Scrap Book of Mormon Literature, Volume 2 (of 2). Religious Tracts

by Unknown

(REPORTED BY F. W. OTTERSTROM.)

It is with a feeling of great dependence upon the Giver of all Good that I arise before you, this afternoon, in the hope of saying something by the help of the Spirit of the Lord, that will be encouraging to the Latter-day Saints and also a comfort to them with reference to some of those glorious principles which we have espoused and which, nevertheless, are very much misunderstood and misrepresented by our enemies.

We do not fully realize, it seems to me, the simplicity and naturalness of those great doctrines that are involved in the probation of man, in his mortal state. Many have sought for the origin of man in his development from the lower animals or creatures, and it is very difficult, indeed, to persuade men who are supposed to be scientific, to believe that the works of God are one eternal round, and that man is nothing more and cannot be anything less, we believe, than the offspring of God. No man, however scientific, however learned, however deeply he may search into the secrets of nature, can ever find out more than is revealed already, in the Scriptures of divine truth, with reference to man's origin. Men may speculate, and guess, and suppose many things, and can argue themselves into queer notions and beliefs with reference to man's origin, but after all it will only be their beliefs, or their imaginations or conclusions from human reasoning. It would be superfluous, no doubt, for me to cite my hearers to the Genesis in the Bible, where an account is given of man being placed upon the earth, formed in the image and likeness of God, being made in His likeness not only male but also female, for the Bible plainly implies that in order that man should become like unto God, or be created in His image and likeness, he should be a dual being, that is, he should be not only man but that his complement or other self should be woman, thus he was formed in the likeness of God. Man was placed in the garden that was prepared for him. He was given the liberty to enjoy and partake of all the fruits of the garden except the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and he was told that when he should partake of that fruit, or if he should, then he should surely die.

Yet, it was foreordained, and the first man was predestined to partake of that fruit in order that the greater and real purpose of God might be fulfilled, for if Adam had kept the law of heaven, by refusing or refraining from partaking of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, he would have remained forever in his innocence, without power of increase. Therefore, the object and purpose of God would fail in his being, for the great commandment that was given to him was that he should multiply and replenish the earth, and have dominion over it and over all living creatures upon the earth, for he was made lord of all and above all things that were created of God, or were placed here on the earth. Man was placed here to be the lord and master of all of them. Why? Because he was God's child; because he was made or formed and created in the image and likeness of his Father and, shall I add here, in the image and likeness of his Mother? If I should say such a thing it would shock the Christian world, and they would ridicule the thought or the idea that the original man had anything but a father, and owed nothing but to his father, for his existence. In the revelations that have come to us through Joseph, the prophet, and also those that are contained within the lids of the Bible, we are told that all things were created spiritually before they were temporally; in other words, they were created in the other world before they were placed here—not only man, the child of God, but all the animals that were placed upon the earth, and the fishes of the sea, and the birds of the air. All things were formed and had their existence spiritually before they were formed temporally on the earth, Even the seeds and herbs of the field had their existence in their spiritual state before they were planted in the earth.

But when man transgressed that heavenly law, which forbade that he should partake of the elements of this earth, whereby he should become of the earth, earthy, then he brought upon himself temporal death, just as God declared he would do, if he should partake of the "forbidden fruit." Not only did he bring upon himself the temporal death, that is, the death of the body, but he also placed himself in subjection to spiritual death, which death is banishment from the presence of God into outer darkness where there is weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth. Through this condition, brought upon our first parents necessarily—necessarily because it had to be, in order to carry out the great purpose of God to people the earth—man placed himself in the most helpless condition, powerless to relieve himself from the temporal death which he had brought upon himself, and powerless in and of himself, and through his own wisdom, to escape even the consequences of spiritual death—absolutely helpless. But we read, in the new revelation that has come through Joseph, the prophet, in these latest days, that the gospel which was afterwards, in the meridian of time, preached by the Son of God, was also preached unto Adam and to his children in the early stage of man's existence in the earth. The same gospel of faith in God and in a Savior of the world and in remission of sin by repentance, and the gift of the Spirit of God to lighten man in the world, in the path that should lead him back into the presence of God from whence he had fallen; all this was taught to Adam by the angels of God who were sent to minister to him and to reveal to him the plan of life and of redemption. Among other things, there was established, in the days of Adam, to be continued by his posterity, the law of sacrifice. They were required to offer the sacrifice of oxen, and of sheep, and of doves, and of various animals; and in these sacrifices, which were given to them with commandment to follow and to observe, the principle was taught them that in the meridian of time one should be sent, mighty and strong, with power to redeem and save, who should make the great sacrifice for all mankind. He would relieve the children of Adam, and all the human family, from the beginning down to the time of this great Savior, and thenceforth through all generations of time, until the winding up scene, or until every son and daughter of Adam should have the privilege of being redeemed from the fallen and helpless condition into which they had been placed because of the fall of the first parents.

So, from the time of Adam until the Son of God, whose supposed natal day we are here, perhaps most of us, for the purpose of celebrating and of reflecting upon, these sacrifices were offered in anticipation of His coming, in anticipation of the great sacrifice that He was to offer, once for all, thus doing away with the shedding of the blood of animals, of beasts, and of birds, whereby man could be kept in memory of this great principle of sacrifice which was instituted, from before the foundation of the world, for the redemption of man from temporal and also from spiritual death; first, from the temporal death without any responsibility on his part, or act of his own, without any required virtue, honor, or worthiness upon his own part. Inasmuch as death has come upon me—temporal death—not by any act of mine, and I am not in any way responsible for that condition in which I find myself; inasmuch as you and I had no hand, in the beginning, in bringing about the conditions that now exist, we, by the will of God, and by the power of life and of salvation in the Son of God, shall be redeemed, every one, from the temporal death, no matter what we are or who we are. It matters not whether we are learned or illiterate, bond or free, white or black, old or young, ignorant or intelligent, we shall all come forth out of the condition that has come upon us temporally, and we shall have to stand before the bar of the great Judge, at last, to give an account of our deeds done in the flesh. Next to this redemption from the temporal death comes our redemption from the power of the second death, but this redemption will not be brought to pass in our behalf independently of ourselves. We are responsible for our own sins and will be held responsible for our deliverance from them, for they lead to the second death.

I will again tell you what the Scriptures tell us is the second death: It is being cut off from God; the blessing and privilege of His presence; it is indeed banishment from God and from His Kingdom, and from the glory and exaltation, the joy and happiness of eternal life. That is the second death, and that is what will come upon all men who reject the redemption that has been wrought for them in the atonement of the Son of God, whom we call Jesus of Nazareth, the Christ. And who was Jesus, the Christ? He was both God and man. Can we accept it? Can we comprehend it? It is very simple to those who will permit themselves to comprehend it. It is very plain if men will comprehend, firstly, the fact, that God is the Father of man, spiritually, and that God is the Father of Jesus Christ, both temporally and spiritually, and that Jesus Christ is nothing more nor less than the Son of God, begotten of His Father, as absolutely, and as truly as any child was begotten of his earthly father. You don't need to mince the matter. How could we be like God if we were not begotten in His image and in His likeness? Then this holy man, Jesus Christ, had God for His Father, and He had for His mother the virgin, Mary, who never knew mortal man until after the time that Christ was born. He had this human mother for His mother, and thus were joined together in Him, forever, God and man, and thus is explained to the human family the connection existing between God and man, his children, his offspring in the earth. Not only is God our Father, but Jesus Christ is our brother; and in the spirit He is the elder brother of the human race, whereas in the flesh Adam was before Him. Many other prophets, men and inspired persons were before Christ in the flesh, and yet He was the first born of God in the flesh; he was God's "only begotten Son" in the flesh. He came into the world in this way, clothed with double power—power to die, which He derived from His mother; and power to resist death, if He had so willed it, which He had inherited from His Father. Thus He had power both to live forever and also power to pass through the ordeal of death, that He might suffer it for all men, and come forth out of the grave to a newness of life—a resurrected being, to be clothed with immortality and eternal life, that all men might come forth out of the grave unto life eternal, if they will obey Him. They will come forth anyhow, either as vessels of honor or as vessels of dishonor. They will come forth from the grave whether they will or not. They can't help themselves. We could not help the curse of mortal death coming upon us, neither shall we be able to avoid or to prevent the resurrection of this body from that grave; for as God raised from the dead, so will all mankind.

Then the Latter-day Saints worship God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and we are instructed, and we do follow that instruction, to worship God, the Father, and to call upon His name for the blessings that we need, in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. I do not suppose that there is a Latter-day Saint anywhere who does not believe, who has not absolutely accepted in his soul the literal and absolute resurrection of the Lord, Jesus Christ, from the dead. We accept that; it is a part of our doctrine; it is a fundamental principle of our religion. On that truth depends our hope of everlasting life, and, therefore, we have cast our lot into the plan of life and of redemption and of salvation inaugurated by the Son of God while He was in the flesh. We depend upon it for our exaltation; upon it rests our hope of happiness and the privilege of entering again into the presence of our Father, the Father of our spirits, and enjoying eternities with Him. Our hope is founded on the great truth that Jesus rose from the dead and conquered death. Now, a great many people will argue that this is, in some degree, only mythical, that it cannot be real or tangible. I shall take the liberty, if you will permit, to look at the Scripture for a moment with reference to this matter. After the resurrection of Christ, abundant evidence was given His disciples and Saints to establish the reality of His resurrection from the dead. Of course, we have the testimony of the ancient disciples of Christ with reference to this matter, but that is not all. We read here the testimony given concerning the resurrection of the Savior, by Luke, one of the disciples of Christ, who wrote a brief history of His doings and life. We read here of two of the disciples who went to Emmaus with the Savior after His resurrection, and knew Him not until they got there, and He broke bread, then they discovered that they had been walking and talking with the Lord:

"And they said one to another, Did not our hearts burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures?

"And they rose up the same hour, and returned to Jerusalem, and found the eleven gathered together, and them that were with them,