Vicarious Work for the Dead

Brethren and sisters: I have greatly rejoiced in the remarks that have been made to us this morning, and in the spirit of union alluded to by President Snow—I can testify that, so far as I have been able to observe, the most perfect union exists among the First Presidency and Twelve;' and so far as ¶

my observation has gone, I can also testify that there is a spirit of union and harmony among the First Seven Presidents of Seventies, and with the Presiding Bishopric, and with the Patriarch, and with very many, if not all, of the Stake presidencies, the Bishops and counselors of wards, and the presidencies of quorums—And I believe that this spirit of oneness and union is growing upon the Latter-day Saints—Therein is the strength of this Church ¶

There is a subject that is very near to my heart, and I would like to say a few words upon it this morning, if the Spirit of the Lord shall give me freedom of speech; otherwise I should wish that it might be taken entirely from my mind, because I desire to speak to the Saints only that which the Lord desires I should speak, and which will be most suitable for the occasion—I will first read from an address to the Saints by the mighty prophet of these latter times, the Prophet Joseph Smith—These were his words: ¶

And again, verily thus saith the Lord, let the work of my Temple, and all the works which I have appointed unto you, be continued on and not cease; and let your diligence, and your perseverance, and patience, and your works be redoubled, and you shall in no wise lose your reward, saith the Lord of hosts—And if they persecute you, so persecuted they the prophets and righteous men that were before you—For all this there is a reward in heaven ¶

And again, I give unto you a word in relation to the baptism for your dead ¶

Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you concerning your dead: When any of you are baptized for your dead, let there be a recorder, and let him be eye-witness of your baptisms; let him hear with his ears, that he may testify of a truth, saith the Lord: ¶

That in all your recordings it may be recorded in heaven; whatsoever you bind on earth, may be bound in heaven; whatsoever you loose on earth, may be loosed in heaven; ¶

For I am about to restore many things to the earth, pertaining to the Priesthood, saith the Lord of hosts " ¶

In another place: ¶

"Now the nature of this ordinance consists in the power of the Priesthood, by the revelation of Jesus Christ, wherein it is granted, that whatsoever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatsoever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven—Or, in other words, taking a different view ¶

of the translation, whatsoever you record on earth shall be recorded in heaven; and whatsoever you do not record on earth, shall not be recorded in heaven; for out of the books shall your dead be judged, according to their own works, whether they themselves have attended to the ordinances in their own propria persona, or by the means of their own agents, according to the ordinance which God has prepared for their salvation from before the foundation of the world, according to the records which they have kept concerning their dead ¶

It may seem to some to be a very bold doctrine that we talk of — a power which records or binds on earth, and binds in heaven—Nevertheless in all ages of the world, whenever the Lord has given a dispensation of the Priesthood to any man by actual revelation, or any set of men, this power has always been given—Hence, whatsoever those men did in authority, in the name of the Lord, and did it truly and faithfully, and kept a proper and faithful record of the same, it became a law on earth, and in heaven, and could not be annulled according to the decree of the great Jehovah—This is a faithful saying! Who can bear it? ¶

And again, for the precedent, Matthew xvi, 18, 19, "And I also say unto thee, that thou art Peter: and upon this rock I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it; and I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven " ¶

Are not these most glorious words, my brethren and sisters? Even in those early days of the Church the Prophet Joseph Smith was exercised very greatly concerning the temples of the Lord, so much so, that the word of the Lord came to him, and from him to the people, that they must not cease the work of His temple, and all the works which He had appointed—Special stress was laid on this subject of the temple—The spirit of temple-work has rested down upon the Latter-day Saints from that day until this, and I doubt not will rest upon them with great ¶

power from now until the morning of the resurrection, and from the morning of the resurrection until the thousand years of the Millennium have expired—This spirit will grow stronger and brighter with this people—Was it not upon President Young and the Pioneers? Almost the first words he uttered concerning this land were made ¶

upon this block, when, striking his cane upon the ground, he said, "Here we will build a temple of God " How glorious^ ly that prediction has been fulfilled! That Temple has been erected, though he did not live to see its completion— a monument to the faith, the determination and the good works of the Latter-day Saints—Not only is there a Temple on this block, but there is one at St—George, one at Manti, and one at Lo-an—And shall we cease building Temples? No; other Temples will be built—There is a reason for this ¶

Strangers come into our midst, and they gaze upon the Temple—In many instances they say it is a magnificent building, a great accomplishment to have been commenced in the early days of the settlement of this country and to have been carried on at such vast expense until finally completed—It certainly was a great accomplishment—But, my brethren and sisters, the value of that building is not in its outward appearance, not in the expense that has been put in it, not in the beauty of its architecture, nor in the richness of its furnishings—The value of that Temple is in the ordinances which are performed therein for the living and the dead ¶

The keys of this great power of binding and sealing, referred to by the Prophet Joseph Smith, are with us—That power breaks down the barriers of the grave—By it both the living and the dead are made to stand before the Lord as if there were no such thing as mortal time—Moreover, the dead are made equal with the living—Glorious thought! Do we not see that God is no respecter of persons? The man who lived upon earth in a time when the light of the Gospel had been extinguished, and who therefore lived in ignorance of the Gospel, will not be consigned to endless misery because he did not accept an opportunity that never came to him, but the mercy and justice of God will reach out to that man and he will have the opportunity in the other life—Therein is the virtue and force of the binding and sealing power—It reaches into the spirit world to every soul, no matter how humble or obscure that soul has been on earth—The^ light of the Gospel will break in ¶

upon him, and there will be a time ip—the other life for repentance and reformation—Then shall the people of the earth go forth in the temples of God and do a vicarious work for those behind the veil, as the Savior of the world has done a vicarious work for us all—We will taste of the fruits of His great work in our salvation; so will the dead receive the good fruits of our work in their behalf in the temples of God ¶

Is it not time, brethren and sisters, that our minds should run back and be interested in the fate and condition of our ancestors? Shall we not be interested in every soul that has passed away? Must_ not the chain be made complete, and the dead be connected with the living, and the living with the dead? Otherwise, we shall be rejected as a church; for the Apostle has told us that we without them cannot be made perfect, nor they without us ¶

Some thoughts have come to my mind in relation to this great and glorious subject, and these thoughts have relation to the missionary work of this Church—We are calling upon many able-bodied young men to go forth and proclaim the Gospel of salvation to the nations of the earth—This glorious duty and privilege is today resting upon the young men of Israel—But there are many who are not in a position to accept a call of this kind—Many are deeply engrossed in the affairs of life in a way perchance that they cannot be spared to take upon them this great responsibility—Then there are those who are so advanced in years that it would not be wisdom for them to go forth and proclaim the Gospel—Must it be said of them that they shall be denied the privilege of becoming saviors upon Mount Zion, because of the infirmities of age and the engrossing cares of life? No, it shall not be so said—There is a chance for them—If they cannot go forth into the world to win souls unto Christ, let them go forth into the temples of God and spend a portion of their time in working for the salvation of the dead—I believe that the soul of one who is dead is just as precious in the sight of God as the soul of one who is living—Need the father say to his family, "There-is not rmich- ojpportunity now-for ¶

me to do good; my days of usefulness are past " No; your days of usefulness are still with you; your opportunities are still present; go forth and perform this great labor ¶

But it Will be said by many in the Church that their employment or their business connections are such that they cannot give any time to temple work—What shall be done in such cases? Men are spending their whole time, not alone in providing for themselves and their families the comforts of life, but to accumulate means and build up a fortune—This is being done by hundreds of Latter-day Saints; for God is blessing and multiplying His goodness upon the peo, pie, and the windows of heaven are—opened unto us, until many are becoming rich in this world's goods—Is it not so? If you do not believe it, go to some of the Stake conferences and see the expensive vehicles that are tied all around the meeting house—Do people walk to meeting any more? Not except they live within a half a block of it or so—If they live a mile or a mile and a half away, they never think of walking—And they do not need to walk; for God has blessed them with horses and carriages, by means of which they can ride to meeting in comfort—They are being blessed in all their affairs and multiplied exceedingly, until it has come to that condition that some of our brethren in the Church hardly know what to do with their means ¶

The question with them is—Where shall we invest our riches? Put money in the sugar factory? Yes, by all means, because it is a good investment; it pays a good dividend—It did not pay a good dividend when the Presidency of this Church were urging the people to take hold of the industry and contribute of their means to establish it—They could not see it then; but now they can see it, and sugar stock can hardly be purchased at present, it is so desirable—However, as I was saying, the people hardly know where to put their savings ¶

Now, I want to tell the men of means among the Latter-day Saints of a good investment; where they can place some of their means to bring ¶

them in a hundred per cent—Find me an investment in this country today that pays twelve per cent, or perhaps fifteen per cent, and I will point out to you a most splendid enterprise—But this investment that I allude to will pay one hundred per cent, and never fail—What is it? Lay up some of your treasures in heaven—Invest with the Lord—Put some of your means into His temple ¶

If you are so busily employed in looking after your material interests, which are so vast and varied that it takes all your time, send your son to the temple, and support him while he works there for you—If you have no son, perhaps you have a good neighbor, a man of God, who has no means of his own and no employment; send him to the temple, and provide well for him while he is there; look after his bodily wants, and let him work for your dead and save your ancestors ¶

Perhaps you will tell me that you have no list of your ancestors; you have not even a single name—I take it that that is no excuse—If you cannot do a work for your own dead, do a work for your neighbor's dead—Assist that poor man across the way who has perhaps hundreds and thousands of names, but has no means and no way of having them officiated for, and verily you shall in no wise lose your reward—When an Elder is sent into the world to preach the Gospel, if circumstances are favorable, he goes first to his relatives and acquaintances, and then he preaches the Gospel to the world—So we must labor at home—If we cannot get information concerning our own dead, let us expend a portion of our means, if we have any, for the salvation of the dead of others—In this we will manifest the spirit of true charity ¶

As it is at present, we find that in some instances brethren are building up fortunes for their children to quarrel over and spend when they are gone—We know by experience that we cannot take these things with us from this life, and the result is—all we accumulate of this world's goods is left behind, and trouble generally arises among children over such things ¶

I am reminded of an occurrence that is said to have actually happened—One of our rich brethren died, and after a time his spirit returned to earth—He visited a friend, and this is the language that he used in speaking to that friend: "What a fool I have been—I spent days and weeks, months and years upon the earth in accumulating means, and I was abundantly successful—I built up a big fortune, and then I was called away—I passed into the spirit world, and left it all for my children to quarrel over—"What a fool I have been " ¶

Is there not a text in his words? It might have occurred to that man, while he was talking to his friend, that he could have founded an institution of learning, or endowed a hospital, or better than that, he could have created a temple fund; that is to say, he could have provided amply for each one of his children, and with the remainder, or a goodly portion of it, could have created a temple fund, to be used for the salvation of the dead; and had the fund been sufficiently large, the interest only, and not the principal, might have been expended to save his dead and the dead of others—Perhaps the thought occurred to him that if he had done this, while his body rested in the grave and his spirit dwelt in the spirit land, the means that God had given him on earth would be doing a great and glorious work and perpetuating his memory upon earth—This is one way in which we can perpetuate our memories ¶

It seems to me that this is a most glorious subject to contemplate—And not only shall the brethren be saviors upon Mount Zion, but the sisters, too, shall share in this glorious work; for they can go to the temple and assist in officiating for the dead—The sisters as well as the brethren shall have credit on the books for their share in this grand work—Brethren and sisters, here are the temples before us—Now let me ask the question, Who shall be worthy to go into them and to do the work that I have indicated? You know something of the power and sacredness of the work; you know something of this binding and sealing power; you know ¶

the great responsibility of exercising that power—I ask you, Who shall be worthy to go into these temples? We have been told by our Prophet and President that the man who does not pay his tithing in this Church shall not have access to them—Not that he shall be coerced, not that he shall be frightened, by this saying of the President's; but simply because he is unworthy to go into the temple—If he violates this great commandment of God — the law of tithing— then he is not worthy to receive and participate in the blessings of the House of the Lord—It is a simple proposition—The Bishop shall not recommend him; the president of the Stake shall not recommend him—They cannot do it—It would not be pleasing in the sight of God—And they who violate the other commandments — and! there are many who disregard the authority of the Priesthood, who slight the counsels of the servants of God, and who will not give ear to their teachings — are not worthy to go into the house of the Lord and officiate for the living and the dead—And that shows a very close connection between the living and the dead, between this world and the other world; for you can scarcely mention the work for the dead, except you shall say something concerning the living; and you can scarcely speak of the living, except you shall say something concerning the dead ¶

I believe that God speaks to us as if we were in eternity, and that whenever He gives a commandment or a law unto this Church, it is done as if there were no such thing as death or a veil dividing us from His presence—His laws are permanent and eternal in their nature; they are binding upon this world and upon the world to come; they are binding upon the living and binding upon the dead ¶

As I have said, this is a glorious theme for contemplation, and could not be exhausted in a sermon a month long—God bless you—Amen ¶