DISCOURSES ON DEITY AND MAN.[A]
[Footnote A: In these discourses, it will be observed that in speaking
of man reference is made only to the pre-existence of his spirit, and
his being "begotten" a spirit by the heavenly Father; no reference is
made to the eternal intelligence of man, the "ego" that was not created
or made, "neither indeed can be," as set forth at pages 99 to 102. The
brethren in these discourses are not dealing with that phase of the
subject; their purpose is met by referring merely to the pre-existence
of the spirits of men.
This remark also opens a way for a word which really should have been
spoken when explaining our views in relation to the immortality of
man, at pages 99 to 102. I mean the distinction that exists between
"generation" and "creation;" between a being "begotten," and a thing
"created," or "made." And here, somewhat to my surprise, I may quote
with approval one of the very eminent "Christian Fathers." "Let it be
repeated," he remarks, "that a created thing is external to the nature
of the being who creates; but a generation is the proper offspring of
the nature" [of him who begets it]. And this Athanasius, the "Christian
Father" referred to, puts forth in explaining how the Son of God is
consubstantial, i. e., of the same substance, or essence, with the
Father, And he remarks further, by way of illustration: "It were
madness to say that a house is co-essential or con-substantial with
the builder: or a ship with the shipwright; but it is proper to say,
that every son is co-essential or consubstantial with his father."
(The foregoing extracts from Athanasius are quoted by Shedd, History
Christian Doctrine, Vol. I, p. 322.)
I call attention to this distinction that when in our literature we
say "God created the spirits of men," it is understood that they were
"begotten," We mean "generation," not "creation." Intelligences, which
are eternal, uncreated, self-existing beings, are begotten spirits,
and these afterwards begotten men. When intelligences are "begotten"
spirits they are of the nature of him who begets them--sons of God, and
con-substantial with their Father.]
I.
PRESIDENT BRIGHAM YOUNG.[A]
_To Know God is Eternal Life._
[Footnote A: This discourse was delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake
City, February 8, 1857. _Journal of Discourses_, Vol. IV, pp. 215 _et
seq_.]
It is one of the first principles of the doctrine of salvation to
become acquainted with our Father and our God. The Scriptures teach
that this is eternal life, to "know thee, the only true God, and Jesus
Christ whom thou hast sent;" this is as much as to say that no man can
enjoy or be prepared for eternal life without that knowledge.
You hear a great deal of preaching upon this subject; and when people
repent of their sins, they will get together, and pray and exhort each
other, and try to get the spirit of revelation, try to have God their
Father revealed to them, that they may know him and become acquainted
with him.
There are some plain, simple facts that I wish to tell you, and I have
but one desire in this, which is, that you should have understanding to
receive them, to treasure them up in your hearts, to contemplate upon
these facts, for they are simple facts, based upon natural principles;
there is no mystery about them when once understood.
I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well
acquainted with God our heavenly Father, or the great Eloheim. You are
all well acquainted with him, for there is not a soul of you but what
has lived in his house and dwelt with him year after year; and yet you
are seeking to become acquainted with him, when the fact is, you have
merely forgotten what you did know. I told you a little last Sabbath
about forgetting things.
There is not a person here today but what is a son or a daughter of
that Being. In the spirit world their spirits were first begotten and
brought forth, and they lived there with their parents for ages before
they came here. This, perhaps, is hard for many to believe, but it is
the greatest nonsense in the world not to believe it. If you do not
believe it, cease to call him "Father;" and when you pray, pray to some
other character.
It would be inconsistent in you to disbelieve what I think you know,
and then to go home and ask the Father to do so and so for you. The
Scriptures which we believe have taught us from the beginning to call
him our Father, and we have been taught to pray to him as our Father,
in the name of our eldest brother whom we call Jesus Christ, the Savior
of the world; and that Savior, while here on earth, was so explicit
on this point, that he taught his disciples to call no man on earth
father, for we have one which is in heaven. He is the Savior, because
it is his right to redeem the remainder of the family pertaining to the
flesh on this earth; if any of you do not believe this, tell us how and
what we should believe. If I am not telling you the truth, please to
tell me the truth on this subject, and let me know more than I do know.
If it is hard for you to believe, if you wish to be Latter-day Saints,
admit the fact, as I state it, and do not contend against it. Try to
believe it, because you will never become acquainted with our Father,
never enjoy the blessings of his Spirit, never be prepared to enter
into his presence, until you most assuredly believe it; therefore you
had better try to believe this great mystery about God.
I do not marvel that the world is clad in mystery, to them he is an
unknown God; they cannot tell where he dwells nor how he lives, nor
what kind of a being he is in appearance or character. They want to
become acquainted with his character and attributes, but they know
nothing of them. This is in consequence of the apostasy that is now in
the world. They have departed from the knowledge of God, transgressed
his laws, changed his ordinances, and broken the everlasting covenant,
so that the whole earth is defiled under the inhabitants thereof.
Consequently it is no mystery to us that the world knoweth not God,
but it would be a mystery to me, with what I now know, to say that we
cannot know anything of him. We are his children.
To bring the truth of this matter close before you, I will instance
your fathers who made the first permanent settlement in New England.
There are a good many in this congregation whose fathers landed upon
Plymouth Rock in the year 1620. Those fathers began to spread abroad;
they had children, those children had children, and their children had
children, and here are we their children. I am one of them, and many of
this congregation belong to that class. Now ask yourselves this simple
question upon natural principles, has the species altered? Were not
the people who landed at Plymouth Rock the same species with us? Were
they not organized as we are? Were not their countenances similar to
ours? Did they not converse, have knowledge, read books? Were there not
mechanics among them, and did they not understand agriculture, etc., as
we do? Yes, every person admits this.
Now follow our fathers further back and take those who first came to
the island of Great Britain, were they the same species of beings as
those who came to America? Yes, all acknowledge this; this is upon
natural principles. Thus you may continue and trace the human family
back to Adam and Eve, and ask, "are we of the same species with Adam
and Eve?" Yes, every person acknowledges this; this comes within the
scope of our understanding.
But when we arrive at that point, a vail is dropt, and our knowledge
is cut off. Were it not so, you could trace back your history to the
Father of our spirits in the eternal world. He is a being of the same
species as ourselves: he lives as we do, except the difference that
we are earthly, and he is heavenly. He has been earthly, and is of
precisely the same species of being that we are. Whether Adam is the
personage that we should consider our heavenly Father, or not, is
considerable of a mystery to a good many. I do not care for one moment
how that is; it is no matter whether we are to consider him our God, or
whether his Father, or his Grandfather, for in either case we are of
one species--of one family--and Jesus Christ is also of our species.
You may hear the divines of the day extol the character of the Savior,
undertake to exhibit his true character before the people, and give an
account of his origin.
Now to the facts in the case; all the difference between Jesus Christ
and any other man that ever lived on the earth, from the days of Adam
until now, is simply this, the Father, after he had once been in the
flesh, and lived as we live, obtained his exaltation, attained to
thrones, gained the ascendancy over principalities and powers, and had
the knowledge and power to create--to bring forth and organize the
elements upon natural principles. This he did after his ascension, or
his glory, or his eternity, and was actually classed with the Gods,
with the beings who create, with those who have kept the celestial
law while in the flesh, and again obtained their bodies. Then he was
prepared to commence the work of creation, as the Scriptures teach.
It is all here in the Bible; I am not telling you a word but what is
contained in that book.
Things were first created spiritually; the Father actually begat the
spirits, and they were brought forth and lived with him. Then he
commenced the work of creating earthly tabernacles, precisely as he
had been created in this flesh himself, by partaking of the coarse
material that was organized and composed this earth, until his system
was charged with it, consequently the tabernacles of his children were
organized from the coarse materials of this earth.
When the time came that his first-born, the Savior, should come into
the world and take a tabernacle, the Father came himself and favored
that spirit with a tabernacle instead of letting any other man do
it. The Savior was begotten by the Father of his spirit, by the same
Being who is the Father of our spirits, and that is all the organic
difference between Jesus Christ and you and me. And the difference
there is between our Father and us consists in that he has gained his
exaltation, and has obtained eternal lives. The principle of eternal
lives is an eternal existence, eternal duration, eternal exaltation.
Endless are his kingdoms, endless his thrones and his dominions, and
endless are His posterity; they never will cease to multiply from this
time henceforth and forever.
To you who are prepared to enter into the presence of the Father and
the Son, what I am now telling will eventually be no more strange
than are the feelings of a person who returns to his father's house,
brethren, and sisters, and enjoys the society of his old associates,
after an absence of several years upon some distant island. Upon
returning he would be happy to see his father, his relatives and
friends. So also if we keep the celestial law when our spirits go to
God who gave them, we shall find that we are acquainted there and
distinctly realize that we know all about that world.
Tell me that you do not know anything about God! I will tell you one
thing, it would better become you to lay your hands upon your mouths
and them in the dust, and cry, "unclean, unclean."
Whether you receive these things or not, I tell you them in simplicity.
I lay them before you like a child, because they are perfectly simple.
If you see and understand these things, it will be by the Spirit of
God; you will receive them by no other spirit. No matter whether they
are told to you like the thunderings of the Almighty, or by simple
conversation; if you enjoy the Spirit of the Lord, it will tell you
whether they are right or not.
I am acquainted with my Father. I am as confident that I understand
in part, see in part, and know and am acquainted with him in part, as
I am that I was acquainted with my earthly father who died in Quincy,
Illinois, after we were driven from Missouri. My recollection is
better with regard to my earthly father than it is in regard to my
heavenly Father; but as to knowing of what species he is, and how he is
organized, and with regard to his existence, I understand it in part
as well as I understand the organization and existence of my earthly
father. That is my opinion about it, and my opinion to me is just as
good as yours is to you; and if you are of the same opinion you will be
satisfied as I am.
I know my heavenly Father and Jesus Christ whom he has sent, and this
is eternal life. And if we will do as we have been told this morning,
if you will enter into the spirit of your calling, into the principle
of securing to yourselves eternal lives, eternal existence, eternal
exaltation, it will be well with you.
II.
ELDER ORSON PRATT.[A]
_Salvation Tangible--Personality and Character of God--Jesus our Elder
Brother--Transformation of the Earth--Its Final Destiny._
[Footnote A: This discourse was delivered in the Tabernacle, Salt Lake
City, Nov. 12, 1876.]
As a people the Latter-day Saints have passed through many scenes
trying and afflicting to their natures, and they have endured them
because of the anxiety of their hearts to obtain salvation. People
who are sincere will manifest their sincerity in undergoing great
tribulation, if necessary, for the sake of being saved. This mortal
life is of small consideration, compared with eternal salvation in
the kingdom of the Father. There is nothing pertaining to the things
of this present life that is worthy of being named, in contrast with
the riches of eternal life. Jesus, in speaking upon this subject when
he was on the earth, asks this question: "For what is man profited,
if he gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a
man give in exchange for his soul?" There is nothing so precious,
nothing of so great importance, as that of securing in this life, the
salvation of our souls in the world to come. Far better is it if we
can gain salvation by passing through various scenes of affliction
and persecution in this world, than to give way to its pleasures and
vanities, which can only be enjoyed for a season, and afterwards lose
that eternal reward which God has in store for the righteous.
It is true we look upon our future reward in quite a different light
from the religious world generally. We look for something tangible,
something we can form some degree of rational conception of, having a
resemblance in some measure to the present life. But how very imaginary
are the ideas of the religious world! I do not now refer to the heathen
world, but to the enlightened Christian nations, the two hundred
million of Christians now existing on the earth. If you ask these
people about the future state of man, some will give you one idea and
some another, all more or less, perhaps, differing from each other,
but in the main they all agree, namely, that it is a state entirely
spiritual, that is, unconnected with anything tangible like this
present life, an existence which cannot be conceived of by mortals.
You may think I am misrepresenting our Christian friends. I will
therefore say that for many years now I have been engaged, more
or less, in the study of religion, and have therefore read quite
extensively the ideas of the religious world. I have not accepted
the ideas of a few individuals belonging to the various sects, but I
have appealed to their standard writings, their articles of faith,
which are adopted by the various religious bodies and known as their
creeds. For instance, in the articles of faith of a great many of the
religious sects, an idea like this is set forth--that there is a Being
who is entirely spiritual, called God, and that Being is described as
consisting of three persons, and these three persons are without body,
without parts, without passions. Such is the God that is worshiped by
the Methodists--a people whom I highly respect, and whose meetings
I attended in my early youth more than those of any other religious
denomination. The three persons that compose this one God are the
Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, all of whom are said to be without
bodies or passions; and in connection with this, one of the cardinal
doctrines of their faith, they tell us that one of this holy Trinity,
namely Jesus, was crucified, dead and buried, and that on the third day
he arose again from the dead and ascended into heaven.
When I was a boy, attending the Methodist meetings, as many now do who
are of maturer years, I accepted sincerity for truth. But when I grew
to manhood my attention was called to this article of faith; I tried
in all earnestness to comprehend it, but could not and cannot to this
day. It is one of those incomprehensible things which cannot be grasped
by the human mind. You, my hearers, try now with me for a few moments
to comprehend, if you can, a being consisting of three persons, and
these three persons without any body, parts or passions. I had been
taught, when studying the exact sciences, that everything that existed
was composed of parts, that there could not exist anything as a whole
unless it existed as parts. I could not, therefore, understand how it
was that one of these three persons could be crucified if he had no
body; how it was possible, and be consistent with reason, for him to
lay down his body--something he never possessed--and arise again from
the tomb, taking up that same body. This is indeed a mystery.
Now it so happens that the Scriptures do not teach anything so absurd,
so irreconcilable and so contrary to our senses. This is a man-made
doctrine, the creation of uninspired men. The Methodists did not
originate this doctrine--it existed and was widely believed in before
the days of the good man, John Wesley.
The Latter-day Saints believe that there is a true and living God,
that this true and living God consists of three separate, distinct
persons, which have bodies, parts and passions, which belief is in
direct opposition to this man-made doctrine. We believe that God, the
Eternal Father, who reigns in yonder heavens, is a distinct personage
from Jesus Christ, as much so as an earthly father is distinct in his
existence from his son. That is something I can comprehend, which I
conceive to be the doctrine of revelation. We read about Jesus having
been seen after he arose from the dead. Stephen the Martyr, just before
he was stoned to death, testified to the Jewish people that were
standing before him at the time, saying, "Behold, I see the heavens
opened, and the Son of Man standing on the right hand of God." Here,
then, the Father and Jesus, two distinct personages, were seen, and
both had bodies. We find numerous other authorities bearing out this
same idea, I do not intend to dwell upon this subject, because the
greater portion of this congregation understand the scriptural view of
this subject; hence it is not necessary to speak lengthily on it. We
may, however, say a few things with regard to the passions of these
personages.
It is declared, as part of the belief of the Methodists, that God is
without passions. Love is one of the great passions of God. Love is
everywhere declared a passion, one of the noblest passions of the human
heart. This principle of love is one of the attributes of God. "God is
love," says the Apostle John, "and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in
God, and God in him." If, then, this is one of the great attributes of
Jehovah, if he is filled with love and compassion towards the children
of men, if his son Jesus Christ, so loved the world that he gave his
life to redeem mankind from the effects of the fall, then, certainly,
God the Eternal Father must be in possession of this passion. Again, he
possesses the attribute of justice, which is sometimes called anger,
but the real name of this attribute is justice. "He executeth justice,"
says the Psalmist; also, "Justice and judgment are the habitation
of thy throne." Justice is one of the noble characteristics of our
heavenly Father; hence another of his passions (attributes).
We have it recorded too in this sacred Bible, that God was seen by
ancient men of God. Jacob testifies as follows: "For I have seen God
face to face." I know that there are other passages of Scripture, which
would seem to militate against this declaration. For instance there is
one passage which reads, "No man hath seen God at any time." This is
in direct contradiction to the testimony of Jacob. The way I reconcile
this is that no _natural_ man can see the face of God the Father and
live, it would overpower him; but one quickened by the Spirit, as old
father Jacob was, could look upon God and converse with him face to
face, as he says he did, he must have seen a personage, a being, in his
general outlines like unto himself; man, as Moses informs us, having
been created in the image of God.
We might refer to many other passages of Scripture, bearing on this
subject. The Prophet Isaiah saw God; he saw not only the Lord, but a
great congregation in connection with him, so that his train filled
the Temple. He is always represented by those who have seen him as a
personage in the form of man.
Having cited a very few evidences, let us inquire into the character
and being of God, the Eternal Father. We are the offspring of the Lord,
but the rest of animated nature is not; we are just as much the sons
and daughters of God as the children in this congregation are the sons
and daughters of their parents. We are begotten by him. When? Before
we were born in the flesh; this limited state of existence is not our
origin, it is merely the origin of the tabernacle in which we dwell.
The mind we are possessed of, the being that is capable of thinking
and reflecting, that is capable of acting according to the motives
presented to it, that being which is immortal, which dwells within
us, which is capable of reasoning from cause to effect, and which can
comprehend, in some measure, the laws of its Creator, as well as trace
them out as exhibited in universal nature, that being, which we call
the Mind, existed before the tabernacle.
But says one, "that does not look reasonable." Why not? Do you not
believe that the spirit will endure forever? O, yes. You may ask, what
becomes of the spirit, separated from the body of flesh and bones, when
this body lies in the grave? Has it life and intelligence and power to
think and reflect? Let us hear what was said by those who sat under the
altar, who were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which
they held, as seen and heard by John while on Patmos: "And they cried
with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou
not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth?" The
Lord tells them that they should "rest yet for a little season." These
faithful servants of God are anxiously awaiting the time when the Lord
will avenge their blood. Why? Because that will be the time when their
bodies will be redeemed, they look forward with great anxiety to the
time when they shall be again identified with the fleshly tabernacle
with which they were known and distinguished while on the earth-hence
this prayer.
Here we find another and further existence for the spirits of men
who exist in heaven, who are capable of thinking, of using language,
of understanding the future, and of anticipating that which was to
come. Now, if they could exist after they leave this tabernacle, while
the tabernacle lies mouldering in the dust, why not exist before the
tabernacle had any existence? Was it not just as easy for an existence
to be given to spiritual personages before they took possession of
bodies as it is for them to exist after the body decays? Yes, and these
are our views, founded upon new revelation; not the views of uninspired
men, but founded upon direct revelation from God.
Where did we exist before we came here? With God. Where does he exist?
In the place John denominated heaven. What do we understand heaven to
be? Not the place described by our Christian friends, beyond the bounds
of time and space, for there is no such place, there never was, nor
ever will be; but I mean a tangible world, a heaven that is perfect,
a heaven with materials that have been organized and put together,
sanctified and glorified as the residence and world where God resides.
Born there? Yes, we were born there. Even our great Redeemer whose
death and sufferings we are this afternoon celebrating, was born up in
yonder world before he was born of the Virgin Mary. Have you not read,
in the New Testament, that Jesus Christ was the first-born of every
creature? From this reading it would seem that he was the oldest of the
whole human family, that is, so far as his birth in the spirit world is
concerned. How long ago since that birth took place is not revealed; it
might have been unnumbered millions of years, for aught we know. But we
do know that he was born and was the oldest of the family of spirits.
Have you not also read in the New Testament that he is called our elder
brother? Does this refer to the birth of the body of flesh and bones?
By no means, for there were hundreds of millions who were born upon
our earth before the body of flesh and bones was born whom we call
Jesus. How is it, then, that he is your elder brother? We must go back
to the previous birth, before the foundation of this earth; we have to
go back to past ages, to the period when he was begotten of the Father
among the great family of spirits. He became, by his birthright, the
great Creator. God, through him, created not only this little world,
this speck of creation, but by him the worlds were made and created.
How many we know not, for it has not been revealed. Suffice it to say,
a great many worlds were created by him. Why by him? Because he had
the birth right, he being the oldest of his father's family, and this
birthright entitles him, not only to create worlds, but to become the
Redeemer of those worlds, not only the Redeemer of the inhabitants of
this our earth, but of all the others whom he created by the will and
power of his Father.
But says one, "By that expression one would infer that other worlds
had fallen as well as our own, having doubtless been placed in a state
of temptation, and if so it would be fair to presume that there was
a Garden of Eden to each of these worlds, containing all kinds of
fruit, among which was the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil, and
that they became fallen precisely in the same manner as ours did, and
consequently they would need a Redeemer; and, therefore, the people of
these worlds would be redeemed and saved according to their diligence
and faithfulness in keeping the commandments of God?" Have you not read
in the first chapter of Genesis of two persons appearing on this earth
before man was made, when one who was God, said to the other, "Let
us make man in our image, after our likeness?" Does not that bespeak
a pre-existence of another personage besides the Almighty? And have
you not read too in the same chapter that "God created man in his own
image; male and female created he them?" When? It is said to have been
on the sixth period, or, according to King James' translation, "on the
sixth day." Do you mean to say we were all in existence on the sixth
day? Yes. But on the seventh day, we are told in the following chapter,
"there was not a man to till the ground." Is it not very singular that
all should have an existence on the sixth day, and on the following
day there was not a man in existence to till the ground? Why not?
Because man was not yet placed in this temporal creation, but he had
an existence then in heaven, where we were begotten. You and I were
present when this world was created and made--you and I then understood
the nature of its creation, and I have no doubt that we rejoiced and
sang about it. Indeed, the Lord put a very curious question to the
Patriarch Job, _apropos_ of this. He said to him, "Where wast thou when
I laid the foundation of the earth? Where wast thou when the morning
stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
Supposing Job to be living now, and this same question put to him,
and supposing, too, that, instead of answering it himself, he were to
seek to the learned Christian world for enlightenment on the subject,
what do you think would be the nature of the answer he would receive?
It would be, in effect, "Why Job, when the Lord laid the foundation
of the earth, you had no existence, for you were not born." Why did
not Job so answer the Lord? It was because he understood something
about man's previous estate. He was wise in making no reply to the
Lord, for doubtless he felt himself unable to do so. But we find that
Moses understood the subject, for at the time the children of Israel
transgressed he and his brother Aaron fell upon their faces before the
Lord, and Moses pleading with great power and faith in behalf of the
children of Israel, used these words, "O God, the God of the spirits of
all flesh," etc. He understood that God was the Father of our spirits,
and he addressed him as such. I think too that the apostles in ancient
days must have had an idea of the pre-existence of man, judging from
a certain question which they put to the Savior. It is said that "as
Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth. And his
disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his
parents, that he was born blind?"
Let us now consider this question in connection with present modern
ideas, and we shall at once perceive how utterly foolish it will
appear. To state the question fairly in other words we might say,
Master, was this man born blind because he had sinned? The very nature
of this question would indicate to those even who do not believe in
the principle, that this blind man had an existence before he was born
into this world, and that he was capable, too, of committing sin. To
show yet more clearly that the principle of man's pre-existence is
founded on Biblical authority, I will quote you part of the Savior's
prayer to the Father, just prior to his crucifixion--"And now, O Father
glorify thou me with thine own self, with the glory which I had with
thee before the world was." Here we find Jesus actually referring to
the time he dwelt with his Father before he took upon himself a body of
flesh and bones. He also says, "For I came down from heaven, not to do
mine own will, but the will of him that sent me." He came down from the
presence and abode of his Father. On another occasion while addressing
the Jews, he says, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, before Abraham
was, I am." He was, in fine, the _first_-born of every creature, and
consequently the eldest of our Father's family.
If, therefore, it be now admitted that our Elder Brother had a previous
existence with the Father, why should it be thought unreasonable that
the rest of the family should have a pre-existence as well as the
First Born? He was born according to man in the flesh, and why not his
younger brethren have a similar birth with him in the spirit?
But now this carries us back still further, and invites us to ascertain
a little in relation to his Father. A great many have supposed that God
the Eternal Father, whom we worship in connection with his Son, Jesus
Christ, was always a self-existing, eternal being from all eternity,
that he had no beginning as a personage. But in order to illustrate
this, let us inquire, What is our destiny? If we are now the sons and
daughters of God, what will be our future destiny? The Apostle Paul,
in speaking of man as a resurrected being, says: "Who (Jesus) shall
change our vile body, that it might be fashioned like unto his glorious
body" (Phil. 3:21), which harmonizes with what John says, "It doth not
yet appear what we shall be, but we know that when he shall appear we
shall be like him" (I John 3:2). Our bodies will be glorified in the
same manner as his body is; then we shall be truly in his image and
likeness, for as he is immortal, having a body of flesh and bone, so we
will be immortal, possessing bodies of flesh and bones. Will we ever
become gods? Let me refer you to the answer of the Savior to the Jews
when accused of blasphemy because he called himself the Son of God.
Says he, "Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are Gods? If ye
called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the Scriptures
cannot be broken." This clearly proves to all Bible believers that in
this world, in our imperfect state, being the children of God, we are
destined, if we keep his commandments, to grow in intelligence until we
finally become like God our Father. By living according to every word
which proceeds from the mouth of God, we shall attain to his likeness,
the same as our children grow up and become like their parents; and, as
children through diligence attain to the wisdom and knowledge of their
parents, so may we attain to the knowledge of our Heavenly parents' and
if they be obedient to this commandment they will not only be called
the sons of God, but be gods.
In the first verse of the 14th chapter of Revelation, we are told that
John saw one hundred and forty-four thousand persons standing with the
Lamb upon Mount Zion, and they had a peculiar name written in their
foreheads--even their Father's name, him whom we call, in our language,
God. Then there will be written upon the foreheads of these hundred and
forty-four thousand this insignia, the Father's name, and they will be
gods; and they will associate with him as do tho Father and his Only
Begotten, that is, his only son begotten in the flesh.
From this we can draw the conclusion that God our Eternal Father, who
is a spiritual being, has a body of flesh and bones, the same as his
children will have after the resurrection.
Says one, to carry it out still further, "if we become gods and are
glorified like unto him, our bodies fashioned like unto his most
glorious body, may not he have passed through a mortal ordeal as we
mortals are now doing?" Why not? If it is necessary for us to gain
experience through the things that are presented before us in this
life, why not those beings who are already exalted and become gods,
obtain their experience in the same way? We would find, were we to
carry this subject from world to world, from our world to another, even
to the endless ages of eternity, that there never was a time but what
there was a Father and Son. In other words when you entertain that
which is endless, you exclude the idea of first being, a first world;
the moment you admit of a first, you limit the idea of endless. * * *
Says one, "this is incomprehensible." It may be so in some respects.
We can admit, though, that duration is endless, for it is impossible
for man to conceive of a limit to it. If duration is endless there
can never be a first minute, a first hour, or first period; endless
duration in the past is made up of a continuation of endless successive
moments--it had no beginning. Precisely so with regard to this endless
succession of personages; there never will be a time when fathers,
and sons, and worlds will not exist; neither was there ever a period
through all the past ages of duration, but what there was a world, and
a Father and Son, a redemption and exaltation to the fullness and power
of the Godhead. This is what Jesus prayed for, and he did not limit his
prayer to his Apostles, but he said, "Neither pray I for these alone,
but for them also which shall believe on me through their word; that
they all may be one, as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us."
But, says one, "Does not that oneness mean one person?" No; Jesus meant
that those who believed in him through his servants, might be able to
come up to that fullness and glory and power and exaltation which he
inherited, even to the fullness of the celestial glory, to be crowned
with God the Eternal Father, and with his Only Begotten, to be made
equal, as it were, with them, in power and dominion; agreeing with some
modern revelations God has given through the Prophet Joseph Smith. He
said all they that receive this Priesthood, that is, those who receive
the testimony of the servants of God, they receive me; and whosoever
receives my Father, receives my Father's kingdom; whereupon all that my
Father hath shall be given to him. This is a glorious promise, to be
joint heirs with the Son of God in the inheritance of all things, even
the fullness and glory of the celestial world, their bodies eventually
to become glorified, spiritual bodies of flesh and bones, the same as
God the Father.
Before the earth was rolled into existence we were his sons and
daughters. Those of his children who prove themselves during this
probation worthy of exaltation in his presence, will beget other
children, and, precisely according to the same principle, they too will
become fathers of spirits, as he is the Father of our spirits; and thus
the works of God are one eternal round--creation, glorification, and
exaltation in the celestial kingdom.
How many transformations this earth had before it received its present
form of creation, I do not know. Geologists pretend to say that this
earth must have existed many millions of years, and this assertion
is generally made by men who do not believe in God or the Bible, to
disprove the history of the creation of the world, as given by the
Prophet Moses. We will go further than geologists dare to go, and say
that the materials of which the earth is composed are eternal, they
will never have an end.
What is meant by creation? Merely organization. In six days we are
told, God created this world, also every living thing that then
existed. Did he create any of these things out of nothing? Did the
materials then originate? No; there is no Scripture to be found within
the lids of the Old and New Testament, or Book of Mormon, or Doctrine
and Covenants, or in any of the revelations of God, ancient or modern,
that even intimates such a thing, for such was not the case; but go
to the creeds of men and you will find these things taught. I was
taught them in my youth; they were instilled into my young mind, and,
of course, I believed them. But as I matured in years and thought,
especially after I began to study the Hebrew language, I learned that
the material of which this earth was made always did exist, and that it
was only an organization or formation which took place, during the time
spoken of by Moses.
How many transformations this earth passed through before the one
spoken of by Moses, I do not know, neither do I particularly care. If
it had gone through millions on millions of transformations, it is
nothing to us. We are willing, for the sake of argument, to admit that
the materials themselves are as old as geologists dare to say they
are; but then, that does not destroy the idea of a God, that does not
destroy the idea of a great Creator, who, according to certain fixed
and unalterable laws, brought these materials, from time to time, into
a certain organization, and then by his power completed the worlds that
were thus made, by placing thereon intelligent and animated beings,
capable of thinking and having an existence; and then again, for
various reasons, he destroys their earthly existence, until finally he
exalts them from their former condition, and makes them celestial in
their nature.
This is the destiny of this globe of ours; it will eventually attain a
state of organization that will no more be destroyed. When? After God
has fulfilled and accomplished his purposes, after it has rested from
wickedness one thousand years, during which time Satan will not have
power to tempt the children of men, during which time the faithful will
reign, as kings and priests on the earth in their resurrected bodies,
when, too, the kingdom and the greatness of the kingdom under the
whole heaven will be in possession of the Saints of the Most High; not
only in the possession of those who are mortal Saints, but also in the
possession of those who are immortal Saints, appearing as they will in
their resurrected bodies, rising up as rulers, as kings, and priests,
upon the face of our globe.
A government administered by such men will be one that can be depended
on; in that respect it will be very different from the political
nations of mortal man. Then there will not be the contention we now
have, for all things pertaining to the government of God's kingdom will
be conducted in order and on the eternal principles of righteousness.
The Twelve Apostles who were called by Jesus, and who ministered in
his name while they tarried on the earth, will sit upon twelve thrones
hereafter, and judge the twelve tribes of Israel. There will be nothing
intangible or etherial about these thrones, they will be just as real
as any kingly throne of the earth. And the Twelve Apostles will rule
over the twelve tribes of Israel for the space of a thousand years,
having, as they will have, their celestial bodies, and they will eat
and drink at the table of the Lord. He will be here also, he will be
King of kings, before whom all must bow, all must acknowledge his
power--and that will be for the space of a thousand years.
By and by, when the time comes for this earth to die--for there has
been a great deal of wickedness here--Satan will be loosed to go forth
again to deceive, for there will still be some of the Saints mortal,
who will be subject to temptation, and even Satan will not only try
to deceive the mortal Saints, but he will gather together his armies
around the camp of the Saints.
Then another time comes, when a great white throne will appear, and he
who sits thereon will be glorious in his majesty and power, from before
whose face the earth will flee away and no place be found for it. Will
he annihilate it? No, not a particle of the earth will be annihilated,
not a particle of the earth was ever originated, consequently not a
particle of it will go out of existence, but it will flee away to its
original element in the same manner as the human body would were it
burned at the stake. The elements would be diffused among original
matter, so with the elements of our earth when it undergoes its change.
John was not satisfied with only seeing the earth pass away, but he
saw still further even until he beheld a new heaven and a new earth,
for, said he, the first heaven and the first earth were passed away
and there was no more sea. Again, he testifies further, saying, "And
I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down from God, out
of heaven, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a
great voice out of heaven saying, Behold the tabernacle of God is with
men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God
himself shall be with them, and be their God, And God shall wipe away
all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither
sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain; for the
former things are passed away. And he that sat upon the throne said,
Behold, I make all things new."
This creation, when made new, will be inhabited by immortal beings,
who will no more be subject to death, consequently there will be no
more pain or sorrow, nothing to mar their peace or to prevent them from
entering into the fullness of happiness and joy.
This, I say, is the destiny of this earth, and the Lord has told
us that the time is nigh at hand. In other words, this is the last
dispensation and we are preparing for the work of the Millennium. When
the thousand years are passed, the earth will be made new--it will then
become a heaven, the habitation of the Former and Latter-day Saints, as
well as all they who prove themselves faithful who will be born during
the Millennium. How long will they inhabit it? Forever.
When I was a boy, nineteen years old, I first saw Joseph Smith; I
attended a conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints, on the 2nd of January, 1831. At that conference the people
desired him to inquire of the Lord for them--they were anxious to know
his mind and will. They were at that time comparatively few in number,
not being more than two hundred. Joseph Smith sat down at a table, and
received a great revelation, which is now contained in this Book of
Doctrine and Covenants. Part of it, in relation to a land of promise,
reads as follows:
And I will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance, if
you seek it with all your hearts: and this shall be my covenant
with you, ye shall have it for the land of your inheritance, and
for the inheritance of your children for ever, while the earth
shall stand, and ye shall possess it again in eternity, no more to
pass away.[A]
[Footnote A: Doc. and Cov. Sec. 38; 19-20.]
When I sat and heard that revelation,--it was uttered by the Prophet
Joseph, and written by his scribe,--I thought to myself, that is a
very curious doctrine, for I had not then learned that this earth was
to become our future home and heaven, and I did not think Joseph Smith
knew it. But it seemed so curious to me to bring myself to believe
that the Lord was going to give us part of this earth, to possess it,
and our children after us, while time should last, and to retain it
through all eternity, never more to pass away. This was so different
from anything I had been taught--I was utterly confounded--to think
that my Father in heaven would come and live here on this earth! But
when I came to read the Bible on this subject and found how numerous
the passages were promising that the Saints should inherit the earth
forever, I was perfectly astonished that I had never thought of it
before. "Blessed are the meek," says the Savior, "for they shall
inherit the earth."[A] The meek have been driven into the dens and
mountains of the earth, having had to hide themselves up from their
persecutors while the wicked, the proud, and the haughty have inherited
the earth. Yet here is a promise that the meek shall inherit this
earth, which all of course would readily admit has never had its
fulfillment. Then again I was still more confirmed in the truth of
this doctrine, when finding other corroborative passages. David, for
instance, in the 37th Psalm, says, "The wicked shall be cut off. The
righteous shall inherit the land, and dwell thereon for ever." I go
back to the Books of Moses and there ascertain that the earth is
promised to the Saints for ever. I came to the Acts of the Apostles,
wherein the martyr Stephen, in answering the charge of blasphemy,
tells of Abraham, how he came to leave his own country, and how the
Lord had promised him a land for an inheritance, which "he would give
to him for a possession, and to his seed after him," and yet he never
possessed any of it, "no, not so much as to set his foot on," and
this same promise was confirmed to Isaac and Jacob. And when I read
in the Revelations of John about the new song that he heard them sing
in heaven about their coming back to the earth (Rev. 5: 9, 10), I was
fully confirmed that the new revelation was from God. One portion of
the song which John heard the angels sing, was, "For thou wast slain,
and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and
tongue and people, and nation; and hast made us unto our God kings and
priests; and we shall reign on the earth."
[Footnote A: Matt. 5:5.]
How very plain it is when we once learn about our future heaven. We
do not have to pray, according to the Methodists, for the Lord to
take us to a land beyond time and space, the Saints' secure abode.
How inconsistent to look for a heaven beyond space! The heaven of
the Saints is something we can look forward to in the confident hope
of realizing our inheritances and enjoying them forever, when the
earth becomes sanctified and made new. And there, as here, we will
spread forth, and multiply our children. How long? For eternity. What,
resurrected Saints have children? Yes, the same as our God, who is the
Father of our spirits; so you, if you are faithful to the end, will
become fathers to your sons and daughters, who will be as innumerable
as the sands upon the sea shore; they will be your children, and you
will be their heavenly fathers, the same as our heavenly Father is
Father to us, and they will belong to your kingdoms through all the
vast ages of eternity, the same as we will belong to our father's
kingdom.
He that receiveth my father, says the Savior, receiveth my Father's
kingdom, wherefore all that my father hath shall be given to him. It
is a kind of joint stock inheritance, we are to become joint heirs
with Jesus Christ to all the inheritances and to all the worlds that
are made. We shall have the power of locomotion; and like Jesus, after
his resurrection, we shall be able to mount up and pass from one world
to another. We shall not be confined to our native earth. There are
many worlds inhabited by people who are glorified, for heaven is not
one place, but many, heaven is not one world but many. "In my Father's
house are many mansions." In other words--In my Father's house there
are many worlds, which in their turn will be made glorified heavens,
the inheritance of the redeemed from all the worlds, who, having been
prepared through similar experience to our own, will inhabit them;
and each one in its turn will be exalted through the revelations and
laws of the Most High God, and they will continue to multiply their
offspring through all eternity, and new worlds will be made for their
progeny. Amen.