"And God said, Let us make man in our own image, after our likeness:
and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl
of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over
every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.
"So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he
him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God
said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth,
and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over
the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the
earth." —Gen. iii, 26—28.
In Gen. v, 1, 2, we read, "This is the book of the generations of
Adam. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he
him; Male and female created he them; and blessed them, and called
their name Adam, in the day when they were created."
All mankind feel instinctively that there is a God. I admit that many
people try to reason themselves out of the idea and into a state of
infidelity, or into atheism, but it is very hard for them to do it, or
to satisfy themselves that they are correct when they think they have
done it. And the universal feeling that may be set down to be common
to all nations and people bearing the human form, is that there is a
God; and there is a yearning after him, and a desire to worship him,
however difficult it may be to satisfy themselves of the manner in
which they may worship him acceptably.
On one occasion our Lord and Savior said to the people among whom he
ministered, "Ye worship ye know not what, but we (speaking of himself
and his disciples and followers) know whom we worship, and we speak
the things we have heard of him, and we know what we speak, and yet
you receive not our testimony."
The Jews were in possession of many laws and regulations given to
their fathers, and they were taught the true and the living God, but
darkness covered their minds, and many of them walked in darkness at
noonday, and enjoyed not the true light, as it was in Christ,
pertaining to themselves and to their heavenly Father.
Heathen nations, as they are termed by Christians, have less definite
ideas of their Creator, though all of them entertain the common notion
of the Deity, and seek to worship him, though it may be in a crude
way, and very undefined. Sometimes they are accused of worshipping the
work of their own hands—images made of wood, of stone, iron and brass,
and various other materials, and other nations, tribes and tongues are
accused of worshipping animals of various kinds. They have their
sacred elephants, crocodiles, or other beasts of the earth, whom they
learn either to love or fear and worship, either as "friend" or
"foe."
Yet when we become acquainted with these nations and find out their
inward faith, we find that none of them look upon these as anything
but representations of Deity. They do not see Deity before them, they
do not walk, and talk, and converse, and eat, drink, and sleep with
the being whom they have in their minds as God, but they set up before
them something they can see, to represent him, and as soon as they
begin and rear up before them some representation of Deity—one
representative they consider to be about equal to another, and if it
is the work of men's hands, it is something that corresponds to their
ideas of a Deity, and whether it be in his exact likeness or not they
know not—not having formed a personal acquaintance with him, nor
having any likeness of him, from which they can pattern after—one
image answers as well as another, or one representation as well as
another. But all these are but representations of Deity. And no nation
has been found upon the earth, tribe or tongue, but what have some
mode of worship, or some faith in the Deity, and feel the need of
honoring a superior Being.
This craving of the human heart is universal; and education does not
remove it. It is not confined to barbarous tribes and less cultivated
people. All nations may have their skeptics, and in many enlightened
nations of modern times, there is an evident tendency to infidelity;
yet those who seriously entertain doubts of the existence of a Supreme
Being, are generally those who have a smattering of learning and have
become mad in this particular. The thorough scientist is forced to
recognize the existence of the Great Supreme. They cannot get around
it, or arrive at any other conclusion, than that the great wheel of
nature is moved by an overruling hand, and the regularity and
uniformity that is found in all her laws, are traceable to that
Supreme Being, and unaccountable upon any other principle. It is
almost impossible for them to arrive at any other conclusion, and
where, in the history of the world, is it chronicled of any great
astronomer that he was an infidel? Anyone that has the mind, and
whose researches have enabled him to stretch out and begin to
comprehend and fathom the greatness of the works of creation, that has
not in the most humble and reverential manner acknowledged God? Those
who deny him as I said before, are those that have a partial
education; and a little learning is intoxicating to the brain.
As the great English poet says:
A little learning is a dangerous thing!
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian spring;
Those shallow drafts intoxicate the brain,
And drinking largely sobers us again.
It is those that gain a little knowledge, and begin their researches
in various branches of science, but do not fathom them, who are
bewildered in their imaginations, and they tend to infidelity.
There is a theory in the human mind—I will say with a certain school
of modern philosophers—to satisfy themselves and justify their
infidelity; the bent and tendency of their inclinations is that way.
But it is probable that the crude, undefined devices and erroneous
notions and ideas of modern Christianity touching the Deity leads to
this infidelity, as much as anything else. The advocates of
Christianity are in a great measure to blame. When we begin to scan
the teachings and inquire into the views of the leading divines of
modern times, and examine their articles of faith and their
discipline, the teachings of different Christian denominations on the
subject of the Deity, we do not wonder that the reflecting, careful
thinker, should repudiate their crude notions.
The old Catholic Church, who call themselves the Holy Mother Church,
the English Church and the Lutheran Church, the two most extensive
branches of dissenters from the Catholic Church, and the most of the
lesser Protestant denominations, all declare to their followers that
God is a spirit, without body, parts and passions. Some leave off the
word passions, but they all say he is without body, or parts; and when
they attempt to locate him, they locate him nowhere. His center is
everywhere his circumference is nowhere. His form may be best
described in the quaint language of Parley P. Pratt, "A footless
stocking without a leg," sitting upon the top of a topless throne, far
beyond the bounds of time and space; that heavenly unknown place that
some crazy poet sung about. And we are asked to believe in, render
obedience to and worship this being. The careful thinker says, "I
cannot; it is impossible for me to believe in a being that has neither
body, parts nor passions, and that is located nowhere; I cannot
conceive of him." The elaborate thinker says, "I cannot conceive of
any such being, nor can anybody else conceive of him. It is not within
the sphere and range of our comprehension." It is simply nothing at
all; and in the exercise of his reasoning faculties, he chooses to
disbelieve in their dogmas, and is set down by them as an infidel. Yet
the true philosopher is not an infidel. He is only infidel to those
vague ideas and theories that are in themselves monstrosities. Yet in
the absence of true religious teaching, and being taught by the
Christian world that the Scriptures do not mean what they say, and
must be taken in some mysterious sense, they come to the conclusion
that they do not know anything about the true character of the Deity,
and it is not their province to teach him, only as they learn to know
him in scanning his works. But in scanning his works we learn that he
is a Being of order and law, and that all things are governed by law.
Whether the minutest atoms that are examined under powerful glasses in
the molecular world, that are scrutinized by the aid of the
microscope, or whether we study the works of God in the vast
unnumbered worlds that are rolling in the midst of the power of God,
we find the same order. "All things are governed by law."
If we study physiology or anatomy, we are led to exclaim with the
Psalmist of old, "I am fearfully and wonderfully made," and see a
beautiful harmony in all the parts, and a most exquisite design. This
is proven by an examination of the various parts of the human form.
And every organ adapted to its special use, and for its special pur pose, and combining a whole, a grand union—a little kingdom
composed of many kingdoms, united and constituting the grand whole,
the being we call man, but which in the language of these Scriptures
was called Adam—male and female created he them, and called their name
Adam, which in the original, in which these Scriptures were written by
Moses, signifies "the first man." There was no effort at
distinguishing between the one half and the other, and calling one man
and the other woman. This was an after distinction, but the
explanation of it is—one man, one being, and he called their name
Adam. But he created them male and female, for they were one, and he
says not unto the woman multiply, and to the man multiply, but he says
unto them, multiply and reproduce your species, and replenish the
earth. He speaks unto them as belonging together, as constituting one
being, and as organized in his image and after his likeness. And the
Apostle Paul, treating upon this subject in the same way, says that
man was created in the likeness of God, and after the express image of
his person. John, the Apostle, in writing the history of Jesus, speaks
in the same way; that Jesus was in the likeness of his Father, and
express image of his person. And if the revelations that God has made
of himself to man, agree and harmonize upon this theory, and if
mankind would be more believing, and accept the simple, plain, clear
definition of Deity, and description of himself which he has given us,
instead of hunting for some great mystery, and seeking to find out God
where he is not and as he is not, we all might understand him. There
is no great mystery about it; no more mystery about it than there is
about ourselves, and our own relationship to our father and mother,
and the relationship of our own children to us. That which we see
before our eyes, and which we are experiencing from time to time, day
to day, and year to year, is an exemplification of Deity.
"What," says one, "do you mean we should understand that Deity
consists of man and woman?" Most certainly I do. If I believe
anything that God has ever said about himself, and anything pertaining
to the creation and organization of man upon the earth, I must believe
that Deity consists of man and woman. Now this is simplifying it down
to our understanding, and the great Christian world will be ready to
open their mouths and cry, "Blasphemy! Sacrilege!" Open wide their
eyes and wide their mouths in the utmost astonishment. What! God a man
and woman? The Shakers say he was, and Ann Lee says, "Christ came in
the form of a man in the first place, and now comes in the form of a
woman," and she was that form.
Then these Christians—they say he has no form, neither body, parts nor
passions. One party says he is a man, and the other says he is a
woman. I say he is both. How do you know? I only repeat what he says
of himself; that he created man in the image of God, male and female
created he them, and he called their name Adam, which signifies in
Hebrew, the first man. So that the beings we call Adam and Eve were
the first man placed here on this earth, and their name was Adam, and
they were the express image of God. Now, if anybody is disposed to say
that the woman is in the likeness of God and that the man was not, and
if vice versa, I say you are both wrong, or else God has not told us
the truth.
I sometimes illustrate this matter by taking up a pair of shears, if I
have one, but then you all know they are composed of two halves, but
they are necessarily parts, one of another, and to perform their work
for each other, as designed, they belong together, and neither one of
them is fitted for the accomplishment of their works alone. And for
this reason says St. Paul, "the man is not without the woman, nor the
woman without the man in the Lord." In other words, there can be no
God except he is composed of the man and woman united, and there is
not in all the eternities that exist, nor ever will be, a God in any
other way. I have another description: There never was a God, and
there never will be in all eternities, except they are made of these
two component parts; a man and a woman; the male and the female. Some
of those who are disposed to cavil will say, how will you explain the
idea of a plurality in the female department? Here opens a subject
involving philosophy and the philosophical propagation of our species,
and it involves the great principles of virtue, and the laws that
govern, or should govern through all eternity the commerce of the
sexes; and the more they are scanned in the light of true philosophy
and revelation, the more it will be proven that the superior wisdom of
Jehovah has ordained that in the higher type of the Godhead, they are
not limited in their union of the sexes; I refer to the female
principle. On the other hand all the laws governing the commerce of
the sexes, and the results flowing from them in the procreation of our
species, show that the violation of the laws that God has ordained to
govern and control the commerce of the sexes, produces disease, death
and deteri oration of the human family; deteriorates the vital power
and physical strength and longevity, and tends to weaken, lessen and
destroy the human race, instead of building up, and sustaining and
strengthening; while on the other hand, the strictly confining of a
woman to one husband, tends to all that is lovely, to family
organization and government, and the classification of human beings in
groups, in families and kingdoms, tends to increase the vital powers,
endurance and long life; and in every sense accomplishes the great
object of creation.
There is a theory put forth by Mr. Darwin, and others, that is the
school of modern philosophers, which is termed in late years, the
theory of Evolution, that man in our present state upon the earth, is
but the sequence and outgrowth of steady advancement from the lowest
order of creation, till the present type of man, and that we have
advanced step by step from the lowest order of creation till at last
man has been formed upon the earth in our present sphere of action; in
short, that our great-grandfathers were apes and monkeys. And how much
satisfaction these philosophers have in the contemplation of their
grandfather monkeys, we are left to conjecture; but such are the
theories put forth by some of our modern philosophers. But we find
nothing on the earth, or in the earth, nor under the earth, that
indicates that any of these monkeys or apes, or any other orders of
creation below man have ever accomplished any great exploits. So far
as the history of this earth is known, whether written or unwritten,
or whether written in volumes of books, whether engraven upon metallic
plates, or whether found impressed in rocks, neither geologists, nor
any other scientists have ever been able to show us any great
exploits of any of these inferior grades of being to indicate that
there was any such vitality in them, as to develop in their future
progress, the present order of beings we call man. But if there is any
truth in the history given us by Moses, this being we call man, is only
God in embryo. And Moses tells us that the Creator conversed with this
man whom he called Adam, consisting of male and female. He conversed
with them, showed himself to them, spoke with them at different times,
gave them instructions, gave them his law, visited them repeatedly in
their new home, in the place we call the Garden of Eden, the garden
that the Lord planted for man—eastward in Eden. And after he was
driven out from the face of his Creator, from the Garden, and the veil
was drawn between him and his Creator, yet from time to time God was
wont to draw aside that veil and show himself, and we not only find
that Adam and Eve had frequent intercourse with their Creator and
talked with him personally as we talk with our children and they with
us; but we find many of Adam's descendants obtained like privileges of
seeing their Creator, and speaking with him, receiving instructions
from him. Enoch, the seventh from Adam, it was said walked with God,
and enjoyed this privilege for three hundred years. From time to time
the veil was drawn aside, and whenever he desired, and it was
expedient to receive instructions and counsels from his Father and
Creator he enjoyed this privilege, and the Father came and showed
himself to him and spoke with him. The same may be said of Noah and of
Abraham, who conversed with him, and the Scriptures tell us,
furthermore, that Abraham killed the fatted calf, and prepared savory
meat for a meal, and set before him and he ate with him.
Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, the
Scriptures tell us; and she bare record of it, and there were many
witnesses of this fact, and the record teaches us that he was begotten
by the power of God, and not of man, and that she had no intercourse
with mortal man in the flesh until after she gave birth to the Savior,
who is called the Son of God. I will also say that Adam was called the
Son of God.
Matthew, in giving the genealogy of Jesus Christ, traces it back from
his mother, through the lineage of the fathers, back to David, from
David to Abraham, from Abraham to Noah, and Noah to Adam; when he gets
back to Adam he says, "Which was the Son of God." But Jesus was
begotten by the power of God and not by a mortal in the flesh. And the New
Testament tells us that God sent his angel to visit this beautiful
Virgin Mary, and to make known unto her that she was chosen of the
Lord to be the Mother of Jesus who should be the Savior of this
people. And the messenger or the angel sent to her was designed to
prepare her mind, her heart and her faith for this great work unto
which the Lord had chosen her. And he said unto her, "The Holy Ghost
shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee,
and therefore that Holy Thing that shall be born of thee shall be
called the Son of God." This Jesus, therefore, partook of this divine
nature; he partook also of the human, the mortal, through the mother.
And because he had partaken of the human—the mortal through the
another, he became subject unto death, the same as all other mortal
beings; for death passed upon our first parents, Adam and Eve, through
their partaking of the fruits of the earth, their systems
became infected by it, and the blood formed in their veins, and
composed of the elements of the earth, which they partook, and these
contain the seeds of dissolution and decay. And this blood,
circulating in their veins, which was made up of the fruits of the
earth—those things of which they partook—that formed their flesh, and
made the deposits that constituted their muscle, and their bones,
arteries and nerves, and every part of the body, became mortal and
this circulating fluid in their systems produced friction which
ultimately wore out the machinery of their organism, and brought it to
decay, that it became no longer tenable for their spirits to inhabit,
and death ensued; and this was the decree of the Father, "In the day
you partake of this fruit, you shall die." But this death was the
death of the mortal, and not the immortal. The dissolution of the
mortal tabernacle, which was the outer covering of their spirit. As I
said, man was created, male and female, and two principles are blended
in one; and the man is not without the woman nor the woman without the
man in the Lord; and there is no Lord, there is no God in which the
two principles are not blended, nor can be; and we may never hope to
attain unto the eternal power and the Godhead upon any other
principle. Not only so, but this Godhead composing two parts, male and
female, is also composed of two elements, spiritual and temporal. Or
in other words, two organisms; the one capable of dwelling within the
other. The spirit dwelling within the outer tabernacle, answering to
the spirit what our clothing answers to this body, as a covering and
shield and protection. The spirit is also an element. It is not an
im material nothing as some imagine. We read about material and
immaterial things, and such terms are used by men for the want of more
suitable language to correctly represent ideas; but in truth there is
no such thing as immaterial substance. Though we are told that God is
an immaterial substance, and you read the philosophic descriptions of
the Deity by some of these learned divines, and it is all simmered
down to an immateriality or nothing at all. But there is no such thing
as immaterial substance in the strict sense of the word; and
immateriality when rigidly defined is another definition for nothing
at all. But we use these terms only comparatively to compare one thing
with another, and we say that one thing is material because we can
touch it with these hands, and we can handle it with these mortal
bodies, we can see it with these mortal eyes, and it is visible to the
sight, touch and so on, and hence we call it material; and what is not
visible to these natural eyes, and what these coarse hands cannot
feel, we call that immaterial or intangible; but these are only
comparative terms.
If the veil were drawn aside, and we could see the spirits of those
that once have lived here in the flesh, and that have passed behind
the veil, or have been separated from their tabernacles, and now exist
in the spirit world, if the veil was drawn aside and we could see
them, if this second sight, this spiritual sight was enjoyed by us,
that we could look through the eyes of our spirits instead of through
the eyes of our earthly tabernacles, and could see these spirits and
converse with them, we should find we could talk with them, and we
would not talk through the organs of speech either. We could talk
through other organs. This tabernacle may be upon the couch,
the eyes closed, and all the sensibilities of the tabernacle suspended
for the time being, and yet the organism of life may be kept up by the
circulation of the blood, and the motion of the heart, the machinery
of our organism may be kept in motion, and for the time being, kept
from decay and dissolution, while the spirit is conversing with
spirits. This some call a trance. In the scriptures, and other places
it is called a vision. It is simply the spirit within us enjoying a
higher privilege of conversing with spirits, seeing spiritual things
and conversing with spirits or immortal beings; but they neither
converse through these organs of speech, nor see through these natural
eyes, but they see through the eyes of their spirit, and converse with
the organs of speech that belong to the spirit, and if the spirits of
men did not possess the faculties and power of communication, and
conversing and carrying on conversation with each other before they
came into this tabernacle they never would speak in this tabernacle.
This is only an art; this art of speech—this power of sight—of
hearing. Speech is not something peculiar to the tabernacle and
belonging to this tabernacle. It belongs to the spirit, and the spirit
teaches the tabernacle; and the spirit makes use of the tabernacle.
When once it finds itself embodied in this tabernacle, it begins to
use the fingers and hands of the tabernacle, and makes these its
servants. The moment it is separated this tabernacle lies senseless.
It has mouth and teeth and tongue and organs of speech, but it cannot
use them. It has eyes, but it cannot see. It has ears but it cannot
hear, and it has no power of using these organs. It cannot set itself
in mo tion, it cannot keep itself in motion; it is the spirit that does
all this. And when the spirit is separated from the tabernacle it
still retains the power of seeing, hearing, feeling, tasting, smelling
and conversing; but the tabernacle loses all these powers, the moment
the spirit takes its departure.
Now what is this spirit? Is it an immaterial substance? No? As I said
before, that is only another definition of nothing at all. It is a
being precisely as we are seen here today; and if you ask, "How does
brother Snow's spirit look when it is disembodied?" Why, you just
look at me now, and you can answer the question. How does the spirit
of my wife look? Why, just look at her and see. And if we were both
disembodied at the same instant, we should scarcely know that we were
changed any more than we would if we both started out of the door at
the same instant and found ourselves outside, looking at each other,
and do not see very much difference between us than what there was
when we were both inside the house. Whether inside or out of it, we
are the same beings. Conversing together? Yes. Looking at each other?
Yes. The same features exactly. Our tabernacles are formed for our
spirits, yes, expressly for our spirits. But why were they not all
made alike? Why were they not all made just six feet high? And why
were they not all, in every respect, all the same length; limbs,
likeness, the same; the same length of an arm? You may just as well
ask the tailor, "Why do you make different sized coats and pants?" And
say to the milliner also, "Why do you make different sizes of dresses
and other garments?" And their answer is, because I have so many
different persons to fit, and I make the garment to fit the
person. And that is the answer concerning the tabernacles. They are
made to fit the spirits. I say, therefore, that God not only includes
within himself the male and female principle, the same as man does,
but it also includes the two elements which we call spirit and
tabernacle, and these are only comparative terms, to illustrate in a
crude way the idea of the two principles, the spirit being of finer
material, possessing greater intelligence, more fully developed, and
organized for greater and more glorious works.
Now touching the doctrine of mortality and immortality. Says one,
"What is mortal and what is immortal?" These are only comparative
terms, again; the same as we use temporal and eternal. Time means
temporal—short lived. Immortal means that which reaches forward into
eternity? And what is eternity? Why it is another term which we use—a
comparative term to measure time, and we say time and eternity. And
then the scriptures use other terms, eternities, and from eternity to
eternity; while these are only so many definitions, or divisions of
duration. But the scriptures tell us that time only is measured to
man, that is to say, time as a term is used in reference to the short
period belonging to mortality, while eternity is used in the measure
of the time of the Gods, from one period to another, and the vastness
of eternity none can comprehend. It is illustrated by Abraham, by the
figure of a ring. He marks a round ring to give an illustration of his
views of eternity. You may start anywhere on that ring and undertake
to find the end, and you cannot, for it has none. You may have a
starting point any place on the ring, but you cannot have any stopping
place, and so the Scriptures in another place, more expressly use the
term, that the course of God is an eternal round, and therefore it is
called eternity. But this course of God being "one eternal round," is
marvelous in our eyes, and who can comprehend it? But we see, yes, we
see right before us today, his image, man—male and female.
The first pair placed here was on a farm he had prepared for them; an
earth he had organized for them, and where he gave them dominion as
gods over it, as rulers over the earth and all things therein.
Lucifer, who fell from heaven, when these evil spirits we read of
rebelled against God the Father, and his angels that fell with him,
set about the opposition of this earth and to wrest the dominion from
Adam, and he has been trying it ever since, from the beginning till
the present, to wrest the dominion of this earth from Adam and his
posterity, and the only means by which he expects or hopes to
accomplish it is, in short, to take possession of the tabernacles of
Adam, which means a man and his wife—male and female, whom he called
Adam, and rule the earth, and make the earth and the fullness thereof
his servants. He has sought to do this, but he will not accomplish
that evil design, for the Father has provided a way of thwarting him.
The Savior will displace him. The name of Jesus has power over all
these evil spirits, Lucifer and all the hosts of hell who are cast
down to the earth, and have set up their abode in the tabernacles of
men, and in many instances they have succeeded. They do not altogether
get possession of the tabernacles of men, only in isolated cases.
There are cases in which it seems that these spirits so far control
the taber nacles of men as to find the natural spirit that owns
these tabernacles and suspend the operations of their functions, and
usurp the control of the functions of the body, and make these organs
of speech speak the language of devils, and make these tabernacles
perform the wicked works of the evil one; while the spirit that owns,
and should control this tabernacle, is bound, as it were, hand and
foot; and where these powers and functions are thus suspended in these
isolated cases, we call them maniacs, because their natural powers are
suspended, and they are under the dominion of devils. But others, and
this embraces all of us, are more or less influenced by evil spirits,
that prompt and lead to passions, and the lusts of the flesh; and to
do many things in violation of the true laws of life and health, and
of peace and glory and exaltation, and these evils to which we are
prompted through the influence of these spirits are designed, little
by little, to bring us into bondage, to sin and death, and to him who
has the power of death, which is the devil.
Now the term devil we use also as a term representing a power that is
at the head of the rebellion against God our Father. A power that
stands at the head of that organized rebellion. A power that governs
all evil spirits. He is called in the Scriptures that old Serpent, the
devil, and Satan, and Lucifer, and a variety of names. These are
applied to him, and all representing the chief power over that
organized rebellion, that governs and controls these evil spirits, and
that power holds the power of death over mortality, and over man in
the flesh. And why and how do they obtain that power? I have said by
influencing the parents in the first place, and then by influencing
their poste rity after them, and violating the laws of their being, and
thereby subjecting themselves to dissolution and death. The form of
this organism does not necessarily imply dissolution and death. It is
only the materials that enter into it that implies this, and that
brings it about. The seeds of dissolution and decay are planted here,
as I said, through the influence of this evil one leading us to
violate the laws of our being, and which brings death in its train.
The Father, in his economy, has foreseen this, and has provided a way
of escape, provided a deliverance. He has provided the resurrection, a
period when the spirits which are unclothed in death when the natural
death comes, and which is the separation of the spirit from the
tabernacle, when this natural death comes which unclothes this spirit,
and leaves it in its native state unclothed, he has appointed a time
when it shall be clothed upon the second time, and then in
immortality, with tabernacles incorruptible, undefiled, that fadeth
not away. And this is the second clothing; this is immortal. This
incorruptible is free from the coarser elements that enter into these
mortal tabernacles, and free from these seeds of dissolution and
decay, and those things that wear out, and destroy this tabernacle,
that perish with their using. Herein then is life. We eat and drink
and live, and yet that very eating and drinking destroys us. We
partake of the fruits and elements of the earth, and that build up
these mortal tabernacles, and when they have been built up to a
certain stage, the very process by which we build them up destroys
them again, and they perish with the using. They are worn out in the
objects for which they are created. Just like our clothing, boots, and
shoes, and hats, do they perish with their using. Not so with
the immortal; the spirit is clothed upon with the immortal tabernacle.
Is it like the mortal? Yes; and yet unlike, like so far as the form is
concerned; the form and organism constituted to the spirit, and to the
labor which has to be performed throughout eternity; but not composed
of perishable materials. That immortal tabernacle, that incorruptible,
will have no blood circulating in its veins. That is free from the
gross elements of this earth, from the fruits of this earth, from the
grains and vegetables of this earth.
We have a sample of this immortal in our Lord Jesus Christ. He was
raised from the dead after he had lain in the tomb for three days. We
are told in the Scriptures that he was quickened by the power of the
Father, who raised him from the dead; and he looked as he did when he
perished, his features were the same. He showed himself to his
disciples after his resurrection, on numerous occasions. First, he
showed himself to Mary, near the tomb where he was raised. When Mary
came to the tomb at early dawn, she saw two angels by the tomb, and
they said unto her, "whom seek ye?" (Of course they knew whom she
sought, but they spoke to draw her out), and she, supposing them to be
the guards, in the grey dawn of the morning looked in the door of the
tomb, and saw he was gone. There was the winding sheet, and the napkin
that had been about his head neatly folded and laid down, but no Jesus
was there, and in her disappointment and grief, she turned to go away,
and saw two men which were supposed to be the guards, and said, "If
you have borne him hence, tell me I pray you where you have lain him."
They replied, "Jesus has risen; as he said unto you when he was
living; go and tell his disciples that he is risen" and as she turned
to go away Jesus was by her. She met him, saw that he looked just as
he did when he died, and she recognized him instantly. And as she made
the motion towards him, as if she would seize him by his feet and
worship him; says he, "Touch me not, I have not yet ascended to my
Father, I have just risen, I must go and report myself to my Father,
and then I will come and visit you, but you cannot touch me yet. But
go and tell my disciples I go before them into Galilee, as I promised
them, and I will go to my Father." After a little he showed himself to
his disciples. He appeared to two of them the same afternoon, as they
were journeying out of the village, a few miles out of the city,
talking and conversing with them by the way side, and discovered
himself to them in the act of breaking bread. Then he departed from
them. The next time he appeared unto eleven of the disciples as they
were gathered together in a room, and instructed them. But Thomas
called Didymus was not present, and when these told him that they had
seen the Lord he could not believe it, he says, "I must not only see
him myself before I believe, but I must feel the prints of his wounds,
where the nails were driven through his hands and feet, thrust my
hands in his side, and feel the hole that was made by the spear when
the soldiers thrust it into his side, and drew out his heart's blood.
Unless I can do this I will not believe." So the next time the
disciples were together, and Thomas was with them, Jesus came into
their midst and showed himself to them again, and the first thing he
said was, "Thomas, come here, stick your fingers in the holes in my
hands, thrust your hands into my side, feel the wound as it
was made by the spear in my side, feel the print of the nails in my
hands and feet, and doubt not but be believing." Not a word had been
said, but Jesus heard his words, and knew the thoughts of his heart,
and it took him unexpectedly. Now come, come said he, "Now apply the
test you demand. Feel the print of the nails in my hands and feet, and
thrust your hands into my side, and doubt not but be believing."
Thomas saw that the thoughts of his heart were known and heard, and
the words of his mouth were known and read, and he at once exclaimed,
"Lord! It is enough." Well, says Jesus, "Thomas, you believe now that
you have seen, but blessed are those who shall believe and have not
seen."
I know there is a great many think that they must show their great
strength of mind by doing as Thomas did, and swear that they won't
believe anything till they see it; but Jesus says, "Thomas, you
believe now you have seen, but blessed are those who believe and have
not seen."
Now, the first time Jesus appeared to his disciples they thought it
was a spirit that had appeared to them, and to show them that he had
his tabernacle with him, he says, Bring me something to eat, and I
will prove to you that there is something more than spirit in me.
"What have you to eat?" And they answered, "we have got some fish here
and some honey." "Bring me some fish and honeycomb." And he took
some
of the fish and some honey and ate it before them. Now, says he, "be
believing; the spirit has not flesh and bones as ye see me have."
Here was an immortal being raised from the dead. In what did that
tabernacle differ from the mortal tabernacle? Was there a change
wrought upon it? Had it the same eyes in its sockets, same tongue in
its head, same hands and feet, with the same holes made by driving the
nails through them, the same hole made in its side by the spear that
was run into it? Says he, "spirit has not flesh and bones as you see
me have," and he used the same teeth, the same organs, and ate before
them, and showed them that there was his tabernacle. Then wherein did
he differ from the mortal tabernacle? I answer, the blood was spilled,
and that the purpose of the Father might be accomplished, he caused
the soldiers to run the spear into his vitals that they might draw out
the last drop of his heart's blood. And when he was raised from the
dead he was quickened by the spirit, by the spirit and power of the
Father, and the life that was in him was not the life infused by the
circulation of the blood, it was not that that kept the machinery of
this organism in motion, it was the element called spirit. And this is
the essential difference between the mortal and immortal.
As I said, a union of two principles—the refined element that is
organized into spirit, and the grosser element we call tabernacle,
organized as an outer clothing, the two united and blended together,
and the two principles, male and female, united. And for what purpose?
Why, we see here, for the purpose of procreation; for the purpose of
endless increase, and the building up, and enlarging, and extending
the kingdoms and dominions of eternity. Else why are all these vast
creations, the shining orbs, that indicate to feeble man on this lower
earth the existence of these glorified worlds! Why all this if there
were not the works of the Gods of eternity going on, and that
continually? And the need and extent thereof, none can tell;
and to use the language of Enoch, the seventh from Adam, said he, "If
the particles of this earth were numbered, and millions of earths like
this, it would scarcely be a beginning to the number of thy creations,
and thy hand is over them all." And this is the object we worship.
And, notwithstanding the Apostle Paul says, "There are Lords many and
Gods many, yet" said he, "unto us there is but one God, even the
Father of our Lord Jesus Christ," and that is enough for us. And we
may say to every child, though there are fathers many and mothers
many, but to you there is but one, and that is enough, that is enough
for you. Honor your father and your mother, and let your father and
mother honor their father and mother, and this is the chain of the
Priesthood, and power let down from the eternities to man on the
earth. And may God enable us to grow in this chain, and climb higher
and higher, onward and upward, and work ourselves up to the eternal
power and godhead. I repeat to you what the Apostle Paul said to the
Ephesians, in his epistle to them; says he, "Brethren, let the same
mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus, who, when he found himself in
the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with him." But,
says the narrow-minded bigot sectarian, What blasphemy! for man, in
the form of God, to aspire to be equal with him! That is precisely the
exhortation of St. Paul to his former-day Saints. Shall we continue in
the estimation of Jesus for applying the same truth to us, or using
the same exhortation that Paul did to his brethren? And St. Paul
understood what he declared, and he wished to instil this same faith
and feeling in numbers of his brethren, and cherish the same feeling,
hope and aspiration, and labor and aspire to rise up and become one
with God, because, says he, "You are his image, and you are his." Why?
We may aspire to be equal with him, and that is not robbery. Yes,
Jesus, who found himself in the form of God, thought it not robbery to
become equal with him. How can that be? I ask if any son robs his
father if he grows up to became equal with him; attains to all the
perfections of his father; attains to all knowledge, all wisdom, all
understanding, all power, and performs as great works as his father
performed? Did he rob his father of anything? Has his father lost
anything because the son has attained to the same greatness, glory and
perfection? No! The Scriptures tells us that God, in bestowing
blessings, loses nothing. In giving it does not impoverish him, and in
withholding it does not enrich him. He can impart light, truth,
knowledge, power, wisdom, understanding, ability, lift up and exalt
his creatures, and make them like unto himself, and instead of losing
anything he is greatly enriching himself. He is enlarging and
extending his dominions, he is multiplying his kingdoms, and his
offsprings, over which he is extending his benign influence, and
blessings, and glory, and honor, forever and ever. Then, says the
Apostle Paul, Why your narrow-mindedness? Let the same mind be in you
that was in Christ, who, finding himself in the form of God, thought
it not robbery to become equal with him, growing up unto Christ, our
living head, and that is the object of the organization of the
Priesthood on the earth, and the classification, and organization of
the Church of Christ upon the earth. It is not to exclude and send
down to damnation, to hell, everybody that does not subscribe to our
ideas and beliefs in an instant, nor in a day, week, month, nor a
year, nor in this short life time; but it is to gather out
men and women, and locate and organize them, and classify them
together, and instruct them, and lead them on and inspire them with
faith, and build them up, and teach them the laws of life and health,
and lift them up that they may exercise faith, and lay hold upon the
promises of God and climb up upon this chain that is laid down from
the Gods of eternity to their children on earth. Climbing by this
chain till they are built up in Christ, our living head, and become
one with Christ Jesus, for, says the Apostle Paul, We are heirs of God
and joint heirs with Jesus Christ.
Now, again, that same Paul says, in the same epistle to the Ephesians,
that Christ set in his Church first Apostles, secondly Prophets, and
thirdly Evangelists, Pastors, and Teachers, and gifts and healings.
All these hath he placed in his Church for the perfecting of the
Saints, and for the work of the ministry, and for the perfecting of
his people, that they may grow up unto Christ, our living head, and
all the parts being fitly joined together may become perfect in him.
Here are the objects of this organization of this Priesthood, and the
ordinances thereof, and the power of godliness, that is made manifest
unto man in the flesh, and through it to urge them on, faster, further
and further, until they shall attain to this fullness of eternal power
and the Godhead. And that we may not lose sight of this high calling
of God in Christ Jesus, which has come down unto us, and that we may
not turn back to the beggarly elements of the world, but cast away the
lusts of the flesh, and the pride of life, and all the vanities and
follies of this mortal state, and learn to appreciate our true
position, and our high and holy calling, and labor to perfect
ourselves through the Gospel, and in obedience to his ordinances, till
we shall become heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, rising up to
the eternal power and Godhead and the perfection that is in him, is my
prayer, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.