The Justice of God.—When the Savior uttered his exhortation: "Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect," and added, "For he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust" (Matt. 5:45), he did not mean that the Lord makes no distinction between the two classes; but meant that he is just to both—just even to the unjust, upon whom he sends his rain and sunshine, causing their orchards to bloom and their vineyards to bear equally with those of the righteous. Nevertheless, all who receive such blessings must merit them. If the unjust (unjust here) had not kept their first estate, thereby showing some degree of obedience to divine law, they would not have been given a second estate, where the sunlight and the rains could reach them. In this second estate, however, further obedience is requisite, in order that greater benefits may follow.
Blessings Bestowed by Law.—God's blessings are temporal as well as spiritual, and their bestowal is regulated by law. A bad man may be a good farmer or a good artisan, and reap reward for obedience to the law of industry in the exercise of his vocation. But there are greater blessings than those which come from the workshop and the harvest field; and they can be had only by obedience to the higher laws governing their distribution. One cannot become a member of the Church of Christ by being an expert tiller of the soil. It requires more than the skill of a mechanic to get into the kingdom of heaven. There is but one way into that kingdom—a way pointed out by the finger of God—and any person who tries to get in by picking the lock or by climbing over the wall, will be treated as a trespasser, as a would-be thief and robber.
What Must Man Do for Himself?—What particular acts of obedience are required of man, in order that God, who redeemed him, may likewise save and exalt him? What must he do for himself, that he may profit fully by the great things done in his behalf? How shall this alien become naturalized? The ladder having been let down into the pit, how shall the fallen avail himself of the divine assistance offered?
The answer is plain: He must climb, if he would get out. While there was no ladder, he could not, and all his intelligence and skill were unavailing. But now, if he will use his God-given powers and the means provided, he may climb from earth to heaven, round by round. If he refuses to climb, who but himself is responsible for his remaining in the pit?
The Most Important Personage.—This gospel code—this way into the kingdom—what is it? What does it consist of? What are the divine laws of naturalization? What requirements are made of those who would be identified with the Church of Christ—who would be saved in this world and in the world to come? The man who can answer, to the spiritually unenlightened, such questions as these, is easily the most important personage of his generation. Such a man was the Apostle Peter, and such another was the Prophet Joseph Smith.
The Pentecostal Proclamation.—When Peter, on the day of Pentecost, preached "Christ and him crucified," and the conscience-stricken multitude cried out: "Men and brethren, what shall we do?" a question was propounded which the most learned philosophers of that age could not answer. Caesar, sitting upon the throne of the world, would have been mystified had the question been put to him: What shall men do to be saved? Not so Peter, the Galilean fisherman. He knew what men must do, and he straightway told them what to do:
"Repent, and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ, for the remission of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Acts 2:38).
[Footnote A: An idea advanced by President George Q. Cannon.]