Extract From A Revelation to the Prophet Joseph.
And in that day Adam blessed God and was filled, and began to prophesy concerning all the families of the earth, saying, Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God.—Pearl of Great Price, p. 10.
Extract From The Prophecy of Enoch.
And righteousness will I send down out of heaven: and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; His resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men.—Pearl of Great Price, p. 21.
The Testimony of Joseph Smith.
As concerning the resurrection, I will merely say that all men will come forth from the grave as they lie down, whether old or young; there will not be "added one cubit to their stature," neither taken from it; all will be raised by the power of God, having spirit in their bodies and not blood.—March 20, 1842; History of Joseph Smith.
There are two kinds of beings in heaven, viz: angels, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones.
For instance, Jesus said, "Handle me and see, for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as ye see me have."
2. The spirits of just men made perfect—they who are not resurrected, but inherit the same glory.
When a messenger comes, saying he has a message from God, offer him your hand, and request him to shake hands with you.
If he be an angel, he will do so, and you will feel his hand.
If he be the spirit of a just man made perfect, he will come in his glory; for that is the only way he can appear.
Ask him to shake hands with you, but he will not move, because it is contrary to the order of heaven for a just man to deceive; but he will still deliver his message.
If it be the Devil as an angel of light, when you ask him to shake hands, he will offer you his hand, and you will not feel anything; you may therefore detect him.
These are three grand keys whereby you may know whether any administration is from God.—Thursday, February 9, 1843; History of Joseph Smith. Doctrine and Covenants, cxxxix.
Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection;
And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.
There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicted;
And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicted.
The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also: but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.
A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.—Sunday, April 2, 1843; History of Joseph Smith. Doctrine and Covenants, cxxx: 18-23.
To a remark of Elder O. Pratt's, that a man's body changes every seven years, President Joseph Smith replied: There is no fundamental principle belonging to a human system that ever goes into another in this world or in the world to come: I care not what the theories of men are. We have the testimony that God will raise us up, and He has the power to do it. If any one supposes that any part of our bodies, that is, the fundamental parts thereof, ever goes into another body, he is mistaken.—Friday, April 7, 1843; History of Joseph Smith.
Speaking of the eternal duration of matter, I said—There is no such thing as immaterial matter. All spirit is matter, but it is more fine or pure, and can only be discerned by purer eyes.
We cannot see it; but when our bodies are purified, we shall see that it is all matter.—Wednesday, May 17, 1843; History of Joseph Smith, Doctrine and Covenants, cxxxi: 7, 8.
As the Father hath power in Himself, so hath the Son power in Himself, to lay down His life and take it again, so He has a body of His own. The Son doeth what He hath seen the Father do; then the Father hath some day laid down His life and taken it again; so He has a body of His own, each one will be in His own body; and yet the sectarian world believe the body of the Son is stuffed into the Father's.
Gods have an ascendancy over the angels, who are ministering servants. In the resurrection, some are raised to be angels; others are raised to become Gods.—Sunday, June 11, 1843; History of Joseph Smith.
CELESTIAL FAMILY ORGANIZATION.
By Parley P. Pratt in His Publication, "The Prophet," Published in New York City, 1845.
Man is an eternal being, both in regard to his material organization and his mind and affections. The resurrection from the dead restores him to life with all his bodily and mental powers and faculties, and (if quickened by the celestial glory) consequently associates him with his family, friends and kindred, as one of the necessary links of the chain which connects the great and royal family of heaven and earth in one eternal bond of kindred affection and association. The order of God's government, both in time and in eternity, is patriarchal; that is, it is a fatherly government. Each father who is raised from the dead and made a partaker of the celestial glory in its fullness, will hold lawful jurisdiction over his own children and over all the families which spring of them to all generations, forever and ever.
We talk, in this ignorant age, of children becoming of age, as it is called; and we consider when they are of age they are free from the authority of their father. But no such rule is known in the celestial law and organization, either here or hereafter. By that law a son is subject to his father forever and ever, worlds without end. Again, we have a rule now established in the earth by which a woman becomes the wife of a man, and is bound by law to him till death shall separate. But in the celestial order it is not so, for the plainest of all reasons, viz., the celestial order, is an order of eternal life; it knows no death and consequently makes no provision for any. Therefore all its covenants and contracts are eternal in their duration, and calculated to bind the several members of a family in one eternal union. In order to illustrate this subject and make it perfectly plain to the most simple capacity we must leave death entirely out of the consideration, and look at men and families just as we would look at them if there was no death. This we can do with the greatest propriety because the time was when there was no death, and the time will be again in which there will be no death.