Lycurgus A. Wilson

“ And, again, we saw the terrestrial world, and behold and lo, these are they who are of the terrestrial, whose glory differs from that of the church of the first born, who have received the fullness of the Father, even as that of the moon differs from the sun in the firmament. Behold, these are they who died without law, and also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh. ”

“ As to the continuity of the union between spirit and matter, we quote the words of the Prophet Amulek, recorded in the Book of Mormon:
"Now, behold, I have spoken unto you concerning the death of the mortal body, and also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body. I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body; that is, from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more, their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided, thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal, that they can no more see corruption." ”

“ And again I remember that thou hast said that thou hast loved the world, even unto the laying down of thy life for the world, that thou mightest take it again to prepare a place for the children of men. And now I know that this love which thou hast had for the children of men, is charity; wherefore, except men shall have charity, they cannot inherit that place which thou hast prepared in the mansions of thy Father. ”

“ Certainly a system of such grandeur and comprehensiveness as the Gospel must have within itself the seeds of perpetuity. No catastrophe the mind of man can contemplate would compare with that which would result if all this beautiful fabric should at some time, by any mischance, go to pieces. But the elements not only of continuity but of continuous growth, are in the Gospel, and the wisdom of God shall not be destroyed. ”

“ Herein is the justice of God in His dealings with mankind made manifest; for, in the light of eternity, who should care for worldly honors or a seat among the mighty? The poor and humble have within their reach every facility for advancement that is vouchsafed to any, in this state of probation. Indeed, it would seem that even more opportunity to gain eternal riches is afforded the meek of the earth than is given to those most highly favored of the world. ”

“ Notwithstanding the desire for knowledge, the simplicity of truth has ever entailed upon it an unfriendly reception at the hands of men. It seems to be almost a law of the human mind that our preconceived notions, whether true or false, stand in the way of new ideas, and usually our principal effort is put forth in trying to reconcile a new thought with the old theory, rather than in an endeavor to give to each its proper valuation. And this is preeminently the case in relation to our ideas on the eternal existence of personal, individual intelligences. ”

“ Discussing the necessity for endless time and boundless space, he says:
"That there must be an endless duration and a boundless space, are necessary truths which cannot possibly be conceived to be otherwise than they are. These are necessary truths, whether any being exists to conceive them as such or not. Indeed, if there were no being in existence, the same unalterable and unchangeable necessity would characterize these truths. Endless space and duration cannot be created nor annihilated by any being, but their continuance has been and must be eternal. ”

“ It should be noted here, that the ruling sentiment in the inception of the Gospel was the most unselfish love of the Great God for His fellow-creatures. Not satisfied with His own power, glory and intelligence, He must, by force of His affection for those of lesser estate, formulate a plan by which they might arrive at the same station as Himself. It will not, therefore, be surprising to find that Love occupies a high place among the virtues cultivated by the Gospel. ”

“ The spirit of man, we here learn, must become inseparably connected with element in order to receive the fullness of joy designed for him by the Gospel, therefore, he must take upon him a mortal tabernacle, and, for that reason, after having advanced in intelligence far enough to retain his first estate, he is sent to an earth. Under the Divine plan, a Savior, one who is given power to lay down His life and to take it up again, is provided, to become the first fruits of the resurrection, to open the grave, that the spirit and body may be reunited, nevermore to be separated. ”

“ That while we may speculate upon the multitude of the Lord's creations, we have, except from our observations of the heavens about us, and the meager information vouchsafed us by revelation, no detailed account of any planet but of the earth on which we dwell.
That the earth is on the way to eternal, celestial glory, where it will shine of its own light, in which condition it will be inhabited by celestial beings, not only by mankind, but by the elect of the animal and vegetable kingdoms as well. ”

“ Man finds himself thrust into the world, surrounded by sorrow, injustice and poverty, and, if he contemplates these conditions without knowing the purpose of the Lord in sending him here, he may exclaim with Schopenhauer, "If God made the world, I should not care to be God." But the Gospel testifies to the mercy and wisdom and goodness of the Lord, for in it we learn that the very conditions of which the philosopher complains are designed to develop the attributes for the full growth of which the spirit is given the schooling of mortality. ”

“ Every person, whether consciously or not, gradually builds up, from his observations and reason, a system of philosophy by which he explains, to himself at least, the problems that the new experiences of his life present for solution. It is of great importance, therefore, that, instead of basing one's system of thought upon the contradictory hypotheses of speculative philosophy, we start right, so that our ideas on the questions of life may square with the truth as it is known to the Lord. ”

“ God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory and intelligence which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits. ”

“ We turn now, therefore, to a study of the special end in view under the Gospel plan, in clothing the spirit with mortality.
The purpose of man's existence here is two-fold. One object is manifest from a revelation already quoted, as follows:
"For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receiveth a fullness of joy; and when separated, man cannot receive a fullness of joy." ”

“ From this state of probation I am going to the world of spirits for a season, and later to a reunion with my body, when I shall be given all the glory I am capable of receiving; conditioned always upon my faithfulness to the light the Lord has given me here.
For this is the message of the Gospel to each soul in the world:
Be true to the light God gives you and perform with integrity the work He has assigned you, exercising faith, hope and charity ”

“ Not only has the history of mankind on the earth been outlined from the beginning, but the rewards awaiting them, according to the light they have received and their obedience thereto, have been fixed. For it will be remembered from what was developed under the head of "Covenants of the Gospel," that all who have taken bodies upon the earth in the lineage of Adam, are under the same promise of obedience to "whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them," in their day and generation. ”

“ Hence we infer that God had materials to organize the world out of chaos— chaotic matter, which is element, and in which dwells all the glory. Elements had an existence from the time He had. The pure principles of element are principles which can never be destroyed. ”

“ As it is designed in the Gospel plan for the redemption of the dead, that all men who have arrived at years of accountability and who during their life time here were subject to law, shall have the Priesthood conferred upon them, either in person or by proxy, it will be seen how wide the application of this covenant will extend.
The great covenants pertaining to the Gospel are, accordingly; on the part of the spirits, obedience to whatever law is given them; on the part of the Lord, to those who are the most faithful, a fullness of His glory. ”

“ If the vail were rent today, and the great God, who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, were to make Himself visible,—I say, if you were to see Him today, you would see Him like a man in form. ”

“ We can easily conceive of eternally existing matter, but not so of spirits.
Perhaps an excuse is afforded us in the fact that God is our Father; but no earthly father who understands the Gospel thinks for a moment that his children had no existence until they were begotten by him. He knows they have existed in the spirit world co-equally with himself. ”

“ As we study Herschel's diagram of the group of stars in which we dwell and let the mind contemplate with the astronomer the nebulae, supposed by some to be other groups of stars, much more magnificent than our own, the mind is lost in wonder at the immensity of space and the grandeur of the works of God. ”

“ In the enduring union between the spirits and element, in the eternal nature of the bond entered into by those who receive the Holy Priesthood, and in the never-ending increase of those who properly contract the marriage relation, is manifest, therefore, the wisdom of God in providing for the perpetuity and growth of His dominion, as well as for the exaltation of those spirits who render obedience to the Gospel. ”

“ Superior minds, that is to say, have been sent to the earth, among all peoples, in all ages of the world, to teach, to bring forth new inventions, to give laws, to make discoveries, to establish or to overthrow governments, according to the varying capacities and intelligence and necessities of the peoples among whom they were appointed by the Supreme Head to labor. ”

“ In order to understand the subject of the dead, for the consolation of those who mourn for the loss of their friends, it is necessary that we should understand the character and being of God, and how He came to be so; for I am going to tell you how God came to be God. We have imagined and supposed that God was God from all eternity. ”

“ When we recall the promise made to Abraham, after his advent upon the earth, that through him and his seed should all the children of the earth be blessed; when we see in the history of the world how the seed of Israel has been scattered among all nations; and when we witness the purpose of the Lord, now going forward, to gather into one family under that lineage all the descendants of Adam, this passage and that promise take on peculiar significance. ”

“ Man, therefore, is placed upon the earth to develop spiritually, in faith, in hope and in love, but most of all, as is consonant with the part that sentiment played in the inception of the Gospel, in love. ”

“ The teacher in school, acquainted with the order in which the different powers of the mind develop in childhood, adapts his instructions to the growth in progress at any particular period. While not at all neglecting the general training of the child, he will direct his efforts particularly, at different stages of progress, to the development for example of perception, of imagination, of comparison or reason, in his pupil, as the mind under his charge grows in power. ”

“ Shall spirits who have never heard of this plan of organization be visited by such a being, who shall afterward be in a position to say, "In the beginning I came down into the midst of these spirits, and taught them this same Gospel plan, a new earth was formed, another Adam came upon it, a Savior was provided?" ”

“ The psychologist would trace the desire back to a time before the formation of Kolob, when myriads of eternal, self-existent spirits lived in the midst of boundless space, surrounded by unlimited, indestructible, unorganized matter, in a universal chaos. It may be asked if there ever was such a chaotic condition. So far as the creations of God are concerned, it would appear that there was, for we are informed that Kolob is the "first creation." ”

“ They belong neither to any time, nor sect nor civilization. They are the questions of life. They recur to us at every turn in life, and when life nears its close, the master-thought with studious men is that they shall soon know the answer. ”

“ NATURE.
"But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you."—Book of Moses 1:35.
We come now to consider the fruits of this tree of life, the Gospel, as relates to nature, the environment of man. While we may view with wonder and with awe the marvelous works of God about us in the heavens, sill our interests, as ourselves, are confined to the earth upon which we dwell.
It is true, the Lord has given us some notion of the vastness of His works, of Kolob, "the first creation, nearest the celestial or residence of God ”

“ When the time had arrived for the council in heaven to name a Savior, according to the plan of the Father, to come to the earth in the meridian of time and make possible the resurrection from the dead, there was a rebellion, the account of which gives us an indication of the dividing point in our progress between the first and second estates. ”