Show THE DIVINE PLAN ProMortal ExlstoncoUnlvoroallty of tho AlonomontTho Qospol to tho Doacl as Wall as tho Living Dttcourse Dllwmd In Ike TcAtrnttU Suit late City Snit Srfttmttr 9 191 61 ELDER JOHN NICHOLSON REPORTED uv ARTHUR ULSTER = = My brethren and sisters and l our friends who have joined with us this afternoon to engage In divine worship I hate been unexpectedly called to occupy the position of your speaker fur n short time 1 trust that you will patiently bear Obit me and exercise for me your tapir and l extend to mo > oursmpathy that speaker and l hearer may be In accord l with each other and l that the time we spend l here this afternoon may be profitably profit-ably used It Is somewhat difficult when on Individual Is called to fill to Important n position as this to speak touch to-uch a vast and Intelligent congregation 10 select a suitable subject rhere are many themes however that can be profitably dwelt upon when we come together as tic have for the purpose for which wo have convened on this occasion I I oc-casion As a great portion of this audience Is I aware a few days ago was the anniversary i anniver-sary ol an event In which this community I I commun-ity of Latterday Saints took an unusual t Interest On the jut of September ol last year our choir which has rendered Ilea beautiful music to which we have listened since wo entered this building arrived l In the city ol Chlcigo for the purpose of contesting for the premiums I hat were offered there for the I best I chorus singing that the world could I produce pro-duce or the best at least that could 1 be rendered l by those who would 1 be present on that occasion to engage In the contest con-test of superiority in the divine art 01 music llesliles thus engaging our choristers led by their efficient leader Ilrollier Evan > btepliccs gate a number of concerts on the way 10 very largo and delighted audiences There was one song that was rendered 1 at these 3 musical casts that t perhaps attracted more attention and created more snt pathy than even the splendid l singing of the choruses nbout ttie best In the world that was the rendition by Ilrollier Robert C Laslon of the most beautiful composition so far as Its poetry and the trutli that It conveys ore concerned rII rat lias been produced by the poets of the Church ol Jesus Christ l ol Ip Latterday Saints I an Je we have 1 had and do have quite a number who have genius that ulrcctlon I refer to the Lynn I written by Sister Kllu I Z 5 now beginning O my IMIhfil Thou lint clwellcit In sloe high and ctotlout plait When shall I refjiln Piy presence And oGaln I > < huM Ilijrhccr The hymn Roes on ID t state that I the singer In a primeval 1t 1 condition of ltd hie I lt-d elt In the presencu of God the Father I and was nurtured near Mil side and Invocation li uttered expressing the desire that after finishing nil the work that had been given him lo perform per-form In other conditions ol existence he might return from whence he came 1 do not believe that the icslicy of the audiences that listened to he singing of this sublime I production was created ol together yO the 1 masterly musical effects but a large portion of it was due to the truth that It conveyed and the sublime sentiment embodied In It I am of the opinion that the expression of this grand thought found f a lodging place In the hearts of thoso who listened and l there was In their bosoms an echo bolt is If I It were something I I that they ol had heard 1 beforu or a truth that they bid been previously laminar with 1 lie I principle rfnIrN lml nn rfn r that Is expressed In Ills one with which the latter lay Saints are all conversant that Is the pro existence of all the ions and l daughter of God who come to dwell In this condition of mortality that Is lo lay that before coming hero and taking upon ourselves the conditions that pertain to mortality and being clothed with bodies that partake of the earth we dwelt In lire presence ol Him who Is the father of the spirits of all flesh There are objections raised to this principle and ll I have heard many ol them but there has been none that has appealed so potentially to my reason ni has hire enunciation of the pre mortal existence of manIa man-Ia not man a wonderful being Is he not n marvel to himself As stated In the language of the great Kijjhsb poet Shakespeare VIit a piece of work li I mini low I colic In rruonl how Infinite In tacullletl In form and moire how I eipreti and Jmirabltl In notion haw lie an oncll In anprohcnilon how 1 tike I a CodWhy hflll li he like n dle I liacno other Idea 1 1 than Hut I It Is because lie h l the spiritual progeny of God When the Redeemer of the world l was Hlmielf clothed with modality lie taught Ills disciples to pray lie arned them not to pray as the scribes and pharisees who thought they would he heard because be-cause of their much sneaking but Ut rfokWr alter this m inner therefore pray ye Our rather w hick art In hoaven And l when Clnht r after lie was risen ap k rll rtlll peered 1 to Mary In the garden lie Bald lo her Touch ma not for I nm outlet attended to my I ather but en lo my trcllncn and uiv unto Ilicm I uitiul untomyr4lherandyuur Parlor and romp God and your lad Christ the Son ol God and Ha announced an-nounced that we oro Ills brethren and that we are the children of the mine parent RIllethat we am tho children of God lie extsttd before He came here He was the Limb slain from before the foundation of he I world and when the Jews sought to cavil with Him and l referred Him to Abraham their father lie I said IJefore Abraham was lam I 1 Yet He I b lived i n el long time so tar as generation on the earth was concerned niter Abraham Hut before Abraham was He was because He ex bled before Abraham line Prophet Jeremiah was Informed l of his preexistence pre-existence The voice ol the Lord came to him and l Inlormed him that be was selected before lie was formed In the body to bo a prophet of the Most High i GOd and logically there can be no selection se-lection ol an > thlnz before Its existence I upon lAI existed i previous I to entering I upon an earthly career so did llhe whole of the luinnn race An I have already said behold the wonderful nature uf mm his achievement what he accomplishes accom-plishes by the mighty I 1 I fldco he possesses Where I did II he get this comprehension com-prehension and this Intelligence lie cause In Innumerable case he no sooner matures than he exhibits the power ol his menial strength In all natuic wherever von observe It there Is n process of gradation In Its development develop-ment there Is nothing that leaps suddenly sud-denly Into n state ol perfection from a ZIl ftr condition of 1 comparative I crudity Then why should l man bean exception 1 The Idea I that we passers Is I that his present condillon of perfection due to the fact that before ho came here he was a thinking acting Intelligent and 1 Independent Inde-pendent individuality In the presence of God the Father that he had a pre mortal lAtherJth3t experience ail consequent development develop-ment It Is almost universally claimed by religionists that men live Alter death IIr they hold 1 that the soul of man Is Immortal At least nil the Christians cling to this Idea Tlmi they take the position that after man has laid aside this mortal coil and his remains are lud In the earth and crumble to decay his spirit still lives and will continue to exist throughout the endless ages of eternity So far as natural philosophy or reason Is concerned I see no stronger logic In that position thin I can sec In the enunciation that man lived before he came here In the spirit life And tills truth accounts for as nothing else It appear to mo can explain the plan ol the Goipel I at the head of which tI tie It I Chrlst stands Why Ilccaute the plan of redemption was to sao mankind that Is to say there was a prearranged i design with our lather and God Drat tho spirits that were begotten of Him should l come here and take upon themselves them-selves physicil conditions that through the experience they gain here coming III contact with good aid evil and partaking par-taking of sorrow as well as lay they might be prepared lor a greater and mote exceeding weight of glory or as the l Lord has sit tt through la the Irophet Joseph Smith r that I spirit and element are inseparably connected otherwise relr blrul thH there 1 Is not a fulness of lj joy Hence I our spirits have come hero that they Ifltl and the elements I In I the midst of which we live might be combined and that we through the combination might l have a fulness ol joy lor man Is the Lord says that be might have joy fly the transgression of one man Paul nr flIII says came death Into the world and the fiat of dentil is of universal application I tN arn ilion i arnI I ro taJ lion It applies lo all without I ulntlnc lion none can escape It and It Is I thereat there-at lent where all men are equal when they stand at the gates of death and pass through Its dark Iha < low The Gospel of Christ Is also of universal application to the dead as well as the allll tgao living l He came to t save t without distinction that would be saved As the Apostle says As lbJ the ot transgression transgres-sion r one man all l iesoin Christ shall all be rnadeallve That Into say that although all hive to undergo the fiat of Jehovah J and suffer f the penalty of death by the atoning erb blood of all Jesus Christ all shall be resurrected hero Is no limit In regard to tho extent of the application of this atonement Christ atoned for what Is called llhe original sin and gave himself a ransom for tint I which I was lost and by tint ransom ran-som all I are redeemed from death the death of the body whether they died I rullfi I before or after His crucifixion and thus I comelh to pass tho ressurrectloii when the body am the spirit by the power that Is In Christ who holds the keys of the resurrection shall be reunited and man become an Immortal being physical physi-cal as well as spiritual possessed ol spirit clothed upon with an eternal resurrected res-urrected body This is Ito nnienat fleet hen there ore special effects that Is to say that which Is tho destiny of one may not be the destiny of another for as the Apostle Paul In speaking comparatively com-paratively of the resurrection of lire dead sa > s there are dilFcrent degress of glory Ihcre Is one glory 01 the sun and another glory ol the moon and another glory ol the stars lor one star dilferclh irom another star In glory So Is also the resurrection ol theuoad Now In order for God to be lust and l He has said himself Ixcept 1 am just I am no longer GodIhle possibilities possibili-ties must hu placed within the reach of nil Hit children In other words the Gospel II is to every creature aunt the time Is to come according to tho oleo of revelation when every knee thai bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Is the Christ How will this il grand conversion to Christ I be brought t nbout I cv or there are imrlads of human beings who while they live In mortality never hear the name of Christ uttered Then how are they to bow the knee and with the tongue confess that Jesus Is the Christ It cannot be on lire ground of Information Informa-tion received In mortality for they h we lll rilorllI N wirllo not heard His name while In the lleili 1 hen how shall they get the necessary knowledge Hilt Is another phase ol the Gospel ol the Son of God as understood under-stood by the Latterday bainls the most beautiful and sublime that could enter Into the human mind and stands in unison with the principle ol pre enistcnco and the brotherhood of mankind that Is that the preaching and application ol el cJ rfI Oc the Gospel ol Jesus Christ is not confined con-fined to this bile but extends beyond morUhty In order that Christ tiny be the victor and that Satan may not be triumphant over our Lord and Master Hinco when Christ was upon the earth He I bad l a twofold mission to perform first to dwellers In lire mortal mate and next to the disembodied spirits who tad lived In this earthly sphere He established His Church on earth with all Us officers Us gifts Its powers its ordinances and Its blessings and when He l concluded this part of l bas ntrnlon 11 n I i II NI r lie said to Ills disciples He that i liellcvelli on Me the works that I do shall he do also and greater works than these shall he do because I go unto My Father 1 He f empowered I them to per petuate Iris work and gave them the keys of the Kingdom ol heaven He Kave Item lo the President I of the Church t of that day and said lo him And I will give unto Ire the ky of the Pletdtas of hesrrn so I haitwer iiiou than bind on Mrlh hall IK round j I In heaven and whatsoever shod boIl loss 1 on earth shall be loused 1 In I heaven This was a most emphatic method of conveying lo Ictcr the chief Apostle ol that age the necessary authority that his acts and the act of those w ho operated oper-ated In unison with him should be acknowledged In heaven because they were legal being authorized by the Son of God When lth e 1 3r done this work In this life Christ was offered l up atonIng aton-ing with His blood for the sin of the world that the way of salvation might In fully opened to all Ihe children of God Then the Apostle 1eter said concerning the Savior llelng put Inth leSat l to death In the lleih but quickened quick-ened by the Spirit by which also lie went and l preached to the spirits In prison What for That they might be judged according to men in the flesh but live according 10 God in the spirit Thus having opened His dispensation among l men in the llesh WI IIIIloNdo Ie He also I opened It in the world ol departed de-parted spirits and preached l to them the Gospel And this explains the words ol the Aposlle Paul when he was Instructing In-structing the Corinthians on the doctrine of the resurrection Some of these people not believing In the resurrection of the body as n fact nor In the atonement of Christ He said 1 Else what shall they do which are baptized lot the dead II the dead l rise not nt all why are they then baptized 1 for the dead This opens up a comprehensive principle In unison with the atonement of Jesus Christ the performance of vicarious work lor the dead who beard not the Gospel their day Now my brethren and sisters and friends comet a new dispensation the great clitpeniallon of the latter Jays toward which I the prophets have looked as they I gazed downward Ih I along the stream ol time a dispensation Into which all the others would How as tributaries tri-butaries Into the great ocean the days htal spoken r when I all things should be gathered together in one Whether the world believe It or not we take tho position that tills dispensation was ushered In by n prophet In truss times and that through him Lire key of knowledge I knowl-edge was restored What Is the key of knuwladge The key of knowledto in relaliin to divine ot things i IO sk revelation comuunication between our bather In heaven and Ills children on earth and without It we have no positive knowledge knowl-edge ol heavenly conditions The tl tn1rmlnglo Prophet Joseph J Smith by commandment command-ment of the Almighty as we hold In the nineteenth century near Us beginning begin-ning received communications Irom the Most High and on April oGIr 1 INJO the true Church of Christ was organized organiz-ed and that Church was and is the same In all Its features as Use Church that lie established In His day Joseph bmith accomplished tills and like Ills Master he was bulfetcd and driven from pillar to post from state to state but m 1GboUJ still In the strength and power of God and the Integrity of his own sublime nature he ailnercd lo the mission confided con-fided to him tho most glorious mission of establishing the Church of Christ anew In mommy And he also during his liletlmc announced by divine au thorlzatloii that the Gospel Us preach tug And power was not to be limited llo this sphere He unfolded Ihe glorious plan ol Jehovah to those who brad the privilege ol listening tu his voice and reading the revelations that were given to him front the Most High 1 and communicated com-municated the glad tidings that there nas no principle no ordinance no i tr rull e dcp blessing Hint could bo conferred upon nun In the lair but what could be applied ap-plied also to those who died without them He announced glorious news that the principles of lira Gospel that are Initiatory In their character lalth In Christ repentance ol sin baptism bap-tism by Immersion by one holding authority < I17I r remission Ir i j thorlly for tho remission I of sins and the Imposition of hands lor tho reception recep-tion of line Holy Ghost should be preached by the duly commissioned servants ot the Most High who pass I rJ1I7 r Into the spirit I world It was declared de-clared by him that those principles and ordinances could be applied tu our forefathers who knew not the Gospel because Us keys and powers were not amongst them In their generation genera-tion He l announced that tho vicarious part of this labor must be performed In edifices erected lor that purpose sacred and holy to Ihe Most High That Is the reason the Latterday Saints have been a templebuilding people That Is why the hearts ol the bairns are directed In love and devotion towards these revered structures After the Prophet Joseph had established estab-lished those principles and conferred on others as Jesus Christ did nJh the name authority and power tu minister to olhclata and superintend that he held then as his Lord l and Master did ho sealed his testimony with his blood And as the testament of the Lord Jesus ChrUt Is In force In all the world and has been since His crucifixion cruci-fixion and was even beforo it occurred by the law of sacrifice so Is the testament testa-ment of the Prophet Joseph Smith a son of lphralm a descendant of Joseph that was sold Into I gypl In force In nil I Jn the iJo and beyond it t reaching Into the spirit life for he was n speclil servant ser-vant of tile Lord Jesus Christ Then follow ing still further In the footsteps of the bled eenler lie opened the lalter day dlspensitlon to t tho work of disembodied spirits to whom he proclaimed pro-claimed freedom lo the captive through I flln merits of the blessed Savior I ouI lie turned the hearts cf the fathers to the children having already turned the hearts of the children on earth In the direction of their progenitors This my brethren o and sisters explains by what method by what modus operand r the grand effect will bo produced that I have already menllonc I when every knee shall how and every tongue confess that Jesus is tine Christ Why1 Hecauso they will hear of Him l They will hear In the Ufa beyond this that Jesus Is tho Christ The Lord Jesus Christ said to Nlco demus lUcut a win Is Ion of niter anil of iho s i l lie cannot enter into the Kn I uf i not l Now these people who hAve died m Ignorance of the Gospel cannot lu I iIp forAnce water Hut they can heheve lInt 11 condition In disembodied 1 condition they can believe that Jesus Is the Christ They can repent of their sins And those who survive them and 1eullnd the grand plan of redemption can rah r the holy places and be baptised I i lur them lan l-an In their behalf on the VIC IIIOIIS principle that was exemplified m the atonement ol Jesus Christ who Bred llll our stead mid they can revolve the Holy h Ghost also by the Indlvlda s olli lating for them receiving the ordinance through which It Is conferred III their behali And when the Information i conveyed to them behind l the vrd and they accept ol the vicarious work done for them IH virtue is the tame a < > II they had received these ordinances in their own persons even as the atonement ot Jesus j Christ Is efficacious for ui for the transgression ol our first parents the tfltctof which w is entailed upon m Is not this a grand and glorious plan worthy ol tho source from which It 1 came And I take occasion to say here that after a thorough honest and complete com-plete so far as facililels for undemanding undemand-ing have been presented investigation i have long since come to mho conclusion that a scheme of this character a plan so Intricate < n detail so simple so broad and so magnanimous in lu application appli-cation could never have been concocted 1 by the unaided Intellect 1 of nny human being that ever lived It Is I the plan ol Jehovah I I have already spoken ol prc lslence of man and It Is understood drat lh0se who kept their first estate In the heavens hid the privilege of coming here anal pissing through this vale of tears as It Is edh through a progressive 1 condition I that they might Inherit a grealermr1 i more exceeding weight ol 1 glory than llIfile I 1 they had ei ill Ilie heavens before they I Came to earth There aro but few who embrace this plan that I have feebly attempted at-tempted to describe nmong all the myriads of human beings mat hive lived and have had opportunities of so doing When the magnificent divine gift has been offered but few have accepted ac-cepted It because there arc two powers and Inspirations I at work tiie inspiration Ilion I-lion of him who Is the archenemy of the Redeemer on the one hand and the Spirit of God which makelh the truth manifest on the oilier Hut men its a rule toe darkness rather than nirlr because their deeds are evil and seeing that there Is no more unpopulir position I E Y ft rui that can be assumed In Ibis life than to become connected with and to defend l with at the powers possessed the truth ns It Is revealed lwrr nru heaven VI take Uli It that no person can do a nobler act in life than to accept ol the conditions which Christ has laid down ills said 1 1 by the servants ol God when they gu forth the sheep will hear the one uf the shepherd and l another they I will not fallow because they know Ihe voice of the good shepherd So the Elders I have I lfdOo out that I two or three of a city one of a family hear the voice of the Master and come Into the fold Here is an opportunity for the crumlrst consistency consis-tency that ucn XJt be oxhlbltedfrom our I standpoint or as wo dwelt In I beat en and there understood the conditions upon which we were to coma here luv log accepted Christ ns our Redeemer when we accept Him i heroin the fulness of that which He reveals we perpetuate the agreement Into which we entered In the presence of the 1allier Such as elect this course in mortality and maintain main-tain it arc entitled to an ultimate realization realiza-tion ol the highest possibilities of the plan of divine redemption According to the I promise dhr dot I has nude if we continue In that line of action and adherence to the heavens we will no lo the place from whence we came enter Into the presence of the Ialher and the Sou and Inherit mansions of uterus felicity clothed upon with glory Immortality Immor-tality ami eternal liven This 1 understand under-stand llo be the destiny of the obedient lIOns and daughters of the Plait High Owl That this may be our eternal future Is the prayer ol your humble servant In Jesus Cluut Amen |