{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_50536/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_50536","id":"gutenberg_50536","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/50536","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Latter Day Saint churches -- Doctrines","Latter Day Saints"],"text":"Gospel Themes\n\nA Treatise on Salient Features of \"MORMONISM\"\n\n\nWritten for, and Dedicated to,\nthe High Priests, Seventies and\nElders of the Church of Jesus\nChrist of Latter-day Saints\n\n\nBy ELDER ORSON F. WHITNEY\n\nOf the Council of the Twelve Apostles\n\n\nSALT LAKE CITY, UTAH\n1914\n\n\n\nPREFACE AND DEDICATION.\n\nThis little book was written and compiled at the request of the General\nPriesthood Committee, under the sanction of the First Presidency of the\nChurch, for the use and benefit of the Priesthood Classes, throughout\nthe Stakes and Wards of Zion.\n\nThe treatise, \"Gospel Themes,\" represents the best effort I could\nmake under the circumstances in which that effort was put forth.\nMany interruptions occurred, consequent upon the performance of\nother duties, and I had no opportunity to submit the manuscript to a\ncommittee of revision, prior to publication; the usual course with\nworks of this character. I was barely able to get it ready for the\nprinter within the time allotted for its preparation. But I tried to be\naccurate, and am not aware that I made any mistakes.\n\nWhile lacking the help of a revisory committee, I received, and hereby\ngratefully acknowledge, valuable suggestions from Elders David O. McKay\nand Edward H. Anderson, members of the Priesthood Committee, and from\nothers whom I consulted. Moreover, Brother Anderson was with me in\nproof-reading the work, and in engineering it through the press.\n\nMy aim has been, not to give exhaustive treatment to any subject, but\nto throw in sight certain themes, and dwell briefly upon points of\ndoctrine, prophecy, history, and illustration, that I thought would be\nhelpful to the brethren of the Priesthood--those who are studying the\nGospel at home, and those who are preaching it abroad. To both classes\nthis volume is affectionately dedicated.\n\n                                                     THE AUTHOR.\n\nSalt Lake City, Christmas, 1913.\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nTHE STORY OF GOD.\n\nChapter 1.--A Divine Plan for Human Progress\n\nChapter 2.--Eternal Nature of Gospel Principles\n\nChapter 3.--The Fall and Redemption\n\nChapter 4.--The Gods in Council\n\nChapter 5.--Creation of the Earth\n\nChapter 6.--Elect of Elohim\n\nTHE WAY OF SALVATION.\n\nChapter 1.--The Law of Obedience\n\nChapter 2.--Faith\n\nChapter 3.--Faith (Continued)\n\nChapter 4.--Repentance\n\nChapter 5.--Water and Spirit Birth\n\nChapter 6.--Purpose and Effects of Baptism\n\nChapter 7.--Mode and Cleaning of Baptism\n\nPRIESTHOOD AND CHURCH GOVERNMENT.\n\nChapter 1.--Divine Authority\n\nChapter 2.--Divine Authority (Continued)\n\nChapter 3.--The Church Organization\n\nTHE GOSPEL DISPENSATIONS.\n\nChapter 1.--Introductory\n\nChapter 2.--The Adamic Period\n\nChapter 3.--Enoch and Zion\n\nChapter 4.--Noah and the Deluge\n\nChapter 5.--Abraham\n\nChapter 6.--Moses and Aaron\n\nChapter 7.--The Lamb of God\n\nChapter 8.--Dawn of the Last Dispensation\n\nDISPERSION AND GATHERING OF ISRAEL.\n\nChapter 1.--A Chosen People\n\nChapter 2.--Israel's Mission\n\nChapter 3.--To the Ends of the Earth\n\nChapter 4.--The Call of the Shepherd\n\nChapter 5.--The Author to the Reader\n\n\n\nGOSPEL THEMES.\n\n\n\nThe Story of God.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nA Divine Plan for Human Progress.\n\nThe Gospel Defined.--The English word \"Gospel\" comes from the\nAnglo-Saxon \"Godspell,\" or God-story--the story of God. It derives its\nsignificance from that great central idea of the Christian faith--the\ncoming of God as the Son of God to redeem and save mankind. The joyful\nintelligence of the advent of the world's Redeemer, proclaimed by the\nangels to the shepherds on the Judean hills (Luke 2:10), furnishes\nanother name for the gospel--\"good tidings,\" or, as it is otherwise\nrendered, \"glad tidings of great joy.\"\n\nGod the Savior.--\"God himself shall come down among the children of\nmen, and shall redeem his people, and because he dwelleth in flesh\nhe shall be called the Son of God\" (Mosiah 15:1,2). prediction by\nAbinadi the prophet, centuries before the birth of the Savior, had been\npreceded by a This similar prophecy from King Benjamin, another Nephite\nseer (Mosiah 3:5). The fulfilment of these foretellings is recorded in\nthe opening verses of the gospel according to St. John, where reference\nis made to \"the Word\" that was in the beginning \"with God\"--the Word\nthat \"was God,\" and was \"made flesh\" and dwelt among men. In him, as\nPaul affirms, \"dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily\" (Col.\n2:9).\n\nFoundation and Superstructure.--When we speak of the gospel, therefore,\nwe should bear in mind that the term means something more than faith,\nrepentance, baptism, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy\nGhost, and other rituals and requirements in the Church of Christ.\nWe must not isolate \"the laws and ordinances of the gospel\" from the\nbasic principles upon which they rest--the mighty foundation stones of\nsacrifice and redemption, without which all this sacred legislation\nwould be aimless and of no effect. Nor can the basic principles which\nmake operative those laws and ordinances be dissociated from the idea\nof eternal progression, the great and paramount purpose for which the\ngospel code was framed, the gospel in its fulness instituted.\n\nFulness of the Gospel.--The phrase, \"fulness of the gospel,\" should\nbe understood in a relative sense, as pertaining to the revealed will\nof God. There can be no absolute fulness, with man, until all things\nare made known to him. The fulness of the gospel as delivered to\nthe Nephites and other ancient peoples, and told of in the inspired\nrecords that have come down to us, differed from, in that it was not\nso complete as is the fulness of the gospel which the Latter-day\nSaints enjoy. Truth is always the same; it never contradicts itself;\nbut more of its principles have been revealed in modern times than at\nany previous period. Never before, upon this earth, has there been\nsuch a gospel fulness as that delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith.\nAnd the end is not yet; for, as he himself said in one of his latest\nrecorded utterances: \"Those things which never have been revealed from\nthe foundation of the world, but have been kept hid from the wise\nand prudent, shall be revealed unto babes and sucklings in this the\ndispensation of the fulness of times\" (D&C 128:18).\n\nIt may help the reader to understand how there can be more than one\n\"fulness of the gospel\" by bearing in mind what has been made known\nconcerning the final judgment, or the various awards of glory to be\nmeted out to redeemed souls after the resurrection. Their glory shall\nbe that by which their bodies are quickened, and whether quickened by\na portion of the celestial, the terrestrial, or the telestial glory,\nthey shall \"receive of the same, even a fulness\" (D&C 88:28-31). But\none fulness can differ from another, even as differ the glories, and\neven as capacities differ--the power to receive and contain. The\nabsolute fulness of the gospel can only come to a people prepared to\nreceive and make a wise use of it. Until the Latter-day Saints are in\nthat condition, they must be content with a comparative fulness, or\nall that they can contain of the divine wisdom. Paul the apostle was\ncontemplating this subject when he wrote: \"For we know in part, and we\nprophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that\nwhich is in part shall be done away\" (1 Cor. 13:9,10).\n\nGospel Features.--The gospel, in its fullest sense, signifies\neverything connected with the redemptive career of that glorious\nand divine Being known among men as Jesus of Nazareth, but who was\nand is no other than Jehovah, the God of Israel (D&C 110:1-4), who\n\"came unto his own\" and was rejected by them, was crucified at their\ninstigation, and died to redeem the world. The accounts given by\nMatthew, Mark, Luke, and John, are properly termed \"gospels,\" because\nthey are narratives of the personal ministry of our Lord; but they\nare only parts of the complete God-story. The Savior's life, death,\nresurrection and ascension, with the conditions prescribed by him upon\nwhich fallen man might profit further from his sacrifice for human\nredemption,--these are all gospel features, but not the gospel in its\nentirety. The full \"story\" of the Redeemer and Savior--the God who\ndied that man might live--involves events both past and future, events\npremortal and post-mortal, scenes in which he was chosen to play his\nmighty part in the great tragedy of human experience, and scenes yet to\ncome in which he will make another and a more glorious appearing upon\nthe stage of time, enacting the illustrious role of King of kings and\nreigning over the earth a thousand years.\n\nSalvation and Exaltation.--Paul defines the Gospel of Christ as \"the\npower of God unto salvation\" (Rom. 1:16). He might have gone further,\nhad he so desired, or had it been timely, and shown that the Gospel\nof Christ is the power of God unto exaltation--a plan devised by\nOmnipotent Wisdom whereby man, the child of God, may advance from stage\nto stage of soul development, until eventually he becomes like unto\nhis Heavenly Parent, inheriting eternal thrones and dominions, and\nreceiving \"a fulness of joy.\"\n\nThis is exaltation. It is more than salvation, being an extension of\nthat idea or condition--salvation \"added upon;\" just as salvation\nis an extension of, or an addition to, redemption. A soul may be\nredeemed--that is, raised from the dead, and yet condemned at the\nfinal judgment for evil deeds done in the body. Likewise may a soul be\nredeemed and saved, and yet come short of the glory that constitutes\nexaltation. To redeem, save, and glorify, is the threefold purpose of\nthe Gospel of Jesus Christ.\n\nOrigin and Antiquity of the Gospel.--The gospel originated in the\nheavens, before this earth was organized, and was revealed to man, out\nof eternity, at the very beginning of time. It was the means by which\nAdam, our great ancestor, after his expulsion from Eden, regained the\ndivine presence from which he had been banished. It is the means by\nwhich his posterity, such as are obedient to the gospel's requirements,\nhave been or will yet be able to follow him into the heavenly kingdom.\nThe same ladder that Adam climbed, until beyond the reach of the fatal\nconsequences of his transgression, the whole human race, inheriting\nfrom him the effects of the fall, must likewise climb, or they will\nnever see the face of God in eternal glory.\n\nThe Paramount Purpose.--Let us keep in mind, however, that the gospel,\neven in a limited sense, is more than a means of escape from impending\nills. It is the way of progress, the path to perfection, and as such\nwas devised by the wisdom of the Gods, before this world rolled into\nexistence. The origin of the gospel, and the grand purpose for which it\nwas instituted, are briefly yet clearly outlined by the Prophet Joseph\nSmith in the following language:\n\nEternal Progression.--\"The first principles of man are self-existent\nwith God. God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and\nglory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws\nwhereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The\nrelationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance\nin knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker\nintelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they may\nhave one glory upon another.\"--(\"Times and Seasons,\" August 15, 1844;\n\"Improvement Era,\" January, 1909.)\n\nPower and Benevolence of Deity.--Here are pointed out both the power\nand the benevolence of Deity. Our Father in heaven is no monopolist.\nWhile omnipotent and all-possessing, he is likewise altruistic and\nphilanthropic. Instead of keeping to himself the glory that he found\nhimself possessed of, he used his superior intelligence \"to institute\nlaws\" whereby the lesser spirits surrounding him might advance toward\nthe lofty plane that he occupies. He proposed to lift them to his own\nspiritual stature and share with them the empire of the universe.\n\nPlato's View.--Our prophet's simple yet sublime setting forth of the\ndivine power and benevolence, as exemplified in the establishment of a\nplan for man's eternal progress, is far more pointed and specific than\nthe presentment made by Plato, the Greek philosopher, of a doctrine\nsomewhat similar. Plato, as quoted by Emerson, says: \"Let us declare\nthe cause which led the Supreme Ordainer to produce and compose the\nuniverse. He was good; and he who is good has no kind of envy. Exempt\nfrom envy, he wished that all things should be as much as possible\nlike himself. Whosoever, taught by wise men, shall admit this as the\nprime cause of the origin and foundation of the world, will be in the\ntruth.\"--(\"Representative Men,\" Lecture II.)\n\nMan's Destiny.--There is a fitness, a propriety, in man's becoming\nlike his Maker--God's child, fashioned in his image and endowed with\ndivine attributes, developing to the fulness of the parental stature,\nas taught by Joseph; but how the same can be predicated of \"all\nthings\"--beasts, fish, fowl, trees, plants, etc., as Plato implies, is\nnot so clear. That the lower animals, as well as man, in fact all forms\nof life, animate and inanimate, are to be perpetuated and glorified, is\na plain inference from the teachings of the prophet (D&C 77:2-4) but\nundoubtedly all will retain their identity, in their respective orders\nand spheres. No creature of God's, except man, is destined to become\nlike God, in the fullest and highest sense. \"As much as possible\" is a\nsaving clause, however, and Plato, therefore, is not committed to any\ncontradictory proposition.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nEternal Nature of Gospel Principles.\n\nGospel Code and Fundamentals.--The gospel, as a code or System of\nlaws and ordinances, is a creation, a work of God; but like all\nother creations it was organized out of materials already existing.\n\"Intelligence or the light of truth was not created or made, neither\nindeed can be\" (D&C 93:29). Truth, \"eternal, unchanged, evermore\"--such\nis the gospel in its fundamental principles. These were never created.\nGod did not make them; he \"instituted\" them, recognizing their worth,\ntheir utility, their adaptability to the purposes which he had in view.\nHe saw that these principles were ennobling and exalting in their\nnature and tendency, and he therefore created a plan embodying them as\nthe most effectual means for man's promotion.\n\nFaith.--Take, for instance, faith--the first principle. Can you\nconceive of its creation as a principle? I cannot: but I can grasp the\nidea of its existence as a law, as an essential force, its adoption\nby divine wisdom, and its adaptation to the purposes of Deity. I\ncan conceive of its bestowal upon man as an endowment from God, its\nassimilation, cultivation, growth and increase, as illustrated in the\nBook of Mormon, where it is compared to a seed germinating in the soul\n(Alma 32:28). But I cannot think of it, in its essential, fundamental\nnature, as having been called into existence. Faith is a gift from God,\nboth as a law and a manifestation of spiritual power: but it is not a\ncreation--not as a basic principle. The gospel code containing this\nlaw, however, may readily be conceived as the work of a divine Creator\nand Law-giver.\n\nRepentance.--What is true of faith in this respect, is true also of\nrepentance. God did not create repentance as a principle; it already\nexisted as an essential to progress; but he made it obligatory upon\nsinful man, if he would be saved and put upon the road to perfection,\nto practice this principle--to turn away from evil and \"sin no more.\"\n\nBaptism.--As for baptism, the idea of washing in order to be come clean\nis plain enough for a child's comprehension. It is this idea that\nunderlies the baptismal ordinance. God did not create the fact that\nwashing maketh clean--that is fundamental; but he instituted baptism\nfor the remission of sins and made it a part of the gospel plan,\nbecause no unclean thing can enter into the kingdom of heaven.\n\nHoly Ghost.--Divine Wisdom did not create the Holy Ghost: he is\neternal, without beginning or end--he is God. Nor did it decree light\nnecessary to illumination; that is a self-evident, self-existent truth.\nBut Divine Wisdom instituted the laying on of hands for the gift\n(giving) of the Holy Ghost, and included it in the great progressive\nplan, because, without the illumination that comes from the Spirit of\nthe Lord, man cannot be \"led into all truth.\"\n\nThus we might go on, taking up other features of the gospel, and in\neach one pointing out some underlying principle upon which this law or\nthat ordinance has been based. The same philosophy will apply to them\nall. These fundamental principles are not creations--they are eternal\ntruths, applied or adapted to ends foreseen and predestined by the\nall-wise Ordainer and Giver.\n\nThe gospel was instituted for the advancement of God's children,\nwho had probably progressed as far as they could in the spirit at\nthat time, before they were given bodies; and it was made effective\nfor their further progress by the Atonement of Christ, offsetting\nthe fall of Adam, and nullifying the deadly effects of the original\ntransgression.\n\nThe Fall.--Right here let me suggest that Adam's transgression, while\ntechnically a sin, because of the broken law, should be stressed as\nthe means whereby those spirits obtained their bodies, rather than\nas an act of moral turpitude. In law, crimes are of two general\nclasses--malum per se and malum prohibitum. Malum per se means \"an evil\nin itself\"--an act essentially wrong; while malum prohibitum signifies\n\"that which is wrong because forbidden by law.\" Adam's transgression\nwas malum prohibitum, and the consequent descent from an immortal to a\nmortal condition was \"THE FALL.\"\n\nA Prearranged Plan.--It is evident from the revelations of God,\nparticularly in modern times, that everything connected with man's\nmortal pilgrimage was understood and arranged before that pilgrimage\nbegan. Not alone was the gospel instituted: an executor was appointed\nto put it into effect. In other words, the machinery was constructed,\nand the power then turned on. The fall being foreseen, the redemption\nwas ordained. Eternal progress and everlasting glory were the objects\nin view, and over the glad prospect, in spite of the pain and sorrow\nthat must necessarily intervene, \"the Morning Stars sang together, and\nall the Sons of God shouted for joy\" (Job 38:7).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nThe Fall and Redemption.\n\nEssentials to Progress.--The story of God embraces the fall as well\nas the redemption of man. Both these mighty vicissitudes are steps in\nthe march of human progress. The fall was just as necessary as the\nredemption, in order to make operative and effective the laws and\nordinances of the gospel. In other words, the fall prepared the way for\nthe redemption. How could redemption have been, had there been nothing\nto redeem? Of what use were a gospel of salvation where nothing needed\nto be saved?\n\nInnocent Ignorance.--Had the spirits of men, \"all innocent in the\nbeginning,\" remained where they were and just as they were, they would\nhave had no need to exercise faith unto salvation. They would have\nhad no need to repent or to be baptized, having no evil practices to\nturn away from, and no uncleanness to be washed away. But they would\nhave remained ignorant as well as innocent, and without any further\nprogression. The following passage from the Book of Mormon illustrates\nthis point:\n\n\"And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed, he would not have\nfallen; but he would have remained in the Garden of Eden. And all\nthings which were created must have remained in the same state which\nthey were after they were created; and they must have remained forever\nand had no end. And they would have had no children; wherefore, they\nwould have remained in a state of innocence, having no joy, for they\nknew no misery; doing no good, for they knew no sin. But behold, all\nthings have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things. Adam\nfell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy\" (2 Ne.\n2:22-25).\n\nThis passage, of course, refers directly to Adam's condition in the\nGarden of Eden, and not to the spirit life preceding that period of\ninnocent ignorance. But the fact remains that man, in the spirit life,\nneeded experience in mortality, in order to become wiser, as much as he\nneeded a body for purposes of progression and eternal increase.\n\nAdam Not Deceived.--When Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit,\nit was the woman who was beguiled by Satan and induced to go contrary\nto the divine command. The man was not deceived. Adam was but telling\nthe truth when he answered the Lord, \"The woman whom thou gavest to be\nwith me, she gave me of the tree, and I did eat\" (Gen. 3:12). Those\nwho satirize Father Adam for this reply, imputing to him an unworthy\nmotive, a desire to evade responsibility and \"hide behind the woman in\nthe case,\" take but a superficial view of the subject. Adam was not\ntrying to evade the issue: he was simply stating the fact. The Lord\nwanted the truth, and no fable would suffice, however polite, in the\nopinion of shallow wits or would-be chivalrous wisacres, it might have\nbeen to invent one, in order to shield the fair transgressor.\n\nA Deliberate Transgression.--Adam, after Eve had transgressed, did\nlikewise in order to carry out a divine command previously given--the\ncommand to multiply and replenish the earth (Gen. 1:28). Eve, by her\nact, had separated herself from her husband, and made it impossible,\nunless he followed her and also became mortal, to carry out God's\noriginal behest. This was Adam's motive. He was facing a dilemma. He\nmust make choice between two divine commands, and doubtless felt that\nhe could not consistently do otherwise than as he did. He disobeyed in\norder to obey, retrieving, so far as he possibly could, the situation\nresulting from Eve's disobedience. He did it wittingly, deliberately,\nundeceived as to the consequences, realizing that in no other way\ncould he carry out God's first command and become the progenitor of\nthe human race. Adam and Eve, with their eyes open, rejoiced over\nwhat had befallen them, recognizing it as part of a preordained plan\nto people the earth with their posterity, and afford to a world of\nwaiting spirits the opportunity, long anticipated, of taking earthly\ntabernacles and starting out upon their great pilgrimage to perfection.\n\nAdam and Eve Rejoice.--\"And in that day Adam blessed God and was\nfilled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth,\nsaying: Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my\neyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the\nflesh I shall see God.\n\n\"And Eve, his wife, heard all these things and was glad, saying: Were\nit not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never\nshould have known good and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the\neternal life which God giveth unto all the obedient.\"--(\"Pearl of Great\nPrice,\" Book of Moses, 5:10,11.)\n\n\"Adam fell that man might be, and man is that he might have joy.\"\nBut there would be no joy, no progress, no eternal life for fallen\nman--only pain, sorrow, and everlasting banishment from God's presence,\nhad Christ not died to nullify the ill effects of Adam's act, and lift\nman up from his fallen condition.\n\nHuman Standards and Divine Dispensations.--Why, it may be asked, did\nGod place Adam and Eve in so seemingly contradictory a position? Why\nwere they forbidden to do what they had manifestly come to do, and\nwhich had to be done in order to carry out the divine purpose? For that\nis the problem in a nutshell, as it appears to human eyes. I can only\nanswer in the words of Nephi: \"All things have been done in the wisdom\nof him who knoweth all things.\" Man cannot sit in judgment upon his\nMaker, nor measure by human standards divine dispensations. The God who\ngives life, and takes it, without committing murder, can command today\nand countermand tomorrow, and yet remain consistent and unchangeable.\nIn a world where faith is necessary to progress, and where premature\nknowledge would prevent progress by swallowing up faith, by destroying\nthe opportunity for its exercise, man must not expect to know all\nthings. That calamities and sacrifices bring forth blessings, is\napparent to observation and experience; but the deep why and wherefore\nof it all remains a mystery. Adam's fall and Christ's atonement were\nfearful calamities, from the human point of view; but wonderful\nbenefits and advantages accrued therefrom. Just why such sacrifices\nhave to be made, however, in order that such blessings may come, is too\nprofound a problem for the finite mind to solve.\n\nSpiritual and Temporal Death.--The fall brought man into the\nworld--into this state of mortality; but it also brought death, with\nall its sad concomitants. Not such a death as the righteous now\ncontemplate, and such as both righteous and unrighteous must undergo,\nas a change preparatory to resurrection. There was no resurrection when\nAdam fell--not upon this planet--nothing but death, resting like a pall\nover the prospective human race. Adam and Eve, after the fall, were\nspiritually dead, and were doomed to the temporal death as well--the\ndissolution of the body--and they had entailed this fate upon their\nposterity. Hell had triumphed over man's, or rather woman's, weakness.\nLife was dead, death reigned, and demons held high carnival.\n\nThe World in Pawn.--Adam's transgression had put the world in pawn.\nThe name of the pawnbroker was death, and his claim was twofold. Death\nheld all things in his grasp, and there was no help for it this side\nof heaven. No part of what had been pledged could be used as the means\nof redemption. Adam could not redeem himself, great and mighty as he\nwas--in the spirit; for he was no other than Michael the archangel,\nleader of the hosts of heaven. But this puissant Michael was now\na weak, frail, mortal man, under the penalty of a broken law, and\npowerless to repair the injury that had been wrought. He and the race\nthat was to spring from him were utterly lost, unless the Almighty One\nwould intervene, and do for them what they could not do for themselves.\nIf man could have redeemed himself, it would have been required of\nhim; but because self-redemption was impossible, a Redeemer had to be\nprovided.\n\nThe Redemption.--Redemption must come, if at all, through some Being\nhigh enough and powerful enough to make an infinite atonement, one\nfully covering the far-reaching effects of the original transgression.\nThe scales of eternal justice, unbalanced by Adam's act, had to be\nrepoised, and right's equilibrium restored. Who could do this? Who\ncould retrieve the situation, bring good out of evil, mould failure\ninto success, and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat? Where was the\nMoses for such an exodus? Where the deliverance from this worse than\nEgyptian bondage--a bondage of which Egypt's slavery was but typical?\n\nThe life of a God was the price of the world's freedom, and that price\nwas paid by the God of Israel, who descended from his glorious throne,\nmade himself mortal, an exile of eternity, walked in the dust of his\nown footstool, and by submitting to death, broke the bands of death,\nand made it possible for man to live again, and go on to the goal of\nendless glory. He was the Lamb \"without spot or blemish,\" typified by\nthe lamb of the Passover, and preordained for sacrifice, to \"take away\nthe sins of the world.\" He gave himself as an offering, as a ransom for\nhuman redemption, and by the shedding of his own blood, paid the debt\nof the universe, took the world out of pawn, and became the Author of\nSalvation for all mankind.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nThe Gods in Council.\n\nFore-ordination.--The parts played by Adam and Eve in this sublime\ntragedy were doubtless cast at the same time that the pre-eminent\nrole was assigned to the Redeemer and Savior. Likewise, is it just\nas reasonable to infer that other great ones were forechosen for\nservice in the cause of humanity. It is more than an inference; it is\na revealed fact. What other meaning can be attached to the word of the\nLord to Jeremiah (1:5): \"Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee;\nand before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I\nordained thee a prophet unto the nations\"? If this be true of Jeremiah,\nwhy not true of other prophets, both ancient and modern? Joseph Smith\nis on record as saying that men who have such callings to minister to\nthe inhabitants of the world, were \"ordained to that very purpose in\nthe grand council of heaven before this world was\" (\"Compendium,\" p.\n285).\n\nTwo Plans Proposed.--In that same Grand Council--the \"congregation\nof the mighty\" (Ps. 1:5)--there were two candidates, if we may so\ndesignate them, for the redeemership. One was like unto the Father,\ndesiring for the pure love of God's children to uplift them, and at the\nsame time glorify the Great Head, by the sacrifice that he proposed\nto make. The other was proud, self-willed, and bent upon personal\naggrandizement, regardless of consequences. The former stood for\nfreedom--man's agency--and the rewarding of all souls according to\ntheir works. The latter proposed coercion, so that not one soul should\nbe lost; thinking, perhaps, that his demanded compensation for proposed\nservice might be made in that way all the more abundant.\n\nLucifer Rebels.--The first was chosen; the second rebelled, and was\ncast out, with a third of those then populating the spirit world. That\nthird, following Lucifer, who became Satan, were doomed with him to\nwander up and down the earth, as fallen spirits, tempting and trying\nthe children of men--those who, as a reward for keeping their first\nestate, where they \"walked by sight,\" were given a second estate--the\nprivilege of taking tabernacles, and \"walking by faith\" through the\nshadowed experiences of mortality.\n\nUpon this subject the Prophet Joseph says: \"The contention in heaven\nwas: Jesus said there would be certain souls that would not be saved;\nand the devil said he could save them all, and laid his plans before\nthe grand council, who gave their vote in favor of Jesus Christ. So the\ndevil rose up in rebellion against God, and was cast down with all who\nput up their heads for him\" (\"Compendium,\" page 285).\n\nAdvantage of Having a Body.--Our prophet likewise affirms: \"At the\nfirst organization in heaven we were all present, and saw the Savior\nchosen and appointed, and the plan of salvation made, and we sanctioned\nit. We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure\nbefore God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness\nconsists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his\npunishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man,\nand when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine,\nshowing that he would prefer a swine's body to having none. All beings\nwho have bodies have power over those who have not\" (Ibid, page 288).\n\nTestimony of Moses.--The following passages from our sacred writings\nwill here find place:\n\n\"And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou\nhast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which\nwas from the beginning, and he came before me, saying--Behold, here\nam I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that\none soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me\nthine honor.\n\n\"But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen from the\nbeginning, said unto me--Father, thy will be done, and the glory be\nthine forever.\n\n\"Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to\ndestroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and\nalso, that I should give unto him mine own power: by the power of mine\nOnly Begotten I caused that he should be cast down;\n\n\"And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to\ndeceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as\nmany as would not hearken unto my voice.\" (Moses 4:1-4.)\n\nTestimony of Abraham.--Still more comprehensive are the appended\nparagraphs of a similar glorious revelation:\n\n\"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were\norganized before the world was; and among all these there were many of\nthe noble and great ones;\n\n\"And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst\nof them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among\nthose that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said\nunto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou\nwast born.\n\n \"And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said\nunto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space\nthere, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth\nwhereon these may dwell;\n\n\"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things\nwhatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;\n\n\"And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon: and they who\nkeep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom\nwith those who keep their first estate: and they who keep their second\nestate shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever.\n\n\"And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the\nSon of man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am\nI, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.\n\n\"And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate: and, at that\nday, many followed after him.\" (Book of Abr. 3:22-28.)\n\nTruth Speaks for Itself.--What a sublime presentation! What a wealth of\ndoctrine! What a wonderful scope of prophecy! The whole divine scheme\nfor human progress revealed at a glance! Surely the Book of Abraham,\nwhose authenticity has recently been assailed by Christian scholars,\nand defended by \"Mormon\" writers and speakers, can stand upon its own\nmerits in refutation of any argument brought against it as a divine\nrecord. Who but God could reveal such principles as this marvelous\nbook contains? Who but one inspired of heaven could teach them in so\npure a spirit and in such majestic terms? Truth--eternal truth--speaks\nfor itself: it is not dependent upon books or translators. These are\nbut some of the means used in making it known to the world. It is not\nlimited to time and place. Whether in the catacombs of Egypt, or in the\nmounds of America, whether spoken anciently or modernly,\n\n  \"Truth is truth, where'er 'tis found,\n  On Christian or on heathen ground.\"\n\n\"Mormon\" Philosophy.--Note the sound philosophy of this revelation--the\ndivine proposition to \"make an earth,\" not out of nothing--an absurdity\nput forth by Christian theologians in their teachings relative to the\ncreation--but out of \"materials\" already in existence, eternal spirit\nand eternal matter, as never-ending as space and duration. Then ask\nyourself, reader, if the \"Mormon\" doctrine, set forth in the Book of\nAbraham, is not the only logical, scientific, common-sense presentation\npossible or conceivable in the premises.\n\nNote also that it was the design to \"make an earth;\" the inference\nbeing that this was not the only earth that had been created, nor would\nit be the last.\n\n\"And then the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the\nbeginning, and they, that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens\nand the earth\" (Abr. 4:1).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nCreation of the Earth.\n\nTwo Creations.--There were two creations--the first spiritual, the\nsecond temporal. This truth is taught inferentially in the first and\nsecond chapters of Genesis, King James's Translation; but more plainly\nand pointedly in the Book of Moses, a reproduction of the Book of\nGenesis, revised and amplified by the spirit of revelation in Joseph\nthe Seer. Here is the modern rendering of the passages bearing directly\nupon this point:\n\nAs Related in the Book of Moses.--\"And now, behold, I say unto you,\nthat these are the generations of the heaven and of the earth, when\nthey were created, in the day that I, the Lord God, made the heaven and\nthe earth.\n\n\"And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every\nherb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all\nthings, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally\nupon the face of the earth. For I, the Lord God, had not caused it\nto rain upon the face of the earth. And I, the Lord God, had created\nall the children of men; and not yet a man to till the ground; for in\nheaven created I them; and there was not yet flesh upon the earth,\nneither in the water, neither in the air;\n\n\"But I, the Lord God, spake, and there went up a mist from the earth,\nand watered the whole face of the ground.\n\n\"And I, the Lord God, formed man from the dust of the ground, and\nbreathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living\nsoul, the first flesh upon the earth, the first man also; nevertheless,\nall things were before created; but spiritually were they created and\nmade according to my word.\" (Moses 3:4-7.)\n\nAdam's Incarnation.--In the Book of Abraham the incarnation of Adam is\nthus described:\n\n\"And the Gods formed man from the dust of the ground, and took his\nspirit (that is, the man's spirit) and put it into him; and breathed\ninto his nostrils the breath of life, and man became a living soul\"\n(Abr. 5:7).\n\nPlurality of Worlds.--Regarding this earth and other creations, the\nLord said to Moses:\n\n\"And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for\nmine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only\nBegotten.\n\n\"And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.\n\n\"But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof,\ngive I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed\naway by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and\ninnumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for\nthey are mine and I know them.\"\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying: The heavens they are many,\nand they cannot be numbered unto man; but they are numbered unto me,\nfor they are mine.\n\n\"And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so\nshall another come; and there is no end to my works; neither to my\nwords.\n\n\"For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the\nimmortality and eternal life of man.\"--Moses 1:33-39.\n\nPurposes of Earth Life.--God's purpose, primarily, in placing man\nupon the earth, is to give him a body, a mortal tabernacle, which is\nrendered immortal through death and the resurrection. The spirit and\nthe body constitute the soul. It is the soul that is redeemed from the\ngrave (D&C 88:15,16). It is the soul that goes on to perfection. Man is\nhere also for experience, that he may advance from stage to stage of\ngrowth and development, approximating nearer and nearer to the divine\nideal voiced by the Savior: \"Be ye therefore perfect, even as your\nFather which is in heaven is perfect.\"--Matthew 5:48.\n\nMan on Probation.--There is still another purpose in man's mortal\nexistence, and it is referred to in the Book of Abraham, where the\nCreator, after announcing to \"those who were with him\" the proposed\nmaking of an earth \"whereon these may dwell,\" says: \"And we will prove\nthem herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord\ntheir God shall command.\" Thus we are shown that man while here is on\nprobation, that he may demonstrate his worthiness to inherit the great\nthings held in reserve for the righteous.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nElect of Elohim.\n\n  In solemn council sat the Gods;\n  From Kolob's height supreme,\n  Celestial light blazed forth afar\n  O'er countless kokaubeam;\n  And faintest tinge, the fiery fringe\n  Of that resplendent day,\n  'Lumined the dark abysmal realm\n  Where earth in chaos lay.\n\n  Silence. That awful hour was one\n  When thought doth most avail;\n  Of worlds unborn the destiny\n  Hung trembling in the scale.\n  Silence self-spelled, and there arose,\n  Those kings and priests among,\n  A power sublime, than whom appeared\n  None nobler 'mid the throng.\n\n  A stature mingling strength with grace,\n  Of meek though God-like mien;\n  The glory of whose countenance\n  Outshone the noonday sheen.\n  Whiter his hair than ocean spray,\n  Or frost of Alpine hill.\n  He spake;--attention grew more grave,\n  The stillness e'en more still.\n\n  \"Father!\"--the voice like music fell,\n  Clear as the murmuring flow\n  Of mountain streamlet trickling down\n  From heights of virgin snow.\n  \"Father,\" it said, \"since one must die,\n  Thy children to redeem,\n  From spheres all formless now and void,\n  Where pulsing life shall teem:\n\n  \"And mighty Michael foremost fall,\n  That mortal man may be;\n  And chosen Savior yet must send,\n  Lo, here am I--send me!\n  I ask, I seek no recompense,\n  Save that which then were mine;\n  Mine be the willing sacrifice,\n  The endless glory Thine!\n\n  \"Give me to lead to this lorn world,\n  When wandered from the fold,\n  Twelve legions of the noble ones\n  That now thy face behold;\n  Tried souls, 'mid untried spirits found,\n  That captained these may be,\n  And crowned the dispensations all\n  With powers of Deity.\n\n  \"Who blameless bide the spirit state\n  Shall clothe in mortal clay,\n  The stepping-stone to glories all,\n  If man will God obey,\n  Believing where he cannot see,\n  Till he again shall know,\n  And answer give, reward receive,\n  For all deeds done below.\n\n  \"The love that hath redeemed all worlds\n  All worlds must still redeem;\n  But mercy cannot justice rob--\n  Or where were Elohim?\n  Freedom--man's faith, man's work, God's grace--\n  Must span the great gulf o'er;\n  Life, death, the guerdon or the doom,\n  Rejoice we or deplore.\"\n\n  Still rang that voice, when sudden rose\n  Aloft a towering form,\n  Proudly erect as lowering peak\n  'Lumed by the gathering storm;\n  A presence bright and beautiful,\n  With eye of flashing fire,\n  A lip whose haughty curl bespoke\n  A sense of inward ire:\n\n  \"Send me!\"--coiled 'neath his courtly smile\n  A scarce concealed disdain--\n  \"And none shall hence, from heaven to earth,\n  That shall not rise again;\n  My saving plan exception scorns.\n  Man's will?--Nay, mine alone.\n  As recompense, I claim the right\n  To sit on yonder throne!\n\n  \"Ceased Lucifer. The breathless hush\n  Resumed and denser grew.\n  All eyes were turned; the general gaze\n  One common Magnet drew.\n  A moment there was solemn pause--\n  Listened Eternity,\n  While rolled from lips Omnipotent\n  The Father's firm decree:\n\n  \"Jehovah, thou my Messenger!\n  Son Ahman, thee I send;\n  And one shall go thy face before,\n  While twelve thy steps attend;\n  And many more on that far shore,\n  The pathway shall prepare,\n  That I, the First, the last may come,\n  And earth my glory share.\n\n  \"After and ere thy going down,\n  An army shall descend--\n  The host of God, and house of him\n  Whom I have named my friend.\n  Through him, upon Idumea,\n  Shall come, all life to leaven,\n  The guileless ones, the sovereign Sons,\n  Throned on the heights of heaven.\n\n  \"Go forth, thou Chosen of the Gods,\n  Whose strength shall in thee dwell!\n  Go down betime and rescue earth,\n  Dethroning death and hell,\n  On thee alone man's fate depends,\n  The fate of beings all.\n  Thou shalt not fail, though thou art free--\n  Free, but too great to fall.\n\n  \"By arm divine, both mine and thine,\n  The lost thou shalt restore,\n  And man, redeemed, with God shall be,\n  As God forevermore.\n  Return, and to the parent fold\n  This wandering planet bring,\n  And Earth shall hail thee Conqueror,\n  And Heaven proclaim thee King.\"\n\n  'Twas done. From congregation vast\n  Tumultuous murmurs rose;\n  Waves of conflicting sound, as when\n  Two meeting seas oppose;\n  'Twas finished. But the Heavens wept;\n  And still their annals tell\n  How one was Choice of Elohim,\n  O'er one who fighting fell.\n\n  (\"Elias,\" Canto III, Part One.)\n\n\n\nThe Way of Salvation.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nThe Law of Obedience.\n\nMan Helpless.--When Adam and Eve had transgressed the divine command\nby partaking of the forbidden fruit, it was as if the human race had\nfallen into a pit, from which they were powerless, by any act of\ntheir own, to emerge. They could not climb out, for they did not know\nhow to climb; and even had they known, there was no means by which\nto climb. Human endeavor, unassisted, could accomplish nothing in\nthe way of deliverance. Man in his mortal condition needed spiritual\nenlightenment, having forgotten all that he had previously known. In\nother words, he needed a ladder, that he might climb out of the pit,\nand that ladder was furnished in the revelation, of the Gospel of\nChrist. Without it there is no salvation, no exaltation. The Tower of\nBabel symbolizes the situation: All man's efforts to reach heaven,\nwithout divine assistance, must end in confusion and failure.\n\nRedemption by Grace.--The gospel ladder rests upon the rock of Christ's\natonement--an act of grace, a free gift from God to all mankind--the\nwicked as well as the righteous. All profit by it, for, as the result\nof that atonement, all are brought forth from the grave. And this is\neminently just: Adam's posterity were consigned to death for no deed of\ntheir own doing. It is fitting, therefore, that their redemption should\ncome unconditionally.\n\nSalvation by Obedience.--But redemption is not salvation, nor salvation\nexaltation, as already explained. Men must \"work out their salvation\"\n(Phillipians 2:12), and gain exaltation by continuous upward striving.\nSalvation and exaltation, while depending primarily upon the grace\nof God, are also the fruits of man's acceptance of the gospel, and\nhis steadfast adherence thereto, until it shall have done for him its\nperfect work. There are degrees of glory--\"many mansions\" in the great\nhouse of God, and the highest are reserved for those who render to the\nMaster of the house the fulness of their obedience.\n\n\"Salvation means a man's being placed beyond the power of all his\nenemies. * * * Until a man can triumph over death, he is not saved. *\n* * To get salvation we must not only do some things, but everything\nwhich God has commanded\" (\"Joseph Smith's Teachings,\" pp. 146-150).\n\nHeaven's First Law.--\"Order is heaven's first law,\" says human wisdom.\n\"Not so,\" says divine inspiration, \"obedience is heaven's first law,\nand order follows as the result.\" [A] Without obedience, spiritual\ngrowth, eternal progress, is impossible. Says Joseph the prophet:\n\"There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundation of\nthis world, upon which all blessings are predicated; and when we obtain\nany blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is\npredicated\" (D&C 130:20,21).\n\nIllustrations of Obedience.--That obedience is required from those\nwho become and remain members of the Church of Christ, should not\nsurprise any intelligent student of political science, nor even\na casual observer of the everyday life of men and nations. All\ngovernments demand from their people obedience to the laws enacted\nfor the general welfare. Without such obedience, there would be no\npeace, no protection. This is readily conceded by most men as to human\ngovernments; but some people think it strange that divine government\nshould be administered upon like principles, and for similar, though\nhigher, ends.\n\nA friend of mine once said to me: \"Why do I need to belong to a church,\nto subscribe to a creed, or to undergo any ordinance, in order to be\nsaved? I have always been truthful, honest, virtuous, benevolent--why\nwill this not suffice to make my peace with God and pave my way to\nheaven?\"\n\nAliens and Naturalization.--I answered on this wise: \"Let me use a\ncomparison to illustrate the point. Suppose you were an alien, born in\nGreat Britain, in Scandinavia, or in some other foreign land, and you\ncame to America desiring to become a citizen of the United States. When\ntold that you must take out citizenship papers, forswear allegiance to\nevery foreign power, and honor and uphold the Constitution and laws of\nthis Republic, suppose you were to reply: `Why, what is the need of all\nthat? I am a good man, I have always done right, and am clean, moral,\nand upright in conduct and conversation--why is that not sufficient to\nentitle me to vote, to hold office, pre-empt land, and enjoy all the\nrights and privileges of an American freeman?' Do you think such a plea\nwould avail? No, you do not. You see its inconsistency as quickly as\nwould the government unto whom it might be made. You would not expect\nto become a citizen of the United States upon your own terms. Why,\nthen, should you hope for admittance into God's kingdom upon any other\nconditions than those which the King himself has laid down?\"\n\nMan's Proper Attitude.--Truthfulness, honesty, virtue, and benevolence\nare precious possessions, inestimable treasures. They enrich the soul\nunder all conditions, outside or inside the kingdom of God; but they\nare not valuable enough to purchase a passport into that kingdom. We\nmust not count upon our personal qualities, however admirable and\ncommendable, to gain us admission into the divine presence. Man's\nproper attitude, as a seeker for salvation, is one of humility, not of\nself-righteousness. When the Pharisee and the Publican prayed in the\nTemple at Jerusalem, the former thanking the Lord that he was better\nthan other men, and the latter meekly murmuring: \"God be merciful to\nme, a sinner,\" the Savior, pointing to the Publican, said: That man is\njustified, rather than the other, \"for every one that exalteth himself\nshall be abased, and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted\" (Luke\n18:13,14).\n\nObedience Better Than Sacrifice.--\"Obedience is better than sacrifice.\"\nSo said obedient Samuel to disobedient Saul. Adam's obedience in\noffering sacrifice without knowing why, simply because the Lord had\ncommanded him (Moses 5:6) Abraham's obedience in offering Isaac--for\nthe same reason--was far more precious in the sight of heaven than the\nsacrifice itself. In Abraham's case the will was taken for the deed,\nand the Father of the Faithful was blessed as abundantly as if the\nsacrifice had been consummated.\n\nDead Letter and Living Oracle.--Suppose, however, that Abraham had\nnot obeyed the Lord's second command, \"Lay not thy hand upon the\nlad.\" In that event he would have been in transgression, and could\nnot have been blessed any more than if he had disobeyed in the first\ninstance. In the face of that second command, he could not have pleaded\nconsistently that he was under obligation to obey the first. \"My word\nis my law,\" saith the Lord, and his latest word, even though it seem to\ncontradict an earlier behest from the same source, must always be given\nprecedence. The choice in such a case is between the dead letter and\nthe living oracle.\n\nAll Blessings Come by Obedience.--It is the rod of power which smites\nthe rock of divine providence, causing it to flow with the waters of\nhuman weal.\n\nThe Justice of God.--When the Savior uttered his exhortation: \"Be ye\ntherefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,\"\nand added, \"For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the\ngood, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust\" (Matt. 5:45),\nhe did not mean that the Lord makes no distinction between the two\nclasses; but meant that he is just to both--just even to the unjust,\nupon whom he sends his rain and sunshine, causing their orchards to\nbloom and their vineyards to bear equally with those of the righteous.\nNevertheless, all who receive such blessings must merit them. If the\nunjust (unjust here) had not kept their first estate, thereby showing\nsome degree of obedience to divine law, they would not have been given\na second estate, where the sunlight and the rains could reach them. In\nthis second estate, however, further obedience is requisite, in order\nthat greater benefits may follow.\n\nBlessings Bestowed by Law.--God's blessings are temporal as well as\nspiritual, and their bestowal is regulated by law. A bad man may be\na good farmer or a good artisan, and reap reward for obedience to\nthe law of industry in the exercise of his vocation. But there are\ngreater blessings than those which come from the workshop and the\nharvest field; and they can be had only by obedience to the higher laws\ngoverning their distribution. One cannot become a member of the Church\nof Christ by being an expert tiller of the soil. It requires more than\nthe skill of a mechanic to get into the kingdom of heaven. There is but\none way into that kingdom--a way pointed out by the finger of God--and\nany person who tries to get in by picking the lock or by climbing over\nthe wall, will be treated as a trespasser, as a would-be thief and\nrobber.\n\nWhat Must Man Do for Himself?--What particular acts of obedience are\nrequired of man, in order that God, who redeemed him, may likewise save\nand exalt him? What must he do for himself, that he may profit fully\nby the great things done in his behalf? How shall this alien become\nnaturalized? The ladder having been let down into the pit, how shall\nthe fallen avail himself of the divine assistance offered?\n\nThe answer is plain: He must climb, if he would get out. While there\nwas no ladder, he could not, and all his intelligence and skill were\nunavailing. But now, if he will use his God-given powers and the means\nprovided, he may climb from earth to heaven, round by round. If he\nrefuses to climb, who but himself is responsible for his remaining in\nthe pit?\n\nThe Most Important Personage.--This gospel code--this way into the\nkingdom--what is it? What does it consist of? What are the divine laws\nof naturalization? What requirements are made of those who would be\nidentified with the Church of Christ--who would be saved in this world\nand in the world to come? The man who can answer, to the spiritually\nunenlightened, such questions as these, is easily the most important\npersonage of his generation. Such a man was the Apostle Peter, and such\nanother was the Prophet Joseph Smith.\n\nThe Pentecostal Proclamation.--When Peter, on the day of Pentecost,\npreached \"Christ and him crucified,\" and the conscience-stricken\nmultitude cried out: \"Men and brethren, what shall we do?\" a question\nwas propounded which the most learned philosophers of that age could\nnot answer. Caesar, sitting upon the throne of the world, would have\nbeen mystified had the question been put to him: What shall men do to\nbe saved? Not so Peter, the Galilean fisherman. He knew what men must\ndo, and he straightway told them what to do:\n\n\"Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus\nChrist, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the\nHoly Ghost\" (Acts 2:38).\n\n[Footnote A: An idea advanced by President George Q. Cannon.]\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nFaith.\n\nThe First Requirement.--Faith, however, not repentance, is the first\nrequirement. The probable reason why Peter omitted to mention faith\nat that time, was because he perceived that the multitude already\nhad faith, already believed what he had told them of the crucified\nRedeemer. Had it been otherwise, they would not have been \"pricked in\ntheir heart.\" and would not have anxiously inquired, \"What shall we\ndo?\" Belief was the first requirement made by the Savior, through his\nchosen twelve, when he sent them \"into all the world\" to \"preach the\ngospel to every creature\" (Mark 16:16). He declared salvation dependent\non faith and works: \"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved,\nand he that believeth not shall be damned.\" For faith is shown by works\n(James 2:18), and each is dead without the other.\n\nThe Foundation of All Righteousness.--Faith, according to the Doctrine\nand Covenants, is \"the first principle in revealed religion, and the\nfoundation of all righteousness.\" There are few things more lucid in\nour literature than the Lectures on Faith which form the fore part of\nthat sacred volume--one of the four doctrinal standards of the Church;\nthe other three being the Bible, the Book of Mormon, and the Pearl\nof Great Price. Beginning with the text, \"Now faith is the substance\n[assurance] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen\" (Heb.\n11:1), the lecturer goes on to say:\n\nThe Moving Cause of All Action.--\"If men were duly to consider\nthemselves, and turn their thoughts and reflections to the operations\nof their own minds, they would readily discover that it is faith, and\nfaith only, which is the moving cause of all action in them; that\nwithout it both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and\nall their exertions would cease, both physical and mental.\"\n\n\"Were this class to go back and reflect upon the history of their\nlives, from the period of their first recollection, and ask themselves\nwhat principle excited them to action, or what gave them energy and\nactivity in all their lawful avocations, callings, and pursuits, what\nwould be the answer? Would it not be that it was the assurance which\nthey had of the existence of things which they had not seen as yet?\nWas it not the hope which you had in consequence of your belief in the\nexistence of unseen things, which stimulated you to action and exertion\nin order to obtain them? Are you not dependent on your faith, or\nbelief, for the acquisition of all knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence?\nWould you exert yourselves to obtain wisdom and intelligence, unless\nyou did believe that you could obtain them? Would you have ever sown,\nif you had not believed that you would reap? Would you ever planted,\nif you had not believed that you would gather? Would you have ever\nasked, unless you had believed that you would receive? Would you have\never sought, unless you had believed that you would have found? Or,\nwould have been opened unto you? In a word, is there anything that you\nwould have done, either physical or mental, if you had not previously\nbelieved? Are not all your exertions of every kind, dependent on your\nfaith? Or, may we not ask, what have you, or what do you possess which\nyou have not obtained by reason of your faith? Your food, your raiment,\nyour lodgings, are they not all by reason of your faith? Reflect, and\nask yourselves if these things are not so. Turn your thoughts on your\nown minds, and see if faith is not the moving cause of all action in\nyourselves; and, if the moving cause in you, is it not in all other\nintelligent beings?\" * * * *\n\nA Principle of Power.--\"As we receive by faith all temporal blessings\nthat we do receive, so we in like manner receive by faith all spiritual\nblessings that we do receive. But faith is not only the principle of\naction, but of power also, in all intelligent beings, whether in heaven\nor on earth. Thus says the author of the epistle to the Heb. 11:3:\n`Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word\nof God; so that things which are seen were not made of things which do\nappear.'\n\n\"Had it not been for the principle of faith the worlds would never have\nbeen framed, neither would man have been formed of the dust. It is the\nprinciple by which Jehovah works, and through which he exercises power\nover all temporal as well as eternal things. Take this principle or\nattribute--for it is an attribute--from the Deity, and he would cease\nto exist.\n\n\"Who cannot see, that if God framed the worlds by faith, that it is\nby faith that he exercises power over them, and that faith is the\nprinciple of power? And if the principle of power, must be so in man as\nwell as in the Deity? This is the testimony of all the sacred writers,\nand the lesson which they have been endeavoring to teach to man. * * * *\n\n\"It was by faith that the worlds were framed. God spake, chaos heard,\nand worlds came into order by reason of the faith there was in him. So\nwith man also; he spake by faith in the name of God and the sun stood\nstill, the moon obeyed, mountains removed, prisons fell, lions' mouths\nwere closed, the human heart lost its enmity, fire its violence, armies\ntheir power, the sword its terror, and death its dominion; and all this\nby reason of the faith which was in him.\n\n\"Had it not been for the faith which was in men, they might have spoken\nto the sun, the moon, the mountains, prisons, the human heart, fire,\narmies, the sword, or to death, in vain!\n\n\"Faith, then, is the first great governing principle which has power,\ndominion, and authority over all things; by it they exist, by it they\nremain, agreeable to the will of God. Without it there is no power, and\nwithout power there could be no creation nor existence!\"\n\nA Negative Opinion.--A Christian minister (a Unitarian) once tried to\nconvince me that faith was anything but an admirable quality. He called\nit contemptible, declaring that it consisted simply of a willingness to\nbelieve anything, however improbable or absurd: it was mere credulity,\nnothing more. When I spoke of faith as a spiritual force, he said I\nwas attaching to the term a significance that it had never borne, and\nfor which there was no warrant. I reminded him of the Savior's words\nin Matt. 17:19,20: \"If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye\nshall say unto this mountain, remove hence to yonder place, and it\nshall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you.\" Whereupon he\nanswered flippantly: \"Oh, it takes picks and shovels to move mountains.\"\n\nThe Positive View.--I presume he would have conceded, had I pursued\nthe subject further, that there are other ways of removing mountains.\nI fancy he would have admitted the power of the earthquake in the\npremises; though he might not have agreed with me that all intelligent\naction, human or divine, is the result of faith, and that whether\nmountains are moved with pick-axes or with earthquakes, by man or\nby his Maker, it is faith that precedes the action and renders it\npossible. This professed minister of Christ, who denied what Christ had\ntaught, overlooked the fact that the smallest as well as the greatest\nacts of our lives spring from the exercise of faith.\n\nFaith Fundamental.--God made faith the first principle of the gospel,\nbecause that is its proper place. It is the bottom round in the ladder\nof salvation, the first step in the stairway to perfection. \"All things\nare possible to them that believe.\"\n\n\"As a Grain of Mustard Seed.\"--When the Savior spoke of the faith\nthat \"removes mountains,\" he was not measuring, either satirically or\nhyperbolically, the quantity of the faith by the size of the mustard\nseed. He probably meant that if man would obey the divine law given\nfor his government, as faithfully as the mustard seed obeys the divine\nlaw given for its government, he would have infinitely more power than\nhe now possesses. How difficult it seems for man, \"the noblest work\nof God,\" to live in obedience to the highest principles revealed from\nheaven for his guidance. Yet the earth, we are told, \"abideth the law\nof a celestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and\ntransgresseth not the law\" (D&C 88:25).\n\nFaith and Credulity.--Faith, in its incipient stages, may resemble at\ntimes mere credulity. The untutored savage who was told by one of the\nearly settlers of New England that if he planted grass seed it would\nproduce gunpowder, believed it, not yet having learned that the white\nman would lie. He therefore parted with his valuable furs, in exchange\nfor some of the seed, showing that he had faith in the settler's word.\nBut it did not bring the desired result. Faith, to be effectual,\nmust be based upon truth, and though higher than reason, must have a\nreasonable foundation. The spirit of truth must inspire it. This was\nnot the case with the poor, misguided Indian; he trusted in a falsehood\nand was deceived. But some good came of it. He ascertained the falsity\nof the settler's statement. His faith induced him to plant the seed,\nand though it did not produce gunpowder--that being contrary to its\nnature--it produced a growth of grass-and a wiser Indian.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nFaith, Continued.\n\nFaith Founded on Evidence.--The second of the Lectures on Faith is a\ndiscussion of the object upon which faith should rest; that object\nbeing God, the evidences of whose existence, as the foundation of all\nrational belief, are abundantly shown. Lecture Third contains these\nparagraphs, pertinent to the point now raised:\n\nEssentials for a Perfect Faith.--\"Three things are necessary in order\nthat any rational and intelligent being may exercise faith in God unto\nlife and salvation.\n\n\"First, the idea that he actually exists.\n\n\"Second, a correct idea of his character, perfections, and attributes.\n\n\"Third, an actual knowledge that the course of life which he [man] is\npursuing is according to his [God's] will. For without an acquaintance\nwith these three important facts, the faith of every rational being\nmust be imperfect and unproductive; but with this understanding it\ncan become perfect and fruitful, abounding in righteousness, unto the\npraise and glory of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.\"\n\nPossibilities of Faith.--Had the Indian's faith been properly\nfounded--had it been a perfect faith, intelligent, rational,\nheaven-inspired, he could have produced gunpowder or any other\ncommodity from the all-containing elements around him; and that,\ntoo, without planting a seed or employing an ordinary process of\nmanufacture. The turning of water into wine, the miraculous feeding of\nthe multitude, the walking upon the waves, the healing of the sick,\nthe raising of the dead, and other wonderful works wrought by the\nSavior, the apostles, and the ancient prophets--what were they but\nmanifestations of an all-powerful faith, to possess which is to have\nthe power to remove mountains--without picks and shovels, my skeptical\nUnitarian to the contrary notwithstanding. Such a faith is not mere\ncredulity; it is a divine energy, operating upon natural laws and by\nnatural processes--natural, though unknown to \"the natural man,\" and\ntermed by him supernatural.\n\nThe Universal Mainspring.--Faith is the beating heart of the\nuniverse--the incentive, the impulse, to all action, the mainspring\nof all achievement. Nothing was ever accomplished, small or great,\ncommonplace or miraculous, that was not backed up by confidence in\nsome power, human or superhuman, that impelled and pushed forward the\nenterprise.\n\nAn Impelling Force.--It was not doubt that drove Columbus across the\nsea; it was faith--the impelling force of the Spirit of the Lord (1\nNe. 13:12). It was not doubt that nerved the arm and fired the soul of\nWashington, inducing him and his ragged regiments to fight on through\nheat, frost, and hunger of seven long years, to win their country's\nfreedom. It was not doubt that inspired Hamilton, Jefferson, Franklin,\nand the other patriot fathers, to lay broad and deep the foundations of\nthis mighty republic. It is not doubt that has caused nations to rise\nand flourish, and raised up great men in all ages and in all climes,\nto teach, toil, and sacrifice for the benefit of mankind. It is faith\nthat does such things. Doubt undoes, or hinders, what faith achieves.\nThe men and women who have moved this world were men and women who\nbelieved, who were earnest and sincere, even if in part mistaken.\n\nMahomet and Islam.--Carlyle portrays vividly the wondrous transition\nfrom weakness to strength that came over the descendants of Ishmael,\nwhen they became a believing nation, abandoning idolatry, and accepting\nAllah as their god, with Mahomet as his prophet:\n\n\"To the Arab nation it was as a birth from darkness into light;\nArabia first became alive by means of it. A poor shepherd people\nroaming unnoticed in its deserts since the creation of the world; a\nhero-prophet was sent down to them with a word they could believe; see,\nthe unnoticed becomes world-notable, the small has become world-great;\nwithin one century afterwards Arabia is at Granada on this hand, at\nDelhi on that--glancing in valor and splendor and the light of genius,\nArabia shines through long ages over a great section of the world.\nBelief is great, life-giving. The history of a nation becomes fruitful,\nsoul-elevating, great, so soon as it believes. These Arabs, the man\nMahomet, and that one century--is it not as if a spark had fallen, one\nspark, on a world of what seemed black, unnoticeable sand; but lo,\nthe sand proves explosive powder, blazes heaven-high from Delhi to\nGranada! I said, the great man was always as lightning out of heaven;\nthe rest of men waited for him like fuel, and then they too would\nflame.\"--(\"Heroes and Hero Worship,\" Lecture II.)\n\nAchievements of Christendom.--Who can doubt that this same philosophy\napplies to Christendom and its marvelous achievements, all down the\ncenturies? Is it not faith in the divine Nazarene that has caused\nChristian nations to thrive, that has enabled Christianity, in spite of\nits errors, to flourish, to survive the wreck of empires and weather\nthe storms of time? Was not Christ indeed as \"lightning out of heaven,\"\nsent down to kindle and illumine the world, and has not the world been\nwarmer and brighter for his coming? Is it not the faith of any nation,\nits trust in and reliance upon some power deemed by it divine, that\nconstitutes its main strength?\n\nFaith Must Be Genuine.--But faith must be genuine. Pretense and\nformalism will not avail. Hypocrisy is the worst form of unbelief.\nHonest idolatry is infinitely preferable to dishonest worship. Better\nburn incense to Diana, believing it to be right, than bow down to\nChrist in hollow-hearted insincerity. Mighty Rome did not fall, until\nshe had ceased to worship sincerely the gods enshrined within her\nPantheon. Glorious Greece did not succumb, until she had proved false\nto her ancient faith, until her believers had become doubters, until\nskeptical philosophy had supplanted religious enthusiasm, and the\nworship of freedom, grace, and beauty had degenerated to unbridled\nlicense and groveling sensuality. No nation ever crumbled to ruin until\nfalse to itself, false to the true principles of success, the basic one\nof which is to believe.\n\nThe Articles of Faith.--What should Latter-day Saints believe? I can\nthink of no better answer to this question than is contained in the\nArticles of Faith, formulated by the Prophet Joseph Smith soon after\nthe Church of Christ was organized in this dispensation:\n\n\"1. We believe in God the Eternal Father, and in his Son Jesus Christ,\nand in the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"2. We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not\nfor Adam's transgression.\n\n\"3. We believe that through the atonement of Christ all men may be\nsaved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.\n\n\"4. We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel\nare:--First, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third,\nbaptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of\nhands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"5. We believe that a man must be called of God by prophecy, and by the\nlaying on of hands, by those who are in authority, to preach the gospel\nand administer in the ordinances thereof.\n\n\"6. We believe in the same organization that existed in the primitive\nchurch, viz.: apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.\n\n\"7. We believe in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions,\nhealing, interpretation of tongues, etc.\n\n\"8. We believe the Bible to be the word of God, as far as it is\ntranslated correctly; we also believe the Book of Mormon to be the word\nof God.\n\n\"9. We believe all that God has revealed, all that he does now reveal,\nand we believe that he will yet reveal many great and important things\npertaining to the kingdom of God.\n\n\"10. We believe in the literal gathering of Israel and in the\nrestoration of the Ten Tribes; that Zion will be built upon this\ncontinent; that Christ will reign personally upon the earth: and that\nthe earth will be renewed and receive its paradisaical glory.\n\n\"11. We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the\ndictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege,\nlet them worship how, where, or what they may.\n\n\"12. We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers and\nmagistrates, in obeying, honoring and sustaining the law.\n\n\"13. We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous,\nand in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the\nadmonition of Paul, We believe all things, we hope all things, we have\nendured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there\nis anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we\nseek after these things.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nRepentance.\n\nThe First Fruit of Faith.--The first fruit of faith is repentance.\nRepentance follows faith as naturally as kindness follows love, as\nobedience springs from reverence, as a desire to be congenial with,\nsucceeds admiration for, one whose example is deemed worthy of\nemulation. God commands all men everywhere to repent. A desire to\nplease him and become acceptable in his sight, leads the soul of faith\nof repentance.\n\nA Gift from God.--No repentance is possible, however, without the\nSpirit of the Lord, which \"giveth light to every man that cometh into\nthe world\" (D&C 84:45-47). This is what makes repentance, no less than\nfaith, a gift from God. When his Spirit ceases to strive with men, they\nno longer desire to repent, and are delivered over to the buffetings\nof Satan. They deliver themselves over to those buffetings. They make\ntheir choice between the spirit of good and the spirit of evil, both of\nwhich are in the world, influencing the spirit of man, and they receive\ntheir wages from the master whom they list to obey.\n\nThe Spirit of God and the Holy Ghost.--A distinction should be drawn\nbetween the Spirit \"that enlighteneth every man,\" and the Holy Ghost,\nwhose gifts are given to members of the Church of Christ. The former\nis an influence, proceeding from the Divine Presence; the latter a\npersonage, one of the Godhead, concerning whom the Prophet Joseph says:\n\"The Father has a body of flesh and bones, as tangible as man's; the\nSon also; but the Holy Ghost is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so\nthe Holy Ghost could not dwell in us\" (D&C 130:22).\n\nThe Prophet says further upon this subject: \"There is a difference\nbetween the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Cornelius\nreceived the Holy Ghost before he was baptized, which was the\nconvincing power of God unto him of the truth of the gospel, but he\ncould not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, until after he was\nbaptized. Had he not taken this sign or ordinance upon him, the\nHoly Ghost which convinced him of the truth of God would have left\nhim.\"--(\"Joseph Smith's Teachings,\" p. 69.)\n\nReal Repentance.--Repentance is not that superficial sorrow felt by a\ncriminal when caught in the act of wrong-doing--a sorrow not for sin,\nbut for sin's detection, for being taken in transgression. Chagrin\nis not repentance. Mortification and shame, alone, bring no change\nof heart toward right living or right feeling. Repentance involves\nremorse; but even remorse is not all there is to repentance. In its\nhighest meaning and fullest measure, repentance is equivalent to\nreformation--a resolve to \"sin no more,\" backed by conduct consistent\nwith such a determination. \"Repentance is a thing that cannot be\ntrifled with every day. Daily transgression and daily repentance is\nnot that which is pleasing in the sight of God\" (\"Joseph Smith's\nTeachings,\" p. 136). \"By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his\nsins. Behold, he will confess them and forsake them\" (D&C 58:43). This\nis a real, genuine repentance. All who truly repent can be forgiven.\nThese, and these alone, are ready for the cleansing process--baptism\nfor the remission of sins. Without repentance, there is no forgiveness,\nand consequently no remission of sins.\n\nDamnation No Part of the Gospel.--Damnation is no part of the gospel.\nDamnation or condemnation is simply the sad alternative, the inevitable\nconsequence of rejecting the means of escape. When men hear the gospel\nand refuse to obey it, the come under condemnation. This cannot be\nhelped. God would save them, but they will not be saved. They are free\nagents, and they damn themselves. Says Joseph the prophet: \"When God\noffers knowledge or a gift to a man, and he refuses to receive it,\nhe will be damned.\" Not because God wishes to damn him, but because\ndamnation is inevitable when one rejects the offer of salvation.\n\nSin, a Wilful Transgression of Law.--A man sins when he goes contrary\nto light and knowledge--that is, contrary to the light and knowledge\nthat has come to him. One may blunder in ignorance, and suffer painful\nconsequences; but one does not sin unless one knows better than to do\nthe thing in which the sin consists.\n\nCarlyle on Repentance.--\"Of all acts,\" says Carlyle, \"is not, for a\nman, repentance the most divine? The deadliest sin, I say, were that\nsame supercilious consciousness of no sin;--that is death; the heart so\nconscious is divorced from sincerity, humility and fact; is dead: it is\n'pure' as dead dry sand is pure.\"--\"Heroes and Hero-Worship,\" Lecture\nII.\n\nCondemnation Measured by Culpability.--They who refuse to repent will\nbe damned; they damn themselves by that refusal. But damnation is not\nnecessarily permanent, and like salvation or exaltation, it exists in\ndegrees. The degree of condemnation is according to the measure of\nculpability in those condemned. Even the damned, who repent, can be\nsaved.\n\nSome Souls Incapable of Repentance.--Some sinners cannot repent. Their\nsins are of such a heinous character as to preclude it. The spirit of\nrepentance cannot lay hold upon them. T heir conduct has so grieved\nit, that it is completely withdrawn. Consequently they cannot repent,\nand that is what makes their case hopeless. If they could repent, they\ncould be forgiven; but not being able to repent, the pardoning power\ncannot reach them. There would be no unpardonable sin if all sinners\nwere capable of repentance. Those who cannot repent, who have committed\nthe sin unpardonable, are called sons of perdition.\n\nA Hint from Shakespeare.--Apropos of the inability to repent,\nShakespeare gives a philosophic hint in his tragedy of \"Hamlet.\"\nClaudius, brother to the king of Denmark, has murdered the king\nin order to obtain his crown and queen. But remorse gnaws at the\nmurderer's conscience--not a godly remorse, leading to repentance,\nbut the terror that guilty souls feel at the prospect of judgment and\nretribution. Claudius kneels to pray, but can only pray with his lips,\nhis heart being far from God. It is therefore no prayer at all. \"The\nsoul's sincere desire\" is lacking.\n\n  \"My words fly up, my thoughts remain below;\n  Words without thoughts never to heaven go.\"\n\nSo says the murderous monarch, as he rises from his knees. Prior to\nhis ineffectual attempt to supplicate the Throne of Grace, he thus\nsoliloquizes:\n\n  \"My fault is past. But O what form of prayer\n  Can serve my turn? 'Forgive me my foul murder?'\n  That cannot be, since I am still possessed\n  Of those effects for which I did the murder,\n  My crown, mine own ambition, and my queen.\n  May one be pardoned and retain the offense?\n  * * * * * *\n  \"Try what repentance can: what can it not?\n  Yet what can it when one can not repent?\"\n  (\"Hamlet,\" Act. III, Scene III.)\n\nThe unpardonable sin involves utter recreancy to divine light and\npower previously possessed. It is the sin against the Holy Ghost; but\none must first receive the Holy Ghost before he is capable of sinning\nagainst it. Such a sin can be committed only by men who have been\nequipped with every qualification for celestial glory.\n\nThe Sons of Perdition.--\"Thus saith the Lord, concerning all those who\nknow my power, and have been made partakers there of, and suffered\nthemselves, through the power of the devil, to be overcome, and to deny\nthe truth and defy my power--\n\n\"They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had\nbeen better for them never to have been born,\n\n\"For they are vessels of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with\nthe devil and his angels in eternity;\n\n\"Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor\nin the world to come,\n\n\"Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and having\ndenied the Only Begotten Son of the Father--having crucified him unto\nthemselves, and put him to an open shame.\n\n\"They are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone,\nwith the devil and his angels,\n\n\"And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any power;\n\n\"Wherefore, he saves all except them.\" (D.&C. 76:31-37,44.)\n\nThe Saved and Glorified.--But the saved are rewarded according to their\nworks. The glorified differ like the sun, moon, and stars, typifying,\nrespectively, celestial, terrestrial, and telestial conditions. They\nwho cannot abide any of these conditions, \"are not meet for a kingdom\nof glory,\" and the utterly disobedient, who will to abide in sin, are\nfated to \"remain filthy still\" (D&C 88:22-35).\n\nThe Celestial Glory.--The inheritors of celestial exaltation, the\nhighest degree of glory, are they who render to the Great Giver the\nfulness of their obedience, manifesting a willingness to lay all upon\nthe altar at his bidding. In short, \"to do all things whatsoever the\nLord their God shall command them\" (Abr. 3:25).\n\n\"They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his\nname and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in\nthe water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he\nhas given,\n\n\"That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed\nfrom all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of\nhands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power.\n\n\"And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of\npromise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and\ntrue.\n\n\"They are they who are the Church of the first born.\n\n\"They are they into whose hands the Father has given all things--\n\n\"They are they who are Priests and Kings, who have received of his\nfulness, and of his glory,\n\n\"And are Priests of the Most High, after the order to Melchizedek,\nwhich was after the order of Enoch, which was after the order of the\nOnly Begotten Son;\n\n\"Wherefore, as it is written, they are Gods, even the sons of God--\n\n\"Wherefore all things are theirs, whether life or death, or things\npresent, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ's and\nChrist is God's. * * *\n\n\"These shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ for ever and\never.\n\n\"These are they whom he shall bring with him, when he shall come in the\nclouds of heaven, to reign on the earth over his people.\n\n\"These are they who shall have part in the first resurrection.\n\n\"These are they who shall come forth in the resurrection of the just. *\n* *\n\n\"These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the\nsun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of\nthe firmament is written of as being typical.\"--(D.&C. 76:51-59, 62-65,\n70.)\n\nThe Terrestrial Glory.--They who receive not the gospel here, but\nreceive it hereafter; they who die without law; also \"honorable men of\nthe earth, blinded by the craftiness of men;\"--\n\n\"These are they who receive of his glory, but not of his fulness;\n\n\"These are they who receive of the presence of the Son, but not of the\nfulness of the Father;\n\n\"Wherefore they are bodies terrestrial, and not bodies celestial, and\ndiffer in glory as the moon differs from the sun.\n\n\"These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus;\nwherefore they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.\" (D.&\nC. 76:76-79.)\n\nThe Telestial World.--Concerning the inhabitants of the telestial\nworld, it is written:\n\n\"These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the\ntestimony of Jesus.\n\n\"These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit.\n\n\"These are they who are thrust down to hell.\n\n\"These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil, until the\nlast resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have\nfinished his work.\n\n\"These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world,\nbut of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial:\n\n\"And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels\nwho are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be\nministering spirits for them, for they shall be heirs of salvation. * *\n*\n\n\"These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers and\nwhoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie.\n\n\"These are they who suffer the wrath of God on the earth.\n\n\"These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire.\n\n\"These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of\nAlmighty God, until the fulness of times when Christ shall have subdued\nall enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work. * * *\n\n\"And they shall be servants of the Most High, but where God and Christ\ndwell they cannot come, worlds without end.\" (D.&C. 76:82-88, 103-106,\n112.)\n\n\"And the glory of the celestial is one, even as the glory of the sun is\none.\n\n\"And the glory of the terrestrial is one, even as the glory of the moon\nis one.\n\n\"And the glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars\nis one, for as one star differs from another star in glory, even so\ndiffers one from another in glory in the telestial world.\" (D.&C.\n76:96-98; 1 Cor. 15:40,41.)\n\nA Nautical Illustration.--Thirty years ago I was crossing the Atlantic\non an ocean liner. I was a first cabin passenger, and besides myself\nthere were forty or fifty others in that part of the vessel. The second\ncabin had about twice as many passengers, and in the steerage were\nseveral hundred more. I found that the first cabin berths--secured by a\nfortunate few--were not only the best furnished, but the most favorably\nsituated for comfort, convenience, and safety. The food was of the\nchoicest, every possible courtesy was shown to the passengers, and they\nhad the full freedom of the ship. They might go down into the second\ncabin, or lower down, into the steerage, at will, and return without\nhindrance or question. They had paid for these privileges, and were\ntherefore entitled to them. The captain and other officers were their\nassociates.\n\nIt was different in the second cabin. There the food was not so good,\nthe berths were not so comfortable, and the privileges were fewer.\nThe passengers there might descend into the steerage, but were not\npermitted upon the upper deck. In the steerage, conditions were even\nless favorable. The food was still poorer, and the restrictions yet\nmore rigid. The occupants of that section were not allowed even in the\nsecond cabin. Having paid only for steerage accommodations, these were\nall they could consistently claim.\n\nViewing the situation, I said to myself, What a striking analogy of\nthe final destiny of the human race, as set forth in the revelations\nof God! All men rewarded according to their works, and saved according\nto their merits in the eternal mansions of the Father! And I then and\nthere resolved anew that I would be a first cabin passenger on the good\nship Zion, over the ocean of life, into the haven of celestial glory.\n\nMen's Desires a Basis of Judgment.--At a date subsequent to February\n16, 1832, when Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon received that wonderful\nvision, portraying the celestial, terrestrial and telestial glories,\nthe heavens were again opened to the Prophet, who thus describes what\nhe saw:\n\n\"I beheld the celestial kingdom of God, and the glory thereof, whether\nin the body or out I cannot tell. I saw the transcendent beauty of the\ngate through which the heirs of that kingdom will enter, which was like\nunto circling flames of fire; also the blazing throne of God, whereon\nwas seated the Father and the Son. I saw the beautiful streets of that\nkingdom, which had the appearance of being paved with gold. I saw\nFathers Adam and Abraham, and my father and mother, my brother, Alvin,\nthat has long since slept, and marveled how it was that he had obtained\nan inheritance in that kingdom, seeing that he had departed this life\nbefore the Lord had set His hand to gather Israel the second time, and\nhad not been baptized for the remission of sins.\n\n\"Thus came the voice of the Lord unto me, saying--\n\n\"All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have\nreceived it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the\ncelestial kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without\na knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts,\nshall be heirs of that kingdom, for I, the Lord, will judge all men\naccording to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.\n\n\"And I also beheld that all children who die before they arrive at the\nyears of accountability, are saved in the celestial kingdom of heaven.\"\n(History of the Church, Vol. 2, p. 380.)\n\nGrades of Celestial Glory.--The Prophet also taught that there are\ngrades of glory, even in the celestial kingdom; his exact language\nbeing: \"In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees\" (D&C\n131:1).\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nWater and Spirit Birth.\n\nThe Initial Ceremony.--As faith is the first principle of the gospel\nof Christ, so baptism is the initial ceremony. Baptism is twofold,\ncorresponding to the soul, its subject, which is both spiritual and\ntemporal. It signifies for that soul rebirth and illumination.\n\n\"Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.\"\n\n\"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into\nthe kingdom of God\" (John 3:3,5).\n\nSo said the King of that kingdom, the only One empowered to prescribe\nconditions upon which men might become his subjects, or his fellow\ncitizens, in that heavenly common-wealth where he shines first and\nforemost among the sons of God.\n\nJesus to Nicodemus.--Jesus, when he uttered those words, was speaking\nto Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews, a Pharisee, and, as some suppose,\na member of the Sanhedrim. Favorably inclined toward the unpopular\nNazarene, yet too politic to be seen associating with him openly,\nNicodemus came to him by night, avowing a belief that he was \"a teacher\ncome from God.\" In response to this confession of faith, Jesus taught\nNicodemus the doctrine embodied in the lines I have quoted.\n\nA Subject of Controversy.--\"Except a man be born of water and of the\nSpirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.\" Probably no theme\nconnected with the gospel of Christ has caused more controversy than\nthis positive and important declaration, the meaning of which, however\nplain to Christians anciently, has been a matter of uncertainty to\ntheir successors all down the centuries. From the days of the early\nGreek fathers of the Christian Church, to the days of St. Augustine,\nthe great theologian of the Western or Roman Catholic division of that\nchurch; from his time to the time of Luther and Calvin, and thence on\ninto the present age, men have disputed over the significance of those\nsacred words, over the mystical birth of water and of spirit, declared\nby the world's Redeemer to be the doorway to his Church, the portal of\nadmittance into his kingdom.\n\nWhat is Baptism?--Over the general meaning of the phrase, \"born of\nwater and of the Spirit,\" there may have been no serious contention. In\nall or most of the Christian denominations, Catholic and Protestant,\nthat phrase means baptism, the ordinance whereby a person is initiated\ninto the Church. But what does baptism mean? That is the problem. The\nsignificance, form, purpose, and effects of the ordinance, and whether\nor not it is necessary to salvation--these questions have furnished\nthe backbone of the controversy. And yet they are questions easily\nanswered, problems readily solved, if we take the Holy Spirit for our\nguide, and wrest not the Scriptures.\n\nThe Savior's Example.--The New Testament teaches plainly the necessity\nof baptism. The words of Jesus, already quoted, may be reinforced by\nthe following passages:\n\n\"Then cometh Jesus from Galilee to Jordan unto John, to be baptized of\nhim.\n\n\"But John forbade Him, saying, I have need to be baptized of thee, and\ncomest thou to me?\n\n\"And Jesus, answering, said unto him: Suffer it to be so now, for thus\nit becometh us to fulfil all righteousness. Then he suffered him.\"\n(Matthew 3:13-15.)\n\nA Universal Requirement.--If it was becoming in the Son of God to be\nbaptized, it is becoming in all who follow in his footsteps and hope\nto be with him hereafter. They must be baptized with the baptism that\nhe was baptized with--not only the baptism of suffering, through which\n\"the captain of our salvation\" was \"made perfect,\" but the baptism of\nwater and of spirit, received by him at the River Jordan, nineteen\ncenturies ago.\n\nKing and Subject.--Can you conceive of a kingdom in which the king\nis required to obey the laws ordained for its government, while his\nsubjects are not required to obey them? Far more likely, is it not,\nthat the king, rather than the subject, would be exempt from such\nobedience? But the laws of God's kingdom are just and impartial,\nbearing with equal pressure upon all. \"The Son doeth nothing but what\nhe hath seen the Father do;\" nor does he require of us what he himself\nis not willing to render. \"Follow me,\" is the watchward of his mission,\nand it applies to baptism as much as to anything.\n\nTo Fulfil All Righteousness.--True, baptism is \"for the remission\nof sins\" (Mark 1:4; Acts 2:38) and Jesus \"grew up without sin unto\nsalvation.\" Hence, there was no sin in him to remit. Why, then, was he\nbaptized? John saw this point when Jesus presented himself for baptism:\n\"I have need to be baptized of thee, and comest thou to me?\" While we\ncannot impute sin to the sinless, and say that Jesus was baptized, like\nan ordinary man, for the remission of his sins, we can and should take\nhim at his word, that it was becoming in him, and is becoming in us, to\nbe baptized, in order \"to fulfil all righteousness.\"\n\nNecessity of Baptism Not Obviated by Christ's Baptism.--Some hold that\nJesus was baptized vicariously for original sin, the sin of the world,\nresulting from the transgression of Adam. That load of guilt, it is\nargued, had to be remitted, and hence the Savior, who had taken the\nburden upon him, was baptized that it might be washed away. I cannot\nvouch for the correctness of that view; but this I know: The baptism\nof Jesus did not obviate the necessity of baptism, any more than his\nsuffering of the pangs of every man, woman and child (2 Ne.9:21, 22),\ndid away with human suffering. Men still suffer, notwithstanding that\ninfinite atonement--necessary, in order that the resurrection might\npass upon all men. And they must still be baptized for the remission\nof their own sins, notwithstanding the baptism of \"the Lamb of God,\nwhich taketh away the sin of the world\" (John 1:29). Christ plainly\ntaught, after his own baptism, the necessity of baptism as a universal\nrequirement, obligatory upon all capable of faith and repentance.\n\nLittle Children Exempt.--The only class exempt are infants, or children\nyoung enough to be without sin. Obviously they cannot repent, and are\ntherefore not fit subjects for baptism. Jesus said: \"Suffer the little\nchildren to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of such is the\nkingdom of heaven.\" Again: \"Except ye humble yourselves and become as\nthis little child, ye shall in no wise enter the kingdom of heaven.\"\nThis shows not only that little children are sinless, but that they\nare types of the innocence and purity required of men and women, who,\nbecause not sinless, must be baptized and have their sins remitted,\nbefore they can enter into that kingdom where no sin, no uncleanness,\ncan come. For this cause--that men and women must \"become as little\nchildren\" before entering there--baptism, the doorway, is compared to a\nbirth, the entry of an infant into life. For this reason also, converts\nto Christ in ancient times were referred to as \"new-born babes.\" Peter\nso styled them (2:2); and the first principles of the gospel, those\neasiest to comprehend, to mentally digest, were termed both by him and\nby Paul, \"the milk of the word,\" in contradistinction to \"the meat of\nthe word\"--advanced principles and mysteries (1 Pet. 2:2; Heb. 5:12-14;\n1 Cor. 3:2). The effect of baptism is to make men childlike, not in\nignorance, nor in physical weakness, but in innocence and humility.\n\nMormon to Moroni.--Upon this theme Mormon writes thus to his son\nMoroni, voicing the word of the Lord:\n\n\"Listen to the words of Christ, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God.\nBehold, I came into the world not to call the righteous, but sinners\nto repentance; the whole need no physician, but they that are sick;\nwherefore little children are whole, for they are not capable of\ncommitting sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me,\nthat it hath no power over them; and the law of circumcision is done\naway in me.\n\n\"And after this manner did the Holy Ghost manifest the word of God unto\nme; wherefore my beloved son, I know that it is solemn mockery before\nGod, that ye should baptize little children.\n\n\"Behold, I say unto you, that this thing shall ye teach, repentance and\nbaptism unto those who are accountable and capable of committing sin;\nyea, teach parents that they must repent, and be baptized, and humble\nthemselves as their little children. * * *\n\n\"Little children cannot repent; wherefore it is awful wickedness to\ndeny the pure mercies of God unto them, for they are alive in him\nbecause of his mercy. * * * The power of redemption cometh on all them\nthat have no law; wherefore, he that is not condemned, or he that is\nunder no condemnation, cannot repent; and unto such baptism availeth\nnothing.\" (Moroni 8:8-10, 19, 22.)\n\nChildren Become Accountable.--As children advance in years, however,\nthey become accountable, and then, like adults, they must yield\nobedience to the requirements of the gospel. The Lord explained this\nmatter to Adam in these words:\n\n\"Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin\nto grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter,\nthat they may know to prize the good.\n\n\"And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are\nagents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and\ncommandment.\n\n\"Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must\nrepent, or they can in no wise inherit the kingdom of God, for no\nunclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the\nlanguage of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only\nBegotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who\nshall come in the meridian of time.\n\n\"Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely\nunto your children, saying:\n\n\"That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth\ndeath, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water and blood,\nand the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul,\neven so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and\nof the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only\nBegotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words\nof eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come,\neven immortal glory;\n\n\"For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are\njustified, and by the blood ye are sanctified.\" (Moses 6:55-60.)\n\nEarly Christian Views.--The earliest Christians did not doubt the\nnecessity of baptism. On the contrary, they strongly insisted upon it,\nas indispensable to a saved condition. During the Patristic age--that\nof the early fathers, following the apostles--the conviction that\nno soul could be saved without baptism was so firm that it led to\npedobaptism--the baptism of infants, and to other innovations upon\nthe primitive faith. It was seen that infants could not believe in\nChrist, nor repent of sins that they had not committed; but it was\nheld that the church, or those who stood sponsor for the little ones,\ncould believe for them, and they were baptized for original sin, the\nsin of Adam, which they were supposed to have inherited. Peter's words\nin promising the Holy Ghost: \"For the promise is unto you and to your\nchildren\" (Acts 2:39), were construed to sustain infant baptism. It was\neven assumed that the Savior authorized it in saying, \"Suffer little\nchildren to come unto me,\" the inference being that they could come\nunto him only by baptism.\n\nPedobaptism.--Holders of these ideas have never explained why infant\nbaptism did not become prevalent until two or three centuries after\nChrist, and why such eminent Christians of the fourth century as\nGregory, of Nazianzum, the son of a bishop; Basil the Great, of\nCappadocia; Chrysostom of Antioch, and Augustine of Numidia--whose\nmothers were the most pious of Christians--were not baptized until\nthey were over thirty years of age. Paul's affirmation that \"children\nare holy\" (1 Cor. 7:14), the Savior's declaration, \"Of such is the\nkingdom of heaven,\" and Mormon's words to Moroni, already cited, are\na sufficient answer to the assumption that children under the age of\naccountability have need to be baptized. Those who introduced the\npractice of baptizing infants for original sin, overlooked the fact\nthat Christ atoned for original guilt, and that men are accountable for\ntheir own sins and not for Adam's transgression.\n\nOther Innovations.--One innovation led to another, though the next\nrelated to adults. What was to become of martyrs, who had shed their\nblood in defense of the church, or for its sake, but had never\nconfessed Christ nor been baptized? Were they to be damned? Oh, no;\nfor their benefit another doctrine was introduced; they were held to\nhave been baptized in their own blood. Finally, out of deference to\nthe claims of a far more numerous class--worthy men and women, many of\nwhom had lived and died before the Christian Church was founded, while\nothers, though living contemporaneously with it, were never reached\nby its missionaries--the idea gradually obtained that baptism was not\nessential to salvation. All of which might have been obviated, and the\nChurch spared much ridicule and skepticism--the result of its ramblings\nand inconsistencies--had it kept the key to the situation--namely,\nbaptism for the dead.\n\nGradual Growth of a Heresy.--The idea that baptism is nonessential did\nnot become fixed and popular until many centuries after the apostles\nfell asleep. Saint Augustine, who figured in the latter part of the\nfourth and the first half of the fifth century after Christ, and\nwho advanced the notion that water baptism was \"the outward sign of\nan inward grace,\" the external emblem of internal sanctification,\nheld, nevertheless, that no soul could be saved without it--not even\ninfants; though their condemnation, resulting from non-baptism, would\nbe of the mildest character. Augustine's concept of baptism, with some\nmodifications, is the doctrine of the Roman Catholic Church, and of the\northodox Protestant churches, at the present time. Luther held baptism\nto be essential to salvation; Calvin and Zwingli did not; and there,\nin the sixteenth century, it appears, began the schism of opinion\nconcerning it that divides Christendom today.\n\nBaptism for the Dead.--That baptism is required from all capable of\nexercising faith and manifesting repentance is shown by the fact that\nprovision is made in the gospel for the baptism of those who pass away\nwithout being baptized for themselves. In the spirit world, where the\ngospel is preached and the powers of the priesthood are exercised,\nfaith and repentance are possible--but baptism is not, it being an\noutward ordinance, having to do with a temporal element--water--and\ntherefore to be administered in a temporal world. Since it is the soul\nthat is baptized, not the spirit alone, baptism is impracticable in the\nworld of spirits.\n\nSpirits in Prison.--Peter's testimony concerning Christ's preaching\nto \"the spirits in prison\" during the interval between his death and\nresurrection--spirits disobedient in the days of Noah, swept off by the\ndeluge, and immured in eternal dungeons to await a day of deliverance;\nthe apostle's figurative use of the ark and flood as symbols of\nbaptism, that \"doth also now save us;\" and his further statement that\n\"for this cause was the gospel also preached to them that are dead,\nthat they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live\naccording to God in the spirit,\" are too well known to need dwelling\nupon (1 Pet.3:18-21;4:6).\n\nVicarious Baptism During and After Paul's Time.--That baptism for\nthe dead was practiced in the Church of Christ during Paul's time is\nevident from his oft-quoted words: \"Else what shall they do which are\nbaptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then\nbaptized for the dead?\" (1 Cor. 15:29). That the practice continued\nafter Paul's time, among some of the Christians of Asia, we learn from\nEpiphanius, a writer of the fourth century. It was forbidden by the\nCouncil of Carthage, A. D. 397.\n\nVicarious work, when authorized of God, is acceptable to him. This\nshould not startle the Christian mind, when it is remembered that\nthe whole fabric of Christianity rests upon the vicarious work done\nby Jesus Christ for the redemption and salvation of those who were\npowerless to redeem and save themselves. Men cannot answer by proxy\nfor the deeds done in the body, but there have always been ceremonies\nin the Church of Christ that one person might perform for another. The\npriest who ministers in behalf of the people is a type of the Great\nMediator, \"our only access unto God.\"\n\nIf baptism had not been essential to salvation, Christ would not have\ntold Nicodemus what he did; the apostles would not have been sent to\n\"baptize all nations;\" Peter, Paul, and other servants of God, would\nnot have commanded Jews and Gentiles to be baptized, nor would they\nhave emphasized the necessity of baptism in their writings. Moreover,\nthey would not have troubled themselves about baptism for the dead, had\nit not been necessary for man's eternal welfare.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nPurpose and Effects of Baptism.\n\nFor the Remission of Sins.--Baptism is the divinely instituted process\nby which sins, when truly repented of, are remitted; that is, forgiven\nand washed away. All men have sinned; and in order to bring them back\ninto his pure presence, where nothing sinful can come, it is necessary\nthat they first be cleansed from sin. Water baptism is the beginning of\nthe cleansing process.\n\nMeans and Accessories.--Water, of itself, cannot, of course, wash away\nsin. It was not water that cleansed Naaman of his leprosy. It was his\nobedience to the prophet who directed him to go and dip seven times in\nthe Jordan. Had he dipped but once, or but six times, his leprosy would\nstill have clung to him. But he did as he was told--dipped seven times,\nand his faith, shown by his obedience, worked the cure, bringing down\nthe power of God for that purpose. The water was the medium through\nwhich the power operated. Likewise, when Christ anointed the eyes of\nthe blind man, causing him to see, it was faith--the power of God--that\nwrought the miracle; but the clay used was an accessory, as consecrated\noil was (James 5:14,15) and is still, in the healing ordinance of the\nChurch.\n\nWater and Spirit.--Baptism cleanses and illumines the soul, and\nthe water and the spirit are divinely appointed means by which the\ncleansing and the illumination come. And they are indispensable\nin the process. The sick may be healed without the use of oil,\nwithout even the laying on of hands; for it is faith that heals, not\ninstrumentalities employed; but no sinner can be baptized, without the\nWater and the Spirit. By baptism we are as effectually freed from sin,\nand our moral status changed, as by death, burial and resurrection we\nare liberated from mortality and ushered into a new existence. Hence\nbaptism is termed \"the washing of regeneration.\" Regeneration means new\nbirth.\n\nTwo fold Nature of Baptism.--Baptism, as already explained, is\ntwofold, corresponding to the soul of man. The body or fleshly part is\nrepresented by the water, and the spirit by the Holy Ghost. The water\nand the spirit are both essential in baptism, because, as previously\nstated, it is not the body alone, nor the spirit alone, that is\nbaptized, but the soul, body and spirit in one.\n\nThe body, I say, is represented by the water. Science tells us that\nmost of the human body is water. Hamlet's plaintive wish that his \"too,\ntoo, solid flesh would melt--thaw and resolve itself into a dew,\" was\nnot so very extravagant, therefore, from a scientific viewpoint.\n\nSpirit baptism illumines the soul, making manifest the things of God.\n\"Eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart\nof man, the great things which God hath prepared for them that love\nhim. But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit\nsearcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God\" (1 Cor. 2:9,10).\nThus Paul explains the office of the Holy Ghost, in one of its most\nimportant functions. The Savior had reference to the same subject when\nhe promised to his disciples \"the Spirit of Truth,\" to reveal things\npast, explain the present, and show things to come. The importance of\nthis mighty Agent, and the part played by it in baptism, was plainly\npointed out by Jesus, when he said: \"Except a man be born again, he can\nnot see the kingdom of God.\"\n\nThe Atoning Blood of Christ.--But there are three factors, not merely\ntwo, in the process of the soul's regeneration--the spirit, the water,\nand the blood. By these three man is born into the world, and by these\nthree he is \"born again\" into the kingdom of God. Ordinarily but two\nof them are mentioned in connection with baptism, for only two are\nactually used in baptism; but without the third, the atoning blood of\nChrist, there would be no baptism for salvation. If his blood had not\nbeen shed, there would be no redemption from the fall; the banishment\nof Adam and Eve and their posterity would have been perpetual, and the\ngrave's victory eternal. There would be no baptism, no remission of\nsins, no resurrection, but for the shedding of the blood of the Lamb of\nGod. Hence John the apostle says: \"The blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth\nus from all sin\" (1 John 1:7).\n\nThe Mediator.--The water and the spirit, representing, respectively,\nearth and heaven, are made effectual by the blood. Man and God are thus\nreconciled; Christ being the Mediator and Reconciler. There are three\nthat bear record in heaven--the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.\nThere are three that bear witness on earth--the spirit, the water, and\nthe blood. Each group corresponds to the other; each three agree in\none. Hence, when a soul is baptized, it must be by water and by spirit,\nmade effectual by blood, and in the name of the Father, the Son, and\nthe Holy Ghost.\n\nThree in One.--Spirit, water, and blood-the three elements of\nbaptism--were combined in the person of Jesus when he was baptized\nby John in the Jordan. Standing upon the river's brink, his sacred\nform dripping with the waters from which he had just emerged, he was\ncrowned with the Holy Ghost, descending upon him from above. Yet it was\nnecessary that his blood should be shed, that the Spirit might come\nunto his disciples. Not until the Mediator had hung between heaven and\nearth, did the Holy Ghost, as the witness of his consummated sacrifice,\nappear upon the scene. Not till then were the apostles endued with\npower from on high. Not till then did the Spirit of God move upon the\nwaters of this world, coming, as in the first instance, that there\nmight be a creation, a new birth, a regeneration for the human race.\n\nThe Fathers Understood.--The Greek fathers of the Christian Church held\ncorrect ideas concerning baptism. This is shown in the terms used by\nthem to describe it--\"initiation,\" from its introductory character;\n\"regeneration,\" from its being regarded as a new birth; \"the great\ncircumcision,\" because it was held to have superseded the circumcision\nof the Mosaic law; \"illumination,\" and \"the gift of the Lord,\" with\nreference to the Holy Ghost. Other synonyms for the sacred ceremonial\nwere \"consecration\" and \"consummation.\" Those baptized were understood\nto have consecrated their lives to God, and to have consummated or\ncompleted their preparation for communion with the Church of Christ.\nOnly to such as had been baptized was the Sacrament of the Lord's\nSupper administered.\n\nEarly Greek Christians.--The Greek Christians of the early centuries,\nlike the Saints of New Testament times, baptized for the remission of\nsins. They have been censured by modern critics for magnifying the\nimportance of water baptism, and at the same time insisting on the\npurely ethical or spiritual nature of the rite; for confounding the\nsign with the thing signified, the action of the water with the action\nof the Spirit, in the process of regeneration. But they were not any\nmore insistent upon these points than the apostles themselves.\n\nAugustine's Theory.--St. Augustine is complimented by the same critics\nfor formulating the first strict scientific theory of the nature and\neffects of baptism. He drew a sharp distinction between what he called\n\"the outward sign\"--water baptism--and the inward change of heart\nresulting from the operation of the Holy Ghost. Yet even he is charged\nwith laying too much stress upon the value of \"the outward sign,\" which\nhe held to be essential to salvation.\n\nProtestant theologians have been commended for keeping the \"sign\" in\ndue subordination to \"the thing signified,\" for justifying themselves\nby faith, and ignoring to a great extent outward ordinances.\n\nBut the Greek Christians, whatever their defects, were nearer right\nthan St. Augustine; and the Catholic St. Augustine was nearer right\nthan the Protestant theologians who followed him. Baptism, as taught in\nthe New Testament, is not the mere \"outward sign of an inward grace.\"\nThe action of the water and the action of the Spirit are not to be\nseparated in any analysis of the nature and effects of baptism. Both\nare essential in the soul-cleansing, soul-enlightening, process, modern\ncritics to the contrary notwithstanding.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nMode and Meaning of Baptism.\n\nUse of the Figurative.--When Jesus told Nicodemus that a man must be\nborn again--born of water and of the Spirit--he virtually declared the\nmeaning of the ordinance and prescribed the mode of its administration.\nOur Savior was not a mere rhetorician, ornamenting his speech for the\nmere sake of ornament. A true son of the Orient, naturally given to\nthe use of figurative language, he was not a flourisher of phrases,\na flaunter of vain show. His parables are poems, but they teach the\ntruth in plainness to the wise; and because he recognized, as all great\nteachers do, the power of poetic symbolism to illustrate and impress\nthe truth, he used it as a medium of instruction. But symbols are\nnot arbitrarily invented by those who use them. They are already in\nexistence, awaiting recognition. Poetic genius recognizes and applies\nthem--that is all. God has built his universe upon symbols. In every\ndepartment of creation the lesser symbolizes the greater and leads up\nto its comprehension.\n\nLike Suggests Like.--What said the Lord to Moses? \"All things have\ntheir likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of\nme, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual;\nthings which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the\nearth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under\nthe earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me\" (Moses\n6:63).\n\nMan is a symbol of God, and is destined to become God; Earth is typical\nof heaven, and will yet be converted into a heaven. \"If two things\nexist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things\nabove them\" (Abraham 3:16). Plato grasped the idea: \"All things are in\na scale, and begin where we will, ascend and ascend, and what we call\nresults are beginnings.\"\n\nThe Resurrection Foreshadowed.--It was to prepare the way before a\ngreater and higher principle, that Christ taught and exemplified\nthe principle of baptism. That greater and higher principle was the\nresurrection, a doctrine difficult for even the apostles to comprehend,\nand one that he repeatedly impressed upon them, both before and after\nhe arose from the dead. Hence he compared baptism to a birth--the\nentry, and the only one, into mortal life; and this pointed forward to\nthe resurrection--the entry, and the only one, into immortal glory.\nMen should therefore be prepared for something suggestive of a birth,\nof a resurrection, in the ordinance prescribed by him as the means of\nadmittance into his kingdom. That suggestion is fully realized in the\ntrue form of the baptismal ordinance--immersion.\n\nWhy the Savior was Baptized.--Baptism was made universal, and became\nthe doorway to the Church of Christ, the kingdom of God on earth,\nbecause it symbolizes the resurrection, which is also universal, and\nwithout which no man can enter into the heavenly Church and Kingdom.\n\nHere we touch, I think, the real reason, or at least one of the\nprincipal reasons, why Jesus was baptized. He was the Exemplar of\nthe Resurrection--the first to rise from the grave: and as baptism\nrepresents the resurrection, it was fitting and appropriate that he\nshould also undergo that sacred ordinance.\n\nImmersion.--\"Born of water\" means to come out of the water, and coming\nout of the water, presupposes going into the water. This is why we are\nbaptized by immersion, which means sinking, dipping, burying, plunging.\nImmersion is the only mode of baptism that symbolizes a birth. Jesus\nwas baptized by immersion. He must have gone down into the water, for\nwhen he was baptized he \"went up straightway out of the water\" (Matt.\n3:16). When Philip baptized the Eunuch, \"they went down both into the\nwater.\" John baptized \"in Anon, near to Salim, because there was much\nwater there,\" a proof presumptive of baptism by immersion, that being\nthe only mode requiring \"much water\" for its performance.\n\nPaul's Concept.--Paul compared baptism to burial and resurrection:\n\"Buried with him [Christ] in baptism,\" wrote he to the Colossians\n(2:12), \"wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the\noperation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.\" Again--this time\nto the Romans: \"Know ye not that so many of us as are baptized into\nJesus Christ were baptized into his death? Therefore, we are buried\nwith him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from\nthe dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in\nnewness of life. For if we have been planted together in the likeness\nof his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection\"\n(Rom. 6:3-5).\n\nNote also Paul's words to the Corinthians, already quoted: \"Else what\nshall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at\nall? Why are they then baptized for the dead?\" In other words, why use\nthe symbol of the resurrection, if there be no resurrection--if the\nsymbol does not symbolize?\n\nPaul discovered, by symbolical reasoning, or had it revealed to him\nmore directly, that the children of Israel, \"our fathers,\" were all\nbaptized in passing through the Red Sea, on their way to Canaan (1 Cor.\n1:2): an idea which suggests that the Brother of Jared and his colony\nmay have been baptized in like manner, for they underwent a similar\nexperience in passing through ocean deeps on the way to their promised\nland (Ether 6:6).\n\nThe New Testament Mode.--That immersion was the mode instituted by John\nthe Baptist and perpetuated by the apostles, is a plain and reasonable\ninference from the teachings of the New Testament. But, in addition,\nwe have the statements of philologists, archeologists, and historians,\nwho declare that baptism, in the early ages of Christianity, was a\ndipping or submersion in water. The English word \"baptize\" comes from\na Greek word meaning to immerse. Monumental remains in Asia, Africa,\nand Europe show that immersion was the act of baptism. The many ancient\nbaptisteries now remaining on those continents were built and used for\nthe purpose of immersion.\n\nThe Mode Changed.--The Christian churches of the Orient--Greek,\nRussian, Armenian, Nestorian, Coptic, and others, have always practiced\nimmersion, and allow nothing else for baptism. The western churches\npreserved this form of the ordinance for thirteen centuries, and then\ngradually introduced pouring or sprinkling.\n\nClinic Baptism.--Baptisms of this kind were exceptional in the early\nages of the Christian Church. They were called clinic baptisms, because\nadministered, as a rule, to the sick, who could not be taken from their\nbeds to be immersed: but they were rare, and were regarded only as\nquasi baptisms. The first recorded case of clinic baptism is mentioned\nby Eusebius as having occurred in the third century.\n\nImmersion Made Optional.--Baptism by immersion was practiced regularly\nin the Roman Catholic church, until the year 1311, when the Council of\nRavenna authorized a change, leaving it optional with the officiating\nminister to baptize either by immersion or by sprinkling. Even infants\nwere baptized by immersion, until about the end of the thirteenth\ncentury, when sprinkling came into common use.\n\nLuther and Calvin Disagree.--Luther sided with the immersionists, and\nsought, against the tendency of the times, to restore immersion; but\nCalvin held that the mode of baptism was of no consequence. Even he\nadmitted, however, that the word \"baptism\" signifies immersion; and he\nsaid: \"It is certain that immersion was the practice of the ancient\nChurch.\"\n\nMethods in Various Churches.--Pouring is the present practice in the\nRoman Catholic church; sprinkling in the Church of England, and in the\nMethodist church. A choice of modes is permitted by the Presbyterians,\nthough sprinkling is the regular form. The Baptists, as their name\nimplies, are strong advocates of immersion. The Quakers repudiate\nbaptism altogether.\n\nIt was the custom in early ages to immerse the candidate three\ntimes--once for each name in the Godhead; but heretics took advantage\nof this practice to argue against the unity of the Trinity, and the\nthree-fold immersion was abolished.\n\nAuthorized Practice.--The practice of the Church of Jesus Christ of\nLatter-day Saints in baptism is indicated by the following passages\nfrom the Book of Mormon:\n\n\"Verily I say unto you, that whoso repenteth of his sins through your\nwords, and desireth to be baptized in my name, on this wise shall ye\nbaptize them: behold, ye shall go down and stand in the water, and in\nmy name ye shall baptize them.\n\n\"And now behold, these are the words which ye shall say, calling them\nby name, saying,\n\n\"Having authority given me of Jesus Christ, I baptize you in the name\nof the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.\n\n\"And then shall ye immerse them in the water, and come forth again out\nof the water.\n\n\"And after this manner shall ye baptize in my name, for behold, verily\nI say unto you, that the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Ghost, are\none; and I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I\nare one.\n\n\"And according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And\nthere shall be no disputations among you, as there hath hitherto been;\nneither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of\nmy doctrine, as there hath hitherto been;\n\n\"For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of\ncontention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of\ncontention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger,\none with another.\" (III Nephi 11:23-29.)\n\nModern Revelation.--The Latter-day Saints derive their knowledge\nof baptism not mainly from the Bible, nor from the Book of Mormon,\nnor from any other ancient record of God's dealings with man. That\nknowledge came directly to Joseph Smith. Through him was restored\nthat which was lost. He brushed aside the cobwebs and dust concealing\nthe precious jewel of Truth, and by new revelation brought back the\nknowledge of the \"one Lord, one faith, one baptism\" of the ancients.\n\nIt was the fifteenth of May, 1829. Joseph Smith, with his scribe,\nOliver Cowdery, at the little town of Harmony, Susquehanna county,\nPennsylvania, was translating the plates of the Book of Mormon. Coming\nupon a passage referring to baptism for the remission of sins--a\ndoctrine well-nigh obsolete in Christendom--they inquired of the Lord\nconcerning it, retiring into a grove for that purpose. While they were\npraying, a messenger from heaven descended in a cloud of light, and\nlaying his hands upon their heads, spoke these words:\n\n\"Upon you, my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer the\nPriesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels,\nand of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the\nremission of sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth,\nuntil the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in\nrighteousness\" (D&C 13).\n\nRestoration of the Priesthood.--The heavenly messenger told the two\nyoung men that he was John the Baptist, and that he acted under the\ndirection of the Apostles Peter, James and John, who held the keys\nof the Melchizedek Priesthood, which should in due time be conferred\nupon them. The Aaronic Priesthood gave them authority to baptize with\nwater, but the Melchizedek Priesthood, which was greater, would give\nthem authority to baptize with the Holy Ghost. Agreeable to the angel's\ndirection, Joseph and Oliver immersed each other in water, for the\nremission of their sins. Subsequently they received, under the hands\nof Peter, James and John, the higher priesthood, and were themselves\nordained apostles and baptized with the Holy Ghost. They in turn\nbaptized others, and this was the beginning of divinely-authorized\nbaptismal work in this dispensation.\n\nThe Church Law.--The standing law to the Church upon this subject is as\nfollows:\n\n\"Inasmuch as parents have children in Zion, or in any of her stakes\nwhich are organized, that teach them not to understand the doctrine of\nrepentance, faith in Christ the Son of the living God, and of baptism\nand the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of the hands, when\neight years old, the sin be upon the heads of the parents;\n\n\"For this shall be a law unto the inhabitants of Zion, or in any of her\nstakes which are organized;\n\n\"And their children shall be baptized for the remission of their sins\nwhen eight years old, and receive the laying on of the hands.\" (D.&\nC.68:25-27.)\n\nThe Laying On of Hands.--The laying on of hands is the\ndivinely-authorized method of administering spirit baptism, in\nother words, imparting the Holy Ghost. It is plainly taught in the\nScriptures. For instance:\n\n\"Then laid they their hands on them, and they received the Holy Ghost.\"\n\n\"And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostle's hands the\nHoly Ghost was given, he offered them money,\n\n\"Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he\nmay receive the Holy Ghost.\" (Acts 8:17-19.)\n\nThe laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost was an ordinance\nin the Christian church for centuries. The ordinance remained with the\nchurch much longer than did the Holy Ghost. Cyprian mentions it in the\nthird century; Augustine in the fourth. Gradually, however, it began\nto be neglected, until finally some of the sects repudiated it, while\nothers, retaining the \"form of godliness,\" denied \"the power thereof.\"\n\nSo much stress having been laid upon immersion, as the proper mode of\nbaptism, one might be led to inquire, Why are we not immersed in the\nSpirit, as well as in the water? I answer: How know you that we are\nnot? To which the reply may be: We see the water, and are put under it\nby the priest: but when we are confirmed or baptized with the Spirit,\nthe elders lay their hands upon our heads and say, \"Receive ye the Holy\nGhost.\" There is no immersion about that; we are not dipped or plunged:\nthe Spirit is poured upon us.\n\nBe not too sure that there is no immersion about it. The fact that you\ndo not see it is no conclusive argument against the proposition. We see\nthe water because it is a temporal element: but spiritual things are\ndiscerned by the Spirit. As to the pouring process--may not enough of\nan element be poured upon a person to bury him therein? Or must that in\nwhich a person is buried necessarily come from beneath? It was not so\nin the days of Noah, when it rained forty days and forty nights that\nthe earth might be buried in water. As much water came from above as\nfrom beneath at that time.\n\nJohn the Baptist, when proclaiming the Christ, said: \"There cometh One\nmightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy\nto stoop down and unloose. I indeed have baptized you with water; but\nhe shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost\" (Mark 1:7,8). More than one\nbaptism is here mentioned, but it is baptism in each case; and baptism\nsignifies immersion. The candidate for baptism cannot well be dipped\nor plunged in the Spirit, since the Spirit is above, while the water\nis beneath; but he may be covered by or \"clothed upon\" with the Holy\nGhost, nevertheless. The essential point in baptism is not the dipping\nor plunging, but the burying and bringing forth.\n\nBaptism, a Symbol of Creation.--Baptism symbolizes creation. Earth,\ncreated for Adam and his seed, was baptized--\"born again\"--for Noah\nand his posterity. Baptized with water in that day, it will yet be\nbaptized with the Holy Ghost and with fire. The laying on of hands and\nthe descent of the Spirit from above, may possibly typify the glorious\nbaptism that earth will yet undergo, when the Spirit is poured out\nupon her from on high, and she is covered therewith as completely as\nwith water in the days of Noah. \"I will pour out my Spirit upon all\nflesh,\" said the Lord by the Prophet Joel (2:28). When that prophecy is\nfulfilled, earth will receive her spirit baptism, and in due time be\nready for her baptism of fire.\n\nFire and the Holy Ghost.--God \"dwells in eternal fire\" (\"Joseph Smith's\nTeachings,\" p. 82), where no mortal could approach him unconsumed.\nBut mortals may receive the Holy Ghost with safety. Again: the\ninhabitants of the telestial world receive the Holy Spirit through the\nministrations of the terrestrial; \"but where God and Christ dwell they\ncannot come, worlds without end.\" By her fiery baptism, earth will be\nconsumed; her mortal elements will melt with fervent heat, and the\npurified remains, immortal and in a state of resurrection, will be\nconverted into a celestial sphere, a glorified abode for the righteous.\n\nBaptism Symbolizes Birth.--Every resurrection is a birth, and every\nbirth implies a previous burial. No seed germinates till it dies, or\nappears to die, and is buried. The farmer plants that there may be a\nspringing forth of new life from the germ of the old. Every seed sown\nin the likeness of Christ's death shall be in the likeness of his\nresurrection; that is, if it be a good seed, properly buried in good\nground.\n\nEvery birth, I say, implies a previous burial. This is true of time in\nits relations to eternity. Coming into this life involves departure\nout of a previous life, and burial in this life implies birth into\nthe next. The sun, setting upon the western hemisphere, rises upon\nthe eastern; and sets upon the eastern to rise upon the western. The\nsetting and rising of the sun; sleep followed by waking; winter with\nits icy fetters and shroud of snow, succeeded by spring in garments of\ngreen, with its bright flowers, singing birds, and laughing streams;\nall these suggest burial, and resurrection--and consequently baptism.\n\nBorn of God.--To be \"born of God\" literally means to come forth from\nGod. \"Born of woman\" has a like significance. We have a Father and a\nMother in heaven, in whose image man was created, male and female. We\ncame forth from them--were begotten and born of them in the spirit,\nas much so as we were afterwards begotten and born in the flesh; and\nwe must be begotten and born again, in the similitude of those other\nbegettings and births, or we cannot regain the presence of our eternal\nFather and Mother.\n\n\"Children of My Begetting.\"--Baptism signifies the creation of souls\nfor the kingdom of God. The priest who immerses, or the elder who\nconfirms, is the spiritual progenitor of the person baptized. \"Children\nof my begetting,\" Paul terms those receiving the gospel through his\ninstrumentality. To baptize is to perform, in a spiritual way, the\nfunctions of fatherhood. Motherhood is the sacred symbol of the\nbaptismal font. Hence, baptism must be by divine authority--must have\nthe sanction of heaven upon it. There must first be a marriage, a union\nbetween heavenly powers and earthly agents; otherwise the baptism will\nbe unlawful, the birth illegitimate, the act of begetting a crime!\nBaptisms, like marriages, performed without divine authority, will have\nno effect when men are dead.\n\nSuggestive Symbolism.--The significance of baptism is suggested by the\nvery career of that Divine Being whose descent from heaven to earth,\nand whose ascent from earth into heaven, is the sum and substance of\nthe Gospel story. His experience from the time he left his celestial\nthrone, to the time he returned thither, was it not a descending below,\nand a rising above, all things? Did he not lay down his life and take\nit up again, as the Father had done before him? Is it not just possible\nthat baptism was instituted to symbolize this mighty birth, this mortal\nburial, with its immortal resurrection?\n\nWhen the Gods sat in council to consider the creation and redemption\nof this planet, what was their great thought and the theme of their\ndeliberations? Was it not a going down and a coming back--not only\non their part, for creative and redemptive purposes, but also on the\npart of their offspring, for purposes of experience and progression?\nWhat wonder, then, if in the gospel plan, whereby the spirits of men\nand women might accomplish this foreordained descent into, and ascent\nout of, the world, there should be an ordinance symbolical of the vast\nvicissitude?\n\nMoreover, in the symbolism of the scriptures this world is represented\nby water. \"In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth,\nand the earth was without form and void, and darkness was upon the\nface of the deep, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the\nwaters.\" Here, at the very dawn of creation, are the two principles\nor elements--spirit and water--with which baptisms are performed--one\ncreative, the other creatable; one representing heaven, the other,\nearth. Note the reference in Daniel (7) to beasts, representing earthly\ngovernments, coming up from the sea. Note the Savior's parable,\nlikening the kingdom of heaven to a net cast into the sea; the sea\nsymbolizing the world, the fishes, the souls drawn out of the world.\nNote also Revelation (13) where a beast representing anti-Christ,\nrises out of the sea: and (17) where a woman, the Mother of Harlots,\nrepresenting a great city reigning over the kings of the earth, is\ndescribed as \"sitting upon many waters\"--the waters signifying \"peoples\nand multitudes and nations and tongues.\"\n\nMuch of the body of this world--the physical frame of a spiritual\ncreation--is water, even parts of it that seem solid. Science so\naffirms, and who can gainsay it? Walt Whitman, that eccentric poetic\ngenius, speaks of \"the slumbering and liquid trees.\" Thales, the\nfounder of Greek philosophy, started out with the proposition: \"All\nthings are water.\" He ascribed to water the powers of creation,\nsupposing that he had found in it the primal element, or great first\ncause. He omitted the real creative principle--the Spirit of God,\nwhich in the beginning \"moved upon the face of the waters,\" or as\nMilton says, \"dove-like sat brooding on the vast abyss.\" Thales being a\nphysicist, took no account of the spiritual. Geology asserts that the\nearth was once submerged in water. The scriptures also declare it, and\nwithout reference to the deluge. \"Let the dry land appear!\"--the very\nwords suggest baptism, birth, creation--the emergence of a primitive\nplanet from the womb of the waters. Water, symbolically if not\nliterally, represents the temporal part of creation, including the body\nor mortal part of man.\n\nIs not baptism, therefore, in its two-fold character and significance,\nsuggestive of the soul's passing out from this watery world, into the\nspirit world, and thence, by resurrection, into eternal glory? It is\nonly a suggestion, but it seems to emphasize, for me, the reason why\nthe doorway to the Church and Kingdom of God is a double doorway, a\ndual birth, a baptism of Water and of the Spirit?\n\n\n\nPriesthood and Church Government.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nDivine Authority.\n\n\"Priest\" Defined.--The English word \"Priest\" is generally derived from\nthe New Testament term \"presbyter\" (Elder), which means \"to preside.\"\nAristotle's definition of \"Priest\" is, \"presiding over things relating\nto the gods.\" Similar to this is Paul's understanding of the term,\nas expressed in Heb. 5:1: \"Every high priest taken from among men\nis constituted on the behalf of men, with respect to their concerns\nwith God, that he may present both gifts and sacrifices for sins.\" In\nArabic, the word denotes to prophesy, to foretell, as a soothsayer,\nalso to act as a mediator or middle person in any business. In the\nearliest families of the race of Shem, the offices of priest and\nprophet were united, so that the word originally meant both. The Hebrew\nidiom kept one part of the idea, and the Arabic another. The primary\nmeaning of the Hebrew word is regarded to be the rendering of honorable\nand dignified service, like that of ministers of state to their\nsovereign.\n\nMeaning of \"Priesthood.\"--\"Priesthood\" is the office or character of\na priest. The term also denotes the execution of that office, and\nsignifies a class of priests, or the order of men set apart for sacred\noffices--priests collectively.\n\nSo much for human wisdom, and what it has gleaned upon this subject\nfrom the literary fields of the past.\n\nTo the Latter-day Saints, who owe most of their knowledge concerning it\nto modern revelation, \"Priesthood\" means divine authority, conferred\nupon men chosen of God to officiate in his name and in his stead. It\nalso signifies the men bearing that authority, the possession of which\nconstitutes them legal representatives of the Almighty. \"No man taketh\nthis honor unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.\"\n(Hebrews 5:4.)\n\nNecessity for a Priesthood.--The necessity for a priesthood is as\nobvious as the necessity for a gospel. The laws of God, like the laws\nof man, require officers and a government to administer them. God\ncannot be everywhere in person. He is omnipresent by his Spirit, his\npower, his authority, and his influence. But in person, being in the\nform of man, he is subject to certain limitations, imposed by eternal\nlaw and the very nature of things. There are some things that even\nthe Omnipotent cannot do. I speak it with all reverence, and for a\ngood purpose--the teaching of the truth in plainness. For instance,\nhe cannot make something out of nothing, though many pious people\nascribe to him that power--the power to perform the impossible and\nabsurd. He cannot be in two or more places, at precisely one and the\nsame time--not in person. Therefore, to carry on his work throughout\nthe universe, he must have agents to represent him, and this is the\nfundamental fact underlying the necessity for a Priesthood and a Church\norganization.\n\nPresident Smith's Definition.--When we speak of Priesthood we mean\nGod's authority, and the men holding that authority, to administer the\nlaws and ordinances of the gospel. Let me cite here some remarks made\nby President Joseph F. Smith, at a general conference of the Church.\nSaid he:\n\n\"What is Priesthood? It is nothing more nor less than the power of God\ndelegated to man, by which man can act in the earth for the salvation\nof the human family, in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy\nGhost; and act legitimately in assuming that authority--an authority\nthat has been given in this day in which we live, by ministering angels\nand spirits from above, direct from the presence of Almighty God, who\nhave come to the earth and administered the priesthood to the children\nof men. * * * It is the same power and priesthood that was committed\nto the disciples of Christ while he was upon the earth; that whatever\nshould be bound on earth should be bound in heaven, and whatever should\nbe loosed on earth should be loosed in heaven.\"\n\nThe Principle of Representation.--Inherent in the Priesthood is the\nprinciple of representation. Priesthood, as President Smith affirms,\nis the delegated authority of God, and so plenary and far-reaching are\nits powers, that when those holding that authority are in the line of\ntheir duty, and have the spirit of their calling, their official acts\nand utterances are as valid as if God himself were personally present,\ndoing and saying what his servants do and say for him.\n\nA Soul-Searching Admonition.--A tremendous power for frail mortal man\nto wield! Yes; and to guard against its abuse, the exercise of this\ndivine prerogative by weak human beings is hedged about with certain\nconditions and limitations, as indicated by the following inspired\nadmonition from the lips of Joseph the Seer:\n\n\"Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they\nnot chosen?\n\n\"Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world,\nand aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one\nlesson--\n\n\"That the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the\npowers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor\nhandled only upon the principles of righteousness.\n\n\"That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake\nto cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to\nexercise control, or dominion, or compulsion, upon the souls of the\nchildren of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens\nwithdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is\nwithdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood, or the authority of that man.\n\n\"Behold! ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the\npricks; to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.\n\n\"We have learned, by sad experience, that it is the nature and\ndisposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority,\nas they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous\ndominion.\n\n\"Hence many are called, but few are chosen.\n\n\"No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the\nPriesthood, only by persuasion, by long suffering, by gentleness, and\nmeekness, and by love unfeigned;\n\n\"By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul\nwithout hypocrisy, and without guile.\n\n\"Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost,\nand then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom\nthou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;\n\n\"That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of\ndeath;\n\n\"Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the\nhousehold of faith, and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly,\nthen shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God, and the\ndoctrine of the Priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from\nheaven.\n\n\"The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy sceptre an\nunchanging sceptre of righteousness and truth, and thy dominion shall\nbe an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow\nunto thee for ever and ever.\"--(D. and C. 121:34-46.)\n\nAn Echo from Eternity.--Can anyone, enlightened by the Holy Spirit,\ndoubt the heavenly origin of such wise and sublime instructions? Are\nthey not virtually an echo from the heights of eternity, where the Gods\nsat in council before the foundation of the world, and decreed freedom,\nnot tyranny; persuasion, not compulsion; charity, not intolerance, to\nbe the platform upon which the servants of God should stand?\n\n\"Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to\ndestroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and\nalso that I should give unto him mine own power, by the power of mine\nOnly Begotten I caused that he should be cast down.\" (Moses 4:3.)\n\nA Gold and Silver Shield.--But there is another side to the question.\nIt is a gold and silver shield that we are contemplating. If those\nbearing the priesthood are careful to confine themselves to the lawful\nand legitimate exercise of the sacred powers conferred upon them,\nacting as men of God should act, and doing no other things than those\ncommanded by divine revelation or inspired by the Holy Spirit; what\nthen? In that event the responsibility shifts to other shoulders, and\njust how weighty the responsibility is, the Savior himself tells in the\nfollowing prophetic parable:\n\nHow God Will Judge the World.--\"When the Son of Man shall come in his\nglory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the\nthrone of his glory:\n\n\"And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate\nthem one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:\n\n\"And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the\nleft.\n\n\"Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed\nof my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation\nof the world:\n\n\"For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave\nme drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:\n\n\"Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in\nprison, and ye came unto me.\n\n\"Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an\nhungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?\n\n\"When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed\nthee?\n\n\"Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?\n\n\"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto\nyou, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, my\nbrethren, ye have done it unto me.\n\n\"Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye\ncursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:\n\n\"For I was an hungered, and ye gave me no meat; I was thirsty, and ye\ngave me no drink:\n\n\"I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not:\nsick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.\n\n\"Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an\nhungered, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison,\nand did not minister unto thee?\n\n\"Then shall he answer them, saying. Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as\nye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.\n\n\"And these shall go away into everlasting punishment; but the righteous\ninto life eternal.\" (Matthew 25:31-46.)\n\nThis, then, is one of the moral standards by which men and nations\nwill be judged: How have you treated my servants whom I sent unto you?\nHappy the man or the nation who can truthfully reply to the Just and\nRighteous One in that day: Lord, I rendered unto thy servants the same\nrespect and obedience that I would have shown unto thee, hadst thou\nbeen present in person.\n\nWarning and Exhortation.--The Savior's solemn warning to the world may\nwell be supplemented by his servant Joseph's impressive exhortation\nto the Priesthood and the Church in general. He was addressing the\napostles and some of the seventies, prior to their mission to Europe,\nin the summer of 1839:\n\n\"O ye Twelve! and all Saints! profit by this important key--that in all\nyour trials, troubles, temptations, afflictions, bonds, imprisonments\nand death, see to it, that you do not betray Heaven; that you do not\nbetray Jesus Christ; that you do not betray the brethren; that you\ndo not betray the revelations of God, whether in the Bible, Book of\nMormon, or Doctrine and Covenants, or any other that ever was or ever\nwill be given and revealed unto man in this world or that which is\nto come. Yea, in all your kicking and flounderings, see to it that\nyou do not this thing, lest innocent blood be found upon your skirts,\nand you go down to hell. All other sins are not to be compared to\nsinning against the Holy Ghost, and proving a traitor to the brethren.\"\n(\"History of the Church,\" Vol. III, p. 385.)\n\nSuch warnings give added weight to an ancient admonition that comes\nsounding through the centuries: \"Touch not mine anointed; do my\nprophets no harm.\"\n\nAgents of the Almighty.--What it means to bear the Priesthood and to\nofficiate therein, is made clear to the comprehension by considering\nmen clothed upon with divine authority as agents of God, sent forth to\ntransact business in his name and in his interest. What kind of men\nought they to be, and what is required of them by Him who sent them\nforth? Such a question can have but one consistent answer: They should\nbe men who will represent him truly and faithfully. They should reflect\nhis intelligence, his goodness, his benevolence, and as diligent,\nupright agents of the One who commissioned and empowered them to carry\non his work, follow closely the instructions that he has given, doing\nconscientiously and thoroughly what they sincerely believe he would do\nwere he present in his own proper person. Such men should live so near\nto the Lord, that when the letter--the revealed word--falls short, the\nSpirit that inspired it, resting upon them as a continual benediction,\ncan readily give \"line upon line\" of revelation, flash upon flash of\ninspiration, to illumine and make plain the path they are to tread.\nThis is what it means to be an agent of the Almighty, a representative\nof God.\n\n\"And whatsoever they shall speak when moved upon by the Holy Ghost,\nshall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall be the mind\nof the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of the\nLord, and the power of God unto salvation.\" (D. and C. 68:4.)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nDivine Authority, Continued.\n\nA Twofold Power.--In an article on Priesthood, prepared by the Prophet\nJoseph Smith, and read at a conference of the Church in Nauvoo,\nIllinois, October, 1840, the following sentences occur:\n\n\"There are two Priesthoods spoken of in the scripture, viz., the\nMelchizedek and the Aaronic or Levitical. Although there are two\nPriesthoods, yet the Melchizedek Priesthood comprehends the Aaronic\nor Levitical Priesthood, and is the grand head, and holds the highest\nauthority which pertains to the Priesthood, and the keys of the\nkingdom of God, in all ages of the world to the latest posterity on\nthe earth, and is the channel through which all knowledge, doctrine,\nthe plan of salvation, and every important matter is revealed from\nheaven.\"--(\"History of the Church,\" Vol. IV, p. 207.)\n\nSpiritual and Temporal.--Why there are two priesthoods, or, more\nproperly speaking, two grand divisions of the Priesthood, is because\nthe Church of Christ has to do with temporal as well as with spiritual\nthings. All things, however, are spiritual unto God. The laws and\ncommandments that emanate from him are of that character. He gives no\ntemporal commandment. All his laws are spiritual. As eternity includes\ntime, so the spiritual includes the temporal.\n\nA Divided Jurisdiction.--The Melchizedek Priesthood has general\nauthority and jurisdiction over all things, spiritual and temporal:\nwhile the Aaronic or lesser Priesthood, which is an appendage to the\nhigher power, has a limited jurisdiction, its special calling being to\nadminister in temporal things.\n\n\"The Melchizedek Priesthood holds the right of presidency, and has\npower and authority over all the offices in the church in all ages of\nthe world, to administer in spiritual things.\n\n\"The second priesthood is called the priesthood of Aaron, because it\nwas conferred upon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations.\n\n\"Why it is called the lesser priesthood, is because it is an appendage\nto the greater or the Melchizedek Priesthood, and has power in\nadministering outward ordinances.\n\n\"The power and authority of the Higher or Melchizedek Priest hood, is\nto hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church. * * *\n\n\"The power and authority of the Lesser, or Aaronic Priesthood, is\nto hold the keys of the ministering of angels, and to administer\nin outward ordinances, the letter of the gospel--the baptism of\nrepentance for the remission of sins, agreeable to the covenants and\ncommandments.\"--(D. and C. 107:8, 13, 14, 18-20.)\n\nThe Government of God.--The Government of God, with its two great\nwings of authority, corresponds to the duality of the soul: and the\nsaving of souls, here and hereafter, is the grand purpose for which\nthis government, the Church of Christ, was organized. The necessity\nfor a church,--which some people question, just as some question the\nnecessity for a civil government, or a government of any sort,--ought\nto be apparent at a glance. It is as plain as that twice two make four.\nTwo men, united, are more capable than one man, the powers possessed\nby them being equal. Individuals, working separately, however good\ntheir intentions, can never accomplish as much as a community of men\nand women, imbued with a common purpose, and pushing forward the\nsame enterprise. The difference between a single shot and a whole\nvolley, between one rifleman and a regiment, may serve as a sufficient\nillustration.\n\nThe Priesthood and the Soul.--As the spirit and the body constitute\nthe soul, so the Melchizedek and Aaronic priesthoods constitute the\ngovernment of the Church. As through the medium of the mortal body,\nwith its various members and organs, the tangible things of this life\nare grasped and utilized, while things pertaining to a higher state of\nexistence are perceived, comprehended, and made practical, by means\nof the spiritual faculties; so, by this twain of powers, differing in\ntheir prerogatives, yet allied, interwoven, and harmonious in their\nmutual workings, is carried on, in this world and in all worlds,\nthe great cause of truth and righteousness, for the salvation and\nnever-ending progress of God's children.\n\nFurthermore, to continue the analogy, it is the spirit, or higher part\nof man, that controls, directs, and supplies the motive power for the\nbody, being the vital mainspring of that wondrous piece of machinery,\nwhose functions are forwarded by the animation resulting from union and\nnormal operation. Even so is it the Melchizedek Priesthood, holding the\nright of presidency, which controls, influences, and directs the entire\nbody of the Church, delegating, however, a portion of its authority\nto the Lesser Priesthood, that it likewise may possess and wield its\nlegitimate powers, and execute fully the purposes for which it was\ndesigned.\n\nThe Channel of Revelation.--Speaking of the eternity of the Priesthood,\nthe Prophet Joseph says:\n\n\"Its institution was prior to the foundation of this earth, or the\nmorning stars sang together, or the Sons of God shouted for joy,' and\nis the highest and holiest Priesthood, and is after the order of the\nSon of God, and all other priesthoods are only parts, ramifications,\npowers and blessings belonging to the same, and are held, controlled,\nand directed by it. It is the channel through which the Almighty\ncommenced revealing his glory at the beginning of the creation of this\nearth, and through which he has continued to reveal himself to the\nchildren of men to the present time, and through which he will make\nknown his purposes to the end of time.\"--(\"History of the Church,\" Vol.\nIV, p. 207.)\n\nAdam's Position.--In another place, the Prophet thus continues:\n\n\"The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First\nPresidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He\nobtained it in the creation, before the world was formed [that is,\nin the spiritual creation, before the temporal world was formed]. He\nhad dominion given him over every living creature. He is Michael the\nArchangel, spoken of in the scriptures.\"--(\"History of the Church,\"\nVol. III, pp. 385, 386.)\n\nNoah Next to Adam.--\"Then to Noah, who is Gabriel; he stands next in\nauthority to Adam in the Priesthood; he was called of God to this\noffice, and was the father of all living in his day, and to him was\ngiven the dominion. These men held keys first on earth, and then in\nheaven.\"--(Ibid, p. 386.)\n\nAn Everlasting Principle.--\"The Priesthood is an everlasting principle,\nand existed with God from eternity, and will to eternity, without\nbeginning of days or end of years. The keys have to be brought from\nheaven whenever the gospel is sent. When they are revealed from heaven,\nit is by Adam's authority.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\nSuccession and Descent.--\"The Savior, Moses, and Elias gave the keys to\nPeter, James and John, on the mount, when they were transfigured before\nHim. * * * How have we come at the Priesthood in the last days? It came\ndown, down, in regular succession. Peter, James and John had it given\nto them, and they gave it to others. Christ is the Great High Priest:\nAdam next.\"--(Ibid, 386-388.)\n\nJoseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery.--Peter, James and John--not as mortal\nmen, but as ministering angels, sent from heaven for the purpose--gave\nthe Melchizedek Priesthood to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery; and\nprior to the coming of that Priesthood, they received the Aaronic\nPriesthood from John the Baptist, also acting as an angel. The exact\ndate of the restoration of the Melchizedek Priesthood is not given in\nthe Church records, but the event must have taken place between May 15,\n1829, when the Aaronic Priesthood was conferred upon Joseph and Oliver,\nand April 6, 1830, the date of the Church's organization, when they\nwere sustained, respectively, as the First and Second Elders thereof.\n\nSpirits Foreordained.--In view of the fact that these ordinations were\nsubsequent to the Prophet's vision, in the spring of 1820, when the\nFather and the Son appeared to him, some have found it difficult to\ninterpret the divine declaration, that no man without the Melchizedek\nPriesthood \"can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.\" (D&C\n84:19-22.) But the problem is easy of solution, in the light of the\nProphet's teachings. Did he not give the key to it when he said that\ncertain men, called to minister to the inhabitants of this world, were\nordained to that very purpose before the world was? (Compendium, p.\n285.) I have already cited the examples of Abraham and Jeremiah, who\nwere \"chosen\" and \"ordained\" before they were born. That Joseph Smith\nwas likewise preordained, seems to me a necessary inference, in view of\nthe facts presented. For if no man without the Melchizedek Priesthood\ncan see the face of God the Father and live, and Joseph Smith, nine\nyears before he received either of the Priesthoods from those heavenly\nmessengers, looked upon the faces of both the Father and the Son and\nsurvived, it indicates, in accordance with his own statement and the\nexamples given, that certain spirits are ordained to certain callings\nbefore they tabernacle in the flesh, and that he himself held the\nMelchizedek Priesthood when he saw the face of God at the opening of\nthe last gospel dispensation.\n\nAn ordination in the flesh, after an ordination in the spirit, seems\nperfectly consistent; for the body was not present when the spirit was\nordained, and it is the soul, spirit and body, that God is dealing\nwith and acting through, in this stage of existence. That supplemental\nordinations are sometimes in order, is evident from the fact that\nJoseph and Oliver ordained each other, after they had been ordained by\nthe angel, or angels; and that, too, by divine commandment.--(\"Pearl of\nGreat Price,\"--\"Writings of Joseph Smith,\" 2:71.)\n\nNatural and Spiritual Eyes.--There is another interpretation, which\nholds that the necessity for the Melchizedek Priesthood, in the case of\nthose who look upon the countenance of Deity, applies only to such as\nbehold him with the natural eye, and that it has no reference to those\nwho see God by means of the spiritual vision. Joseph's experience, when\nhe beheld the Father and the Son, was probably a parallel to that of\nMoses, when he saw God face to face, and testified as follows:\n\n\"Mine own eyes have beheld God; but not my natural, but my spiritual\neyes; for my natural eyes could not have beheld; for I should have\nwithered and died in his presence; but his glory was upon me, and I\nbeheld his face; for I was transfigured before him.\"--(Moses 1:11.)\n\nThat this was the way in which Joseph saw God, is virtually affirmed in\nthe following passage:\n\n\"We, Joseph Smith, Jr., and Sidney Rigdon, being in the Spirit, * * *\nby the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened, and our understandings\nwere enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of God * * *\nwhom we saw and with whom we conversed in the heavenly vision.\"--(D.\nand C. 76:11, 12, 14.)\n\nIn other words, Joseph and Sidney saw God (Jesus Christ) with their\nspiritual eyes (the eyes of their spirits), reinforced by the\nall-revealing Spirit of God.\n\nQualifications for the Priesthood.--The qualifications required in\nthose whom the Lord ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood are thus\noutlined in the Book of Mormon:\n\n\"My brethren,\" [it is the Prophet Alma who is speaking]. \"I would that\nye should remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy\norder, which was after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto\nthe people.\n\n\"And those priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a\nmanner that thereby the people might know in what manner to look\nforward to his Son for redemption.\n\n\"And this is the manner after which they were ordained: being called\nand prepared from the foundation of the world, according to the\nforeknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good\nworks: in the first place being left to choose good or evil: therefore\nthey having chosen good, and exercising exceeding great faith, are\ncalled with a holy calling, * * * while others would reject the Spirit\nof God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of\ntheir minds, while, if it had not been for this, they might had as\ngreat privilege as their brethren.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"Now they were ordained after this manner: Being called with a holy\ncalling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the\nHigh Priesthood of the holy order, which calling and ordinance and High\nPriesthood is without beginning or end:\n\n\"Thus they become High Priests for ever, after the order of the Son,\nthe Only Begotten of the Father. * * * *\n\n\"Now as I said concerning the holy order of this High Priesthood:\nthere were many who were ordained and became High Priests of God: and\nit was on account of their exceeding faith and repentance, and their\nrighteousness before God.\"--(Alma 13:1-10.)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nThe Church Organization.\n\nAn Incomparable System.--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day\nSaints is conceded to be an almost perfect system, even by men\noutside its pale. Such a one has said of it: \"It is the most perfect\norganization in existence, except the German army.\" The eulogy involves\nan anticlimax--as if one were to affirm: The sun is the brightest\nluminary in the heavens--except the moon. The German army represents,\nperhaps, the quintessence of human military wisdom: but like the moon,\nit borrows its brilliance. The case is different with the Church\nof God. Like the sun, it shines with original light, with divine\nintelligence, of which it is the product. Between it and any creation\nof man's, no comparison is possible.\n\nA Counterpart of the Church in Heaven.--The Church of Christ on earth\nis a counterpart, so far as conditions will permit, of the Church of\nChrist in heaven. How it came hither was indicated by Joseph the Seer\nwhile giving direction for the organization of the various councils\nand quorums of the Priesthood. Thus: \"And it is according to the\nvision, showing the order of the seventy, that they should have seven\npresidents to preside over them.\"--(D. and C. 107:93.) Mark the words,\n\"It is according to the vision.\" Evidently the Prophet organized the\nPriesthood after some model that he had seen in vision: and what more\nprobable than that this model was the Church of the First Born, as\nit exists in all its perfection in the celestial worlds? While the\nChurch on earth is not yet as perfect as it will one day be, it is\napproximating toward that perfection, and is destined to attain it. It\nis doubtful that the Church, in any former dispensation, had so perfect\nan organization as it possesses at the present time. This admirable and\nwonderful scheme of spiritual-temporal government was revealed from\nabove and established here below, that the will of God might be done on\nearth even as it is done in heaven.\n\nThe Original Offices.--The original offices of the Church of Jesus\nChrist of Latter-day Saints were elder, priest, teacher, and deacon;\nall, except elder, callings in the Aaronic Priesthood. Other offices,\npertaining to the Priesthood of Melchizedek, were evolved as fast as\nthey became necessary. For instance, the first bishops were ordained\nin 1831, nearly a year after the Church was organized. There was no\nFirst Presidency until 1832, and no stake organization until 1834.\nThe twelve apostles were not chosen until 1835, nor the first quorums\nof seventy. But all these offices and callings were inherent in the\nPriesthood, conferred upon Joseph Smith before the Church had any\norganization at all. They who find fault with the Church,--as some who\nhave left it do,--on the ground that the Lord organized it with elders,\npriests, teachers and deacons, and that men have added such titles and\ndignities as high priest, president, patriarch, etc., would be no more\ninconsistent were they to criticize a human being for not remaining\na child, for growing up to manhood or womanhood and fulfiling their\nmeasure of creation.\n\nFirst Lesser, then Greater.--As already shown, the first priesthood\nthat came to earth in this dispensation was the Aaronic Priesthood,\nconferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, May 15, 1829. According\nto the critical wiseacre, that should have ended the matter: there\nshould have been no further ordination, no organization of the Church,\nno further development in the work of the Lord. But there was to be,\nnevertheless. As in the case of John the Baptist, who ordained Joseph\nand Oliver, it is the mission of the Lesser Priesthood to go before\nthe Greater, preparing the way. In due time came the Melchizedek\nPriesthood, conferred by Peter, James and John, and under this dual\nauthorization the Church was organized, on the sixth of April, 1830. It\nhas had a marvelous history, and a wonderful growth. Never so strong,\nor so well equipped, as now, its future is rife with glorious promise.\n\nEpitome of Church Government.--The Aaronic Priesthood administers in\nall outward ordinances, such as baptism, the sacrament of the Lord's\nsupper, etc. The higher ordinances, such as confirmations, sealings,\nadoptions, and other ceremonies of the Temple, must be administered by\nthe Priesthood of Melchizedek.\n\nThe offices of the Aaronic Priesthood, graded upward, are deacon,\nteacher and priest, and the presidency of that priesthood is the\nbishopric. The bishop has charge of the Church property, and he\nreceives and disburses the tithes, fast offerings, and other revenues,\nunder the direction of the higher authorities. There is a presiding\nbishopric, who have general charge of the funds provided for the\nsupport of the poor, for the building of temples, and for other\npurposes. They also have in custody the general financial records of\nthe Church. A bishop must either be a lineal descendant of Aaron, in\nwhich event he can act without counselors, or he must be a high priest\nafter the order of Melchizedek, having as his counselors two other\nhigh priests of that order. Under the jurisdiction of the presiding\nbishopric, in temporal matters, are the bishoprics of the wards. The\nward is a division of the stake, as the stake is a division of the\nChurch.\n\nA stake, in territorial extent, often corresponds to a county, though\nin populous districts there may be several stakes in one county. There\nare four stakes in Salt Lake City. Each stake has a presidency of three\nand a high council of twelve, and these have jurisdiction over all\nmembers and organizations in the stake, including the ward bishoprics.\nThe ward bishopric constitutes a court for the trial of members who\ntransgress the Church laws and regulations. From the decision of the\nbishop's court either party in the case may appeal to the high council;\nand from a decision of the high council an appeal may be taken to the\nFirst Presidency, who review the evidence, and if any injustice has\nbeen done, they remand the case for a new trial. If a President of the\nChurch were tried, it would have to be before \"the common council of\nthe Church,\" assisted by \"twelve counselors of the high priesthood.\"\nThe extreme penalty imposed by any Church tribunal is excommunication.\n\nThe Melchizedek Priesthood comprises, in an ascending scale, the\noffices of elder, seventy, and high priest. There are also the callings\nof patriarch, apostle, and president, who must all be high priests\nafter this order. Each specific body of high priests, seventies,\nelders, priests, teachers, or deacons, is called a quorum, but most of\nthe general priesthood organizations are termed councils.\n\nThe Council of the First Presidency is composed of three, one of them\nthe President, and the other two his first and second counselors. These\nthree high priests preside over the entire Church. The President is\nprophet, seer and revelator, and likewise trustee-in-trust for the\nChurch, holding the legal title to its property.\n\nNext in authority to the First Presidency is the council of the twelve\napostles, whose special mission is to preach the gospel, or cause it to\nbe preached, in all nations. The apostles have the right to regulate\nand set in order the Church throughout the world, but they act under\nthe direction of the First Presidency, and exercise presidential power\nonly in the absence of the higher council. The death of the President\nof the Church dissolves the First Presidency, rendering necessary a\nnew organization of that council. It is the privilege of the apostles\nto nominate the President of the Church, who then chooses his two\ncounselors.\n\nNext to the twelve apostles stands the presiding patriarch; it is his\nduty to bless the Church, to give individual blessings to its members,\nand comfort them with spiritual ministrations. He also assists the\napostles in visiting the stakes, attending conferences, and performing\nother duties as required.\n\nPresiding over the great body of the seventies, are seven presidents,\nknown as the first council of the seventy. They are next in authority\nto the council of the twelve. These seven, with the senior presidents\nof the first sixty-three quorums of seventy, form a council equal in\nauthority to either of the two higher councils: but they can exercise\nauthority to the extent of presiding over the Church, only in the\nabsence of the First Presidency and the twelve apostles.\n\nNext comes the presiding bishopric, already mentioned, composed of\nthree high priests, having jurisdiction over the temporalities of\nthe Church. The First Presidency, the twelve apostles, the presiding\npatriarch, the first council of the seventy, and the presiding\nbishopric, constitute the general authorities. The names of all general\nofficers, from the President down, are submitted to the general\nconference, held twice a year, to be voted upon by the members of\nthe Church. They are also presented at the stake conferences, held\nquarterly, to be voted upon, with the stake officers, in like manner.\n\nUnder the presidency and high council of each stake, are one or more\npatriarchs, whose ministry, so far as blessings are concerned, is\nsimilar to that of the presiding patriarch. They minister, however,\nonly in their own stakes. Each stake has a quorum of high priests,\nindefinite in number, presided over by three of its members. The\nhigh priesthood holds the inherent right of presidency, and it is\nfrom the high priests that presidencies are selected, such as the\nFirst Presidency, the council of the twelve, a stake presidency, or a\nbishopric. While the seventies, as an entire body, are presided over\nby their first council, they are divided into quorums of seventy,\neach quorum having seven presidents of its own. The special duty of\nthe seventies is to assist the apostles in preaching the gospel, and\nthey labor under the direction of the twelve. Unlike the high priests,\nelders, and lesser priesthood, the seventies are independent of the\njurisdiction of the stake presidency, as quorums, though not as\nindividual members. They are the \"minute men\" of the Church, subject to\nsudden calls into the mission field. A stake has one or more quorums\nof elders, each composed of ninety-six members, three of whom preside.\nEach ward should have one or more quorums of priests (forty-eight),\nteachers (twenty-four), and deacons (twelve), each with a presidency of\nthree. A ward bishopric presides in a general way over all the quorums\nof the Aaronic Priesthood in the ward, and over all Church members, as\nindividuals, residing therein. The bishop of the ward is ex-officio\npresident of the priests' quorum.\n\nThe elder's office is the lowest in the Melchizedek Priesthood proper.\nThe duties of an elder are similar to those of a seventy, though they\nare exercised more at home than abroad. Next under the office of elder,\nis that of priest, the high est office in the Aaronic Priesthood,\nexcepting the bishop, who, however, is a priest, and officiates as such\nwhen sitting as a judge, but as a high priest, in presiding over his\nward. The priest may preach, baptize, and administer the sacrament,\nbut has not the right to lay on hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.\nThat is a function of the Melchizedek Priesthood, to be exercised only\nby the elders and those above them. The teacher is a peace-maker. It\nis his duty to settle difficulties arising between Church members in\nhis district, or, if he cannot settle them, to report them to the\nbishop under whose jurisdiction he labors. A ward is divided into\ndistricts, and in each district two or more teachers labor regularly.\nIt is incumbent upon them to visit from house to house, to see that no\niniquity shall exist among the members, that they attend their meetings\nfaithfully, and do all things required by the laws and regulations of\nthe Church. The teachers report monthly, or as often as required, to\nthe bishopric. The deacons have charge of the ward property, and are to\nassist the teachers, as the teachers assist the priests, when necessary.\n\nThere are at present sixty-five stakes of Zion, all located in the\nregion of the Rocky Mountains. Two of these stakes are in Canada,\nand until recently there was another in Mexico. The stakes organized\nin Ohio, Missouri, Illinois and Iowa, were abandoned when the Saints\nwere compelled to flee from their former homes. In addition to the\nsixty-five stakes, there are twenty-one outside missions, comprising\nmost of the countries of the globe. There is also a central bureau of\ninformation, at Salt Lake City, the headquarters of the Church. The\nLatter-day Saints, in all the world, number about half a million.\n\nAll the organizations named are strictly within the place of the\nPriesthood: but in addition there are auxiliary organizations, such\nas Relief Societies, Sabbath Schools, Young Men's and Young Ladies'\nMutual Improvement Associations, Primary Associations, and Religion\nClasses. The Relief Societies, which form a vast net-work over all the\nstakes, wards, and most of the missions, are women's organizations,\nfor the care and comfort of the sick and the needy. The Deseret Sunday\nSchool Union has a membership of over 150,000. The Mutual Improvement\nAssociations are what their name implies: the sexes meet separately,\nexcept in monthly conjoint sessions, and study systematically religion,\nhistory, philosophy, and the arts and sciences. The Primaries are for\nthe training of children too young for membership in the Mutuals; and\nthe Religion Classes are for special instruction to the youth of both\nsexes. Church schools exist in many of the stakes, the most notable\nbeing the Brigham Young University of Provo, the Brigham Young College\nof Logan, and the Latter-day Saints University of Salt Lake City. Old\nfolks' committees, for the entertainment of the aged, regardless of\nsect or creed, are another institution of the Church, and are found in\nmost of the stakes and wards throughout Zion.\n\nFor further information on Priesthood and Church government, the reader\nis referred to D&C 20,68,84,107,112, and 114 of the Doctrine and\nCovenants; also to the \"History of the Church,\" Volume III, page 385:\nand Volume IV, page 207.\n\n\n\nThe Gospel Dispensations\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nIntroductory\n\nOne Plan of Salvation.--As there is but one Savior, so is there but one\nplan of salvation. There never was, and there never can be, another\n\"I marvel,\" wrote Paul to the back-sliding Galatians, \"that ye are so\nsoon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ, unto\nanother gospel; which is not another; but there be some that trouble\nyou, and would pervert the gospel of Christ. But though we, or an angel\nfrom heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have\npreached unto you, let him be accursed.\"--(Galatians 1:6-8.)\n\nFor All Men.--The Gospel of Christ is not of any one place, nor of\nany one period. Neither is it for the salvation of any class, to the\nexclusion of other classes. It is for all men, and was made plain\nand simple, that it might appeal to all. At the same time, it is the\nmightiest, the sublimest, and the most profound system of philosophy\nthat the world has ever known. It is not a child of earth, nor a\nproduct of human wisdom. It came out of eternity, from the very bosom\nof God, and has been upon the earth at different times and places. It\nis the Everlasting Gospel, the same yesterday, today, and forever, and\nall true principles of religion, science, or philosophy, now popular in\nthe world, are but parts of it--broken off fragments of this grand Rock\nof Ages. Or, to change the figure, they are as pools of water, caught\nin the clefts and hollows of time, when the great flood of Truth, in\none or more of its visitations, swept by on its way back to the eternal\nocean.\n\nAll Truth Divine.--Every religion in existence that has benefited its\nbelievers, must have possessed at some period a portion of divine\ntruth; and that truth is what perpetuated it, not the errors associated\ntherewith. These are as cobwebs and dust, the accumulated rubbish of\nfalse tradition, in which the precious jewel is wholly or in part\nconcealed. Yes, every religion, Christian or Pagan, that has proved a\nreal blessing to its votaries, is as a cistern holding within it waters\nonce wholesome and pure,--waters that fell originally from heaven,\nin one of those grand spiritual showers, called dispensations of the\ngospel, when the flood gates of eternity were lifted, that the world\nmight be refreshed.\n\nThe Arab and the Caliph.--But spiritual waters, like the waters of\nearth, will lose their sweetness and purity, if separated too far\nand too long from their fountain-head. They will become stagnant and\nunwholesome, like the water carried for many days by the poor Arab in\nhis leathern bottle, from the sparkling spring in the desert to the\ndistant palace of the Caliph, who magnanimously rewarded the giver, not\nfor the rank draught presented for his acceptance, but for the goodness\nof his motive, the sincerity of his soul.\n\nGod's Word Apportioned.--How every tribe and nation receives its\nportion of the divine word, is thus told in the Nephite record:\n\n\"O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart, that I\nmight go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake\nthe earth, and cry repentance unto every people:\n\n\"Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder,\nrepentance, and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and\ncome unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the\nface of the earth.\n\n\"But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be\ncontent with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.\n\n\"I ought not to harrow up in my desires the firm decree of a just God,\nfor I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether\nit be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto\nmen, according to their wills; whether they be unto salvation or unto\ndestruction.\n\n\"Yea, and I know that good and evil have come before all men; or he\nthat knoweth not good from evil is blameless; but he that knoweth good\nand evil, to him it is given according to his desires; whether he\ndesireth good or evil, life or death, joy or remorse of conscience.\n\n\"Now seeing that I know these things, why should I desire more than to\nperform the work to which I have been called?\n\n\"Why should I desire that I was an angel, that I could speak unto all\nthe ends of the earth?\n\n\"For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations, of their own nation\nand tongue, to teach his word; yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit\nthat they should have; therefore we see that the Lord doth counsel in\nwisdom, according to that which is just and true.\"--(Alma 29:1-8.)\n\nAn Oft-Restored Religion.--The Gospel of Christ did not make its first\nappearance upon this planet at the time of the Savior's crucifixion.\nWhile it seemed a new thing to that generation--for they were\n\"astonished at the doctrine\" of the Nazarene, who taught them the\nreturn of good for evil as a better rule of conduct than the Mosaic law\nof retaliation--in reality it was older than all the ages, older than\nthe earth itself. It might have said, with its divine Author: \"Before\nAbraham was I am\"--with reference to the mortal life of Abraham.\nOriginating in the heavens, before this world was created, the gospel,\nprior to its preaching in the meridian of time, had been revealed to\nman in a series of dispensations, beginning with Adam and extending\ndown to that day. The ancient apostles of our Lord preached a restored\ngospel, just as much as do the apostles, seventies, and elders of the\nChurch of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.\n\n\"Dispensation\" Defined.--It is time to ask, and to more fully answer\nthe question, What is meant by the term \"dispensation\"? To dispense\nis to deal out or distribute, as when the sacrament of the Lord's\nSupper is dispensed to a congregation. \"Dispensation of Providence\"\nis a phrase used to describe some dealing of God with man, either for\njoy or sorrow to the object of the visitation. In theology the term\n\"Dispensation\" signifies the method or scheme by which God has at\ndifferent times developed his purposes and revealed himself to man.\nIt also denotes a period marked by some particular development of the\ndivine purpose and revelation, such as the Mosaic dispensation, lasting\nfrom Moses to Christ: or the Christian dispensation, ending in a\nuniversal apostasy which rendered necessary the latter-day restoration\nof the gospel and the Priesthood.\n\nSeven Periods.--It is held by many that there are seven gospel\ndispensations, seven distinct periods, during which the plan of\nsalvation, restored from heaven to earth, has been administered to the\nchildren of men; the intervals of spiritual darkness between those\nperiods of light resulting from the world's unworthiness. Revelation,\nso far as I am aware, is silent as to the number of the dispensations;\nbut I am among those who incline to the belief that seven is\ncorrect; a belief probably founded, in part, upon the scriptural or\nsymbolical character of that number, and upon the Prophet Joseph's\nteaching relative to the seven periods, answering to the seven seals\nof the mystical book seen by John the Revelator in his vision on\nPatmos.--(Rev. 5 and 6.)\n\nThe Apocalyptic Book.--Section Seventy-Seven of the Doctrine and\nCovenants is a key to John's revelation, consisting of a series of\nquestions and answers; those germane to this subject being as follows:\n\n\"What are we to understand by the book which John saw, which was sealed\non the back with seven seals?\"\n\n\"We are to understand that it contains the revealed will, mysteries,\nand works of God; the hidden things of his economy concerning this\nearth during the seven thousand years of its continuance, or its\ntemporal existence.\"\n\n\"What are we to understand by the seven seals with which it was sealed?\"\n\n\"We are to understand that the first seal contains the things of the\nfirst thousand years, and the second also of the second thousand years,\nand so on until the seventh.\"\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"What are we to understand by the sounding of the trumpets, mentioned\nin the 8th chapter of Revelations?\"\n\n\"We are to understand that as God made the world in six days, and on\nthe seventh day he finished his work, and sanctified it, and also\nformed man out of the dust of the earth; even so, in the beginning of\nthe seventh thousand years will the Lord God sanctify the earth, and\ncomplete the salvation of man, and judge all things, and shall redeem\nall things, except that which he hath not put into his power, when\nhe shall have sealed all things; and the sounding of the trumpets of\nthe seven angels, are the preparing and finishing of his work, in the\nbeginning of the seventh thousand years;--the preparing of the way\nbefore the time of his coming.\"\n\nWhether or not these seven periods are looked upon as gospel\ndispensation, it is interesting to consider them as covering the same\nground, paralleling, or extending through, the same mighty stretch of\nduration, and dealing with events, epochs, personages and principles\nconnected with those dispensations.\n\nThe World's Real History.--Concerning \"the book which John saw,\" the\nProphet says in effect that it represents the real history of the\nworld--what the eye of God has seen, what the recording angel has\nwritten. The seven thousand years, corresponding to the seven seals,\nare as seven great days, during which Mother Earth will fulfil her\nmortal mission or probation, laboring six days, and resting upon the\nseventh, her period of sanctification. We are not to understand,\nhowever, that these seven thousand years include the time during which\nthe earth was in process of creation and of preparation for man. The\nphrase \"temporal existence\" shows that the reckoning began, not before,\nbut after, time had been decreed.\n\nEarth Obedient to Law.--That this planet is indeed upon probation, and\ncapable of obeying law, is plainly taught in modern revelation:\n\n\"And again, verily I say unto you, the earth abideth the law of a\ncelestial kingdom, for it filleth the measure of its creation, and\ntransgresseth not the law.\n\n\"Wherefore it shall be sanctified; yea, notwithstanding it shall die,\nit shall be quickened again, and shall abide the power by which it is\nquickened, and the righteous shall inherit it.\"--(D. and C. 88:25-26.)\n\nThe Sea of Glass.--The key to the Apocalypse, already quoted, begins\nwith this question concerning earth's glorious future: \"What is the\nsea of glass spoken of by John, 4th chapter, and 6th verse, of the\nRevelation?\" And the answer is: \"It is the earth, in its sanctified,\nimmortal, and eternal state.\"\n\nOne Day as a Thousand Years.--That the seven thousand years are indeed\nas seven great days, is virtually set forth in the Book of Abraham,\nwhere the patriarch, who was deeply learned in astronomy, and taught\nthat science to the Egyptians, tells of a mighty governing planet\nnearest to the throne of God--a planet named Kolob, revolving once in a\nthousand years. (Abr. 3.) It is evident that such a day figured in the\nwarning given to Adam: \"In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt\nsurely die\" (Gen. 2:17) for Adam, having eaten of the forbidden fruit,\nlived on to the age of 930 years. In the Book of Abraham (5:13), it is\nexplained that the day in question was \"after the time of Kolob; for as\nyet the Gods had not appointed unto Adam his reckoning.\"\n\nThe Saturday Evening of Time.--According to received chronology, four\nthousand years, or four of the seven great days given to this planet\nas the period of its temporal continuance, had passed before Christ\ncame, while nearly two thousand years have gone by since. So that the\nsixth day is now drawing to a close, and we stand at the present moment\nin the Saturday evening of human history. Morning will break upon the\nMillennium, the thousand years of peace, the Sabbath of the world.\n\nDispensations Inter-Related.--Whatever their number, or the names\nby which they may be properly known, it is certain that the gospel\ndispensations are inter-related. They are as the links of a mighty\nchain, representing God's dealings with man, and extending from the\ndawn of creation down to and beyond the present time.\n\nSymbolical and Prophetic.--Those dispensations are likewise symbolical\nand prophetic in character, pointing forward and finding their\nculmination, their prospective and complete fulfilment, in the great\nand final dispensation that is destined to bring about \"the restitution\nof all things.\" This is \"Mormonism's\" mission upon earth--\"Mormonism,\"\na nick-name for the Everlasting Gospel, brought back once more for the\npurpose of completing the Lord's work as pertaining to this planet,\nbinding in one the dispensations, and merging them into the last and\ngreatest of all--the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nThe Adamic Period\n\nAdam Holds the Keys.--The Prophet Joseph Smith treats thus the theme of\nthe Gospel dispensations:\n\n\"Commencing with Adam, who was the first man, * * * the first and\nfather of all, not only by progeny, but the first to hold the spiritual\nblessings, to whom was made known the plan of ordinances for the\nsalvation of his posterity unto the end, and to whom Christ was first\nrevealed, and through whom Christ has been revealed from heaven, and\nwill continue to be revealed from henceforth;--Adam holds the keys of\nthe dispensation of the fulness of times; i.e., the dispensation of all\nthe times have been and will be revealed through him from the beginning\nto Christ, and from Christ to the end of all the dispensations that are\nto be revealed.\"--(\"History of the Church,\" Vol. IV, pp. 207, 208.)\n\n\"All Things in Christ.\"--Having cited Paul (Ephesians 1:9,10), as\nshowing how God \"purposed in himself, that in the dispensation of the\nfulness of times he might gather together in one all things in Christ,\nboth which are in heaven and which are on earth,\" the Prophet goes on\nto say:\n\n\"Now the purpose of himself, in the winding up scene of the last\ndispensation, is that all things pertaining to that dispensation should\nbe conducted precisely in accordance with the preceding dispensations.\n\n\"And again, God purposed in himself that there should not be an\neternal fulness until every dispensation should be fulfiled and\ngathered together in one, and that all things whatsoever that should be\ngathered together in one in those dispensations unto the same fulness\nand eternal glory, should be in Christ Jesus; therefore he set the\nordinances to be the same forever and ever, and set Adam to watch over\nthem, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to reveal\nthem.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"This, then, is the nature of the Priesthood: every man holding the\npresidency of his dispensation, and one man holding the presidency of\nthem all, even Adam; and Adam receiving his presidency and authority\nfrom the Lord, but cannot receive a fulness until Christ shall present\nthe kingdom to the Father, which shall be at the end of the last\ndispensation.\"--(Ibid, pp. 208-209.)\n\nDistinctive Features.--Each dispensation stands for some particular\ndevelopment of God's work. Each period possess certain distinguishing\ncharacteristics, to point out which, rather than to give an exhaustive\nnarration of events and happenings, is the aim of the present article.\nIn the Adamic dispensation, or the period during which Adam lived upon\nthe earth, in addition to the Creation and the Fall, already treated in\nprevious chapters, we find the following distinctive features:\n\n(1) The institution of the law of sacrifice, foreshadowing the\nAtonement that was to be made by the Lamb of God.\n\n(2) The introduction and first promulgation of the Gospel, as a means\nof redeeming mankind from the effects of the Fall.\n\n(3) The original exercise of the evangelical power and authority by\nFather Adam, the patriarch of the human family.\n\nSacrifice Instituted.--Respecting the law of sacrifice, it is written:\n\n\"And Adam and Eve, his wife, called upon the name of the Lord, and they\nheard the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden,\nspeaking unto them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from\nhis presence.\n\n\"And he gave unto them commandments, that they should worship the Lord\ntheir God, and should offer the firstlings of their flocks, for an\noffering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of\nthe Lord.\n\n\"And after many days an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying:\nWhy dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him: I\nknow not, save the Lord commanded me.\n\n\"And then the angel spake, saying: This thing is a similitude of the\nsacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace\nand truth.\n\n\"Wherefore, thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son,\nand thou shalt repent and call upon God in the name of the Son for\nevermore.\"--(Moses 5:4-8.)\n\nRevelation Necessary.--Adam knew all about the law of sacrifice--knew\nall about it in the spirit; for he was one of those who had sat in\nthe eternal councils, where the plan of salvation was framed, and the\nchoice made of a Redeemer and Savior. He helped to form that plan, and\nto choose the One who would put it into effect. Adam knew all about\nthe Lamb of God, slain in theory from the foundation of the world, and\nyet to be slain literally upon the earth, an event symbolized by the\nsacrifice that he was in the very act of offering, perhaps, when the\nangel accosted him. But he had forgotten it all, so great is the change\nthat comes over the spirit in passing from pre-mortal into mortal\nconditions. Hence the necessity of such a visitation, to enlighten\nhim. Hence, also, the necessity of revelation by the Holy Ghost, the\nComforter, bringing things past to remembrance, showing things to come.\n\nThe Gospel's Introduction.--The introduction of the Gospel is thus\nnarrated:\n\n\"And the Lord God called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere and\ncommanded them that they should repent.\"--(Moses 5:14.)\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God;\nI made the world, and men before they were in the flesh.\n\n\"And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken\nunto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and\nbe baptized, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son,\nwho is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus Christ, the only name\nwhich shall be given under heaven whereby salvation shall come unto the\nchildren of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost; asking\nall things in His name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given\nyou.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto\nall men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the\nmeridian of time.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father,\nthat Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of\nthe Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the\nwater, and was brought forth out of the water.\n\n\"And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him,\nand thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner\nman.\n\n\"And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with\nfire, and with the Holy Ghost.\"--(Moses 6:51, 52, 62, 64-66.)\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being\ndeclared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his\nown voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"And thus all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy ordinance,\nand the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in\nthe world, until the end thereof; and thus it was. Amen.\"--(Moses 5:58,\n59.)\n\nAdam as Patriarch.--Concerning Adam's patriarchal ministry, we are thus\nenlightened by Joseph the Seer:\n\n\"I saw Adam in the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman. He called together\nhis children and blessed them with a patriarchal blessing. The Lord\nappeared in their midst, and he (Adam) blessed them all and foretold\nwhat should befall them to the latest generation.\"--(\"History of the\nChurch,\" Vol. III, p. 388.)\n\nPatriarchal Order and Descent.--Respecting the patriarchal order, the\nLord says:\n\n\"The order of this priesthood was confirmed to be handed down from\nfather to son, and rightly belongs to the literal descendants of the\nchosen seed, to whom the promises were made.\n\n\"This order was instituted in the days of Adam, and came down by\nlineage in the following manner:\n\n\"From Adam to Seth, who was ordained by Adam at the age of 69 years,\nand was blessed by him three years previous to his (Adam's) death, and\nreceived the promise of God by his father, that his posterity should be\nthe chosen of the Lord, and that they should be preserved unto the end\nof the earth.\n\n\"Because he (Seth) was a perfect man, and his likeness was the express\nlikeness of his father's, insomuch that he seemed to be like unto his\nfather in all things, and could be distinguished from him only by his\nage.\n\n\"Enos was ordained at the age of 134 years and four months by the hand\nof Adam.\n\n\"God called upon Cainan in the wilderness, in the fortieth year of his\nage, and he met Adam in journeying to the place Shedolamak. He was 87\nyears old when he received his ordination.\n\n\"Mahalaleel was 496 years and seven days old when he was ordained by\nthe hand of Adam, who also blessed him.\n\n\"Jared was 200 years old when he was ordained under the hand of Adam,\nwho also blessed him.\n\n\"Enoch was 25 years old when he was ordained under the hand of Adam,\nand he was 65 and Adam blessed him.\n\n\"And he saw the Lord, and he walked with him, and was before his face\ncontinually; and he walked with God 365 years, making him 430 years old\nwhen he was translated.\n\n\"Methuselah was 100 years old when he was ordained under the hand of\nAdam.\n\n\"Lamech was 32 years old when he was ordained under the hand of Seth.\n\n\"Noah was 10 years old when he was ordained under the hand of\nMethuselah.\n\n\"Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos,\nCainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all High\nPriests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into\nthe valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and the re bestowed upon them his last\nblessing.\n\n\"And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam,\nand called him Michael, the Prince, the Archangel.\n\n\"And the Lord administered comfort unto Adam, and said unto him, I have\nset thee to be at the head--a multitude of nations shall come of thee,\nand thou art a prince over them for ever.\n\n\"And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation, and not\nwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost,\npredicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest\ngeneration.\"--(D. and C. 107:40-56.)\n\nThe Ancient of Days.--Here is given, by the Prophet, a glimpse of the\nglorious sequel:\n\n\"Daniel, in his seventh chapter, speaks of the Ancient of Days; he\nmeans the oldest man, our Father Adam, Michael; he will call his\nchildren together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the\ncoming of the Son of Man. He (Adam) is the father of the human family,\nand presides over the spirits of all men, and all that have had the\nkeys must stand before him in this grand council. This may take place\nbefore some of us leave this stage of action. The Son of Man stands\nbefore him, and there is given him glory and dominion. Adam delivers up\nhis stewardship to Christ, that which was delivered to him as holding\nthe keys of the universe, but retains his standing as head of the human\nfamily.\"--(\"History of the Church,\" Vol. III, p. 386.)\n\nPlace of the Council.--The place of the council mentioned in the\nforegoing paragraph, is thus pointed out by the finger of the Lord:\n\n\"Revelation to Joseph the Seer, given near Wight's Ferry, at a place\ncalled Spring Hill, Davis County, Missouri, May 19th, 1838, wherein\nSpring Hill is named by the Lord,\n\n\"Adam-ondi-Ahman, because, said he, it is the place where Adam shall\ncome to visit his people, or the Ancient of Days shall sit, as spoken\nof by Daniel the prophet.\"--(D. and C. 116.)\n\nAdam-ondi-Ahman.--At that very spot, Spring Hill, Davis County,\nMissouri, in the year 1838, the Latter-day Saints, by direction of the\nProphet, began to build a city, naming it Adam-ondi-Ahman, afterwards\nabbreviated to Diahman. While engaged in making the survey, some of the\nbrethren came upon the ruins of an ancient altar, which the Prophet, on\nbeholding, declared to be the identical altar upon which Adam offered\nsacrifices after he was expelled from Eden. The Garden of Eden, Joseph\nsaid, was in Jackson County, Missouri, from which part the Saints had\nbeen driven, as if to typify reminiscently the original expulsion. In\nboth instances, the tree of disobedience bore the same bitter fruit. In\nJackson County the New Jerusalem is to be built, and a people prepared\nfor the glorious coming of the Lord. That America is the Old World,\nnot the New, science now affirms; but the fact was first proclaimed by\nrevelation, whose other name, in this case, is Joseph Smith the Prophet.\n\nCain and Abel.--Adam's offering of sacrifice was acceptable to the\nLord, being in accordance with the divine command, and because it\ntruly symbolized the Lamb of God, who was to come. Abel, Adam's son,\noffered a similar sacrifice--\"the firstlings of his flock and of the\nfat thereof, and the Lord had respect unto Abel and to his offering\"\n(Gen. 4:4). But Cain, Abel's eldest brother, who had also been taught\nthe law of sacrifice, took it upon himself to deviate from the divine\ninstruction, and instead of a lamb, he \"brought of the fruit of the\nground,\" an offering in no way typical of the Savior. Hence, his\noffering was rejected. The Prophet Joseph, commenting upon these facts,\nsays: \"God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained,\nand chosen.\" He quotes Paul (Heb. 11:4): \"By faith Abel offered unto\nGod a more excellent sacrifice than Cain, by which he obtained witness\nthat he was righteous, God testifying of his gifts; and by it he being\ndead, yet speaketh\"--and then asks:\n\n\"How doth he yet speak? Why, he magnified the priesthood which was\nconferred upon him, and died a righteous man, and therefore has become\nan angel of God by receiving his body from the dead, holding still the\nkeys of his dispensation; and was sent down from heaven unto Paul to\nminister consoling words, and to commit unto him a knowledge of the\nmysteries of godliness.\"\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"The power, glory and blessings of the priesthood could not continue\nwith those who received ordination only as their righteousness\ncontinued; for Cain also being authorized to offer sacrifice, but\nnot offering it in righteousness, was cursed. It signifies, then,\nthat the ordinances must be kept in the very way God has appointed;\notherwise their priesthood will prove a cursing instead of a\nblessing.\"--(\"History of the Church,\" Vol. IV, pp. 208, 209.)\n\nInter-Relation Shown.--It was after the episode of Cain and Abel,\nincluding the murder of the latter by the former, that Adam called the\nrighteous residue of his posterity into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman,\nand there gave them his farewell benediction, foretelling what should\nbefall the human race down to the end of time. That great patriarchal\nblessing, considered in connection with Adam's coming as the Ancient\nof Days, to call his children before him in a grand council upon the\nprecise spot where he uttered his wonderful world-covering prediction,\nclearly shows the relationship between the First Dispensation and the\nDispensation of the Fulness of Times.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nEnoch and Zion\n\n\"The Seventh from Adam.\"--Enoch was contemporaneous with Adam, and was\nordained and blessed by him (D&C 107:48). The period in which Enoch\nfigured was prolific of wonderful events, but the two standing out most\nprominently are:\n\n(1) The successful practice of the law of consecration, resulting in\nthe founding of Zion, the City of Holiness, which was taken into heaven\nby translation.\n\n(2) Enoch's vision of the future--past Noah and the deluge, past Christ\nand the crucifixion, down even to the last days, when the coming of the\nLord in his glory would usher in the millennial reign of rest.\n\nWhat Enoch Beheld.--Some of the sweetest and sublimest passages in\nthe writings of Moses, as reproduced by Joseph the Prophet, are those\nin which he tells the story of Enoch and his city, and portrays the\nmarvelous events made visible to the eye of the ancient Seer. Here are\nsome of the more notable passages:\n\n\"And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart\nand one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among\nthem.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And it came to pass that the Lord showed unto Enoch all the\ninhabitants of the earth; and he beheld, and lo, Zion, in process of\ntime, was taken up into heaven. And the Lord said unto Enoch: Behold\nmine abode forever.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And it came to pass that the God of heaven looked upon the residue of\nthe people, and he wept; and Enoch bore record of it, saying: How is it\nthat the heavens weep, and shed forth their tears as the rain upon the\nmountains?\n\n\"And Enoch said unto the Lord: How is it that thou canst weep, seeing\nthou art holy, and from all eternity to all eternity?\n\n\"And were it possible that man could number the particles of the earth,\nyea millions of earths like this, it would not be a beginning to the\nnumber of thy creations; and thy curtains are stretched out still; and\nyet thou art there, and thy bosom is there; and also thou art just;\nthou art merciful and kind forever;\n\n\"And thou hast taken Zion to thine own bosom, from all thy creations,\nfrom all eternity to all eternity; and nought but peace, justice, and\ntruth is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy\nface and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?\n\n\"The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these * * * * which thine eyes are\nupon shall perish in the floods; and behold, I will shut them up; a\nprison have I prepared for them.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And Enoch also saw Noah, and his family; that the posterity of all the\nsons of Noah should be saved with a temporal salvation.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And behold, Enoch saw the days of the coming of the Son of Man, even\nin the flesh; and his soul rejoiced, saying: The Righteous is lifted\nup, and the Lamb is slain from the foundation of the world; and through\nfaith I am in the bosom of the Father, and behold, Zion is with me.\n\n\"And it came to pass that Enoch looked upon the earth; and he heard\na voice from the bowels thereof, saying: Wo, wo is me, the mother of\nmen; I am pained, I am weary, because of the wickedness of my children.\nWhen shall I rest, and be cleansed from the filthiness which is gone\nforth out of me? When will my Creator sanctify me, that I may rest, and\nrighteousness for a season abide upon my face?\n\n\"And when Enoch heard the earth mourn, he wept, and cried unto the\nLord, saying: O Lord, wilt thou not have compassion upon the earth?\nWilt thou not bless the children of Noah?\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Enoch: As I live, even so will I come in the\nlast days, in the days of wickedness and vengeance, to fulfil the oath\nwhich I have made unto you concerning the children of Noah:\n\n\"And the day shall come that the earth shall rest, but before that\nday the heavens shall be darkened, and a veil of darkness shall cover\nthe earth; and the heavens shall shake, and also the earth; and great\ntribulations shall be among the children of men, but my people will I\npreserve;\n\n\"And righteousness will I send down out of heaven, and truth will I\nsend forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten;\nhis resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of\nall men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth\nas with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of\nthe earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my\npeople may gird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my\ncoming; for there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion,\na New Jerusalem.\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet\nthem there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see\nus; and we will fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other;\n\n\"And there shall be mine abode, and it shall be Zion, which shall come\nforth out of all the creations which I have made; and for the space of\na thousand years the earth shall rest.\n\n\"And it came to pass that Enoch saw the day of the coming of the Son of\nMan, in the last days, to dwell on the earth in righteousness for the\nspace of a thousand years.\"--(Moses 7:18-64.)\n\nA fuller account of Enoch's ministry as prophet, seer, and preacher of\nrighteousness, may be found in that chapter of the Book of Moses from\nwhich the foregoing paragraphs are taken.\n\nA Terrestrial Ministry.--\"Now this Enoch,\" says the Prophet Joseph,\n\"God reserved unto himself, that he should not die at that time, and\nappointed unto him a ministry unto terrestrial bodies, of whom there\nhas been but little revealed. He is reserved also unto the presidency\nof a dispensation. * * * He appeared unto Jude, as Abel did unto Paul\n(Jude 14,15). * * * Paul was also acquainted with this character, and\nreceived instructions from him: \"By faith Enoch was translated, that\nhe should not see death, and was not found, because God had translated\nhim\" (Heb. 11:5).\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"Now the doctrine of translation is a power which belongs to this\nPriesthood. There are many things which belong to the powers of the\nPriesthood and the keys thereof, that have been kept hid from before\nthe foundation of the world; they are hid from the wise and prudent to\nbe revealed in the last times.\n\n\"Many have supposed that the doctrine of translation was a doctrine\nwhereby men were taken immediately into the presence of God, and\ninto an eternal fulness, but this is a mistaken idea. Their place of\nhabitation is that of the terrestrial order, and a place prepared for\nsuch characters, he held in reserve to be ministering angels unto many\nplanets, and who as yet have not entered into so great a fullness as\nthose who are resurrected from the dead.\"--(\"History of the Church,\"\nVol. IV, pp. 209, 210.)\n\nEnoch's City to Return.--Enoch's city, according to this teaching, is\nnow in terrestrial glory, awaiting its return to earth, when the season\nis ripe, and preparations are complete for its reception. The change\nwrought upon its inhabitants by translation not being equivalent to\nresurrection, they will have to undergo a further change, to prepare\nthem for celestial glory. Doubtless their case is similar to that of\nthe Saints mentioned by Paul, who will not \"sleep\" in death, but be\nchanged \"in the twinkling of an eye\" to complete immortality, at the\ntime of the coming of the Son of God.--(I Cor. 15:51, 52.)\n\nZion Above and Zion Beneath.--The Zion of Enoch was undoubtedly a\nforeshadowing of the Zion of the last days, with which it will blend,\nand the following glorious picture then be realized:\n\n  \"The Lord hath brought again Zion:\n  The Lord hath redeemed his people, Israel,\n  According to the election of grace,\n  Which was brought to pass by the faith\n  And covenant of their fathers.\n  The Lord hath redeemed his people,\n  And Satan is bound and time is no longer:\n  The Lord hath gathered all things in one:\n  The Lord hath brought down Zion from above.\n  The Lord hath brought up Zion from beneath.\n  The earth hath travailed and brought forth her strength:\n  And truth is established in her bowels:\n  And the heavens have smiled upon her:\n  And she is clothed with the glory of her God:\n  For he stands in the midst of his people:\n  Glory, and honor, and power, and might,\n  Be ascribed to our God; for he is full of mercy,\n  Justice, grace and truth, and peace,\n  For ever and ever. Amen.\"--(D. and C. 84:99-102.)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nNoah and the Deluge\n\nThe Son of Lamech.--Noah was the son of Lamech, who was a grandson\nof Enoch, and after him \"the next great grand patriarch who held the\nkeys of the priesthood.\" Lamech was ordained under the hand of Seth,\nthe third son of Adam, who received from his father a blessing similar\nto the one afterwards pronounced upon Abraham, to the effect that\nhis posterity should be the chosen of the Lord. Seth seems to have\nsucceeded to the position held by Abel, whom Cain slew (Gen. 4:25). He\nis described as \"a perfect man,\" the express likeness of his father.\nNoah's patriarchal ordination came from Methuselah, the father of\nLamech. Noah was but ten years old when his grandfather thus blessed\nand ordained him.--(D. and C. 107: 42, 43, 48, 51, 52.)\n\n\"And Noah was four hundred and fifty years old, and begat Japheth; and\nforty-two years afterward he begat Shem of her who was the mother of\nJapheth; and when he was five hundred years old he begat Ham.\n\n\"And it came to pass that Noah prophesied, and taught the things of\nGod, even as it was in the beginning.\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Noah: My Spirit shall not always strive with\nman, for he shall know that all flesh shall die; yet his days shall be\nan hundred and twenty years; and if men do not repent, I will send in\nthe floods upon them.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And the Lord ordained Noah after his own order, and commanded him that\nhe should go forth and declare his gospel unto the children of men,\neven as it was given unto Enoch.\n\n\"And it came to pass that Noah called upon the children of men that\nthey should repent, but they hearkened not unto his words;\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And God saw that the wickedness of men had become great in the earth;\nand every man was lifted up in the imagination of the thoughts of his\nheart, being only evil continually.\n\n\"And it came to pass that Noah continued his preaching unto the people,\nsaying: Hearken, and give heed unto my words;\n\n\"Believe and repent of your sins and be baptized in the name of Jesus\nChrist, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive the\nHoly Ghost, that ye may have all things made manifest; and if ye do not\nthis, the floods will come in upon you; nevertheless they hearkened not.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And God said unto Noah: The end of all flesh is come before me, for\nthe earth is filled with violence, and behold I will destroy all flesh\nfrom off the earth.\"--(Moses 8:12, 16, 17, 19, 20, 22-24, 30.)\n\nEnd of the World Foreshadowed.--Noah's period was prophetic of the\nend of the world. This is apparent from the words of the Savior, when\nprophesying over Jerusalem, and foretelling the end of the Jewish\ncommonwealth, an event also typical of the final destruction of the\nwicked. Speaking of the social conditions that prevailed while Noah was\npreaching the Gospel and delivering his warning message, Jesus said:\n\n\"As the days of Noe were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be.\n\n\"For as in the days that were before the flood, they were eating and\ndrinking, marrying and giving in marriage, until the day that Noe\nentered into the ark.\n\n\"And knew not until the flood came, and took them all away; so shall\nalso the coming of the Son of Man be.\"--(Matt. 24:3 7-39.)\n\nEarth's Baptism of Fire.--The deluge that destroyed the wicked \"with\nthe earth\" (that is, with water, representing the earth) and which God\ncovenanted with Noah never to repeat, is to be paralleled by another\ndeluge, in which the wicked will be consumed by fire from heaven; and\nas unexpectedly as came the watery flood in which our planet was once\nimmersed, will come the fiery baptism that is destined to cleanse it\nfrom all unrighteousness and prepare it for celestial glory.\n\nA Second Adam.--Noah, who is Gabriel, and stands next to Adam, or\nMichael, in the priesthood, typifies the great patriarch, in that\nthrough him and his immediate family--eight souls in all--Earth was\nrepeopled after the flood. Hence Noah is sometimes called \"the second\nAdam.\"\n\nJapheth, Shem and Ham.--Noah's eldest son, Japheth, peopled Europe;\nShem, Asia; and Ham, Africa. Noah's blessing upon Shem and Japheth, and\nhis curse upon Ham, through Canaan, Ham's son, are thus recorded in the\nHebrew scriptures:\n\n\"And he said, Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be unto\nhis brethren.\n\n\"And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Shem; and Canaan shall be his\nservant.\n\n\"God shall enlarge Japheth, and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem;\nand Canaan shall be his servant.\"--(Gen. 9:25-27.)\n\nNoah's Curse Upon Canaan.--Part of the curse that fell upon Canaan was\n\"a blackness,\" which came upon all his posterity, causing them to be\n\"despised among all people\" (Moses 7:8)--a blackness similar to that\nwhich had been placed upon the \"seed of Cain\" (Moses 7:22). The curse\nalso deprived the Canaanites of the priesthood.--(Abraham 1:26.)\n\nJust why a whole race had to be punished for a sin committed by one of\nits ancestors, is a mystery almost as great as that of the vicarious\natonement, demanded by eternal justice for Adam's transgression. We\nmay be sure, however, that right was vindicated in both cases, and\nrevelation will eventually make the matter plain. Every effect has\na cause. Canaan was not cursed, nor his posterity deprived of the\npriesthood, for nothing. It must be that the spirits taking those dark\nbodies, and passing through the experiences ordained for them, have\ndone something to merit their fate. \"Whatsoever a man soweth, that\nshall he also reap.\" This principle applies to the spirit life, no less\nthan to the mortal life.\n\nShem's and Japheth's Blessing.--From Shem came Abraham, the Father of\nthe Faithful; and from Japheth sprang the Gentiles, the founders of\nthe most civilized and enlightened nations of modern times, including\nGreat Britain and the United States of America. Let me add, here, that\nthe term \"Gentile\" is not an opprobrious epithet, as some suppose. It\ncomes from \"Gentilis,\" signifying \"of a nation,\" and is used in sacred\nhistory to designate the people that were not of Israel. Ham, through\nCanaan, was the progenitor of the negro race, long held in slavery in\nthis and in other Gentile countries. The Ethiopian also served the\nSemite, just as Noah had predicted.\n\nThe Tents of Shem.--How Japheth has \"dwelt in the tents of Shem,\"\nis partly shown by the history of Palestine, which has long been\ndominated by the Gentiles, particularly the Turks, who still possess\nit. Japheth's remarkable blessing has also been realized in the history\nof our own country, America, the land of Joseph, which the Gentiles\nnow inhabit, and where, according to the Book of Mormon, they are to\nassist in gathering Israel and building the New Jerusalem. It is their\nprivilege to share, if they will, in all the blessings promised to the\nchosen people. The Gentiles who receive the gospel, and are faithful\nto its requirements, shall be as the seed of Abraham (Abraham 2:9-11).\n\"The tents of Shem\" may be interpreted to mean the lands of Israel,\nthe homes of the people of God, who are lineally descended from Shem,\nthrough Abraham.\n\nAnother Parallel.--\"As it was in the days of Noah, so it shall be also\nat the coming of the Son of Man.\" For this, his own rendering of Matt.\n24:41, the Prophet Joseph finds another fulfilment thus:\n\n\"He [Jehovah] continued to him [Noah] the keys, the covenants, the\npower and the glory with which he blessed Adam at the beginning; and\nthe offering of sacrifice, which also shall be continued at the last\ntime; for all the ordinances and duties that ever have been required by\nthe Priesthood, under the directions and commandments of the Almighty\nin any of the dispensations, shall all be had in the last dispensation;\ntherefore, all things had under the authority of the Priesthood at any\nformer period, shall be had again, bringing to pass the restoration\nspoken of by the mouth of all the holy prophets.\"--(\"History of the\nChurch,\" Vol. IV, pp. 210, 211.)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nAbraham\n\nThe House of Israel.--The Abrahamic period was signalized by the\nfounding of the house of Israel, of which Abraham is the earthly head;\nChrist, or Jehovah, the God of Israel, being its heavenly head. This\nhouse was established upon the earth that the Savior of the world might\nhave a fitting lineage through which to come, and that the Lord might\nhave a worthy people through whom to promote his wise and benevolent\npurposes toward the whole human family. The Israelitish subject is\nreserved for fuller treatment in future pages. I shall merely point out\nhere some of the greater events for which the dispensation of Abraham\nis distinguished.\n\nThe Law of Tithing--Melchizedek.--In connection with the career of the\nHebrew patriarch, the first mention is made in the Bible of the law of\ntithing, and also of the high priest, Melchizedek, to whom Abraham gave\ntithes:\n\n\"And Melchizedek, king of Salem, brought forth bread and wine; and he\nwas the priest of the most high God.\n\n\"And he blessed him, and said, Blessed be Abram of the most high God,\nwhich hath delivered thine enemies into thy hand. And he gave him\ntithes of all.\"--(Gen. 14:18-20.)\n\nPaul refers to the same event in the following language:\n\n\"For this Melchizedek, king of Salem, priest of the most high God, who\nmet Abraham returning from the slaughter of the kings, and blessed him;\n\n\"To whom also Abraham gave a tenth part of all; first being by\ninterpretation king of righteousness, and after that also king of\nSalem, which is king of peace;\n\n\"Without father, without mother, without descent, having neither\nbeginning of days, nor end of life; but made like unto the Son of God;\nabideth a priest continually.\n\n\"Now consider how great this man was, unto whom even the patriarch\nAbraham gave the tenth of the spoils.\"--(Heb. 7:1-4.)\n\nThe Priesthood Renamed.--So great was he that the Priesthood was\nrenamed for him. Before his time, it was called The Priesthood after\nthe Order of the Son of God. Its present name, the Melchizedek\nPriesthood, was bestowed, as we are informed, for reverential reasons,\nto avoid a too frequent repetition of the name of Deity.--(D. and C.\n107:1-4.)\n\nAbraham's Test.--The offering of Isaac, Abraham's son of promise,\nsymbolized the offering, by the Eternal Father, of his Only Begotten\nSon, for the redemption and salvation of mankind. This crucial trial of\nAbraham's faith is thus related by the sacred historian:\n\n\"And it came to pass after these things, that God did tempt Abraham,\nand said unto him, Abraham; and he said, Behold, here I am.\n\n\"And he said, Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest,\nand get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt\noffering upon one of the mountains which I will tell thee of.\n\n\"And Abraham rose up early in the morning, and saddled his ass, and\ntook two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son, and clave the\nwood for the burnt offering, and rose up, and went into the place of\nwhich God had told him.\n\n\"Then on the third day Abraham lifted up his eyes, and saw the place\nafar off.\n\n\"And Abraham said unto his young men, Abide ye here with the ass; and I\nand the lad will go yonder and worship, and come again to you.\n\n\"And Abraham took the wood of the burnt offering, and laid it upon\nIsaac his son; and he took the fire in his hand, and a knife; and they\nwent both of them together.\n\n\"And Isaac spake unto Abraham his father, and said, My father: and he\nsaid, Here am I, my son, And he said, Behold the fire and the wood; but\nwhere is the lamb for a burnt offering?\n\n\"And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt\noffering; so they went both of them together.\n\n\"And they came to the place which God had told him of; and Abraham\nbuilt an altar there, and laid the wood in order, and bound Isaac his\nson, and laid him on the altar upon the wood.\n\n\"And Abraham stretched forth his hand, and took the knife to slay his\nson.\n\n\"And the angel of the Lord called unto him out of heaven, and said,\nAbraham, Abraham: and he said, Here am I.\n\n\"And he said, Lay not thine hand upon the lad, neither do thou any\nthing unto him; for now I know that thou fearest God, seeing thou hast\nnot withheld thy son, thine only son from me.\n\n\"And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him\na ram caught in a thicket by his horns; and Abraham went and took\nthe ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his\nson.\"--(Gen. 22:1-13.)\n\nJehovah's Promise to His Friend.--Then followed the Lord's promise to\nthe tried and proven Father of the Faithful:\n\n\"In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy\nseed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea\nshore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;\n\n\"And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed\" (Ibid,\n17, 18).\n\nHow that promise was fulfiled, will be shown in the concluding part of\nthis volume.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nMoses and Aaron\n\n\"The sons of Moses, and also the sons of Aaron shall offer an\nacceptable offering and sacrifice in the house of the Lord, which house\nshall be built unto the Lord in this generation, upon the consecrated\nspot, as I [the Lord] have appointed;\n\n\"And the sons of Moses and of Aaron shall be filled with the glory of\nthe Lord, upon Mount Zion in the Lord's house, whose sons are ye; and\nalso many whom I have called and sent forth to build up my church;\n\n\"For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of\nwhich I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified\nby the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies;\n\n\"They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham,\nand the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.\"--(D. and C.\n84:31-34.)\n\nIsrael and the Exodus.--The principal events of the Mosaic dispensation\nwere the exodus from Egypt and the establishment of Israel as an\nindependent nation, under the leadership of their great prophet and\nlawgiver, Moses. Both these events foreshadowed greater ones, namely:\nthe world's deliverance from the bondage of sin and death, and the\nestablishment upon earth of the Kingdom that shall stand forever.\n\nThe Passover.--The exodus was commemorated by the Feast of the\nPassover, instituted to perpetuate in the minds and hearts of the\nchildren of Israel their deliverance from slavery, and at the same time\nto foreshow the mightier redemption of which that exodus was typical.\nThe Passover was kept as follows: On the night before the departure\nout of Egypt, each Israelitish household, obedient to God's command\nthrough Moses, took a lamb \"without blemish,\" and slew it, sprinkling\nthe blood upon the posts and lintels of their doors. It was promised\nthat the Angel of Death, who had been sent to afflict the cruel nation\nfor its oppression of the Lord's people, by slaying the first-born of\nevery Egyptian household, would pass over every Israelitish dwelling\nupon which this blood was sprinkled. Not a bone of the lamb was to be\nbroken, nor a fragment of it left to decay; for it was intended to\nsymbolize the Lamb of God, whose body was not to see corruption (Ps.\n16:10). Neither was any bone of him to be broken.\n\nSymbolism Realized.--In a most remarkable manner was this symbolism\nrealized; for when the Roman soldiers came to Calvary to remove the\nthree bodies from the crosses erected there, they put an end to both\nthe malefactors by breaking their legs; but finding Jesus already\ndead, this additional indignity was not put upon him. Pierced with\nfive wounds, yet not a bone of him broken, the Lamb of God answered\nto the prophetic likeness of the paschal lamb, and was laid away in\nthe rocky tomb, from which he came forth upon the third day, his\nperfectly preserved body--the tabernacle of the Holy One--glorified in\nimmortality.\n\nThe Paschal Ceremony.--In the ceremonial of the Passover, the flesh\nof the lamb was roasted, and partaken of with bitter herbs and with\nunleavened bread, or bread hastily prepared; the former typifying the\nbitterness of the bondage that was about to end, and the latter the\nhaste attendant upon the departure out of Egypt. To emphasize this fact\nstill further, the members of the family, while partaking of the feast,\nthen and thereafter, were clad as if for a journey.--(Exodus 12.)\n\nShadow and Substance.--This sacred memorial, a reminder to God's\npeople of what he had done, and would yet do, was observed in Israel,\nby divine appointment, until the coming of Christ. The night before\nhe was sacrificed, he, the great Paschal Lamb, after partaking of the\nancient feast with his disciples, instituted in its stead the Lord's\nSupper, commanding them to observe it thenceforth. The Supper and the\nPassover were both designed to commemorate the Savior's atonement; but\nin the Passover the pointing was forward, to an event yet to come,\nwhile in the Supper the indication is backward, to an event that has\nalready taken place. It was about the same hour of the day when the\npaschal lamb was offered in the temple at Jerusalem, that Christ died\non Calvary, the substance and the shadow thus corresponding.\n\nThe Great Deliverer.--The lamb of the Passover symbolized the Lamb of\nGod, the universal Deliverer, and Moses, who led the Lord's people out\nof Egypt, was also a type of the world's Redeemer. Jesus, whose mission\nthe career of Moses foreshadowed, is repeatedly described in the sacred\nwritings as \"like unto Moses;\" and Moses, the type of Christ, was\nreputedly \"the meekest of men.\"\n\nHow Moses Obtained the Priesthood.--Moses was of the tribe of Levi, and\nson-in-law to Jethro, from whom he received the Priesthood.\n\n\"And Jethro received it under the hand of Caleb;\n\n\"And Caleb received it under the hand of Elihu;\n\n\"And Elihu under the hand of Jeremy;\n\n\"And Jeremy under the hand of Gad;\n\n\"And Gad under the hand of Esaias;\n\n\"And Esaias also lived in the days of Abraham, and was blessed of him--\n\n\"Which Abraham received the Priesthood from Melchizedek, who received\nit through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah;\n\n\"And from Noah till Enoch, through the lineage of their fathers;\n\n\"And from Enoch to Abel, who was slain by the conspiracy of his\nbrother, who received the Priesthood by the commandments of God, by the\nhand of his father Adam, who was the first man.\"--(D. and C. 84:7-16.)\n\nJethro, Priest of Midian.--An account of the relations between Moses\nand his father-in-law, Jethro the Midianite, may be found in the\nsecond, third and eighteenth chapters of Exodus. The Midianites were\ndescendants of Ishmael, son of Abraham.\n\nThe Call of Aaron.--Moses, having received the Melchizedek Priesthood,\norganized, by divine direction, the Lesser Priesthood, with Aaron,\nhis brother, at its head. It was in the wilderness of Sinai, fourteen\nhundred and ninety-one years before the coming of the Savior. The\nchildren of Israel, in their exodus from Egypt, after the miraculous\npassage of the Red Sea, whose retiring waters had rolled over the heads\nof their enemies, were encamped at the foot of the famous eminence,\never since a sacred way-mark in the history of the Hebrew nation.\n\nThe Lord came down upon Mount Sinai, \"in the sight of all the people,\"\nand from the midst of thunders, lightnings and thick clouds, which\ncaused the mountain to quake and obscured his glorious presence from\nthe gaze of the unsanctified multitude, he summoned Moses up into the\ntop of the Mount, and delivered unto him, among other charges, the\nfollowing:\n\n\"Take thou unto thee Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him, from\namong the children of Israel, that he may minister unto me in the\npriest's office, even Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, Eleazer and Ithamar,\nAaron's sons.\n\n\"And thou shalt make holy garments for Aaron thy brother, for glory and\nfor beauty.\n\n\"And thou shalt put them upon Aaron thy brother, and his sons with him;\nand shalt anoint them, and consecrate them, and sanctify them, that\nthey may minister unto me in the priest's office.\"--(Exodus 28:1-3.)\n\nThe Ten Commandments--Sacred Patterns.--The Lord also gave to Moses the\nTen Commandments, which He had previously spoken in the hearing of all\nIsrael, with other parts of the Law, afterwards embodied by the prophet\nin his famous code. Also the pattern of the Ark or Sanctuary, the\nsymbol of the covenant that God had made with his people; and of the\nTabernacle or holy tent where the Ark was deposited, where the priests\noffered sacrifice and made atonement for the sins of the nation, and\nwhere the Lord communicated by angels or by Urim and Thummim with\nthose chosen to represent him in that sacred capacity. He instructed\nhim minutely as to the fashioning of the priestly robes, the materials\nto be used in them, and the persons who should make them, likewise\nprescribing the manner in which these things should all be consecrated\nto his service.\n\nElders in Israel.--It seems that there were more elders than one in\nIsrael, at the time Aaron and his sons were called to minister in the\npriest's office; a fact shown by the following reference to an event\nsomewhat earlier than the one in question:\n\n\"Then went up Moses, and Aaron, Nadab, and Abihu, and seventy of the\nelders of Israel:\n\n\"And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under his feet as it\nwere a paved work of a sapphire stone, and as it were the body of\nheaven in his clearness.\n\n\"And upon the nobles of the children of Israel he laid not his hand;\nalso they saw God, and did eat and drink.\"--(Exodus 24:9-11.)\n\nI assume, of course, that the title \"elder\" had the same significance\nthen that it has now--that it was an office in the Melchizedek\nPriesthood. If this be correct, and I see no reason why it should be\ndoubted, then there were at least \"seventy elders\" in Israel at that\ntime. Nay, more, for these seventy were \"of the elders of Israel,\"\none of whom, of course, was Moses, who had doubtless ordained the\nothers. It is even probable that Aaron and his sons likewise held the\nMelchizedek Priesthood when they were called to act as priests; for\nthey were among those who \"saw God,\" which they could not have done,\nwith safety, had they held only the Aaronic Priesthood. Aaron's call to\npreside over the priests, was probably similar to a call that might now\nbe made upon a high priest to officiate as presiding bishop.\n\nThe Golden Calf.--How were Aaron and his sons, on the eve of their\nsetting apart to these sacred honors, conducting themselves, during the\nabsence of their leader? Forty days and nights had passed since Moses,\naccompanied by faithful Joshua, went up into the Mount to commune\nwith the Almighty. Alarmed at his protracted stay, unable to account\nfor it, and no doubt apprehensive as to their own safety without\nsuper-natural guidance, the people, not yet free from taint of contact\nwith idolatrous Egypt, and forgetful of the covenant they had made with\nGod on the day the Ten Commandments were thundered from the mountain\ntop, \"gathered themselves together unto Aaron, and said unto him: Up,\nmake us gods which shall go before us; for as for this Moses, the man\nthat brought us up out of the land of Egypt, we wot not what is become\nof him.\"--(Exodus 32:1.)\n\nObedient to their wishes, and perhaps fearful of consequences if he\nrefused, Aaron took of their golden earrings and made for them a molten\ncalf, after the Egyptian god Apis, and having finished it, and built\nan altar before it, he proclaimed: \"These be thy gods, O Israel, which\nhave brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.\" He also announced \"a\nfeast to the Lord\" in its honor on the morrow.\n\n\"Who's on the Lord's Side?\"--In this sensuous and blasphemous worship\nthe Israelites were engaged, when Moses came down from the Mount. The\nshouts of revelry had reached his ears far up the height, insomuch that\nJoshua, who was still with him, suggested \"a noise of war in the camp.\"\nMoses, however, recognized the sound of singing. He had been warned\nby the Lord of what was taking place, and on coming nearer the whole\nrevolting truth burst upon him. The golden god on high--the people,\nchosen Israel, feasting and dancing before it in their nakedness! Such\nwas the soul-sickening spectacle presented to his gaze. In his hands he\nheld the \"tables of the testimony\"--the divine decalogue, written by\nthe finger of God. Before his eyes was being violated the very first\nof those ten commandments. His righteous anger knew no bounds. Casting\nfrom him the stone tablets, which shattered as they fell, he burst like\na storm upon the guilt-stricken idolators. Demolishing their idol,\ngrinding it to powder, and scattering it to the winds and waters, he\ncalled for all who were \"on the Lord's side\" to rally round him.\n\nExpiation for Idolatry.--The sons of Levi responded to a man. Moses,\ndirected by the Lord, commanded them to take their swords and go in\nand out from gate to gate, and slay every man his son, brother and\nneighbor; that they might consecrate themselves before the Lord, and\nmake atonement for the great sin that had been committed. The stern\nbehest was obeyed, and there fell that day in Israel about three\nthousand male souls.\n\nOrganization and Consecration.--The expiation complete, Moses proceeded\nto organize the priesthood, as he had been directed, and also to\nconstruct the tabernacle and the ark according to the pattern that God\nhad shown him. The garments of the priests and the appurtenances of the\nsanctuary were fashioned to conform with the divine instruction, and\nAaron and his sons, the ark, the tabernacle, and everything connected\nwith the sacred ceremonial, were then sanctified and dedicated, with\nsolemn and impressive ceremonies, to the service of the God of Israel.\n\nThe Levites.--Prior to the false worship of Apis, the Lord had chosen\nunto himself the firstborn males of every household in Israel, as a\nparallel act to the destruction of the firstborn throughout the land\nof Egypt, and had sanctified and set them apart for some peculiar\npurpose. He now altered his original design, and taking the tribe of\nLevi, instead, made of them the sacerdotal class of the nation. This\nselection was no doubt a recognition and a reward for the zeal they had\ndisplayed in wiping out the stain of idolatry from Israel.\n\n\"And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, Bring the tribe of Levi near,\nand present them before Aaron the priest, that they may minister unto\nhim.\"\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And thou shalt give the Levites unto Aaron and to his sons: they are\nwholly given unto him out of the children of Israel.\"\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"Behold, I have taken the Levites from among the children of Israel,\ninstead of all the firstborn that openeth the matrix among the children\nof Israel; therefore the Levites shall be mine;\n\n\"Because all the firstborn are mine, for on the day that I smote\nall the firstborn in the land of Egypt, I hallowed unto me all the\nfirstborn in Israel, both man and beast; mine they shall be; I am the\nLord.\"\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And thou shalt take the Levites for me (I am the Lord), instead of\nall the firstborn among the children of Israel; and the cattle of the\nLevites, instead of all the firstlings among the cattle of the children\nof Israel.\"\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And for those that are to be redeemed of the two hundred and three\nscore and thirteen, of the firstborn of the children of Israel, which\nare more than the Levites:\n\n\"Thou shalt even take five shekels apiece by the poll, after the shekel\nof the sanctuary shalt thou take them; the shekel is twenty gerahs.\n\n\"And thou shalt give the money wherewith the odd number of them is to\nbe redeemed, unto Aaron and to his sons.\n\n\"And Moses took the redemption money of them that were over and above\nthem that were redeemed by the Levites.\n\n\"And Moses gave the money of them that were redeemed unto Aaron, and\nto his sons, according to the word of the Lord, as the Lord commanded\nMoses.\"--(Numbers 3.)\n\nThus were the Levites given as \"a gift for the Lord,\" to have charge\nof the tabernacle and the sanctuary--though not to officiate there as\ndid the priests--and to \"do the service of the congregation.\" So that\nAaron, who was now high priest, or bishop over the lesser priesthood,\nhad under him, not only his sons, in the priests' quorum, but also\na great body of Levites (were they not as teachers and deacons?) to\nofficiate in the minor quorums. Hence the origin of the term Levitical,\nas applied to this priesthood.\n\nSlain for Offering Strange Fire.--Soon after this organization and\nselection, Nadab and Abihu were slain by the Lord for \"offering strange\nfire\" before him, or officiating when he \"commanded them not,\" and\nEleazer, Aaron's third son, then took the senior's place. He was made\n\"chief over the chief of the Levites,\" having oversight of those who\nhad charge of the sanctuary. Thus, while Eleazer presided over the\nLevites, Aaron presided over both priests and Levites; Moses, by virtue\nof his superior calling, retaining the controlling power or presidency\nover the whole.\n\nThe Law and the Testimony.--Eleven months and twenty days the\nIsraelites had sojourned in Sinai. During this period they had\ncelebrated their second Passover, or feast of unleavened bread. Two\nother annual feasts they were commanded to keep, namely the feast\nof Pentecost, or the promulgation of the law, and the feast of\nTabernacles, or tents, commemorating their sojourn in the wilderness.\nThe laws of Moses were now promulged and codified; the tables of the\ntestimony, having been renewed, were placed, with other sacred relics,\nin the ark for safe keeping; and the sublime system of heaven-revealed\nreligion was set in motion.\n\nOn to Canaan!--The civil and military wings of this nomadic power,\nspringing as if by magic from an unorganized rabble, without laws,\ninstitutions, or prescribed method of worship, into a compact and\npowerful nation, were now in full equipment and discipline. \"On to\nCanaan!\" was the national cry. And so, on the twentieth day of their\nsecond year, or about May 20, 1490 B. C., the Camp of Israel struck\ntheir tents, and guided by the cloud and pillar of God, which had been\nwith them since the memorable night when the fetters of two centuries\nwere stricken off and the power of Egypt submerged, they began their\nmarch through the Sinaitic desert toward the wilderness of Paran.\n\nA Nation on the March.--The order of this remarkable procession was\nas follows: Foremost, rose aloft the standard of Judah, the future\nkingly power of the tribes, and following them were the tribes and\narmies of Issachar and Zebulon. Then came the sons of Gershon and\nMerari (first and third sons of Levi), bearing the components of the\nTabernacle, which it was their duty to set up and take down, as the\ncamp rested or resumed its journey. The standard of Reuben was next\nadvanced, and immediately in his rear marched Simeon and Gad. Then the\nArk of God appeared, borne in the center of the moving host, on the\nshoulders of the sons of Kohath. The half tribes of Joseph--Ephraim\nand Manasseh--went next, the standard of Ephraim being their rallying\ncenter, and also for the sons and daughters of Benjamin. Then set\nforward the standard of Dan; his tribe and the tribes of Asher and\nNaphtali bringing up the rear.\n\nThe Camps of Israel.--This mighty host, comprising an army of over\nhalf a million, and a total population of nearly three million souls,\nwas divided into four camps, of three tribes each, exclusive of the\nLevites; Joseph being twice numbered, in Ephraim and Manasseh, to\nmake up, in the tribal count, for the absence of the sacred class\nfrom secular enumeration. When the cloud rested, indicating their\nstopping place, the tents were set surrounding the Tabernacle of\nthe Congregation; the camp of Judah on the east, that of Reuben\non the south, Ephraim on the west, and Dan upon the north. The\nLevites encompassed the tabernacle immediately about, to prevent the\nunsanctified from approaching too near and purposely or inadvertently\ndefiling it--an offense punishable by death. When the ark set forward,\nMoses exclaimed: \"Rise up, O Lord, and let thine enemies be scattered;\nand let them that hate thee flee before thee!\" When it rested, he said:\n\"Return, O Lord, unto the many thousands of Israel!\"\n\nThe Two Leaders.--Thus it was that Moses and Aaron became the leaders\nof Israel, representing, respectively, the two priesthoods that\nadminister the government of God; the lesser priesthood, \"confirmed\nupon Aaron and his seed, throughout all their generations,\" and the\ngreater priesthood, \"which is after the holiest order of God.\"\n\nPower of the Greater Priesthood.--\"And this greater priesthood\nadministereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the\nkingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God;\n\n\"Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is\nmanifest;\n\n\"And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the\npriesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the\nflesh;\n\n\"For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and\nlive.\n\n\"Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the\nwilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they\nmight behold the face of God;\n\n\"But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence,\ntherefore the Lord in his wrath (for his anger was kindled against\nthem) swore that they should not enter into his rest, while in the\nwilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory.\n\n\"Therefore he took Moses out of their midst, and the holy priesthood\nalso.\"--(D. & C. 84:19-25.)\n\nFrom Moses Until John.--\"And the lesser priesthood continued, which\npriesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the\npreparatory gospel;\n\n\"Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the\nremission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord\nin his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the\nchildren of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled with\nthe Holy Ghost from his mother's womb:\n\n\"For he was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was\nordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto\nthis power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight\nthe way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them\nfor the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power.\"--(Ibid,\n26-28.)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nThe Lamb of God\n\n  A stranger Star that came from far\n  To fling its silver ray\n  Where, cradled in a lowly cave,\n  A lowlier Infant lay;\n  And led by soft sidereal light,\n  The Orient sages bring\n  Rare gifts of gold and frankincense,\n  To greet the homeless King.\n\n  O wondrous grace! Will Gods go down\n  Thus low that men may rise?\n  Imprisoned here the Mighty One,\n  Who reigned in yonder skies?\n  Hark to that chime!--What tongue sublime\n  Now tells the hour of noon?\n  O dying world, art welcoming\n  Life's life--Light's sun and moon?\n  Proclaim him, prophet harbinger!\n  Make plain the Mightier's way,\n  Thou sharer of his martyrdom!\n  Elias? Yea and Nay.\n  The crescent Moon, that knew the Sun\n  Ere Stars had learned to shine;\n  The waning Moon, that bathed in blood\n  Ere sank the Sun divine.\n  \"Glory to God, good will to man!--\n  Peace, peace!\" triumphal tone.\n  Why peace? Is discord then no more?\n  Are Earth and Heaven as one?\n  Peace to the soul that serveth him,\n  The Monarch manger-born;\n  There, ruler of unnumbered realms;\n  Here, throneless and forlorn.\n  He wandered through the faithless world,\n  A Prince in shepherd guise;\n  He called his scattered flock, but few\n  The Voice did recognize;\n  For minds upborne by hollow pride,\n  Or dimmed by sordid lust,\n  Ne'er look for kings in beggar's garb,\n  For diamonds in the dust.\n  Wept he above a city doomed,\n  Her temple, walls, and towers,\n  O'er palaces where recreant priests\n  Usurped unhallowed powers.\n  \"I am the Way, the Life, the Light!\"\n  Alas! 'twas heeded not.\n  Ignored--nay, mocked; God scorned by man!\n  And spurned the truth he taught.\n  O bane of damning unbelief!\n  When, when till now, so rife?\n  Thou stumbling stone, thou barrier 'thwart\n  The gates of endless life!\n  O love of self, and Mammon's lust,\n  Twin portals to despair,\n  Where bigotry, the blinded bat,\n  Flaps through the midnight air!\n  Through these, gloom-wrapt Gethsemane!\n  Thy glens of guilty shade\n  Grieved o'er the sinless Son of God,\n  By gold-bought kiss betrayed;\n  Beheld him unresisting dragged,\n  Forsaken, friendless, lone,\n  To halls where dark-browed hatred sat\n  On judgment's lofty throne.\n  As sheep before his shearers, dumb,\n  Those patient lips were mute;\n  The clamorous charge of taunting tongues\n  He deigned not to dispute.\n  They smote with cruel palm a face\n  Which felt yet bore the sting;\n  Then crowned with thorns his quivering brow,\n  And, mocking, hailed him \"King!\"\n  Transfixt he hung--O crime of crimes!--\n  The God whom worlds adore.\n  \"Father forgive them!\" Drained the dregs;\n  Immanuel--no more.\n  No more where thunders shook the earth,\n  Where lightnings tore the gloom,\n  Saw that unconquered Spirit spurn\n  The shackles of the tomb.\n  Far-flaming light, a sword of might,\n  A falchion from its sheath,\n  It cleft the realms of darkness, and\n  Dissolved the bands of Death;\n  Hell's dungeons burst, wide open swung\n  The everlasting bars,\n  Whereby the ransomed soul shall win\n  Those Heights beyond the Stars.\n     --(\"Elias,\" Canto Three, Part One.)\n\nThe Consummation.--It was finished!--not the work of the Lord, nor\nthe revelation of his word and will to man; but the sacrifice, the\nimmolation of the Spotless One, whose acceptable offering, the ransom\nof a lost creation, made it possible for redeemed humanity, by faith\nand good works, to lay hold upon eternal life, the greatest gift that\nDivinity can bestow.\n\nCommission of the Twelve Apostles.--\"Go ye into all the world, and\npreach the gospel to every creature.\n\n\"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that\nbelieveth not shall be damned.\n\nAnd these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name shall they\ncast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues;\n\n\"They shall take up serpents: and if they drink any deadly thing, it\nshall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall\nrecover.\"--(Mark 16:15-18.)\n\n\"All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.\n\n\"Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of\nthe Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.\n\n\"Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded\nyou; and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world.\nAmen.\"--(Matt. 28:18-20.)\n\nSuch was the commission given by the Savior to the chosen Twelve, after\nhis resurrection, and prior to his ascension into heaven.\n\nKnowledge and Belief.--The Twelve Apostles were the special witnesses\nof the risen Redeemer. They knew that he had risen, for they had seen\nand heard him. They had even been permitted to feel of him, that they\nmight know beyond all question that he was indeed the Resurrection and\nthe Life. This was their privilege, but not the privilege of all men.\nThe world at large was required to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ,\nthat salvation might come to them; they were to believe what the\napostles told them regarding his resurrection, and the principles he\nhad taught. They were to receive in faith from his servants the message\nhe had commanded them to deliver.\n\nThe Case of Thomas.--Thomas, one of the Twelve, believed because he\nhad seen (John 20:29) and as a special witness, he had the right to\nsee, in order that he might know, not merely believe, whereof he and\nhis brethren testified. \"But blessed are they,\" said the Savior, \"who\nhave believed and have not seen.\" Why? For the reason, no doubt, that\nthis life was instituted for the exercise of faith. Mortal man must\n\"walk by faith.\" \"The just shall live by faith,\" reaching after God,\nas a flower after the sunlight. Exercise of faith brings spiritual\ndevelopment--a factor, and the most important one, in man's eternal\nprogress. Knowledge swallows up faith, removing the opportunity for its\nexercise, thus hindering the process of advancement. Therefore, until\nfaith shall have done its perfect work, it is better to believe than to\nknow. Premature knowledge is fatal to joy, and fetters progress.\n\nA Message Simple and Sublime.--Obedient to their Lord's behest, the\napostles and their fellow laborers, having been endued with power from\non high (Acts 2), went forth to preach the gospel to every creature.\n\"Christ and him crucified,\" was the slogan they sounded; faith,\nrepentance, baptism, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, the principles\nthey proclaimed. A simple message, plain enough for a child to\ncomprehend. And behold in this one proof of its divinity! Christ died\nfor all men, and his gospel is for all men, not merely for a clique, a\ncult, a school, or a coterie, learned or otherwise. It had to be plain,\nthat the common people might understand it, that the poor and lowly, as\nwell as the high and mighty, might be attracted to it, and be saved by\nit. It is at once simple and sublime, capable of making men godlike,\nand of lifting them to the highest heaven, if they will receive it and\nlive it \"as a little child.\"\n\nOn Both Hemispheres.--The plan of salvation was proclaimed, and the\nChurch of Christ organized, on both hemispheres; the risen Savior,\nafter confirming the faith of his Jewish disciples, visiting the\nNephites for a similar purpose, and departing thence to pay like visits\nto other branches of the house of Israel, whose whereabouts were as\nunknown to the descendants of Lehi as was the existence of the latter\nto their brethren in and around Jerusalem.--(III Ne. 15, 16.)\n\nUnto His Own.--Jesus Christ is the Savior of the whole world, but not\nto every people in the world are vouchsafed his personal ministrations.\nThe God of Israel \"came unto his own\"--that is, unto the house of\nIsrael, and through Israel he ministers for the salvation of mankind.\nThat is why he appeared to the Jews, to the Nephites, and to the \"other\nsheep\" not of those folds; while the Gentiles were visited by the\nHoly Ghost, which the Son of God had promised to his disciples, and\nwhich came, first to the Jews, and then to the Gentiles, after he had\nre-ascended into heaven.\n\nThe Lord's Supper.--Both in Judea and in the Land Bountiful, the\nSavior instituted, among those who had received his gospel, the Lord's\nSupper, superseding the Passover, as a memorial of his sacrifice, once\nprospective, now retrospective, once a prophecy, and now a fulfilment.\nIt was while eating the Passover, just before his crucifixion, that\nJesus instituted the Supper. Concerning this incident the New Testament\nsays:\n\n\"As they were eating, Jesus took bread and blessed it, and brake it,\nand gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.\n\n\"And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying,\nDrink ye all of it;\n\n\"For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for\nthe remission of sins.\"--(Matthew 26:26-28.)\n\nThe institution of the Sacrament among the Nephites, unlike its\ninstitution among the Jews, was after the Redeemer's resurrection. It\nis thus described in the Book of Mormon:\n\n\"And it came to pass that Jesus commanded his disciples that they\nshould bring forth some bread and wine unto him.\n\n\"And while they were gone for bread and wine, he commanded the\nmultitude that they should sit themselves down upon the earth.\n\n\"And when the disciples had come with bread and wine, he took of the\nbread, and brake and blessed it; and he gave unto the disciples, and\ncommanded that they should eat.\n\n\"And when they had eaten and were filled, he commanded that they should\ngive unto the multitude.\n\n\"And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto the\ndisciples, behold there shall one be ordained among you, and to him\nwill I give power that he shall break bread, and bless it, and give it\nunto the people of my church, unto all those who shall believe and be\nbaptized in my name.\n\n\"And this shall ye always observe to do, even as I have done, even as I\nhave broken bread, and blessed it, and gave it unto you.\n\n\"And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shewn\nunto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father, that ye do\nalways remember me. And if ye do always remember me, ye shall have my\nSpirit to be with you.\"--(III Ne. 18:1-7.)\n\n\"The Real Presence.\"--Uninspired \"private interpretation\" has\nmaintained, and still maintains, that when Jesus said, \"Eat, this is\nmy body; drink, this is my blood,\" he intended his words to be taken\nliterally; and from this has sprung the doctrine of transubstantiation,\nwith its twin heresy, consubstantiation, the former a Roman Catholic,\nthe latter an unorthodox Protestant, tenet relating to the Eucharist.\nMen and women have been condemned as heretics, and put to death, in\nages past, for denying \"the real presence\"--the actual flesh and blood\nof Christ--in the elements of the Lord's Supper.\n\nFigurative, not Literal.--But no Latter-day Saint need go astray as\npertaining to this matter; for the Spirit that inspired the writing\nof the Scriptures is present in the Church of Christ to interpret\nthem; and by that Spirit, the source of all divine revelation, we know\nthat the language of Jesus, when he instituted the Lord's Supper at\nJerusalem, was not literal, but figurative. When he said, of the bread\nand wine, This is my body and my blood, he simply meant, These are the\nemblems of my body and my blood.\n\nTo Illustrate.--In elucidation of this subject, I have known the\nfollowing comparison to be used. Suppose one were to go into an art\ngallery, and the attendant in charge, pointing to a statue of Julius\nCaesar, should remark, This is Caesar; or, indicating a portrait of\nGeorge Washington, should say, That is Washington; would the visitor be\napt to conclude that Caesar and Washington were actually there before\nhim? Would he be under any obligation to think so, even if a priest\nwere to tell him it was true? Instead of that, would he not infer, and\nwould it not be his right and duty to maintain, if need be, that the\nstatue and the painting were merely representations of those august\npersonages? Then why strain the simple metaphor, \"This is my body,\" in\nan ineffectual attempt to make it mean more or less than the Savior\nintended it should mean?\n\nWater Instead of Wine.--In ancient days wine was used in the Sacrament,\nthough some of the early Christians used water instead. The Savior\nauthorized the use of wine, both among the Jews and among the Nephites.\nBut the Latter-day Saints have been commanded of God not to use wine\nunder present conditions; water is used instead.\n\n\"It mattereth not what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, when ye\npartake of the sacrament, if it so be that ye do it with an eye single\nto my glory; remembering unto the Father my body which was laid down\nfor you, and my blood which was shed for the remission of your sins;\n\n\"Wherefore, a commandment I give unto you, that you shall not purchase\nwine, neither strong drink, of your enemies;\n\n\"Wherefore, you shall partake of none, except it is made new among you;\nyea, in this my Father's kingdom which shall be built up on the earth.\n\n\"Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour\ncometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the\nearth.\"--(D. and C. 27:2-5.)\n\nMeanwhile the use of water, and the disuse of wine, must continue,\nuntil the change predicted in this revelation shall have been divinely\nordered; for that is the law governing the Latter-day Saints in this\nmatter--not the law given to other peoples in former dispensations.\n\nSigns of the Second Coming.--Jesus prophesied to the Nephites, as he\nhad prophesied to the Jews, concerning the last days and the signs of\nhis second coming. Those who would be wise upon this subject, or who\ndesire to refresh their memories in relation thereto, should read the\ntwenty-fourth chapter of Matthew, especially Joseph Smith's rendering,\nas it appears in the Pearl of Great Price. Read also the fifteenth,\nsixteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first chapters of Third Nephi.\n\nConsecration.--The Savior having ascended into heaven, his servants,\nbearing the priesthood, and filled with the Holy Ghost, carried\nforward the mighty work he had inaugurated. The Gospel was preached,\nand the Church built up, as he had commanded, upon both hemispheres.\nAmong Jews and among Nephites was introduced and practiced the law of\nconsecration, the permanent establishment of which, in the days of\nEnoch, had resulted so gloriously. The Jewish record tells us:\n\n\"And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of\none soul; neither said any of them that ought of the things which he\npossessed was his own; but they had all things common. * * *\n\n\"Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were\npossessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the\nthings that were sold,\n\n\"And laid them down at the apostles' feet; and distribution was made\nunto every man according as he had need.\"--(Acts 4: 32, 34, 35).\n\nThe Book of Mormon thus testifies:\n\n\"And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all\nconverted unto the Lord, upon all the face of the land, both Nephites\nand Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among\nthem, and every man did deal justly one with another;\n\n\"And they had all things common among them, therefore they were\nnot rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free, and\npartakers of the heavenly gift.\"--(IV Ne. 1:2, 3.)\n\nThe Apostasy.--Then came the universal apostasy--a departure from\nthe pure, primitive faith, as general and as worldwide as the known\npromulgation of its principles; and the Gospel and the Priesthood\nwere taken back to heaven, to await the decreed time of their final\nrestoration. This apostasy, foretold by Paul and other apostles, is\nrepresented symbolically in the Revelation of St. John, the twelfth\nand thirteenth chapters of which are particularly pertinent in this\nconnection.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nDawn of the Last Dispensation\n\nTHE MESSENGER OF MORN.\n\n\n Wake, slumbering world! Vain dreamer, dream no more!\n The shadows lift, and o'er night's dusky beach\n Ripple the white waves of morn. Awake! Arise!\n\n Ocean of dispensations--rivers, rills,\n Roll to your source! End, to thine origin!\n And Israel, to the rock whence ye were hewn!\n For He that scattered, gathereth his flock,\n His ancient flock, and plants their pilgrim feet\n On Joseph's mountain top and Judah's plains;\n Recalls the Children of the Covenant\n From long dispersion o'er the Gentile world,\n Mingling their spirits with the mystic sea\n Which sent them forth as freshening showers to save\n The parched and withered wastes of unbelief.\n Japheth! thy planet pales, it sinks, it sets;\n Henceforth 't is Jacob's star must rise and reign.\n\n * * * * * * * * *\n\n Time, mighty daughter of Eternity!\n Mother of centuries--seventy, seven-crowned!\n Assemble now thy children at thy side,\n And ere thou diest teach them to be one.\n Link to its link rebind the broken chain\n Of dispensations, glories, keys, and powers,\n From Adam's fall unto Messiah's reign;\n A thousand years of rest, a day with God,\n While Shiloh reigns and Kolob once revolves!\n\n Six days thou, Earth, hast labored; and the seventh,\n Thy Sabbath, comes apace!--Night's sceptre wanes,\n And in the East the silvery Messenger\n Gives silent token of the golden dawn.\n\n * * * * * * * * *\n\n A living Prophet unto dying Time,\n Heralding the Dispensation of the End,\n When Christ once more his vineyard comes to prune,\n When potent weak confound the puny strong,\n Threshing the nations by the Spirit's power,\n Rending the kingdoms with a word of flame;\n That here the Father's work may crown the Son's,\n And Earth be joined a holy bride to Heaven,\n A queen 'mid queens, crowned, throned, and glorified.\n\n Wherefore a Noble of the Skies came down,\n In strength divine, a stirring role to play\n In Time's tense tragedy, whose acts are seven.\n\n His part to fell the false, replant the true,\n To clear away the debris of the past,\n The ashes of its dead and dying creeds,\n And kindle newly on earth's ancient shrine\n The Light that points to Life unerringly;\n Crowning what has been with what now must be,\n A mighty still bespeaking Mightier.\n\n Earth rose from wintry sleep, baptized and cleansed,\n And on her tranquil brow, that seemed to feel\n The holy and confirming hand of Heaven,\n The warm light in a wealth of glory streamed;\n\n Nature's great floor green-carpeting anew\n For some glad change, some joyful happening,\n Told in the countless carolling of birds,\n Gilding the foliage, brightening the flowers,\n Mirroring mingled hues of earth and sky.\n\n Glad happening, in sooth, for ne'er before,\n Since burst the heavens when Judah's star-lit hills\n Heard angel choristers peal joy's refrain\n Above the mangered Babe of Bethlehem,\n Had earth such scene beheld, as now within\n The bosom of a sylvan solitude,\n Hard by the borders of a humble home,\n Upon that fair and fateful morn was played.\n\n Players, immortal Twain, and mortal one,\n Standing but fourteen steps upon life's stair;\n Boy and yet man, thinker of thoughts profound,\n Boy and yet man, dreamer of lofty dreams.\n Not solemn, save betimes, when hovered near\n Some winged inspiration from far worlds,\n Some great idea's all-subduing spell;\n Not melancholy--mirthful, loving life,\n And brimming o'er with health and wholesome glee.\n A stalwart spirit in a sturdy frame,\n Maturing unto future mightiness.\n\n Bowing to God, yet bending to no creed,\n Adoring not a loveless deity,\n That saved or damned regardless of desert,\n Ne'er reckoning the good or evil done;\n Loving and worshiping the God of love,\n The gracious God of reason and of right,\n Long-suffering and just and merciful,\n Meting to every work fit recompense,\n Yet giving more, far more, than merit's claim;\n Bowing to Him, but not to man-made gods,\n And shunning shameful strife where peace should dwell,\n He holds aloof from those degenerate sects,\n Bewildering Babel of conflicting creeds,\n And pondering the apostolic line,\n \"Let any lacking wisdom, wisdom ask,\"\n In childlike faith, godlike humility,\n Resolves to prove the promise by the test.\n\n What pen can paint the marvel that befell?\n What tongue the wondrous miracle portray?\n Than theirs, the Vision's own, what voice proclaim\n Whose dual presence dimmed the noonday beam,\n Communing with him there, as friend with friend,\n And giving to that prayer reply of peace?\n\n Tell how, as Moses on the unknown Mount,\n From whom in rage fled baffled Lucifer,\n Who fain had guised him as the Son of God,\n And won the worship of that prophet pure;--\n Tell how with gloom he strove ere glory dawned,\n And black despair met bright deliverance.\n Tell how, in heart of that sweet solitude,\n Within the silent grove, sequestered shade,\n While spirit hosts unseen spectators stood,\n Watching the simple scene's sublimity,\n Eternity high converse held with Time.\n\n Time, parent of the hovering centuries,\n Mother of dispensations, travailing,\n And bringing forth her last and mightiest child;\n Heaven's awful Sire, through him both Sire and Son,\n There blazoning the beginning of the End.\n\n * * * * * * * * *\n\n \"'Twas from below!\" Thus Bigotry in rage.\n \"Nay, from above,\" Faith's simple, firm reply.\n \"No vision is there now--the time is past.\"\n \"But I have seen,\" affirms the youthful Seer.\n \"God is a mystery, unknowable.\"\n \"God is a man--I saw Him, talked with Him.\"\n \"Man?\" \"Ay, of holiness--Exalted Man.\"\n\n A strife of words, of warring tongues, now waged,\n And weapons vied with words the truth to slay;\n Nor truth alone, but her brave oracle,\n A boy, by men, by neighborhoods, oppressed.\n The wrangling sects forgave--well nigh forgot\n Their former feuds and fears and jealousies;\n And, joining hands, as Pilate Herod joined,\n One guilty day when God stood man-condemned,\n\n In friendly reconcilement's cordial clasp,\n They doomed to death and hell \"this heresy.\"\n None sought, from \"Satan's wile,\" a soul's reclaim,\n But all were bent his humble name to blast;\n And pious, would-be murder led the van\n Of common hatred and hostility.\n\n But Truth, thou mother of the living thought,\n The deathless word, the everduring deed!\n What puny hand thy giant arm can stay?\n When crushed, or backward held, thine hour beyond?\n Can bigot frown or tyrant fetter quell\n Thy high revolt, O light omnipotent!\n When God would speak with man, who tells him nay?\n Can hell prevent, when heaven and earth would join?\n\n Still through his soul the solemn warning rang;\n Still from his mouth the startling message flamed:\n \"No church the Christ's! None, therefore, can I join.\n All sects and creeds have wandered from the way.\n Priestcraft, in lieu of Priesthood, sits enthroned,\n Dead forms deny the power of godliness.\n Men worship with their lips, their hearts afar.\n None serve acceptably in sight of heaven.\n Wherefore a work of wonder shall be wrought,\n And perish all the wisdom of the wise.\"\n     --(\"Elias,\" Canto V.)\n\nA Decreed Consummation.--The Gospel dispensation introduced by the\nProphet Joseph Smith was rendered necessary by the apostasy of the\nChristian world from the ancient Faith, as delivered to the Saints in\nthe Meridian of Time. Nevertheless, according to the foreknowledge\nof God, and in consonance with his all-wise purposes, this great,\nall-comprehending dispensation had been preordained from the beginning,\nas the \"winding up scene,\" or final development, in the divine plan,\nhaving for its object the salvation of the sons and daughters of Adam.\n\n\"It is necessary, in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness\nof times; which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole\nand complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations,\nand keys, and powers, and glories, should take place and be revealed\nfrom the days of Adam even to the present time; and not only this,\nbut those things which never have been revealed from the foundation\nof the world, but have been kept hid from the wise and prudent, shall\nbe revealed unto babes and sucklings in this the dispensation of the\nfulness of times.\"--(D. and C. 128:18.)\n\nJoseph Smith's Work.--So wrote the Prophet, in the month of September,\n1842, less than two years prior to his martyrdom. He had looked upon\nthe face of God, as did Enoch, Moses, and other seers, in times\nof old. He had communed with angels, and received the Everlasting\nGospel, as taught in the Book of Mormon, as well as in the Bible and\nin other ancient records of God's dealings with man. Empowered by the\nPriesthood, he had organized, after the heavenly pattern, the Church\nof Christ, the forerunner of the Kingdom never to be thrown down nor\ngiven to another people. He had gazed upon the glories of eternity,\nand portrayed in burning eloquence the final destiny of the human\nrace, setting forth at the same time the conditions of salvation\nand exaltation in worlds to come. He had preached, and caused to be\npromulgated, in the two greatest nations of modern times, the United\nStates and Great Britain, the Gospel message, for the gathering of\nIsrael, the redemption of Zion, the building of the New Jerusalem, and\nthe preparation of a people to greet the coming of the Lord. \"Blessed\nare the pure in heart, for they shall see God.\" So declared the Savior\nof mankind. \"Zion is the pure in heart,\" said Joseph Smith--\"every man\nseeking the interest of his neighbor, and doing all things with an eye\nsingle to the glory of God.\" He had written concerning the ultimate\ngoal of all righteous endeavor:\n\n\"This is why Adam blessed his posterity; he wanted to bring them into\nthe presence of God. * * * Moses sought to bring the children of Israel\ninto the presence of God, through the power of the Priesthood, but\nhe could not. In the first ages of the world they tried to establish\nthe same thing; and there were Eliases raised up who tried to restore\nthese very glories, but did not obtain them; but they prophesied of a\nday when this glory would be revealed. Paul spoke of the dispensation\nof the fulness of times, when God would gather together all things in\none, etc.; and those men to whom these keys have been given, will have\nto be there; and they without us cannot be made perfect. * * * All\nthese authoritative characters will come down and join hand in hand in\nbringing about this work.\"--(\"History of the Church,\" Vol. III, pp.\n388, 389.)\n\nKeys Committed.--Already, when the Prophet wrote those words, had this\nphase of the Latter-day work begun; he having received, under the hands\nof heavenly messengers, the keys held by them as presiding authorities\nover past dispensations. The following record of visions manifested to\nJoseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, in the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836,\ntells its own wonderful story:\n\n\"The vail was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding\nwere opened.\n\n\"We saw the Lord standing upon the breast work of the pulpit, before\nus, and under his feet was a paved work of pure gold in color like\namber.\n\n\"His eyes were as a flame of fire, the hair of his head was white like\nthe pure snow, his countenance shone above the brightness of the sun,\nand his voice was as the sound of the rushing of great waters, even the\nvoice of Jehovah, saying--\n\n\"I am the first and the last, I am he who liveth, I am he who was\nslain, I am your advocate with the Father.\n\n  * * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"After this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us,\nand Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the\ngathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading\nof the ten tribes from the land of the north.\n\n\"After this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the\ngospel of Abraham, saying, that in us, and our seed, all generations\nafter us should be blessed.\n\n\"After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst\nupon us, for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without\ntasting death, stood before us, and said--\n\n\"Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of\nMalachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the great\nand dreadful day of the Lord come,\n\n\"To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to\nthe fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse.\n\n\"Therefore the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands,\nand by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is\nnear, even at the doors.\"--(D. and C. 110:1-4, 11-16.)\n\nElijah's Mission.--\"Why send Elijah?\" asks the Prophet, and he answers\nhis own question thus: \"Because he holds the keys of the authority\nto administer in all the ordinances of the Priesthood; and without\nthe authority is given, the ordinances could not be administered in\nrighteousness.\" In the same connection he informs us that \"Elijah was\nthe last prophet who held the keys of the Priesthood.\"--(\"History of\nthe Church,\" Vol. IV, p. 211.)\n\nSalvation for the Dead.--The mission of Elijah--the turning of the\nhearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children\nto the fathers, to the end that past and present might be bound\ntogether, and the dead as well as the living saved and glorified, was\nthe all-engrossing thought in the mind of the Prophet, as his last\nday on earth drew near. From his place of retirement, during a period\nof trouble and persecution, he wrote thus to the Saints upon this\nall-important theme:\n\n\"Verily thus saith the Lord, let the work of my temple, and all the\nworks which I have appointed unto you, be continued on and not cease.\"\n\n  * * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"When any of you are baptized for your dead, let there be a recorder,\nand let him be eye witness of your baptisms: let him hear with his\nears, that he may testify of the truth, saith the Lord.\n\n  * * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"You may think this order of things to be very particular, but let me\ntell you, that it is only to answer the will of God, by conforming\nto the ordinance and preparation that the Lord ordained and prepared\nbefore the foundation of the world, for the salvation of the dead who\nshould die without a knowledge of the gospel.\n\n  * * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"Whatsoever you record on earth, shall be recorded in heaven; and\nwhatsoever you do not record on earth, shall not be recorded in heaven;\nfor out of the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own\nworks, whether they themselves have attended to the ordinances in their\nown propria persona, or by means of their own agents.\n\n  * * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"To be immersed in the water and come forth out of the water, is in the\nlikeness of the resurrection of the dead, in coming forth out of their\ngraves; hence this ordinance was instituted to form a relationship with\nthe ordinance of baptism for the dead, being in likeness of the dead.\n\n\"Consequently the baptismal font was instituted as a simile of the\ngrave, and was commanded to be in a place underneath where the living\nare wont to assemble.\n\n  * * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"And now, in relation to the baptism for the dead, * * * I will give\nyou a quotation from one of the prophets, who had his eye fixed on\nthe restoration of the Priesthood, the glories to be revealed in\nthe last days, and in an especial manner this most glorious of all\nsubjects belonging to the everlasting gospel, viz., the baptism for the\ndead; for Malachi says, last chapter, verses 5th and 6th, 'Behold, I\nwill send you Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and\ndreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to\nthe children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I\ncome and smite the earth with a curse.'\n\n\n\"I might have rendered a plainer translation to this, but it is\nsufficiently plain to suit my purpose as it stands. It is sufficient to\nknow, in this case, that the earth will be smitten with a curse, unless\nthere is a welding link of some kind or other, between the fathers\nand the children, upon some subject or other, and behold what is that\nsubject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be\nmade perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect.\"--(D. and C.\n127, 128.)\n\nA Gathering Dispensation.--The mission of the Everlasting Gospel in\nthe Dispensation of the Fulness of Times is the gathering together of\nall things in Christ--things in heaven, and things upon the earth; the\nconsummation decreed concerning the sanctification and glorification of\nthis planet. It is distinctively the day of gathering--the spiritual\nharvest--time of all the ages.\n\nThe Ensign Lifted.--The founding of the Church of Jesus Christ of\nLatter-day Saints lifted the Ensign for the gathering of scattered\nIsrael, a step preliminary to the mightier achievements that are to\nfollow; and it devolved upon Joseph Smith, a lineal descendant of\nJoseph of old, to raise the standard and begin the work, particularly\nthat portion of it affecting the fortunes of the children of Ephraim.\nFor thus saith the Lord:\n\n\"I AM A FATHER UNTO ISRAEL, AND EPHRAIM IS MY FIRST BORN.\"\n\n\n\nDispersion and Gathering of Israel.\n\nCHAPTER I.\n\nA Chosen People.\n\nHistory and Destiny.--\"He that scattered Israel will gather him, and\nkeep him as a shepherd doth his flock.\" In these words of Jeremiah the\nProphet, are summarized the past and future, the history and destiny,\nof God's chosen people; a people from whom the Latter-day Saints claim\nlineal descent.\n\n\"Prince of God.\"--The name \"Israel\" means \"Prince of God,\" and is first\nused in the Scriptures as the surname of Jacob, grandson of Abraham,\nand father of the twelve patriarchs, from whom sprang the twelve tribes\nof Israel. Returning from Padan-Aram, whither he had fled from the\njealous wrath of his brother Esau, Jacob came to the ford Jabbok, where\n\"there wrestled a man with him until the breaking of the day.\" We are\nleft to infer that Jacob believed this \"man\" to be God; for he \"called\nthe name of the place Peniel,\" saying, \"I have seen God face to face.\"\n\n\"Let me go,\" demanded the heavenly visitant, \"for the day breaketh.\"\n\n\"I will not let thee go,\" said Jacob, \"except thou bless me.\"\n\nThe \"man\" then blessed him, and changed his name from Jacob to Israel,\n\"for,\" said he, \"as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and\nhast prevailed.\"--(Genesis 32:28.)\n\nJacob's Blessing Confirmed.--Subsequently the name Israel was confirmed\nupon Jacob at Bethel, where the Lord appeared to him and blessed him,\npromising that a nation and a company of nations should be of him, and\nthat kings should come out of his loins.\"--(Gen. 35:10, 11.)\n\nThe Father of the Faithful.--But while this was the origin of the\nname Israel, as applied to Jacob, it was not the origin of the race\nof which he was the titular head. It was the four wives of Jacob,\nwith their twelve sons, that did \"build the house of Israel;\" but the\nfoundation of that house had already been laid by Abraham, the Father\nof the Faithful Jehovah's promises to Jacob and to his father Isaac,\nconcerning their posterity, were virtually repetitions of promises that\nhad been made to their great ancestor. Those promises are couched in\nthe following language of scripture:\n\n\"Now the Lord had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and\nfrom thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will\nshew thee:\n\n\"And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and\nmake thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:\n\n\"And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth\nthee; and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.\"--(Gen.\n12:1-3.)\n\nDefinition of \"Hebrew.\"--Abraham, or, as he was then called, Abram,\nwas a dweller in Ur of the Chaldees, a city of Mesopotamia, which\nmeans \"between the rivers.\" One of these rivers was the Tigris, and\nthe other the Euphrates. Abram had to cross the Euphrates in order to\nreach Canaan, the land that the Lord showed him. Because he came from\nbeyond the Euphrates, he was called by the Canaanites a \"Hebrew,\" which\nsignifies \"one from beyond the river.\" Some of the Jews, however, hold\nthat the name Hebrew comes from Heber, or Eber, one of the ancestors of\nAbraham.\n\nGod's Promise to Abraham.--Mesopotamia was the fountainhead of idolatry\nin Western Asia. On that account, and because the Lord wished to raise\nup a people who would worship him, and him only, Abram was required to\nseparate himself from his idolatrous surroundings. After his removal\nfrom Chaldea to Canaan, and the trial of his faith in the offering of\nIsaac, the Lord gave to him this promise:\n\n\"In blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy\nseed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea\nshore; and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies:\n\n\"And in thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed.\"--(Gen.\n22:17, 18.)\n\nWhy was Abraham Blessed?--It will be observed that the blessing\nformerly pronounced,--\"In thee shall all families of the earth be\nblessed,\"--is here expanded to: \"In thy seed shall all the nations\nof the earth be blessed.\" Before showing how this great promise was\nfulfiled, let us inquire into the cause or causes why it was made. Why\nwas Abraham, with his seed, chosen for such a mission? What had he\ndone to deserve it? For he must have done something: God rewards men\naccording to their works, and not even an Abraham would have received\nfrom him an honor that was unmerited.\n\nSome may suppose that the sacrifice involved in the offering of Isaac\nwas the sole and sufficient reason; and it is proverbially true that\n\"sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven.\" But this promise\nwas made to Abraham before he had offered Isaac, and was repeated and\nenlarged after the offering had been made. Others may hold that it was\nAbraham's fidelity to God among the idolatrous inhabitants of Chaldea,\nand his obedience to the divine behest to leave his country and kindred\nand migrate to another land, that caused him to be chosen. \"Because\nthou hast obeyed my voice,\" is a reason assigned by the Almighty for\nhis promise. Such acts were undoubtedly to Abraham's credit; but how\ncould they be placed to the credit of his posterity?--not merely Isaac\nand Jacob, but the millions that were to \"come of them.\" \"In thee and\nin thy seed shall all the families or nations of the earth be blessed.\"\nHis posterity, as well as himself, must have deserved well of the Lord\nin this connection.\n\nThe Problem Solved.--The patriarch himself helps us to a solution of\nthe problem. In the Book of Abraham it is written:\n\n\"Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were\norganized before the world was; and among all these there were many of\nthe noble and great ones;\n\n\"And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst\nof them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among\nthose that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said\nunto me: Abraham, thou art one of them: thou wast chosen before thou\nwast born.\"--(Abraham 3:22, 23.)\n\nNoble and Great.--Here, then, is given the reason, the main reason, why\nAbraham was chosen; the time, also, when the divine choice was made. He\nwas chosen before he was born, and it was because of his nobility and\ngreatness--manifested, of course, by obedience, the only principle upon\nwhich blessings can come to anyone.\n\nPre-Mortal Judgment.--The intelligences shown unto Abraham were the\npre-existent spirits of the human race, waiting for an earth to be\nmade, that they might pass through a mortal probation; a step necessary\nto their further progress and development. They were to be rewarded\naccording to their works--not only after this life, but in this life,\nat its very beginning. For rewards and punishments are not all deferred\nuntil the final judgment at the end of the world. There is a judgment\npassed upon the spirits of men before they are permitted to tabernacle\nin mortality. \"Did this man sin, or his parents, that he was born\nblind?\"--asked the disciples of the Savior, who had probably taught\nthem the principle involved in the question--namely, the possibility of\nsinning in a former state of existence.\n\nSowing and Reaping.--\"Whatsoever a man soweth,\" in this world or in any\nother, \"that shall he also reap.\" Justice was not done away in Christ,\nwho taught it, with emphasis, even while inculcating charity and mercy.\n\"Vengeance is mine,\" saith the Lord, \"I will repay.\" We are required\nto forgive all men, for our own sakes, since hatred retards spiritual\ngrowth; but all men must answer, just the same, for the deeds done in\nthe body or out of it; justice and mercy each claiming its own. The\nprinciple of sowing and reaping is plainly taught in other passages of\nthe Book of Abraham:\n\n\"And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said\nunto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space\nthere, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth\nwhereon these may dwell;\n\n\"And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things\nwhatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;\n\n\"And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they\nwho keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same\nkingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their\nsecond estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and\never.\"--(Abraham 3:24-26.)\n\nFirst and Second Estates.--The \"first estate,\" as already explained,\nmeans the pre-existence, in which the spirits of men \"walked by sight;\"\nwhile the \"second estate\" signifies life on earth, where these same\nspirits--\"added upon\" by being given mortal bodies, with opportunities\nfor development, are required to \"walk by faith,\" with their knowledge\nof the past temporarily obscured; a greater test of integrity, and one\nthat results, to those who overcome, in a far more glorious reward than\nany previously bestowed.\n\nReward and Punishment.--In my opening theme, \"The Story of God,\" it\nwas shown how Lucifer and his legions rebelled over the choice of the\nChrist, and were cast down. Failing to keep their first estate, they\ncould not be \"added upon.\" This was their punishment--that they should\nnot have bodies, by means of which spirits become souls, capable of\neternal progression. All the rest--two-thirds of the population of the\nspirit world--were given bodies as a reward for keeping their first\nestate, and were promised a glorious resurrection after death, as a\nfurther reward, if they succeeded in keeping their second estate.\n\nAll Not Alike.--All who kept the first estate were added upon; but not\nall alike. The rewards were not the same in every case, though they\nwere undoubtedly just and appropriate. Some of those \"intelligences\"\nwere more deserving than others; some nobler and greater than others;\nand because of their superior merit and larger capacity, they were\nmade \"rulers\" over the rest. And Abraham, \"thou art one of them: thou\nwast chosen before thou wast born\"--chosen to bear the priesthood,\nthe divine right to rule, and to stand at the head of a dispensation,\nministering in holy things for the salvation of mankind.\n\nSuch is \"Mormonism's\" presentation, in part, of the Abrahamic or\nIsraelitish problem.\n\nOriginal Excellence.--What had given Abraham his superior standing in\nthe heavens? Had he always been noble and great? Was it an original or\nan acquired excellence, or both? That there is such a thing as original\nexcellence, with different degrees of intelligence among pre-existent\nspirits, appears from the teachings in this very Book of Abraham--not\nonly the passages cited, but others, in which the Lord is represented\nas saying:\n\n\"If there be two spirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the\nother, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent\nthan the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have\nno end; they shall exist after, for they are gnolaum, or eternal. * *\n* These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more\nintelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent\nthan they; I am the Lord thy God, I am more intelligent than they\nall.\"--(Abraham 3:18, 19.)\n\n\"I Know Abraham.\"--Was it not Abraham's worthy conduct in a previous\nlife that caused the Lord to say of him while in the flesh: \"I know\nhim, that he will command his children and his household after him,\nand they shall keep the way of the Lord, to do justice and judgment;\nthat the Lord may bring upon Abraham that which he hath spoken of\nhim?\"--(Gen. 18:19.) Who can doubt that the Father of the Faithful was\none of the choice spirits whom Alma had in mind when he said concerning\nthe priests whom \"the Lord God ordained\":\n\n\"And this is the manner after which they were ordained; being called\nand prepared from the foundation of the world, according to the\nforeknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good\nworks; in the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore,\nthey, having chosen good, and exercised exceeding great faith, are\ncalled with a holy calling.\"--(Alma 13:3.)\n\nThe Foreknowledge of God.--The authors and compilers of \"The\nCompendium,\" Elders Franklin D. Richards and James A. Little,\ncommenting upon these words of Alma, relative to the priests thus\nordained, have this to say: \"Their calling and preparation from the\nfoundation of the world, was evidently based on their faith and good\nworks previous to their being called, and not on the possibilities of\ntheir future good conduct.\" In other words, the foreknowledge of God\nhas history as well as prophecy for a foundation.\n\nAbraham Not Alone.--Abraham was not the only priest called and prepared\nin that manner. There were \"many of the noble and great ones.\" Israel\nwas \"a kingdom of priests,\" \"a holy nation,\" and as such must have\nbeen called and prepared even as was Abraham. We have seen that\nJehovah, the God of Israel, \"the great High Priest of our profession,\"\nwas fore-ordained to be the Savior; and that his servant Jeremiah,\nbefore being formed in the flesh, was known to God in the spirit, and\nsanctified and ordained \"a prophet unto the nations.\" Undoubtedly the\nsame could be said of others, and Paul doubtless had them in mind when\nhe wrote: \"For whom he did fore-know, he also did predestinate, to be\nconformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the first born\namong many brethren.\"--(Romans 8:29.)\n\nPrinces and Servants.--If the name Israel means \"prince of God,\" when\napplied to Jacob, may it not mean princes of God, when applied to his\nposterity? Jacob was told that kings should come out of his loins. And\nhave they not come?--princes and priests and kings, the nobility of\nheaven, though not always recognized and honored upon the earth. The\ngreatest among them was not recognized even by \"his own;\" for when he\ncame unto them, they \"received him not.\" The wise Solomon was never\nwiser than when he said: \"I have seen servants upon horses, and princes\nwalking as servants upon the earth\" (Ecc. 10:7). Even the God of\nheaven, the mighty. Prince of Peace, walked unknown, unhonored, by his\nown servants, in the dust of his own footstool.\n\nDegrees of Greatness.--There are degrees of greatness in heaven as upon\nearth, choice spirits and choicer. But all God's servants are noble. No\nposition in the Church of Christ is insignificant. David was right in\nsaying: \"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God, than to\ndwell in the tents of wickedness.\" It is greater, infinitely greater,\nto hold the humblest office in the priesthood, than to reign, an alien\nfrom God, over all the kingdoms of the world.\n\nIsrael's Pre-existence.--In view of what the prophets have spoken, are\nwe not justified in believing that the house of Israel was chosen in\nthe heavens for the mission it had to perform, and is still performing,\nupon the earth? What other inference can be drawn from these words of\nMoses:\n\n\"Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations: * * *\n\n\"When the Most High divided to the nations their inheritance, when he\nseparated the sons of Adam, he set the bounds of the people according\nto the number of the children of Israel.\"--(Deut. 32:7-8.)\n\nThe period here mentioned, when the sons of Adam were separated,\nand the nations received their inheritance, evidently antedated by\nmany generations the times of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Those events\nwere probably much earlier, and certainly no later, than the days of\nJapheth, Shem, and Ham, by whose families the nations were \"divided\nin the earth after the flood\" (Gen. 10:32). It looks very much as if\nMoses, when he wrote those words, had in mind, not a temporal Israel,\nunborn at the early period indicated, but a spiritual Israel, according\nto whose numbers, known in the heavens before they had taken bodies\nupon the earth, the boundaries of \"the people\" were determined.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nIsrael's Mission.\n\nPrivileges and Requirements.--It was intended that the children\nof Israel should have \"room to dwell;\" and it was of the utmost\nconsequence that they should have. They were to be the oracles of God,\nthe custodians and dispensers of heavenly wisdom. Upon them devolved\nthe high duty of keeping alive on faith's altar the fire of divine\ntruth. They were not to worship idols, as did the heathen nations\naround them, but were to worship the true God, the invisible Jehovah,\n\"walking by faith,\" where others, less worthy, \"walked by sight,\"\nbelieving only when they could see. The children of Israel were not\nto intermarry with other nations, lest they might worship their gods,\npractice their vices, and pollute the noble lineage through which was\nto come, in due time, the Savior of the world. The Lamb of God, when he\ncame, was \"without spot or blemish,\" physically as well as spiritually;\na condition partly due, no doubt, to the choice parentage and ancestry\nthat had been provided for him.\n\nChrist the Seed of Abraham.--This brings us again to the divine promise\ngiven to Abraham: \"In thee and in thy seed shall all the nations of\nthe earth be blessed.\" Undoubtedly that promise was fulfiled in the\ncoming of the Son of God as the Redeemer and Savior. In the body he was\na descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and in more ways than one he\nhas been a blessing to all nations.\n\nThe Gem and Its Setting.--In treating this great theme, however, it is\nnot enough to consider that such a personage as Jesus of Nazareth lived\nand labored and died. We must not separate the gem from its setting.\nWe must not isolate the central fact of the Savior's personal ministry\nfrom the related facts that went before and followed after. Christ came\nto save the world; but the house of Israel prepared the way for his\ncoming, gave him a proper lineage through which to come, and after his\ncrucifixion carried on the work he had inaugurated. This is especially\ntrue of the patriarchs, the prophets, the apostles, and others bearing\nthe Priesthood; but it is also true, in a general way, of the whole\nhouse of Israel.\n\nThe Salt of the Earth.--While there is but one Savior in a universal\nsense, and in the sense of the atonement and the resurrection, that\nSavior has many assistants, sent to play subordinate parts in the\ngreat drama of salvation. Did not Jesus tell his disciples that they\nwere \"the salt of the earth\"--the saving or preserving element among\nmen? And did he not warn them against allowing \"the salt\" to \"lose its\nsavor\"--its power to save and preserve? For how could they save others,\nif their own feet were not firmly planted upon the Rock of Salvation?\n\nFollowers of the Lamb.--John of Patmos saw a Lamb standing upon the\nMount Zion, \"and with him an hundred forty and four thousand, having\nhis Father's name written in their foreheads\" (Rev. 14:1). And he\nheard a voice from heaven saying, \"These are they which follow the\nLamb whithersoever he goeth.\" Then they follow him in the work of\nsalvation, not only in this world, but also in the spirit world, where\nhe ministered while his body was lying in the tomb.\n\nWho are these 144,000? They are not the whole house of Israel, which\nnumbers millions; but they are \"of all the tribes of the children of\nIsrael,\" twelve thousand of every tribe. The Prophet Joseph says: They\n\"are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer\nthe Everlasting Gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every\nnation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given\npower over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to\nthe Church of the First Born\" (D&C 77:11). They are not the entire army\nof the Lord, but might well be termed the flower of that army, the\nbody-guard of the great Captain of Salvation.\n\nKeystone and Arch.--Christ is the keystone of an arch, and that arch\nis, or is in, the house of Israel; a circlet of gold upon the forearm\nof Omnipotence, a setting of satellite gems, from the midst of which\nthe supreme jewel, the Signet of Salvation, sends forth its lustre.\n\nOverruling Providence.--Under Jesus Christ, the Savior, the great house\nof which he is the spiritual head also has a mission of salvation.\nAnd, strangely enough, the children of Israel have accomplished that\nmission, not only when obedient to God, but while disobedient and\nsuffering the consequent calamities that came upon them. A notable\ninstance of the power of overruling Providence, bringing order out of\nchaos, light out of darkness, success and victory from seeming failure\nand defeat.\n\nCalamity and Compensation.--The compensations of calamity--a theme\ntreated philosophically by Ralph Waldo Emerson, in one of his noblest\nessays--are apparent in some of the mightiest events of human history.\nFor instance, to Adam it was said: \"The day that thou eatest thereof\nthou shalt surely die.\" He ate, and death came into the world; a\nterrible calamity, but not without its compensation; for the fall of\nman proved to be the means of peopling the earth, according to a divine\nplan, ordained before the creation of the world. Christ's martyrdom,\nthe preordained means of man's salvation, was an overwhelming calamity\nto his terror-stricken disciples, who were disconsolate until they\nlooked upon it in its true light, acknowledging God's hand in the awful\ntragedy. Even so, Israel's dispersion, that dire calamity under which\nthe chosen people have suffered for ages, and from which they are just\nbeginning to emerge, has been overruled for good, and made the means of\nfulfiling the Lord's purpose and promise in the blessing of all nations.\n\nMoses Predicts the Dispersion.--Prophecies of this calamity were made\nas early as the time of Moses, fifteen hundred years before the coming\nof the Savior. The twelve tribes, the most notable of whom were Judah\nand Joseph--the latter represented in Ephraim and Manasseh--had been\nin Egypt for several centuries when Moses led them out of bondage and\nbrought them to the borders of Canaan, the land which the Lord had\ngiven to their forefathers when he promised to make of them \"a great\nnation.\" The leader of Israel told his people, who were about to\npossess themselves of the land of Canaan, that so long as they served\nJehovah and kept his commandments, they should be prospered and remain\nan independent nation; but if they forsook Jehovah and served other\ngods, He would scatter them among all people, from one end of the earth\neven unto the other.--(Deut. 28:64.)\n\nA Martyred Nation.--They were commanded, as Adam and Eve had been,\nnot to do a certain thing, and a punishment was to come upon them if\nthey disobeyed; and yet it must have been foreseen, as in the case of\nour first parents, that they would disobey, and the transgression was\noverruled for good. The dispersion of Israel, like the fall of Adam,\nlike the crucifixion of Christ, seems to have been part of a mighty\nplan for the progress and salvation of the human race. Adam fell that\nman might be; Christ died to burst the bands of death; and Israel was\nscattered among all nations, that the gospel of the Redeemer, which was\nto follow, might make its way more readily among those nations. As in\nthe fall, as in the crucifixion, and in every instance where some great\nservice has been rendered to humanity, there was sacrifice, suffering,\nmartyrdom, in order that blessings might come. The history of the house\nof Israel is the history of a martyred nation, suffering for the good\nof other nations--whatever may be said of transgressions that justified\nGod in bringing upon his chosen people the calamities that were\ndoubtless among the \"offenses\" that \"must needs come.\"\n\n  \"'Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up,\n  Whose golden rounds are our calamities.\"\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTo the Ends of the Earth.\n\nA Decadent Empire.--Joshua, succeeding Moses as the leader of Israel,\nconquered the land of Canaan and divided it among the twelve tribes.\nThen followed the reigns of the Judges, during which period Israel\nbegan to depart from God, and to invite, by rebellious conduct, the\nnational calamity that had been predicted. The glories of the monarchy\nfounded by Saul, David and Solomon being past, the curse, long\nsuspended, fell, and the Israelitish empire hastened to its decay.\n\nAhijah's Prophecy.--In the reign of Rehoboam, the successor to Solomon,\nten of the twelve tribes revolted, and choosing Jeroboam to be their\nruler, set up the kingdom of Israel (in the north), distinct from the\nkingdom of Judah (in the south), over which Rehoboam continued to\nreign. During the days of Jeroboam, who had made idolatry the state\nreligion of the northern kingdom, the dispersion of Israel was again\npredicted; the prophet Ahijah then voicing the word of the Lord to his\ndisobedient people:\n\n\"The Lord shall smite Israel, as a reed is shaken in the water, and\nhe shall root up Israel out of this good land, which he gave to their\nfathers, and shall scatter them beyond the river.\"--(I Kgs. 14:15.)\n\nAmos and Hosea.--Another prophet who foretold the dispersion was Amos,\nwho said that Israel should \"surely go into captivity,\" and be \"sifted\namong all nations\" (7:11, 17; 9:9). Still another was Hosea, who,\nsubstituting rhetorically the past for the future, said: \"Ephraim, he\nhath mixed himself among the people\" (7:8).\n\nBeginning of the Scattering.--In the year 721 B. C., soon after the\ntime of Hosea's prophecy, and while a monarch of the same name was\nreigning over the kingdom of Israel, the Assyrians, under Shalmaneser,\ncame against that kingdom and began to destroy it. In a series of\ndeportations they carried away the ten tribes (Ephraim and all) into\ncaptivity.\n\nThe Lost Tribes.--These are the famous \"lost tribes,\" concerning\nwhom very little is known. Josephus, the Jewish historian, who wrote\nduring the first century after Christ, says that the ten tribes were\nthen beyond the Euphrates, the \"river\" referred to by Ahijah in his\nprophecy. Esdras, in the Apocrypha, declares that those tribes went a\njourney of a year and a half into the north country.\n\nThe Cairns of Scandinavia.--Missionaries of the Church of Jesus\nChrist of Latter-day Saints, returning from Scandinavia, have told of\nrude monuments--cairns or piles of stones--in that northern region,\nconcerning which tradition says that they were erected many centuries\nago by a migrating people. Whether or not these were the tribes of\nthe Assyrian captivity, it is interesting to reflect that it was an\nIsraelitish custom to raise such monuments in commemorating events,\nespecially the migratory movements of the nation.\n\nOther Ancient Monuments.--If it be objected that monuments erected by\nthe Ten Tribes, 721 B. C., could not have lasted down to this day, how\nwill the objector account for the perfectly preserved monuments of\nAssyria, Babylon, Egypt, and other ancient empires, whose remains have\nbeen uncovered by modern archaeology? Such a theory will not stagger\nthe faith of the Latter-day Saints, when they recollect that the ruins\nof Adam's altar are still to be seen in the State of Missouri, where\nthey were identified by the Prophet Joseph Smith, A. D. 1838.\n\nTo Return from the North.--At all events, it is from \"the north\ncountry\" that the ten tribes are to return, according to ancient and\nmodern prophecy; and it is also a fact that from Scandinavia and the\nnations of Northern Europe has come much of the blood of Israel--the\nblood of Ephraim now within the pale of the Church of Jesus Christ of\nLatter-day Saints.\n\nAre the Ten Tribes Intact?--A much mooted question among our people,\nparticularly since the discovery of the North Pole, where theorists\nhave insisted upon locating the ten tribes, is whether or not those\ntribes have lost their identity. The fact that no such people were\nfound at the pole by Peary and other explorers, shatters the exact\nlocation theory; but does it dispose of the main issue--the supposed\nexistence of the ten tribes as a distinct people, somewhere \"in the\nland of the north?\" Such a supposition might be well founded, and yet\nmuch of the blood of Ephraim be among certain northern nations. Some\nof the pilgrims might easily have \"mixed\" with peoples encountered on\nthe way, while journeying to their ultimate destination. Beyond this\nsuggestion, I have no theory to advance. A tradition of the Church has\nassigned to John the Revelator the mission of leading the ten tribes\nfrom the land of the north.--(D. and C. 77:14.)\n\nThe Babylonian Captivity.--After the predictions of Amos, Hosea, and\nothers, in relation to the kingdom of Israel, came the prophecies of\nIsaiah and Jeremiah, foretelling the fate of the kingdom of Judah.\nThis kingdom, about 585 B. C., was destroyed by the Babylonians under\nNebuchadnezzar, and the Jews were carried into captivity.\n\nLehi and His Colony.--Just before that disaster, Lehi and his colony\nleft Jerusalem, and crossed over to this land--America--which, by them\nand by Mulek's colony that came later, was peopled with the descendants\nof Joseph and of Judah, both of whom are represented, in a degenerate\nstate, by the American Indians.\n\nIsraelitish Characteristics.--Look at the features of the Indian. Are\nthey not Jewish? Quite as strikingly so as that many of his customs\nand traditions are Israelitish. Who, than the savage Lamanite, better\nunderstands the Mosaic law of retaliation--\"an eye for an eye and a\ntooth for a tooth\"? Nor does he care whose eye or whose tooth it is,\nwhether that of the person who injured him, or one of the latter's\ntribe or nation. He is too much of an Israelite to object to proxies\nand substitutes.\n\nJerusalem Rebuilt.--The Babylonian captivity lasted seventy years.\nSome of the Jews, under the permissive edict of Cyrus, then returned\nand rebuilt their city and temple. Only a remnant came back, however,\na colony of fifty thousand, led by Zerubbabel and Joshua. The rest\nremained in their scattered condition. The Jews who rebuilt Jerusalem\nwere those to whose descendants Christ came, and predicted, after\ntheir rejection of him, that their \"house\" should be \"left unto them\ndesolate\" (Matt. 23:37, 38).\n\nTwelve Tribes Scattered.--Before the Savior's time, however, the\nprophets Ezekiel and Zachariah,--the former in exile among the\nBabylonians, the latter at Jerusalem after the restoration by\nCyrus,--had added their predictions to those already uttered relating\nto the dispersion of Israel. That the fated nation was pretty well\ndispersed in the days of the apostles, is evident from the Epistle of\nJames, who addresses himself \"to the twelve tribes which are scattered\nabroad.\"\n\nDispersion by Titus.--But there were to be other acts of dispersion.\nOne of the most notable occurred in the year 70 A. D., when Titus\nthe Roman came against Jerusalem, besieged and captured it, and sold\nthe inhabitants, such as had survived the horrors of the siege, into\nslavery, or scattered them through different parts of the empire. To\nfollow the fortunes of this branch of the house of Israel, in all their\nsubsequent wanderings and scatterings, would fill volumes.\n\nThe Blood that Believes.--Next, let us consider the question: In\nwhat way did these calamities upon Israel prove a blessing to the\nhuman race? How, by the dispersion of the children of Abraham, was\nthe promise to the patriarch fulfiled, that in him and in his seed\nshould all the nations of the earth be blessed? I answer, that by this\ndispersion the blood of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob--the blood of faith,\nthe blood that believes--with choice spirits, answering to that blood,\nand selected for that purpose, were sent into those nations where the\nGospel was afterwards preached; spirits capable of recognizing the\ntruth, and brave enough to embrace it regardless of consequences;\nthus setting an example to others and influencing them in the same\ndirection. Manifestly this was of far more importance than the carrying\nby the captive Israelites of their laws and traditions into those\nnations; though this would also help to prepare the way for greater\nblessings to follow.\n\nSpread of Christianity.--And such things told in after years. One of\nthe marvels of history is the rapid spread of Christianity in the days\nof the apostles, who, unlettered as most of them were, and in the midst\nof the fiercest persecution, planted the gospel standard in all the\nprincipal cities of the Roman Empire, spreading the tidings of Christ\ncrucified, from India on the East to Britain on the West, and from\nScythia on the North to Ethiopia on the South; all within the short\nspace of fifty years.\n\n\"Mormonism's\" Growth.--A similar marvel is the spread of\n\"Mormonism\"--ancient Christianity restored--through the Gentile nations\nof modern times, a work yet in its infancy. Villages and congregations\nconverted at a sweep, as in Lancashire and Herefordshire, England;\nin America the gospel preached to white men and red, and the Church\nestablished in the tops of the Rocky Mountains, with nearly half a\nmillion souls for a nucleus, and others continually coming from the\nvarious nations of the earth. And then--the extraordinary attention\nattracted by the Latter-day Saints--altogether out of proportion to\ntheir numbers; for after all, they are only a handful, compared with\nthe hundreds of millions of earth's inhabitants. What more strikingly\nfulfils the prophetic picture drawn by the Savior: \"Ye are as a city\nset upon a hill, which can not be hid.\"\n\nHow could such things be, had not Divine Wisdom prepared the way by\nsending the blood of Israel, with spirits answering to that blood,\namong all nations, prior to pouring out upon them the spirit of the\ngospel and of the gathering?\n\nMany Nations Sprinkled.--Others before Abraham had shown their faith\nby their works; but this does not invalidate his claim to the title,\n\"Father of the Faithful.\" Neither does it prove that the believing\nblood, even in the veins of the Gentiles, is not Abraham's blood,\nwith which God has \"sprinkled many nations.\" The Latter-day Saints\nthemselves are of a mixed lineage--Gentile and Israelitish; most of\nthem having descended from Ephraim, who \"mixed himself among the\npeople.\"\n\nThe Centurion's Faith.--Was not the blood of Abraham in the veins of\nthe Roman centurion, whose faith caused even the Savior to marvel? The\ncenturion's daughter was sick nigh unto death, and her father said to\nJesus: \"Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter beneath my roof,\nbut speak the word and my daughter shall live.\" \"Be it according to thy\nfaith,\" was the reply, and straightway she was healed. This incident\ncaused the Son of God to say: \"Such faith I have not found in Israel.\"\nMoreover, it formed the basis of a prediction, that many should come\nfrom the East and from the West, and sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and\nJacob in the kingdom of God, while the children of the kingdom, such\nas were degenerate,--salt that had lost its savor,--would be cast into\nouter darkness.\n\nOther Gentile Believers.--Other cases in point are those of Cornelius\nand the woman of Samaria--Gentiles, in whose veins was the blood that\nbelieves, \"the salt of the earth,\" sprinkled over the world for its\npreservation. The Moabite maiden, Ruth, who was numbered among the\nancestors of Jesus Christ, is another example of the same kind. They\nare of Abraham who do the works of Abraham.\n\nAccording to Their Faith.--God works among men according to their\nfaith. Jehovah, as Jesus, came unto his own, and his own received\nhim not. He could not do many mighty works among the Jews, \"because\nof their unbelief,\" at which he marveled, as much, no doubt, as he\nmarveled over the faith of some of the Gentiles. And so, leaving the\nlatter to be converted by the Holy Ghost, he who had been sent to the\nlost sheep of Israel, turned from Judah unto Joseph, from the Jews unto\nthe Nephites, whose faith was greater, and among whom, in consequence,\nmore if not mightier miracles were performed.\n\nThe \"Other Sheep.\"--From the Nephites, the Savior went to \"other\nsheep,\" not of the Nephite fold, nor of the Jewish fold, but still of\nthe house of Israel, and therefore entitled to his personal ministry.\nThese may have been \"the lost tribes,\" or they may have been other\nscattered sheep, unknown to man, but known unto God, \"keeping watch\nabove his own,\" in the mystical and remote regions whither his\njudgments had driven them.\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nThe Call of the Shepherd.\n\n\"Come out of her, my people.\"--(Rev. 18:4.)\n\nAll in Christ.--The Savior's personal visits to the various branches\nof the house of Israel were preliminary to a general gathering of\nthe sheep into one fold, with himself as the Shepherd over all. The\nprophets who predicted the dispersion, likewise foretold the return\nof God's people to their own lands, after \"the times of the Gentiles\"\nshould be fulfiled. It was to be in the latter days, when God has\npurposed to \"gather together in one all things in Christ.\" The most\nnotable prophecies pertaining to the gathering of Israel are here\npresented:\n\nMoses.--\"The Lord thy God will turn thy captivity, and have compassion\nupon thee, and will return and gather thee from all the nations whither\nthe Lord thy God hath scattered thee.\"--(Deut. 30:3.)\n\nDavid.--\"Gather my Saints together unto me; those that have made a\ncovenant with me by sacrifice.\"--(Psalms 50:5.)\n\nIsaiah.--\"And it shall come to pass in the last days that the mountain\nof the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains,\nand shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto\nit.\n\n\"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to\nthe mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and\nhe will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths; for\nout of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from\nJerusalem.\"--(Isaiah 2:2, 3.)\n\n\"And it shall come to pass in that day, that the Lord shall set his\nhand again the second time to recover the remnant of his people, which\nshall be left, from Assyria, and from Egypt, and from Pathros, and from\nCush, and from Elam, and from Shinar, and from Hamath, and from the\nislands of the sea.\n\n\"And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the\noutcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the\nfour corners of the earth.\n\n\"The envy also of Ephraim shall depart, and the adversaries of Judah\nshall be cut off; Ephraim shall not envy Judah, and Judah shall not vex\nEphraim.\n\n\"But they shall fly upon the shoulders of the Philistines to ward the\nwest.\"--(Ibid, 11:11-14.)\n\n\"And there shall be an highway for the remnant of his people, which\nshall be left, from Assyria; like as it was to Israel in the day that\nhe came up out of the land of Egypt.\"--(Ibid, 11:16.)\n\n\"Fear not: for I am with thee: I will bring thy seed from the east, and\ngather thee from the west;\n\n\"I will say to the north, Give up; and to the south, Keep not back;\nbring my sons from far, and my daughters from the ends of the\nearth.\"--(Ibid, 43:5, 6.)\n\n\"And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness\nof thy rising.\n\n\"Lift up thine eyes round about, and see: all they gather themselves\ntogether, they come to thee: thy sons shall come from far, and thy\ndaughters shall be nursed at thy side.\"--(Ibid, 60:3, 4.)\n\nThe Ensign.--According to the faith of the Latter-day Saints, the\n\"ensign\" referred to by Isaiah was set up, when the Church of Christ\nwas organized on the sixth of April, 1830. Thus far, however, only a\nportion of the half tribe of Ephraim has been gathered out from the\nnations.\n\nShoulders of the Philistines.--\"The shoulders of the Philistines\" are\nunderstood to be the steamships, railroads, and other facilities of the\nGentiles, whereby the gathering Saints have been and are being carried\nwestward to American shores and into the tops of the Rocky Mountains.\n\nThe Highway.--\"And there shall be a highway,\" etc. This part of\nIsaiah's prophecy seems to have reference to the tribes that were\ncarried into captivity by the Assyrians, and in connection with whose\nreturn a miracle is promised similar to the dividing of the waters of\nthe Red Sea, in the days of Moses, that Israel might go over dry shod.\n\nJeremiah.--\"Turn, O backsliding children, saith the Lord; for I am\nmarried unto you; and I will take you one of a city, and two of a\nfamily, and I will bring you to Zion;\n\n\"And I will give you pastors according to mine heart, which shall feed\nyou with knowledge and understanding.\"--(Jeremiah 3:14, 15.)\n\n\"Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no\nmore be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel\nout of the land of Egypt;\n\n\"But, The Lord liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from land\nof the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them; and I\nwill bring them again into their land that I gave unto their fathers.\n\n\"Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall\nfish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt\nthem from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of\nthe rocks.\n\n\"For mine eyes are upon all their ways; they are not hid from my face.\n\n\"The Gentiles shall come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and\nshall say, Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things\nwherein there is no profit.\"--(Ibid, 16:14-17, 19.)\n\n\"Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from\nthe coasts of the earth, and with them the blind and the lame, the\nwoman with child and her that travaileth with child together; a great\ncompany shall return thither.\n\n\"They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead\nthem: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight\nway, wherein they shall not stumble; for I am a father to Israel, and\nEphraim is my firstborn.\n\n\"Here the word of the Lord, O ye nations, and declare it in the isles\nafar off, and say, He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep\nhim, as a shepherd doth his flock.\"--(Ibid, 31:8-10.)\n\nOne of a City.--Jeremiah's prediction concerning \"one of a city and\ntwo of a family\" has been literally fulfiled in the experience of\nmany Latter-day Saints, turned out of doors by their own parents or\nguardians, despised and persecuted by former friends and associates,\nbecause they dared to be \"one of a city,\" or \"two of a family,\" in\nespousing so unpopular a cause.\n\nA Stanza on Freedom.--A few lines from an American poet--James Russell\nLowell--seem appropriate here. The poem from which they are taken is\nentitled \"Stanzas on Freedom:\"\n\n  \"They are slaves who fear to speak\n  For the fallen and the weak;\n  They are slaves who will not choose\n  Hatred, scoffing, and abuse,\n  Rather than in silence shrink\n  From the truth they needs must think;\n  They are slaves who dare not be\n  In the right, with two or three.\"\n\nA Marvel and a Wonder.--Wonderful as has been the work of the\ngathering, thus far, judging from the words of Jeremiah, it is destined\nto be more marvelous still.\n\nEzekiel.--\"As a shepherd seeketh out his flock in the day that he is\namong his sheep that are scattered; so will I seek out my sheep, and\nwill deliver them out of all places where they have been scattered in\nthe cloudy and dark day.\n\n\"And I will bring them out from the people, and gather them from the\ncountries, and will bring them to their own land, and feed them upon\nthe mountains of Israel by the rivers, and in all the inhabited places\nof the country.\n\n\"I will feed them in a good pasture, and upon the high mountains of\nIsrael shall their fold be.\"--(Ezekiel 34:12-14.)\n\nThe Christ.--\"And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in\nall the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end\ncome.\"--(Matthew 24:14.)\n\n\"And he shall send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they\nshall gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of\nheaven to the other.\"--(Ibid, 24:31.)\n\nJohn the Revelator.--\"And I saw another angel fly in the midst of\nheaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them that dwell\non the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and\npeople.\"--(Rev. 14:6.)\n\n\"* * * And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her,\nmy people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive\nnot of her plagues.\"--(Ibid, 18:4.)\n\nEnoch.--One of the most ancient prophecies on the gathering, is that\nrecorded in the Book of Moses--a portion of the Lord's word to Enoch\nconcerning the latter days:\n\n\"And righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with a\nflood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth,\nunto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City, that my people may\ngird up their loins, and be looking forth for the time of my coming;\nfor there shall be my tabernacle, and it shall be called Zion, a New\nJerusalem.\n\n\"And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy city meet\nthem there * * * and there shall be mine abode.\"--(Moses 7:62-64.)\n\nKeys of the Gathering Restored.--Moses held the keys of Israel's\ngathering, and he committed them to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery,\nin the Kirtland Temple, April 3, 1836. (D. and C. 110:11.) The record\nsays: \"Moses appeared before us, and committed unto us the keys of the\ngathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth, and the leading\nof the ten tribes from the land of the North.\"\n\nQuery.--Why this explicit reference to the ten tribes, following a\ngeneral allusion to \"the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the\nearth,\" if the ten tribes are no longer a distinct people?\n\nJoseph Smith.--\"And they who are in the north countries shall come in\nremembrance before the Lord, and their prophets shall hear his voice,\nand shall no longer stay themselves, and they shall smite the rocks,\nand the ice shall flow down at their presence.\n\n\"And an highway shall be cast up in the midst of the great deep.\n\n\"Their enemies shall become a prey unto them,\n\n\"And in the barren deserts there shall come forth pools of living\nwater; and the parched ground shall no longer be a thirsty land.\n\n\"And they shall bring forth their rich treasures unto the children of\nEphraim my servants.\n\n\"And the boundaries of the everlasting hills shall tremble at their\npresence.\n\n\"And there shall they fall down and be crowned with glory, even in\nZion, by the hands of the servants of the Lord, even the children of\nEphraim:\n\n\"And they shall be filled with songs of everlasting joy.\n\n\"Behold, this is the blessing of the everlasting God upon the tribes\nof Israel, and the richer blessing upon the head of Ephraim and his\nfellows.\n\n\"And they also of the tribe of Judah, after their pain, shall be\nsanctified in holiness before the Lord to dwell in his presence, day\nand night, for ever and ever.\"--(D. and C. 133:26-35.)\n\nBook of Mormon Predictions.--The Book of Mormon contains many\npredictions of the gathering of Israel; the more notable being those\nof Ether the Jaredite, and of first, second, and third Nephi. We learn\nfrom them that the City of Zion, New Jerusalem, to which, as well as\nto Old Jerusalem, the children of Israel will gather, is to be built\nupon this continent; the precise place, as pointed out by the Prophet\nJoseph, being Jackson County, Missouri. There, in the summer of 1831,\na site for the New Jerusalem was consecrated. There shall yet stand\nthe City of God, the central point for the gathering of the tribes\nof Israel, all except Judah, which tribe, with its fellows, are to\nreinhabit the land of Palestine. Until Zion is redeemed and the city\nbuilt at the place appointed, the gathering will continue unto the\nStakes of Zion.\n\nJesus to the Nephites.--\"Verily, I say unto you, I give unto you a\nsign, that ye may know the time when these things shall be about to\ntake place, that I shall gather in from their long dispersion, my\npeople, O house of Israel, and shall establish again among them my\nZion.\"--(III Nephi 21:1.)\n\n\"Therefore, when these works, and the works which shall be wrought\namong you hereafter, shall come forth from the Gentiles, unto your\nseed, which shall dwindle in unbelief because of iniquity:\n\n\"For thus it behoveth the Father that it should come forth from the\nGentiles, that he may shew forth his power unto the Gentiles, for this\ncause, that the Gentiles, if they will not harden their hearts, that\nthey may repent and come unto me, and be baptized in my name, and know\nof the true points of my doctrine, that they may be numbered among my\npeople, O house of Israel;\n\n\"And when these things come to pass, that thy seed shall begin to know\nthese things, it shall be a sign unto them, that they may know that the\nwork of the Father hath already commenced unto the fulfiling of the\ncovenant which he hath made unto the people who are of the house of\nIsrael.\n\n\"And when that day shall come, it shall come to pass that kings shall\nshut their mouths; for that which had not been told them shall they\nsee; and that which they had not heard shall they consider.\n\n\"For in that day, for my sake, shall the Father work a work, which\nshall be a great and marvelous work among them; and there shall be\namong them who will not believe it, although a man shall declare it\nunto them.\n\n\"But behold, the life of my servant shall be in my hand; therefore they\nshall not hurt him, although he shall be marred because of them. Yet I\nwill heal him, for I will show unto them that my wisdom is greater than\nthe cunning of the devil.\n\n\"Therefore it shall come to pass, that whosoever will not believe in\nmy words, who am Jesus Christ, whom the Father shall cause him to\nbring forth unto the Gentiles, and shall give unto him power that he\nshall bring them forth unto the Gentiles, (it shall be done even as\nMoses said,) they shall be cut off from among my people who are of the\ncovenant.\n\n\"And my people who are a remnant of Jacob, shall be among the Gentiles,\nyea, in the midst of them as a lion among the beasts of the forest,\nas a young lion among the flocks of sheep, who, if he go through both\ntreadeth down and teareth in pieces, and none can deliver.\n\n* * * * * * * * * * *\n\n\"But if they will repent, and hearken unto my words, and harden not\ntheir hearts, I will establish my church among them, and they shall\ncome in unto the covenant, and be numbered among this the remnant of\nJacob, unto whom I have given this land for their inheritance.\n\n\"And they shall assist my people, the remnant of Jacob, and also, as\nmany of the house of Israel as shall come, that they may build a city,\nwhich shall be called the New Jerusalem;\n\n\"And then shall they assist my people that they may be gathered in, who\nare scattered upon all the face of the land, in unto the New Jerusalem.\n\n\"And then shall the power of heaven come down among them; and I also\nwill be in the midst;\n\n\"And then shall the work of the Father commence at that day, even when\nthis gospel shall be preached among the remnant of this people. Verily\nI say unto you, at that day shall the work of the Father commence among\nall the dispersed of my people; yea, even the tribes which have been\nlost, which the Father hath led away out of Jerusalem.\n\n\"Yea, the work shall commence among all the dispersed of my people,\nwith the Father, to prepare the way whereby they come unto me, that\nthey may call on the Father in my name;\n\n\"Yea, and then shall the work commence, with the Father, among all\nnations, in preparing the way whereby his people may be gathered home\nto the land of their inheritance.\"--(III Nephi 21:5-12, 22-28.)\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nThe Author to the Reader.\n\nAnd now, a word to the brethren--particularly the young brethren--who\nwill read this book. I have endeavored to impress upon you the\nrelationship that you bear to heaven and to earth, the duty that\nyou owe to God and to your fellow men. You are among the chosen\nspirits that constitute the house of Israel. You are of the seed of\nAbraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and consequently lawful heirs to all the\npromises made to your great progenitors. You are of Ephraim, most of\nyou--Ephraim, \"the first born,\" the first branch of the Israelitish\ntree to bear the fruits of faith and obedience in modern days; the\nfirst to receive the Gospel, and to officiate as its ministers in the\nDispensation of the Fulness of Times. Your lineage is noble--I care\nnot how obscure your earthly origin, how meager your possessions, how\nlimited your opportunities for education and advancement. You are of a\nroyal race, and your conduct should be royal to comport with it.\n\nThis does not mean that you should be proud and arrogant. Pride and\narrogance are no proofs of gentility; they betoken the upstart;\nthey are the badges of the base-born. Faith and humility must be\nyour watchwords, and the insignia of your mission, as saviors of\nmankind. Much is required of you, for much has been committed to\nyou. As children of Abraham, you must do the works of Abraham, and\nkeep yourselves unspotted from the sins and follies of a sordid,\npleasure-loving, money-worshiping generation. You must not bow down\nto the gods of the Gentiles, nor pander to the lusts of the flesh. It\nis not given unto you to live after the manner of the world. Whenever\ntempted to intermarry with those not of your faith, and to wander away\nfrom the fold, think of the great purpose for which you were placed\nupon the earth; remember that you are children of the covenant, and\nthat these are the days of the gathering, not the scattering, of the\nblood of Israel.\n\nThe same general obligations now resting upon you, rested up on your\nancestors; and neglect and disobedience brought upon them all the\ncalamities that befell them as a nation. The salt, sent to preserve,\nlost its savor, and was therefore cast out and trodden under foot of\nmen. Invite not a repetition of those evils. What was done in the green\ntree, must not be done in the dry. There is no time, no necessity,\nfor another dispersion of Israel. It would be as inappropriate and\nsuperfluous as the flooding of soil already soaked by the waters of\nirrigation, or the sowing of a field already \"white unto the harvest,\"\nwaiting for the reaper's sickle. No good could come of it--nothing but\nwaste and destruction. The children of the covenant have been called\nhome, and the blood that believes must now flow back to its fountain.\n\n\"Hearken to me, ye that follow after righteousness, ye that seek the\nLord: look unto the rock whence ye are hewn, and to the hole of the pit\nwhence ye are digged.\n\n\"Look unto Abraham your father, and unto Sarah that bare you: for I\ncalled him alone, and blessed him, and increased him.\n\n\"For the Lord shall comfort Zion: he will comfort all her waste\nplaces; and he will make her wilderness like Eden, and her desert\nlike the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness shall be found therein,\nthanksgiving, and the voice of melody.\"--(Isaiah 51:1-3.)\n\nThe night of dispersion is past; the day of gathering has dawned.\nThe tempests that broke above the heads of our ancestors have spent\ntheir fury, and the clouds have parted and rolled away. The barren\nground, refreshed by the fearful visitation, is clothed with verdure\nand covered with flowers. The freshening and revivifying rains, having\nfulfiled their mission, must now return to the ocean whence they came.\nThis is the meaning, the symbolism, of the dispersion and gathering of\nIsrael.","title":"Gospel Themes: A Treatise on Salient Features of \"Mormonism\"","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":57955}