Orson Pratt

“ When there is divine authority in the administration of an ordinance here on the earth, that ordinance is sacred and holy, and is recorded here and in the heavens, and the records of heaven will agree with the records of earth; and by these records and books will mankind be judged. ”

“ We do not need the Lord to interfere in our day; he don't speak anything to the people in the age in which we live; these houses were constructed according to the best plans and architecture we were acquainted with by our wisdom, without any commandment or revelation from the heavens." Very well, then the Lord has nothing to do with them. What I understand by the building of a house of God, is to build one after the pattern that he shall give. I do not mean a pattern that was given in ancient times, but one given to the very people to whom the revelation comes to build a house to his name. ”

“ The Lord our God is a God of law, his house is a house of order; and all blessings, and honor, and glory, and inheritance, that are to be received in the eternal worlds must be according to divine law and divine ordinances, and whosoever complies with the law of heaven has a legal claim in eternity. That which is performed by man, without divine law, however perfect human law may be, has no bearing upon eternity. Man's works are one thing and God's works another. ”

“ Because the people are careless and do not look after the salvation of their dead, do not let their hearts be drawn out after their ancestry, do not seek to perform those ordinances that are necessary for their redemption, that they may be redeemed by law. If we would not be smitten by a curse, let us seek after the redemption of our fathers, as well as of ourselves, for says the Apostle Paul, "they without us can not be made perfect, neither can we without them be made perfect." ”

“ If patents hold certain authority over their children in this life, you will find that such authority, though in higher perfection, is transferred to the eternal worlds, and in that world there is a certain jurisdiction which parents hold over their children through all future ages of eternity. But in order that parents may have their children legitimately under their control, it is necessary that the ordinance of adoption in the house of God should be performed in regard to the children born before their parents entered into the eternal covenant of marriage. ”

“ But we cannot suppose that God is an inconsistent Being. And if we have the opportunity of attending to the ordinance of marriage in the house of the Lord, and of securing certain eternal blessings for ourselves, our ancestors, who are dead, must have a plan devised, adapted to their condition, by which they also may be exalted to the same blessings. But it must be done by law. No haphazard work, no work of chance or confusion, but everything must be accomplished by the laws, ordinances and commandments of the Great Jehovah ”

“ I mean the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, that has a bearing upon eternity as well as time. All who are born before their parents enter that new and everlasting covenant have to be made legitimate heirs. ”

“ For verily I say unto you that after you have had sufficient time to build a house to me, wherein the ordinance of baptizing for the dead belongeth, and for which the same was instituted from before the foundation of the world, your baptisms for your dead cannot be acceptable unto me, for therein are the keys of the holy Priesthood, ordained that you may receive honor and glory. ”

“ Because we have no house of the Lord built. When we have a house built, whether there be property, or inheritance, or union for eternity, or blessings for ourselves, or washings or anointing, or anything that pertains to eternity, it will be given to us by the ordinances of God's holy house, according to law. ”

“ Wake up, then, Latter-day Saints, and prepare yourselves Temples in the places that shall be designated, by the oracles of the Most High God, so that your aged fathers that are in the southern part of the Territory may not be under the necessity of traveling some six hundred miles, back and forth, to attend to the ordinance of baptism for the dead. ”

“ That is an ordinance that cannot be administered after the resurrection; if it is not done until then, it must be done by some person still living in the flesh, for and in behalf of the one who has gone into the spirit world. Those in the spirit world have no claim upon blessings for eternity, unless they are secured while in the flesh. It is so with all the ordinances pertaining to eternity, they must be performed in the flesh, and not in the next life. Hence if an individual is so unfortunate that he fights against a principle, or becomes careless and indifferent ”

“ A blessing bestowed upon men, such as the legitimate heirship to the property of their parents is one thing, and a blessing bestowed by the Eternal Father in the heavens is another. He performs all of his works by law, and he bestows blessings upon his children, by ordinances and by law. It must be secured here in this life, if we secure it at all in our own persons.
It may be said, "I do not understand this principle. What will become of our good fathers and mothers who have gathered up from the nations that were married before they heard this Gospel?" ”

“ The dead will be judged according to men in the flesh, or, in other words, as we shall be judged according to our works in the flesh. When we have been baptized, and it is recorded on the earth, it is for ourselves, and we will be judged by that, and if we are faithful, we shall receive the blessings and glories which the Lord has in store for those who are baptized here and are faithful to the end. ”

“ We may do all that we please for ourselves, and yet if we, through our carelessness and indifference, neglect to seek after the salvation of the dead, the responsibility will be upon our own heads; and the sins of the dead will be answered upon us, because we had the power to act for them, and we were careless and indifferent about using it.
Many more things might be said in relation to the dead, and what is necessary to be done in Temples. It was asked, by one of the speakers, in relation to inheritances, "What man or woman among the Latter-day Saints has an inheritance sealed to them?" ”

“ We know it to be not only an ordinance administered among the various nations according to their civil laws, but know also that it is a religious ordinance, administered by authority from God. If any one wants any proof on this point let him read the 6th verse of the 19th chapter of Matthew. "What God hath joined together let no man put asunder." ”

“ For instance, in the distant settlements of the Territory oftentimes a young man and woman desire to be married. They go and find a justice of the peace, or an Elder of the Church, as the case may be, and he officiates in the ceremony and marries them, somewhat similar to what people are married among the various nations. Does God really accept of this marriage, or does he merely suffer it to be so, for the time being? ”

“ If, while in the flesh, we fail to secure to ourselves the remission of our, sins, and the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost by going down into the water and being baptized for the remission of our sins, by one having authority to administer this ordinance, we can not attend to it in our own persons after the resurrection. ”

“ But is there an individual among us who knows what portion of that great, country he shall receive for his future inheritance, to possess either before or after the resurrection, and after this earth shall have passed away, and all things are made new? ”

“ To say that our fathers and mothers, who were only married for time, must be deprived of a union in the eternal worlds, because of their ignorance of these things, because there was no person having authority to administer to them, would be apparently unjust, and would almost seem to impeach the attributes of Jehovah, if we could suppose such partiality was his design. ”

“ Just as fast as we are able to administer for them, so will the Lord God make manifest, by the manifestation of holy angels in his house, and by the Urim and Thummim, those names that are necessary, of our ancient kindred and friends, that they may be traced back to the time when the Priesthood was on the earth in ancient days. ”

“ When we come to inquire concerning their origin, we find that they were built by uninspired men, that the architecture and everything pertaining to them has been devised by the cunning and wisdom of men. ”

“ The building of Temples of the Lord is promised in his word, for there we read that in the latter days he would have a house built on the earth. I know that in the ears of this generation it will sound very strangely to talk about the Lord having a house built on this globe of ours ”

“ They must have a Temple there, wherein these ordinances may be administered; another here, another in the northern part of the Territory, and multiply them according to the wants of the people; for the work is becoming continually greater and greater, and the Latter-day Saints must wake up to these principles, and not have their minds absorbed with the things of this world, forgetting the great plan of salvation revealed from heaven. ”

“ If they could not be traced back, there would be a great chasm, a broken chain in the genealogies, and it would not be perfect, but when the Lord God comes suddenly to his Temple, he will come to a people who have made themselves perfect by obedience to his commandments. ”

“ We have been here twenty-six years and have only a foundation and a few tier of rock laid towards a house of the Lord. It is true we have a large tabernacle which will contain some fifteen thousand persons when they are closely seated, and the standing room also occupied. ”

“ It seems to be a standing command to the Saints, wherever they may be located, to build a house unto the Lord, wherever there is a stronghold pointed out for the gathering of the Saints, such as Kirtland, Nauvoo, Jackson County, Mo., and other places which are mentioned in revelation. The Lord has commanded his Saints in all these places to do a work, which will be effectually accomplished in due time. They are always commanded to build a house unto the Lord. ”