Joseph Smith was the instrument in the hands of the Lord to commence the work of restitution, and open the last dispensation, that of "the fulness of times." He received that divine authority under the hands of those heavenly messengers. He, by revelation and commandment, ordained others. Today there are on earth Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Elders, Bishops, Priests, Teachers and Deacons, divinely called and authorized to teach and administer the things of the Kingdom of heaven, and the power of God attends their ministrations.
Faith, repentance and baptism of water and of the Spirit administered by divine authority are essential to salvation. There is only one way. There is some good in all religions, but there is and can be but one divine religion, that is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is to be preached to every creature. Persons who have died after reaching years of accountability without an opportunity of receiving it, will hear it in the spirit world, and may there obey or reject it. Heathens, Jews and all races, creeds and tongues will thus have the door of redemption opened to them. Infants who die before they become accountable need no baptism, but are all redeemed by the blood of Christ.
The spirit of man is the intelligent, responsible being, an entity both before and after dwelling in the body. It was in the beginning with the Father. The sons and daughters of God, after probation in the flesh, return to Him and then, until the resurrection, associate in such sphere as they have fitted themselves to occupy; the good with the spirits of the just, the evil with the spirits of the unjust. A disembodied spirit can learn, believe, repent and yield obedience, but cannot be baptized in water, the earthly medium of purification.
REDEMPTION OF THE DEAD.
The living may be baptized for the dead. One who has received the ordinances of the Gospel can stand proxy for departed ancestors, who will receive the benefit of the earthly ordinances on obedience to the Gospel in the spirit. As the Spirit of Christ preached to the spirits in prison while His body was in the sepulchre, so His servants, bearing His authority, preach to "the dead" after finishing their work on earth. Ordinances for and in behalf of the dead are administered in temples built after a pattern revealed from heaven. Thus the living become saviors to the dead under Jesus Christ the Captain of their Salvation.
The resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth was "the first-fruit of them that slept." All persons who have breathed the breath of life will also be raised from the dead, receiving their bodies again as He did. But everyone in his own order. Those who have put on Christ by obeying His Gospel will be Christ's at His coming, and will be quickened by His glory, the celestial, typified by the sun. After the lapse of a day of the Lord-a thousand of our years-the rest of the dead will come forth, some in the terrestrial glory, typified by the moon, and others in the telestial glory, typified by the stars in their different magnitudes, the rest in a kingdom not of any degree of glory. All will be judged according to their works.
Progress is the eternal order of creation. The condemned will be punished for sin, as Divine justice shall determine both as to the severity and to the duration. The purpose of punishment is the vindication of the law and the reclamation of the transgressor. Eventually all who can be redeemed will be placed in some degree of glory and advancement. Only the sons of perdition who deny the Holy Ghost after having received it, who willfully pervert the power given to them to attain the highest exaltation and who shed innocent blood will be utterly lost.
The glory of those who are in Christ and become joint heirs with Him is to "inherit all things," and follow and participate with the Son and the Eternal Father forever in their glorious works. They will inherit the earth when it is purified and crowned with the glory and presence of God. They will reign as kings and priests and be ministers unto those of a lesser degree of glory in the eternal mansions.
This is the last dispensation. In it Israel will be gathered, Jerusalem be rebuilt, and Palestine be the abode of the sons of Judah. The elect of God will gather from all nations to Zion on the American continent. The earth will be cleansed from corruption. Paradise will bloom again, war will cease, peace will prevail, the enmity will depart from man and brute, the curse will be removed and this globe will be glorified, shining in its own light developed to perfection.