Husband and wife who have been married for time only, either by secular or ecclesiastical ceremony, may afterward be sealed for time and eternity, provided they have become members of the Church, and are adjudged worthy to enter the temple for this purpose; but no such confirmation of an existing union, nor any sealing of married persons is possible unless the parties furnish proof that they have been legally and lawfully married. No marriage of living persons is performed in any of the temples except under license duly issued as required by the laws of the state. The sealing ordinance extends to other associations than those of matrimony as will be shown.
The actuality of the sealing ordinance in marriage finds an illustration in the personal teachings of the Savior. On one occasion there came unto Him certain Sadducees,[[28]] and these, be it remembered, denied the possibility of the resurrection of the dead. They sought to entrap Him by a difficult question. They thus stated their case:
"Master, Moses said, If a man die, having no children, his brother shall marry his wife, and raise up seed unto his brother.
"Now there were with us seven brethren: and the first, when he had married a wife, deceased, and, having no issue, left his wife unto his brother:
"Likewise the second also, and the third, unto the seventh.
"And last of all the woman died also.
"Therefore in the resurrection whose wife shall she be of the seven? for they all had her."
Note the sequel:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Ye do err, not knowing the scriptures, nor the power of God.
"For in the resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven."
It is evident that in the resurrected state there could be no contest among the seven brothers as to whose wife the woman was,—for after death there was to be no marrying nor giving in marriage. The question of marriage between individuals was and is to be settled before that time. The woman would and could be the wife of but one in the eternal world, and that one the man to whom she was given by the authority of the Holy Priesthood on earth, as a consort for time and eternity. In short, the woman would be the wife of the man with whom she entered into covenant for eternity under the seal of Divine authority; and no contract or agreement for time only would be effective in the resurrection.
This exposition seems to have been convincing; the multitude were astonished, and the Sadducees were silenced;[[29]] moreover some of the Scribes declared: "Master, thou hast well said."[[30]] Our Lord added what appears to have been a supplementary question, coupled with instruction of the greatest import:
"But as touching the resurrection of the dead, have ye not read that which was spoken unto you by God, saying,
"I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob? God is not the God of the dead, but of the living."[[31]]
OTHER SEALING ORDINANCES
Children born outside celestial marriage, yet within legally established wedlock, are the lawful and legitimate heirs of their parents in all affairs of earth. They are the offspring of an earthly union that is in every respect a legal, moral, and proper relation under the laws of man. That these children will belong to their parents in the hereafter is as uncertain as that the parents will belong to each other. The parents have been but temporally and temporarily married, and the offspring are theirs for the period of their own contract only. Even as husband and wife though legally wedded under the secular law must be sealed by the authority of the Holy Priesthood if their union is to be valid in eternity, so must children who have been born to parents married for time only be sealed to their parents after father and mother have been sealed to each other in the order of celestial marriage.