[14]. Some commentators hold that Abraham misunderstood the Lord's command to "offer" Isaac, and that the second command, "lay not thine hand upon the lad," was given in explanation. That the Lord did not intend Isaac to be slain, is evidenced from what ensued; but that Abraham misunderstood the original behest does not follow. In order to make the sacrifice of "a broken heart and a contrite spirit," and merit the reward of his obedience, it was necessary that Abraham should interpret the command just as he did—as a commandment to slay. "The sacrifice required of Abraham in the offering of Isaac," says Joseph Smith, "shows that if a man would attain to the keys of the kingdom of an endless life, he must sacrifice all things" (Hist. Ch. Vol. 5, p. 555). This was the principle that Abraham was showing forth, and it must have involved a real and terrible trial of his faith.

[15]. Moses 5:10, 11.

[16]. D. and C. 130:20, 21.

[17]. The principle involved in this discussion, is tersely put in two lines of a well known hymn, frequently sung in the religious assemblies of the Latter-day Saints:

"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven."

"Earth must atone for the blood of that man."

ARTICLE THIRTEEN.

The Gospel Dispensations.

Only One Gospel.—There is but one Gospel. There never has been, and there never will be, another.[[1]] It is the Everlasting Gospel,[[2]] the same yesterday, today and forever. In order to comprehend it, one must not limit his survey of the subject to the nineteenth and twentieth centuries—must not confine his calculations to any one Gospel dispensation. He must grasp the idea of a series of such dispensations, inter-related and connected, like the links of a mighty chain, extending from the morning of Creation down to the end of Time. "Mormonism" stands for the Gospel's restoration in the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times; but that is not all. It stands for the Gospel itself in all the dispensations, as those periods are termed during which God, from the beginning, has spoken to man and revealed from heaven these saving principles and powers.

For All Time and for All Men.—The Everlasting Gospel does not belie its name. It is not of any one time nor of any one place. Stretching from eternity to eternity, it encompasses past, present and future in its all-embracing fold. Neither is it for the benefit of any particular class, to the exclusion of other classes. It is for all men, and was made simple and plain that all might understand it, that its appeal might be universal. No creed comprehensible only to a few, no religion that mystifies the many, can by any possibility represent Him who died that the whole world might live. There is but one Savior, and but one Plan of Salvation; yet that Savior has many servants, saviors in a subordinate sense,[[3]] and His saving plan encompasses many truths, apportioned to the several branches of the human family, in measure large or small, according to their capacity to receive, and their ability to wisely use the knowledge meted out to them.