How, then, are these innumerable kingdoms governed? Every organization has its own president or ruler, from the orbit of countless millions to the smallest division that convenience may require—from the ruler of many cities to the ruler of the smallest ward of a city. A man's gift maketh room for him, and bringeth him into the presence of great men.
Now, the strongest tie of government, of union, strength, and happiness in any confederation whatever, either in heaven or on earth, is that which springs from parentage, or the paternal tie. The first lesson of address which God teaches his subjects is to call him Father—our Father, &c. The father feels the strongest of all attachments to his children; for them he toils and provides, and to them he gives the fruit of his labours, and the wisdom and knowledge that flows from his lips. Every father is expected to look after his own progeny. If it were not that the hearts of the fathers were turned to the children, in the last days the earth would be smitten with such a sore and heavy curse that no flesh would be saved; but for the elect's sake, and for the sake of the fathers who have obtained promises concerning their posterity in the last days, the earth will be preserved as an inheritance for righteous men. From the dust of mother earth has arisen a sufficient number of righteous men to secure the endless perpetuity of its existence among the worlds that God has made. Glory and honour be to God for this unspeakable favour! Some worlds have passed away and are not, doubtless because they abode not in the law given them.
According to promise, God has sent Elijah just in the dawn of the great and notable day of sweeping the wicked with the besom of his wrath, to turn the hearts of the children to the fathers. The children are told of kindred ties between them and such as once held the true priesthood, and wrought righteousness on the earth, and of their consequent heirship to thrones and dominions through faith. Through the gift of the Spirit they respond to the same, as good tidings of great joy. The Spirit of God works in them mightily, that they may come to the knowledge of their ancestors, that were once in honourable remembrance before God for their faith and priesthood. By revelation, and by records and traditions, and by the spirit of adoption, they will learn their relationship to the heavens; and the vacant links of lineage between them and their forefathers in the priesthood, will be sought after on earth, and under the earth, and in the heavens, in the set times of restitution; for God will gather together in one in Christ, all things in heaven and upon the earth and under it, in the dispensation of the fulness of times.
The different federative unions of the whole family of heaven and earth, when organized according to the law of adoption, have their own respective patriarch or president to represent them in the grand council of the just, Jesus Christ being head over all things to the Church, in all ages, worlds without end. Every dispensation under Him has its own presidency and grand council, from whence emanate all the laws that spring from the Apostle and High Priest of our profession in the heavens.
By the federative laws of adoption, a representation may be had in the grand council of each dispensation, with more practical facility and order than otherwise. Jesus is an advocate for the whole human family before the Father; "and every High Priest taken from among men is ordained for men in things pertaining to God, that he may offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins."
A mediatorial and intercessoral work pervades the priesthood according to the measure of the grace bestowed. The union of families, not according to the capricious and changeable institutions of men, but according to the laws of heaven, upon the basis of virtuous affection, and upon the confidence of permanent security in righteousness, will form a solid phalanx against the intrusion of discord and the spirit of alienation from God. The righteous will be bound together, by the ties of adoption and kindred, in the "bundle of eternal life." This united confederation of strength and affection will be peculiarly needed, in order to endure the shock which society must receive both in heaven and upon earth, and under the earth, in the last dispensation; for every tree that the Eternal Father hath not planted shall be hewn down, and the institutions of men shall come to nought. Every man's hand shall be against his fellow; and while distrust and discord shall insinuate their baneful influence into the secret chambers of the most familiar acquaintance, the Saints shall have peace like a river, and their union and joy shall abound. Then the nations that have sneered at prophets will be filled with disquietude and fear! Violence and rapine will stalk abroad with a bold front! Innocence, and integrity, and virtue will hide in confusion or be utterly banished! But the Church—"the pillar and ground of the truth"—will be quiet and undisturbed! Virtue and innocence, truth and wisdom, will abound within her gates! She will come up from her tribulations like sheep from the washing—fair as the moon, clear as the sun, and terrible as an army with banners!
And when the victory of truth over error is won, all nations will fear the name of the Lord our God. "The law shall go forth from Zion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem." The Jews shall be gathered to Jerusalem, and the city shall have been built in troublesome times. The outcasts of Judah shall re-occupy their own land; and the gatherings of Israel shall be commemorated in everlasting songs and festivals, because the greatness of the work shall surpass any deliverance that Israel has ever experienced before from the hand of the Lord. Therefore, behold the days come, saith the Lord, that it shall no more be said, The Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt. But the Lord liveth that brought up the children of Israel from the land of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven them. And I will bring them again into their land, that I gave unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, saith the Lord, and they shall fish them; and after will I send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the rocks, for mine eyes are upon all their ways. I will cause them to know mine hand and my might, and they shall know that my name is the Lord. And Satan shall be bound on the face of the whole earth; and for the first time in the lapse of more than six thousand years, there shall be made a perfect demonstration of the majesty and glory of the kingdom of God on the earth; and the purity, efficiency, and wisdom of his laws.
Jesus Christ shall come in like manner as he went up. He shall set his feet upon Mount Olives, and the earth shall quake at his presence. His nation shall acknowledge their Lord and their God, whom their fathers had crucified. The city of the New Jerusalem shall come down out of heaven, even the city of the great King. In this city will be displayed the skill of the great architect of the world,—the builder and maker is God. The names of the twelve tribes, and of the twelve apostles of the Lamb will not be the least distinguishable in this most extraordinary city that was ever revealed to man.
This vision of the future residence of the apostles and patriarchs, appears to have been unfolded to the apostle John, in a kind of farewell visit, and must have ravished his heart with unspeakable delight and ecstacy. His soul was suffused with joy and rapture, and he fell prostrate with feelings of worship toward the messenger of such tidings. Jesus had, indeed, told the apostles that he would go away and prepare mansions for them. And that there were many mansions. But never before, probably, had he described the celestial state and residence so beautifully and minutely as now. The height, and length, and breadth of the city, and the names of some of the most distinguished personages who should occupy mansions therein, together with the gates of pearl, and the foundation walls of all manner of precious stones, were distinctly shown to him.
The future residence of the Saints, we perceive, is not an ideal thing without reality. They will need houses for their persons, and for their families, as much in their resurrected condition as in their present state; they will be as sensible of the works of art, taste, beauty and grandeur there as now, and far more so.