Wilford Woodruff

“ The Gospel is the power of God unto salvation to all who believe, both Jew and Greek. Let us be faithful, keep our covenants, do our duty, and attend to all the ordinances of the Gospel as far as we can, both for ourselves and our dead. When we have done this we shall be satisfied. I pray that God may bless you; that he may bless the Apostles who dwell on the earth ”

“ No, there is not a man on the face of the earth who dare do it under any other circumstances, for his hypocrisy and deception would soon have been apparent; the very first, man that received his testimony would have proved it. Could we have gathered our hundreds of thousands from the nations of the earth if we had been deceivers and had preached false doctrines? As the Apostle says, "But though we or an angel from heaven preach any other Gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed." ”

“ He was faithful on his mission, and returned faithful, and continued so from the commencement of his career as a Latter-day Saint until the day of his death. I rejoice in this, and it is a consolation to his family and to all Israel to know that he has been true and faithful to his calling. When I contemplate and realize that the little time spent here in this mortal life will fix and mould our destiny for all the endless ages of eternity, I try to realize what manner of men we all ought to be. ”

“ When I see a man depart who, like Brother Benson, has been ever willing to go and come and do the bidding of those over him, I look forward with great joy to his reward. He is the first man in the Quorum of the Twelve, who, for the last forty years, has had the privilege of dying a natural death; for most of the Apostles who ever tabernacled in the flesh have died as martyrs. ”

“ Nearly eighteen hundred years have passed away since God had a Church upon the earth. In that time about fifty-four thousand millions of human beings have passed away without the Gospel. Are they to perish because they lived in generations when God had no Church on the earth? No, they will be preached to by men who go into the spirit world, who hold the keys of the kingdom of God, and the ordinances of the house of God will be administered to them by their descendants and friends here on the earth. ”

“ No man, in any generation, has ever had authority to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ unless he was called by revelation. You may read the history of all the prophets and Apostles from the creation down, and they have all received the Holy Priesthood under the hands of God or angels, or under the hands of men who have held this authority. ”

“ Many of us have been engaged the greater portion of our lives in preaching the Gospel to the world, and on every occasion we depend for assistance and preparation upon the Spirit of God. This is my position this afternoon. I rise before you with no prepared sermon, and with no particular principles that I have settled in my mind to address you upon; depending, as on all occasions, upon the Spirit of God and the faith and prayers of my friends. This dispensation of Providence causes me many reflections ”

“ The reward of the faithful will amply repay them for all the labors they ever performed or for the privations they have endured. No labor we have ever done that has helped to promote the happiness and well-being of our fellow-men will go unrewarded. Brother Benson to-day, instead of being with his family in Logan, that is in the flesh, he may be with them in spirit, is privileged to mingle with his brethren who have gone before—Joseph, Hyrum, David, Parley, Heber and the prophets and Apostles of former days. He is mingling with them. They have finished their work in the flesh. ”

“ Let us be faithful and we shall obtain our reward; we shall overcome and obtain eternal life and a crown of glory if we magnify our calling by living the religion which we have received, which may God grant for Christ's sake. ”

“ When I say that many prophets have existed, it probably needs some qualification. The number of persons thus honored of God has not been many when compared with the whole of the people who have lived; but in every Gospel age and dispensation God has had His prophets and servants upon the earth to make known His will to its inhabitants. In the days of Moses Elders were chosen as his counselors; and seventy Elders were ordained to bear record of the things of God and to assist Moses in the work to be performed in his day; but we do not read of Apostles being chosen under Moses's dispensation. ”

“ Jesus went and preached to them in the spirit that they might be judged according to men in the flesh. Here is a principle of which the Christian world know nothing, and which has been revealed to us in our own day—namely, preaching the Gospel of life and salvation to the spirits of those who pass away without rendering obedience thereunto. ”

“ There never was a prophet, from Adam down, whose records we have, but had his eye upon this great dispensation of the last days. When the Lord created the earth He placed men upon it, and though the power of sin has entered it, it has not been left by the Lord to go at random. In Adam all fell, or died; but in Christ, the Apostle says, all are made alive. ”

“ We have been called to warn this generation; we understand the signs of the times and know that the judgments of God are at hand. If we had not been faithful to our calling and mission the Lord would have raised up another people, because the set time is at hand for Him to establish His kingdom. ”

“ We have had two in our quorum who have died thus, besides our Prophet and Patriarch. True, they will receive a martyr's crown, so will all men who are true and faithful unto death and lay down their lives for the work of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ.
Brother Benson has died among his friends; he had not been in pain or suffering, or endured a lingering sickness. Thank God he died in the harness and has gone home to receive his reward. During the time he has been a member of the Church he has been on many missions. ”

“ It is a kind of a given point in these days to say that the population of the earth is about a thousand millions, and that this number pass away every generation. It is also estimated that about three generations pass away in a century; this gives three thousand millions in a century, thirty thousand millions in a thousand years, and one hundred and eighty thousand millions in six thousand years—about the period that is supposed to have elapsed since the creation of man upon the earth. ”

“ It commenced by an angel of God flying through the midst of heaven and visiting a young man named Joseph Smith, in the year 1827. That was the time of a great awakening among the sectarians of the day—a day of revivals and protracted meetings, when the people were called upon to join themselves to the sectarian churches. This young man looked around amid the confusion among the different sects, each proclaiming the plan of salvation differently, and each claiming it was right and that all others were wrong ”

“ Tracing down the sacred history through the different ages and dispensations, we learn that many prophets existed among the children of men. Moses was a lawgiver in Israel, and held the office of a Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. ”

“ Here we find only thirty-six men, chosen at various times and dispensations, in six thousand years, to hold this order of Priesthood, unless they were chosen in the days of Enoch and at times in which the Bible does not inform us. ”

“ It will be well with all men who are faithful in the performance of these duties. Brother Benson never performed a mission or any other duty but what he will rejoice over for ever and so it will be with us all. ”