| 399 this service thus rendered shall be acceptable in behalf of the believing spirit; and that such shall be blessed with a part in the first resurrection, and be a partaker and an inheritor of a celestial glory.
St. Paul understood this principle of the gospel, as we learn from his letter to the Corinthians, [I Cor. XV. 22, 25, 26, 29.] "For as in Adam all die EVEN so in Christ shall all be made alive:-For he must reign, till he hath put all enemies under his feet.-The last enemy, DEATH, shall be destroyed.-Else what shall they do which are baptised [baptized] for the dead if the dead rise not AT ALL? why are they then baptised [baptized] for the dead?"
The above passages of scripture teach us the important and cheering truth, that the departed spirit is in a probationary state and capable of being affected by the proclamation of the gospel. The idea is perfectly consistent with reason, honorable to the divine character, and in accordance with the desires and wishes of every truly pious and benevolent mind.
Compare it with the horrible views of the partial bigot, who anticipate basking eternally in the beams of the sun [son] of righteousness, in ineffible [ineffable] bliss, while he beholds in full view a father, a mother, a brother, or a sister, or a beloved child, dwelling in eternal burnings, writhing in hopeless anguish and despair, tossed upon the billows of a lake of fire, blowing the flames that consume his inconsumable spirit, cursing his Maker, and being cursed.-Dreadful heaven to any being but a devil!
Compare it with the motley association of the impartial liberalist, who fancies heaven composed of characters as various as those of earth, the pious and the profane, the virtuous and the vicious, the willing and obedient, and the disobedient and rebellious, commingling in one eternal association, some praising the Angel who redeemed them, others ascribing honor to the penitentiaries that sanctified, or the gibbets that saved them. Horrible heaven to any being but devils!
But we have not so learned of Christ. He offers pardon, peace, holiness, and eternal life to the quick and the dead-the living on condition of faith and baptism for remission of sins; the departed on the same condition of faith in person, and baptism by a living kinsman in his behalf. It may be asked, will this baptism by proxy necessarily save the dead? we answer no: neither will the same necessarily save the living. But this, with the other requisites will save both the living aud [and] the dead, and God will raise them up to glorify him together.
We are not surprised that this doctrine should meet with the bitterest opposition from the sectarian world. It aims a heavy blow at their malevolent and dictating spirit; meekly submitting the cause of salvation into the hands of him who is bitter [better] able to devise and execute the same. Sectarianism is not its only enemy; the devil no doubt will oppose this doctrine with all his hosts of earth and hell combined; and why? Because it enters his dark dominions, bursts the prison doors, proclaims liberty to the captive spirits, and sets them free. Yes, satan and wicked men will rage; but let them rage. The glorious truth, through the instrumentality of the prophet whom God has raised up in these last days, is proclaimed again in the earth; and though satan with all his sectarian hosts wages war against, it shall stand unshaken and immovable while their schemes, their creeds, and their works shall fade, vanish away, and be forgotten, or only remembered as a painful dream. G. H.
Philadelphia April 5th, 1841
Dear Brother Joseph Smith:
Through the mercies of our Heavenly Father we have been prospered on our journey thus far-we have enjoyed reasonable health on the way, and have succeeded in accomplishing a part of our business.-Brother Hyrum has labored unremittingly in the word and doctrine on our whole route; he has been joyfully received by the bretheren [brethren] every where. I trust his labours [labors] will be like bread cast upon the waters to be gathered many days hence. We have had the cheerful and valuable co-operation of the services of brothers Babbit and Winchester, who have aided us in the object of our mission. But amidst the cheering prospects of our present prosperity, it has pleased our Heavenly Father to remove from the scenes of political turmoil and party strife, our beloved Harrison. That the ways of the Almighty are inscrutible [inscrutable] to the human mind, his wisdom surpassing our deepest researches, his councils exceeding our most exalted perceptions of propriety,
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