_PRE-EXISTENCE; THE PLAN OF SALVATION_
_Time_--When was there a beginning? There never was one; if there
was, there will be an end; but there never was a beginning, and hence
there will never be an end; that looks like eternity. When we talk
about the beginning of eternity, it is rather simple conversation, and
goes far beyond the capacity of man. 2:307.
Here is time, where is eternity? It is here, just as much as anywhere
in all the expanse of space; a measured space of time is only a part of
eternity. 3:367.
Every mind that thinks deeply upon the things of time and eternity,
sees that time, which we measure by our lives, is like the stream from
the mountains which gushes forth, yet we cannot tell from whence it
comes, nor do we know naturally where it goeth, only it passes again
into the clouds; so our lives are here, and this we are certain of.
We do know that we live and that we have the power of sight. We do
know and can realize that we possess the faculty of hearing. We can
discern between that which we like and that which we dislike. This
life that you and I possess is for eternity. Contemplate the idea of
beings endowed with all the powers and faculties which we possess,
becoming annihilated, passing out of existence, ceasing to be, and
then try to reconcile it with our feelings and with our present lives.
No intelligent person can do it. Yet it is only by the spirit of
revelation that we can understand these things. By the revelations of
the Lord Jesus we understand things as they were, that have been made
known unto us; things that are in the life which we now enjoy, and {73}
things as they will be, not to the fullest extent, but all that the
Lord designs that we should understand, to make it profitable to us, in
order to give us the experience necessary in this life to prepare us to
enjoy eternal life hereafter. 12:111-112.
The present is that portion of time that more particularly concerns
us, and the greatest and most important labor we have to perform is
to cultivate ourselves. That man may know his fellow creatures, it is
necessary that he should first know himself. When he thoroughly knows
himself, he measurably knows God, whom to know is eternal life. 10:2.
As far as we can compare eternal things with earthly things that lie
within the scope of our understanding, so far we can understand them.
10:1.
As to the word annihilate, as we understand it, there is no such
principle as to put a thing which exists, entirely out of existence, so
that it does not exist in any form, shape, or place whatever. It would
be as reasonable to say that endless, which is synonymous to the word
eternity, has both a beginning and an end. 1:352.
_The Organized Universe_--The creations of God--the worlds that
are and the worlds that have been,--who can grasp in the vision of his
mind the truth that there never has been a time when there have not
been worlds like this, and that there never will be a time when there
will not be worlds organized and prepared for intelligent beings to
dwell upon? 8:81.
There is an eternity of matter. Astronomers estimate that there is
between us and the nearest fixed star matter enough from which to
organize millions of earths like this. There is an eternity of matter,
and it is all acted upon and {74} filled with a portion of divinity.
Matter is to exist; it cannot be annihilated. Eternity is without
bounds, and is filled with matter; and there is no such place as empty
space. And matter is capacitated to receive intelligence. 7:2.
Worlds are made of crude element which floats, without bounds in the
eternities--in the immensity of space; an eternity of matter--no limits
to it, in its natural crude state, and the power of the Almighty has
this influence and wisdom--when he speaks he is obeyed, and matter
comes together and is organized. 13:248.
According to all that the world has ever learned by the researches of
philosophers and wise men, according to all the truths now revealed
by science, philosophy and religion, qualities and attributes depend
entirely upon their connection with organized matter for their
development and visible manifestation. 11:121.
_Man and Matter Eternal_--Mankind are organized of element
designed to endure to all eternity; it never had a beginning and never
can have an end. There never was a time when this matter, of which you
and I are composed, was not in existence, and there never can be a time
when it will pass out of existence; it cannot be annihilated.
It is brought together, organized, and capacitated to receive knowledge
and intelligence, to be enthroned in glory, to be made angels,
Gods--beings who will hold control over the elements, and have power
by their word to command the creation and redemption of worlds, or to
extinguish suns by their breath, and disorganize worlds, hurling them
back into their chaotic state. This is what you and I are created for.
3:356. {75}
The elements with which we are surrounded are as eternal as we are, and
are loaded with supplies of every kind for the comfort and happiness of
the human race. 10:3.
Earthly things will be decomposed and their reorganization will be by
the power of the resurrection; then we shall begin to understand the
proper use of element. 7:65.
"Immaterial substance." It is like the center of a being everywhere and
his circumference nowhere, or like being seated on the top of a topless
throne. These are self-confounding expressions, and there is no meaning
to any of them. 16:31.
If we could so understand true philosophy as to understand our own
creation, and what it is for--what design and intent the Supreme Ruler
had in organizing matter and bringing it forth in the capacity that
I behold you here today, we could comprehend that matter cannot be
destroyed--that it is subject to organization and disorganization;
and could understand that matter can be organized and brought forth
into intelligence, and to possess more intelligence and to continue
to increase in that intelligence; and could learn those principles
that organized matter into animals, vegetables, and into intelligent
beings; and could discern the Divinity acting, operating, and diffusing
principles into matter to produce intelligent beings and to exalt
them--to what? Happiness. Will nothing short of that fully satisfy the
spirits implanted within us? No. 7:2-3.
Gold and silver are composing, and so does every other kind of
metal, the same as the hair upon my head, or the wheat in the field;
they do not compose as fast, but they are all the time composing or
decomposing. 1:219.
There never was a time when man did not exist, and {76} there never
will be a time when he will cease to exist. Eternity is without
confines, and all things animate and inanimate have their existence in
it. The Priesthood of God, that was given to the ancients and is given
to men in the latter days, is co-equal in duration with eternity--is
without beginning of days or end of life. It is unchangeable in its
system of government and its Gospel of salvation. It gives to Gods
and angels their supremacy and power, and offers wealth, influence,
posterity, exaltations, power, glory, kingdoms and thrones, ceaseless
in their duration, to all who will accept them on the terms upon which
they are offered. 10:5.
The life that is within us is a part of an eternity of life, and
is organized spirit, which is clothed upon by tabernacles, thereby
constituting our present being, which is designed for the attainment of
further intelligence. The matter composing our bodies and spirits has
been organized from the eternity of matter that fills immensity. 7:285.
Man is organized and brought forth as the king of the earth, to
understand, to criticise, examine, improve, manufacture, arrange, and
organize the crude matter, and honor and glorify the works of God's
hands. This is a wide field for the operation of man, that reaches into
eternity; and it is good for mortals to search out the things of this
earth. 9:242.
_Man the Offspring of God_--No human being has had power to
organize his own existence. Then there is a greater than we. Are we our
own in our bodies? Are we our own in our spirits? We are not our own.
We belong to our progenitors--to our Father and our God. 8:67.
Things were first created spiritually; the Father actually begat the
spirits, and they were brought forth and {77} 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 and 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 a 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. 4:218.
I want to tell you, each and every one of you, that you are well
acquainted with God our Heavenly Father, or the great Elohim. 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.
There is not a person here to-day 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 {78} 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. 4:216.
We are the sons and daughters of celestial Beings, and the germ of
the Deity dwells within us. When our spirits took possession of these
tabernacles, they were as pure as the angels of God, wherefore total
depravity cannot be a true doctrine. 10:192.
Our spirits once dwelt in the heavens and were as pure and holy as
the angels; but angels have tabernacles and spirits have none; and
they come to the meanest, lowest and humblest of the human race to
obtain one rather than run any risk of not doing so. I have heard that
the celebrated Mr. Beecher, of Brooklyn, once said that the greatest
misfortune that could ever happen to man was to be born; but I say
that the greatest good fortune that ever happened or can happen to
human beings is to be born on this earth, for then life and salvation
are before them; then they have the privilege of overcoming death, and
of treading sin and iniquity under their feet, of incorporating into
their daily lives every principle of life and salvation and of dwelling
eternally with the Gods. 13:145.
When we look upon the human face we look upon the image of our Father
and God; there is a divinity in each person, male and female; there
is the heavenly, there is the divine and with this is amalgamated the
human, the earthly, the weaker portions of our nature, and it is the
human that shrinks in the presence of the divine, and this accounts for
our man-fearing spirit, and it is all there is of it. 9:291.
The origin of thought was planted in our organization {79} at the
beginning of our being. This is not telling you how it came there, or
who put it there. Thought originated with our individual being, which
is organized to be as independent as any being in eternity. 2:135.
We were created upright, pure, and holy, in the image of our father and
our mother, the image of our God.
Wherein do we differ? In the talents that are given us, and in our
callings. We are made of the same materials; our spirits were begotten
by the same parents; in the begetting of the flesh we are of the same
first parents, and all the kindreds of the earth are made of one flesh;
but we are different in regard to our callings. 3:365.
We have no true interest, only conjointly with our Father in Heaven.
We are his children, his sons and daughters, and this should not be
a mystery to this people, even though there are many who have been
gathered with us but a short time. He is the God and Father of our
spirits; he devised the plan that produced our tabernacles; the houses
for our spirits to dwell in. 4:27.
_The Spirit of Man_--The spirits that live in these tabernacles
were as pure as the heavens, when they entered them. They came to
tabernacles that are contaminated, pertaining to the flesh, by the fall
of man. The Psalmist says, "Behold, I was shapen in iniquity, and in
sin did my mother conceive me." This Scripture has established in the
minds of some the doctrine of total depravity--that it is impossible
for them to have one good thought, that they are altogether sinful,
that there is no good, no soundness, and no spiritual health in them.
This is not correct, yet we have a warfare within us. We have to
contend against evil passions, or the seeds of iniquity that are sown
in the flesh through the fall. The pure spirits that occupy these {80}
tabernacles are operated upon, and it is the-right of him that sent
them into these tabernacles to hold the pre-eminence, and to always
give the Spirit of truth to influence the spirits of men, that it may
triumph and reign predominantly in our tabernacles, the God and Lord of
every motion. We not only have this warfare continually, day by day,
within ourselves, but we also have an outside influence or pressure to
resist. Both the religious and the political world have influences to
contend against that very much resemble each other; they are more or
less exercised, governed and controlled by surrounding influences. We,
Latter-day Saints, have an influence of this kind to contend against.
10:105.
We see life spring into existence all around us. Where is its fountain?
And how is it originated? It exists for a day, a night, a year, or
an age, and it is gone; and who can say where? Who can tell what
has become of the life that dwelt in that tabernacle, causing it to
think,--that lit up the eye with living fire, and caused the mouth to
utter forth wisdom? Can mortal man tell? Not unless he is inspired
by the Almighty, and understands eternal things. The origin of all
things is in eternity. Like a cloud passing across a clear sky--like a
bird that suddenly flits across our path--like a pure gushing stream
from a hidden fountain, that soon sinks in some mountain chasm, so,
apparently, life flashes into this mortal existence, and passes away.
7:173.
Intelligence is given unto us to improve upon. 8:81.
The origin of thought and reflection is in ourselves. We think, because
we are, and are made susceptible of external influences, and to feel
our relationship to external objects. Thus thoughts of revenge, and
thoughts of blessing will arise in the same mind, as it is influenced
by external circumstances. 2:135. {81}
There is just as much difference in the spiritual organization, as you
see in the temporal organization. You can see that eternal variety in
both. 9:125.
I see a man grow up from the infant stage to be a scholar, and by and
by he has an empire, and can give laws to the people, that can equalize
them, and bring them to a state of happiness and excellency, and give
them all the advantages that man can possess upon the earth, and make
every man happy and comfortable. This is the work that we have upon our
hands. Teach the people the faith of the Gospel. Teach them what God
is, and what his work is, and that there never was a time such as many
of our philosophers speak of, who drift back and back, and come to this
theory and that theory, and go back, and back to the time when we were
all reptiles. When was there a time when there was not a God? But, say
they, there must have been a time. Then you declare to me, do you, that
there was a time when there was no time? And this is the philosophy
of a great many of the scientific in this day. They see the heavens
stretched out, but they comprehend them not. And why do they not say,
if there was a time when there was no time, there will be a time again
when there will be no time. What a condition for man to be in! Can we
look onward and upward through the immensity of space, and behold the
worlds on worlds that we call stars, and imagine that they will be
blotted out forever? What an idea! 19:49.
Everything in heaven, on earth, and in hell is organized for the
benefit, advantage, and exaltation of intelligent beings; therefore
there is nothing that is out of the pale of our faith. There is
nothing, I may say, good or bad, light or darkness, truth or error,
but what is to be controlled {82} by intelligent beings; and we
should learn how to take into our possession every blessing and every
privilege that God has put within our reach, and know how to use our
time, our talents, and all our acts for the advancement of his Kingdom
upon the earth. 6:145.
We are all his children. We are his sons and daughters naturally, and
by the principles of eternal life. We are brethren and sisters. What is
it that makes the distinctions we see in the classes of the children
of men? We see the low and the degraded, like the aborigines of our
country; what is the cause of their being in their present condition?
It is because of the rejection by their fathers of the Gospel of the
Son of God. The Gospel brings intelligence, happiness, and glory to
all who obey it and live according to its precepts. It will give them
intelligence that comes from God. Their minds will be open so as to
understand things as they are; they will rejoice in being blessed
themselves and in blessing their fellow beings, and in being prepared
to re-enter the presence of the Father and the Son. This will be their
delight. 13:178.
_The Council in Heaven_--The Council in heaven said, "Let there be
an earth, and let there be a firmament above and beneath it," and it
was so. They said, "Let there be heat and cold," and it was so. They
said, "Let there be spring and summer, autumn and winter," and it was
so. 9:254.
"Who will redeem the earth, who will go forth and make the sacrifice
for the earth and all things it contains?" The Eldest Son said: "Here
am I;" and then he added, "Send me." But the second one, which was
"Lucifer, Son of the Morning," said, "Lord, here am I, send me, I will
redeem every son and daughter of Adam and Eve that lives on the {83}
earth, or that ever goes on the earth." "But," says the Father, "that
will not answer at all. I give each and every individual his agency;
all must use that in order to gain exaltation in my kingdom; inasmuch
as they have the power of choice they must exercise that power. They
are my children; the attributes which you see in me are in my children
and they must use their agency. If you undertake to save all, you must
save them in unrighteousness and corruption. You will be the man that
will say to the thief on the cross, to the murderer on the gallows, and
to him who has killed his father, mother, brothers, and sisters and
little ones, 'Now, if you will say, I repent and believe on the Lord
Jesus Christ, or on the Savior of the world, you shall be saved.'" This
is what all the religious sects of the day are saying now, but Jesus
did not say any such thing. 13:282.
When there was rebellion in heaven, judgment was laid to the line and
righteousness to the plummet, and the evil were cast out. Yet there was
a portion of grace allotted to those rebellious characters.
But they must go from heaven, they could not dwell there, they must be
cast down to the earth to try the sons of men, and to perform their
labor in producing an opposite in all things, that the inhabitants of
the earth might have the privilege of improving upon the intelligence
given to them, the opportunity for overcoming evil, and for learning
the principles which govern eternity, that they may be exalted therein.
3:256.
The Lord Almighty suffered this schism in heaven to see what his
subjects would do preparatory to their coming to this earth. 14:93.
In regard to the battle in heaven, that Brother Truman O. Angell
referred to, how much of a battle it was I have {84} forgotten. I
cannot relate the principal circumstances, it is so long since it
happened; but I do not think it lasted very long; for when Lucifer, the
Son of the Morning, claimed the privilege of having the control of this
earth, and redeeming it, a contention arose; but I do not think it took
long to cast down one-third of the hosts of heaven, as it is written
in the Bible. But let me tell you that it was one-third part of the
spirits who were prepared to take tabernacles upon this earth, and who
rebelled against the other two-thirds of the heavenly host; and they
were cast down to this world. It is written that they were cast down
to the earth. They were cast down to this globe--to this terra firma
that you and I walk upon, and whose atmosphere we breathe. One-third
part of the spirits that were prepared for this earth rebelled against
Jesus Christ, and were cast down to the earth, and they have been
opposed to him from that day to this, with Lucifer at their head. He is
their general--Lucifer, the Son of the Morning. He was once a brilliant
and influential character in heaven, and we will know more about him
hereafter. 5:54-55.
From the spirit and tenor of the ancient Scriptures and revelations
which we have received, it is plainly set forth that there are men
pre-appointed to perform certain works in their lifetime, and bring to
pass certain ends and purposes in the economy of heaven. 11:253.
Do you not think that the Lord has his eye upon a great many? There is
a passage of Scripture that reads thus: "For whom he did foreknow, he
also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that
he might be the firstborn among many brethren," etc. Whom did he not
foreknow? I do not think there is anybody now on the earth, that has
lived before us, or that will come after us, {85} but what he knew. He
knew who would be his anointed; he had his eye upon them all the time,
as he had upon Moses, Pharaoh, Abraham, Melchizedek, and Noah, who was
a chosen vessel to build the ark and save a remnant from the flood.
8:229.
It is a mistaken idea that God has decreed all things whatsoever that
come to pass, for the volition of the creature is as free as air. You
may inquire whether we believe in foreordination; we do, as strongly as
any people in the world. We believe that Jesus was foreordained before
the foundations of the world were built, and his mission was appointed
him in eternity to be the Savior of the world, yet when he came in the
flesh he was left free to choose or refuse to obey his Father. Had he
refused to obey his Father, he would have become a son of perdition. We
also are free to choose or refuse the principles of eternal life. God
has decreed and foreordained many things that have come to pass, and
he will continue to do so; but when he decrees great blessings upon a
nation or upon an individual they are decreed upon certain conditions.
When he decrees great plagues and overwhelming destructions upon
nations or people, those decrees come to pass because those nations and
people will not forsake their wickedness and turn unto the Lord. It was
decreed that Nineveh should be destroyed in forty days, but the decree
was stayed on the repentance of the inhabitants of Nineveh. God rules
and reigns, and has made all his children as free as himself, to choose
the right or the wrong, and we shall then be judged according to our
works. 10:324.
You cannot give any persons their exaltation unless they know what evil
is, what sin, sorrow, and misery are, for no person could comprehend,
appreciate and enjoy an exaltation {86} upon any other principle.
The Devil with one-third part of the spirits of our Father's Kingdom
got here before us, and we tarried there with our friends, until the
time came for us to come to the earth and take tabernacles, but those
spirits that revolted were forbidden ever to have tabernacles of their
own. You can now comprehend how it is that they are always trying to
get possession of the bodies of human beings; you read of a man's being
possessed of a legion, and Mary Magdalene had seven. 3:369.
Foreordination, for instance, and free grace are both true doctrines;
but they must be properly coupled together and correctly classified, so
as to produce harmony between these two apparently opposite doctrines.
6:291.
_The Plan of Salvation_--The great plan called the plan of
salvation--the system of doctrine, ideas, and practices that pertain to
all the intelligence that exists in eternity. 8:32.
Elevation, exaltation and glory are the objects of the Father in
peopling this earth with his progeny. 10:191.
This is the plan of salvation. Jesus will never cease his work until
all are brought up to the enjoyment of a kingdom in the mansions of his
Father, where there are many kingdoms and many glories, to suit the
works and faithfulness of all men that have lived on the earth. Some
will obey the celestial law and receive of its glory, some will abide
the terrestrial and some the telestial, and others will receive no
glory. 13:76.
When you understand the Gospel plan, you will comprehend that it is the
most reasonable way of dealing with the human family. You will discern
that purity, holiness, {87} justice, perfection, and all that adorns
the character of the Deity are contributing to the salvation of men.
8:115.
Our mortal existence is a school of experience. 9:29.
Our mortal bodies are all important to us; without them we never can be
glorified in the eternities that will be. We are in this state of being
for the express purpose of obtaining habitations for our spirits to
dwell in, that they may become personages of tabernacle. 9:286.
Our bodies are all important to us, though they may be old and
withered, emaciated with toil, pain, and sickness, and our limbs bent
with rheumatism, all uniting to hasten dissolution, for death is sown
in our mortal bodies. The food and drink we partake of are contaminated
with the seeds of death, yet we partake of them to extend our lives
until our allotted work is finished, when our tabernacles, in a state
of ripeness, are sown in the earth to produce immortal fruit. Yet, if
we live our holy religion and let the spirit reign, it will not become
dull and stupid, but as the body approaches dissolution the spirit
takes a firmer hold on that enduring substance behind the veil, drawing
from the depths of that eternal Fountain of Light sparkling gems of
intelligence which surround the frail and sinking tabernacle with a
halo of immortal wisdom. 9:288.
Until the last spirit that has been designed to come here and take a
tabernacle has come upon the earth, the winding-up scene cannot come.
8:352.
Can you save all? Yes, you can save all that will be saved. If people
are not saved, it is because they are not disposed to be saved. They
act for themselves, and act from choice. 9:125.
The whole object of the creation of this world is to exalt the
intelligencies that are placed upon it, that they may live, {88}
endure, and increase for ever and ever. We are not here to quarrel
and contend about the things of this world, but we are here to subdue
and beautify it. Let every man and woman worship their God with all
their heart. Let them pay their devotions and sacrifices to him, the
Supreme, and the Author of their existence. Do all the good you can to
your fellow-creatures. You are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone.
God has created of one blood all the nations and kingdoms of men that
dwell upon all the face of the earth: black, white, copper-colored, or
whatever their color, customs, or religion, they have all sprung from
the same origin; the blood of all is from the same element. 7:290.
The Lord created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like
himself; when we have been proved in our present capacity, and have
been faithful with all things he puts into our possession.
How many will become thus privileged? Those who honor the Father and
the Son; those who receive the Holy Ghost, and magnify their calling,
and are found pure and holy; they shall be crowned in the presence of
the Father and the Son. 43:93.
The great and grand secret of salvation, which we should continually
seek to understand through our faithfulness, is the continuation of the
lives. 18:260.
We are all the children of our common Father, who has placed us on the
earth to prove ourselves, to govern, control, educate and sanctify
ourselves, body and spirit, unto him, according to his will and
pleasure. When all that class of spirits designed to take bodies upon
this earth have done so, then will come the winding-up scene of this
particular department of the works of God on this earth. It is his
will that we should prepare ourselves to build up his {89} Kingdom,
gather the House of Israel, redeem and build up Zion and Jerusalem,
revolutionize the world, and bring back that which has been lost
through the fall. 10:2.
The Lord has given the earth to the children of men, that by the union
of mind and matter, inspired and directed by the power of eternal
Priesthood, all may be made subject to the Great Supreme Ruler of the
universe. 9:255.
The very laws which govern eternity are planned to sustain an eternal
growth, gathering together and increasing; so that the true servant of
God cannot possibly suffer loss, but will reap eternal gain, though he,
for the cause of truth, is poor and needy through the whole of this
short life. He has made truth his theme; and what is it? I will say
it is that which endures; it is eternity, and its power is to grow,
increase, and expand, adding life to life, and power to power, worlds
without end. 2:129.
You may ask, "What is meted out to us?" I answer the ordinances, the
sacraments that the Lord Jesus Christ instituted for the salvation of
the Jews, for all the House of Israel, and then for the Gentiles. This
is the Gospel--the plan of salvation the Lord has given to us. This is
the Kingdom the Lord has presented to us; the same he presented to the
Apostles in the days of Jesus. 3:90.
It is the wish of our Heavenly Father to bring all his children back
into his presence. The spirits of all the human family dwelt with him
before they took tabernacles of flesh and became subject to the fall
and to sin. He is their spiritual Father, and has sent them here to be
clothed with flesh, and to be subject, with their tabernacles, to the
ills that afflict fallen humanity. When they have proved themselves
faithful in all things, and worthy before him, they can then have the
privilege of returning again to his {90} presence, with their bodies,
to dwell in the abodes of the blessed. If man could have been made
perfect in his double capacity of body and spirit, without passing
through the ordeals of mortality, there would have been no necessity of
our coming into this state of trial and suffering. Could the Lord have
glorified his children in spirit, without a body like his own, he no
doubt would have done so. 11:43.
We had an existence before we came into the world. Our spirits came
here pure to take these tabernacles; they came to occupy them as
habitations, with the understanding that all that had passed previously
to our coming here should be taken away from us, that we should not
know anything about it. 3:367.
The plan by which God works is rational, and meets the capacity of his
children. This earth is the home he has prepared for us, and we are to
prepare ourselves and our habitations for the celestial glory in store
for the faithful. None will be destroyed except those who receive the
oracles of truth and reject them. None are condemned except those who
have the privilege of receiving the words of eternal life and refuse to
receive them. 8:294.
He governs by law. He has also provided means and, in connection with
the attributes he has implanted within us, has instituted ordinances
which, if we will receive and improve upon, will enable us to return
back into his presence. 13:171.
Is there a debt contracted between the Father and his children? There
is. Our first parents transgressed the law that was given them in the
garden; their eyes were opened. This created the debt. What is the
nature of this debt? It is a divine debt. What will pay it? {91} I ask,
Is there anything short of a divine sacrifice that can pay this debt?
No; there is not.
A divine debt has been contracted by the children, and the Father
demands recompense. He says to his children on this earth, who are
in sin and transgression, it is impossible for you to pay this debt;
I have prepared a sacrifice; I will send my Only Begotten Son to pay
this divine debt. Was it necessary then that Jesus should die? Do
we understand why he should sacrifice his life? The idea that the
Son of God, who never committed sin, should sacrifice his life is
unquestionably preposterous to the minds of many in the Christian
world. But the fact exists that the Father, the Divine Father, whom we
serve, the God of the Universe, the God and Father of our Lord Jesus
Christ, and the Father of our spirits, provided this sacrifice and sent
his Son to die for us; and it is also a great fact that the Son came to
do the will of the Father, and that he has paid the debt, in fulfilment
of the Scripture which says, "He was the Lamb slain from the foundation
of the world."
Is this easy to understand? It is perfectly easy to me; and my advice
to those who have queries and doubts on this subject is, when they
reason and philosophize upon it, not to plant their position in
falsehood or argue hypothetically, but upon the facts as they exist,
and they will come to the conclusion that unless God provides a Savior
to pay this debt it can never be paid. Can all the wisdom of the world
devise means by which we can be redeemed, and return to the presence of
our Father and Elder Brother, and dwell with holy angels and celestial
beings? No; it is beyond the power and wisdom of the inhabitants of the
earth that now live, or that ever did or ever will live, to prepare
or create a sacrifice that will pay this divine debt. But God {92}
provided it, and his Son has paid it, and we, each and every one, can
now receive the truth and be saved in the Kingdom of God. Is it clear
and plain? It is to me, and if you have the Spirit of God, it is as
plain to you as anything else in the world. 14:71.
Has the Lord cast an obstacle in the way of any individual, to deprive
him of the privilege of being exalted? No, not one; but every thing
that could be done has been done, every provision that could be made
has been made, every law that could be instituted to encourage and
elevate the people, to increase their faith, their knowledge, their
understanding, and to lead them to life and salvation, the Lord has
brought to this people. 4:196.
The world is before us, eternity is before us, and an inexhaustible
fountain of intelligence for us to obtain. 8:8.
It seems to be absolutely necessary in the providence of him who
created us, and who organized and fashioned all things according to
his wisdom, that man must descend below all things. It is written of
the Savior in the Bible that he descended below all things that he
might ascend above all. Is it not so with every man? Certainly it is.
It is fit, then, that we should descend below all things and come up
gradually, and learn a little now and again, receive "line upon line,
precept upon precept, here a little and there a little." 15:3.
We know the design of our Father in Heaven in creating the earth and
in peopling it, and bringing forth the myriads of organizations which
dwell upon it. We know that all this is for his glory--to swell the
eternities that are before him with intelligent beings who are capable
of enjoying the height of glory. But, before we can come in possession
of this, we need large experience, and its acquisition {93} is a slow
process. Our lives here are for the purpose of acquiring this, and the
longer we live the greater it should be. 14:229.
It has also been decreed by the Almighty that spirits, upon taking
bodies, shall forget all they had known previously, or they could
not have a day of trial--could not have an opportunity for proving
themselves in darkness and temptation, in unbelief and wickedness, to
prove themselves worthy of eternal existence. 6:333.
Recollect the saying of one of the Apostles, when speaking about
getting into the kingdom of heaven, that "if the righteous scarcely
be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?" The best
man that ever lived on this earth only just made out to save himself
through the grace of God. The best woman that ever lived on the earth
has only just made her escape from this world to a better one, with a
full assurance of enjoying the first resurrection. It requires all the
atonement of Christ, the mercy of the Father, the pity of angels and
the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ to be with us always, and then to
do the very best we possibly can, to get rid of this sin within us, so
that we may escape from this world into the celestial kingdom. 11:301.
Millions of them have passed away, both in the Christian and in the
heathen worlds, just as honest, virtuous and upright as any now living.
The Christian world say they are lost; but the Lord will save them, or,
at least, all who will receive the Gospel. The plan of salvation which
Jesus has revealed, and which we preach, reaches to the lowest and
most degraded of Adam's lost race. Is he going to save all in the same
glory and bring all the same state of felicity? Will they who refuse
to obey the Gospel of the Son of God {94} be saved and exalted in the
same kingdom and glory as they who have obeyed? No, never, never! It is
impossible. 13:232.
Darkness and sin were permitted to come on this earth. Man partook of
the forbidden fruit in accordance with a plan devised from eternity,
that mankind might be brought in contact with the principles and powers
of darkness, that they might know the bitter and the sweet, the good
and the evil, and be able to discern between light and darkness, to
enable them to receive light continually. 7:158.
The greatest desire in the bosom of our Father Adam, or of his faithful
children who are co-workers with God, our Father in Heaven, is to save
the inhabitants of the earth. 8:174. {95}