I will call the attention of the congregation to a portion of the word
of God, that was given unto Moses before he delivered the children of
Israel out of the land of Egypt. It may be well for me to mention,
before reading, that Moses received many communications, by visions
and by revelation, before he was sent from the land of Midian to visit
his brethren who were in bondage in Egypt. He beheld, in these
visions, many great and important events, some of which took place in
the spirit world. Among other things which he saw was the
pre-existence of the children of men, and also the rebellion that took
place among the great family of spirits before the world was made; and
in this vision the Lord thus speaks to him:
"And I, the Lord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That Satan, whom thou
hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which
was from the beginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send
me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul
shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore, give me thine
honor. But, behold, my Beloved Son, which was my Beloved and Chosen
from the beginning, said unto me—Father, thy will be done,
and the glory be thine forever. Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled
against me, and sought to destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord
God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own
power, by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be
cast down; And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all
lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his
will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice. And now the
serpent was more subtle than any beast of the field which I, the Lord
God, had made. And Satan put it into the heart of the serpent, (for he
had drawn away many after him,) and he sought also to beguile Eve, for
he knew not the mind of God, wherefore he sought to destroy the
world. And he said unto the woman: Yea, hath God said—Ye shall not
eat of every tree in the garden? (And he spake by the mouth of the
serpent.) And the woman said unto the serpent: We may eat of the fruit
of the trees of the garden; But of the fruit of the tree which thou
beholdest in the midst of the garden, God hath said—Ye shall not eat
of it, neither shall ye touch it, lest ye die. And the serpent said
unto the woman: Ye shall not surely die; For God doth know that in the
day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as
gods, knowing good and evil."
These few words which I have read from the "Pearl of Great Price,"
were suggested to my mind immediately before rising to my feet. The
short history that is here given, by new revelation to Joseph the
Prophet, contains a vast amount of information for so few words. It
shows the origin of evil, pertaining to the inhabitants of this
creation. I do not suppose that this was the first origin of evil. We
do not consider that this creation on which we dwell was the first one
that was made. We do not consider that the rebellion which took place
in heaven prior to this creation was the first rebellion that had ever
existed. We do not consider that those beings who rebelled were the
first ones that ever had their agency; but we believe that God has
always been at work, from all eternity; and that the creations which
he has made are innumerable unto men. No man is capable of conceiving
of the number. And those creations were made to be inhabited by
rational, intelligent beings, having their agency. But this seems to
be the origin of evil so far as the inhabitants intended for this
earth, and who were then living in heaven, were concerned. They had
their agency; and when I speak of the inhabitants that dwell in
heaven, pertaining to this creation, I mean the spirits of men and
women. I have no reference to the mortal tabernacles which we have
received here, but I have reference to those beings who dwell within
these tabernacles, who are intelligent, who have their agency, who had
a pre-existence, who lived before the world was made. The inhabitants
of heaven, who were selected to come on this creation, were agents,
just as much as we are. They had a law given to them, just as much as
we have. They had penalties affixed to that law, just the same as we
have. They could keep that law given to them in heaven, just as well
as we could keep a law given to us. They could rebel against that law,
because of their agency, the same as we rebel against the laws of
heaven.
We have an account given here of a personage called Satan, who stood up in heaven, being an angel of light, an holy angel, prior to
that time—who stood up before the Father and the Son, and made a
proposition concerning the new creation that was to be made. "Behold,"
said he to the Father, "send me, I will be thy son, and I will redeem
all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it;
wherefore give me thine honor." This was the language, according to
this revelation which I have just read, made use of by this angel who
stood in the presence of God. But the Only Begotten of the Father, the
Firstborn of this great and numerous family in heaven, said unto his
Father: "Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever."
Then we have an account that the Lord, because Satan thus
transgressed, and because he sought to destroy the agency of man, and
to redeem all mankind, that not a soul should be lost, was displeased
with the proposition. And why should he not be? An agency was given to
all intelligent beings; and without a proper agency, intelligent
beings could not receive glory and honor, and a reward and a fullness
of happiness in the celestial kingdom. There must be an agency
wherever intelligence exists, and without agency no intelligent beings
could exist; and because Satan sought to destroy this, and to
frustrate the great and eternal plan of Jehovah, the Lord was
displeased with him. He did not repent of his rebellion, nor of the
wicked proposition; but he sought to turn away the family of
heaven—the family of spirits that were in the presence of God—he
sought to turn them away and convert them to his plan. But he did not
succeed. He did succeed in leading away about one-third part of that
great family of spirits, because of their agency. They hearkened to
his proposition; they thought it would be a very great and important
thing to destroy the agency of man in the future creation that was
about to be made, and to redeem them all in their sins, and
consequently they joined with this rebellious character; hence came
the fallen angels. What became of them? They were thrust down from the
presence of God and the Lamb after this creation was made, and they
were permitted to dwell in this creation. Finally, one of those
spirits who kept their first estate was placed in a body upon this
creation, and likewise a woman; and Satan came before the woman in the
Garden of Eden, and tempted her. What was his object in tempting this
woman? He did not succeed in overcoming her in the first estate—I mean
he did not succeed in turning her away from God's commands; but
inasmuch as they were now placed under different circumstances—placed
in bodies of flesh and bones—placed in the Garden of Eden, he thought
that he would assault them with a new temptation, to see if he could
possibly overcome them. He succeeded in overcoming Eve, the woman that
was given to this first man, and prevailed upon her to transgress the
law of heaven, to partake of the forbidden fruit, and she succeeded in
leading her husband to transgress the same law. Now, here arises a
question. Did Adam partake of this forbidden fruit, being deceived as
Eve was deceived? Or did he partake of it knowingly and
understandingly? I will give you my views upon this subject. Adam very
well knew that his wife Eve, after she had partaken of the forbidden
fruit, having transgressed the law of God, must die. He knew this; he knew that she would have to be cast out of the garden of
Eden, from the presence of her husband; she could no longer be
permitted to dwell with him. Hence, inasmuch as there was a great
separation threatened between husband and wife—the wife having
transgressed—he concluded that he would not be separated from the
woman, and hence he was not deceived, but the woman was deceived; he
partook of the forbidden fruit to prevent a separation between the
two, and fell, even as the woman fell, and both were cast out
together. If one only had transgressed and been cast out, the great
command that had been given prior to that time—to multiply and
replenish the earth—could not have been fulfilled, because of the
separation. In order, therefore, that the command first given might be
fulfilled, Adam, though not deceived, partook of the forbidden fruit,
was cast out with Eve, and hence began, as far as possible, to fulfil
the command, and to multiply his species upon this earth. There is one
very important item, right here, to be understood, and should be
thoroughly understood by every person desirous of knowing the truth,
and that is, that when Adam and Eve were in the garden of Eden, before
this transgression took place, they were not subject to death; they
were not subject to any kind of pain, or disease, or sickness, or any
of the afflictions of mortality. Now, perhaps those who are not in the
habit of reflecting upon this matter, may suppose that when Adam was
placed on the earth, and Eve, his wife, they were mortal, like unto
us; but that was not so. God did not make a mortal being. It would be
contrary to this great goodness to make a man mortal, subject to pain,
subject to sickness, subject to death. When he made this creation, and
when he made these two intelligent beings and placed them upon this
creation, he made them after his own likeness and his own image. He
did not make them mortal, but he made them immortal, like unto
himself. If he had made them mortal, and subject to pain, there would
have been some cause, among intelligent beings, to say that the Lord
subjected man, without a cause, to afflictions, sorrows, death and
mortality. But he could not do this; it was contrary to the nature of
his attributes, contrary to the nature of that infinite goodness which
dwells in the bosom of the Father and the Son, to make a being subject
to any kind of pain. At the time of the creation, all things that
proceeded forth from his hands were considered very good. How came,
then, Adam to be mortal? How came Adam to be filled with pain and
affliction and with great sorrow? It was in consequence of
transgression. Hence, the Apostle Paul, in speaking upon this subject,
said, that by transgression sin entered into the world, and death by
sin. Death, then, instead of being something that the Lord created,
instead of being something that he sent into the world, and by sin;
the Lord suffered it to come upon Adam in consequence of
transgression. Two immortal beings, then, were placed in the garden of
Eden, male and female. Was there any commandment given to those two
immortal beings before the fall? There was one commandment, namely:
"Be fruitful and multiply, and replenish the earth." What! Did the
Lord command two immortal beings to multiply their species? He did. In
meditating upon this great command given to these two immortal beings,
it opens to us a field of reflection, of knowledge, concerning
the great designs of the Almighty. It imparts to us a knowledge that
the Lord our God intended that immortal beings should multiply their
species. Can you find any place in the book of Genesis where our first
parents were commanded to multiply after the fall? I do not remember
any such scripture. I have read the scriptures very diligently; I do
not remember any such command. Yet they did so, and the consequences
were that children of mortality were born—mortal beings came upon the
earth. Why? Because after the fall, Adam and Eve became mortal, and
their species, of course, were after the order of the world, mortal in
their nature. As the parents were subject to death, subject to pain,
and sorrow, and distress, and all kinds of evil, so were all their
posterity. It was contrary to the law of God for mortal beings to
bring forth children of immortality; it was contrary to the order of
heaven for mortal beings to multiply their species in the form of
immortal beings. But may we not suppose that it was really necessary,
notwithstanding there was no command given, that the children of
mortality should multiply their species? Notwithstanding the Lord said
nothing to Adam and Eve upon this subject after the fall, so far as it was
written, yet we may suppose it was according to his purpose and design
that they should multiply children of mortality, even though he gave
them no command after their fall to this effect. They have continued
to do so, and their children after them, in all of their generations,
until the present time, and will continue to do so in future
generations, until the earth has filled the measure of its creation,
according to the number of souls that existed before the world was
organized, in the family of the two-thirds who kept their first
estate.
But will the time come in the endless duration of the future, when our
first parents will fulfill that command which was given to them while
they were yet children of immortality? In other words will the time
ever come when Adam and Eve will become immortal and carry out the
command that was given to them in the days of their first immortality?
I answer, yes; without this, the command of God never could be, in all
respects, fulfilled. Though there should be hundreds of thousands of
millions, or more, of the descendants of those mortal beings come here
upon the earth, the command is not fully complied with; though he may
have begotten sons and daughters, Cain, Abel, Seth and many others for
some nine hundred years and upwards, yet all the sons and daughters he
begat while he was mortal here upon the earth did not, in all
respects, fulfill the command given to him while an immortal being.
That has to be fulfilled after Adam and Eve are resurrected from the
grave. Have they yet been resurrected? I think so. There were a great
many that were resurrected at the time of the resurrection of Christ.
Christ was the firstfruits of the resurrection, and then there were a
great many Saints who came forth out of their graves and were
resurrected, and permitted to enter into the celestial glory and dwell
at his right hand. Among the number, I have no doubt but what our
first parents, Adam and Eve, were permitted to come forth and enter
into celestial glory; and I have no doubt but what they have been
fulfilling the commandment given to them before they fell. Nearly two
thousand years have passed since the first resurrection of the
Saints. I cannot believe that Adam and Eve, during these nineteen
centuries, have been in idleness. I cannot believe that they alone
constitute their whole family; but I believe that during this time
they have been fulfilling literally the commandment that was given to
them in the morn of creation and as immortal beings have brought forth
immortal sons and daughters since their resurrection. Thus the
commandment of the Most High was not made void, but is in process of
fulfillment.
But let us enquire still further concerning this matter; for this
seems to open up another field before our minds. The children of
immortality are obliged to multiply, in order to fulfill this
commandment. Hence, there is more contained in the Gospel in all its
fulness and glory than what this world ever dreamt of. The Christian
world, so called, have not looked forth unto the great future; they
have not recognized the great law which God ordained for immortal
beings to bring forth their species; for if our first parents must do
this, in order to obey the commandment that was given before the fall,
so must their children, or else ever be transgressors, one or the
other. Their children, I say, never can fulfill the object of the
commandment, that was given to immortal beings, unless they, as
immortal beings, so multiply their species; and for this reason, we
find incorporated in the Gospel that Paul preached this great saying,
"Nevertheless, neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman
without the man, in the Lord." What! Can I, can you, can the
inhabitants of the earth really not be in the Lord, and yet not be
united together in the holy covenant of marriage, the male with the
female? So Paul says. It is a very curious kind of saying, however, in
the case of this generation, who have lost the knowledge of God though
the apostasy of their fathers. They have all the time supposed that
they could enter into a fulness of the glory of the celestial world
without being united in the bonds of eternal union. But it is not so;
it was not so in the beginning. The very first marriage that was ever
known in this creation, was not a marriage between the children of
mortality, but was a marriage consummated by divine authority, by
divine power. It was a marriage between two immortal beings. No other
marriage could be so important, so essentially necessary, to the
inhabitants of this creation, as the first one celebrated in the
beginning. What do you think, Christians of the nineteenth century,
who belong to the various denominations?—What are your views in regard
to marriage? Your looks inform us. Your articles of faith inform us.
The disciplines that you have, for the government of your churches,
inform us that when marriage is performed among you, it is between two
mortal beings, and they are only married till death shall separate and
part them. Oh! how different from the first marriage on record between
two immortal personages, whose days, inasmuch as they keep the
commandments of God, were never to end, but their lives were to be
endless or eternal. The Latter-day Saints have a different form of
marriage from these sectarians. We have a marriage in our church,
between the male and female, which reaches forward to the endless ages
of eternity; we do not consider a marriage of very great importance,
unless is takes hold of eternity. We do not believe in these marriages which are to remain in force barely while this mortal thread
of existence continues; we do not believe in a marriage that must be
broken up, dissolved and divorced by that tyrant called death. Death
has nothing to do with dissolving marriages—I mean those marriages
that are performed according to the mind and will of God. Death may
come in and separate the two for a short season, but it does not
dissolve the marriage ties. If Eve dies before her husband, Adam, she
is not divorced from him, neither is he divorced from her, but she
considers, while dwelling in a celestial paradise, that she has
legally and lawfully a husband in the flesh on the earth. Adam, if he
still continues to live on the earth, while Eve has taken her flight
to the eternal world, considers that he has a wife in heaven, though
separated for a short time from her. She still is his wife, and will
be his, until he himself shall fall into the grave, and even that does
not dissolve the marriage tie. The great redemption wrought out
through the only begotten Son—the great redemption that reclaims Adam
and Eve from their graves, restores them also from this short period
of separation that has taken place by reason of death; it restores
them again to each other's society, as husband and wife; and they will
remain in that relationship while eternity shall endure.
But here arises another question—one of the greatest importance to
the children of men of all generations, and that is, are there any
marriages that God will recognize which he is not the author of? In
other words, supposing that two persons in the Roman Catholic church,
in the Greek church, in any Protestant church, or two persons that do
not belong to any religious denomination, are married by a minister,
by a justice of the peace, by any person professing to have authority
among men, to celebrate the marriage ceremony—have they any claim upon
each other when death separates them? According to their own covenants
they do not. The minister only married them till death should them
part. When death comes along and separates these two persons their
marriage covenant has expired; it has run out, it is at an end. But
inquires one, will not the Lord permit them to live together as
husband and wife, after the resurrection? Why should he? If he had
joined them together, according to the marriage ceremony that was
administered to the first pair of immortality, then they could claim
each other, after the resurrection; but inasmuch as the ceremony was
performed by an uninspired man, not sent of God, and having no power
to seal on earth that it should be sealed in heaven, of course their
marriage covenant expires, that is the eternal end of their
association. Now, the Latter-day Saints are not willing to go
according to the tradition of the sectarian denominations of the
earth; but we desire this great, this important ceremony to be
performed so that it may be enduring, so that it never shall have an
end, but last while eternal ages shall last.
How came we to obtain any knowledge upon this subject? Not of our own
wisdom, not by searching the scriptures of truth. If God had not
revealed himself, had not given instructions upon this important
point, we should be in ignorance, the same as all the rest of the
world; and our marriages, like them, would only be for time.
Another important question arises right here, in relation to those mar riages administered without authority; it is this. Many of
you Latter-day Saints when you embraced this Gospel in Great Britain,
in Scandinavia, in various parts of the United States, and among the
various nations—were men having families, wives and children; you were
married by the laws of the respective nations among whom you dwelt;
you were married till death should separate you; you were not married
for eternity. When you came up here to this land you began to inquire
more fully into the nature of the marriage covenant. You found that
there should be an eternal covenant, an eternal union. The question
then arises, will your former marriage be sufficient? Not at all. You
would have no wife in the morning of the resurrection, no children
that would be yours legally and lawfully. Why? Because your marriage
was not legal, only legal so far as the laws of the land were
concerned, only legal according to the traditions of men. What should
you do, then, in order that you may be legally married, in order that
your marriage may stand the test in the judgment day, in order that
you may have claim upon your families after the resurrection? You
should have the ceremony performed again. Every couple that was
married abroad, among the nations, must be re-married, not by man's
authority, but by divine authority. Your covenants should be eternal,
and sealed by divine authority, and then you will have a claim upon
each other. But what about your children, that were begotten while you
were yet among the nations? Can you claim them in the morning of the
resurrection? No: you cannot, unless they are sealed to you by proper
authority—your sons and your daughters must be sealed to you, by one
having authority from God; otherwise you have no claim upon them. Why?
Because they were begotten under a marriage with which the Lord had
nothing to do, only to suffer it; he suffered it for a wise purpose,
that the human species might not be destroyed, or come to an end upon
the earth; but as for commanding them he had nothing to do with that;
consequently, not only your husbands and wives have to be re-married,
by divine authority, but all of your children, that were born to you,
under the old marriage, must be sealed to you in order that you may
claim them in the morning of the resurrection.
But this opens up another field. I am talking to some who have a
second wife. You lost your first wife, did you not, and you re-married
according to the laws of the nations? What about these two wives? One
living and the other dead; perhaps the dead one was just as good as
the living; perhaps the person that died, before you gathered here to
these mountains, was morally as good as any Latter-day Saint, lived up
to all the light and knowledge which she was in possession of, yet she
was not married to you by divine authority—what of her? Must she
stand aside in the resurrection? And the second wife, because she
happens to live and to receive the Gospel, and to gather up from among
the nations, into the mountains, where the authority to administer
these ordinances is revealed—must she supplant the first one that
happened to fall into her grave before she heard these things? Must
the first one remain without her family, without her children,
according to the order that exists in the eternal world, while the
second one enjoys all these things because she happened to live a little longer? What do you think about it? Are there no
provisions made for the first wife that has fallen asleep just as
much as there is for the second? For God is without respect of
persons, so far as people are honest and obedient; and though people
may fail to receive the fulness of the blessings pertaining to the
Gospel, because it might not be sent to them and they fall asleep, yet
God was not so shortsighted, in laying of the plan of salvation, that
he made no provisions for them. He did make provisions for them; and
in what way? That the living shall act for the dead; this is the
provision. Hence, we read concerning one of the sacred and holy
ordinances, called baptism, that the saints in the Corinthian church,
in ancient times, were baptized for those that were dead. What was the
object of this? The object was that eternal blessings might be
bestowed upon those who were dead; because of the actions of the
living in their behalf, providing that the dead would receive what was
done for them by the living. "The same great Being that ordained the
principle of baptism for and in behalf of the dead, also ordained
eternal union through other sacred ordinances referring to the man and
the woman; not only for the living but also for the dead, that they
might be benefited not only by the actions of the living in baptism,
but also by the acts of the living in relation to the marriage
covenant; one is just as consistent as the other. If there is any
great principle that has a bearing upon the eternal welfare of the
human family, any great ordinance necessary to be attended to that
will give them a right and title to eternal blessings, it matters not
whether it be baptism, or the laying on of hands, or any other
ordinance which God has instituted, it will be recognized in the
eternal heavens. Well did the Apostle say, "Neither is the man without
the woman, neither the woman without the man in Lord." He understood the
principle.
But shall we carry this one step further? I have spoken of these two
women, one dying without hearing the Gospel, the other having all the
privileges of the Gospel, pertaining to every blessing relating to
eternity. Now if the living can act for the dead, by proxy, in other
words, if the Lord our God gives a commandment, to his living Saints,
to administer in all of these ordinances for and in behalf of the
dead, then the dead will have claim upon these sealing powers and
ordinances, the same as though they were living. But, says one, I see
one difficulty here. What is it? Why, if these two women come forth in
the resurrection, and these ordinances are recognized in heaven, the
man would have two wives at once in the eternal world, and that would
shock our consciences very much! Well, the Lord is not particularly
anxious that your consciences should not be shocked. He is not going
to swerve from the principles of eternal truth in order that your
consciences or traditions may not be in the least degree disturbed. He
is not going to vary from this law, he ordained from before the
foundation of the world, in order to suit, yours or anybody else's
conscience. But, says one, that would be preaching up plurality, for
those that are brought forth in the eternal world. Two women would go
into the same family, and be wives for all eternity; and as you have
said that the Lord commanded this multiplication to take place, when
they were immortal beings, then, of course, both of these wives would
raise up posterity in all ages of eternity, being immortal
personages, and thus fulfil the great and first commandment. Now, says
one, these are the consequences that grow out of the doctrines you are
teaching. I admit they are; perhaps you may be willing to admit the
truth of this, so far as eternity is concerned, and those that have
left here without hearing the Gospel. But let me ask a question
here—Is it any more right for two women to claim the same husband,
after they come forth from the grave, than it is for two women, here
in time living on this earth, to claim a man as their husband? If one
is right, the other is right also; and if the latter is not right,
then the first doctrine that I have named is not right.
But I have not got through with this subject. There are other points
to be considered. I have only spoken of two women. Now, says one, here
is a woman who survives her husband and marries a second husband. The
second husband receives the Gospel and comes into the Church; the
first husband died without ever hearing it. What are you going to do
with him? Do you suppose that God, in laying down the great plan of
salvation would forget to make any laws, provisions, or conditions, in
regard to these matters? Not at all. He has ordained that every man
who is worthy shall have a family of his own; but he never did ordain,
neither before the foundation of the world nor during any of the
dispensations that have existed on the earth, that a woman should have
two husbands living at the same time. He did ordain that a man should
have two or more wives, and did acknowledge it, sanction it, did bless
those that entered into his order of marriage in ancient times; but we
have no account of his ever approbating the contrary. Well, inquires
one, what will become of this good man that happened to be in this
condition? There are provisions ordained from before the foundation of
the world, which take into consideration all these cases; namely, that
all the human family who have died without the law or between the
dispensations, when there was no divine authority on the earth, shall
have a proper chance, by the living acting for the dead; and as there
are innumerable females who have died and who never had wives,
provisions are made for them all providing that they embrace, in the
spirit world the great plan of salvation in all its fulness,
We might say much more upon this subject. We might set forth before
this congregation a case something like this: Here is a young man. He
goes forth into the community, and seeks out a wife. He goes before
those holding divine authority—power to bind on earth, and it shall be
bound in heaven—and he is married to her for time and all eternity. By
and by she dies. Perhaps she may have had one or two children,
perhaps she may not have had any children, as the case may be. She
dies, leaves her husband still in his youth. Must this youth, this
good man, the man that has kept the commandments of God and been
obedient to the Gospel of the Son of God—must he remain all the days
of his life, perhaps 50 or 60 years longer, without having the
privilege of taking another wife, his first wife having died? Oh, says
one, the law does not forbid, when a man's wife dies, his taking
another. Suppose he takes another, what then? If he could have only
one wife after the resurrection from the dead, what would his second
wife do? Would she not be apt to say, "No, sir, you have a
wife, she is in her grave, she was married to you for time and all
eternity, now I desire a husband for all eternity myself. Is there any
provision made for me if I go in as the second wife?" Why, yes. The
provision is that both may be sealed to him for time and all eternity
and not violate the law of God.
All these principles that I have treated upon, pertaining to eternal
marriage, the very moment that they are admitted to be true, it brings
in plurality of marriage, and if plurality of marriage is not true or
in other words, if a man has no divine right to marry two wives or
more in this world, then marriage for eternity is not true, and your
faith is all vain, and all the sealing ordinances and powers,
pertaining to marriages for eternity are vain, worthless, good for
nothing; for as sure as one is true the other also must be true. Amen.