Immortality, Obedience, and Glory

This is a most magnificent sight to me. When I looked upon the congregation this afternoon and saw the uncovered heads of both brethren and sisters, I thought of the saying of Scripture, that God made man in his own image, "in the image of God created He him; male and female created He them." I also thought of one remark made by President Snow in his opening address, that every one of us is immortal, that the spiritual part of our being is the offspring of God, and no matter how long we may have existed before we came into the world, or what is the mystery of our origin, we are immortal beings, and while ages go and come and changes will take place in the worlds that God has created and in the beings who inhabit them, that we shall live on forever and ever, and there will be no end to our existence and to the development of the powers that exist within us as the sons and daughters of God. What a grand and ennobling thought this is! that though we now are weak, clothed around with mortality, and subject to the infirmities of the flesh and the weaknesses that we have inherited through a long line of ancestry, who in many respects have transgressed the commandments of God -- notwithstanding our frailties, and that with which we have to contend through our environment and the influences of the past, all eternity is before us. There is no end to our existence, and there will be no end to our advancement. Every person upon whom I look in the congregation this afternoon is immortal. There will be an opportunity in the ages to come, if we do not avail ourselves of them in the present, to learn the mind and will of our Eternal Father and to come into harmony with Him and with His divine purposes. But those who receive the truth in this life, who avail themselves of those opportunities about which we have heard this afternoon, who receive the truth as it is in Christ Jesus, enlist under His banner, fight the good fight of faith and overcome, will obtain the crown in the kingdom of the Father, and forever and ever they will be in the advance of those who fail to obtain these blessings, who fail to be obedient to the Lord and are not found worthy to inherit this "far more and eternal and exceeding weight of glory" which those can attain to who obey the Gospel. That is the advantage of receiving the truth in this present state of existence. We obtain that much of a step in advance of those who do not receive the Gospel. ¶

It is very gratifying to us who desire the salvation of mankind, and whose work it is to labor for their uplifting, who have been specially called of God and appointed to work under the Captain of our salvation for the redemption of the whole human race, to know by the revelations of God that the time will come, in some future state of existence if not in this, when every soul that can be redeemed will be brought out of darkness and sorrow, and hell, and death, and be placed where they can enjoy existence, to glorify God and obey His commandments. We do not know how long it will take for some people to obtain this redemption. It is certain, however, that justice will claim its own. Our God is a merciful Being. His name is love. He is full of longsuffering, kindness and charity, and He desires the salvation of His children. But He governs Himself by law. His word is law. He lives by the precepts which He administers and reveals to others. We shall find that He sets the example, as Jesus Christ, His Son, our Elder Brother, did. Therefore there can be no salvation for the transgressor until he shall repent and be willing to be obedient. The laws of God are eternal; they are forever and ever; they are inflexible; and it is only by obedience to law that exaltation can be secured. In this condition we are learning to be obedient to law -- such law as God has revealed; also to the wholesome rules and regulations that are established in the governments under which we may live. ¶

We have been divinely charged with the duty of obeying the law of the land as well as the laws of God. All people must eventually be brought into obedience to law, in order to be saved; and their exaltation, their glory, their power and dominion, if they have any, will be in proportion to their obedience to those things that God reveals. He that cannot abide and obey the celestial law, cannot abide a celestial glory. That is written. It is the word of the Lord. If we desire to obtain the great salvation, if we desire to obtain the crown, in the presence of the Father, if we desire to have the gift of eternal lives (which means endless increase in power, dominion and glory forever), we must abide the conditions on which this glory is predicated; we must be obedient to the divine commandments, and devoted to God. We must not only be baptized in water, but baptized into His Spirit, and into the spirit of obedience to Him in all things. He that is obedient in all things and overcometh all things, shall inherit all things. All that the Father hath shall be given unto him. But if he will not be obedient, if he will not bow to the laws which entitle him to celestial glory, he must receive that condition and that measure of glory in that kingdom the laws of which he is willing to obey. Therefore, we are told that there is also a terrestrial glory and a telestial glory, and there is a kingdom that is not a kingdom of glory; and he that will not abide law, he that will not bow in obedience to the commandments of God, but seeks to become a law unto himself, and altogether abideth in sin, cannot receive a kingdom of glory at all. There will be some who, because they are so self-willed and rebellious and stubborn in their acts, and will not yield to God or man, will be banished from the presence of the Lord and the glory of His power. They will go into "outer darkness, where there is weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." How long Until they learn obedience by the things which they suffer. ¶

Thanks be to God, the old crude idea of an everlasting hell of fire and brimstone and torment, out of which there is no redemption, has been dispelled like the clouds of night by the light of the millennial morn which has shone forth from the presence of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Sun of righteousness. There will be an opportunity for all the sons and daughters of God-- for they are immortal -- at some time to come out of darkness, disobedience, sorrow, sin and suffering, and find some place where they can advance, and that advancement will be forever; for they are the sons and daughters of God, and there is no end to their existence. They will all have life in some degree. But that promise of eternal life which Jesus Christ said should be given to those who are His at His coming-- those who obey His commandments, those who enlist under His banner, those that are baptized into Christ and put on Christ will be fulfilled in every particular --they will inherit that glory which He promised, and the gift of eternal life, or eternal lives, will be given unto them. ¶

What is that, different from immortality Mere existence is not "life," in its full significance. There are people who have an existence here, but some parts of their being are not developed. Some people live only for that which they eat and drink and wear, and that is the end of it with them. Others have their mental faculties and their intellectual powers developed; and some whose physical and intellectual powers are measurably developed are dead or asleep spiritually. They do not live fully, unless the spiritual part of their being is awakened and aroused and is alive, susceptible to the influences that come from the Father. So in the eternal worlds. There will be immortality to all the sons and daughters of God, whether they are suffering for sin or have been redeemed; whether they are in the celestial, terrestrial or telestial worlds; but only those who attain to the celestial glory, and the power and dominion and exaltation, and the gift of everlasting increase, wherein their posterity will be multiplied worlds without end, have the real gift of eternal life. All their powers will be developed to the full. They will pattern after the works of their Eternal Father and their Elder Brother, while eternal ages roll along, and they will be in harmony and in communion with them, and will participate with them in the glorious work of the extension of the universe and dominion of God throughout the vast domains of space; and while eternal ages go and come they will increase and multiply in light, in wisdom, in intelligence, in knowledge, in power, and in glory, and the extent of their possessions and dominions in the worlds that will be created will be from everlasting to everlasting. This is what you and I are striving to obtain, my brethren and sisters. One of the things to aid us in attaining to this great salvation is to labor for the salvation of others. ¶

I cannot prolong my remarks. The time has expired. I did not expect to be called upon to speak for a moment; but I can say this afternoon that I rejoice in this great work. In it are all my aims and ambitions, if I have any. I love it with all my soul. I desire to labor in it while I dwell on the earth, and when I pass away into the other world. I rejoice in the knowledge that God has enlightened my soul and given me to understand the truth, to some extent at least, as it is in Him. I know this work is His, and that it will prevail. I know it will overcome all opposition, and stand and endure. I know it will bring about the salvation of the living and the redemption of the dead, and that all who are faithful and abide the conditions, by the power of God will be raised from the dead, and be clothed with the gift and power of eternal lives in His presence. I rejoice in the teachings that we have had. I feel that we shall yet have the outpouring of His Spirit during the remainder of our conference. I exhort my brethren and sisters to treasure up in their hearts continually the words of eternal life, and to live by them, and bring these things down to the practice of their everyday lives, and they shall have joy in this world and salvation, honor, glory and exaltation in the world to come. May God bless us all and enable us to do this, for Christ's sake. Amen. ¶