all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged according to their works."

"Now there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death: the spirit and the body shall be re-united again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not SO much as a hair of their heads be lost; but all things shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father, and the Holy Spirit, which is one eternal God, to be judged according to their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. "*

"Behold I have given unto you my gospel, and this is the gospel which I have given unto you, that I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me; and my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up

* Alma xi: 40, 41, 42, 43, 44.

upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me; that as I have been lifted up by men, even so should men be lifted up by the Father, to stand before me, to be judged of their works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. And for this cause have I been lifted up; therefore, according to the power of the Father, I will draw all men unto me, that they may be judged according to their works."*

"Behold, he (Christ) created Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of

are

the fall of man, came Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ, came the redemption of man. And because of the redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men redeemed, because the death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass. a redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awoke by the power of God, when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death. "t

Still, some of skeptical inclination, will refuse to admit that justice has its perfect development in this scheme of redemption through Christ's

*III Nephi xxvii: 13-15. † Moroni ix: 12, 13.

Atonement. They insist that the sin of Adam should not be visited upon his posterity even for a moment. Why should man die? How is it that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent, salvation may be purchased for those under the dominion of death?

CHAPTER III.

GENERAL SALVATION.

N answer to the questions with which the last chapter closed, I may say that however difficult it may be to comprehend fully all things connected with man's fall, and God's plan for his redemption, we may be assured that the fall was not a blunder, nor was it an accident. The prophet Lehi bowed down under the weight of years, when giving his last testimony and instructions. to his son Jacob, said: "Behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth

all things. Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.

All that has befallen man, we may rest assured, is essential to his eternal and perfect happiness. From our limited experience, we know that men learn to appreciate the joys of prosperity by

* II Nephi ii: 24, 25.

drinking deeply from the cup of adversity; they learn to prize the boon of health, by languishing upon the bed of affliction; they learn the value of wealth, by experiencing want and poverty; the sweets of life are rendered still more sweet by the draughts of bitterness we are compelled to drink; and the ever intermittent gleams of sunshine are made more bright by the renewing storms which darken the sky; and thus—

""Tis sorrow builds the shining ladder up,
Whose golden rounds are our calamities."

How

As it is with these things I have mentioned, so it is in respect to the greatest blessing Deity can bestow upon man-the gift of eternal life. great that gift, it is difficult for us to understand. It is not to live merely three score years, thousand years, nor ten thousand years,

ETERNALLY; and while

"The stars shall fade away, the sun himself

Grow dim with age, and nature sink in years;
Man shall flourish in immortal youth;

Unhurt amid the war of elements,

The wreck of matter and the crash of worlds."

nor a

but

But in order that his children might know how to prize the greatest of all his gifts, Deity has ordained that they should pass through the dark valley of death; and in the meantime, by passing through this probation we call life, they might have the opportunity of demonstrating before the heavens their integrity to principles of righteousness and truth; and by coming in contact with

evil, they might forever prize that which is pure and good; that vice might ever be hideous to them, and virtue lovely--and thus the eternal happiness of man be made secure. Thus with death, as with many other things, that which at times we consider our greatest calamity, turns out to be our greatest good.

As to the second question*-How is it that through the sacrifice of one who is innocent salvation may be purchased for those under the dominion of death?-I will observe, in passing, that what should most concern us, is, not so much how it is that such is the case, but is it a fact. Is it true that God has etsablished such a scheme of redemption, is what should concern

us most.

To that question the blood sprinkled upon a thousand Jewish altars, and the smoke that darkened the heavens for ages from burnt offerings, answers yes. For those sacrifices, and that sprinkled blood were but typical of the great sacrifice to be made by the Messiah.

Even the mythology of heathen nations retains the idea of an atonement that either has been, or is to be made for mankind. Fantastic, distorted, confused; buried under the rubbish of savage superstition it may be, but it nevertheless exists. So easily traced, so distinct is this feature of heathen mythology, that some writers have

*See Discourse of J. Taylor, J. of D. vol. 10, p. 114.