Wilford Woodruff

“ Every evil principle and power is opposed to us and our testimony. Do we not desire 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. ”

“ Mankind, who are made after the image of God to answer 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 offered to them as freely as the light of the sun, which shines on the just and on the unjust, if they would receive it. ”

“ It is true the enemy of God and all the righteous, the Devil, who goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour, has sought our destruction from the beginning and has stirred up the wicked to seek our overthrow ”

“ If we receive the Gospel and live its precepts we shall receive celestial glory; if we reject it we shall be punished, though we may have a redemption 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. ”

“ One of the most liberal and free Governments under the heavens has driven out from them the only people under 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 mountains 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 wicked nations of the Gentiles on this land and in foreign lands. ”

“ No man ever did or ever will obtain salvation 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 be 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 weakness 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 ”

“ 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 sorrow, 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 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. ”

“ We live in a momentous age, and our responsibilities 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 testimony 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 ”

“ We here dwell in peace and stand 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 because righteousness and the power of God dwell here. ”

“ 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 the due time of 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 understanding. What is the chief end of man? ”

“ More than twenty-five years ago I wrote a revelation which Joseph Smith gave, wherein he said that the rebellion should commence in 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 distraction should await them. ”

“ 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. ”

“ 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 have 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. ”

“ 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. ”

“ The Lord permits judgments to come upon the wicked, but he never sends a great calamity 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 repentance and means of escape, as witness the time of Noah, Lot, &c. ”