An Examination into and an Elucidation of the Great Principle of the Mediation Part 4

"For, behold, I will bless all those who labor in my vineyard with a mighty blessing, and they shall believe on his words, which are given him through me by the Comforter, which manifesteth that Jesus was crucified by sinful men for the sins of the world, yea, for the remission of sins unto the contrite heart."--Sec. xxi, 9, p. 131.

"Listen to the voice of Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, the great I AM, whose arm of mercy hath atoned for your sins."--Sec. xxix, 1, p. 142.

"Be faithful unto the end, and lo, I am with you. These words are not of man, nor of men, but of me, even Jesus Christ, your Redeemer, by the will of the Father. Amen."--Sec. x.x.xi, 13, p. 151.

"My son Orson, hearken and hear and behold what I, the Lord G.o.d, shall say unto you, even Jesus Christ your Redeemer; the light and the life of the world; a light which s.h.i.+neth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; who so loved the world that he gave his own life, that as many as would believe might become the sons of G.o.d: wherefore you are my son."--Sec. x.x.xiv, 1-3, pp. 153-4.

"Listen to the voice of the Lord your G.o.d, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one eternal round, the same to-day as yesterday, and forever. I am Jesus Christ, the Son of G.o.d, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of G.o.d, even one in me as I am in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one."--Sec. x.x.xv, 1, 2, p. 155.

"Thus saith the Lord your G.o.d, even Jesus Christ, the great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made: the same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes: I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me: I am the same which have taken the Zion of Enoch into mine own bosom; and verily. I say, even as many as have believed in my name, for I am Christ, and in mine own name, by the virtue of the blood which I have spilt, have I pleaded before the Father for them; but behold, the residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness until the judgment of the great day; which shall come at the end of the earth."--Sec. x.x.xviii, 1--5, pp. 159, 160.

"Hearken and listen to the voice of him who is from all eternity to all eternity, the great I AM, even Jesus Christ, the light and the life of the world; a light which s.h.i.+neth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not: the same which came in the meridian of time unto my own, and my own received me not."--Sec. x.x.xix, 1-3, p. 164.

Listen to him who is the Advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him, saying, Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed--the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified; wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life."--Sec. xlv, 3-5, p. 183.

"To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of G.o.d, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world; to others it is given to believe on their words, that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful."--Sec. xlvi, 13, 14, p.

192.

"Hear O ye heavens, and give ear O earth, and rejoice ye inhabitants thereof, for the Lord is G.o.d, and beside him there is no Savior: Great is his wisdom, and marvellous are his ways, and the extent of his doings none can find out; his purposes fail not, neither are there any who can stay his hand; from eternity to eternity he is the same, and his years never fail."--Sec. lxxvi, 1-4, p. 265.

"By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of G.o.d--even those things which were from the beginning before the world was, which were ordained of the Father, through his Only Begotten Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, even from the beginning, of whom we bear record, and the record which we bear is the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, who is the Son, whom we saw and with whom we conversed in heavenly vision."--Sec. lxxvi, 12-14, p.

266.

"And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened, and the glory of the Lord shone round about; and we beheld the glory of the Son, on the right hand of the Father, and received of his fulness; and saw the holy angels and they who are sanctified before his throne, wors.h.i.+ping G.o.d, and the Lamb, who wors.h.i.+p him for ever and ever. And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony last of all, which we give of him, that he lives; for we saw him, even on the right hand of G.o.d, and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father--that by him and through him, and of him the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto G.o.d."--Sec. lxxvi, 19-24, p. 266, 267.

"That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him, who glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands, except those sons of perdition, who deny the Son after the Father has revealed him."--Sec. lxxvi, 41-43, p. 268-9.

"These are they whose names are written in heaven, where G.o.d and Christ are the judge of all. These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his own blood."--Sec. lxxvi, 68, 69, p. 271.

"Verily, thus saith the Lord, it shall come to pa.s.s that every soul who forsaketh their sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am, and that I am the true light that lighteth every man that cometh into the world; and that I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one: the Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men. I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest; and John saw and bore record of the fulness of my glory, and the fulness of John's record is hereafter to be revealed. * * * And I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace: and he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness; and thus he was called the Son of G.o.d, because he received not of the fulness at the first. And I, John, bear record, and lo, the heavens were opened, and the Holy Ghost descended upon him in the form of a dove, and sat upon him, and there came a voice out of heaven saying, This is my beloved Son. And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father; and he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him."--Sec. xciii, 1-6, 12-17, pp. 328-9.

"But, behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only Begotten."--Sec. xxix, 46, p. 147.

"Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning, and G.o.d having redeemed man from the fall, men became again in their infant state, innocent before G.o.d." Sec. xciii, 38, p. 331.

"And then shall the Lord set his foot upon this mount, and it shall cleave in twain, and the earth shall tremble and reel to and fro, and the heavens also shall shake, and the Lord shall utter his voice, and all the ends of the earth shall hear it; and the nations of the earth shall mourn, and they that have laughed shall see their folly, and calamity shall cover the mocker, and the scorner shall be consumed, and they that have watched for iniquity shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. And then shall the Jews look upon me and say, What are these wounds in thine hands and in thy feet? Then shall they know that I am the Lord; for I will say unto them, These wounds are the wounds with which I was wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that was crucified. I am the Son of G.o.d. And then shall they weep because of their iniquities; then shall they lament because they persecuted their King. And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection; and it shall be tolerable for them; and Satan shall be bound that he shall have no place in the hearts of the children of men."--Sec. xlv, 48-55, p. 187-8.

From a discourse by President Brigham Young, August 8, 1852:

"Christ is the Author of this Gospel, of this earth, of men and women, of all the posterity of Adam and Eve, and of every living creature that lives upon the face of the earth, that flies in the heavens, that swims in the waters, or dwells in the field. Christ is the Author of salvation to all this creation, to all things pertaining to this terrestrial globe we occupy."

CHAPTER VII.

Introduction to the Historical Portion of this Treatise--The Dealings of G.o.d with Adam, Cain and Abel--The Inst.i.tution of Sacrifice--The Symbolism of this Rite--The Words of the Angel to Adam--Lucifer--His Rebellion in Heaven--His Conflict with Michael for the Body of Moses--He tempts Christ--He is cast into a Lake of Fire and Brimstone.

Having thus gathered in one numerous testimonies from the writings of the ancient inspired servants of G.o.d who dwelt on either hemisphere, and joined therewith extracts from the revelations of the present dispensation, with regard to the fore-ordination, mission, lifework and death of the Only Begotten Son, we shall now proceed to trace, from the sacred volumes, the revelation of our Savior, and the prophecy of his advent from the earliest ages of recorded history, until He fulfilled in Himself all, even all that, as offering, sacrifice, sacrament, vision or prophetic word, had foreshadowed His appearing, or typified the mystery of His all-atoning blood.

We shall commence this portion of our subject by showing that sacrifices have been offered from the very earliest times, and that when performed under divine instruction, they prefigured and typified the sacrifice of the Son of G.o.d, and that it was with this view these sacrifices were offered up.

It is recorded in the fourth chapter of the Book of Genesis that,

"Adam knew Eve, his wife; and she conceived, and bare Cain, and said, I have gotten a man from the Lord. And she again bare his brother Abel: and Abel was a keeper of sheep, but Cain was a tiller of the ground. And in process of time it came to pa.s.s, that Cain brought of the fruit of 'the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought of the firstings of his flock, and of the fat thereof. And the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering: but unto Cain, and to his offering, he had not respect."--Genesis, iv, 1-5.

As these sayings found in King James' translation of the Bible are very limited, and somewhat obscure, we will here refer, as a starting point on this subject, to the account given of these events in the Pearl of Great Price, which is a selection from the revelations, translations and narrations of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, Seer and Revelator of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For in that translation it is stated that Adam, previous to these acts of Abel and Cain, offered up a sacrifice by the direct command of G.o.d. It is there written that the Lord gave unto Adam and Eve "commandments, that they should wors.h.i.+p the Lord their G.o.d; and should offer the firstlings of their flocks for an offering unto the Lord. And Adam was obedient unto the commandments of the Lord. And after many days, an angel of the Lord appeared unto Adam, saying, Why dost thou offer sacrifices unto the Lord? And Adam said unto him, I know not, save the Lord commanded me. And then the angel spake, saying, This thing is a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth; wherefore thou shalt do all that thou doest in the name of the Son. And thou shalt repent, and call upon G.o.d, in the name of the Son, for evermore." We are further informed that "Adam and Eve blessed the name of G.o.d; and they made all things known unto their sons and their daughters."

From the above it would seem that Adam, until instructed by the angel, did not know the reasons for the offering up of sacrifices, nor the object that the Lord had in view in requiring this offering at his hands; for, being asked by the angel why he performed this rite, he said, "I know not, save the Lord commanded me;" and the object of the visit of this holy being to Adam evidently was to show him why he was called to offer a sacrifice to the Lord, as, on Adam expressing his ignorance of the intent of this offering, the angel stated very explicitly that this thing was "a similitude of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father." We have here given a reason why Adam offered up this sacrifice. We may hereafter explain why it was necessary that the sacrifice of the Son of G.o.d should be made.

These sacrifices, which were similitudes of the sacrifice of the Only Begotten, were continued from that time until, as is stated in the Scriptures, Jesus came to offer "his own body once for all."--Heb., x, 10.

We will now return to the sacrifices offered by Cain and Abel, and give the statement in relation thereto contained in the Pearl of Great Price. It is as follows:

"And Cain loved Satan more than G.o.d. And Satan commanded him, saying, Make an offering unto the Lord. And in process of time it came to pa.s.s, that Cain brought of the fruits of the ground an offering unto the Lord. And Abel, he also brought, of the firstlings of his flock, and of the fat thereof; and the Lord had respect unto Abel, and to his offering; but unto Cain, and to his offering, He had not respect. Now Satan knew this, and it pleased him. And Cain was very wroth and his countenance fell. And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? Why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted, and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door, and Satan desireth to have thee, and except thou shalt hearken unto my commandments, I will deliver thee up, and it shall be unto thee according to his desire; and thou shalt rule over him, for from this time forth thou shalt be the father of his lies. Thou shalt be called Perdition, for thou wast also before the world, and it shall be said in time to come, that these abominations were had from Cain, for he rejected the greater counsel, which was had from G.o.d; and this is a cursing which I will put upon thee, except thou repent. And Cain was wroth, and listened not any more to the voice of the Lord, neither to Abel his brother, who walked in holiness before the Lord."

From the above it would appear that Satan, or Lucifer, was "also before the world," and that the term "also" refers to another personage, and that personage was the Messiah, the Christ, the Well Beloved Son, who, we are told, was the Lamb slain from before the foundation of the world; and it is obvious that Lucifer, who is elsewhere called the Son of the Morning, had an important role to play upon the earth as well as the Messiah, and that he occupied a very prominent position before the world was, and still occupies that position in opposition to his Heavenly Father, to the Son of G.o.d, and to the interests of humanity; which opposition will continue, we are informed, until he shall not only be bound, but cast into the bottomless pit; as stated by the Apostle John in the Book of Revelations:

"And I saw an angel come down from heaven, having the key of the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years, and cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal upon him, that he should deceive the nations no more, till the thousand years should be fulfilled; and after that he must be loosed a little season."--Rev., xx, 1-3.

And a little further on we read that after the thousand years have pa.s.sed, "Satan shall be loosed out of his prison," and shall go out to deceive the nations and gather them to battle against the Saints, when fire from heaven will devour them.

"And the devil that deceived them was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are, and shall be tormented day and night for ever and ever."--Rev., xx, 10.

The operations of Satan in opposition to the designs and purposes of G.o.d are frequently noticed in Holy Writ. Reference has already been made to his control over Cain and the results thereof, and unfortunately for them, Cain was not the only one in that early age of the world's history over whom Satan gained the mastery. For he went abroad amongst the inhabitants of the earth, saying, "I am also a son of G.o.d; * * * and they loved Satan more than G.o.d. And men began, from that time forth, to be carnal, sensual, and devilish." And so they continued increasing in wickedness, until "all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth," and the waters of the flood had to accomplish the work which the preaching of Noah could not effect.

In later years we hear of Satan contending with the archangel, Michael, for the body of Moses. Jude writes: "Yet Michael, the archangel, when contending with the devil, he disputed about the body of Moses, durst not bring against him a railing accusation, but said, The Lord rebuke thee."

This is again exhibited in the part he took in tempting the Savior, after His baptism and recognition by His Heavenly Father. Of this event it is written:

"Then was Jesus led up of the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted of the devil. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, he was afterward an hungered. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of G.o.d, command that these stones be made bread.

But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of G.o.d. Then the devil taketh him up into the holy city, and setteth him on a pinnacle of the temple. And saith unto him, If thou be the Son of G.o.d, cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy G.o.d. Again, the devil taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showeth him all the kingdoms of the world, and the glory of them; and saith unto him, All these things will I give thee if thou wilt fall down and wors.h.i.+p me. Then saith Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt wors.h.i.+p the Lord thy G.o.d, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him; and behold, angels came and ministered unto him."--Matt., iv, 1-11.

Or to give the words of the inspired translation: "Then Jesus was led up of the Spirit into the wilderness, to be with G.o.d. And when he had fasted forty days and forty nights, and had communed with G.o.d, he was afterwards an hungered, and was left to be tempted of the devil. And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of G.o.d, command that these stones be made bread. But Jesus answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of G.o.d."

"Then Jesus was taken up into the holy city, and the Spirit setteth him on the pinnacle of the temple. Then the devil came unto him and said, If thou be the Son of G.o.d, cast thyself down, for it is written, He shall give his angels charge concerning thee, and in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest at any time thou dash thy foot against a stone. Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy G.o.d."

"And again, Jesus was in the Spirit, and it taketh him up into an exceeding high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and the glory of them. And the devil came unto him again, and said, All these things will I give unto thee, if thou wilt fall down and wors.h.i.+p me. Then said Jesus unto him, Get thee hence, Satan; for it is written, Thou shalt wors.h.i.+p the Lord thy G.o.d, and him only shalt thou serve. Then the devil leaveth him."

Again, John in the Revelations, when referring to the latter days, exclaims, "Wo to the inhabitants of the earth, and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, because he knoweth he hath but a short time." [Rev., xii, 12.] And by and by the same writer tells us, in a pa.s.sage already quoted, that Satan's time is finished, and he is bound and cast into the bottomless pit.

CHAPTER VIII.

Seth--His Sacrifice Accepted--Rebellion in the Heavens--The Gathering of the Patriarchs in the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman-- Sacrifices Offered There.