We are certainly safe in saying that the Lord would not break His promise, therefore if we can discover a time when baptisms were discontinued in the river it will be a sign that the sufficient time had expired, so far as baptisms in the river for the dead were concerned. I turn to the minutes of the October conference, 1841, and read from the remarks on baptism for the dead delivered by the Prophet on the third day as follows:
"There shall be no more baptisms for the dead until the ordinance can be attended to in the font of the Lord's house; and the Church shall not hold another general conference, until they can meet in said house. For thus saith the Lord!" (Times and Seasons, Vol. II., page 578).
Remember this was in October, 1841—six months after the first stone of the Temple was laid. Was the Temple finished? No. Was the Church then rejected with its dead? Verily no! for this was 1841, and I have already referred you to the editorial of the Prophet's of May, 1842, wherein he says that never since the formation, or foundation, of the Church was laid, have the Saints been so willing to comply with the requisitions of Jehovah, and manifested a more ardent desire to do the will of God, than in the building of that Temple. Therefore they could not have been rejected. Yet the sufficient time was up.[13] What must we then conclude? That the Temple had progressed so far that baptisms could be performed in it for the dead in accordance with the revelation, and it did not depend altogether, you will see, on the complete finishing of the building; and as the rooms were finished one by one and dedicated, they too, could be used for the ordinances of the Temple until the whole Temple was built.
Are we right in our conclusion that a font had been built? Yes, a temporary font had been built in the basement of the Temple—a temporary one—but obviously one that answered the requirements of the revelation. Moreover, in this temporary font, which was used by the command of the Lord through the Prophet Joseph Smith, baptisms for the dead were performed from November, 1841, until it was replaced by the permanent font, and then these baptisms continued in that until the Saints were driven from Nauvoo.
BAPTISMS FOR THE DEAD OBLIGATORY.
We will now examine the thirty-second verse; it is:
"But behold, at the end of this appointment, your baptisms for your dead shall not be acceptable unto me."
That means, of course, the baptisms in the river shall not be acceptable after the font is built. But listen to this:
"And if you do not these things at the END OF THE APPOINTMENT ye shall be rejected as a church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God."
If you do not do what things? Does it mean if you do not build the Temple at the END of the appointment? That would be absurd. It means, if you do not perform your baptisms for your dead and the ordinances for the dead at the end—not the beginning, but the end—of the appointment, then will you be rejected with your dead. So you see it was not the failure to finish the attic, or to carve figures in the woodwork, or embellish the building by placing pictures on the walls, or painting them; it was not for this that the Church was to be rejected; but it was to be rejected with its dead if it failed to perform the work in the Temple for the dead when the opportunity was afforded. Now let us see if this view is not in harmony with other Scriptures. I turn to the second section of the Doctrine and Covenants. Here the angel says: