"Mormon" Doctrine Plain and Simple; Or, Leaves from the Tree of Life

by Charles W. Penrose

So the Church was set up in these latter times. Humble believers received the word with gladness, and obeying it, obtained from God the witness of its truth. The signs promised to believers followed them. They spoke in other tongues, prophesied, saw visions, dreamed divine dreams and enjoyed all the gifts of the Church as did the saints of old. The sick were healed by the laying on of hands, devils were cast out, the deaf heard, the eyes of the blind were opened, the lame leaped for joy, the tongue of the dumb was loosed, the heavens were opened to human view, and the Holy Ghost, as on the day of pentecost, rested down in power upon the Saints of the new dispensation.

Then they knew for themselves. Doubt had fled, the darkness was dispersed, Satan trembled, priestcraft raged, and while the tidings of the restored gospel caused joy in heaven and praise on earth, the powers of evil in and out of the flesh conspired to fight the truth, make war upon believers and persecute the servants of God unto death. But the Lord strengthened the hands of His people and poured out light and knowledge from on high. The hidden things of ages were brought forth. Revelation after revelation was multiplied to the Church.

Then came Elijah the Prophet, bearing the keys of the turning of the hearts of the fathers to the children and of the children to the fathers, that the link of the broken chain of the Priesthood through the ages might be welded together, and the spirit world be known to men in the flesh. Next came Moses, the man of God with the keys of the gathering of Israel, that the remnants might be brought in from their long dispersion and inherit the lands promised to their forefathers. And Raphael and Gabriel and other holy messengers also appeared, each in their order, bearing the keys of their respective ministries when living as men upon the earth, that all the powers needful for the establishment of the great and last dispensation of the fullness of times might be centered upon the head of the man chosen to open it to the world, and that he might bestow them upon others called and chosen by the spirit of revelation.

Glory to God in the highest! The straight and narrow way is opened. The silence of ages is broken. Jehovah speaks from out the bosom of eternity. Angels again come down from the abodes of bliss. Communication is restored between man and his Maker. The Holy Ghost again comforts, reveals and bears witness. The sacred gifts are once more enjoyed. All earth shall hear the glad tidings. Every soul shall be warned. And though Joseph, the chosen seer, and many of his brethren have become martyrs for the truth's sake, and the bosom of mother earth is stained red with the blood of the persecuted Saints, the Church re-established, the Priesthood restored, the truths now revealed shall never, be taken from earth again, but they shall spread and increase and prevail and triumph, until darkness and evil, and sin and Satan shall give way, and this planet, ransomed and redeemed shall be crowned with the glory and presence of its rightful King, Jesus the anointed, the sinless Son of the omnipotent God.

EIGHTH LEAF.

Apparent Doom of the Majority of Mankind—No Salvation but by Jesus Christ—Is the State of Man Fixed at Death?—The Common Belief Incorrect—Preaching to the Dead—The Spirit Without the Body Sentient—Nature of Paradise—All People to Hear the Gospel Either in this Life or the Next.

One of the great difficulties in the way of inquiring minds, desirous of understanding gospel truth, is the apparent doom of the great bulk of the human family to perdition. The declaration is plainly and positively made in the scriptures that there is no other name given under heaven whereby man can be saved, but the name of Christ Jesus. It is also proclaimed that "except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God."

Many millions of the earth's inhabitants have passed away without hearing the name of Jesus, or having any opportunity of the privilege of the second birth. And the query arises, must all these souls be lost in consequence? And if so can the God of the Bible be just? Further; the question comes up, If the world has been in error so long, and the Church of Latter-day Saints is the only true Church of Christ, what has become of the generations of professing Christians, who lived and died in the centuries between the loss of the gospel and the Priesthood and their restoration in the present age?

The difficulty arises through lack of a correct understanding of the plan of salvation, and through the erroneous doctrines of unauthorized teachers. Orthodox "Christianity" affirms that the future state of man is fixed at death; that the departing spirit goes either to an eternal heaven or an everlasting hell; and that there is no possibility of change, but, to use a familiar saying, "as the tree falls, so it lies." The light of modern revelation rolls back the darkness of ages and unfolds the glorious plan of human redemption in its fullness, and the illuminated soul perceives the triumph of justice in union with mercy, through the extension of gospel privileges beyond the narrow sphere of this mortal life.

Why should the opportunity to learn and the power to obey the truths of the gospel be confined to dwellers in the flesh? Is it to be supposed that when the immortal spirit leaves its domicile of clay its powers of preception, of reason, of reception or rejection of truth or error, of submission or rebellion to the decrees of heaven, are buried with the decaying body? The idea is contrary to all the hopes of the life to come kindled in the heart by the promises of the gospel. It is also antiscriptural. There is nothing in holy writ which establishes any such absurdity. Paul declares that all men shall be judged by the gospel which he preached. If this is true and God is just, must not all men hear that gospel and have the opportunity of receiving or rejecting it? And if this privilege has not been granted to them while in the body, must it not be afforded them when out of the body?