Strangers ask many questions about the Temple. They want to know how
it will be used and for what purpose, and they cannot understand why
we attach such importance to that building. Perhaps some of our young
people may have similar thoughts. But the Lord has commanded His people
to build temples. Several have already been built, and doubtless many
more will in course of time be erected--in fact, as the Saints increase
in numbers the need for these buildings will increase also. In them
ordinances are administered by means of which God has promised to those
who are faithful.
It has been a subject of frequent inquiry in Christendom as to what the
fate of the heathen would be. The general belief was that there were
but two places after death to which men and women would go, one being
heaven and the other hell.
The Bible says that there is no other name given under heaven whereby
man can be saved than that of Jesus.
Now, as the heathen never heard the name of Jesus, what will be their
fate in eternity? How can they get to heaven under such circumstances?
If they cannot, the question arises, would it be just to condemn people
for not obeying laws of which they had never heard; for not doing
something which they had never been told how to do or that it was
necessary should be done?
Yet there are many men who profess to be ministers of Jesus who
state that the heathen will be sent to hell. This doctrine has made
many people infidels. They could not believe that any being could be
merciful or just who would thus punish innocent people with eternal
torment for not obeying laws of which they had never heard. They,
therefore, rejected all the teachings and all the beliefs of those who
taught such ideas.
The Prophet Joseph Smith received many important revelations in
the early days of the Church concerning these matters. Among other
revelations which he received was one {89} which explained that there
were more than two places to which the souls of men were consigned
after death; and that it was erroneous to teach the doctrine commonly
believed in by Christendom that there were only two. That revelation
taught that there were different degrees of glory to which the
inhabitants of the earth were consigned, and that men and women would
receive rewards and punishments according to the deeds done in the
body. Some men were more righteous than others, and they would receive
a greater reward. Some men would be more wicked than others, and they
would receive punishment according to their crimes.
Then the Lord also revealed to His Prophet a doctrine which is set
forth in the scriptures, but which the world could not understand. It
was that the gospel of Jesus is preached after death to those who die
in ignorance of it, and to those who having heard it, had rejected it
and had been punished therefor. The Apostle Peter sets forth in great
plainness this doctrine when he said:
"By which also he (Jesus) went and preached to the spirits in prison,
which sometime were disobedient, when once the long suffering of God
waited in the days of Noah."
Noah had declared to them how they could be saved, but they had
rejected his words, and they were destroyed. Their spirits were
committed to a prison which the Lord had prepared for them, and there
they remained in torment, being punished for their great wickedness,
until the crucifixion of the Savior. After His Spirit left His body
He went and opened the prison doors to them and declared to them the
gospel of salvation. They then had the opportunity of repenting. And
thus it is, as we are taught, in this dispensation, the Elders of
this Church are engaged, while in the spirit world awaiting their
resurrection, in preaching to the millions of human beings who once
lived upon this earth, but who died in ignorance of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. They preach to them as living Elders now hope, this heavenly
message which comes to them freighted with so many glorious promises,
and feeling humble and contrite they receive the truths which they are
taught and live as best they can according to the light given to them.
But baptism is as necessary in its place as faith and repentance.
How can they be baptised?
This is not possible in the condition in which they are placed, but the
Lord has provided means. He has revealed that living, men and women
can be baptized for those who are {90} dead. If a man's father died in
ignorance of the Gospel, the son can be baptized for and in behalf of
the father. If a woman's mother never heard the Elders or never obeyed
the Gospel in the flesh, she can go forth and be baptized in the temple
for and in behalf of her mother. Hands can be laid upon the head of the
living person, and he or she can be confirmed and the Holy Spirit be
sealed upon them for and in behalf of the dead.
The Lord has taught that this can be done under proper circumstances
in the temples which may be erected in Zion or in any of her Stakes.
Therefore in the Temple at Salt Lake as well as in the other temples,
there is a font resting upon twelve oxen, three looking to the north,
three to the south, three to the east and three to the west, and in
this font the holy ordinance of baptism can be administered to living
people for and in behalf of their dead relatives and ancestors. This
is one of the purposes for which temples are required, and not only
are baptisms and the laying on of hands administered for the dead, but
other ordinances are also administered, it being just as necessary
that those who have died and have not received these ordinances should
receive them as it is that the living should receive them. It requires
the same obedience and submission to the laws of the Lord on the part
of one class as on the part of another. If any one could have been
saved without obedience to these principles, surely our Savior, the
Son of God, could have been. He had committed no sin, and it might
be asked why should He be baptized, for baptism is for the remission
of sins. But the Savior respected the law of the Gospel and obeyed
the ordinances thereof, and when John, feeling his own unworthiness,
remonstrated with Him about His coming to be baptized, Jesus replied:
"Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh us to fulfil all
righteousness."
We shall of necessity be a temple-building people, because there is an
immense work to be done for the redemption of the dead. Millions have
been born and have died between the time the Gospel was taken from the
earth and the time of this restoration in these days. These millions
will have to be officiated for, and this will doubtless form one of the
chief labors of the people of God during the thousand years of peace
which we are approaching, when Satan will be bound and righteousness
will reign throughout the earth. We are on the threshold of that great
era, and we have every assurance that that blessed period is not far
distant. The prophet Malachi in speaking of the latter days, makes the
following prediction:
{91} "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of
the great and dreadful day of the Lord: and he shall turn the heart of
the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their
fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse."
The angel Moroni in speaking to the Prophet Joseph Smith in reference
to this prediction of Malachi's uses a little different language. He
quotes Malachi as saying:
"And he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made
to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their
fathers; if it were not so, the whole world would be utterly wasted at
his coming."
Now as soon as the people hear the Gospel preached by the Elders, they
naturally inquire, "What has become of my father and my mother? They
were good people, but they died without being baptized. What will be
their fate?" In this way they fulfill the words of Malachi.
That spirit has filled the hearts of all the Latter-day Saints,
that is, of all who are true Latter-day Saints. They want to have
their ancestors saved as well as themselves. Their hearts naturally,
therefore, turn to their kindred who are dead, and in the temples now
built they can officiate for them as fast as they can obtain their
names. In this way they become saviors as the prophet Obadiah said they
should.
And there can be no doubt concerning the heart of the fathers being
turned to the children. It is easy to imagine that the spirits who hear
and accept the Gospel when it is preached in the spirit world by men
in authority are exceedingly anxious to receive the blessings bestowed
upon those who obey baptism, laying on of hands and other ordinances.
Therefore their heart turns to their children, and thus the words of
the prophet Malachi are fulfilled.
The prophet Elijah has appeared, as Malachi said he should, and
fulfilled the prediction upon that point. In Section 110 of the Book
of Covenants the record is to be found concerning his appearance in
the Temple at Kirtland. He came to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver
Cowdery in that temple, and used these words:
"Behold the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of
Malachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the great
and dreadful day of the Lord come, to turn the hearts of the fathers
to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth
be smitten with a curse. Therefore the keys of this dispensation are
committed into your hands, and by this ye may know that the great and
dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."
{92}