If you were to meet with father Adam, with Seth, Moses, Aaron, Christ, or the apostles, they would all teach the same principles that we have been taught; they would not vary one particle. This gospel is everlasting in its nature and unchangeable in its character.
I am the only man living in the flesh that received endowments under the hands of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I am the only man in the flesh that was with the Twelve Apostles when he turned over the kingdom of God to them and laid upon them the commandment to bear off this kingdom. He stood for some three hours in a room delivering to us his last lecture. The room was filled as with consuming fire. His face was as clear as amber; his words were like vivid lightning to us. They penetrated every part of our bodies from the crown of our head to the soles of our feet. He said, ‘Brethren, the Lord Almighty has sealed upon my head every Priesthood, every key, every power, every principle that belongs to the last dispensation of the fulness of times, and to the building up of the kingdom of God. I have sealed upon your heads all those principles, Priesthood, apostleship, and keys of the kingdom of God, and now you have got to round up your shoulders and bear off this kingdom or you will be damned.’ I do not forget those words—I never shall while I live. That was the last speech he ever made in the flesh. Soon afterward he was martyred and called home to glory.”
I consider that the building of temples is one of the important things required by the Lord of the Latter-day Saints in the dispensation of the fulness of times, that we may go into those temples and not only redeem the living but redeem our dead.
In his continuing efforts to strengthen the Church, serve in the community, and provide for his family, Wilford Woodruff followed principles he had learned from his hardworking father. Elder Franklin D. Richards of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said that Elder Woodruff was “noted for his activity, industry and physical endurance. Though not a large man, he was able to perform labors that would have prostrated men of ordinary physique.
As he slept, he dreamed that he saw Joseph Smith sitting in a chair in front of a large window. Taking Joseph’s right hand, Brigham asked his friend why he could not be with the Saints.
“It is all right,” Joseph said, rising from his chair.
“The brethren have great anxiety to understand the law of adoption or sealing principles,” Brigham said. “If you have a word of counsel for me, I should be glad to receive it.”
“Tell the people to be humble and faithful and sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord,” Joseph said. “If they will, they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before they came into the world.”
Brigham awoke with Joseph’s words echoing in his mind: “Tell the people to be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and follow it, and it would lead them just right.”
…
At ten o’clock on the morning of April 19, the First Presidency held a special meeting in the temple for all general authorities and stake presidencies. Once the men assembled, the presidency invited them to share their feelings about the temple dedication and the work of God in the lives of the Saints.
All morning, one man after another bore powerful testimony. When they finished, Wilford stood and added his witness to theirs. “I have felt more of the Holy Ghost here at this dedication than I have ever felt before, except on one occasion,” he said. He then spoke about the time when Joseph Smith gave his final charge to the apostles in Nauvoo.
“He stood upon his feet for three hours,” Wilford testified. “The room seemed to be filled with consuming fire, and Joseph’s face shone like amber.”
Wilford also spoke of seeing Brigham Young and Heber Kimball in a vision after their deaths. Both men were riding to conference in a carriage, and they invited Wilford to join them. Wilford did so and asked Brigham to speak.
“I am through with my preaching on earth,” Brigham told him, “but I have come to impress upon your mind what Joseph had told me at Winter Quarters, and that is: seek always to have the Spirit of God, and it will direct you aright.”
Now Wilford’s message to the general authorities was the same. “You want the Holy Ghost to lead and guide you,” he said. “Teach the people to get the Holy Ghost and the Spirit of the Lord, and keep it with you, and you will prosper.”
Saints Volume 2 p.49, 670
Our responsibilities before the Lord are great. We have no right to break any law that God has given unto us. The more we do so the less power we have before God, before heaven and before the earth, and the nearer we live to God, the closer we obey his laws and keep his commandments, the more power we will have, and the greater will be our desire for the building up of the kingdom of God while we dwell here in the flesh.
righteousness, that is keep the commandments of God.
The parable of the ten virgins is intended to represent the second coming of the Son of man, the coming of the Bridegroom to meet the bride, the church, the Lamb’s wife, in the last days; and I expect that the Saviour was about right when he said, in reference to the members of the church, that five of them were wise and five were foolish; for when the Lord of heaven comes in power and great glory to reward every man according to the deeds done in the body, if he finds one-half of those professing to be members of his church prepared for salvation, it will be as many as can be expected judging by the course that many are pursuing.
The word of the Lord to me is that it is time for Zion to rise and let her light shine; and the testimony of the Spirit of God to me is that this whole kingdom, this great kingdom of priests … who have borne the priesthood, have thoroughly fulfilled one part of the parable of the ten virgins. What is that? Why, that while the Bridegroom has tarried we have all slumbered and slept; as a church and kingdom we have slumbered and slept, and the word of the Lord to me is that we have slept long enough; and we have the privilege now of rising and trimming our lamps and putting oil in our vessels. This is the word of the Lord to me.
Now the question is, how can we keep oil in our lamps? By keeping the commandments of God, remembering our prayers, do[ing] as we are told by the revelations of Jesus Christ, and otherwise assisting in building up Zion. When we are laboring for the kingdom of God, we will have oil in our lamps, our light will shine and we will feel the testimony of the Spirit of God. On the other hand, if we set our hearts upon the things of the world and seek for the honors of men, we shall walk in the dark and not in the light. If we do not value our priesthood, and the work of this priesthood, the building up of the kingdom of God, the rearing of temples, the redeeming of our dead, and the carrying out of the great work unto which we have been ordained by the God of Israel—if we do not feel that these things are more valuable to us than the things of the world, we will have no oil in our lamps, no light, and we shall fail to be present at the marriage supper of the Lamb.
