John Morgan

“ Baptism for the remission of sins and marriage for eternity, are prominent features of duty that devolve upon man in his second state, or during his existence upon the earth. It is not all of man's duty to care for himself alone, to selfishly neglect his fellow-man, and seek aggrandizement himself at their expense. "Do unto others as ye would that they should do unto you," is called the Golden Rule, by which men should be governed in this life. In brief, man has a work to do to prepare himself for a future exaltation in the eternities to come. ”

“ Very many of those who have gone into the spirit world had never submitted to the ordinance of baptism, while vast numbers of those who had been baptized, had the ordinance administered by persons who had no rightful authority whatever, and whose acts God will not by any means recognize.
They stand in the same position to the "kingdom of God" that a man does, who, as an alien to the government of the United States, has received his papers of citizenship from a man who held no office under government, and, as a consequence, had no authority to confer those rights upon any one. ”

“ Knowing these facts, the life of every good and true man, as was Paul, would be rendered miserable at the thought that so many millions of the human family must irretrievably perish, and be subject to torture throughout all the eternities to come; but understanding the great principle of the mission of our Savior to the prison world, they can rejoice in the fact that the plan of salvation is a complete one. They have hope that, not only in this life, but in the life to come, the gospel will be preached and men be taught its precepts. ”

“ Paul beautifully and aptly expresses the principle in writing to the Corinthians: "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are of all men most miserable" (I. Cor. 15:19) ; but knowing that the gospel would be preached to the spirits in prison, and that untold millions of those who failed to accept the gospel here would do so there, he felt to rejoice in his heart instead of being the most miserable of men. He was fully aware that there was but one way to be saved, "One Lord, one faith, one baptism" (Eph. 4:5) ”

“ To enable a man to perform any work whatever, requires that he have faith in the ultimate result of the work. No farmer would plant unless he expected to reap; no builder build, unless he expected to inhabit; no speculator invest unless he expected to increase his means; no journey would be attempted unless there existed hope of reaching the destination. So, likewise, no commandment of God would be obeyed, unless there existed faith that certain blessings would follow obedience. ”

“ He is called upon to "work out his salvation with fear and trembling," for the work done in this life will have its influence in that to come. By obedience to the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ, he prepares himself for the grand and glorious exaltation held in reserve for those who worship God in "Spirit and in truth." As Jesus said to His apostles, "I go to prepare a place for you," for "in my Father's house are many mansions." ”

“ Not only are the elders of Israel traveling, preaching the gospel, and baptizing the people by the thousand, but the saints are flocking to the temples of the Lord, and redeeming their dead from the grasp of Satan. They are performing a great and mighty work for the human family who have lived upon the earth in different ages of the world's history, and who, in some instances, by revelation, make manifest to their children or friends the fact that they have accepted the gospel in the spirit world. ”

“ It is this: sincerity of belief does not by any means establish the correctness of a principle. Testimony of an unimpeachable character can alone do that. Man's belief does not affect a principle in the least. The whole world may believe it and yet it be untrue; the whole world may refuse to believe it, and yet it be true. The unbelief of the people of Noah's day did not stay the flood; the unbelief of the Jews did not prove Jesus an impostor; and the killing of the apostles did not prove their doctrines false. ”

“ The apostle Paul asserts that they without us could "not be made perfect," or in other words, that their salvation was necessary to our happiness or perfection.
Jesus, speaking to Nicodemus, 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."
"But," asks the reader, "how shall a spirit be born of water, or baptized in water?" ”

“ Here are four principles all classed together, all equally important, all equally necessary, and all required at our hands by those fixed and eternal laws of truth and justice by which the worlds are governed, and by which we may return back into the presence of God, and dwell with the just, the true and the pure of all ages. ”

“ Having described the nature of the duties (to have faith in God and His promises, to repent of his sins, to be baptized for their remission, and to receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost) that he must perform in this life to lay a foundation for future exaltation, we now turn to the consideration of man's FUTURE EXISTENCE.
Upon this subject there is a great diversity of opinion among men, and almost every possible conjecture has, from time to time, held the attention of the human family. ”

“ We gain also the information how we may be instruments in the hands of a wise Creator in doing a work for the dead: "Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? Why are they then baptised for the dead?" (I. Cor. 15:29.)
We here have an explanation as to how their prison doors may be opened, and they set free: by the ordinance of the gospel through the baptism for the dead. Those that are in the flesh can do a vicarious work for their dead, and become "saviors upon Mount Zion." ”

“ If the present generation desire to know what will be the result of their disobedience to the proclamation of the principles of the gospel, and their contending against the servants of God who proclaim them, let them read what Isaiah says: "The earth shall reel to and fro like a drunkard, and shall be removed like a cottage. ”

“ The reader has now examined the fourth step for man's advancement in the probation in which he is now living; and in the words of our Savior, "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber." (John 10:1.)
We have traced man from a pre-existent state, before the world began, when he dwelt in the presence of the Father, and of our elder Brother, Jesus, and mingled with the spirits who have or shall come into this sphere of action. ”

“ 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." (I. Peter 4:5, 6.)
Jesus, upon one occasion, when explaining the gospel to the apostles, said, "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." ”

“ An unembodied spirit is one that has not yet taken upon itself a body. An embodied spirit is one dwelling in the flesh. A disembodied spirit is one that has passed through this stage of existence and laid its body down in the grave, to be finally taken up again united, spirit and body, those of the righteous never more to be separated. ”

“ A wise Creator must have had some great object in view in the creation of the earth, and placing upon it His children, to pass through what they are called upon to, while in this probation. A knowledge of this object is almost positively necessary to enable the human family to act well their part. Let us then examine what He had in view.
The primary object of man's existence upon the earth is to obtain a body of flesh and bone ”

“ If we are to judge by the accepted creeds of the Christian world, we find that an almost universal belief exists in future punishment.
We find, also, that the fear of future punishment is used as a mighty power to influence the minds of the people in a religious sense. ”

“ Again, we find that the apostles must have had some conception of pre-existence, judging from their question to Jesus: "Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" (John 9:2.) It will, doubtless, require no argument to convince the reader that the justice of God would scarcely permit the punishment of the individual before the crime was committed. ”

“ The reader will please be cautious not to confound the principle of fore-ordination with that of predestination, in the case of Jeremiah, for there is a broad distinction between the two. A man may be fore-ordained, set apart or commanded to do a certain work, yet he retains his agency in the matter, and it is optional with him whether he performs the duty assigned him or not. ”

“ How grand and glorious is the plan of salvation that the Creator has ordained for His children, reaching from eternity to eternity, and covering in its details every possible emergency; controlling, guiding and directing their footsteps while in a pre-existent state ”

“ If predestinated to perform a certain work, there would be no choice but to do that work. Not having any choice, he would not incur the responsibility of his own actions, nor control them, but would be controlled by the power which predestined him. ”

“ A man must feel the effects of sickness to enable him to fully appreciate the great boon of health. He must feel the effects of pain, before he can enjoy immunity therefrom. He must feel the influence and power of death, before he can appreciate eternal life. He must comprehend the effects of sin before he can enjoy "the rest promised to the faithful." There are many experiences that he can gain in the flesh that cannot be obtained elsewhere. ”

“ It is necessary also for him to learn, by actual experience, the difference between good and evil. As was said of our first parents, "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil." ”

“ Elijah the prophet having come, and conferred the authority to baptize for the dead, the Latter-day Saints are assiduously engaged in erecting temples, wherein this ordinance may be performed. The object of Elijah's visit having been partially accomplished, in causing the hearts of the fathers, dead and gone, to turn to the children here on earth, the children are feeling after the fathers and seeking to open their prison doors, and to bring them through the door of baptism into the sheep fold. ”

“ If they are true, though he was slain, his followers mobbed, driven and persecuted, yet in the end they will rise triumphant over every obstacle and grow stronger and stronger, as error shall grow weaker and weaker. ”

“ Another opportunity will be given them to hearken unto the truth, but in the meantime, the saints of former and latter days will have advanced in the scale of progression and passed beyond the reach of those who, to-day, reject "the counsel of God against themselves, being not baptized." ”

“ And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. ”