Without Unity, No Perfection.—Perfection is the great end in view; and without unity there can be no perfection. To bring about this great consummation, the Gospel was instituted, the Savior chosen, Earth created, and the human race placed upon this planet. Nothing imperfect can inherit the Divine Presence—the fulness of God's glory. This important lesson is taught by the principle of marriage—celestial marriage—the sealing of the sexes, not for time only, but for all eternity. "The man is not without the woman, nor the woman without the man, in the Lord."[[17]] United, they represent completeness, perfection, each being the complement of the other. Husband and wife, parent and child, the living and the dead, must be one, lest it be said of them at the celestial gates, as it was said at the gates of Verdun: "They shall not pass." The Latter-day Saints build temples and officiate therein, the living for the dead, not only to save them, but to bring them into that grand Order of Unity, so necessary to the perfection of God's work.

The Keys of Preparation.—Past and present are related. It is the relationship of parent and child. Neither is complete without the other. What has been and what is must join, before perfection can reign. Without unity and the perfecting power of righteousness, the Saints would be unprepared to receive the King of Kings. Earth, unable to endure the overpowering glory of his presence, would vanish from before his face, like hoar-frost in the rays of the rising sun.[[18]] That there might be no such calamity, no converting of an intended blessing into a consuming curse, Elijah restored the Keys of Preparation.

The Universal Gathering.—The gathering of the House of Israel is to be supplemented by a greater gathering—the bringing together of all the Gospel dispensations, with all the sacred powers and mighty personages connected therewith.[[19]] There is to be a general assembly, a universal union, in which sainted souls from all glorified creations will join.[[20]] All things that are Christs's, both in heaven and on earth, will eventually be brought together, and the divided and discordant parts attuned and blended into one harmonious Whole.

Footnotes

[1]. "Elias," Canto 5, p. 37, annotative edition.

[2]. Acts 3:21.

[3]. D. & C. 77:12.

[4]. Ib. 128:18.

[5]. Dan. 2:44.

[6]. D. & C. 76.