Orson Pratt

“ The redemption made by our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ redeems mankind from the penalty of the original sin, fully and completely and the wicked and the righteous, without any respect of persons, are brought back into his presence, the same as they were before they came from his presence into these fallen bodies. This makes the redemption universal. No person, however wicked, if he be as corrupt a man as ever lived on the earth even a son of perdition, can avoid being brought back into the presence of God, that his redemption may be complete, so far as the original sin is concerned. ”

“ There is quite an anxiety at the present time, about one thing, connected with the resurrection, and that is, will those spirits, whose bodies died here in infancy, when reunited with their infant bodies, remain of that stature through all the ages of eternity? ”

“ By the same power that quickened the eyes of Moses while yet a mortal man; that same power can quicken the eyes of immortality to behold all the creations that the Lord has made, and hence there will be an enlargement of vision in the resurrection.
We might dwell on the enlargement of hearing as well as of vision. Do you suppose that immortal beings depend, for sound, upon the mere vibrations of an atmosphere like ours? This atmosphere only extends about forty-five miles above the surface of the earth. How could beings, away above this atmosphere of ours, communicate sounds to us here? ”

“ When all these spirits were sent forth from the eternal worlds, they were, no doubt, not infants; but when they entered the infant tabernacle, they were under the necessity, the same as our Lord and Savior, of being compressed, or diminished in size so that their spirits could be enclosed in infant tabernacles. If their bodies die in infancy, do their spirits remain infants in stature between death and the resurrection of the body? ”

“ The subject of the resurrection is one that we all are very much interested in; it is something which concerns all mankind, more or less, but especially the Latter-day Saints who are now living on the earth. We all see that our brethren and sisters, as well as the wicked, are passing away, leaving us; they are called upon to lay aside these bodies, which are deposited in the grave. They are passing off by scores, by hundreds and by thousands, and we expect to follow them, that is the most of us. Perhaps some may live until the coming of the Son of Man, or the sounding of the first trump ”

“ The Prophet Moroni, speaking on this subject, and addressing himself to the unbelieving who should live on the earth at the time the Book of Mormon should come forth, says—"You would be more miserable to dwell in the presence of that holy and pure Being than you would to dwell with the damned souls in hell." That is perfectly reasonable; for a wicked person in the presence of God would be a place not adapted to his evil, corrupt, carnal nature. ”

“ And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour, and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled; and the Saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened, and be caught up to meet him. ”

“ This is on page 318 of the Book of Mormon.
"And now I would inquire what becometh of the souls of men from this time of death, to the time appointed for the resurrection? Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise, it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with God, and time only is measured unto men, therefore there is a time appointed unto men, that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a space of time between the time of death and the resurrection. ”

“ The Twelve Apostle, Jesus said, "shall eat and drink at my table, and shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel," showing that the Lord will have a table, and that he will have food upon it, and that they will eat and drink at that table, though they are immortal; but whether it will be necessary in order that their immortality may endure is another question, and we have not time to dwell upon it. Suffice it to say that, even children of mortality, when quickened by the Spirit of God, have often lived for quite a period of time without eating or drinking. ”

“ Herein is the freedom of the righteous, and the victory they obtain, for in the name of Jesus they can command these fallen angels, and they are compelled to yield obedience. But how is it with the wicked? They have not learned to command these evil powers, they have not placed themselves in a position here in this life to do so; they can not cast out devils. Why? Because they are wicked and corrupt, and when they meet with the devil or any of the fallen angels, they are immediately enslaved and brought into captivity to them, and that is the worst kind of slavery ”

“ But I will just mention a few things which we shall enjoy after the resurrection that we do not have here. For instance, we are limited in our vision here, we can see only a few things round about us, and they must be in the immediate neighborhood. We can not see away off to England, or the European countries, and we can not see anything unless it reflects the natural light of the sun or some other luminous body, and sends the light into our eye, and by that means the mind is informed concerning objects outside of us. ”

“ One of the revelations says, that whatsoever is light is spirit, and there are degrees of this spiritual influence that will affect the natural or mortal eye; then there are other degrees more refined, perhaps, which do not affect the mortal eye, but will affect the immortal eye, yet the Lord would be able to touch the eyes of a man like unto Moses or any other man of God, so as to show him every particle of the earth, inside and outside. ”

“ By the quickening power which was bestowed upon him, the brother of Jared beheld all the inhabitants of the earth that had been before his day, all who existed when he existed, and all who would exist even unto the end of the world. ”

“ The spiritual house, for they have not got bodies of flesh and bones yet, the resurrection has not taken place yet, and that spirit, that spiritual body, becomes subject to the devil, and he enters their house, and they are cast out into outer darkness, and are in captivity to the devil, and are his slaves, until the resurrection, when their bodies and spirits will be reunited. ”

“ Notice now, they were created after the same form and fashion, and no doubt attain by growth to similar dimensions as the body of his spirit, without flesh and bones. The expression is, "All men in the beginning"—you were there, all this creation were there; all the inhabitants of the earth who now live, all that have lived, and all that will live in times to come, were all created after the body of his spirit in the beginning before this world was made. ”

“ Do you suppose that the sight of the immortal body will be thus limited to the natural light that shines? No, there are a great many kinds of light besides the light which shines from the sun, moon or stars, or for some artificial light that may be created on the earth. ”

“ Now, if the mortal man can see this, as Moses certainly did, why should we suppose that we will be limited in that state of immortality which all Latter-day Saints expect to enjoy? It is more probable that we shall be able to discern, not only everything pertaining to this little speck of creation which we now inhabit, but also other worlds and what takes place thereon, as easily as that which takes place on our own. ”

“ There are many other things I would like to touch upon in regard the resurrection. We often reflect in our minds upon the capacity and power we shall have after the resurrection, when we are quickened by the celestial spirit? ”

“ These personages who come forth riding upon these beasts are prepared for an hour, for a day, for a month, and for a year; and their work is to slay a third part of the hosts of men then existing upon the earth, and as they are prepared for an hour, a day, a month, and a year, it shows there will be quite a lapse of time between the sounding of the trump of the sixth and seventh angel. ”

“ Anything short of this would be a failure in the redemption of man from the fall. The righteous, after death, are received into a state of rest, peace, and happiness, in Paradise. There they will be free from all care and sorrow, and Satan. will have no power over them. If they should be sent on a mission from Paradise to any part of the dominion of the Almighty to administer, as Jesus administered while his body was in the tomb, evil powers and spirits and fallen angels are subject to their command, and they are not in the least subject to these evil beings. ”

“ In the sections preceding those which I have read, we have an account of certain great events that have not yet transpired, namely, that after the testimonies of the servants of God among the nations comes the testimony of many judgments, which will be poured upon the nations, such as earthquakes, wars, the sea heaving beyond its bounds, and a variety of calamities which shall make the hearts of all the wicked fail them for fear. ”

“ When Enoch was expressing his mind about the greatness of the creations of the Almighty, he said that if a man could number millions of earths like this, and all the separate particles which enter into their composition, it would not be a beginning of those creations, yet, said he to the Lord—"Thou art here, thy bosom is here;" ”

“ That is an old sectarian notion, which we have fought against all the day long, and we do not want it to creep into the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is the privilege of its members to let their minds expand, and to ponder upon the things of God, and to enquire of him, and by and by, when we have prepared ourselves by getting all the knowledge we possibly can from that which is written, God will give us more. ”

“ And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea, who are evil; for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of the Lord; for behold, they choose evil works rather than good ”

“ But by and by the resurrection will come, then these full grown spirits, who have died in infancy here, will again enter into the infant tabernacle, and they will come forth as infants, as they were at the time they laid down their bodies ”

“ And the brother of Jared said, "I saw the finger of the Lord, and I knew not the Lord had flesh and blood." The Lord said—"Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith as thou hast ”