Chapter 25
The Resurrection-The Universality of the Atonement-The Promises to those who Overcome-The Gospel-Its First Principles-Faith, Repentance, Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost-Its Antiquity-It is Preached in Various Dispensations, from Adam until the Present-The Final Triumph of the Saints.
The great pre-requisites having been fulfilled, it now becomes our duty to enquire what next had to be done to consummate the great object obtainable through the fulfillment of this law, or what was accomplished by the atonement.
First, the Resurrection. The penalty of the broken law in Adam's day was death; and death is passed upon all. The word of the Lord was, "In the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." The atonement made by Jesus Christ brought about the resurrection from the dead, and restored life. And hence Jesus said: "I am the Resurrection and the Life; he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live;" and Jesus Himself became the first fruits of those who slept.
The next question that arises is, how far does this principle extend and to whom is it applicable? It extends to all the human family; to all men of every nation: as it is written:
"For, if by one man's offence death reigneth by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace, and of the gift of righteousness, shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ. Therefore, as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation, even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life." -Romans, v, 17, 18.
This will not all take place at once. "But every man in his own order: Christ, the first fruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming."-1 Cor., xv2 23. "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished."-Rev., xx, 5.
Hence what was lost in Adam was restored in Jesus Christ, so far as all men are concerned in all ages, with some very slight exceptions arising from an abuse of privileges. Transgression of the law brought death upon all the posterity of Adam, the restoration through the atonement restored all the human family to life. "For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." So that whatever was lost by Adam, was restored by Jesus Christ.
The penalty of the transgression of the law was the death of the body. The atonement made by Jesus Christ resulted in the resurrection of the human body. Its scope embraced all peoples, nations and tongues.
"For all my Lord was crucified,
For all, for all my Savior died."
This is one part of the restoration. This is the restoration of the body. The next question for us to examine is, How, and in what manner are men benefitted by the atonement and by the resurrection? In this, that the atonement having restored man to his former position before the Lord, it has placed him in a position and made it possible for him to obtain that exaltation and glory which it would have been impossible for him to have received without it; even to become a son of God by adoption; and being a son then an heir of God, and a joint heir with Jesus Christ; and that, as Christ overcame, He has made it possible, and has placed it within the power of believers in Him, also to overcome; and as He is authorized to inherit His Father's glory which He had with Him before the world was, with His resurrected body, so through the adoption, may we overcome and sit down with Him upon His throne, as He has overcome and has sat down upon His Father's throne. And as he has said, "I and the Father are one," so are the obedient saints one with Him, as He is one with the Father, even as He prayed:
"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; I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them as thou hast loved me."-John, xvii, 21-23.
Being the sons of God through the atonement and adoption, and through faith in Jesus Christ, they rise to the dignity and glory of the Godhead, even to be Gods; as it is promised:
"Him that overcometh, will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.-Rev., iii, 12.
Again, "To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne, even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne."-Rev., iii, 21.
Yet again, "He that overcometh shall inherit all things; and I will be his God, and he shall be my son."-Rev., xxi, 7.
Hence, through His atonement, believers in Christ, and those who obey His law, partake of His glory and exaltation, and are inheritors of the Godhead; whilst those who do not obey His law although resurrected cannot inherit this exaltation; they are raised from the dead, but cannot inherit a celestial glory without being obedient to a celestial law, and thus we come again to a scripture quoted before. Jesus said, "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."
Having noticed the great blessings, privileges, powers and exaltations that are placed within the reach of man, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, it next becomes our duty to enquire what is required of man to place him in possession of them.
That the world might be benefitted through the redemption brought about by Jesus Christ, He called and ordained twelve Apostles, and commanded them to go forth into all the world, and preach the Gospel to every creature, saying, "He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned," or condemned. Thus placing it within the reach of every man to obtain the glory and exaltation referred to above, and leaving all men without excuse who would not obey the law and be subject to the conditions imposed. The penalty of Adam's sin having been removed through the atonement, it now became the privilege of all men, in all nations, to partake of the salvation provided by the great Mediator.
And this provision applies not only to the living, but also to the dead, so that all men who have existed in all ages, who do exist now, or who will exist while the earth shall stand, may be placed upon the same footing, and that all men may have the privilege, living or dead, of accepting the conditions of the great plan of redemption provided by the Father, through the Son, before the world was; and that the justice and mercy of God may be applied to every being, living or dead, that ever has existed, that does now exist, or that ever will exist.
The conditions required of the human family to enable them to obtain the high exaltation which the atonement makes it possible for them to receive, are: First, Faith in God as our Father and the great Supreme Ruler of the universe; in whose hands are the destinies of the human family; in whom we live and move and have our being. And in His Son Jesus Christ, as the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world, as the great Mediator and great propitiatory sacrifice provided by the Father before the creation, and consummated by the offering of Himself upon the cross. For "God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life." Or, to use the words of the Nephite King Benjamin:
"Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."
Or as Paul writes; "He that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him."
The second principle of the Gospel of salvation, is repentance. It is a sincere and godly sorrow for and a forsaking of sin, combined with full purpose of heart to keep God's commandments. As is written by the Prophet Isaiah: "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." And to quote from the Book of Mormon:
"And again: Believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things, see that ye do them."-Mosiah, iv, 10.
Thirdly, Baptism for the remission of sins, of our personal transgressions, which, through this means, provided by divine mercy, are, by reason of the atonement, blotted out. To use the words of Paul: "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."
Next, the reception of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of hands of those who have received the Holy Priesthood, and are duly authorized, ordained, and empowered to impart this blessing: Thus Peter preached on the day of Pentecost:
"Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."-Acts, ii, 38, 39.
These are the introductory or first principles of the everlasting, unchangeable Gospel of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, that is and has been the same to all men, amongst all nations, in all ages, whenever, or wherever it has been taught by the authority of heaven. Hence we read: It was "preached from the beginning, being declared by holy angels, sent from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost. And thus all things were confirmed unto Adam, by an holy ordinance, and the Gospel preached, and a decree sent forth, that it should be in the world, until the end thereof."-Pearl of Great Price.
And in that day "the Lord God called upon men by the Holy Ghost everywhere, and commanded them that they should repent; and as many as believed in the Son, and repented of their sins, should be saved; and as many as believed not and repented not, should be damned; and the words went forth out of the mouth of God in a firm decree; wherefore they must be fulfilled." -Ibid.
This same Gospel was preached to Seth, and to all the antediluvian Patriarchs, and they ministered under its authority. By its power, as we have already shown, Enoch and his people were translated. Of Noah it is written: "And the Lord ordained Noah after his own order, and commanded him that he should go forth and declare his gospel unto the children of men, even as it was given unto Enoch." And further, to quote from the testimony of Noah before the flood: "And it came to pass that Noah continued his preaching unto the people, saying, Hearken, and give heed unto my words; believe and repent of your sins, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers did, and ye shall receive the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things made manifest; and if ye do not this, the floods will come in upon you."
From this we learn that the principles of the Gospel in the first ages of the world were identical with those taught in our day.
The Gospel and the Holy Priesthood continued from Noah to Abraham. "Abraham received the priesthood from Melchizedek, who received it through the lineage of his fathers, even till Noah." (Doc. and Cov., lxxxiv, 14, p. 289.) As Paul writes, "And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the Gospel unto Abraham, saying, "In thee shall all nations be blessed;" whilst Jesus declared, "Abraham saw my day and was glad." The knowledge and practice of the Gospel were perpetuated through Isaac, Jacob, Joseph and other Patriarchs, until the age of Moses, who, it is said, esteemed "the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures in Egypt;" and of the Israelites, of whom he was the great lawgiver, Paul writes:
"Moreover, brethren, I would not that ye should be ignorant how that all our fathers were under the cloud, and all passed through the sea; and were all baptized unto Moses in the cloud and in the sea; and did all eat the same spiritual meat; and did all drink the same spiritual drink: (For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them: and that Rock was Christ.) But with many of them God was not pleased: for they were overthrown in the wilderness."-1 Cor., x, 1-5.
The further history of the Gospel in its relation to the house of Israel is briefly told in the following paragraphs from the Book of Doctrine and Covenants:
"Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God; but they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence, therefore the Lord in his wrath (for his anger was kindled against them) swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his glory. Therefore he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also; and the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel; which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of Aaron among the children of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb; for he was baptized while he was yet in his childhood, and was ordained by the angel of God at the time he was eight days old unto this power, to overthrow the kingdom of the Jews, and to make straight the way of the Lord before the face of his people, to prepare them for the coming of the Lord, in whose hand is given all power."-Sec. lxxxiv, 23-28, p. 290, 291.
It was this same Gospel that the crucified Redeemer commanded His disciples to preach, when "he said unto them, 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. And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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."-Mark, xvi, 15-18.
And Mark testifies: "They went forth, and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs following."
Hence we find on the day of Pentecost, Peter, the senior of the Apostles, in answer to the cry of the believing multitude, "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" replying in the words already quoted: "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins; and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. For the promise is unto you and your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the Lord our God shall call."- Acts, ii, 38, 39.
Again, it was this same everlasting, unalterable, unchangeable Gospel whose restoration to the earth John, the Apostle, spoke of as follows:
"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
From the Bible, we turn to the Book of Mormon, and in its pages discover that the same Gospel which Jesus directed His disciples to go into all the world and preach, was preached on this continent, from the earliest ages. The Jaredites became acquainted with it through the revelations given to the brother of Jared; in one of which Jesus said unto him:
"Behold, I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people. Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind have light and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they shall become my sons and my daughters."-Ether, iii, 14.
"And he ministered unto him, even as he ministered unto the Nephites."-Ether, iii, 18.
The principles of this Gospel were very fully understood by the Nephites before the advent of the Messiah. We quote from a sermon of the younger Alma. He says:
"Now if it had not been for the plan of redemption, which was laid from the foundation of the world, there could have been no resurrection of the dead; but there was a plan of redemption laid, which shall bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, of which has been spoken. And now behold, if it were possible that our first parents could have went forth and partaken of the tree of life, they would have been for ever miserable, having no preparatory state; and thus the plan of redemption would have been frustrated, and the word of God would have been void, taking none effect. But behold, it was not so; but it was appointed unto man that they must die; and after death they must come to judgment; even that same judgment of which we have spoken, which is the end. And after God had appointed that these things should come unto man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning the things whereof he had appointed unto them; therefore he sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of his glory."-Alma, xii, 25-29.
It will be seen from this, in the first place, that, as we have before stated, God's plan in relation to man was that he should fall, and having fallen and obtained a knowledge of good and evil, (which knowledge he could not have obtained without placing himself in that position,) then it became necessary that he should know concerning the atonement and redemption which should be brought about through the mediation of Jesus Christ; and hence the angel communicated, as before related, this knowledge to Adam, and Alma's testimony on this continent is found to agree precisely with the testimony given in the Pearl of Great Price, pertaining to the revelation of God's will through an angel to Adam. We again quote from the same discourse:
"And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore God conversed with men, and made known unto them the plan of redemption, which had been prepared from the foundation of the world; and this he made known unto them according to their faith and repentance, and their holy works; wherefore he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods, knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do evil or to do good; therefore God gave unto them commandments, after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according to the supreme goodness of God. But God did call on men, in the name of his Son, (this being the plan of redemption which was laid,) saying, If ye will repent, and harden not your hearts, then will I have mercy upon you, through mine only begotten Son; therefore, whosoever repenteth, and hardeneth not his heart, he shall have claim on mercy through mine only begotten Son, unto a remission of his sins; and these shall enter into my rest. And whosoever will harden his heart, and will do iniquity,
When Jesus Himself appeared to the Nephites, He preached the same identical principles that He had previously taught to the Jews, adding occasionally further truths, because of the greater faith of the first named people; "And he did expound all things, even from the beginning even until the time he should come in his glory." Amongst other things He said: "Whosoever will hearken unto my words and repenteth, and is baptized, the same shall be saved. Search the prophets, for many there be that testify of these things." -3 Nephi, xxiii, 5.
And it is this same Gospel, attended by the same power and spirit, blessed by the same inspiration, and led by the same Priesthood, that is now being preached to all the world for a witness. Through its principles, and by its power the Kingdom of God will be established, righteousness spread, evil overcome, and Satan be vanquished; by it Zion and the New Jerusalem will be built up, Enoch and his city be received, the work of the Millennium be done, the renovation of the earth accomplished, and all God's glorious will be fulfilled, until the vision becomes a reality which Daniel saw and wrote:
"Behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and they brought him near before him. And there was given him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom, that all people, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away. and his kingdom, that which shall not be destroyed. * * * And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him."-Daniel, vii, 13, 14, 27.