Thus, those only will attain the celestial glory who have been faithful in all things. They have kept the commandments of God, and have been sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. They are the Church of the First Born; they are priests and kings who receive of the fulness of His glory. "They are Gods, even the sons of God" and "shall dwell in the presence of God and His Christ for ever and ever."
The terrestrial world, however, consists of those who have not been valiant in the testimony of Jesus, as have those of the celestial. They are those who died without law, "who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it." They are honorable men of the earth, who could not see the light for the craftiness of men. They are men who were not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; therefore, they could not obtain the crown over the kingdom of God. These receive the presence of the Son, but do not receive the fulness of the Father.
Finally, even those who have violated the commandments of God will be saved in the telestial glory, so only they have not committed the unpardonable sin. These are men who did not receive the everlasting Gospel when the opportunity was at hand, but who did not deny the Holy Spirit. They are sinners and breakers of the law, and are cast in punishment to the depths of hell. Thence they can be redeemed only at the last resurrection. But in the end they will be saved, and exalted according to their merits, in the telestial kingdom. There they do not receive the administration of the Father or the Son, "but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial." Theirs is the lowest order of salvation.
Every man, then, will receive the reward for which he qualifies. Either we shall be lost, with the sons of perdition, or we shall be saved in one of the kingdoms of glory. And if we are saved we may continue further to grow. As in this life we must go either forward or backward, so in the future life, we must either advance or retrograde. There is no such thing as standing still. There is no level plain, the summit of all things, above which ascend no heights. There is no end to advancement. Eternal progression is the principle upon which the gospel is based. Eternal progression was an active principle when the words began; it is active still; it will continue to be active worlds without end. When we shall be graduated, then, from this life into the future one, we shall not pass merely from a field of endeavor and profitable activity into one of lethargic idleness. There will be work for us still to do. We shall find our time happily occupied. The principle of eternal progression will require of us all eternal, ceaseless activity.
These principles, together with those in the previous chapters, are among the most noble ever given to man. The announcement of them places Joseph Smith far and away above the heads of the philosophers of the world. It is a crowning act in the great drama of the Restoration.
XX.
IN THE MOUTHS OF WITNESSES.
It is wonderful how the Lord of heaven has safe-guarded every act in the story of the Restoration, that there may be no question as to its actuality. That Joseph Smith was a great prophet there can be no question. He will remain forever the divinely appointed leader of the dispensation of the fulness of times. His work is sufficient to establish his claim as a prophet. The far-reaching results that have followed his ministry are sufficient evidence of his divine inspiration. Founded in the midst of the age of science and progress, the system he introduced is "a marvelous work and a wonder." There are, however, enemies innumerable to the restoration who do not hesitate to cast doubt upon it. "How shall we know," ask the opponents of the Prophet, "that he really saw a vision, or that he received authority from heaven? Is it not possible that he was himself deceived about those things? Or is it not possible even that he lied deliberately about them? The word of the Prophet alone may be sufficient for you who have been converted to believe in him; but to us who do not believe in him, what evidence can be given to us that we may know that he was neither deceived nor deceiving?" The question is fair, and to it can be made a fair answer:—Not a single important step in the progress of the restoration was taken without corroborative testimony or the presence of witnesses.
This assertion may seem both broad and rash. On that beautiful morning in the early spring of 1820, when the boy, Joseph Smith, went into the grove to pray, he went alone. He took no boon companion with him, nor did he even reveal to his mother the purpose of his visit to the grove. And when the Father and the Son appeared to him in glorious vision, he was still alone. No other mortal was present during that wonderful appearance. How, then can anyone bear corroborative testimony of the actuality of that vision?
Joseph Smith claims to have seen no further visions for some three and a half years. But when he retired on the evening of the twenty-first of September, 1823, he prayed earnestly to the Lord to vouchsafe him some further word as to the nature of his mission upon earth. Joseph Smith was alone then. He had no friend with him in his room. He sent for neither father, nor mother, nor brother, nor sister. In the privacy of his own chamber he prayed, pouring out his heart to his God. And in answer to the fervent prayer, an angel of heaven appeared in another glorious vision. It was Moroni, a Nephite, a resurrected being. Three times he appeared to the boy that night and once in the forenoon of the following day. Four times, then, in about twelve hours, the angel Moroni—so the Prophet claims—appeared to him, and each time the boy was alone. No other living mortal was near. Again it may be asked, How can anyone bear corroborative testimony to the actuality of these visions?
On the day following the visions of the night, Joseph told his father what he had seen. The father believed the story told by his son. He counseled the boy to do whatever the angel had commanded him to do. Now, the angel Moroni had shown Joseph, in vision, a low hill not very far from his own home. In that hill were buried the sacred records of the Nephites, and Joseph was required to visit the hill to see the sacred treasure. Accordingly, following his father's counsel, Joseph Smith set out near midday of September twenty-second, 1823, to visit the hill, Cumorah, shown him in vision. But he went alone; he took no companion with him. When he had reached the place of the vision, and had uncovered the golden plates, the angel Moroni appeared again, the fifth time. He instructed the boy in his life-work, and required that he should return to the hill annually, on the same day of the month, for four years, that he might be further instructed in the work he had to do. Accordingly, Joseph Smith went to the same place on the hill, Cumorah, on the twenty-second of September, for four consecutive years. Each time he went alone. He was accompanied by neither friend nor foe. And each time the angel, Moroni, appeared to him and instructed him. The last time, September twenty-second, 1827, the plates of the Nephite record were delivered to the young man, and he was commanded to translate it. Thus, the Prophet claims that the angel, Moroni, appeared to him five different times on the hill Cumorah, and instructed him in his work. But each time the Prophet was alone. How, then, can anyone bear corroborative testimony of the actuality of these visions? Ten visions the Prophet saw alone, at the beginning of his very interesting career. Never was he accompanied at any of these visions by mortal man. It seems then that the assertion must fail, that not a single important step in the progress of the restoration was taken without corroborative testimony or the presence of witnesses.