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Show I VISION Of THE REDEMPTION OF THE DEAD AS SEEN BY . PRES. JOSEPH F, SMITH I (From Doseret News) This "Vision of the Redemption o'f the Dead" was submitted, October Octo-ber 31. 1918. to the Counselors m the First Presidency, the Council ot the Twelve and the Patriarch, and by them unanimously accepted. accept-ed. It is published in The Improvement Im-provement Era for December, to which magazine The News makes acknowledgement for the privilege of here reproducing ii. Its publication at this lime will emphasize and make clear to those who attended the conference or have since read its proceedings, the significance of which President Presi-dent Smith's openiug remarks, October Oc-tober 1, when he said: , "I have not lived alone these five months. I have dwelt in tho spirit of prayer, of supplication, of faith, and of determination; and I have had my communication with tho Spirit of the Lord continuous-On continuous-On the third of October, in thq year nineteen hundred and eighteen, I sat in mv room nondering over the Scriptures" Scrip-tures" and reflecting upon the great atoning sacrifice that was made by the Sou of God for the redemption of the world, and the great and wonderful love made manifest by the Father and the Sou in the coming of the Redeemer Redeem-er into the world, that through his Atonement and by obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved. IVvniic i sat luus uiioiifcu, !. " reverted to the writings of the Apostle Petctr to the primitive saints scattered scat-tered abroad throughout Pontus, Gal-atiar Gal-atiar Cappadocia. and other parts of j Asia wherp the gospel had been preached after the crucifixion of the Lord. I opened tho Bible and read the third and fourth chapters. of the first epistle of Peter, and as I read I was greatly impressed, more than I had ever been before, with the following passages: For Christ also hath once suffered suf-fered for sins, the just for the unjust, un-just, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in pris-Which pris-Which sometimes were disobedient, diso-bedient, when once the longsuf-ferlng longsuf-ferlng of God waited In the days of Noah, while the ark was preparing, pre-paring, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water. (1-Peter 3:18-20.) For for this cause was the gospel gos-pel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. (1 Peter 4:6.) As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding un-derstanding were opened, and the Spirit o the Lord rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the dead, both , small and great. And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable in-numerable company of the spirits of the lust, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived In i I, mortality, and who had offered sacrl- ft flee in the similitude of the great sac- ft rifice of the Son of God, and had suf- , p fered tribulation in their Redeemer's ; mortal life, firm in the hope of a glo- I rious resurrection, through the grace j ffl of God the Father and his Only Begot- j II ten Son, Jesus Christ. B I beheld that they were filled with j El joy and gladness, and were rejoicing , II together because the day of their Bit deliverance was at hand. They were ( II assembled awaiting the advent of the ! Son of God Into the spirit of the world, to declare their redemption II from the bands of death. Their sleep- ; bI ing dust was to be restored unto its If perfect frame, bone to his bone, and H the sinews and the flesh upon them.- the spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they j might receive a fulness of joy. III "While this vast multitude waited and I conversed, rejoicing in the hour of l their deliverance from the chains of II death, the Son of God appeared, declared declar-ed ing liberty to the captives who had I pt been faithful, and there hq preached III to them the everlasting gospel, the doc-j doc-j trine of the resurrection and tlie rein re-in t demption of mankind from "the fall, ;!fjj and from individual sins on conditions Ml of repentence. But unto the wicked he did not go, and among the ungodly J 1 1 and the unrepentant who had defiled i 3 I - themselves while in the flesh, his voice jlfj IB was not raised, neither did the rebel- ;li I - lioUs who rejected the testimonies and III the warnings of the ancient prophets !p3 behold his presence, nor look upon his la! face. "Where these were, darkness ,JH reigned, but among the righteous there Ml was peace, and the saints rejoiced in jjaj their redemption, and bowed the-knee and acknowledged the Son of God as : their Redeemer and Deliverer from all death and the chains of hell. Their ml countenances shone and the radiance j jJ from the presenco of the Lord rested upon them and they sang praises unto his holy Name. I marveled, for I understood that the Savior spent about three years in bis ministry among the Jews and those of the house of Israel, endeavoring to teach" them the everlasting gospel and call them unto repentance; and yet, notwithstanding his mighty works and miracles and proclamation of the truth in great power and authority, there were hut few who hearkened to his voice and rejoiced in his presence and roccived salvation at his hands. But his ministry among those who were dead was limited to the brief time in-torvqning in-torvqning between tho crucifixion and his resurrection; and I wondered at the words of Peter wherein he said that the Son of God preached unto the spirits in prison who sometimes were disobedient, when once the longsuf-Teving longsuf-Teving of God waited in the days of Noah, and how it was possible for him to preach" To those spirits and perform per-form tho necessary labor among ihem in so short a time. And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quick-ened.and quick-ened.and I perceived that ;he Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them: but behold, from among the righteous he organized organ-ized his forces and appointed messengers, messen-gers, clothed with power and authority, author-ity, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men. And thus was tno gospel prcacneu to uie dead. And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the acceptable day of the Lord, and proclaim liberty to the captives who were bound; even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel. Thus was the gospel preached to those wlio had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected re-jected the prophets. These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission remis-sion of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and all other principles of the gospel that were necessary nec-essary for litem to know in order to qualiTy themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous un-righteous as well as tho faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of tho Son of God upon the cross. Thus was it made known that our Redeemer spent his time during dur-ing his sojourn In the world of spirits, instructing and preparing the faithful faith-ful spirits ofthe prophets who had testified tes-tified of him in the flesh, that they might carry the message of redemption redemp-tion unto all the dead unto whom he could not go personally because of their rebellion and transgression, that they through the ministration of his servants might also hear his words. Among the great and mighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation con-gregation of the righteous, were Father Adam, the Ancient of Days and father of all. and our jrlnrimis Afntlmr "Rivo with many of her faithful daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God. Abel, the first martyr was there, and his brother Seth, one of the mighty ones, who was in the express image of his father Adam. Noah, who gave warning warn-ing of the flood; Shem, the great High Priest; Abraham, the father 'of the faithful; Isaac, Jacob and Moses, the great law-giver of Israel; Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer Re-deemer was anointed to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to them that were bound, were also there. Moreover, Ezekiel, who was shown in vision the great valley of dry bones which were to be clothed upon with flesh to come forth again in the resurrection re-surrection of the dead, living souls; Daniel, who foresaw and foretold the establishment of the kingdom of God in tho latter days, never again to be destroyed nor given to other people; Elias, who was with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration, and Mai-achi, Mai-achi, the prophet who testified the coming of Elijah of whom also Moroni Mo-roni spake to the Prophet Joseph Smith declaring that ho should come before the ushering in of the great and dreadful day of the Lord, were also there. The prophet Elijah was to plantain the hearts of the children the shadowing the great work to bo done in tho temples of the Lord in the Dispensation Dis-pensation of the Fulness of Times, for the redemption of the dead and the sealing of the children to their parents, par-ents, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse and utterly wasted at his coming. All these and many more, even the prophets who dwelt among the Neph-ites Neph-ites and testified of the coming of the Son of God, mingled in the vast assembly as-sembly and waited for their deliverance, deliver-ance, for the dead had looked upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage. These the Lord taught, and gave them power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead to enter into his Father's kingdom, king-dom, there to be crowned with immortality immor-tality and eternal life, and continue thenceforth their labors as had been promised by the Lord, and be partak- ai'C rtf oil MnFCl'ror.. II.1.I.U 1 1.1 iu reserve lor them that love him. The Prohpet Joseph SmiCh, and my father, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Wdodruff, and other choice spirits, who were reserved re-served to come forth in the fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations foun-dations of the great Latter-day avork, including the building of the temples and the performance of ordinances therein for the redemption of the dead, were also in the spirit world. I observed ob-served that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God. Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first lessons Jn the world of spirits, and were prepared to come forth in the due time of tho Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the suls of men. I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the gospel of re- pentanco and redemption, through the I sacrifice of tho Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness I and under the bondage of sin in the B great world of tho spirits of the dead. The dead who repent will be redeem-: ed, through obedience to the ordin-, ances of the house of God, and after, they have paid the penalty of their, transgressions, and are washed clean, J shall receive a reward according to i their works, for they are heirs of sal -1 vatlon. ! Thus was the vision of the redemp-! tion of the dead revealed to me, and I ' bear record, and I know that this re- cord is true, through the blessing of i our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,' even so. Amen. j JOSEPH F. SMITH. oo |
