our callings, for
Jesus' sake. Amen.