In the afternoon of the same day, Elders Woodruff and A. O. Smoot were invited to address the congregation. Elder Woodruff first opened by prayer and then turned at random to a page in the Bible. To his surprise, he opened to the 56th chapter of Isaiah, the same chapter he had turned to on the night of his {65} eventful prayer in Connecticut. Here the memories of that night flashed upon his mind, and he told the incidents thereof with impressive force and inspiration upon the congregation. The people were greatly interested. Those who knew the voice of the good shepherd recognized in him a man truly born of the spirit of God, a fit companion of prophets and apostles. On the 1st of December, 1836, he attended for the first time in his life a meeting called for the purpose of giving certain persons their patriarchal blessings. Father Joseph Smith was the patriarch of the Church in those days. This new experience brought to him new evidences that the God of the Bible, the God of the patriarchs of old,--Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob,--was truly the God of the new dispensation whose spirit and purposes were kindred to those in ancient times when the patriarchs of old blest the people. The spiritual manifestations of those times in Kirtland brought with them heartfelt desires to observe every rule of correct living. That spirit was not at all in harmony with the use of intoxicating liquors; and whatever became an obstacle to the spirit of worship must be removed if the worship were to be enjoyed. It was important that the use of liquor should be discontinued, and Elder Woodruff records in his journal that on the 4th day of December, that year, Sidney Rigdon called for a vote of the people on the discontinuance of the use of liquor in the Church both in sickness and in health. An exception to the rule was made in the case of the washing of the bodies; and under proper regulations, wine might be used for the Sacrament. The vote was unanimous. On the 11th of December, the Prophet sharply rebuked the Kirtland Saints for their sins and backsliding. He warned them to repent, lest judgment should come upon them as it had come upon the Saints in Jackson County, Missouri. Those were trying times. They were days of separation when it became necessary to separate the unworthy from those who were of the household of faith. Kirtland was not to be the abiding place of the Saints. They must give up their possessions and their love for the city they had striven so hard to adorn. Many had placed themselves in opposition to a divine purpose whose wisdom they could not comprehend. That opposition invited the {66} presence of the evil one who both tempted and beguiled them. Wilford Woodruff, however, was among those who could say then, as he ever after kept himself in a condition to say, "Thy will, not mine be done."