The Resurrection and the Salvation of the Dead

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God ; "For, behold, the Lord your Redeemer suffered death in the flesh; wherefore he suffered the pain of all men that all men might repent and come unto him. ¶

"And he hath risen again from the dead, that he might bring all men unto him, on condition of repentance; "And how great is his joy in the soul that repenteth. ¶

"Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people; "And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father ! ¶

"And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you bring many souls unto me." ¶

These words were delivered to the Prophet Joseph Smith, through revelation from the Lord. Throughout the Christian world, this morning, the people are celebrating the anniversary of the resurrection of the Son of God. Many who have assembled to do homage unto Him do not accept Him as the Redeemer of the world ; but with us there is no reservation ; He is indeed the only begotten Son of God, and through His grace, and the grace of His Father, hath redeemed us from sin on condition of our repentance. We know that He has risen from the dead, that He has ascended on high, taking captivity captive, and has become the author of salvation unto all who will believe, who will repent of their sins and accept Him as the Redeemer of the world. Latter-day Saints are not left in doubt regarding these things. ¶

There were many witnesses who testified of the resurrection of the Savior at the time He came forth from the dead. He appeared first unto Mary at the tomb, later unto the twelve, or to the eleven, one of them having lost his apostleship, and afterwards unto a multitude of the saints. He labored among His disciples for some time, confirming their faith and strengthening them in the gospel of which He is the author. Of this they have borne record and have given their testimony to the world. But after the falling away from the truth, the world was in darkness, and without living witnesses of the resurrection of Christ until the restoration of the gospel in the dispensation of the fullness of times. At the present time upon the face of the earth there are many who can testify that Jesus is the Christ, for the Spirit of God has revealed unto them this truth ; and no man can know that Jesus is the Christ unless the Holy Spirit reveal it unto him. The prophet Joseph Smith was raised up as a witness of the resurrection of Christ, and was given power and authority to institute His gospel anew among the children of men. Others, also, beheld Him, in our own generation, conversed with Him, and were instructed by Him and were taught the principles of truth which make us free They also have borne record to the world of these things. We know that He hath risen from the dead, that He might bring all men unto Him, on conditions of repentance — for no man can be saved in the kingdom of our Father unless he abides by the laws of the kingdom. ¶

The laws of that kingdom are that a man must believe ; he must have faith in the Lord ; he must repent of his sins ; he must receive a remission of sins through the water of baptism, and have hands laid upon his head for the gift of the Holy Ghost, by one who is empowered, having authority to officiate in these ordinances and then he must endure to the end, keeping the laws and the commandments given unto us by our Heavenly Father, otherwise he will lose his reward. Faith is not enough to save us. Our faith must be coupled with works, with good deeds, with a prayerful heart, and with the desire to magnify our callings before the Lord, laboring diligently all the days of our lives for the benefit of our fellow-men, bringing them unto repentance. ¶

I have read unto you that the worth of souls is great in the sight of our Heavenly Father; and that our mission to the world is one calling them unto repentance. We call upon mankind to receive the Savior, to accept Jesus as the Redeemer of the world, to believe in His gospel as it has been revealed anew, with the same ordinances, the same powers and privileges which were taught by the Master and made manifest during His ministry in the earth. And this does not mean that salvation is confined solely unto those who hear the preaching of the gospel among the nations of the earth ; for our Father in heaven shall save all the workmanship of His hands, on these conditions which have been made, whether they be living, or whether they be dead. Our mission is twofold, to save all the living who will believe, and to warn all who reject the truth ; that they may be left without excuse and to redeem the dead from their sins, or at least put the means within their hands, which were denied them in this life and of which they can partake in the spirit, that they also might receive salvation as well as we. The Lord has established among us temples where ordinances for the dead may be performed, and has empowered us that we might become saviors on Mt. Zion, and assist in our weak way in redeeming those who have died without a knowledge of the truth, or without the privilege of accepting it while they lived on the earth. This is in fact the greatest responsibility that has been placed upon us. ¶

In the year 1894, President Wilford Woodruff and the leading brethren, under his direction and inspiration, organized in this Church a society to further the salvation of the dead; and they called upon the people, members of .the Church, to become active in this organization. For it was organized with the idea in view of gathering together the records of the dead, that they might be filed in a safe place for the benefit of the members of the Church, where they could have access to them, obtain the names of their dead, and go to the house of the Lord and there be baptized for them vicariously ; for the Lord will accept, at our hands baptism in behalf of the dead, and we may, by performing this labor, open the doors unto those who are in the prison house, that they may come forth and be redeemed on like conditions with which we expect to receive salvation. We send our elders into the world to preach the gospel. We keep somewhere near two thousand of them in the various nations constantly. We never hear the question raised, when a man is sent to preach the gospel into some distant part of the earth, that it is useless for him to go there to preach, because his relatives did not come from there, and no benefit could possibly accrue to him through preaching the gospel among those who are strangers or aliens, so far as his immediate kindred were concerned. We go where we are sent; we preach the gospel, get the Spirit of the Lord, and rejoice in a testimony of this revealed religion which we have received, knowing that we are doing the Lord's will, and that we will be blessed for our labors without regard to whether we have been laboring among our own kindred or among the nations from whence our people did not come. We never raise that question. Strange to say, however, when we appeal to some of our brethren and sisters to join this society, who ought to have within their hearts the love of their departed ones, and who should be possessed of the spirit that was promised when the Lord sent Elijah to restore the keys of his Priesthood to the earth, it is astonishing to find that they will raise the question : "What good will it do me to become a member of this society?" And they will say, "I do not know anything of my ancestors, and the records in your library will not help me." Or, "the work for our family is done so far as we are able to discover their names, and there is nothing new that we can gain from your books." Yet this is just as much an organization of the Church, and just as important and far reaching in its results, as the Mutual Improvement Associations, the Sunday Schools, the Relief Societies or any other auxiliary organization. I have a letter in my pocket received from a good brother who is representing this society, The Genealogical Society of Utah, in which he says that he had approached one of the leading brethren in his stake and wanted to know if he was not going to renew his membership in the Genealogical Society. This brother answered, No, for he had been to the library, had examined the books, and there was nothing there that would benefit him. He had not enough interest apparently in the salvation of the children of men to give his fee for membership and continue his activity in this organization, though perhaps the fee paid by him would be the means of purchasing some record that would contain the names of the dead that did belong to someone who was a member of the Church, and who did have faith enough to go to the house of the Lord and perform the ordinances necessary for their salvation. But simply because there was no direct benefit in it for him, or simply because he could not locate his immediate relatives, he had no interest in the organization. Suppose we took this stand in the preaching of the gospel to the world, and felt so selfish and narrow that we would do nothing for the salvation of any save it be those of our own blood. What would become of the work? Was that the spirit of Christ? No; He came into the world to redeem the world from sin, and took upon Him the sins of all men, that they might not suffer if they would repent ; and He never raised the question whether or not they were blood relatives. His idea was to fulfill the will of His Father, and because of the love He had in His heart for the children of His Father — and we are all brethren and sisters ; we are all descendants from one head ; in the broadest sense we are all blood kin — He did not question whether or not His mission would mean merely the redemption of those who were His immediate followers or those of His own house. Why, it was those of His own house that rejected Him. He came not only to save them, but He came and took upon Him the sins of all men. We ought to be broad minded enough and appreciate sufficiently that which was accomplished in our behalf by the Son of God, that we would be willing to do something also for the benefit of the human race, whether we can trace our genealogy back or not. ¶

I speak as I have by request, and also by authority. I trust that the Latter-day Saints will get the spirit of this latter-day work and will labor not only for their own salvation but also for the salvation of all the children of our Father, no matter where they come from — whether it is from the nations of Europe, from the islands of the sea, or any other place. I trust that we will have enough love for the gospel of Jesus Christ, enough appreciation for the great atonement that was made for us, and sufficient love in our hearts for our fellowmen that we will desire their salvation as well as our own. The first great commandment unto us is that we should love the Lord our God with all our hearts ; and the second is like unto it, that we should love our neighbor as ourselves. We desire that the Latter-day Saints will get the spirit of salvation for the dead, that they will become members of this great organization, which was instituted in behalf of the dead, that salvation may come unto the countless millions who are now waiting for us to perform these labors that they might escape from the prison house and rejoice in a testimony of the truth and in the knowledge of their redemption from hell, and the grave. Our mission is one of love, of mercy; it is unto all the world, not unto a select few ; and we should labor with all our might for the salvation of souls, for great shall be our joy, in the kingdom of our Father, with those whom we may, perhaps, have been instrumental in converting, or may have aided, in obtaining the means of escape from the consequences of their sins through becoming saviors unto them on Mount Zion. ¶

May we love the truth, my brethren and sisters, and not be narrow, not be selfish, not look for worldly gain, but take the broader view, and labor for the salvation of souls, and assist in this mighty work which has been instituted by our Father, that all who are worthy of salvation may in the due time of the Lord receive it, and rejoice, as we expect to rejoice, in the salvation which will come to us through keeping the commandments of the Lord. ¶

The Lord bless the Latter-day Saints, guide and protect them, give them courage to resist and overcome the world, and do all things in righteousness required of them, is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. ¶