7b consequently, the books spoken of must be the books which contained the record of their works, and refer to the records which are kept on the earth.
7c And the book which was the book of life, is the record which is kept in heaven; the principle agreeing precisely with the doctrine which is commanded you in the revelation contained in the letter which I wrote to you, previous to my leaving my place, "that in all your recordings it may be recorded in heaven."
8a Now the nature of this ordinance consists in the power of the priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted that whatsoever you bind on earth should be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven;
8b or, in other words, taking a different view of the translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven, and whatsoever you do not record on earth shall not be recorded in heaven;
8c for out of the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own works, whether they themselves have attended to the ordinances in their own propria personae or by the means of their own agents, according to the ordinance which God has prepared for their salvation from before the foundation of the world, according to the records which they have kept concerning their dead.
9a It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of--a power which records or binds on earth and binds in heaven; nevertheless, in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given.
9b Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth and in heaven, and could not be annulled, according to the decrees of the great Jehovah. This is a faithful saying. Who can hear it?
10 And again, for a precedent, Matthew 16:18, 19. "And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven."
11a Now the great and grand secret of the whole matter, and the summum bonum of the whole subject that is lying before us, consists in obtaining the powers of the holy priesthood.
11b For him to whom these keys are given there is no difficulty in obtaining a knowledge of facts in relation to the salvation of the children of men, both as well for the dead as for the living.
12a Herein is glory and honor, and immortality and eternal life. The ordinance of baptism by water, to be immersed therein in order to answer the likeness of the dead, that one principle might accord with the other.
