In these latter days the Father and the Son have appeared and revealed
anew the Gospel. Angels have ministered to man. John the Baptist
brought to earth the authority of the Lesser or Aaronic Priesthood
which he held when in mortality. Peter, James and John have conferred
their keys of Apostleship received under the hands of Jesus of
Nazareth, and the power and authority of the higher or Melchisedek
Priesthood. Elijah the Prophet and others of the ancients have bestowed
the keys they held, and they are all in the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. Under that authority the Church has been built up
after the original pattern and with the same spirit, ordinances, gifts
and blessings.
Joseph Smith, after accomplishing the work entrusted to him by the
Lord, sealed his testimony with his blood, being cruelly slain with his
brother Hyrum, at Carthage, Illinois, by a mob disguised, on June 27,
1844.
Joseph Smith was the instrument in the hands of the Lord to commence
the work of restitution, and open the last dispensation, that of "the
fulness of times." He received that divine authority under the hands of
those heavenly messengers. He, by revelation and commandment, ordained
others. Today there are on earth Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, {32}
Elders, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, divinely called and
authorized to teach and administer the things of the Kingdom of heaven,
and the power of God attends their ministrations.
Faith, repentance and baptism of water and of the Spirit administered
by divine authority are essential to salvation. There is only one
way. There is some good in all religions, but there is and can be but
one divine religion, that is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to be
preached to every creature. Persons who have died after reaching years
of accountability without an opportunity of receiving it, will hear it
in the spirit world, and may there obey or reject it. Heathens, Jews
and all races, creeds and tongues will thus have the door of redemption
opened to them. Infants who die before they become accountable need no
baptism, but are all redeemed by the blood of Christ.
The spirit of man is the intelligent, responsible being, an entity
both before and after dwelling in the body. It was in the beginning
with the Father. The sons and daughters of God, after probation in the
flesh, return to Him and then, until the resurrection, associate in
such sphere as they have fitted themselves to occupy; the good with
the spirits of the just, the evil with the spirits of the unjust. A
disembodied spirit can learn, believe, repent and yield obedience, but
cannot be baptized in water, the earthly medium of purification.