Discourse 1877-04-07
Elder Wilford Woodruff realized
his dependence upon the Spirit of
God to speak to the edification of
the people. He spoke of the divine
mission which had been laid upon
Joseph Smith, to whom had been
given the keys of the Aaronic and
of the Melchizedec priesthoods, by
means of which ordinances were
administered according to the law
of God for the salvation of the
living and of the dead. It was a
fact that Brigham Young had been
raised up and endowed by Al-
mighty God with power to lead the
people in the ways of life eternal
and to organize the covenant peo-
ple of God in all things. It was a
fact that God had raised up Elders
and helps in government to carry
on this great Latter-day work. Let
us go to with all our might, to work
out our own salvation, and to re-
deem the generations of the dead.
It was our duty to hearken to the
counsels of the servants of God, and
to act upon the instructions given
to us relative to the United
Order. We had been protected by
the power of the Most High. Had
this not been so, the prophets and
apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ
would be just as completely des-
troyed from the earth in this gen-
eration as they were anciently.
The purposes of the Almighty
would come to pass. Judgments
would be poured out upon all na-
tions. We have not been as faith-
ful nor as prompt as we should
have been, but where we had here-
tofore been slack in the perform-
ance of duty we should improve.
He concluded by very earnestly
appealing to the Latter-day Saints
to be diligent in attending to the
necessary temple ordinances for
and in behalf of the dead.
