Copyright 1991 by Cordell Vail
Box 669
Wauna, WA 98395
(You have my permission to make copies of this paper if the content of the paper
is not changed and if you do not remove the name of the author.)
ROUGH DRAFT
I HAVE NOT INCLUDED THE CHARTS YET
SO IT WILL NOT MAKE MUCH SENSE UNTIL I DO
I WILL HURRY... Cv
INTRODUCTION
"The great designs of God in relation to the salvation of the human family, are very little understood by the professedly wise and intelligent generation in which we live. Various and conflicting are the opinions of men concerning the plan of salvation, the requisitions of the Almighty, the necessary preparations for heaven, the state and condition of departed spirits, and the happiness or misery that is consequent upon the practice of righteousness and iniquity according to their several notions of virtue and vice."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 217
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PART I
E T E R N A L P R O G R E S I O N
( T H I S L I F E D E F I N E D )
DEFINING THE TERM "THIS LIFE" AND FINDING IT'S TRUE MEANING:
It is important to the study of the plan of salvation, that we define the phrase "THIS LIFE". Normally we think of "THIS LIFE" as being only mortality. But "THIS LIFE" as used in the scriptures and Latter-day Saint teachings has a more complete meaning:
THIS LIFE: ALL LIFE LIVED BETWEEN MORTAL BIRTH AND THE RESURRECTION.
This would include the life we live in mortality and the life we live in either the Spirit Paradise or the Spirit Prison. The Spirit Paradise and Prison part of this life are sometimes referred to in the scriptures as the Spirit Paradise, referring to them both together as one whole place.
The phrase "THIS LIFE" when used in this discussion of Patriarchal Priesthood and temple work will be understood to have this more complete meaning as stated above. The following diagram will help to illustrate the meaning of the phrase "THIS LIFE":
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Before we were born on this earth, we were spirits in the presence of our Father in Heaven. We came to this earth for many reasons, some of which were to gain further knowledge, gain a body, and to be tested for our willingness to obey our father in heaven's commandments. Our main goal in "THIS LIFE" is to prove ourselves worthy of exaltation. The Savior has said:
"Be ye therefore perfect even as your Father in Heaven is perfect".
Matt 5:48
"Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."
3 Nephi 13:47
Some have wondered if this scripture is to be taken literally. The confusion which comes in many peoples minds is how we can literally become perfect in mortal life when only the Savior was perfect. How can we then become perfect in "THIS LIFE" even as our Father in Heaven is perfect?
Some of the teachings of the general authorities help us to better understand this concept. We are taught that learning goes on beyond the grave, and life - "THIS LIFE", extends into the spirit world where we have further opportunity to go on perfecting our lives.
"When saints of God chart a course of righteousness, when they gain sure testimonies of the truth and divinity of the Lord's work, when they keep the commandments, when they overcome the world, when they put first in their lives the things of God's kingdom: when they do all these things, and then depart this life - though they have not yet become perfect - they shall gain eternal life and eventually they shall BECOME PERFECT."
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Conference Report
October 1976, Page 159
(See also H. B. Lee, BYU Devotional Speeches of Year,11 Sep 1973)
"When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel - you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. BUT IT WILL BE A GREAT WHILE AFTER YOU HAVE PASSED THROUGH THE VEIL BEFORE YOU WILL HAVE LEARNED THEM. It is not all to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to LEARN OUR SALVATION AND EXALTATION beyond the grave."
Joseph Smith
TPJS 348
The Savior's words now take on a new meaning if we read them in this context: (The phrases in brackets are added here by me for emphasis only. They are not a part of the scriptural text.)
"Be[come] ye therefore perfect [in "THIS LIFE"] even as you Father in Heaven [became] perfect."
The Savior surely did not intend for us to understand that we should become perfect in all things in mortality. We do know however that if we attain exaltation in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, we will have to BECOME PERFECT. Or as Joseph Smith said "learn" to become perfect. This perfection will be gained by our hard work in over coming our weaknesses in "THIS LIFE", or mortal life and post-mortal, pre-resurrection spirit paradise life. We gain a further prospective of the meaning of the phrase "THIS LIFE" meaning an extending of life into the spirit world from the teachings of Eldrege G. Smith, patriarch of the Church. He said in an address given at a BYU devotional, that our patriarchal blessing was for all of "THIS LIFE", which includes the spirit world as well as mortality. (See BYU Speeches of the year 1966)
The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants also use the term "THIS LIFE" in the sense of mortal and post mortal life.
"...for THAT SAME SPIRIT which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of "THIS LIFE", that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world."
Alma 34:34
Two of the ten definitions given for SPIRIT by Webster are:
"temper or disposition of mind"
"a special attitude or frame of mind".
Webster's New World Dictionary
College Edition
page 1405
In reading the above verse in Alma, it would appear that Amulek used the word spirit, to depict our state of mind or attitude rather than the spirit body within us. It would seem totally unjust if every person were sealed eternally with "THAT SAME SPIRIT" which they had attained to at the time they went out of mortality. If "THAT SAME SPIRIT" were to possess our bodies in the eternal worlds, after the resurrection, and we could not change or go on learning in any way after mortal death, and could not go on learning our perfection, who except Christ would have perfected ourselves enough at mortal death to be assured of exaltation?
In this light the spirit world becomes an obvious place of learning and continuation of our life mission to gain exaltation.
"Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto IN THIS LIFE, it will rise with us IN THE RESURRECTION. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence IN THIS LIFE through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come."
D & C 130:18-19 (Caps added)
(See also D & C 131:6,93:12-14)
Another important point to note here is the difference between the scripture in Matthew and the scripture in Third Nephi. Did you notice that in Matthew, the un-resurrected Christ said we should become perfect like His Father in Heaven. After Christ was resurrected, He appeared to the Nephites and then He said we should become perfect like Himself and His Father in Heaven. That is a critical point to understand in our discussion of "THIS LIFE". Perfection comes to us at the time of resurrection. All life before the resurrection is still a part of "THIS LIFE", and is still a time when we will be changing and learning our Exaltation.
THE FAIRY GOD MOTHER THEORY OF PERFECTION:
Exaltation will not, as many suppose, be given as a gift or reward at the end of mortal life just because we did not commit any serious sins. This point is illustrated by a statement made by President Marion G. Romney:
"...these fruits of the Gospel - assurance that we shall obtain eternal life, peace in this world sustained by such and assurance, and finally eternal life in the world to come - ARE WITHIN THE REACH OF US ALL. Sometimes, however, because of our lack of understanding and appreciation of them, I am persuaded that we take too much for granted. We assume that because we are members of the Church, we shall receive as a matter of course all the blessings of the Gospel. I have heard people contend that they have a claim upon them because they have been through the temple, even though they are not careful to keep the covenants they there made. I do not think this will be the case. We might take a lesson from an account given by the Prophet of a VISION OF THE RESURRECTION, in which he records that one of the saddest things he had ever witnessed was the sorrow of members of the Church WHO CAME FORTH TO A RESURRECTION BELOW THAT WHICH THEY HAD TAKEN FOR GRANTED THEY WOULD RECEIVE.
I conceive the blessings of the gospel to be of such inestimable value that the price for them must be very exacting, and if I correctly understand what the Lord has said on the subject, IT IS...."
President Marion G. Romney
Conference Report
October 1949 page 43
(Caps added)
(See also D&C 101:39; 29:29; 132:20)
If we are ever to become perfect, it will be by our own hard work in overcoming all of our personal weaknesses in "THIS LIFE". There will be no FAIRY GOD MOTHER who will some day just come along and touch us on the head and make us into all knowing - perfect - Gods. We will BE perfect by BECOMING. We will learn all knowledge by learning. We will become Gods by our own personal hard work in perfecting our lives day by day in mortality and in the spirit paradise. This was even true of the Saviors learning. Even though he was perfect as to being sinless, he still had to learn other things to become perfect in all knowledge too.
"And I, John, saw that He received not of the fullness at the first, but received grace for grace; and He received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until He received a fullness; and thus He was called the Son of God because He received not of the fullness at the first."
D & C 93:12-14
(see also Luke 2:52)
IS PERFECTION POSSIBLE IN MORTALITY:
It is possible for us to become perfect at paying tithing in mortality. It is possible to become perfectly honest in all our dealings in mortality. It is possible to become perfect at keeping the Sabbath Day Holy in mortality. It is possible to be perfectly morally clean in mortality. It is possible for us to become perfect at church attendance in mortality. But it is not even feasible for us to think of becoming perfect in athletics, scholastics, or other things of this world that we do not even have a model of perfection to judge against. It is not expected that we will learn all knowledge perfectly before mortal death. If we read Matthew Chapter 5 carefully we will see that the whole intent of this "be ye therefore perfect" scripture centers around our learning perfection in love of our fellow man not intellectual knowledge or physical abilities.
Self control of our physical passions and appetites and love of our fellow men should be our highest priority on our mortal perfection list. It is within our reach in mortality to become perfect at these two things. It is our test in life. It is obviously challenging, but that is why we were sent here. Most of us will need all of this mortal life and a large part of the spirit world life to complete this task of perfect self control and perfect love. All of us will need most of the spirit world life to learn perfection in all knowledge.
The fact that self control of our physical body is of uppermost importance for us to learn while still in mortality is emphasized by Elder Robert L. Simpson, A member of the Seventy's Quorum.
"Our mission here in mortality is to overcome weaknesses of the flesh and all irregularities in our lives to the point that our control of personal desires is sufficient to bring about a daily living and thinking pattern that will be compatible with God's Holy presence. Be not disillusioned by a doctrine of the adversary, that there will likely be a magic point in eternity when all of the sudden selfish and improper actions will automatically be eliminated from our being.
Elder Robert L. Simpson
Conference Report
April 1972, page 32
Gaining self control is a test. It is a most important part of our mortal experience, which will help to change our carnal nature and become God like in nature. Can you imagine a God who had trouble with self control? We must BECOME like Him if we are ever to gain the Celestial Resurrection which we desire to be resurrected to. In our quest to become a God, "THIS LIFE" is the proving ground.
"Man's earthly existence is but a test as to whether he will concentrate his effort, his mind, his soul upon things which contribute to the comfort and gratification of his physical instinct and passions, or whether he will make his life's end and purpose the acquisition of spiritual qualities."
President David O. McKay
Gospel Ideals
page 387
PART II
THE SPIRIT WORLD PORTION OF "THIS LIFE"
THE PURPOSE OF THIS MORTAL LIFE:
As a part of the fall of Adam, we have each been cast out of the presence of our Father in Heaven, and sent here to mortality in a carnal state.
"For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticing of the Holy Spirit and puteth off the natural man and becometh a Saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
Mosiah 3:19
Being an enemy to God does not mean God does not love us. It simply means that we are now in a fallen or carnal condition which must change if we ever want to live with Him again in eternity.
We have been sent to this earth to change our carnal state, to overcome our fallen condition. We have three main purposes in mortality. They are (1) to gain a physical body (which we all have done now), (2) to learn self control over that physical body, and (3) to learn to love our fellow beings. We earned the privilege of gaining the physical body in the preexistence, now our challenge is to learn to control it and learn to love. This work is something that must be accomplished sooner or later in "THIS LIFE".
"If you do not cultivate yourselves, and cultivate your spirites in this state of existence, it is just as true as there is a God that liveth, you will have to go into another state of existence, and bring your spirits into subjection there. Now you may reflect upon it, you never will obtain your resurrected bodies, until you bring your spirits into subjection. I am not talking to your bodies, but I am speaking to your spirits."
President Heber C. Kimball Journal of Discourses
Vol 1 page 355
Even though we have to overcome all our weaknesses, many have reasoned that it would be just as well to wait until the spirit world to overcome their weaknesses. It is true that we can wait, but sooner or later, we will have to overcome our faults. The question then arises as to whether it is easier to repent or overcome weaknesses after death. Also we should ask if waiting to overcome our weaknesses in the next life will restrict our opportunity for progression in any way. These questions can only be answered by a discussion of the spirit world and its purposes.
WHERE IS THE SPIRIT WORLD:
The first thing that we need to understand about the Spirit World part of "THIS LIFE" is where it is. Brigham Young often spoke of it and described in detail where it was.
"Is the spirit world here? It is not beyond the sun, but is on this earth that was organized for the people that have lived and that do and will live upon it. No other people can have it, and we can have no other kingdom until we are prepared to inhabit this eternally"
President Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses
Vol 3 Page 372
"Where is the spirit world? `It is right here.' Do the good and evil spirits go together? Yes, they do. Do they both inhabit one kingdom? Yes, they do."
President Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses
Vol 3 page 369
You will notice that the diagram on page 4 was drawn with a large circle around the "earth life" portion of existence. This circle represents all of the life we will spend on this earth or "THIS LIFE" as defined in part one of this paper. Mortality, Paradise, and the Spirit Prison are all on this earth. When President Young says one place or one Kingdom, he is referring to the spirit world in general which includes the Paradise and the Prison. All departed spirits stay right here on this earth in the same spirit world or as he called it "kingdom".
THE PURPOSE OF THE SPIRIT WORLD:
The spirit world portion of "THIS LIFE" has a very definite purpose. It is to be a place of final preparation before the resurrection. Once we are resurrected, we will be given a permanent reuniting of spirit and immortal body. That body will be of a certain class or glory depending upon which kingdom we are resurrected to. So our resurrected body will be of the type to match the kingdom into which we will pass. The purpose of the spirit world portion of this life is for us to make all our final preparations to be worthy of that degree of glory or kingdom into which we will be resurrected into. Every person who is a spirit child of God passes through this spirit world, which is made up of the Paradise and the Prison. All spirits do not stay together within the spirit world itself. There are degrees or levels of existence in the post-mortal, pre-resurrection spirit world too. The spirit world is divided into two main classes of spirits. The "righteous" who will go to that portion called the spirit paradise, and the "wicked" who will go to that portion called the spirit prison. To fully understand these statements about the spirit world and its divisions, we must understand the meaning of the words "righteous" and "wicked" as they are used in this context.
THE SPIRIT PRISON:
The conditions in the Spirit Prison have not always been as they are today. The conditions there before Christ's mortal earth life were very different. All deceased spirits who we call "righteous", who died before Christ was crucified, were not allowed to associate in any way with the "wicked" spirits in the Spirit Prison. There was a great gulf placed between them. In fact at that time the whole Spirit World was called a prison because Christ had not come there yet.
"By spirit world is meant the abiding place of disembodied spirits, those who have passed from pre-existence to mortality and have also gone on from this temporal world to another sphere to await the day of their resurrection, final redemption, and judgment. This world is divided into two parts: Paradise which is the abode of the righteous, and hell which is the abode of the wicked (see Alma 40:11-14) Until the death of Christ these two spirit abodes were separated by a great gulf, with the intermingling of their respective inhabitants strictly forbidden. (see Luke 16:19-31) After our Lord bridged the gulf between the two, (see 1 Peter 3:18-20 and Moses 7:37-39) the affairs of his kingdom in the spirit world were so arranged that righteous spirits began teaching the gospel to wicked ones. (see Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, pp. 472-476) Thus, although there are two spheres within the one spirit world, there is now some intermingling of the righteous and the wicked who inhabit those spheres; and when the wicked spirits repent they leave their prison-hell and join the righteous in paradise."
Elder Bruce R. McConkie
Mormon Doctrine
pages 761-762
It is important to understand that no missionary work went on in the spirit prison before Christ's resurrection. When He died, the scriptures say that He went there personally and organized the work. He opened the prison doors so that the missionary could begin.
"For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, 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 prison; Which sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water."
1 Peter 3:18-20
"But unto the wicked He (Christ) did not go, and among the ungodly and the unrepentant who had defiled themselves while in the flesh, his voice was not raised; Neither did the rebellious who rejected the testimonies and the warnings of the ancient prophets behold his presence, nor look upon his face. Where these were, darkness reigned, but among the righteous there was peace;.... And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them; but behold, from amount the righteous, he organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and authority, 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 the gospel preached to the dead."
D & C 138:20-30
"But behold, these (those dying in the flood) which thine eyes are upon shall perish in the floods; and behold, I will shut them up; a prison have I prepared for them. And that which I have chosen hath pleaded before my face. Wherefore, He suffereth for their sins; inasmuch as they will repent in the day that my chosen shall return unto Me, and until that day they shall be in torment;"
Moses 7:38-39
One of the primary works now going on in the Spirit Prison is missionary work. People who are ready are preached to just as they are here in mortality. If they repent and accept the truth, they have then done all within their power to prepare to cross the "great gulf", into the company and fellowship of the spirits in Paradise. Prison is a place of waiting. It is a place provided to help people repent more than a place prepared to punish them for wrong doing. The whole thrust of the plan of salvation is to help all men have an equal opportunity to repent, to change and to become like God if they are willing.
CONDITIONS IN THE SPIRIT PRISON:
There are five categories of people who dwell in the spirit prison after death. They are:
1. People who have never heard the gospel or had any opportunity to accept it while in mortality.
2. People who have heard the truth of the Gospel (in any age of time)and rejected it.
3. People who have heard the truth and have accepted it and been baptized, but then have not been valiant in living it and have need to repent.
4. People who have become candidates to become sons of perdition.
5. The un-embodied spirits who were a part of the one third of the hosts of heaven who followed Satan in the preexistence and never received a mortal body.
Each of these classes of spirits in the spirit prison will be dealt with separately here, for their opportunity for further advancement in God's Kingdom is no longer equal. Their entrance into the Spirit Prison has brought about a partial judgment for them.
1. PEOPLE WHO HAVE NEVER HEARD THE GOSPEL OR HAD ANY OPPORTUNITY TO ACCEPT IT WHILE IN MORTALITY.
This first category of deceased mortals who have never heard the gospel will be sent to the Spirit Prison to wait for the opportunity to have the Gospel preached to them. If they accept the Gospel when it is preached to them, they will have every opportunity of advancement that would have been theirs had they accepted the Gospel in mortality. Joseph Smith said:
"When speaking about the blessings pertaining to the Gospel, and the consequences connected with disobedience to the requirements, we are frequently asked the question, what has become of our fathers? Will they all be dammed for not obeying the Gospel, when they never heard it? Certainly not. But they will possess the same privilege that we here enjoy, through the medium of the everlasting Priesthood, which not only administers on earth, but in heaven also."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 222
"If the Mormon Doctrine is true, what has become of all those who died since the days of the Apostles? All those who have not had an opportunity of hearing the Gospel and being administered unto by an inspired man in the flesh, must have it hereafter, before they can be finally judged."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 121
"The Saints have the privilege of being baptized for those of their relatives who are dead, whom they believe would have embraced the Gospel, if they had been privileged with hearing it, and who have received the Gospel in the spirit, through the instrumentality of those who have been commissioned to preach to them while in prison."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 179
"All who have died without a knowledge of this Gospel, who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the Celestial Kingdom of God, also all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts."
Documentary History of the Church
Vol 2 page 380
"To say that the heathens would be damned because they did not believe the Gospel would be preposterous, and to say that the Jews would all be damned that do not believe in Jesus would be equally absurd; for how can they believe on him of whom they have not heard and how can they hear without a preacher, and how can he preach except he be sent; consequently neither Jew nor heathen can be capable for rejecting the conflicting opinions of sectarianism, nor for rejecting any testimony but that which is sent of God, for the preacher can not preach except he be sent, so the hearer cannot believe without he hear a sent preacher, and cannot be condemned for what he has not heard, and being without law, will have to be judged without law."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 221
Once a person in this class of deceased spirits has heard the Gospel and accepted it, they have done all they can do themselves to advance to the Paradise with the Saints. When we say they have accepted it, we mean that they have truly repented and have become worthy to enter Gods Kingdom just as a new convert would do in mortality. But these repented spirits are truly in a Spirit Prison. They can not continue to progress until they have entered Gods Kingdom through baptism. No person can go to Paradise until they have been baptized. No baptisms are preformed in the spirit world. They can not in fact do this baptism work for themselves at all. Baptism for deceased spirits can only be done for them by those living in mortality. We as their descendants have been given the responsibility to act in their behalf. They are not able to go on learning or gaining knowledge about celestial things until they have had certain temple ordinances done by proxy in their behalf. Their eternal progression is in that sense, dependent upon us. We can help them. We can be a blessing to them, or we can hinder them and be a curse to them. The choice is ours to make.
"There are millions of people in the spirit world who are anxious that this (temple) work be done for them, realizing that they have come to a halt. They can not go further until the work has been done for them."
President Spencer W. Kimball
April Conference
Ensign, May 1979 page 47
Once we have performed the temple ordinance work for them here in mortality and if they accept those ordinances in the spirit world, the doors are opened. If they are worthy and accept the ordinances, they are justified to move on to the spirit paradise.
We have no way of knowing who has repented or who is worthy to receive baptism in the spirit prison. We are therefore commanded to do temple work for all of our deceased ancestors. This will afford them every opportunity to advance as far as they are willing to. If we refuse to do that ordinance work for them, for what ever reason, their progression is hindered by our neglect. Is it any wonder that Joseph Smith made the following statement:
"This doctrine presents in a clear light the wisdom and mercy of God in preparing an ordinance for the salvation of the dead, being baptized by proxy, their names recorded in heaven and they judged according to the deeds done in the body. This doctrine was the burden of the scriptures. Those saints who neglect in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 193
It seems quite significant that he said that if we neglect this work that we would do it at the peril of our own salvation not at the peril of their salvation. It will only slow them down until someone else does the work for them, but we may hinder our own progression for neglecting them and their needs.
Eternal progression is something that we do. We earn it, or learn it, by changing. We are, however hindered in our progression by certain doors and only with the right key can that door be opened. Spirits in the prison are held there until they are willing to use the key of repentance to advance their progression. Once repented, they can go on learning only after there is another door opened which stops their progression. Only by the key of baptism can they then advance further. We alone hold the key to opening that door for them.
What a joy to know that our deceased ancestors can in fact move from prison to paradise after certain things have been accomplished.
THE DRAW BRIDGE OF PROGRESSION
"And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that can not be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For their salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers - that they without us can not be made perfect."
D & C 128:15
2. PEOPLE WHO HAVE HEARD THE TRUTH OF THE GOSPEL (IN ANY AGE OF TIME) AND REJECTED IT.
The second category of deceased spirits in the spirit prison are in a little different situation, as they wait in the spirit world. They have had their chance to accept the truth but instead rejected it. They have not committed an unforgivable sin, but we need to define forgiveness very carefully. The following statement assures us that they can still repent in the prison.
"Every man who rejects the testimony of Jesus, who denies the truth, who refuses to receive the testimony as it is declared unto him by the Elders of Israel, shall be punished and shall be placed in the prison house, and there he shall stay until he has paid the penalty of his transgressions."
Joseph Fielding Smith
Doctrines of Salvation
Vol 2 page 229
But when we say they have paid the penalty and repented, what do we mean by "forgiveness?"
"The people of Noah's day heard the message of the Gospel from prophets of God. They lived worldly lives. They ate, drank and were merry.... They ignored the many testimonies of preachers of righteousness. Then they died by drowning.... They waited for what must have seemed to them an interminable period; and finally the Savior came and through his missionary program taught them again the Gospel, giving them a chance to repent. But did they receive the blessings of earthly faithfulness?.... Were they ever to receive the Celestial Kingdom? They had their opportunity; they had wasted the days of their probation; they had ignored the testimonies of the servants of God; they had followed the world and lived a worldly life..... Is it not clear that it was everlastingly too late for them when they had drowned, that they had wasted their days?.... It is true that repentance is always worth while. BUT SPIRIT WORLD REPENTANCE CAN NOT RECOMPENSE FOR THAT WHICH COULD AND SHOULD HAVE BEEN DONE ON EARTH.
Spencer W. Kimball
Miracle of Forgiveness
page 314-315
Here we see a little different tone in the use of the word "forgiveness". Those who never heard the Gospel are forgiven completely and sent on to the Paradise the same as those who accepted it in mortality. But not so with those who heard and rejected the truth. They can repent and be forgiven but only to receive a lower degree of glory than exaltation. Forgiveness does not always mean exoneration.
"What else have we heard from our President? He has related to us that there are some damnations that are eternal in nature; while others are but for a certain period, they will have an end, they will not receive a restoration to their former privileges, but a deliverance from certain punishments; and instead of being restored to all the privileges pertaining to man previous to the fall, they will only be permitted to enjoy a certain grade of happiness, not a full restoration. Let us inquire after those who are to be damned, admitting they will be redeemed, which they will be, unless they have sinned against the Holy Ghost. They will be redeemed, but what will it be to? Will it be to exaltation, and to a fullness of glory? Will it be to become the sons of God, or Gods to reign upon thrones, and multiply their posterity, and reign over them as kings? No. It will not. They have lost that exalted privilege for ever; though they may, after having been punished for long periods, escape by the skin of their teeth; but no kingdom will be conferred upon them. What will be their condition? .... Angels are inferior to the Saints who are exalted as kings. These angels who are to be judged and to become servants to the Gods, did not keep the law, therefore, though they are saved, they are to be servants to those who are in a higher condition...."
Orson Pratt
Journal of Discourses
Volume 1 page 64-65
"Then there is the banishment of the transgressor (not the sons of perdition) into the prison house, a place of punishment, with no exaltation, no increase, no dominion, no power, whose inhabitants after their redemption may become servants of them that have obeyed the laws of God and kept the faith. That will be the punishment of such as rejected the truth, but sin not unto death."
Joseph F. Smith
Gospel Doctrine
page 451-452
These two categories of spirits in the Spirit Prison take care of all the people who ever lived on the earth in any age who never became members of Christ's true church through the waters of baptism. But we yet have two categories of spirits in the spirit prison who did become sheep in the flock.
3. PEOPLE WHO HAVE HEARD THE TRUTH AND HAVE ACCEPTED IT AND BEEN BAPTIZED, BUT THEN HAVE NOT BEEN VALIANT IN LIVING IT AND HAVE NEED TO REPENT.
Those who were once baptized into Christ's true church and then were not faithful to the covenants they made will not go directly to the spirit paradise after death. Only the faithful will be allowed to go to the paradise. They, like the class of spirits who heard and rejected the gospel have fallen into a state of restricted progression. Their mortal death has become a partial judgment.
"All spirits of men after death return to the spirit world. There, as I understand it, the righteous - meaning those who have been baptized AND WHO HAVE BEEN FAITHFUL - are gathered in one part and all the others in another part of the spirit world."
Joseph Fielding Smith Doctrines of Salvation
Volume 2 pages 228-229
"I have referred previously to the significance of this life in the application of repentance but will emphasize it here in relation to the eventual judgement. One can not delay repentance until the next life, the spirit world, and there prepare properly for the day of judgement while the ordinance work is done for him vicariously on earth. It must be remembered that vicarious work for the dead is for those who could not do the work for themselves. Men and women who live in mortality and who have heard the gospel here have had their day, their seventy years to put their lives in harmony, to perform the ordinances, to repent and to perfect their lives."
Spencer W. Kimball
Miracle of Forgiveness
page 313-314
"Some people think we have got to do the work in the temple for everybody. Temple work belongs to the Celestial Kingdom, not to the other kingdoms. There will be millions of people, countless as the sands upon the sea shore, who will not enter into the Celestial Kingdom.... There will be no need to do temple work for them.... If a person is in every way worthy of the blessings and was denied them while living, then any time after death the ordinances may be performed. If the person had every opportunity to receive these blessings in person and refused, or through procrastination and lack of faith did not receive them, then he is not entitled to them, and it is doubtful if the work for him will be valid if done within one week or 1000 years. The Lord has declared that it is he who endures to the end that shall be saved, and he who rejects or neglects these blessings until death, when he has had the opportunity, is not worthy of them. (see Alma 34:31-34; 2 Nephi 27:15-19; D & C 132:20-25).... The privilege of exaltation is not held out to those who have had the opportunity to receive Christ and obey his truth and who have refused to do so."
Joseph Fielding Smith
Doctrines of Salvation
Volume 2 Chapter 10
With these statements to contemplate, the following quote from Elder James E. Talmage takes on a whole new light.
"As the time of repentance is procrastinated, the ability to repent grows weaker, neglect of opportunity in holy things develops inability."
James E. Talmage
Church News 25 March 1972
WILL ALL SPIRITS IN THE SPIRIT PRISON TRY TO REPENT?
It would be ideal if all the spirits were of a mind to repent when they entered the spirit prison and better their eternal situation in any way that they possibly could. But sadly that is not the case. There are those who not only do not use the spirit prison for its intended purpose of helping them to repent, but they become even more wicked. They actually increase in their wickedness while there.
"The wicked die, and their spirits remain not far from where their tabernacles are. When I was in England, 28 years ago next June, I saw more devils than there are persons here today; they came upon me with the intention to destroy me; they are spirits of wicked men WHO WHILE IN THE FLESH, were opposed to God and His purposes.... It is by the influence of such wicked spirits that men and women are all the time tempted to tell little lies, to steal a little...."
Heber C. Kimball
Journal of Discourses
Volume 11 page 84
"Take those that were wicked designedly, who knowingly lived without the Gospel when it was within their reach, they are given up to the devil, they become tools to the devil and spirits of devils."
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses Volume 3 page 370
Some of these spirits in the spirit prison who resist repentance, will eventually be humbled and will start their progress of repentance and acceptance of Christ's gospel. The purpose of the spirit prison is to help them to repent.
"No soul shall be kept in prison or continued in torment beyond the time requisite to work the needed reformation and to vindicate justice, for which ends alone punishment is imposed... The gifts of God are not confined to this sphere of action, but will be bestowed in justice through out eternity. Upon all who reject the word of God in this life will fall the penalties provided; but after the debt has been paid the prison doors shall be opened, and the spirits once confined in suffering, then chastened and clean, shall come forth to partake of the glory provided for their class."
James E. Talmage
Articles of Faith
pages 145-148
To summarize then, all the spirits in the spirit prison who repent will eventually be allowed to receive the baptism performed for them either in person or by proxy in mortality and continue on in their progression by going to the spirit paradise. But let us not forget that just because they are going to the paradise does not mean that they all are equal, or as Elder Talmage puts it, in the same class. Some will progress to the spirit paradise with restricted opportunity to progress.
4. PEOPLE WHO HAVE BECOME CANDIDATES TO BECOME SONS OF PERDITION.
We do not know very much about the sons of perdition or even what it takes to become one. We do not for example know if they are all sons or if it is just a form of speech meaning sons and daughters. Who they are and what gender they are is of no importance. What is of importance is how they fit into our discussion of the spirit prison, for that is where they will be during the spirit world portion of this life.
The sons of perdition are spirits who were members of Christ's true church who knew the truth so perfectly that for them to deny it becomes an unforgivable sin. They knowingly choose the darkness rather than the light. These are they who even having suffered in the spirit prison will still refuse to repent. We are told that every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is the Christ eventually (see Romans 14:11, Isaiah 45:23) But even after acknowledging this fact, the sons of perdition will, it appears, continue to refuse to repent of their wickedness. They will not only refuse to repent but will continue to love darkness more than light. They will be ones who know what is right and even acknowledge it but still continue to love sin and serve the devil with continued evil ways.
"That which breaketh a law, and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin, and altogether abideth in sin, can not be sanctified by law, neither by mercy, justice, nor judgment. Therefore, they must remain filthy still."
D & C 88:35
"But woe unto him that has the law given; yea, that has ALL THE COMMANDMENTS OF GOD, like unto us, and that transgresseth them, and that wasteth the days of his probation, for awful is his state (see 2 Nephi 9:27-38; Alma 11:40-41). Now, it is evident that such as these have no chance for redemption no matter what may be done for them in hope of by faith, for they will have sinned against life and knowledge, and are, therefore, worthy of damnation. It is no where revealed that such as these will ever be forgiven, although we are informed that all of God's judgments are not given unto men."
Joseph F. Smith
Gospel Doctrine
page 437
5. THE UN-EMBODIED SPIRITS WHO WERE A PART OF THE ONE THIRD OF THE HOSTS OF HEAVEN WHO FOLLOWED SATAN IN THE PREEXISTENCE AND NEVER RECEIVED A MORTAL BODY.
One third of the spirits in the pre-mortal life followed after Satan and were cast out. Those spirits are at the present time with Satan in the Spirit Prison part of this life. They will never receive a body. They will not ever be resurrected. After the final resurrection, they will be cast out into outer darkness with Satan and the Sons of Perdition. They will be there for eternity.
CONDITIONS OF THE SPIRIT PARADISE:
The spirit paradise is the hope and future of all Saints. It is the dwelling place of all spirits who are called righteous. But righteous is not defined here as not sinful. A person who is righteous in the sense meant here is to be understood as one who has been baptized into Christ's true church and has also kept the commandments and endured to the end. That is to say, they have been valiant to their covenants. No one can enter the paradise unless they have been baptized in mortality by proper authority either in person or by proxy. No matter how good a of a life (sinless) they lived in mortality, if they have not been baptized by proper authority, they will go directly to the Spirit Prison after their mortal death.
"All spirits of men after death return to the spirit world. There, as I understand it, the righteous - meaning those who have been baptized and who have been faithful - are gathered in one part and all others in another part of the spirit world. This seems to be true from the vision given to President Joseph F. Smith and found in Gospel Doctrine. (see Gospel Doctrine, 4th Edition pages 596-602).... According to the story of Lazarus and the rich man, there was a gulf which separated the righteous from the unrighteous (WHICH INCLUDED ALL THE SPIRITS NOT BAPTIZED), and neither class could pass into the other until the Savior bridged the gulf, so those holding the priesthood then could cross over to teach the others. (see TPJS pages 309-311 and Luke 16:19-31)."
Joseph Fielding Smith
Doctrines of Salvation
Volume 2 page 230
"Reflect upon the millions and millions of people that have lived and died without hearing the Gospel on the earth, without the keys of the kingdom. They were not prepared for celestial glory, and there was no power that could prepare them without the keys of this priesthood. THEY MUST GO INTO PRISON, BOTH SAINTS AND SINNERS. The good and bad, the righteous and the unrighteous must go to the house of prison...."
Brigham Young
J of D Vol 4:285
"However, Christ came and through his death bridged that gulf, proclaimed liberty to the captives, and the opening of this prison door to those who sat in darkness and captivity. From that time forth this gulf is bridged so that the captives, after they have accepted the Gospel of Christ, HAVING THE ORDINANCES ATTENDED TO IN THEIR BEHALF by the living relatives or friends, receive the passport that entitles them to cross the gulf."
Joseph Fielding Smith
Doctrines of Salvation
Vol 2 page 158
"In relation to the deliverance of spirits from their prison house, of course, we believe that can only be done after the Gospel has been preached to them in the spirit, and they have accepted the same AND THE WORK NECESSARY TO THEIR REDEMPTION by the living be done for them."
Joseph F. Smith
Gospel Doctrine
page 438
"There are millions of people in the spirit world who are anxious that this temple work be done for them, realizing that they have come to a halt. They can not go further UNTIL THE WORK HAS BEEN DONE FOR THEM."
President Spencer W. Kimball
Ensign, May 1979 page 47
This doctrine is hard for some to accept. Our deceased ancestors, righteous as they were are not in Paradise unless they have been baptized by proper authority. This must be done either while they are in mortality, or after they have died by proxy in our temples.
With this knowledge of who is or is not allowed to go to the Spirit Paradise, it would be a logical part of our discussion then to relate this state of Paradise to our earlier statements of continued progression in "THIS LIFE". The faithful members of the church who have come to Paradise with full opportunity to learn and progress will find it a glorious place of learning. Paradise is a place of extended intellectual and spiritual learning. It is a place of continued progression toward our perfection in all things. The leaders of the church have described some of the activities of Paradise for us:
"...The righteous, those who have kept the commandments of the Lord, are not shut up in any such place, but are in happiness in Paradise. They cease from all this trouble, and trial, and tribulation, and anguish of soul. They are free from all those torments, because they have been true and faithful to their covenants."
Joseph Fielding Smith
Doctrines of Salvation
Volume 2 page 230
"But yonder, how different! If we want to visit Jerusalem, or this, that, or the other place - and I presume we will be permitted if we desire - there we are, looking at its streets. If we want to behold Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior; or if we wan to see the Garden of Eden as it was when created, there we are, and we see it as it existed spiritually, for it was created first spiritually and then temporally, and spiritually it still remains. And when there we may behold the earth as at the dawn of creation, or we may visit any city we please that exists upon its surface. If we wish to understand how they are living here on these western islands, or in China, we are there; in fact, we are like the light of the morning, or, I will not say the electric fluid, but its operations on the wires. God has revealed some little things, with regard to His movements and power, and the operation and motion of the lightning furnish a fine illustration of the ability of the Almighty."
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses
Volume 14 page 231
Brigham Young also taught us that all those in the paradise have risen above the power of the devil.
"When this portion of the school is out, the one in which we descend below all things and commence upon this earth to learn the first lessons for an eternal exaltation, if you have been a faithful scholar, and have overcome, if you have brought the flesh into subjection by the power of the priesthood, if you have honored the body, when it crumbles to the earth and your spirit is freed from this home of clay, has the devil any power over it? Not one particle."
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses
Volume 3 page 371
"It is further written that Satan has no power over men or women, except that power which he gains over them in this world. In other words, none of the children of the Father who are redeemed through obedience, faith, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and who live in that redeemed condition, and die in that condition are subject to Satan. Therefore he has no power over them. They are absolutely beyond his reach, just as little children are who die without sin."
Joseph F. Smith
Gospel Doctrine
page 452
This power to rise above the temptations of Satan is not extended to any in the spirit prison. It is only in relation to membership in the true church of Christ. In the same talk quoted above, President Young further ties this power to the members of the Church in the paradise.
"The spirits of people that have lived upon the earth according to the best light they had, who were as honest and sincere as men and women could be, if they lived on the earth without the privilege of the gospel and the priesthood and the keys thereof, are still under the power and control of evil spirits, to a certain extent... When the faithful Elders, holding this priesthood, go into the spirit world, they carry with them the same power and Priesthood that they had while in the mortal tabernacle. They have got the victory over the power of the enemy here, consequently when they leave this world, they have perfect control over those evil spirits, and they can not be buffeted by Satan."
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses
Volume 3 page 370
"As far as we degenerate from God, we descend to the devil and loose knowledge, and without knowledge we can not be saved, and while our hearts are filled with evil, and we are studying evil, there is no room in our hearts for good, or studying good. Is not God good? Then you be good; if He is faithful, then you be faithful. Add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, and seek for every good thing. The Church must be cleansed, and I proclaim against all iniquity. A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 217
(see also J of D 1:70-71)
If we are ever to become Gods, we will have to become Gods through our own hard work. We will be given increased ability to learn intellectual things in the spirit paradise but never the less we will still have to learn them one by one our self.
If we fail to learn self control and the pure love of Christ here in mortality, we may very well find our self in the spirit prison in the next life, hindered from further learning these things about becoming a God.
CONDITION OF LITTLE CHILDREN IN THE NEXT LIFE:
There is another class of spirits in the Spirit Paradise that need specific discussion. That is the spirits of all little children who die before the age of 8. They have not been baptized but they need no baptism. They are all worthy of paradise regardless of their race or status in mortality. To help us understand this let us refer to a genealogical family group sheet as a source of Church doctrine. Normally we only think of a family group sheet as a place to record our genealogy, but there are some significant doctrinal points contained there in. But let us consider the following points to help us understand the condition of little children who died before the age of 8.
When we find a child in our ancestral family that died before it was eight years old, we record the following information on the temple ordinance section of the family group sheet:
Have you ever asked yourself why we write child in the first two spaces? We often say that little children who die before they are eight automatically go to the celestial kingdom and they do not need any baptism. Baptism is for the remission of our sins committed in mortality. They were innocent and need no repentance. Baptism is the door into the celestial kingdom.
"Baptism is the door into the celestial kingdom. All who forsake their sins and are baptized and remain true will enter the celestial kingdom."
Joseph Fielding Smith
Answers to Gospel Questions
Vol 1 pages 54-55
"It [baptism] is the gate to the celestial kingdom of heaven, that is, it starts a person out on the straight and narrow path which leads to eternal life."
Bruce R. McConkie
Mormon Doctrine
Page 70
"Behold I say unto you, that he that supposeth that little children need baptism is in the gal of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; for he hath neither faith, hope, nor charity; wherefore, should he be cut off while in the thought, he must go down to hell. For awful is the wickedness to suppose that God saveth one child because of baptism, and the other must perish because he hath no baptism."
Moroni 8:14-15
WHY ARE LITTLE CHILDREN ALLOWED INTO THE PARADISE WITH NO ORDINANCE WORK?:
To understand this concept, we need to discuss the conditions of the little children beyond the spirit paradise. When we say that little children automatically go to the celestial kingdom, what do we mean by automatically? There are three degrees of the Celestial Kingdom? We must consider which of the three kingdoms these little children who died before the age of 8 go directly to.
This question can be better understood if we consider the rest of the ordinance work that we perform for them of the family group sheet mentioned above. We said that we write child in the baptism space because children do not need to be baptized. But we also write child in the endowment space as well. Thus we know that little children do not need to be endowed either. This poses many questions in our mind that we can seek an answer for. For example: Are endowments also for repentance and forgiveness of sins like the baptism? Do endowments relate only to our mortal life and thus little children do not need them? Are our endowments related only to living righteously in mortality? If a child who is now out of mortality does not need an endowment, then why would an adult who is also dead need to be endowed?
Adults who have passed on to the next life as un-endowed spirits must be willing to repent and accept every covenant and commandment that a mortal accepts. Little children were perfect so they are already in the celestial kingdom. Adults who have passed on to the next life are not perfect. They must repent, then be baptized and endowed in order to learn certain key words and signs to pass by the angels who guard the way.
"And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump, and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ's at His coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, according to men in the flesh."
D & C 88:99
(see also D & C 76:73; J of D 2:372)
"For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, and live according to God in the spirit."
1 Peter 4:6
"Your endowment is to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back into the presence of the Father, passing the angels who stand as sentinels, being enabled to give them the key words, the signs, and tokens, pertaining to the Holy Priesthood, and gain your eternal exaltation in spite of earth and hell."
Brigham Young
Journal of Discourses
Volume 2 page 29-33
Little children are already heirs to the celestial kingdom and therefore would not need further perfection or instruction to get to a place thy have already been rewarded with. We therefore simply write child in the space designated for endowment date on the family group sheet.
In the space designated for sealing to parents on the above illustrated family group sheet, we are to write BIC if the child was born to parents who were married in the temple before the child was born, or the date the child was sealed to the parents if the child was born before the temple marriage was performed.
This again presents an interesting doctrinal concept from a sheet that we normally would only consider as a place to record our family ancestry. Why must little children who died before the age of 8, who are already heirs to the celestial kingdom still need to be sealed to their parents or be born in the covenant to parents who were married in the temple? What would happen if a little child were never sealed to the parents? Would they still be allowed to go to the highest degree of the celestial kingdom without that sealing to parents? What would happen to a little child who was sealed by proxy in the temple to their parents, but then in the spirit paradise, the child refused to accept that sealing? Would God still force that child to go to the highest degree of the celestial kingdom anyway?
This then should causes us to ask the question as to which of the three degrees of the celestial kingdom do little children go to if they receive no further ordinance work? It also brings to mind the question often asked: "will little children ever have to be married?" Again we might ask can they be Gods if they are not married? Where would they go if they refused to be married or would God force them? As we learned above, baptism is the door into the celestial kingdom. But that does not imply that it is the door into the highest degree of the kingdom, just into the kingdom. Little children need no baptism because they are already in the celestial kingdom. Baptism is for remission of sin. They have no sin. Baptism is the starting place for spirits who have repented, but that alone is not enough. If we consider an adult, could they go to the highest degree of the celestial kingdom if they were only baptized? We must keep the whole law to go into the highest degree.
"The question is frequently asked, `Can we not be saved without going through with all those ordinances?' I would answer, No, not the fullness of salvation. Jesus said, There are many mansions in my Father's house, and I will go and prepare a place for you. House here named should have been translated kingdom; and ANY PERSON who is exalted to the highest mansion has to abide a celestial law, and the whole law too."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 331
We do not know a great deal about the differences between the degrees of the celestial kingdom, but some light has been shed on it by the General Authorities of the Latter-days.
"Baptism is the door into the celestial kingdom... The endowments are for advancement in that kingdom and sealings are for our perfection."
Joseph Fielding Smith
Doctrines of Salvation
Volume 2 page 45
Elder Alvin R. Dyer was also of the opinion that endowments were given for advancement in the celestial kingdom.
"Since the celestial kingdom will have three heavens or degrees, no doubt all who will inherit the second degree, in addition to possessing all of the qualities of those who will possess the first, or lowest degree, will receive an endowment in the temples of God for this purpose, and will have `overcome by faith' and be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. They attained this by obedience to the sacred obligations of the endowment which they received by covenant."
Alvin R. Dyer
Who Am I
page 548
This seems consistent with our above family group sheet example of temple work for the little children. We do not need to give a little child an endowment because they are already heirs to that degree of the celestial kingdom. They do not need baptism to get into the door of the lowest kingdom nor do they need an endowment for advancement in the kingdom to the second degree. This would let us assume that a little child who dies before the age of 8 would at least be allowed to go to the second degree of the celestial kingdom with out any further ordinance work being performed.
Little children are not automatic heirs of the highest degree of the celestial kingdom unless further ordinance work is performed. They must be born in the covenant to parents who were married in the temple or sealed as though they were born in the covenant in the temple. That is why we have to write BIC or a date in the space for sealing to parents.
Now for the question, could little children become a God without being sealed to an eternal companion? When we say that a person enters the highest degree of the celestial kingdom, we are speaking of exaltation, Godhood, eternal lives. Those who enter here will be joint heirs with Christ to all that the Father has. Members of the Church of the Firstborn. We learn from the scriptures that to enter there, they must obey the new and ever lasting covenant of marriage.
"For behold, I reveal unto you a new and an everlasting covenant; and if ye abide not that covenant, then are ye damned; for no one can reject this covenant and be permitted to enter into my glory."
D & C 132:4
"In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man MUST ENTER INTO THIS ORDER OF THE PRIESTHOOD [MEANING THE NEW AND EVERLASTING COVENANT OF MARRIAGE]; And if he does not, HE CANNOT OBTAIN IT. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase."
D & C 131:1-4
We have been taught by the General Authorities that all little children will have the opportunity to choose a companion in the millennium and will be sealed by proxy at that time to the mate they choose. We do not know who that companion is now, so that work will have to be done in the millennium.
"Some worry because departed children have apparently lost the privilege of courtship, marriage, and other opportunities. But revelations concerning the spirit world assure us that normal relationships leading to eternal sealings are an ongoing part of that life."
Melvin J. Ballard
Ensign
Jan 1977 page 50
"Joseph Smith taught the doctrine that the infant child that was laid away in death would come up in the resurrection as a child; and pointing to the mother of a lifeless child he said to her: `You will have the joy, the pleasure, and satisfaction of nurturing this child, after it's resurrection, until it reaches the full stature of it's spirit.' There is restitution, there is growth, there is development, after the resurrection from death. I love this truth. It speaks volumes of happiness, of joy and gratitude to my soul. Thank the Lord he has revealed these principles to us."
Joseph F. Smith
Gospel Doctrine
page 456
"You mothers worry about your little children who have died. We do not perform sealings for them. I lost a son six years of age, and I saw him a man in the spirit world after his death, and I saw how he had exercised his own freedom of choice and would obtain of his own will and volition a companionship, and in due time to him and all those who are worthy of it, shall come all of the blessing and sealing privileges of the house of the Lord. Do not worry over it. They are safe; they are all right.
"Now then, what of your daughters who have died and have not been sealed to some man?... The sealing power shall be forever and ever with this church, and provisions will be made for them. We can not run faster than the Lord has provided the way. Their blessings and privileges will come to them in due time. In the mean time, they are safe."
Melvin J. Ballard
Three Degrees of Glory
page 40-41
"In order for you to receive your children to yourselves you must have a promise - some ordinance; some blessing, in order to ascend above principalities, or else it may be an angel. They must rise just as they died; we can there hail our lovely infants with the same glory - the same loveliness in the celestial glory, where they all enjoy alike. They differ in stature, in size, the same glorious spirit gives them the likeness of glory and bloom; the old man with his silvery hairs will glory in bloom and beauty. No man can describe it to you - no man can write it."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 368
"EXALTATION OF CHILDREN. Little children who die before thy reach the years of accountability will automatically inherit the celestial kingdom, BUT NOT THE EXALTATION IN THAT KINGDOM UNTIL THEY HAVE COMPLITD WITH ALL THE REQUIREMENTS OF EXALTATION. For instance: The crowning glory is marriage and this ordinance would have to be performed in their behalf before they could inherit the fullness of that kingdom. The lord is just with all his children, and little children who die will not be penalized as the Catholic Church penalizes them, simply because they happen to die. The Lord will grant unto these children the privilege of all the sealing blessings which pertain to the exaltation."
Jospeh Fielding Smith
Doctrines of Salvation
Vol 2 page 54
(see also Ensign, April 1977 page 3 J of D 6:10; D of S 2:54-56)
We do not do any of that work yet. All little children will first be resurrected and then be raised to maturity by their eternal parents. Then they will choose a mate. This is a millennial work. So, we answer our question as to whether little children who died before the age of eight can go to the highest degree of the celestial kingdom as Yes! adding "after all the proper ordinances are performed".
If by some chance, a person who died as a child refused to choose a mate in the spirit world, could God force them to choose a mate? Would He force them against their will? Could God allow that spirit to become a God anyway if they refused to choose a mate? If a person refused, having died as a baby, which kingdom of the celestial kingdom would they go to? We certainly do not know if any child who died before the age of 8 who is perfect and innocent of any sin would ever refuse, but we do know that if they did refuse they would only be worthy of the middle degree of the celestial kingdom.
We only point out this question to illustrate the importance that we perform all of the proper ordinances for every one of our ancestral families. An examination of family records of members of the church, over the years, by the Church Family History Department has revealed that in many instances there are family group sheets that appear to be complete yet the sealing of the children to the parents has not been completed. It is our hope that this material will stimulate you to further study and motivation to do temple work. May we ever be mindful of this exhortation:
"And now, my dearly beloved brethren and sisters, let me assure you that these are principles in relation to the dead and the living that con not be lightly passed over, as pertaining to our salvation. For there salvation is necessary and essential to our salvation, as Paul says concerning the fathers - that they without us can not be made perfect - neither can we without our dead be made perfect."
D & C 128:15
WHY MUST OUR CHILDREN EITHER BE BORN IN THE COVENANT OR SEALED TO US? :
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
incomplete section
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>need to add sections on why we are sealed to our parents to answer questions D&C 128
We are equal to Elohem not subservient to him
We are sealed to our mother so that the man she is sealed to can resurrect us (Pres Kimball Quote)
"
If your mother is unsealed from you dad, you go with your mother to the resurrection by the man who resurrects her. But you do not go with them into eternity. You become coequal Gods with them. Mortal kids are not our posterity as spoken of in the scriptures, they are our eternal equals.
Our spirit children that we will have when we are Gods will be our true posterity. (use quote from TPJS page 300-301) Our mortal children will have their own. They are really our brothers and sisters and we are all the posterity of the same eternal mother and father from the preexistence.
Abraham was promised a posterity more numerous than the sands of the sea shore. We know that one dump truck load of sand contains more grains of sand than all the people who ever lived on the earth ever. How could his posterity be the mortal descendants that he had here in mortality?
(get orson pratt quote here on sand in dump truck)
WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR CHILDREN WHO ARE STILL BORN OR MISCARRIAGES? :
Why do we put DO NOT SEAL in all 3 places on a family group sheet for a child that was still born (or write still born)? get quote by Brigham Young that says we should not worry about that right now.
APPENDIX
Within our discussion we have used several terms that have multiple meanings. Some of these terms are righteous,wicked, saved, forgiven, etc. These words do not always mean the same thing but in general, they usually refer to a class of beings or a state of existence. In order to help us better understand some of the general definitions of such words, let us examine the following chart which was prepared by Richard C. Shipp of Orem Utah. This chart categorizes the normal scriptural usage of a word by the degree of glory in the next life that it refers to or the category of the person who will be assigned to that state of glory (or dominion) as the case may be.
CELESTIAL KINGDOM TERRESTRIAL TELESTIAL OUTER DARKNESS
1 . 2 . 3 KINGDOM KINGDOM PERDITION
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
RESURRECTION OF THE JUST RESURRECTION OF THE UNJUST
THE FIRST RESURRECTION THE SECOND RESURRECTION
SALVATION OR SAVED DAMNED OR NOT SAVED
REDEEMED NOT REDEEMED
ETERNAL LIFE ETERNAL PUNISHMENT
DAMNATION - 2ND DEATH
EXALTATION ETERNAL DEATHS NO POSTERITY
ETERNAL LIVES
THE KINGDOM OF GOD THE KINGDOM OF THE DEVIL
THE CHURCH OF THE LAMB THE CHURCH OF THE DEVIL
CHURCH
OF THE
FIRST
BORN
THOSE WHO
DO GOOD THOSE WHO DO EVIL (WICKED)
(RIGHTEOUS)
end of page for start of part 3 must be on this line when done
PART III
SEALING OF ETERNAL FAMILIES
SEALING PRIORITIES
GENERAL GUIDELINES:
In making preparations now to go forth and perform the proxy ordinance work for deceased ancestors who are waiting in the spirit prison, there are some general guide lines that we should follow. It should be noted that these guide lines are not applicable to living sealings. If you are contemplating any sealings for your self or your living relatives, you should consult your Bishop for the current guide lines to follow.
In sealing children to their parents or wives to their husbands, there are some types of sealings that take priority over other types. Whenever a sealing problem question is encountered, you should ask yourself these three questions:
1. Was the person in question born in the covenant? :
This means at the time of this persons birth, had his or her mother ever been sealed in the temple for time and all eternity to her some man either living or dead. If the parents were married in the temple and then separated by death, separated in life by civil divorce, or divorced civilly and remarried to someone else civilly at the time of the birth of the child in question, it does not effect the child's having been born in the covenant.
If the mother was ever sealed to any man before the time of the child's birth, regardless of whether that was the child's father or what the condition of the marriage was civilly, the child was still born in the covenant. If parents are divorced civilly and then cancel their temple marriage after the child is born, it still does not affect the status of the child who was born in the covenant. The child was still born in the covenant even after the later cancellation of the parents temple marriage. However, if the temple marriage was canceled before the child was born, or if either parent was excommunicated from the church at the time the child was born, then the child was not born in the covenant, and must at some time be sealed to his or her parents.
This background will help us determine if a child was or was not born in the covenant, even if illegitimate. It is important to note the following statement from the General Handbook of Instructions, Supplement No. 3 Page 9:
"Children born in the covenant cannot be sealed to anyone else. If children are sealed in life to parents, they are not to be sealed again to anyone else, even though the parents to whom they were sealed later receive a cancellation of their sealing. This policy is not altered by adoption, consent of the natural parents, request of the child after becoming of age, or death of the natural parents.
"A child born to a woman who is already sealed to a husband is born in the covenant of the mother's sealing, whether or not the father of the child is the man to whom she is sealed, and provided neither the mother nor her legal husband are excommunicated at the time of the birth of the child. Birth in the covenant is a birthright blessing which guarantees eternal parentage to the child regardless of what happens to the parents, so long as the child remains worthy of that blessing. No sealing to parents is necessary for a child born in the covenant even if there is a subsequent change in the sealing status of the parents."
2. Was a living sealing of a couple or a living sealing of a child to the parents ever performed in the life time of the deceased person in question? :
If a person was sealed in their own life time, proxy sealings can not change that sealing after their death. This is true of sealings for children to parents and for wives to husbands. Proxy sealings are sealings done in behalf of a deceased person who did not perform such sealings during their life time. Proxy sealings can not take precedence over a living sealing. If a child during his or her life time was sealed to natural or step parents, regardless of whether the parents were living or dead at the time of the sealing, the sealing can not be changed by a proxy ordinance later. A living sealing always takes precedence over any and all subsequent proxy sealings performed after the person's death. Likewise, children who are sealed during their life time or if they were born in the covenant, can not have their sealings canceled by their descendants after his or her death.
3. Can the child in question be sealed to his or her natural blood line parents?:
If neither of the above two questions apply, the sealing should be to the natural blood line. It is proper to seal a woman who was never sealed to any man in her life time to all of the husbands to whom she was ever legally married in her life time. You should then seal all of the children from each of those marriages to their own natural parents. (Illegitimate children will be discussed later.)
In the past, it has been the policy of the Church to seal a wife and all of her children to her first husband. As of 25 Sept 1975, the policy of the Church has been to seal a woman who did not have the opportunity to be sealed in life, to all of her husbands and allow her to choose in eternity which one husband she will have.
It is important to note here that even though a woman can now be sealed by proxy to more than one husband, only one of those sealings will ever be valid. She will have to choose. When you find a woman who has been sealed by proxy, with all of her children from several marriages, to her first husband, you may now seal her to each of the other husbands as well. Again it is important to note that even if you do seal the mother to the other husbands, the children of those husbands should not and in fact may not be resealed to their natural father. Children who have once been sealed to any parents, either as a living sealing or by proxy, are not to be sealed again to any other parents. If the sealings of children to parents were proxy sealings, those sealings do not affect the lines of responsibility of the descendants. If the sealings were proxy sealings, we are responsible to trace the blood line of our grandfathers even if the wife is sealed to other husbands and the children were all sealed to her first husband. Children will go with their mother in eternity with the husband that she chooses without having to be resealed to him. (see exceptions to this rule under excommunications below).
When preforming proxy sealings where no previous sealings were preformed, children should be sealed to their natural parents and each of those parents should be sealed to each other. Remember, proxy work can not over-ride living sealings that were performed. Wives can be sealed to other husbands by proxy, only when the first sealing was also by proxy. Living sealings are final. If errors are later found, exceptions can only be made by the president of the church.
WHO TO SEAL WHO TO AND WHEN:
If a man was married to more than one wife, each of his wives should be sealed to him. All of the children who were born to that union should then be sealed to their own natural parents. This is illustrated by the following example: (circles indicate sealings)
TYPICAL DECEASED FAMILY HOW THEY SHOULD BE SEALED
THOMAS THOMAS
MAY ANN SUE MAY ANN SUE
-------- ------- ------- ------- ------- --------
1. John 1. Liz 1. Fone 1. John 1. Liz 1. Fone
2. Bill 2. Jim 2. Bill 2. Jim
3. Len 3. Len
4. Tip 4. Tip
You should seal each wife to her husband Thomas and then seal all of the children of that marriage to their natural parents. Three sealings would be preformed. (The circles in the diagram represent sealings that should be preformed.)
If a woman was married to more than one husband, and no previous living or proxy sealings had been preformed, you should seal her to each of her husbands and then seal all of the children of that marriage to their natural parents. This would again require three sealings, but only one of the sealings will be valid in the eternities.
TYPICAL DECEASED FAMILY HOW THEY SHOULD BE SEALED
JOYCE JOYCE
RICHARD STEVEN RONALD RICHARD STEVEN RONALD
-------- -------- -------- -------- -------- --------
1. AL 1. MARY 1. TOMMY 1. AL 1. MARY 1. TOMMY
2. SUE 2. BILLY 2. LISA 2. SUE 2. BILLY 2. LISA
3. MIKE 3. ROSS 3. MIKE 3. ROSS
4. DON 4. DON
5. FLEX 5. FLEX
When there were proxy sealings preformed,following the Church policy before the 25th of September 1975, such that a wife was sealed to her first husband and all of her children from other marriages were sealed to her and the first husband, the following would be done: (circles indicate sealings preformed)
SEALINGS BEFORE 1975 ADDITIONAL SEALINGS PREFORMED
------------------------- ----------------------------
RUTH ANN RUTH ANN
TOM BILL ALVIN TOM BILL ALVIN
------ -------- ------- ------ -------- --------
1. SUE 1. JAMES 1. ANN 1. SUE 1. JAMES 1. ANN
2. LIL 2. LIL
The children were already sealed to Ruth Ann and they do not need to be sealed to her again when she is sealed to her other two husbands Bill and Alvin. However we should again note that the descendants of Bill and Alvin are responsible to trace the blood line of Bill and Alvin not Tom. We are again assuming that all of these people involved died before any living sealings were performed for them.
EXCEPTIONS TO THE NORMAL SEALING RULES:
If a woman was first married civilly to a husband and had three children, then civilly divorced him and remarried a second husband in the temple for time and all eternity, we would have to ask our three questions stated above. Was that child born in the covenant? Were there any living sealings performed? Can the children be sealed to their natural blood line?
1ST MARRIAGE (CIVIL) 2ND MARRIAGE (TEMPLE)
----------------------- ----------------------
MAUD
TOM ARNOLD
1. PETER 1. JUDITH (BIC)
2. HAROLD 2. LILA MAY (BIC)
3. VICTOR
CIVIL DIVORCE
The first three children Peter, Harold and Victor were not born in the covenant because Maud and Tom were married civilly. So those children must be sealed to their mother Maud at some later date. Maud then was married to Arnold in the Temple. Because she had a living sealing preformed in her life time to Arnold, now that she is dead, she can not be sealed to Tom by proxy. The children of Tom and Maud can not be sealed to Tom. Their mother was sealed in her life time to Arnold so the children of the first marriage should now also be sealed to Arnold and Maud. Judith and Lila May, the children of Arnold and Maud were born in the covenant so they need no further sealing ordinances. We are assuming that in all of these examples, all of the people involved are now deceased. If the individuals were still living, you would have to contact your Bishop to find out the current church policy on permission of the first husband and the requirements of legal adoption before sealing living children.
If a woman married a man in the temple, then because of a civil divorce or death of the 1st husband, she is remarried to a 2nd husband civilly the children of the second marriage are still born in the covenant.
ELIZABETH
1st marriage 2nd marriage
(temple marriage) (civil marriage)
GEORGE LORENZO
-------- -----------
1. BILLY (BIC) 1. LEAH MARIE (BIC)
2. SALLY (BIC) 2. DONALD (BIC)
3. RON (BIC)
civil divorce
No further sealing work need be done for this family. All of the children were born to Elizabeth after she was married in the temple to George. The civil divorce from George does not void that temple marriage nor does it change the status of the children being born before or after the divorce. They were all still born in the covenant which Elizabeth was sealed into.
Let us now look at the effect of excommunication on this same marriage relationship mentioned above.
ELIZABETH
1st marriage 2nd marriage
(temple marriage) (civil marriage)
GEORGE LORENZO
-------- -----------
1. BILLY (BIC) 1. LEAH MARIE (BIC)
2. SALLY (BIC) 2. DONALD (BIC)
3. RON (BIC)
civil divorce (ELIZABETH EXCOMMUNICATED)
3. AMMON
4. WINNONA
(ELIZABETH'S BLESSINGS RESTORED)
5. WINFRED (BIC)
Ammon and Winona who were born to Lorenzo and Elizabeth while Elizabeth was excommunicated, were not born in the covenant. Lorenzo and Elizabeth will have to take them to a temple and have them sealed to them. Winfred, who was born after Elizabeth's blessings had been restored to her was born in the covenant. Note that Elizabeth and Lorenzo have not been sealed in the temple themselves yet so they can not have Ammon and Winnona sealed to them until they are sealed themselves. Elizabeth is still sealed to George for eternity. If Elizabeth has her sealing to George canceled and then her and Lorenzo go to the temple and are sealed, then Ammon and Winnona could be sealed to them. If they are not sealed then all the children are still born under the covenant of George and Elizabeth even though Lorenzo is the father.
Any children that are born to Elizabeth after her blessings are restored (if she still in not sealed to Lorenzo) will continue to be born in the covenant which Elizabeth and George have made. It does not effect the child being born in the covenant, whether she is sealed to George or Lorenzo. It should also be noted that excommunication does not cancel a temple marriage, it simply puts it in abeyance until the blessing are restored. They do not have to be remarried after the blessings are restored. Cancellation of a temple marriage is not the same as excommunication. Cancellation of sealings can only be authorized by the President of the Church.
When children are legally adopted, you should normally seal them to their adoptive parents as though they were their natural parents. No effort need be made on the part of the children or the adoptive parents to tract the genealogy of the natural parents of the adopted children. However if those adopted children were born in the covenant or sealed to their natural parents before the adoption took place, they can not be resealed to any one else. When you seal adopted children to the step parents, the cause of adoption must be shown to the church authorities. If the natural parents met an untimely death or if there were other reasons beyond the control of the natural parents causing the children to be adopted by other parents, the church will normally not allow the children to be sealed to the adoptive parents. Again if you have a question about this example, that relates to your own family, you should contact your Bishop and let him explain the current church policy to you.
If a child was born in the covenant or if a living sealing of that child took place to his parents during his or her life time, whether they are his natural or adoptive parents, further sealings to parents by proxy after the death of the child will not be permitted.
When a woman was not married at the time her child was born, the child should then be sealed to the husband she was first legally married to whether he was the natural father of the child or not. The only instance where an illegitimate child can be sealed to the unwed father and mother is if the mother was never legally married to anyone else in her lifetime. Children born to married women by other than the husband are still legally the children of that marriage and should be sealed that way. If the unwed mother had no other children out of wedlock by any other man and both the father and the mother were legally eligible for marriage when the child was born, she can then be sealed to the father of her illegitimate child and then her child can be sealed to them. If the father is unknown, and the mother never married, the child can not be sealed to just the mother. Other alternatives can be considered, such questions should be referred to the Special Services Group of the church by your Bishop. All cases which involve these difficult questions will have to be resolved by the First Presidency of the Church through the Special Services Group.
If a couple were married in the temple and then later cancel their sealing, the question is often asked who will get the children. Children are born in the covenant or sealed into that covenant. That sealing is a promise to them that they will receive eternal parents.
"Birth in the covenant entitles those children to a birthright blessing which guarantees them eternal parentage regardless of what happens to the parents, so long as the children remain worthy of the blessings."
Ezra Taft Benson
The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson
page 259
"If a child is born in the covenant and remains worthy, his birthright guarantees that he will have parents eternally no matter what happens to the covenant parents. Such a child is never to be sealed to parents.... A living child who is sealed to parents receives the right to the same blessings as if he were born in the covenant and he cannot be sealed later to any other parents, even if (1) the sealing of his parents is canceled after his birth, (2) he is adopted later, (3) his natural parents give their consent, (4) he gives his consent, or (5) his natural parents die."
General Handbook of Instructions
1983 edition, page 41
If their natural parents are not worthy, the children will be taken away from the parents and given to parents who are worthy. When Malachi gave forth his proclamation that Elijah would come to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers, he also made another decree:
"For, behold, the day cometh, that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of hosts, that they shall leave them NEITHER ROOT NOR BRANCH".
Malachi 4:1
It seems that back in the olden days, they made pedigree charts in the following manner:
It would be wise for parents who have the question of who will get the children to counsel with their Bishop. This discussion is not designated to deal with problems of such a personal nature that relate to living sealings.
this has to be the end page for part 3 so that part 4 lines up ok
PART IV
UNDERSTANDING PRIESTHOOD ORDERS
PRIESTHOOD DEFINED:
"Now this same priesthood which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also."
Moses 6:7
Joseph Smith has told us that there is only one priesthood power. He taught us that "all priesthood is Melchizedek ".
(see TPJS page 180).
But he said that " there are different portions or degrees of it". He called these "three grand orders of priesthood", and said that the three grand orders were Aaronic, Melchizedek, and Patriarchal. (see TPJS page 322-23). The following diagram will help us to better understand this concept:
THE HOLY PRIESTHOOD AFTER THE ORDER OF THE SON OF GOD
M E L C H I Z D E K
AARONIC MELCHIZEDEK PATRIARCHAL
ORDER ORDER ORDER
It is important to understand that all priesthood is Melchizedek. We all hold the same priesthood and that is the same priesthood that God Himself holds. There is only one priesthood. There are just different orders of that priesthood, and we each have different callings or responsibilities within that priesthood. We do not all have the responsibility to be the President of the Church but all priesthood holders within the church hold the same priesthood that he holds.
We are assigned different positions of the priesthood to help us learn and grow. We are all heading to the same end goal, and that is to become equal to the Father and have all the same power that He has. We must each learn precept by precept, line upon line just as the Savior did.
"And he received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness; And thus he was called the Son of God, because he received not of the fullness at the first."
D & C 93:13-14
AARONIC OR LEVITICAL PRIESTHOOD ORDER:
The Levitical priesthood and the Aaronic priesthood in our day are the same. Anciently the Sons of Aaron held the Aaronic priesthood and the male members of the tribe of Levi held the Levitical priesthood. In those days the Levitical priesthood was a lesser priesthood office than that held by the Sons of Aaron holding the Aaronic priesthood.
When we give a person the Aaronic Priesthood, there are some very important words that we always use. First we CONFER the Aaronic priesthood upon the person, then we ORDAIN him to an office within the Aaronic Priesthood - IN THE CHURCH - Of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We do not ordain them to that office in a quorum, a ward or a stake, but we ordain them to that office in the Church. It is very significant that we say that. A person ordained to an office within the Aaronic priesthood has authority to act in that office in any part of the church under proper priesthood direction. He is not restricted to act just within his ward or quorum.
There are 4 offices within the Aaronic priesthood. They are as follows:
Deacon
Teacher
Priest
Bishop
There are three kinds of Bishops mentioned in the history of the church. They are Local Bishops, which is the kind we have in each ward. Traveling bishops which is what the first Bishop was, and Presiding Bishops, which is our general authority who is the head of the Aaronic priesthood today. We do not have traveling bishops in the church at the present time.
When a person is ordained to a new office within the Aaronic priesthood, they do not need to have the Aaronic Priesthood re-conferred upon them again. They are just ordained to that new office. A person is not released from his former office when he is ordained to a new office either. Once you are a Deacon, you are always a Deacon, and you continue to hold all the rights and authority that you had as a deacon. When a Bishop is released and then later recalled as a new Bishop in a new ward, he is not re-ordained a Bishop, he is just set apart as the new Bishop for that ward.
When we ordain a person to an office in the Aaronic priesthood, we then invite them to join a quorum. There are three quorums in the Aaronic Priesthood. They are the Deacons Quorum, the Teachers Quorum, and the Priests Quorum. The Bishop belongs to the Priests quorum. If you move to a new ward you do not need to have the Aaronic Priesthood re-conferred upon you in that new ward, nor do you have to be re-ordained to that office in the priesthood again in the new ward. You are just invited to join the quorum in the new ward.
All of the Aaronic priesthood quorums of the ward are presided over by the Bishop of the Ward who holds the keys of Presidency over them. All of the Aaronic priesthood quorums of the church are presided over by the Presiding Bishop of the Church who holds the Keys of Presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood for the whole church.
When we confer the Aaronic priesthood upon a person, we give him four very specific keys or powers that are of great importance. We give him:
1. The power of administering in outward ordinances.
This would include taking care of the sacrament, serving the poor and needy of the ward to include gathering the fast offerings for the Bishop, being of service to the Bishop as needed, and taking care of the meeting house, etc.
2. The keys of ministering angels.
This entitles the person to the ministering of angels both seen and unseen; to teach, protect and guide him.
3. The key of the gospel of repentance.
This gives the members of the Aaronic Priesthood the authority to preach and teach the Gospel to the world. It is by this authority that an Aaronic Priesthood holder is able to begin to be a Home Teacher.
4. The key of Baptism.
It is by virtue of this key, held by the members of the Aaronic Priesthood that we are able to be baptized into Christ's true church by proper authority. Only the Bishop holds the key to administer baptism but the Priest under his direction also has the authority to baptize.
MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD ORDER:
Even though we say all Priesthood is Melchizedek, there is within that priesthood an order called the Melchizedek priesthood order. When we receive this priesthood, we receive it with an oath and a covenant and we have then received the fullness of the priesthood. There is no higher priesthood. It is the same priesthood that God holds. But there are offices within that priesthood and different keys that are conferred upon those holding the different offices. We do not all hold all of the keys, but we do all hold all of the priesthood.
When we receive the Melchizedek priesthood, we use the very same priesthood procedure that we used when we received the Aaronic Priesthood. We first CONFER the Melchizedek priesthood upon the person then we ORDAIN him to an office IN THE CHURCH of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We then invite him to join a priesthood quorum.
There are six different offices within the Melchizedek priesthood. They are:
Elder
Seventy
High Priest
Patriarch
Apostle
President of the High Priesthood
The Stake President is the president of the Melchizedek priesthood in the whole stake. The Bishop is not a president or presiding officer in the Melchizedek priesthood. The Stake President holds the keys and presides over the quorums.
The quorums of the Melchizedek Priesthood operate in a very similar manner to the Aaronic Priesthood Quorums. You are ordained to an office then invited to join a quorum. But your office in the priesthood does not necessarily have anything to do with the quorum that you belong to. Elders normally belong to the Elders quorums, but there are Perspective Elders who hold the Aaronic Priesthood or are just male members with no priesthood, but they belong to the Elders quorum.
Seventies who live in the local wards are invited to be members of the ward Elders quorum or the ward High Priest Quorum. Only the Presidents of the Seventies Quorum and other General Authorities who are invited to join the Seventies Quorums belong to the Seventies Quorum at the present time. There are still some members of the church who are ordained Seventies. But when they die or are ordained High Priests, there will be no more members of the church who are actually ordained Seventies. All General Authorities who are members of the Seventies Quorum are ordained High Priests.
The High Priests belong to the High Priest Quorum, if there is one, but in small branches they may belong to the Elders quorum if there is not a High Priest Quorum. Members of the Presiding Bishopric are general authorities but they do not belong to a Priest quorum. They belong to their ward High Priest quorum. There is no quorum for the patriarchs so they also belong to the High Priest Quorums.
There is a quorum of the Twelve Apostles. There are at times 14 members in that quorum just after the President of the Church dies. But normally there are only 12 members to the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. However all apostles do not necessarily belong to the quorum of the 12. When Alvin R.Dyer was ordained an Apostle and served in the 1st Presidency, he was never made a member of the quorum of the 12 apostles.
There is a quorum of the Presidents of the High Priesthood. We call it the quorum of the First Presidency of the church. It normally has three members but has had more in times past. It is made up of the President of the Church and his counselors. He normally has two counselors but there have been times when the number was increased for short periods of time. Members of the Quorum of the First Presidency are ordained Presidents of the High Priesthood but are not necessarily apostles. An example of this would be when Thorp B. Issacson was taken into the quorum. He was not an apostle, he was a High Priest. When the President of the Church, who presides over the quorum, passes away, the members of the quorum are automatically released and all go back to the quorum they came from. For example President Issacson went back to being a member of his ward High Priest Quorum, and was not recalled again by the new President of the Church.
These examples illustrate clearly that being ordained to an office in the priesthood does not dictate which quorum you belong to. In fact membership in the quorum does not necessarily require holding that office as we see with the perspective elders, Presiding Bishops, Patriarchs, etc.
When we receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, we also receive certain keys and authority:
1. Right of presidency
2. Power and authority over all of the offices in the church in all ages of the world, to administer in spiritual things
3. Power and authority to hold the keys of all of spiritual blessings of the church
4. The key of mysteries of the kingdom of heaven even the key of knowledge of God.
5. The power to have the heavens opened to us
6. Power to commune with the general assembly of the church of the first born
7. To enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father and Jesus Christ the Mediator of the new covenant.
8. Power to administer the gospel
9. The power of Godliness
10. The privilege to see God face to face
11. To be the sons of Moses
12. The power of sanctification by the spirit unto the renewing to our bodies.
(see D&C 107:8,18,19; 67:11-12; 84:19,22,33,34
The Melchizedek Priesthood is not only the power to actin the name of God, it is the power to become like him. Brigham Young once described priesthood in this way:
"An individual who holds a share in the priesthood, and continues faithful to his calling, who delights himself continually in doing the things God requires at his hands, and continues through life in the performance of every duty, will secure to himself not only the privilege of receiving, but the knowledge how to receive the things of God, that he may know the mind of God continually; and he will be enabled to discern between right and wrong, between the things of God and the things that are not of God. And that Priesthood - the spirit that is within him will continue to increase until it becomes like a fountain of living water; until it is like the tree of life; until it is one continuous source of intelligence and instruction to that individual.
Brigham Young
Discourses of Brigham Young
page 132
As we compare the Aaronic Priesthood order to the Melchizedek Priesthood order, we find some striking similarities. Consider the following:
AARONIC PRIESTHOOD MELCHIZEDEK PRIESTHOOD
DEACON .............TO BE A WATCHMAN.......ELDER
TEACHER.............TO BE A TEACHER........SEVENTY
PRIEST..............TO PRESIDE.............HIGH PRIEST
BISHOP..............TEMPORAL NEEDS.....
....SPIRITUAL NEEDS........PATRIARCH BISHOP..............JUDGE..................APOSTLE
PRESIDING BISHOP....HEAD... ...............PRES. HIGH PRIESTHOOD
KEY OF MINISTERING ANGELS..................KEY OF KNOWLEDGE TEMPORAL...................................SPIRITUAL
PREPARATORY GOSPEL,........................FULLNESS OF GOSPEL
SONS OF AARON..............................SONS OF MOSES
NO COVENANT................................MADE WITH COVENANT
IN MORTALITY...............................FOR ALL ETERNITY
This is the reason that Brigham Young built the Salt Lake temple with 6 towers. It was to remind us every time we look at it that there are two priesthoods and there is a presidency of three men at the head of each priesthood. The west towers of the temple are 204 feet tall and represent the Aaronic Priesthood and the Presiding Bishopric over it. The east towers are 210 feet tall. They represent the Melchizedek Priesthood and the First Presidency presiding over it. The east towers are higher than the west towers symbolic of the Melchizedek Priesthood being higher than the Aaronic.
Every part of the Aaronic priesthood is a preparatory teacher for something to come in the Melchizedek priesthood. It is a teacher, a trainer. The Melchizedek priesthood is the fullness.
PATRIARCHAL PRIESTHOOD ORDER:
"There are three grand orders of the priesthood referred to.... The second priesthood is patriarchal authority. Go to and finish the temple, and God will fill it with power and you will then receive more knowledge concerning this priesthood."
Joseph Smith
TPJS page 322-23
We are not to discuss the specific ordinances of the temple any where except within the temple. However there are many things concerning Patriarchal Priesthood order that we can learn outside the temple.
It is helpful to compare all three of the priesthood orders in order to gain a fuller understanding of how they operate and their similarities. We saw that there are many similarities between the Aaronic Priesthood and the Melchizedek Priesthood orders. There are also many similarities between these two and the patriarchal priesthood order.
We first discussed how we obtained the Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods. We first conferred the priesthood upon a person then ordained them to an office. We do not confer the Patriarchal Priesthood upon a person, but the patriarchal priesthood is an order of the priesthood and we do receive it.
"In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this ORDER OF THE PRIESTHOOD [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage]; And if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase."
D & C 131:1-4
We enter into the Patriarchal Priesthood Order when we get married in the temple. Right there we see the first difference to the three priesthoods. The Aaronic and Melchizedek priesthoods are only conferred upon men in the Church. The Patriarchal Priesthood is given only to a man and his wife and it is in the family in eternity. Remember Joseph Smith said that all priesthood is Melchizedek. There is only one priesthood but there are different degrees or orders of it. This Patriarchal Priesthood Order that the man and woman enter into when they are sealed in the temple is a part of that same priesthood. It is an order within that priesthood.
Now we see the significance of saying to a man when we ordain him to an office, "we ordain you to that office in the Church". Patriarchal Priesthood is in the family. Women do not hold the Aaronic Priesthood or the Melchizedek Priesthood in the Church, but they do hold the Patriarchal Priesthood in the family in eternity.
"The ordinances of the temple are distinctly of priesthood character, yet women have access to all of them, and the highest blessings of the temple are conferred only upon a man and his wife jointly."
John A. Widtsoe
Program of the Church 1938
page 81
By way of comparison then, we confer Aaronic Priesthood and Melchizedek Priesthood upon a man by the laying on of hands and we seal Patriarchal Priesthood upon a man and his wife jointly when they are sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.
In the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods, we ordain a man to an office in that Priesthood. A man and a woman also receive a calling or we might say they hold the office of husband and wife in the Patriarchal Priesthood. They eventually will also become Father and Mother. Isn't it interesting that God Himself is referred to by His highest priesthood office - Father.
The Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods are organized by quorum, in the Church, in mortality. The Patriarchal Priesthood is organized by family, in the home, in eternity. We also learn in from Patriarchal Priesthood that if we are faithful that there are other callings or we could say offices, that will come to the father and mother. Joseph Smith said:
"Those who receive the fullness of the priesthood are Kings and Priests...."
Joseph Smith
Documentary History of the Church
Vol 5 page 555
In the church, we do not specifically refer to callings in the Patriarchal Priesthood, but it is interesting to note that each one of the offices or callings related to the Patriarchal Priesthood are for both a man and a woman.
Husband/Wife
Father/Mother
Priest/Priestess
Patriarch/Matriarch
King/Queen
God/Goddess
We do not have quorums in the Patriarchal Priesthood but we have families. There are some striking similarities between the functions of the quorum and the family.
When a couple are married in the temple they have the power of eternal LIVES sealed upon them
"And again, verily I say unto you, if a man marry a wife by my word, which is my law, and by the new and everlasting covenant, and it is sealed unto them by the Holy Spirit of promise by him who is anointed, unto whom I have appointed this power and the keys of this priesthood; and it shall be said unto them - Ye shall come forth in the first resurrection; and if it be after the first resurrection, in the next resurrection; and shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths - then shall it be written in the Lamb's Book of Life, that he shall commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, and if ye abide in my covenant, and commit no murder whereby to shed innocent blood, it shall be done unto them in all things whatsoever my servant hath put upon them, in time, and through all eternity; and shall be of full force when they are out of the world; and they shall pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fullness, AND A CONTINUATION OF THE SEEDS FOREVER. Then shall they be gods, because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all power, and the angels are subject unto them. Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory. For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and CONTINUATION OF THE LIVES, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also. THIS IS ETERNAL LIVES - to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.
D & C 132:19-25
"We have not the power in the flesh to create and bring forth or produce a spirit; but we have the power to produce a temporal body; the germ of this, God has placed within us. And when our spirits receive our bodies, and through our faithfulness we are worthy to be crowned, we will then receive authority to produce both spirit and body. But these keys we cannot receive in the flesh...."
Brigham Young
Discourses of Brigham Young
page 398
When they have children, these children are born in the covenant to that family. Being born in the covenant brings a special blessing of a promise of eternal parents to the child regardless of the worthiness of the parents before or after the child's birth.
A family in eternity is similar in this sense to a quorum in the Church. When a child is born in the covenant, the child is a member of the family into which he or she was born. When a person in the Church moves, they just change quorums. They do not have to be re-ordained or have any new office or have any new priesthood conferred upon them. We have seen in the above sealing section of this paper that children do the same thing. Once they are born in the covenant or are sealed into that covenant, who the parents are does not effect them. If a parent becomes wicked or are for some reason moved out of the family and the mother marries another man, even in the temple, the children just change families with her. They do not get resealed into their mothers new family. That is just like a priesthood holder changes quorums in the church. The child does not need any further sealing or ordinance work. They are already born in the covenant. They are members of the patriarchal priesthood order and the family the belong to does not give to or take away from that priesthood order. They just change families. As Brigham Young said, "to be born in the covenant is a promise of eternal parents". If your natural parents are wicked and can not be your parents in eternity, then you will be given to parents who are worthy, but you do not need to be resealed to them. You become a member of that family just by joining their family just like a quorum.
"Patriarchal Priesthood is Melchizedek Priesthood but it is organized by family and within that realm of priesthood has new powers which are not that privilege of one only holding melchizedek organized by quorum. Herein lies the power of eternal lives or the eternal power of procreation. As we look at life from the eternal perspective it seems a miracle. Godhood is the greatest gift our father in heaven has for us. And in his wisdom He has reserved procreation in eternity for Gods only. All others are denied it and are servants or angels. Yet in his divine wisdom, He has allowed each of us to come here to this earth to receive a body and then empowered us with the knowledge of procreation for a little season to practice, as it were, being a God to see how we like it. And one need not look around the world very far to see that one thing - the highest and most sacred gift of God is the single most abused of all of God's gifts. Is it any wonder that he takes it away and reserves it only for Kings, Queens and Priests and Priestess in eternity?
(source ?)