Following Christ

Preparation for the Advent of Christ — His Death and Resurrection — Salvation for the Dead

I greet this congregation in the name of the Lord, and I ask that I may have a share of your faith and prayers while I shall stand before you. I have enjoyed the remarks of our President this morning, and I believe his words have found an echo in every heart. He has portrayed unto us our mission and our duties here upon the earth — that which we are striving for, namely, to serve the Lord, to carry out His purposes, and to be instruments in His hands to bring about the reign of peace, the reign of Christ, here upon the earth. This work in which we are engaged, we have been told, and we have an assurance thereof, is the work which is to prepare men for the second coming of Christ. We believe that the time is near at hand when the prophecies concerning His coming will be fulfilled. "We know that before His coming there must be a people prepared to receive Him. "We have tried to prepare ourselves, and those amongst whom we labor, for this great event, and we cannot do this in any other way than the one which our President has pointed out to us. I am reminded that this is Easter. We celebrate today the glorious event, of the resurrection of our Savior. About 1870 years ago this great event, which confirms our hope of eternal life, took place. Our Redeemer was laid in a new grave, and remained there until the third day after His crucifixion. He arose and took upon Himself His body — the same body which had suffered upon the cross, and which had been buried; and in that body he was seen again amongst His followers. What a great event is the resurrection of Christ! He conquered death; He demonstrated unto us that death should not 'forever reign; that though He, Himself and all the seed of Adam should be subject to death, yet death should not continue to have power over them. He overcame death. He broke its chains, He took up His body again, and fulfilled the great mission for which He came here upon the earth. What a glorious hope is given unto us through this event! I suppose the date of this anniversary is nearly correct. It was about this time of the year when the resurrection took place. With Christmas it is different. We have nothing to go by to show us that the birth of Christ took place in December, but we have suggestions made that it was early in the year, and that it must have been at a time when it was warm enough for the herders to be out in the fields taking care of their flocks. This event, however, which is celebrated today throughout the Christian world we know, according to the gospels, took place at the time of the Jewish passover. In order to have it recur annually on a Sunday, the Christian chronologers have made it fall on the Sunday after the first full moon that comes next after the 21st of (March). It gives us pleasure, therefore, to know that we are near the right time when celebrating this event. ¶

Many doubt the statements of the evangelists and say that the resurrection could not take place. Unbelievers have used arguments against belief in the resurrection of Christ. With us, however, there is no doubt concerning it. ¶

We believe the Bible to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly, and in that book we find the testimonies of several writers to the fact that Jesus was resurrected, and that He was seen after He had risen, by the Apostles, by acquaintances, and at one time by as many as five hundred at once. This was the testimony borne by His disciples when they went out into the world after the ascension of Christ, and they were willing to suffer all things for that testimony. They did not bear this testimony with any view of obtaining worldly honors in compensation for their labor; on the contrary, they knew that the bearing of this testimony concerning Christ would lead to their following Him even unto death; but this did not deter them, they did not hold back or feel afraid of what the world would do, but persisted in bearing testimony that Christ was risen and that they had seen Him. ¶

Not only did Christ rise from the dead at that time, but others were seen who had risen from their graves—righteous men and women who died before Christ, and who had the privilege of rising with him. I do not believe that the resurrection then was a general one; I believe it extended to those only who, while upon earth, had proved themselves willing to do all for the kingdom of God, and to whom neither property, honor, nor life itself had been too dear to keep them from carrying out the purposes of God. ¶

The Latter-day Saints believe in a literal resurrection. We do not entertain the idea, as many in the world do. that the resurrection will be a spiritual one only. The promise of the Lord is that we shall receive our bodies again. We look upon death merely as a temporary separation of the spirit and the body. The body of Jesus was laid in the grave, and a guard placed before it, but His spirit did not slumber there. It was only the body that was dead. The spirit was still alive, and in the spirit He visited the good and righteous in Paradise, and also visited the prison where the spirits of men had been awaiting His coming for many generations, they having been placed there for rejecting the Gospel when it was preached unto them. We are told in the Scripture that He visited the spirits in prison and preached unto them. No doubt they received with gladness His message, and were liberated from the prison. Thus he fulfilled the prophecies which had declared that His mission was to open prison doors. After this, his spirit returned unto His body. The body was quickened and immortalized. It underwent a process of which we have no conception. But it was the same body. He visited His Apostles after His resurrection. He appeared in their midst without their seeing how He came. The grosser elements of the body were no doubt eliminated. If there had been anything corruptible in the body that was laid in the tomb, it was not incorporated in the resurrected body. Before His crucifixion His body was subject to death, and He was killed by His enemies; but when He took His body again all that belonged to mortality had been eliminated. His body was an immortal one. Yet when He showed Himself to His disciples He proved unto them that He was the same Jesus; there were the wounds in hands and feet, and even in His side — a convincing proof unto His disciples of His identity, and that His body had been resurrected. ¶

We look forward to a time when this great blessing shall come to us also. We do not look upon death as the end of our individual existence. On the contrary, knowing Him to be our prototype, we have the assurance that death is only temporary, and that there will come a time after death when we shall again receive these same bodies which we possess here upon the earth, and that the union of spirit and body shall never be dissolved. The bodies we shall receive will be immortal, and the spirit and body reunited will constitute a living soul. ¶

While upon this subject I will read a few passages from the eighty-eighth section of the book of Doctrine and Covenants: ¶

"And there shall be silence in heaven for the space of half an hour, and immediately after shall the curtain of heaven be unfolded, as a scroll is unfolded after it is rolled up, and the face of the Lord shall be unveiled; ¶

'And the Saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened, and be caught up to meet him. ¶

"And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth; for their graves shall be opened, and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven: ¶

"They are Christ's the first fruits: they who shall descend with Him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet Him: and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God. ¶

'And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ's at His coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might receive the Gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh. ¶

"And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then cometh the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation: ¶

"And these are the rest of the dead, and they live not again until the thousand years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth. ¶

"And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying, There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even the end, who shall remain filthy still." ¶

Here we have, through a revelation given in 1832, a prophecy concerning the manner of the resurrection. It was given by revelation unto the Prophet Joseph Smith, and it gives us a good idea concerning that great event which will take place hereafter. When Christ shall come the Saints that are upon the earth will be quickened, and caught up unto Him. They will not have to be laid in the grave and undergo death in the ordinary way, but all the change pertaining unto death will come unto them, even if it be as the apostle said, "in the twinkling of an eye." The Lord's power will be made manifest — for He holds the keys of the resurrection, He knows all concerning our physical organization, and He is able to accomplish this great wonder of the resurrection. So when the time comes the faithful of the Saints will be quickened and caught up to meet Him and the many thousands that are coming with Him. ¶

"They who have slept in their graves shall come forth; for their graves shall be opened, and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven." Now, these are the first fruits of that resurrection, and they shall descend with Christ. They also who are on the earth shall be caught up to meet Him. And all this by the voice of the trump of the angel of God. ¶

This, brethren and sisters, is something worth working for. We desire to live so that when this event shall come, whether we be on the earth or in the grave, that this sound may be heard by us — that we may come forth and join that happy throng. The revelation goes on to describe those who shall hear the trump, but who are of a different class to that to which I have referred. There will be some that did not hear the gospel upon the earth, but who received their portion in the prison. We have generally thought that the doctrine of salvation for the dead was not taught until 1843, when the Prophet Joseph received revelations concerning work for the dead; but from the very beginning the Lord revealed unto him that there was a possibility of salvation being obtained by those who had passed away without a knowledge of the Gospel. And so we are told here of the next class that shall be resurrected: ¶

"And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ's at his coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might receive the Gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh. ¶

"And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then cometh the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation: ¶

"And these are the rest of the dead, and they live not again until the thousand years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth. ¶

And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying, There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even the end, who Shall remain filthy still." ¶

Perhaps the sons of perdition are the last class. All will be resurrected. Jesus died for us all. He became the Redeemer, He bought us for a price, and His death brought the privilege of resurrection unto every soul, whether he be a sinner or not. All will receive a share in the resurrection — not in the first resurrection, but they will be resurrected, and will be brought before the bar of our Heavenly Father. ¶

Brethren and sisters, let us so live that there will be no danger of our being in the latter classes, but that we may be among the first fruits of Christ. Sunday after Sunday we promise that we will take upon us His name. Let us not only take upon us His name, but show in very deed that we are His. Let us follow the good counsel given us this morning, live our holy religion, carry out the commandments of God, and not fear what man may say concerning us. We know what we have received; we know that this work is for the salvation and betterment of men, then let us carry out its principles. This is my advice to you. God bless you all. Amen. ¶