James ii:17, 19, 20 and 26.)

We have shown from the Scriptures that baptism and confirmation are
essential ordinances to salvation; and to these might be added other
sacred rites, instituted by the Savior of the world for the redemption
of man. He has said that "not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord,
shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of
my Father which is in heaven." (Matt. vii:21.)

Can anyone reasonably suppose that baptism, confirmation, the
sacrament, or any other sacred ceremony administered by one not sent
of God will be followed by the blessings which attended the primitive
saints? Will unauthorized acts secure the remission of sins, or the
gifts of the Holy Spirit, which are manifest in visions, dreams,
healings, prophecies, tongues, etc.? Not by any means; and the reason
the signs do not follow professed believers of the present day is
because their ministers are not called of God according to the pattern
instituted by Him. The condemnation of the Lord will rest upon all who
speak presumptuously and who willfully usurp authority to officiate in
sacred things.

The Lord said in the days of Jeremiah, concerning certain men who spoke
without authority: "I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran; I
have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied." (Jer. xxiii:21.) The
whole history of the dealings of God with His people as it is recorded
in the Bible, proves the constant necessity of living, divine authority.

Upon this branch of the subject we cite the reader to the Scriptures.
When Moses was about to depart from Israel he sought the Lord to
designate his successor, knowing full well that without succession of
authority the work of God could not continue. He said, "Let the Lord,
the God of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation,
which may go out before them, and which may go in before them, and
which may lead them out, and which may bring them in; that the
congregation of the Lord be not as sheep which have no shepherd." (Num.
xxvii:16-17.) In Romans x., 14 to 17, we have the following: "How then
shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall
they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they
hear without a preacher? And how shall they preach, except they be
sent?"

The Savior, who called Twelve apostles and other seventy to continue
the work which He, by the direction of His Father, had inaugurated, was
so particular that they should not "run before they were sent" that
He said to them, "And that repentance and remission of sins should be
preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And
behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the
city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high." (Luke
xxiv:47, 49.)

This emphatic injunction was given, notwithstanding that these apostles
had been already called and ordained as recorded in Mark iii:14, and
notwithstanding their great experience by personal association with
the Savior of mankind, who was pure, without guile, and perfect in all
things, "who spake as never man spake." The apostles had witnessed the
sick healed, the blind see, the deaf hear, the dumb speak, the dead
raised. Three of them, Peter, James and John, had been with Christ when
He was transfigured on the holy mount. Moses and Elias had ministered
unto them. These Twelve were the living oracles of Almighty God, but
for all that, they must not "run before they were sent, nor speak
before they were spoken to." They must enjoy especial power. Are men in
modern times as particular to avoid speaking in the name of the Lord
before they are truly called?

Let us ascertain how men are called of God and His authority
perpetuated in the earth. In speaking of the honor and authority of
the Holy Priesthood, Paul says, "And no man taketh this honor unto
himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." By reading the
fourth and twenty-eighth chapters of Exodus, the information as to how
Aaron was called can be obtained. He was called by a revelation through
a prophet of God. That prophet was called by revelation and ordained
by one having authority to ordain him. This method of calling men to
the ministry was ever adhered to by true Saints, and when departed
from, the departure has been of men and not of God. Aaron received the
anointing literally at the hands of the prophet Moses, as recorded
in Exodus xl:15, 16, and thus conferred the Levitical priesthood
upon Aaron, which was to be transmitted by the holy anointing from
generation to generation, as long as they should observe the statutes
of the Holy One of Israel.

When Joshua was called to succeed Moses in leading Israel into the
promised land, it was done by revelation from God and the laying on of
hands by one having authority. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee
Joshua, the son of Nun, a man in whom is the spirit, and lay thine hand
upon him. * * * And he laid his hands upon him, and gave him a charge,
as the Lord commanded by the hand of Moses." (Num. xxvii:18 23.) "And
Joshua, the son of Nun, was full of the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had
laid his hands upon him." (Deut. xxxiv:9.) During the entire history
of ancient Israel, men were called by revelation, and when any person
presumed to officiate without such a call, their acts were invalid and
were rejected of the Almighty.

The New Testament furnishes direct evidence of the plan of calling men
to the ministry and perpetuating the authority of God among men. Jesus
said to His apostles, "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you,
and ordained you." (St. John xv:16.) "Now there were in the church that
was at Antioch certain prophets and teachers; as Barnabas, and Simeon
that was called Niger, and Lucius of Cyrene, and Manaen, which had been
brought up with Herod the tetrarch, and Saul. As they ministered to the
Lord, and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul
for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted
and prayed, and laid hands on them, they sent them away." (Acts xiii:
1, 2, 3.) "And when they had ordained them elders in every church, and
had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord, on whom they
believed." (Acts xiv: 23.) Men thus called have authority to speak in
the name of the Lord, to officiate in His name; and their acts are
valid, binding in time and eternity.

When Paul found a number of disciples at Ephesus who had received
baptism, but in answer to his question, said that they had not "so much
as heard whether there be any Holy Ghost," he promptly baptized them;
yet they had received this ordinance after the form of John's baptism,
that is, by immersion, which was correct. It was evident, however, that
their first baptizing was done without authority, otherwise the person
officiating would have told them of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, as
did John the Baptist. Under these circumstances Paul had to rebaptize
them, or rather administer the true baptism, he having authority from
God to administer it, and then he conferred the Holy Ghost upon them
by the laying on of hands. This example is a lesson as applicable
to similar conditions of today as it was in the New Testament
dispensation. All ceremonies, ordinances, rites, etc., administered
without the administrator being "called of God as was Aaron," are null
and void.

The dispensation of the fullness of times has been ushered in. The
Father and the Son and other heavenly messengers have visited the earth
and restored authority to act in the name of Jesus as in days of old.
This authority has been transmitted from the Prophet Joseph Smith to
others, as designated by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost and by the
laying on of hands. In this manner the authority of the Holy Priesthood
will be perpetuated without interruption until the "kingdoms of this
world shall have become the kingdom of our God and His Christ."

PERSONALITY OF GOD.

The general idea of Deity accepted throughout the so-called Christian
world is stated briefly in this way: "God is a being without body,
parts or passions."

The Latter-day Saints regard our Heavenly Father as possessing an
actual tabernacle of flesh and bones (not blood), and that in His
image man is created. Our views respecting this important subject are
based upon the revelations of God to man in ancient and modern times,
and regarding which there is no contradiction in the testimony of the
prophets. "God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness;
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every
creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in His
own image, in the image of God created He him; male and female created
He them." (Gen. i:26, 27.)

It is claimed by some that this likeness is only to be understood as a
moral image. There is, however, nothing to justify such a view, either
in the statement quoted or any other passage of Holy Writ. On the
contrary, the Scriptures show that man is actually in the image of his
Maker. Concerning His appearance to Abraham, we read: "And the Lord
appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre; and he sat in the tent door
in the heat of the day; and he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, lo,
three men stood by him: and when he saw them, he ran to meet them from
the tent door, and bowed himself toward the ground, and said, 'My Lord,
if now I have found favor in thy sight, pass not away, I pray thee,
from thy servant: Let a little water, I pray you, be fetched, and wash
your feet, and rest yourselves under the tree.'" (Gen. xviii:1-4.)

Material as this may appear to many, the first verse of the chapter,
as well as other verses following those quoted, proves conclusively
that this records a personal appearing of the Lord, and also that He
has a tangible being, composed of various parts of the body, as real
as those which characterize His offspring. This instance is only one
out of many in which the Lord appeared to Abraham. Read the seventeenth
chapter of Genesis, 1-3, "And when Abraham was ninety years old and
nine, the Lord appeared to Abram, and said unto him, I am the Almighty
God; walk before me, and be thou perfect. And I will make my covenant
between me and thee, and will multiply thee exceedingly. And Abram fell
on his face; and God talked with him." Then follows the conversation
engaged in between God, our Eternal Father, and Abraham, the "father
of the faithful." How such an event should occur between a real human
being and one who had no real organization, "without body, parts or
passions," requires more credulity to believe than to accept the idea
which the Scriptures themselves convey in these chapters, viz: that God
has an actual personality.

If language more direct than the foregoing is required, it can be found
in the eleventh chapter of Genesis, regarding the confusion of tongues
at the tower of Babel. "And the Lord came down to see the city and
the tower, which the children of men builded. * * * Go to, let us go
down, and there confound their language, that they may not understand
one another's speech." It is evident from this that the Lord was in
one place, the tower of Babel in another; that He was surrounded by
associates, and in counsel with them proposed to go to the place where
the tower was in course of construction and there defeat the purpose of
its builders. No one could take this account, written in the simplicity
of truth, believing that it is a truthful statement of the historical
facts, and still believe that God is without body, parts or passions
and in His actual individuality fills at once the immensity of space.

The entire Bible history of Abraham is also one continuous account of
personal visits, conversations and covenants made by the Almighty to
and with the patriarch. Isaac was also favored with the presence of
the Lord: "And Isaac went unto Abimelech, king of the Philistines,
unto Gerar. And the Lord appeared unto him and said, Go not down into
Egypt; dwell in the land which I shall tell thee of." (Gen. xxvi:1, 2.)
And again in the twenty-fourth verse of the same chapter: "And the Lord
appeared unto him the same night, and said, I am the God of Abraham thy
father; fear not, for I am with thee, and will bless thee, and multiply
thy seed for my servant Abraham's sake."

Jacob, the grandson, of Abraham, was no less favored of the Lord in
being a personal witness of His existence, with love and interest
in His earthly children: "And Jacob said unto Joseph, God Almighty
appeared unto me at Luz in the land of Canan and blessed me, and said
unto me, Behold I will make thee fruitful, and multiply thee, and I
will make of thee a multitude of people; and will give this land to thy
seed after thee for an everlasting possession." (Gen. xlviii:3, 4.)

Abraham was designated "the father of the faithful, the friend of
God." Of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob the Lord has said, "I am the God
of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob." To them He made glorious promises and
entered into everlasting covenants extending into eternity. He promised
that their seed should be as numerous as the stars of heaven and as
countless as the sands upon the seashore. To the thoughtful person who
reads the Scriptures in the spirit of truth, it must be apparent that
our Heavenly Father foreknew the unchanging integrity of these men, and
because of this gave them such great promises and made them, by His
visits to them, living witnesses of His existence and personality.

Moses is another witness to the personality of God. "And Moses hid his
face; for he was afraid to look upon God." (Ex. iii:6.) On another
occasion there were over seventy witnesses that God is a personal
being. "Then went up Moses, Aaron, Nadab and Abihu, and seventy of the
elders of Israel; And they saw the God of Israel; and there was under
His feet as it were a paved work of sapphire stone, and as it were
the body of heaven in His clearness." (Ex. xxiv:9, 10.) He said to the
prophet Moses: "Thou canst not see my face; for there shall no man
see me and live. And the Lord said, Behold, there is a place by me,
and thou shalt stand upon a rock; and it shall come to pass, while my
glory passeth by, that I will put thee in a clift of the rock, and will
cover thee with my hand while I pass by; and I will take away my hand,
and thou shalt see my back parts; but my face shall not be seen." (Ex.
xxxiii:20-23.) Again it is written: "My servant Moses is not so, who is
faithful in all mine house. With him will I speak mouth to mouth, even
apparently, and not in dark speeches; and the similitude of the Lord
shall he behold." (Num. xii:7, 8)

These quotations respecting the prophet Moses show that on some
occasions he had personal visits from the Lord. In one instance he was
accompanied by over seventy associates, and once he was permitted to
see the back parts only. These statements are so much in detail and
in such direct language that they are not susceptible of any private
interpretation, but must be taken in a literal sense. How any one can
profess to believe in the Bible and read these statements, yet deny
the personality of God, is a matter of wonder and astonishment, and
can only be accounted for in the fact that people have been taught to
accept the precepts of men without taking the natural and reasonable
conclusions which a personal reading of the Scriptures would establish
in their own minds.

When Hezekiah, king of Judah, was beset by the Assyrians he offered
the following prayer to the Lord: "Lord, bow down thine ear, and hear;
open, Lord, thine eyes, and see; and hear the word of Sennacherib,
which hath sent him to reproach the living God." (II Kings xix:16.) And
again it is written: "Now mine eyes shall be open, and my ears attend
unto the prayer that is made in this place. For now have I chosen and
sanctified this house, that my name may be there forever; and mine eyes
and mine heart shall be there perpetually." (II Chron. vii:15, 16.) The
Psalmist David expressed himself, saying: "I have called upon Thee,
for Thou wilt hear me, O God; incline thine ear unto me, and hear my
speech. As for me, I will behold thy face in righteousness; I shall be
satisfied, when I awake with Thy likeness." (Psalms xvii:6, 15.) These
expressions in the prayers of righteous men point to the manifest
truth that God has eyes to see, ears to hear, a heart with which to
love, a mouth to speak; and taken with other statements of Holy Writ,
show beyond the possibility of a reasonable doubt, that our Heavenly
Father is possessed of a body composed of the various parts which go
to constitute the several members of a human body, and that He is
susceptible of anger, love and hatred. He hates iniquity and loves
righteousness. He is angry with the wicked every day. Such are the
statements of Holy Writ. He, therefore, cannot be without body, parts
or passions.

The Lord was also seen by the prophet Isaiah. "In the year that King
Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted
up, and His train filled the temple." (Isa. vi:1.) To corroborate these
testimonies of the Old Testament we call the attention of the reader
to several passages in the New. When Stephen was being martyred he saw
God: "But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into
heaven, and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand
of God, and said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man
standing on the right hand of God." (Acts vii:55, 56.) Nothing could
be plainer and more convincing from the written Scriptures than that
Stephen actually saw God, and that He and His Son were in the heavens
in the presence of each other.

Paul wrote to the Philippians as follows: "Let this mind be in you,
which was also in Christ Jesus; who, being in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to be equal with God." (Phillip. ii:5 6.) And again in
Col. i:15, Paul said respecting the Savior: "Who is the image of the
invisible God, the first born of every creature." To the Hebrews the
same apostle says, concerning Jesus: "Who being the brightness of his
glory, and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by
the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down
on the right hand of the Majesty on high." (Heb. i:3.) These writings
of Paul, though not relating to a personal appearance of God, fully
corroborate in doctrine all the quotations on the subject made from the
Old and New Testaments. The Scriptures referred to show conclusively
the personality of the Father, and a portion of the quotations
presented, point to the fact that He is a separate personage, and
entirely distinct in person from His Son Jesus Christ.

We now call the attention of the reader to a few passages of Scripture,
showing the personality of the Savior, not only in reference to
His individuality before His crucifixion, but showing that in His
resurrected and immortal state, He will continue a separate and
distinct personality from all other beings. Subsequent to His
resurrection He appeared to the apostles; at first sight they were
terrified, and supposed they had seen a spirit, "And He said unto them,
Why are ye troubled? And why do thoughts arise in your hearts? Behold
my hands and my feet, that it is I myself; handle me and see; for a
spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have. And when He had
thus spoken He showed them His hands and His feet. And while they yet
believed not for joy, and wondered, He said unto them, Have ye here any
meat? And they gave Him a piece of a broiled fish, and of an honeycomb.
And He took it, and did eat before them." (Luke xxiv:38-45.) Thomas,
one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came, and when told by
his brethren that they had seen the Lord, he would not believe them,
and said: "Except I shall see in His hands the print of the nails, and
put my finger into the print of the nails, and thrust my hand into His
side, I will not believe." Subsequent to this appearance, Thomas was
present when the Savior invited him to satisfy his mind to the fullest
extent, thrusting his hand into His side and beholding the wounds in
His hands and feet, when he exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." (John
xx:2, 5, 28.)

Here is a clear demonstration that Jesus in His immortal state
continues as a personal being, with a tangible body of flesh and bones.
To show that there is no change in the personal status of the Savior,
eighteen hundred years have passed away since His resurrection, and yet
we learn from the Scriptures that still in the future He shall appear
in the same body: "And His feet shall stand in that day upon the Mount
of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the Mount of
Olives shall cleave in the midst thereof. * * * And the Lord my God
shall come, and all the saints with Thee." (Zech. xiv:4-6.) In the
thirteenth chapter, which appears to be connected with His appearance
upon the Mount of Olives, we find the following statement: "And one
shall say unto Him, What are these wounds in thine hands? Then He shall
answer, Those with which I was wounded in the house of my friends."
(Zech. xiii:6.)

Many entertain the belief that of the three personages constituting
the Godhead only one is a personal being with a tangible body, viz.:
the Lord Jesus Christ. Enough evidence has been offered to prove the
contrary of this erroneous theory; but as the Scriptures are full of
evidence on this important subject, I will present the reader with
several quotations which will aid him in his researches after the truth
respecting this important doctrine. Matthew informs us concerning the
baptism of the Savior that "The heavens were opened unto him, and he
saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and lighting upon Him:
And lo a voice from heaven, saying, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom
I am well pleased.'" (Matt. iii:16, 17.) In this instance the Savior
is represented as being at the waters of Jordan, while the voice of
His Father came from the courts of heaven, showing that the Father
and Jesus are two distinct personages, existing in separate places at
the same time. This testimony of Matthew is corroborated by that of
Mark and Luke, the former in the eleventh verse of his first chapter:
"And there came a voice from heaven, saying, 'Thou art my beloved
Son, in whom I am well pleased'"; and in Luke, the third chapter and
twenty-second verse, as follows: "And the Holy Ghost descended in a
bodily shape like a dove upon Him, and a voice came from heaven, which
said, 'Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased.'"

It is recorded that on one occasion, while the Savior seriously
contemplated the coming ordeal of His crucifixion, this occurred:
"And Jesus answered them, saying, 'The hour is come, that the Son of
Man should be glorified. He that loveth his life shall lose it. If
any man serve me, let him follow me. If any man serve me, him will my
Father honor. Now is my soul troubled; and what shall I say? Father
save me from this hour; but for this cause came I unto this hour.
Father, glorify thy name.' Then came there a voice from heaven, saying,
'I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.'" (St. John
xiii:23, 25, 26, 27, 28.)

Still another instance where the voice of the Father was heard, and
in the presence of other witnesses than the Savior, is recorded in
Matthew, seventeenth chapter, fifth and sixth verses: "While He yet
spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice
out of the cloud, which said, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am
well pleased; hear ye him.' And when the disciples heard it, they fell
on their face, and were sore afraid." The disciples here referred to
were Peter, James and John. Peter relates this impressive event as
follows: "For we have not followed cunningly devised fables, when we
made known unto you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but
were eye-witnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father
honor and glory, and there came such a voice to Him from the excellent
glory, 'This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.' And this
voice which came from heaven we heard when we were with Him in the holy
mount."

The account of this vision is also recorded in Mark ix:7: "And a voice
came out of the cloud, saying: 'This is my beloved Son; hear Him.'" it
is also said in Luke ix:35. "And there came a voice out of the cloud,
saying, 'This is my beloved Son: Hear Him.'" Surely the testimony of
three or four reliable witnesses is sufficient to affirm the truth
of this matter. When the Savior addressed the Father, no one could
reasonably say that He was addressing Himself. We have many instances
recorded by the writers of the New Testament that Jesus supplicated
His Father in humble prayer. "I thank Thee, O Father, Lord of heaven
and earth, that Thou hast hid these things from the wise and prudent,
and hast revealed them unto babes; even so, Father, for so it seemed
good in thy sight. All things are delivered to me of my Father." (Luke
x:21, 22.) "Father, the hour is come; glorify Thy Son, that Thy Son also
may glorify Thee. And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with Thine own
self, with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." (John
xvii:1, 5.) "I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world;
again, I leave the world, and go to the Father." (John xvi:28.)

To these references may be added those before referred to, giving an
account of the martyrdom of Stephen, in the seventh chapter of the Acts
of the Apostles, and the statement by Paul, in the first chapter of his
letter to the Hebrews. Many other scriptural testimonies might be cited
to prove that the Father and the Son are personal beings, each separate
and distinct from the other.

The following passage of Scripture is often cited to prove that the
Savior is the only personal being in the Deity: "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; that the world may believe that
Thou hast sent me. And the glory which Thou gavest me I have given
them; that they may be one, even as we are one." (John xvii:20-22.)

The very wording of this Scripture shows that the Father and the Son
are not one in person, because He prays that all the disciples may
be one in the same manner that the Father and the Son are one, and
one in that sense only, for the simple reason that the oneness of the
Father and the Son is perfect and complete. Their unity consists in
being one in wisdom, one in knowledge, one in power, one in council,
having a unity of purpose in the accomplishment of man's salvation to
the tallest extent and in every conceivable respect. The disciples of
Jesus could not be one in person, for each of himself is a separate
individuality; they can be one, however, as the Father and Son are
one, in the accomplishment of one great purpose--the salvation of
mankind--because they are baptized by one Spirit into one body, even
the church of Christ; they have one Lord, one faith and one baptism,
and are all taught of God, having "access by one Spirit unto the
Father" (Eph ii:18), who is not the author of confusion, and cannot
consistently, with His own attributes, contradict Himself.

When Jesus sent His disciples into the world He commanded them to
baptize penitent believers "in the name of the Father, and of the Son,
and of the Holy Ghost." (Matt. xxviii:19.) These three personages are
understood by believers in the Bible to constitute the Godhead. We have
shown that the Father and Son are separate personages. It is just as
evident, from the Scriptures, that the Holy Ghost is as much a separate
and distinct personage as are the other two. Concerning the enormity of
sinning against the Holy Ghost, Jesus said: "Wherefore I say unto you,
all manner of sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven unto men: but the
blasphemy against the Holy Ghost shall not be forgiven unto men. And
whosoever speaketh a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven
him; but whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost, it shall not be
forgiven him, neither in this world, neither in the world to come."
(Matt. xii:31-32). Again, "Verily I say unto you, all sins shall be
forgiven unto the sons of men, and blasphemies wherewith soever they
shall blaspheme; but he that shall blaspheme against the Holy Ghost
hath never forgiveness, but is in danger of eternal damnation." (Mark
iii:28-29.)

Agreeable to the language of these quotations, there is a distinct
separation between the personality of the Savior and that of the Holy
Ghost. Jesus, in speaking of those who should believe and obey Him,
used this language: "He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath
said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this
spake he of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive;
for the Holy Ghost was not yet given; because that Jesus was not yet
glorified." (John vii:38, 39.) It appears from this statement that while
Jesus was the representative of the Godhead to men in the flesh, at
least for a period of time, the Holy Ghost had not come to officiate
at that time as a personal witness of the Father and the Son to the
children of men. To corroborate this idea, we quote from the sixteenth
chapter of John, seventh verse: "Nevertheless I tell you the truth;
it is expedient for you that I go away; for if I go not away, the
Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send Him
unto you." That this Comforter is the Holy Ghost is evident from the
fourteenth chapter of St. John, sixteenth and twenty-sixth verses:
"And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter,
that He may abide with you forever. But the Comforter, which is the
Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, He shall teach you
all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I
have said unto you." Further: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I
will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of Truth, which
proceedeth from the Father, He shall testify of me." (John, xv:26.)

These promises are so definite that no one could reasonably mingle
the personality of the Holy Ghost with that of either the Father or
the Son. After the crucifixion and resurrection of the Savior, and
when He had spent forty days with His disciples before His ascension,
instructing them preparatory to their great mission, before He allowed
them to go out, He reminded them of the promise which He had made to
them, and commanded them to tarry at Jerusalem "until ye be endued
with power from on high." (Luke xxiv:49.) This promise was fulfilled
on the day of Pentecost, when the powers of the Holy Ghost were
manifest through His glorious gifts which attended the apostles on
that occasion. On that great day the Holy Ghost as a gift for their
permanent guidance, was promised to all without distinction of time
or place, if they would have faith, repent and be baptized by divine
authority.

The personality of the Holy Ghost as a minister for God has been
enjoyed in every dispensation of the Gospel. "Men and brethren, this
Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by
the mouth of David spake." (Acts i:16.) Again: "Ye stiff-necked and
uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost; as
your fathers did, so do ye." (Acts vii:51.) This is proof that David
and the prophets spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost, as did
the disciples in the dispensation of Christ; also that the ancients
rejected the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, as did the people in the
days of the apostles. The apostle Peter says: "For the prophecy came
not in old time by the will of man; but holy men of God spake as they
were moved by the Holy Ghost." (II Peter i:21.) No one by reading the
Scriptures can reasonably deduce therefrom that divinely authorized men
were justified in their official ministrations in speaking by any other
power than that of the Holy Ghost. Paul says: "No man can say that
Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy Ghost." (I Cor. xii:3.)

The great gifts of the Spirit have been referred to in earlier pages of
this work, and need not be repeated here; but the character of those
gifts and the constant necessity for their existence, together with
the passages quoted here, are positive proof that the Holy Ghost is
one of the Deity and a separate personage from the Father and Son. At
the Baptism of the Messiah He was present in the waters of the Jordan
with John the Baptist. The Father was in the heavens above, and His
voice was heard, while the Holy Ghost descended upon the Savior, as
witnessed by its appearance in the form of a dove. The Father, Son and
Holy Ghost. The three constitute the great, supreme Godhead, yet are as
separate and distinct in their personalities as any earthly parents and
the children.

REVELATION.

For eighteen centuries the people of this world have been groping in
spiritual darkness. They have had the Bible, it is true, but what have
they learned from it? In letter, many things. In the true spirit of
divine inspiration, they have learned little. "The letter killeth, but
the spirit giveth life." (II Cor. iii:6.) They are "ever learning,
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (II Tim.
iii:7.) These statements of Holy Writ are fully corroborated by human
experience in religious matters. The world is divided and sub-divided
into many contending factions, professing Christianity, yet not having
a unity of faith. Many ideas of the Lord, many faiths in baptism. "One
Lord, one faith, one baptism." (Eph. iv:5), was the doctrine of Paul.
"Straight is the gate and narrow is the way which leadeth unto life,
and few there be that find it." (Matthew vii:14.)

What is the cause of all this uncertainty respecting the glorious plan
of eternal life? If one was or is right, all opposing methods must be
wrong. We answer that the lack of unity, the ignorance in relation
to the Gospel, and finally skepticism and infidelity, are due to
substituting the wisdom of men for the revelation of God, using human
learning instead of the inspiration of the Holy Ghost.

We desire to show in this article that without direct and continuous
revelation from God, the Gospel cannot be understood and properly
applied for the salvation of mankind, nor can the purposes of God
be accomplished on the earth. First, we take direct statements of
Scripture: "Where there is no vision, the people perish; but he that
keepeth the law, happy is he." (Prov. xxix:18.) The law of God has
never been kept without the Spirit of God to enlighten those who
sought to keep it. The history of the human family, from Adam to Noah,
from Noah to Moses, from Moses to the Lord Jesus Christ, and in all
subsequent ages, proves beyond cavil that where there was no vision
from heaven, no inspired voice, no revelation, the people utterly
perished in darkness and unbelief. The combined wisdom and learning of
men could not save them from spiritual darkness.

That there may be an authorized channel of communication between the
heavens and the earth, the Lord has, whenever His Church has existed
on the earth, appointed men to receive His will and make it known to
the people. "Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but He revealeth His
secrets unto His servants, the prophets." (Amos iii:7.) This literally
might be understood as equivalent to saying that where no prophet was,
there the Lord was doing nothing that would result in man's salvation.
Without being technical respecting the language of Amos, the history
of the world from Adam down proves his statements true. When there
has been no prophet there has been no revelation from God. When there
has been no revelation or vision the people have wandered to and fro,
have tossed upon the billows of clashing opinion, perished in darkness
and have been buried in the great ocean of doubt and uncertainty. On
the other hand, when authorized prophets have existed among men we
may exclaim with the ancient Scriptures: "I have also spoken by the
prophets, and I have multiplied visions, and used similitudes, by the
ministry of the prophets. And by a prophet the Lord brought Israel out
of Egypt, and by a prophet was he preserved." (Hosea xii:10, 13.) And we
affirm that without prophets Israel never was preserved and never will
be.

In looking over the field of mysterious sayings contained in the Bible,
as well as the mystery which enshrouds many phases of human history,
we are consoled by the promise of the Savior: "For there is nothing
covered, that shall not be revealed; neither hid, that shall not be
known." (Luke xii:2; Matthew x:26; Mark iv:22.) In this connection we
may cite the fact that men by learning do not see the truth alike, they
do not harmonize on the fundamental principles of the Gospel. As an
example, they cannot, unaided by revelation, tell the origin, history
and destiny of the American Indians.

Isaiah, over 200 years before the advent of the Messiah, foresaw the
spiritual ignorance of the last days and how that condition would
be overcome by the light of revelation. He prophesied as follows:
"Wherefore the Lord said, Forasmuch as this people draw near me with
their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their
heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept
of men: Therefore, behold, I will proceed to do a marvelous work among
this people, even a marvelous work and a wonder; for the wisdom of
their wise men shall perish, and the understanding of their prudent men
shall be hid." (Isa. xxix:13, 14.) By reading the context it is evident
that the prophecy refers to a time later than the first coming of the
Savior, and that the prediction never could be verified without direct
revelation from heaven.

Paul, writing to the Hebrews, calls attention to the great truth that
the method of the Lord in leading His people from the beginning has
been by revelation. He says: "God, who at sundry times and in divers
manners, spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, Hath in
these last days spoken unto us by His Son." (Heb. i:1, 2.) Jesus said in
St. John xvii:3: "And this is life eternal, that they might know Thee,
the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." Paul says in
I Cor. xii:3. "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by the Holy
Ghost."

When Peter received a knowledge of the divinity and mission of the
Lord Jesus Christ, the Savior said unto him: "Blessed art thou, Simon
Bar-jona; for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but
my Father, which is in heaven." It required a revelation for Peter
to receive that testimony. How could any one receive that knowledge
without revelation from God? The Jews saw Jesus, witnessed His wondrous
miracles of healing the sick, giving sight to the blind, unstopping
the ears of the deaf and even raising the dead, but all that was not
sufficient. They read the ancient prophecies, pointing to the birth and
nativity, the birthplace, life, ministry and martyrdom of the Messiah.
Yet were they blind, with eyes to see; deaf, with ears to hear, and
without understanding. No reason can be assigned for the ignorance of
the masses and the enlightenment of the humble fishermen other than
that the former depended upon the learning of men; the latter had
received a revelation from God.

To place the necessity of revelation beyond question as to obtaining
a knowledge of God, we quote the statement of Jesus to His disciples:
"All things are delivered to me of my Father; and no man knoweth who
the Son is, but the Father; and who the Father is, but the Son, and
he to whom the Son will reveal Him." (Luke x:22.) Compare this plain,
unmistakable testimony of Jesus with the assertions of modern divines,
who claim that the canon of Scripture is full and that we do not need
divine revelation as it was given to men in ancient days. The position
of the latter simply contradicts the plainest teachings of Holy Writ.
If it required revelation 2,000 years ago to know that Jesus was the
Christ, nothing short of revelation from heaven will secure that
knowledge now. Notice, too, the remarkable fact that notwithstanding
all the personal experience of the apostles through their association
with the Savior, He commanded them to "tarry ye at Jerusalem until ye
be endued with power from on high." (Luke, chapter 24.)

Another phase of the subject is this, that men claim that which is
written in the Scriptures is sufficient. This view simply makes
uninspired men the judge of what is and what is not essential as to all
the writings of the apostles and prophets of the Lord Jesus. This is an
unwarrantable assumption, condemned by the Scripture; for John says,
concerning that which he had written in the Book of Revelation: "For I
testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this
book, If any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him
the plagues that are written in this book; and if any man shall take
away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall take away
his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book." (Rev. xxii:18, 19.)

This does not deny God the privilege of adding more revelation, as it
is an undisputed fact that the Gospel according to St. John was written
subsequent to the Apocalypse; but it is a decree of divine displeasure
upon any man who shall add to or take from the revelations of the
Almighty. In the face of this decree, history informs us that councils
of the Roman Church sat in judgment upon the writings of the apostles,
and received only that which, in the light of their human wisdom, was
acceptable to them. Notwithstanding this fact, the various factions of
Christendom are essaying to build upon the foundation of what has come
down to them through the channel of unauthorized councils of men. May
we not ask with perfect propriety, is not that which was rejected or
lost just as valuable as much of that which has been handed down to us?

As proof that writings of the disciples of Jesus have been lost to
the world, I would call special attention to several passages of
the Scripture. The writings of the New Testament are from eight
authors--Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Peter, Paul, James and Jude. Luke
says: "Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to set forth in order a
declaration of these things which are most surely believed among us."
(Luke i:1.) While there is no definite proof in this statement as to
how many had written their testimonies concerning the Messiah, it is
evident they were not few, but many. That there was opportunity and
material upon which to write respecting this glorious subject, the life
and ministry of Jesus, is very apparent from the last verse of the
twenty-first chapter of St. John, as follows: "And there are also many
other things which Jesus did, the which, if they should be written,
every one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the
books that should be written." With such a statement, it is to be
wondered at that the world who believed in the Redeemer should rest
contented with the narrow view that we have all that is important.

We have in the New Testament what is called I Cor. and II Cor., written
to the Saints in Corinth by the apostle Paul. In I Cor. chapter v:9,
we have this: "I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with
fornicators." This must have been previous to the one in which this
occurs, and yet such an epistle is not found in our New Testament.
In Col. iv:16, Paul says: "And when this epistle is read among you,
cause that it be read also in the church of the Laodiceans; and that
ye likewise read the epistle from Laodicea." This refers to an epistle
from Paul to the Colossians, written from Laodicea, but which is not
found in the canon of Scripture as we have it. In II Tim., chapter
iv:13, Paul requests Timothy to bring him certain parchments; what
they contained we know not. Jude says: "And Enoch also, the seventh
from Adam, prophesied of these things, saying: 'Behold the Lord cometh
with ten thousand of His saints.'" How delightful it would be to read
the predictions and teachings of that great prophet Enoch, the man
who walked and talked with God 365 years, "and was not, for God took
him." Only a few verses in the Old and New Testament are all we have in
the canon of Scripture respecting Enoch and his city. What a glorious
flood of light will dawn upon the world when the writings of Enoch are
revealed! In the Old Testament may be found references to about thirty
books written by the Jewish scribes and prophets, but which have been
lost to the world, rejected and cast aside by uninspired, unauthorized
councils of men.

Suppose that all that is necessary so far as explanation of doctrine
is concerned is contained in the New Testament, we are then confronted
with man's inability to understand what has been revealed without
the light of revelation to guide the human mind in understanding and
applying the truth. As proof of this I will cite the testimony of Paul:
"For what man knoweth the things of a man, save the spirit of man which
is in him? Even so the things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of
God. * * * But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God; for they are foolishness unto him; neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned." (I Cor. ii:11, 14.) Jesus said
to Nicodemus: "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of
God." (St. John iii:3.) "No man can say that Jesus is the Lord but by
the Holy Ghost." (I Cor. xii:3.) The truth of these sacred sayings is
verified by the history of the world, which has languished in darkness
without revelation, as shown by previous quotations.

Another very important feature of this subject consists in the fact,
that there always have been in every gospel dispensation labors to
perform of a practical character, such as the building of temples,
the gathering of Israel out of Egypt, the building of the Ark of
the Covenant, etc., none of which could be accomplished except by
direct revelation from God. We may therefore conclude that while the
ordinances and doctrines of the gospel are eternal and unchangeable,
the circumstances associated with the people in every dispensation of
the gospel are constantly changing. The emergencies of this situation
must be met, not by the dead letter of ancient Scripture, but by
present inspiration and revelation given through living oracles of God.

"By a prophet the Lord brought Israel out of Egypt, and by a prophet
was he preserved." (Hosea xii:13.) The prophecies of the Jewish
prophets in the Old Testament, pointing to the advent of the Messiah,
are clear and explicit. Read the seventh chapter of Isaiah, fourteenth
verse; the ninth chapter and sixth verse; the fifty-third chapter of
the same book; the fifth chapter of Micah, second verse; and many other
passages of the Old Testament. In these we find plain predictions which
were verified in the birth, ministry and crucifixion of the Savior,
which were read by the Jews but not understood by them, because the
light of revelation from God was not the source of their information.
This was rather the wisdom of their own learning, which led them to
reject the Messiah and discard the great message of life which He
brought unto them.

As there were many plain prophecies relating to the first coming of
the Savior and the great work associated with His advent, so there are
pointed predictions referring to His second coming and a work of great
magnitude to precede that great event. I will call attention to a few
as proof that more revelation will be given, and that without it these
prophecies could never be fulfilled: "Behold, I will send my messenger,
and he shall prepare the way before me; and the Lord, whom ye seek,
shall suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant,
whom ye delight in; behold, He shall come, saith the Lord of hosts.
But who may abide the day of His coming? and who shall stand when He
appeareth? for He is like a refiners' fire, and like fuller's sore. *
* * And He shall purify the sons of Levi," etc. (Mal. iii:1-3.) This
prophecy must refer to His second coming. At His first advent He did
not come suddenly; He did not come to His temple. The house of the Lord
had become "a den of thieves." He did not accept it. He did not purify
the sons of Levi. It was a day when they could in their wickedness
abide His coming. "Who shall stand when He appeareth" is clearly a
condition when He shall come in power and glory to take vengeance on
the ungodly.

How could He suddenly come to His temple unless a temple should be
built for Him? One could not be built without a chosen people to build
it; and how can men build the house of the Lord without revelation to
tell them where, when and how to construct such a holy edifice? In
Malachi, chapter iv, we have a very striking prophecy of the judgments
of the Almighty in the last days, before the coming of the Lord. In
the fifth verse the prophet says, "Behold, I will send you Elijah the
Prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."
The great prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a chariot of fire
without tasting death, was to visit the earth in the last days. The
apostle John, when upon the isle of Patmos, also saw the hour of God's
judgement, and uttered the following prediction: "And I saw another
angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to
preach unto them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and
kindred, and tongue, and people, Saying with a loud voice, Fear God and
give glory to Him; for the hour of His judgment is come: and worship
Him that made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and the fountains of
waters." (Rev. xiv:6-7.) From this prophecy we learn that an angel
was to visit the earth at a later period than when John uttered the
above words. His mission was to be to restore the everlasting gospel,
a gospel that does not change; a gospel of apostles, prophets, gifts,
visions, revelations, etc.

"The everlasting gospel." Why should an angel bring the gospel if it
already existed upon the earth? Why should the call be to worship the
God who made the heavens, the earth and the fountains of water, etc.,
if these creations were brought into existence by a God "without body,
parts or passions"? This prophecy of John agrees with Peter's words
recorded in the third chapter of Acts, wherein he says: "And He shall
send Jesus Christ, which before was preached unto you; whom the heaven
must receive until the times of restitution of all things, which God
hath spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world
began." (Acts iii: 20-22.) By this we learn that before the advent of
the Messiah to reign on earth there should be a grand restitution,
bringing back that which was lost; a restoration of revelation,
ministry of angels, prophecies, tongues, healings, miracles, etc.
Who can believe the Scriptures and yet deny the necessity for more
revelation? The quotations here given are only a few compared with many
that can be made bearing upon the subject. They all show that direct
and continuous revelation from God is an absolute necessity to the
welfare, progress and final salvation of the children of men.

FAITH.

In considering the principles of the gospel, it will not be difficult
to see that faith occupies the first place in the catalogue of
righteous principles which, as a whole, go to constitute the plan of
salvation. It is the principle existing in the human soul which goes
before all action and leads to good works. It pleases God that man
should repent of all sin by ceasing therefrom, thus accomplishing
a reformation of life without which remission of sins would not be
granted; and as repentance and good works are pleasing to God, we
must accept of faith first, for Paul says: "But without faith it is
impossible to please Him: for he that cometh to God must believe that
He is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him."
(Heb. xi:6.)

"Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things
not seen." (Heb. xi:1.) The inspired translation by the prophet Joseph
Smith renders the word "assurance" instead of "substance," which
appears more consistent with the latter clause in the passage, which
says, "the evidence of things not seen," not the substance itself, for
that would amount to knowledge or the actual possession of the object
hoped for. This assurance of things hoped for must come through some
evidence, either of a character which can be demonstrated in a tangible
manner, or through some impression which gives an assurance to the mind
of the individual possessing it, if to no other. This faith prompts to
action all intelligent beings. Without the assurance of reaping, the
farmer would not sow; the laborer would not commence his daily task
unless he believed he would accomplish it; and so it is in religious
matters.

Upon the day of Pentecost the multitude never would have appealed to
the apostles to know what they should do to be saved unless they first
believed in God and in His Son, Jesus Christ--so recently crucified in
their midst--and also in the authority of the apostles to teach and
administer in the ordinances of eternal life. This faith was based upon
the evidence presented by Peter that Jesus was the Christ, sealed upon
their hearts by the Spirit of God, and not by the wisdom or ability
of man. The result was obedience, and a knowledge of the truth for
themselves; for the promise is: "If any man will do His will, he shall
know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of
myself." (St. John vii:17.) If Peter had been an impostor, deceiving
the people, he might, perchance, have persuaded some to accept his
theories; but what would have been the result? The evidence being
false, the faith or assurance would have a false foundation to act
upon, and disappointment would have been the result. When the evidence
is true, the faith resulting and acted upon will bring knowledge.

When Columbus discovered America, and the use of gunpowder was
displayed to the astonishment and fear of the Indians, some of the
Europeans told the natives that all they had to do was to procure some
powder and sow it like grain, and it would grow. The poor natives
believed the lie, acted upon their belief, and disappointment was the
result, to the destruction of their confidence in the white man. This
illustrates that belief may be built upon false evidence, and no matter
how sincere the believer, the laws of sincerity cannot be changed to
vindicate the dishonesty of the deceiver nor to avoid disappointment
befalling the deceived. Why should it be otherwise regarding the law
of God? Sincerity is not evidence that the believer will obtain the
good for which he seeks, for if his religious devotion is based upon
his confidence in the preaching or teaching of false guides, God will
not change His laws and ordinances, neither will He acknowledge the
authority of impostors, and thus become accessory to the deception, in
order to satisfy those who allow themselves to be led astray.

It is a maxim of skeptics that "We doubt all things in order to prove
all things"; and thus doubting, they reject the means which God
has designated as the way to become acquainted with and prove for
themselves the truth of the promise: "If any man will do His will, he
shall know of the doctrine."

The history of the world proves that in the advancement made in
science, in arts, in human government, the leaders and promoters of all
that is good, in the majority of instances, have been believers in God;
and their faith in Him and the ultimate success of their enterprises
have prompted them to action. In the language of Paul on this subject
of faith: "By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as
yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by
the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness,
which is by faith": "By faith Abraham, when he was called to go
out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance,
obeyed; and he went out, not knowing whither he went." (Heb. xi:7, 8.)
I might add numerous testimonies from the Scriptures that faith is
the assurance of things hoped for, and the principle which prompts to
action all intelligent beings, and that when based upon the promises
of the Lord, unmixed with the theories of men, and acted upon, it has
never failed to bring knowledge and rest to the weary mind in that
security which comes from a pure knowledge of God.

Having shown something of the nature of faith in a general way, as a
principle existing in the human mind and as directing all human action,
whether religious or secular, let us now draw the line of distinction
between faith in its general sense, and faith as a principle of power
as enjoyed and exercised by those who are truly the people of God.

Let us first remember that it is one thing to believe in the power
of God as manifested by revelation, prophecy, healing, etc., when
presented to us merely as the events of history, and altogether
another thing to be confronted with the testimony of living apostles,
presenting to the world doctrines that are unpopular and with which the
cherished creeds of men have never failed to conflict--apostles who ask
us to believe them to be servants of God, called by new revelation,
and testing our faith by the promise that "if you will repent and
be baptized" with honest hearts, you shall know for yourselves the
truth, and need not depend upon the assertions of any other man for
your knowledge concerning it. It is an undeniable fact of history that
God has never sent a prophet to warn the world but He found thousands
professing belief in the dead prophets, yet ready to reject and slay
the living. It cannot be said that this generation is an exception,
for the religious education they receive from the so-called Christian
pulpit is that apostles and prophets, together with the ancient gifts
and powers of the gospel, are no longer needed; and if any come
professing the ancient apostleship, they may reject them without
investigation as "false prophets." They apparently forget that it would
be difficult, if not impossible, to produce a counterfeit coin unless
the genuine existed.

In speaking of faith as a principle of power, the apostle Paul said to
the Hebrews: "Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed
by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of
things which do appear. * * * And what shall I more say? For the time
would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of
Jephthae, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: Who through
faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises,
stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped
the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant
in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received
their dead raised to life again," etc. (Heb. xi:3 32-35.) Besides
these, innumerable other events have been brought about through faith
exercised by men having authority to speak and act in the name of God.
Jesus promised that "these signs shall follow them that believe. In my
name shall they cast out devils, they shall take up serpents, and if
they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay
hands on the sick and they shall recover."

These are only a few of the characteristics associated with true faith,
the "faith that was once delivered to the saints," and so much in
striking contrast to the weak yet high-sounding pretensions of modern
professors who have a form of godliness, yet deny the power thereof.

As a contrast to the wisdom and learning of men, we are promised as
the result of acting upon true faith, that to one is given the word
of wisdom, to another knowledge. Tongues, prophecy, etc., all are
characteristic of that faith which emanates from God. These gifts are
not merely to satisfy curiosity or to convince skeptics.

As a principle of eternal truth it is a necessity that not only must
the administrator have faith, but the one who is the recipient of the
blessings also must exercise it so far as he is capable. Therefore, as
a rule, when Jesus healed the sick and opened the eyes of the blind,
He said to the individual: "Go thy way, _thy_ faith hath made thee
whole." As a further testimony of this He told unbelievers when they
sought a sign: "An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign,
and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet
Jonas; for as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's
belly, so shall the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the
heart of the earth." (Matt. xii:39, 40.) Yet be it remembered that this
sign of Christ's three days' rest in the tomb was not given to convince
skeptics, for it was an event ordained of God before the foundation of
the world, in the plan of human redemption, and would have occurred if
all the world had received Him gladly. But they did not receive Him
even when He was resurrected, for the same class who sought a sign
circulated the fabrication that the body of Christ was not risen from
the dead, but that His disciples had come in the night and stolen Him
away.

There are sign-seekers today, even among those who profess Christ,
and may we not say the same of them as Jesus said of the ancient
sign-seekers, from the fact that what was true then is true now, and
what is true of a generation is true of the individuals which compose
it. Further, the Savior said to His apostles when they failed to cast
out the devils and sought Him to know the reason: "Because of your
unbelief, for verily I say unto you, If ye have faith as a grain of
mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, 'Remove hence to yonder
place,' and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you."
(Matt. xvii:20.)

To these quotations might be added many others, but this will suffice
to show the effects of faith, that it is a principle of power. We ask,
has God changed? Is not faith, being a principle emanating from Deity,
as unchangeable as God Himself? Who, professing to believe in Christ,
will say, if we believe and are baptized by rightful authority in this
age, that Jesus will fail in His part of the contract to bestow the
promised blessings?

In view of all that is written in the Bible concerning this true faith
and the effects which flow therefrom, and the reverse of that pure
faith of the Bible which characterizes the "Christianity" of today, is
it wonderful that the Savior exclaimed: "When the Son of Man cometh,
shall He find faith on earth?" (Luke xviii:8.)

REPENTANCE.

Repentance follows faith as a natural sequence; for when the human
mind has sufficient faith in God, based upon the perfection of His
attributes, to desire His guidance and a final return to His presence,
the thought is foremost that no unclean thing can enter his presence.
Repentance from all sin, not merely an expression of sorrow but a
discontinuance of sinful practices, amounting to a reformation of life,
therefore suggests itself as a matter of course. This philosophical
view of the subject is in perfect accord with Holy Writ. Hence it was,
upon the day of Pentecost, when the sin-convicted multitude cried out:
"Men and brethren, What shall we do?" that Peter commanded them to
repent as the first step following the manifestation of their faith in
Christ and His atonement. (Acts ii:37.)

That repentance is an indispensable condition of salvation has been
taught in all ages of the world by men of God, the only exception
being that which applies to all other requirements of the Gospel. That
exception is in the case of persons incapable of knowing good from
evil, such as children who cannot believe, or disbelieve, and are
exempt from the law until they arrive at the years of accountability.
Hence the saying of the Savior: "Suffer little children, and forbid
them not, to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven."
(Matt. xix:14.)

Ezekiel said to ancient Israel, in his 18th chapter and 30th verse,
"Repent and turn yourselves from all your transgressions, so iniquity
shall not be your ruin." Israel did not repent as a nation, and their
sad history proves that iniquity caused their ruin. The olive branch of
peace was offered them without money and without price. They rejected
the means of escape, and in consequence they have verified the words of
Moses, their great lawgiver: "And I will scatter you among the heathen
and will draw out a sword after you; and your land shall be desolate
and your cities waste." (Lev. xxvi:33.)

It was supposed by those in Palestine that the Galileans, whose blood
Pilate had mingled with the sacrifices, were greater sinners than
others because such agonies had come upon them. "And Jesus answering
said unto them, 'Suppose ye that these Galileans were sinners above
all the Galileans, because they suffererd such things? I tell you nay,
but except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.'" The foregoing
contains the divine lesson that suffering is not a substitute for
repentance: that while He did not justify the agonies brought upon
them by persecution, He did not intimate that the suffering would be
acceptable instead of repentance, or that these sufferings were any
evidence of the sins of the sufferers as to the height or depth of
their transgressions. The weight of responsibility is measured either
by the light men possess or the light which opportunities afford them
to possess. As Paul said to the Athenians (Acts xvii:30.), "And the
times of this ignorance God winked at, but now commandeth all men
everywhere to repent"; and again the Savior enunciated this doctrine:
"And this is the condemnation that light is come into the world, and
men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."
(St. John iii:19.)

No matter how strict the individual may be in living a life of moral
rectitude, it is very plainly taught in the Scriptures that rejecting
further light from God constitutes a sin. We cite the case of the
young man told of in Matthew, chapter 19, who came to the Savior
for instructions, but who, when he was commanded by the Redeemer to
sell all that he had, give to the poor, and follow Him, went away
sorrowful, rejecting the injunction of the Savior, and yet he had kept
the commandments from his youth up, and probably was as righteous as
any modern Christians, who, if commanded by the Savior to give their
possessions to the poor, would go away sorrowful. There were "devout"
people assembled on the day of Pentecost, and yet Peter made no
exception when he commanded the multitude to repent. If they had done
the best they could previously with the light they had, greater light
had come to them and they must receive it or be condemned.

This truth applies to every gospel dispensation, not excepting the
"dispensation of the fullness of times," the greatest of all. God
promised to send a holy angel and make a restitution of all things as
predicted by the ancient prophets, preceding the second advent of the
Messiah. The light has come. A new dispensation has been ushered in.
The Everlasting Gospel has been restored with its ancient gifts and
blessings, and "God commandeth all men everywhere to repent," whether
they be so-called Christians or infidels. Repentance is a principle
and not merely an expression of penitent grief. It involves, as
before stated, a reformation of life. In II Cor, vii:9, 10, Paul says:
"Now I rejoice, not that ye were made sorry, but that ye sorrowed to
repentance. * * * For godly sorrow worketh repentance to salvation not
to be repented of, but the sorrow of the world worketh death." The
sorrow of the world may be illustrated by the conduct of the inebriate,
who, when intoxicated, commits acts of violence which mantle his brow
with shame and fill him with remorse in his sober moments. He expresses
sorrow, perhaps weeps in his agony, but again gives away to the tempter
and repeats his acts of dishonor instead of "fleeing temptation."
This kind of sorrow does not work repentance to salvation. We find
religious people sorrowing and sometimes confessing their sins, only to
repeat sin. This is the sorrow of the world and needs to be repented
of because it savors so much of hypocrisy, and consequently "worketh
death." On the contrary, true repentance consists, not in the outward
expression of grief, but in forsaking sin. "Let the wicked forsake his
way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the
Lord, and He will have mercy upon him, and to our God, for He will
abundantly pardon." (Isa. lv:7.) Repentance is required not only of the
evil deed, but of the unrighteous thought. Every wicked deed is first
conceived in the mind, hence the need of casting away the evil thought
before it germinates into actual crime, which leads to prison, the
gallows and to spiritual death. Of the ruin caused by the talented, but
corrupt Aaron Burr it was truly said: "His brain conceived it, his hand
brought it into action."

Let us now examine a passage of Scripture which is frequently quoted to
substantiate the erroneous doctrine that God is pleased to save men in
their sins, or that death-bed repentance is all-sufficient. The passage
is found in Luke xxiii:42, 43, and reads thus: "And he (the penitent
malefactor) said unto Jesus, 'Lord, remember me when Thou comest into
Thy kingdom.' And Jesus said unto him, 'Verily I say unto thee, today
shalt thou be with me in Paradise.'" From this statement thousands
in the Christian world have taken it for granted that the thief on
the cross received full and complete salvation. With this unwarranted
perversion of a sacred passage, the minister has taught the murderer
in the felon's cell to confess Christ and all would be well with
him; and as the hangman drew the bolt and let the culprit swing into
eternity, the minister has stood close by and said, "The Lord Jesus
receive thy soul." On the other hand, the poor victim of the assassin
has been cut off without time to confess Christ, and the same doctrine
which wafts the murderer to the courts of glory consigns the victim
to the flames of hell. Is it possible that Christ ever taught such a
heinous doctrine? A doctrine so inconsistent, so revolting to reason,
so repugnant to justice! We answer emphatically "No," nor did He utter
a syllable from which such an inference can be drawn or establish the
idea that the malefactor went to heaven. The question is, then, where
did he go? If not to heaven, then the paradise named and heaven are two
different places. Let the Scriptures answer for themselves. Three days
after the crucifixion the Savior came forth a resurrected being, and as
Mary met Him at the tomb, He said to her, "Touch me not, for I am not
yet ascended to my Father." Thus we have from His own lips, in which
there was never guile, that He had not ascended to the Father; and if
He had not, neither had the thief. If no further light than this could
be found in the sacred volume, this would be sufficient to show that
the malefactor did not go to heaven, for where Jesus went the thief
went, for that was the promise. Where, then, did the Lord go? Turn to
I Peter iii 18-21, and the question is answered: "For Christ also hath
once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that He might bring us
to God, being put to death in the flesh but quickened by the Spirit:
By which also He went and preached unto the spirits in prison; Which
sometimes were disobedient when once the long suffering of God waited
in the days of Noah."

This makes it plain that the paradise referred to was the prison house,
to which place Jesus went and opened up a dispensation of the Gospel
to the dead. The next chapter, 6th verse, says: "For for this cause
was the Gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might
be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in
the spirit." The thief therefore went to a place of confinement to
remain until the justice of God should be satisfied and mercy step in
and claim her own. The difference between the penitent malefactor, who
appears to have repented before death, and the antediluvians was that
the former immediately went to a place where Christ would present to
him the plan of life, that day, while the latter had waited hundreds
of years for that privilege. This shows that repentance brings its
blessings even upon the deathbed; but to say that, after a life of sin,
the malefactor went straight to the abode of the Father and remained
there in glory, is in conflict with the teachings of Christ and Peter.
The statements of Peter relative to the mission of Christ to the
spirits in prison throws light upon the saying of the Savior in St.
John v:25, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, the hour is coming and now
is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that
hear shall live."

Thus we see the privileges of the penitent malefactor. He went to the
prison house and heard the Gospel, but how long he remained there
before receiving all the saving benefits of the Gospel, we are not
told. One thing is certain-he did not come back with the Messiah, nor
have we ever heard of him sitting down with Christ on the right hand of
the Father. The Scripture being true which says, "The murderer hath not
eternal life abiding in him," it is safe to say that the prayers of all
the ministers on earth cannot carry the souls of the assassin to the
presence and glory of God. As there are different degrees of glory, so
are there various grades of crimes to which are attached the different
degrees of punishment, all of which clearly maintain the justice and
mercy of God.

In Galatians v:19-21, we read as follows: "Now the works of the flesh
are manifest, which are these: adultery, fornication, uncleanness,
lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations,
wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness,
revellings, and such like; of the which I tell you before, as I have
also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not
inherit the kingdom of God."

In conclusion, as a true definition of repentance, let us quote the
words of Paul to the Ephesians, iv: 25, 30: "Wherefore putting away
lying speak every man truth with his neighbor. * * * Be ye angry and
sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath. Neither give place
to the devil. Let him that stole, steal no more. * * * Let no corrupt
communication proceed out of your mouth. * * *" This is the only
repentance taught in Holy Writ, and simply means to forsake all sin and
accomplish a reformation of life.

BAPTISM.

We come now to considering the necessity of the ordinance of baptism.
When men have repented of their sins it is natural for them to
desire a forgiveness of those sins. How shall this boon be obtained?
That repentance alone does not blot out the sins of the past may be
illustrated in part by a comparison between the temporal and the
spiritual. A man acquires a debt by purchasing goods on credit, and
finding it a ruinous policy, resolves, for the future, to pay as he
goes. This changes his course and constitutes in his business life a
reformation, but it does not pay the debt already incurred. He must
liquidate the obligation, or be forgiven the debt by the creditor. Some
may say that this is the difference between the earthly transaction
of men and the dealings of God with His children. God forgives, it
is true, but every blessing is predicated upon a condition, and the
condition is laid down by the Lord; hence it is written in Mark
i:4: "John did baptize in the wilderness and preach the baptism of
repentance for the remission of sins." From this scripture it is
evident that baptism is to follow repentance, and that at least one
object of baptism is the remission of sins.

Let us now examine some statements of Holy Writ which point out clearly
the necessity of this ordinance. "Then cometh Jesus from Gallilee to
Jordan unto John to be baptized of him. But John forbade Him, saying,
'I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me? And Jesus,
answering: said unto him, 'Suffer it to be so now; for thus it becometh
us to fulfill all righteousness.' Then he suffered Him." (Matt.
iii:13-15.) Every thoughtful, God-fearing person must be impressed with
the feeling that if it was essential for the "Only Begotten of the
Father," "who is full of grace and truth," to be baptized, none can be
exempt who have arrived at the years of accountability. It appears also
from the language used in the quotation that without being baptized he
could not fulfill "all righteousness." After teaching His disciples
for three years, being crucified and risen from the dead, He gave to
them this commission: "Go ye into all the world and preach the gospel
to every creature. He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved;
but he that believeth not shall be damned." (Mark xvi:15, 16. ) Also in
Matthew xxviii:19: "Go ye, therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing
them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost";
and in Luke xxiv:45-47: "Then opened He their understanding that
they might understand the Scriptures, And said unto them, Thus it is
written, and thus it behooved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the
dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should
be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem." In
the latter quotation the word baptism is not used, but the same writer
says in Luke iii:3, regarding the mission of John: "And he came into
all the country about Jordan, preaching the baptism of repentance for
the remission of sins," thus enunciating the doctrine that remission of
sins is obtained through baptism.

The same writer gives us the following (Luke vii:29, 30): "And all the
people that heard him, and the publicans, justified God, being baptized
with the baptism of John. But the Pharisees and lawyers rejected the
counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized of Him." From
this it is manifested that by receiving baptism they honored and obeyed
God, and that the rejection of this simple yet divine institution
amounted to rejecting the counsel of God, with all the terrible
consequences attendant upon such disobedience.

We read in the eighth chapter of Acts that Philip baptized the
Samaritans and the Ethiopian. In the same book is related the baptism
of Saul, of Lydia, of the Philippian jailor, and of Cornelius. It
is not necessary to multiply quotations to show that baptism was
taught and practiced all through the apostolic dispensation, as being
essential to salvation. As a direct statement of Jesus Himself, to
close this part of the subject, we quote His words to Nicodemus, St.
John iii:5: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man, be born
of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."
The birth of the water can only be accomplished by baptism, and if an
accountable being cannot enter into the kingdom of God without baptism,
then that ordinance must be essential to salvation.

Let us next consider the object of this sacred rite. It is evident that
inasmuch as a man cannot enter into the kingdom of God without the
baptism of water, then his sins must necessarily be remitted through
faith, repentance and baptism from the fact that "no unclean person * *
* hath any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and of God."

In Mark i:4 and Luke iii:3 we read that "John did baptize in the
wilderness and preached the baptism of repentance for the remission of
sins." On the day of Pentecost, when the mighty power of God rested
upon the apostles and the Spirit bore witness to the multitude that
they were in sin, notwithstanding their devoutness, they cried out,
"Men and brethren, what shall we do?" To this Peter answered, "Repent
and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the
remission of sins." (Acts ii:38.)

Paul narrates before King Agrippa his conversion, in Acts xxii:16,
and says that Ananias, to whom he had been commanded to apply, said:
"And now, why tarriest thou? Arise and be baptized and wash away thy
sins, calling on the name of the Lord." The foregoing quotations will
suffice to show that God instituted baptism for the remission of sins,
but from other passages already quoted. Mark i:4, also xvi:15-16,
and the account of Simon, the sorcerer, in the eighth chapter of
Acts, it is very evident that the result--forgiveness--is not secured
unless baptism is accompanied on the part of the candidate by faith
and a genuine repentance in turning aside from sin. Otherwise there
would be the solemn mockery of administering a sacred ordinance to a
hypocrite. Hence the apostles said to Simon, "Thy money perish with
thee because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased
with money." (Acts viii:20.) Notwithstanding he had been baptized he
was still in his sins, because his heart was not pure, and he had not
repented. For this reason the apostles said to him, "Repent therefore
of this wickedness. * * * For I perceive that thou art in the gall
of bitterness and in the bond of iniquity." (Acts viii:22-23.) This
should be a warning to those modern professors whose religion is in
many instances a cloak, hidden beneath which is the depraved heart that
garnishes the sepulchres of the dead prophets but is ready to slay the
living ones.

We now come to that part of the subject which formerly caused so
much dissension among the Christian sects, but which latterly is
smoothed over with the assertion that it makes no difference which
mode--sprinkling, pouring, or immersion--is used; "either will do,"
"let the candidate take his choice; it is immaterial." To these
unwarranted assertions we reply: First, that if either mode will
do, none will do, for still other forms may be added by the whims
of men. Christ established but one true mode, "One Lord, one faith,
_one baptism,"_ and if one is right, the others are wrong. This is a
plain proposition. Again, the dissension and conflict on this point
is proof against the inspiration of the sectarian world, if they have
any, for the reason that the Spirit of God will not lie nor contradict
itself. If, therefore, the Spirit of the Lord teaches me that immersion
is right, it will not teach another sprinkling, and yet another
pouring. This division, then, is because men are guided by opinion and
preference and not by the spirit of revelation from God, which guides
into all truth and brings those who possess it to a unity of faith.

Now as concerning the baptism of Jesus, who is the pattern, we have
Matt. iii:16, which says, "And Jesus when He was baptized went up
straightway out of the water." It is not likely that John would be
baptizing in Jordan and that Jesus would have gone down into the water
if anything less than immersion would have fulfilled the law. This also
agrees with the account of the Ethiopian's baptism by Philip (Acts
viii:38): "And they went down both into the water, _both Philip and the
eunuch,_ and he baptized him." As making still plainer this using a
river of water and going _"down into the water"_ to receive the sacred
rite, we quote from St. John iii:23: "And John also was baptizing in
Enon, near to Salim, because there was _much water there."_ A statement
so plain as the foregoing needs no comment. It speaks for itself. He
was baptizing not only in Enon, but at a certain point in the stream
"because there was much water there." Such a reason could not have been
given if sprinkling or pouring had been a proper mode.

We refer further to the New Testament statements where not only the
mode of baptism is indicated by the language, but the fact that baptism
symbolizes the birth into the world, the death, and the resurrection of
the body. To Nicodemus, Jesus said: "Verily, verily, I say unto thee,
except a man be born of water, and of the spirit, he cannot enter into
the kingdom of God." (St. John iii:5.) When man comes forth into the
world, he is born or brought out from the watery element, being first
buried in it, and this constitutes his birth. To be "born of water" as
a sacred ordinance would be impossible if the rite of sprinkling or
pouring be the mode employed. Only complete immersion will answer the
ordinance indicated in the language of Jesus to Nicodemus.

Paul also said to the Romans, "Know ye not that so many of us as were
baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into His death? Therefore we
are buried with him by baptism into death; that like as Christ was
raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also
should walk in newness of life. For if we have been planted together
in the likeness of His death, we shall be also in the likeness of His
resurrection." (Rom. vi:3-5.) The foregoing shows that baptism is a
likeness of burial. When the body is laid lifeless in the tomb it is
covered completely; it is not left partly buried and partly uncovered;
and as the body comes forth in the resurrection, immortal, and free
from the conditions of mortality, thus walking in "newness of life,"
so by the remission of sins through faith, repentance and baptism, the
obedient candidate comes forth free from sin, and walks in a new life,
prepared for the birth of the spirit, thus symbolizing in beautiful
similarity the death and resurrection of the body. This is still
farther emphasized by the language, "For if we have been planted,"
etc., thus using a word which implies a complete burial as in planting
seeds in the earth.

Again, we quote the words of Paul to the Colossians, ii:12: "Buried
with Him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with Him through the
faith of the operation of God, who hath raised Him from the dead." This
corresponds with the statement before quoted from Romans, and also the
teachings of Christ to Nicodemus.

From the Scriptures already quoted on the necessity, object and mode of
baptism, we may deduce the conclusion that the ordinance established
to follow and go with faith and repentance, and which constitutes
the third principle of the gospel, is baptism by immersion for the
remission of sins.

RECEPTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Having shown that faith, repentance and baptism are essential to the
remission of sins, let us now consider the reception of the Holy
Spirit. That this should follow, and not precede, the birth of the
water must be evident to every thoughtful person. It is clear that a
man is not prepared for the indwelling of the Holy Ghost unless he
repents of his sins and becomes freed from them by obedience to the
laws of God. Some people may contend that, because Jesus stated that
man must be born again, in order to see the kingdom of heaven, such
a birth precedes baptism, and is synonymous with the birth of the
Spirit mentioned by the Savior in the third chapter of St. John; but
being born again, in order to see the kingdom, evidently shows that a
man must have some light above the natural senses, sufficient to the
light of Christ to make him see the kingdom of God. In other words, to
secure, and we may say, consistently constitute his conversion.

This light which guides him to the truth does not, however, forego
the absolute necessity of obeying the laws and ordinances of the
Gospel. As proof of this we cite the conversion of Paul. He received
a personal manifestation of the Savior's power, even hearing his
voice and witnessing a light from heaven. Notwithstanding this, Jesus
commanded him to go to Ananias, an authorized servant of Christ, who
should instruct him regarding his salvation. He was therefore required
to be born of water and of the Spirit. Cornelius, also, as related in
the tenth chapter of Acts, saw an angel and received a manifestation
of the Holy Ghost previous to baptism. Yet both men were required to
obey the ordinances enjoined by the Gospel of Christ. If they rejected
these requirements, undoubtedly the light they had received would have
departed from them and this would have added to their condemnation.

The historical fact of the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy
Ghost is not, in every instance, recorded in the Scriptures, and it is
not necessary that it should be, in order to prove that the ordinance
was established by the Messiah. In the matter of baptism He said to
John, "Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill all
righteousness." He made no exception of Himself, but gave the example
by his own obedience. How can others be excused? To show that the
laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, by those having
divine authority was practiced by the ancient apostles, we refer to
Acts viii:14, 17: "Now, when the apostles which were at Jerusalem heard
that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent unto them Peter
and John, who, when they were come down, prayed for them, that they
might receive the Holy Ghost: (for as yet He was fallen upon none of
them: only they were baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus.) Then laid
they their hands on them and they received the Holy Ghost."

Philip did not have the authority to lay on hands for this gift, hence
Peter and John were sent from Jerusalem for the express purpose of
performing this higher ordinance of the Gospel. In the nineteenth
chapter of Acts is an account of Paul's visit to the city of Ephesus,
where he found about twelve men who claimed to have received the same
form of baptism as administered by John the Baptist. But in answer to
Paul's question, "Have ye received the Holy Ghost since ye believed?"
they told him they had not so much as heard of it, and his action
in re-baptizing them would strongly indicate that some imposter had
counterfeited in form the true baptism. This being performed without
legitimate authority, their sins were not remitted, and they were not
in a condition to receive the Holy Ghost. Hence Paul baptized them; and
the sixth verse says: "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the
Holy Ghost came upon them and they spake with tongues and prophesied."

An imposter can baptize in water by physical force, imitate the true
form at the submission of the candidate, but the gift of the Holy Ghost
cannot be given without authority from God; and while the water baptism
is equally destitute of its legitimate results when not performed by
authority, the imposture is not so readily detected because not usually
accompanied by the same manifestation of divine power; therefore
designing or ignorant men have taken pains either to deny the gift of
the Holy Ghost as being essential with its ancient spiritual powers, or
to tell the people that no outward ordinance was essential to confer
it, thus endeavoring to dispense with this sacred ordinance.

The following references also indicate the laying on of hands as a
sacred rite which would not have been adopted by the apostles unless
'commanded of God to do so: I Tim. iv:14-"Neglect not the gift that
is in thee, which was given thee by prophecy, with the laying on of
the hands of the presbytery." II Tim. i:6-"Wherefore I put thee in
remembrance that thou stir up the gift of God which is in thee by the
putting on of my hands." Also showing that this ordinance was laid
down as a positive doctrine, we call attention to the sixth chapter
of Hebrews, first and second verses: "Therefore leaving (another
translation, that of the prophet Joseph Smith, reads 'not leaving') the
principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto perfection, not
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of faith
toward God of the doctrine of baptisms and of laying on of hands."

That man might duplicate in form this divine ceremony without authority
and without effect, we do not deny; but we confidently assert that
without this ordinance being administered by an acknowledged authority
from God, the operation would be of non-effect. The undeniable facts
of religious history for seventeen centuries prove that men did not
receive the Holy Ghost. Where the tree is, there will the fruit be
produced, unless the tree is dead; and no one will contend that the
Holy Spirit is dead.

The following quotations will point out the fruits of the Holy Spirit:
"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send
in my name, He shall teach you all things and bring all things to your
remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." (St. John xiv:26.)
"Howbeit, when He, the Spirit of Truth, is Come, He will guide you
into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever
He shall hear, that shall He speak, and He shall show you things to
come." (St. John xvi:13.) "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted,
the Holy Ghost said, 'Separate me Barnabas and Saul, for the work
whereunto I have called them.'" (Acts xiii:2.) "Wherefore I give you
to understand that no man speaking by the Spirit of God calleth Jesus
accursed: and that no man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the
Holy Ghost. Now there are diversities of gifts, but the same Spirit. *
* * For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another,
the word of Knowledge by the same Spirit; To another, faith by the
same Spirit; to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; to
another, the working of miracles; to another, prophecy; to another
discerning of Spirits; to another, divers kinds of tongues." ( I Cor.
xii:3, 4, 8, 9, 10.) "But the fruits of the Spirit is love, joy, peace,
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance."
(Gal. v:22-23.)

The same cause will ever produce the same effect; a tree is known by
its fruits, and to be convinced that we need such gifts today it is
only necessary to look at the spectacle of jarring "Christianity" with
its many creeds. Where is the Spirit that guides into all truth, which
does not contradict itself, but teaches the "common salvation" of "one
Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all?" That brings
us "to a unity of faith," and makes us one in Christ, as He prayed
that His disciples and all whom the Father should give Him out of the
world might be one even as I am one in the Father and the Father in me,
that they may be one in us, "that the world may believe that thou hast
sent me?" Where is the Spirit of prophecy? "The testimony of Jesus is
the Spirit of prophecy," the gifts of revelation, healings and all the
glorious powers enumerated in the Scripture quotations made. Well did
Isaiah say, "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants thereof,
because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinances and
broken the everlasting covenant." (Isa. xxiv:5.)

Without further comment on the gifts of the Spirit, we will introduce
quotations to show that the laying on of hands was practiced also for
ordination to office in the Church of Christ, and for the healing of
the sick, as well as to confer the gift of the Holy Ghost: "Whom they
set before the apostles; and when they had prayed, they laid their
hands on them." (Acts vi:6.) This refers to the ordination of Stephen
and six others. "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy
Ghost said, separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have
called them. And when they had fasted and prayed and laid their hands
on them they sent them away." (Acts xiii:2, 3.)

The same ordinance was also had in ancient times before the coming of
the Savior. Paul informs us in Gal. iii, that the Gospel was preached
before unto Abraham. "And the Lord said unto Moses, Take thee Joshua,
the son of Nun, a man in whom is the Spirit, and lay thine hands upon
him. And he laid his hands upon him and gave him a charge, as the Lord
commanded by the hand of Moses." (Num. xxvii:18, 23.) "And Joshua, the
son of Nun, was full of the Spirit of wisdom, for Moses had laid his
hands upon him." (Deut. xxxiv:9.)

It is most reasonable to conclude from the evidence presented that this
practice came down from the beginning, and was before and after Christ
a divine ordinance. That it was practiced for the healing of the sick
is evident from the following historical and doctrinal statements made
in the New Testament by the Messiah and His apostles: "They shall lay
hands on the sick and they shall recover." (Mark xvi:18.) "And He could
there do no mighty work save that He laid His hands upon a few sick
folk and healed them." (Mark vi:5.) "Now when the sun was setting, all
they that had any sick with divers diseases brought them unto Him; and
He laid His hands on every one of them, and healed them." (Luke iv:40.)
"And putting His hands on him, said Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus,
that appeared unto thee in the way as thou camest, hath sent me that
thou mightest receive thy sight," etc. (Acts ix:17.) "And it came to
pass that the father of Publius lay sick of a fever, and of a bloody
flux; to whom Paul entered in, and prayed, and laid his hands on him,
and healed him." (Acts xxviii:8.) "Is any sick among you? Let him call
for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him
with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save
the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up," etc. (James v:14, 15.).

Although the laying on of hands is not expressly mentioned in the last
quotation, it is readily seen that the sick could not be anointed
without the imposition of hands.

The foregoing should be sufficient to convince all Bible believers that
the laying on of hands is a sacred ordinance for the purposes specified
in Holy writ, that it follows the baptism of water, and occupies
its relationship in the plan of salvation as the fourth essential
principle to fully establish men in the Church of Christ; the order
is, faith, repentance, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins,
and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the
door into the sheepfold; "he that entereth not by the door into the
sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a
robber." (St. John x:1.)

PRE-EXISTENCE.

As Latter-day Saints we believe that all creation existed spiritually
before the physical organism was brought into existence; "And every
plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the
field before it grew." (Gen. ii:5.)

"And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after
his kind, cattle, and creeping thing. And beast of the earth after
his kind; and it was so." (Gen. i:24.) Therefore each kind, whether
beast, bird or fish, as well as man, existed before it came to occupy
a physical being, otherwise how could each have been created after its
own kind? The spirit and the body must be the soul, as enunciated by
the Lord in a revelation to the prophet Joseph Smith. (Doctrine and
Covenants, sec. 88, verse 15.) "And the spirit and the body is the
soul of man." Otherwise there might be an eternal fullness when the
spirit and the body are separated. When Jesus was crucified He went, as
stated by Peter, to preach to the spirits in prison, and did not enter
into the fullness of His Father's glory until He ascended after His
resurrection. This was the pattern to all men.

Without the union of the spirit and the body there is not a fullness
of glory. As the spirit exists between death and the resurrection, so
the spirit existed before the birth of the mortal body. God is the God
and Father of the spirits of all flesh, as stated by Moses: "O God, the
God of the spirits of all flesh, shall one man sin, and wilt Thou be
wroth with all the congregation?" (Num. xvi:22.) "Let the Lord, the God
of the spirits of all flesh, set a man over the congregation." (Num.
xxvii:16.) This declaration is corroborated by the apostle Paul in
writing to the Hebrews: "Furthermore, we have had fathers of our flesh,
which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much
rather be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?"

We associate in this life with our natural fathers; we see them as they
are. They teach, guide and direct us by virtue of their fatherhood and
their advanced experience, which qualify them to teach us and direct
our footsteps in the way we should walk. So in our pre-existence did
we mingle with our heavenly Father and His children, our brother and
sister spirits. We knew God and partook of His influence and power. We
were agents to ourselves, and when propositions affecting man's eternal
welfare were placed before us, we were left to choose for ourselves
and be responsible for our own course. Thus Lucifer rebelled, and
drew one-third part of the heavenly host away. They were cast out,
and denied a body. So keenly have they felt this curse that they seek
to possess the bodies of the human family. When Jesus cast the evil
spirits from the men coming out of the tombs, so eager were they to
possess some physical tabernacle, that they besought Him that they
might enter the herd of swine. The request was granted, and the swine,
possessed of evil spirits, ran down violently into the sea.

Not only the fact of man's pre-existence, but also his power to do good
and ill, seemed to be understood by the ancient apostles when they
said, "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born
blind? Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents." (John ix:2, 3.)
Jesus did not deny the possibility of sinning before birth. Why should
not the spirit be just as capable of intelligent action before the
birth into this world, as it is during its existence between death and
the resurrection? As to that time, Jesus taught that all that were in
their graves should hear His voice. (St. John v:25, 29.) When Job was
in the depth of his affliction the Lord said unto him, "Gird up now thy
loins like a man; for I will demand of thee, and answer thou me. Where
wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? * * * When the
morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?"
(Job xxxviii:3, 4, 7.) Doubtless Job was somewhere in existence or the
Almighty would never have propounded such a question. The sons of God
shouted for joy, and without doubt Job was among that honored number.
Solomon also gives us to understand that the spirit once dwelt in the
presence of the Lord. He says: "And the spirit shall return unto God
who gave it."

The subject of pre-existence is made very plain in the first chapter,
5th verse of Jeremiah: "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee:
and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee and I
ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." Thus in his pre-existent
state did Jeremiah receive his ordination to be a prophet of the Lord
to the nations of the earth. If such were the case with Jeremiah,
why not with thousands of the sons of God? Indeed it is evident from
Paul's writings that the time of man's coming to this world is not
mere chance, neither is it regulated by the arrangements of human
philosophy in this world: "God that made the world * * * hath made
of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the
earth: and hath determined the times before appointed and the bounds
of their habitations." (Acts xvii:24, 26.) In other words, the Father
of our spirits determined when we should come and those portions of
the earth where should be set the bounds of our habitation. It was
no chance-work, then, that Abraham, Moses, Isaiah, Ezekiel, Daniel,
the Savior, Joseph Smith, and the founders of liberty in this and
other lands came to the earth in their respective times and to those
countries where they played their great parts in the purposes of God
and the drama of life. "I came forth from the Father, and am come
into the world; again I leave the world and go to the Father." (St.
John xvi:28.) "And now, O Father, glorify Thou me with thine own self
with the glory which I had with Thee before the world was." (St. John
xvii:5.) Jesus dwelt with the Father before He came here, so did we.
Entering our temples of mortality we forget all that has passed before
in our spiritual existence. This mortal state is a veil which hides
the eternal past, from our recollection, and shuts off the visions of
the eternal future, only as from time to time the revelations of the
Holy Ghost bring "things past to our remembrance and shows us things to
come."

It is probable, from some references in the Scriptures, that if our
spirits were sent here unembodied, the remembrance of the past would
come with us. At least, this was doubtless the case with Lucifer
and his rebel host. When he tried to tempt the Savior, as recorded
in Matthew, fourth chapter, he knew Him undoubtedly from their
acquaintance in a pre-existent state. When the man with evil spirits
met the Savior in the synagogue, the spirits cried out, "saying, let us
alone. What have we to do with Thee, thou Jesus of Nazareth? Art thou
come to destroy us? I know Thee who thou art, the Holy One of God."
(Luke iv:34.) A similar testimony was borne by evil spirits possessing
the men coming out of the tombs, as recorded in Matthew, viii:29. "And
behold they cried out, saying, What have we to do with Thee? Jesus,
thou Son of God? art Thou come hither to torment us before the time?"
"And unclean spirits, when they saw Him, fell down before Him and cried
saying, Thou art the Son of God." (Mark iii:11) In Luke, viii:28,
we have the testimony of the historian that the devils possessing a
certain man cried out, "and with a loud voice" said, "Jesus, Thou Son
of God." It is not probable that these evil spirits knew Jesus because
of a testimony from above, while all Judea failed to recognize in Him
the Messiah, the Savior of the world. Many likely knew Him because they
had been associated and acquainted with Him before the world was.

John the Revelator in Revelations, twelfth chapter, describes the war
in heaven, which took place between Satan and his followers on the
one hand and Michael and his angels on the other. This description
refers to their spiritual existence, as do the foregoing quotations
from Holy Writ. These show us clearly that man did not begin with this
world, nor does he end with this earthly life. Man is eternal, and
will have no end. He lived and reigned with God in the heavens. His
course there largely affects his condition here, as our conduct in this
life will have all to do with the glory we attain to in the world to
come. Man will live on forever. He dies as to the body, lives in the
spirit world, and will again take up his body, a resurrected, glorified
being, prepared on certain conditions to dwell with God throughout the
countless ages of eternity, to become like unto Him. Possessing all
things, even as Jesus, being in the image of His Father, "thought it
not robbery to be made equal with him." "What is man, that Thou art
mindful of him? and the Son of Man, that Thou visitest him? For Thou
hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with
glory and honor. Thou madest him to have dominion over the works of Thy
hands; thou hast put all things under his feet." (Psalms viii:4-6.)

SALVATION FOR THE DEAD.

"I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God
unto Salvation to every one that believeth."

We must not infer from this quotation that mere conviction of the mind
to religious truths will secure salvation; for pure belief would lead
men to actual works, thus constituting a living, active faith.

The Apostle James declares that "faith without works is dead." The
Savior taught in His sermon on the mount that "Not every one that saith
unto me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter into the kingdom of heaven, but he
that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven." From these and
other passages of Scripture we learn that the Gospel is the power of
God unto salvation to all who believe, obey and remain faithful to the
end. This gives us a general definition of what is meant by the term
Gospel.

To understand the principles which constitute the Gospel, we may remind
our readers that mankind find themselves under the necessity of a
redemption which is two-fold in its character. First, by the act of
our first parents, all creation is subject to the death of the mortal
body. Second, by individual sins man becomes unworthy to dwell in the
presence of the Eternal Father.

The Gospel, then, consists of the atonement of Christ, by which all are
entitled to a resurrection of the body; in the language of Paul, "For
as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." It also
consists of laws and ordinances for man's obedience, by which he is
redeemed from his own sins, placed in communication with God, and led
back into His presence.

In the justice of the Almighty the plan of salvation must be so
comprehensive and general that the human family, without distinction,
shall have the opportunity of receiving it.

We learn from the Pearl of Great Price that before Adam departed
to the life beyond, God revealed to him the plan of salvation. He
obeyed it and communicated this knowledge to his posterity during the
seven generations that lived contemporary with him. With the Gospel,
necessarily came the authority of God to administer in the ordinances
thereof. This authority is called the Holy Priesthood. In a revelation
given the prophet Joseph Smith, September 22d and 23d, 1832, and
contained in Sec. 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants, we learn that the
priesthood was conferred through Father Adam by the laying on of hands
upon Abel, and from Abel or Seth was conferred through the lineage of
their descendants to Enoch, and from Enoch to Noah down to Melchisedek,
who conferred it upon Abraham. In the days of Abraham lived the great
prophet Esaias, who, the revelation informs us, received the priesthood
under the hand of God. From Esaias it was handed down through an
unbroken chain to the prophet Moses, but because of the unbelief and
hardness of the people, "He took Moses out of their midst and the Holy
Priesthood also, and the lesser priesthood continued." (Doctrine and
Covenants, Sec. 84.)

This record shows an unbroken succession of the Holy Priesthood and the
Gospel of Christ from Adam to Moses, a period of about 2,500 years.
Then began those periods of the world's history when the fullness of
the Gospel was not to be had among the children of men, periods when
the spirit of darkness engrossed the human family and left mankind,
in a great degree, as a blind man groping for the wall. The first of
these periods continued from Moses until the Savior came and restored
the higher priesthood, established His church upon the earth, and sent
his apostles to preach the Gospel in all the world. Another similar
period was from the time the Gospel became corrupted, in the first
two or three centuries of the Christian era, to its restoration in
this dispensation through the prophet Joseph Smith. The Christian
dispensation of the Gospel continued to a greater length upon the
American continent, extending to nearly 400 years after Christ. What
success attended the Gospel among the ten lost tribes whom the Messiah
visited and how long it was maintained among them is not yet revealed,
but will be in the due time of the Lord.

The Elders in preaching the Gospel abroad are often confronted with an
objection to this claim of apostasy from the truth, that such periods
of spiritual darkness do not harmonize with the mercy and justice of
God. The objectors, therefore, incline to the belief that the Christian
world has enjoyed the Gospel ever since the coming of the Messiah.
The query then arises, what is the cause of such apparent difference
in the opportunities of human beings? Some are born in the church,
heirs to the Holy Priesthood; others, in a Gospel dispensation, not
in the church, but under conditions favorable to their accepting it;
still another class in the same dispensation is under such adverse
circumstances that believing and obeying are rendered very difficult;
and yet a larger number, counted by millions, live and die where no
voice from God comes to their relief.

In the absence of revelation giving any detailed information on this
question, we may rest contented with the reflection that God is just,
and that a just cause exists for that which appears inconsistent in the
eyes of mortal man, but that reflection is not satisfying; we are in
absolute need of revelation to enable us to comprehend the cause and to
justify in our minds the conditions which exist.

Our works in this life are known to God, and our rewards and
punishments are meted out according to the deeds done in the body. Our
pre-existent merits and demerits are equally well known to our Heavenly
Father. As proof that God knew before this life with all the exactness
that we are known here, I here introduce the following from page 41,
Pearl of Great Price: "Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the
intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all
these there were many of the noble and great ones: and God saw these
souls that they were good, and He stood in the midst of them; and He
said, 'These I will make my rulers,' for He stood among those that were
spirits; and He saw they were good; and there stood one among them like
unto God, and He said unto those that were with Him, 'We will go down,
for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we
will make an earth, whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them
herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their
God shall command them; and they who keep their first estate shall be
added upon; and they who keep not their first estate, shall not have
glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and
they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their
heads forever and ever."

In the first chapter fourth and fifth verses of Jeremiah, we have the
following: "Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, Before I
formed thee I knew thee, and before thou camest forth, I sanctified
thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations." From these
plain teachings of the prophet, it is readily seen that the measure of
integrity attached to our pre-existence was fully understood by our
Father; and as our future condition is based upon our works in this
life, is it not a reasonable conclusion that our situation in this
world is largely due to our conduct in a pre-existent state?

That God has a distinct hand in the appointment of the time for His
children to come upon the earth is very clearly stated by the Apostle
Paul. In the seventeenth chapter of Acts he says: "God that made the
world and all things therein, giveth to all life, and breath, and all
things; and hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell
on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times before
appointed and the bounds of their habitations." Thus we learn that this
great emigration of souls from the presence of the Lord to this earth
is controlled and directed by the Almighty. That He designed them all
at some time to learn of Him is stated in the verse following the above
quotation, which reads, "That they should seek the Lord and find Him."

We are compelled from these facts to believe that, as God Himself
sent millions into the world when the Gospel was not had among the
inhabitants of the earth, then His saving plan, to be compatible with
His attributes of mercy and justice, must be of such a character as to
reach these people after they leave this world. We may add here that
this vast host of humanity who lived when the Gospel was not extant is
greatly augmented by the unnumbered millions of people who live during
the dispensation of the Gospel, but who never see or hear an authorized
servant of the Lord.

In connection with this branch of the subject it may be well to refer
to the belief of many that, at death the wicked are consigned to their
final doom and the righteous to full and complete exaltation in the
presence of God. We can explode this fallacy by quotations from Holy
Writ. In line with this mistaken belief we find ministers attending
the culprit at the gallows, urging him to confess Christ, and telling
him that by such confession he will be saved in the kingdom of heaven.
In the face of such doctrine the Scriptures plainly declare that, "The
murderer hath not eternal life abiding in him." We who live in this
dispensation are forbidden by the living oracles of God to receive
temple ordinances for even the suicide. To exhibit the error of many in
the religious world on this point read the forty-second and forty-third
verses of the twenty-third chapter of Luke. The thief on the cross is
recorded as saying to the Savior, "Lord, remember me when Thou comest
into Thy kingdom." Jesus then said to him, "Today shalt thou be with
me in Paradise." The claim is made that such a promise amounted to
salvation, taking the malefactor to a condition of eternal glory. In
the face of this mistaken interpretation of the Scripture, we have the
assertion of Christ Himself, made three days later to Mary: "touch me
not, for I am not yet ascended unto my father." (John xx:17.) This is
conclusive evidence that the paradise spoken of was not the enjoyment
of the presence and glory of God. But we are not left in ignorance of
where He did go. He had previously said to His apostles, as recorded
in John v:25, "The hour is coming and now is when the dead shall hear
the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." The object
of this preaching is stated in the fourth chapter, sixth verse, of I
Peter, to be, "For, for this cause was the Gospel preached also to them
that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh,
but live according to God in the spirit."

This Scripture establishes the truth beyond doubt that death does
not perfect people, and dying without obedience to the Gospel does
not relieve them of the impartial obligation placed upon all men to
believe and obey. It also maintains the doctrine of man's free agency
by showing that salvation is only realized when man exercises his own
volition to receive the Gospel, and by education in the knowledge of
God, step by step, becomes prepared to dwell in the glorious presence
of the Father and the Son. With this testimony of the Savior and the
Jewish apostles, the teachings of the Book of Mormon and of the Prophet
Joseph Smith are in perfect harmony.

The sacred record of the Nephites informs us that the spirit which
possesses a man who dies in his sins will have power to possess him in
a future state. The Prophet Joseph, speaking upon this subject, also
said, on April 10, 1842: "If you wish to go where God is, you must
be like God, or possess the principles which God possesses, for, if
we are not drawing towards God in principles, we are going from Him
and drawing towards the devil. A man is saved no faster than he gets
knowledge, for, if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into
captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will
have more knowledge and consequently more power than many men who
are on the earth. Hence, it needs revelation to assist and give us
knowledge of the things of God."

To show still more definitely Christ's mission in the spirit world,
we read from Peter, third chapter, eighteenth verse, as follows: "For
Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust,
that He might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the spirit; by which also He went and preached unto the
spirits in prison; which sometimes were disobedient, when once the
long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah."

We may infer safely that the penitent thief had the privilege of
going to the prison house with the Savior and hearing the Gospel; the
distinction between his situation and that of the antediluvians being
that they had remained in purgatory for hundreds of years, while the
penitent man, who had shown some repentance in the last hour of his
life, may have heard, with but little delay, the Gospel. Whether he had
heard it in life and rejected it we are not informed, and how long he
would remain in the spirit world without realizing its full benefits
we do not know, but the above quotations are ample to disprove the
fallacy of the position taken by those in the religious world who deny
salvation after death.

One objection made by the world to this doctrine is, that offering
salvation after this life destroys the incentive to embrace the Gospel
here and holds out the inducement to indulge in the pleasures of sin,
through people believing that they might be redeemed in a future state
where the pleasures of sin would be less delusive. If we admit, for
the sake of argument, this theory, the evil results following are
incomparably less than would be those which offer salvation to some
and deny it to others, for this amounts virtually to a destruction of
the attributes of justice and mercy which dwell in the bosom of a wise
Creator; but there is another side to this part of the question. We
may illustrate by comparison. If a man obey the law of the land simply
because he fears the penalty of violating the law, you have at once an
individual devoid of love for right and of no strength of character,
a man who is a mere slave to the influences which surround him; or
if you find a being who is willing to pay the penalty of stealing
or committing other crimes, for the pleasure he finds in them, with
the knowledge that when he has served his term in prison he may be
liberated only to steal again, you have a man devoid of character, and
to say that this would be the course of mankind relative to the boon of
eternal life is only to belittle the character of the human family and
strip them of those attributes which come from God their Father. This
mission of the Savior was contemplated by the ancient Jewish prophets.
They, knowing that the atonement of Christ and the principles of the
Gospel must apply to those who lived before His coming as well as to
all who came after, understood that the millions who died without the
Gospel in this life must hear and obey in the life to come. Isaiah
prophesied concerning the mission of the Son of God: "I, the Lord, have
called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep
thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the
Gentiles; to open the blind eyes; to bring out the prisoners from the
prison, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison house." (Isaiah
xlii:6, 7.)

Thus salvation for the dead is a scriptural doctrine. The Gospel is
preached to the spirits in prison. At the same time, it is evident
from all that we learn upon this subject that the ordinances of
baptism, confirmations, sealings, etc., are received by those living
in the flesh, in behalf of those who die without the Gospel in this
world, but receive it in the next. Paul, in the fifteenth chapter of
I. Corinthians, speaking of the resurrection, says: "Else what shall
they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all?
Why are they then baptized for the dead?" While Paul's argument is not
upon the subject of baptism for the dead, why does he thus forcibly
allude to this subject if no such an ordinance belongs to the Gospel?
The theologians of sectarianism have exhausted their ingenuity in a
fruitless effort to mystify or explain away the true meaning of this
passage, for the evident reason that it strikes a deadly blow at their
unjust dogmas respecting the eternal damnation of those who die without
the truth. The plain meaning of the above statement of Paul is that a
living person receives baptism in behalf of those who are dead. This
simple interpretation was adopted by the early writers on Christianity.
Scaliger, Meyer, Erasmus, Calixtus, De Witt, Grotius and others,
counted as good authority, adopted the same view.

Epiphanius, in the fourth century, writing of the Marcionites, makes
use of this language: "A traditional fact concerning them has reached
us, that when any of them had died without baptism, they used to
baptize others in their name, lest in the resurrection they should
suffer punishment as unbaptized."

Another very emphatic evidence that this ordinance was practiced by the
ancient followers of Christ is that the council of Carthage, A. D.,
397, in Canon No. 6, forbids the ordinance of baptism for the dead.
Why would such a decree be issued against this ordinance if it had no
existence in the Church?

Having shown that salvation for the dead is scriptural doctrine,
adopted in theory and practice by the Former-day Saints, let us turn
now to the dispensation of the fullness of times.

We have seen that the mission of Christ to the dead was spoken of by
Isaiah in the forty-second chapter. The same great prophet utters a
prediction in the twenty-fourth chapter as follows: "The earth is also
defiled under the inhabitants thereof, because they have transgressed
the laws, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant."
The context shows clearly that this prophecy refers to the last days,
because it predicts that "the inhabitants of the earth are burned and
but few men left." The term "everlasting covenant" cannot refer to
the Mosaic law, which existed under the lesser priesthood. This law
consisted in the rites and ceremonies of the offering of sacrifice,
pointing to the great sacrifice of the Messiah, and of the law of
carnal commandments, which served, Paul says, as a schoolmaster to
bring them to Christ. The Mosaic law was done away in Him, because he
fulfilled the law. It was not everlasting. Breaking the everlasting
covenant must, therefore, refer to an apostasy from the fullness of the
Gospel as instituted by the Savior.

In connection with this apostasy Isaiah tells us in the same chapter:
"And it shall come to pass in that day that the Lord shall punish the
host of the high ones that are on high and the kings of the earth
upon the earth. And they shall be gathered together as prisoners are
gathered in the pit, and shall be shut up in the prison, and after many
days shall they be visited." In other words, we might say that they
have rejected the Gospel during the Christian era, as the antediluvians
rejected it in the days of Noah; the judgments of God destroyed them
in the flesh, and their spirits were consigned to the prison house
and could not be visited until after many days. Whether the Gospel
dispensations in the spirit would correspond in their divisions of
time to those delivered to men in the flesh, we do not know so far
as preaching to the spirits in prison is concerned; but this much is
evident, that when no Gospel dispensation exists upon the earth, those
in the spirit world, whatever their opportunities to hear, cannot enjoy
the blessings of the Gospel, because no one in the flesh has authority
to receive the ordinances in their behalf. It, therefore, follows that
the haughty ones spoken of by Isaiah could not receive the Gospel
until it should be revealed again from heaven in the latter days; and
to fulfill this prophecy such a revelation must come, comprehending
the keys of a dispensation of the Gospel to the dead as well as to the
living.

Malachi, whose prophecies are the last of those of Jewish prophets
recorded in the Old Testament, in speaking of the great day of the
Lord's second coming and the judgements of God which would precede,
utters the following prediction (Malachi iv:5, 6): "Behold, I will send
you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful