Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1908-02-29

49, 400
without those who have died In tho
| gospel also; for II Is nccessary IN tho
ushsring In OF the dispensation OF the
fulncss OF times. which dispenRation
l. now beginning to usher In, that a
| whole and complete and perfect union,
and welding together OF dispensatlons,
and KEYS, and powers. and glories
should take place, and be revealed from
the days Of Adam even TO tho present
| time"
hrve few extracts from tho
/ prophets sayings. which we do not
| 1nd I'm the Doctrine and Covenants in
regard to the responsibility that rests
! upon us in the saving OF our dead. In
| She Times and Seasons, vol O, page GIG,
the following occurs;
"1he greatest responsibility in this
world that God has laid upon us, Is
| TO seek after our dead. The apostle
says they without US cannot be made
| perfect. Now | will speak of them
| j say to you, Paul. you cannot be per-
| feet without us; Il is necessary that
| those who have gone before, and those
who come after us should have saliva
| ton In common with us, and thus hath
God made It obligatory to man. Hence
God said He would send Elijah"
save our dead--otherwise the earth will
he smitten with a curse and we will
be rejected Of the Lord. How dreadful
II would be, when we stand before the
Judgment seat Of God. to have our
dead relatives come befor us and say:
I'VE did not have the privilege of re-
ceiving the truth when we were ON
the earth and you denied us these or
dnances." How would we feel? Do
YOU think we would feel as II we had
been saved? ! should say not,
Again at the conference OF the
Church held Oct. 3, 1871. the prophet
said:
"Bautism for the dead is the only
way that men can appear es saviors on
Mount Zion. The proclamation of the
first principles Of the gospel was n
means OF salvation 10 mon lndivi1u-
ELY. and II was the truth. not men.
that saved them. but men by actively
engaging in rites of salvation substitu-
tionallv. become Instrumental IN bring
ing multituaes of their Kin into the
Kingdom of God. There Ia n wav
to retcnse the shirt Of the dead that
Is hv the power and suthoritv of the
nrieethood-by binding ana loosing on
cnrth
This doctrine anpears glorious inas-
much as It exhibits the greatness o.
divine compassion. and bcuevoleuce IN
walton. This glorious truth is well
calculated To euIarge the un1orstqnd-
ing. and 70 sustain the soul under trou-
bios difficulties, and distresses.
"This doet~ine No said 'r~cenn's n
. clenr lieht the wisdom and mercy nf
cod in prerarlng an ordinance for the
salvation of 'Ne 9eA1 being tarti5ed
ny proXv theiC names reoorled IN
heaven, and they Indeed according TO
the deeds done IN the body This
doctrine was the burden of the ScriN-
turoe Troea safotq who NEGLECT 1t
n heh9lf NJ their aeceased relatives do
II at the neril NJ their own salvation"
fTines and Seasons, vol. ,. pages 577-
57S)
Hero is ono other uuotqtion from the
orieinal manuscript history Of the
Prophet Joserh Smith IN the Histoti-
hv the prophet to the saints IAN
90 1874;
THE Bible SAYS. 4 will send you
the great and dreadful dav Of the
Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of
tho fathers to the children and the
hearts OF the children to their fathers,
lest come and smite the earth with a
curse
Nov, the word turn here should he
translated: hind or seal, But what is
the object of this important mission?
nr how Is IL TO he fuldllcd2 The KEYS
are to be delivered the spirit of Elijah
is to come, the Rospel to he established,
ne saints of God to be gathered, Zion
built up. and the saints to come UP as
Saviors on Mount Zion
"But how are they to become sa- |
Viors on Mount Zion? BY building
their temples. erecting their baptismal
Fonts, and going forth and receiving all :
the ordinances. bantisms. confirma-
and sealing powers upon their head, in |
behalf OF all their progenitors who are |
dead. and redeem them that they may |
come forth In the first resurrection and |
be exalted to thrones of glory with |
them; and therein Is the chain that |
binds the hearts of the fathers to the |
children.and the children to the fathers |
which fulfls the mission OF Elijah |
And I would to God that this temple |
was now DONE that we might go into |
IT. and go to work and improve our |
time. and make use of the seals while
they are on earth.
THE saints have not too much time to !
save and redeem their dead. and gath
er together their living relatives. that
they may be saved also, before the
earth win be smitten, and the consum-
nation decreed falls upon the world"
Again, on the 18th of May, 1874, the
Prophet Joseph said;
1T is not only rcccssary that you
should be baptized for your dead, but
YOU viii have to go through all the or
dinances for them. same as you have
gene through to save yourselves. There
viii be $4,000 saNiors on Mount Zion,
and with them an innumerable host
that no man can count"
Now the question naturally arises in
our minds, If we will be rejected II
we do not save our dead, what in the
world are we going to do when we can
trace them back only 200 or 800 years.
The Lord expects us to do all we can
no more. He win assist us. and IL we
win try we can do far more than we
think we can. He does not expect US to
do what we cannot do. but He never
does for us what we can do for our
selves. When Joseph Smith was or
1ained to the Aaronic priesthood, in
with Oliver Cowdery--of
course that had TO be done by a heav-
snly messenger. for there was no one
on earth who held the power, but after
that was done, then the angel turned
10 them ana commanded them to or
lain each other Nor did the angel
Daptize them He told them to do
hat; he had done his part. Likewise
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