Wilford Woodruff

“ It is, in fact, the same Gospel that has been taught to man in every age and dispensation, as there is but the one Gospel, and that Gospel is adapted to the wants and conditions of all men. It is the Gospel of Truth, and truth alone can make us free, free from sin and from the power of the adversary. ”

“ And whenever any people rise up and attempt to make war upon the rights of men because of their religion, they go beyond their right, they transcend their own powers, whether their power be derived either from God or man. ”

“ There is one thing I wish to say to the congregation, and I would say the same to the whole world if I had the power—it is this: I have heard the Prophet Joseph Smith say on several occasions when speaking on the agency of man, and the liberty and rights of men, that if he were emperor of the earth, having control of the whole human family, he would give every man, woman and child the right to worship God according to the dictates of their own conscience, leaving them to be responsible alone to their Creator for their individual acts. ”

“ This is the light in which we regard the position of our own nation in the steps they have recently taken against us, as a people. However, if I were to express my feelings to Congress and the leading men of our nation, and to our enemies and the whole Christian world, I would say, do not weep for us—and we are sensible of the fact that they will not—but rather weep for yourselves and your children, for as sure as the Lord lives the evils that men seek to bring upon us, will return in due time upon their own heads, heaped up, pressed down and running over. ”

“ Truth revealed from heaven for the salvation of mankind always was unpopular, and always will be so long as the world exists in its present state. Men do not want truth, and therefore they reject it, and they reject it to-day for the same reason that men rejected it formerly, because they love darkness rather than light. If the Latter-day Saints expect to become popular in this day and generation, they will find themselves greatly mistaken. There is a warfare going on between truth and error, and this warfare will continue until He shall reign whose right it is to reign. ”

“ It is upon this principle that we as Latter-day Saints assert our rights and endeavor to enjoy our privileges. And we are accorded this right in accepting the Gospel dispensation in which we live, and in believing in the Old and New Testaments, the records of God's people who lived in what is called the old world, as well as in the Book of Mormon, the history of the ancient inhabitants of our land, which records are in harmony with each other, bearing witness of the one great Head and of the Gospel which He taught in Jerusalem and Judea, and which His Apostles preached after He left them. ”

“ And Paul in warning the Gentiles, told them to take heed and fear lest they fall, through the same example of unbelief; for if God spared not the natural branches, which were the Jews, why should he spare them who were the wild branches grafted into the olive tree. We all understand that the blindness in part which happened to Israel and which, Paul said, should continue until the fulness of the Gentiles come in, did befall the churches which had been built up by the Apostles, and that the Gospel, with its gifts and graces, its Prophets and Apostles, has long since ceased to exist among men. ”

“ Whatever our nation does or may do, it will be held responsible before God; and every emperor, king and ruler will beheld responsible for the use they make of the power committed into their hands. The Lord inspired the men that framed the Constitution of our country, and has guarded the nation from its foundation, in order to prepare free people in which to establish his kingdom. ”

“ He has called upon us to proclaim to the whole world the Gospel of Christ, and we are doing it as fast as circumstances and wisdom permits; and we promise all men what the first Elders promised us, that is, if they yield to the requirements they shall know for themselves whether this work is of God or man. Is there, I ask, any man or set of men dare make such promises to their fellow-men? ”

“ Because God himself grants this right to every human being upon the earth irrespective of race or color; it is part of the divine economy not to force any man to heaven, not to coerce the mind but to leave it free to act for itself. He lays before His creature man the everlasting Gospel, the principles of life and salvation, and then leaves him to choose for himself or to reject for himself, with the definite understanding that he becomes responsible to Him for the results of his acts. ”

“ At times when I reflect upon the great change that has taken place in our own land in the morals of the people during my time, I feel in my spirit to mourn and to fear as to the consequences. I was between 20 and 21 years of age before I heard of a murder having been committed in the whole of the New England States. ”

“ Our nation knows not what awaits it; the Christian world knows not what awaits it, and the blind guides that lead the people cannot tell them, and the result will be that both the people and their guides will fall into the ditch together.
I will say another thing. The Lord never did bring judgment upon any people of any generation until he raised up prophets to warn them of the impending danger. ”

“ Columbus was inspired of God to persevere as he did to discover this continent, and thus prepare the way for a class of people upon whom the Spirit of the Lord moved to follow; and when they were oppressed hard enough they declared themselves independent, and by the help of God they established and have maintained the government which God gave our forefathers, which is one of the best constitutional governments ever known among men. ”

“ The Lord has established his Church and his kingdom; and we have been laboring now fifty years and upwards in carrying out the instructions which he has revealed unto us in connection with this work. And as men were formerly, so we have been commanded to go forth and call upon men to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and to repent and be baptised for the remission of their sins; and as they were authorized, so have we been authorized to say to all men who comply with these requirements, that they shall receive the Holy Ghost. ”

“ And each man claiming a standing among this people should do his duty to the trust committed to our charge. Our responsibility is great before God and man. Any people into whose hands is committed a dispensation of the Gospel has a great responsibility. And Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, and the Twelve Apostles, would have been under condemnation and would have rendered themselves liable to the curse of God if they had not gone forth into the world and borne record of this work. ”

“ I want to see the Latter-day Saints live their religion, keep their faith and do their duty, and trust in God. And if men persecute you for the sake of your religion, what can you do? You can go to God, and make your wants known to him ”

“ But the Christian world do not believe in these things; they say they are done away, as not being needed. We believe differently, and we have a right to; we say the Lord has restored the Gospel as it was preached to the Jews and the Gentiles by Jesus and the Apostles, and we know whereof we speak. ”

“ Throughout the whole of Christendom to-day, murder, whoredom, blasphemy, and their kindred evils and vices are indulged in, and unbelief reigns in the hearts of men. Men profess to believe in the Bible ”

“ And so it will be with our nation and all others, when they shall be fully warned and they reject the message that is sent to them. The heavens are full of judgment, and as the prophets have said, they will commence at the House of the Lord and then go to the nations of the earth. ”

“ To-day you may travel thousands of miles through this country, and you find towns and cities, farms, gardens and orchards, temples, and tabernacles, and schoolhouses, and large congregations of the people, and hosts of children. ”