Literal Resurrection

Few things in this world of ideas and men have been so thoroughly accepted and so implicitly believed as was the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ by his disciples. Their belief in the actual resurrection of Jesus Christ led his disciples, rather than to deny him, to give up their very lives. Men do not give up their lives for an idea or concept unless they know in their hearts that the idea is true and worth such sacrifice. The disciples believed and were convinced of the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. They understood this resurrection to be a reuniting of body and spirit to form an eternal soul, never again to be separated by death.

A question might well be asked: "What happened to the Spirit of Jesus Christ during the period when his dead body lay in the tomb awaiting its resurrection?" Though his body was confined to the tomb, his Spirit was free. What did Jesus do from Friday afternoon until Sunday morning when the two Marys came to the tomb and found it empty?

The great Apostle Peter, who later became the leader and spokesman for the Church, gave a very clear statement of what happened as he wrote:

"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 (that is, in the spirit) 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 (which means during the days of Noah) few, that is, eight souls were saved by water (meaning by baptism)"  1 Pet. 3:18-20

Gospel in Spirit World

Tradition tells us that Noah preached the gospel of repentance and salvation for 120 years among his people  Moses 8:17 but those wicked ones would not listen to his warning. In the mercy of God, following the death of Jesus Christ, those spirits who had been confined because of their wickedness on earth were given a chance to hear and accept the gospel in the spirit world. It is doubtful that Noah's preaching could have been heard by all the multitude of people then living on the earth. God does love his children and desires that all will accept his plan of salvation so they might be numbered among his children and live as resurrected beings in his presence.

Jesus, therefore, preached to these and other spirits in the spirit world and organized the work of the ministry there. The scriptures are clear on this point that the promise given to David and cited by Luke in Acts 1:17 was literally fulfilled  Acts 1:17 We might well ask: "Why?" Why was it necessary for Jesus to give the spirits in prison a chance to accept the gospel of salvation? Peter answers the question this way:

"That they might be judged"

"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, but live according to God in the spirit"  1 Pet. 4:6

Men will be judged by what they do in this life. We will be rewarded for the good we do on this earth, and we must pay dearly for the sins we commit. There is altogether too much disobedience and sin in the world. Sin is a weakness of the flesh. This weakness to some is an excuse to justify their sins, but to the strong it is a challenge to overcome this weakness of the flesh. This is possible by exercising the faith inherent in all men to conquer temptation and live as God intended we should.

Repentance and Covenants

Jesus invited all men everywhere to change from carnal thoughts and actions to a life of righteousness. We call this change of thought and action "repentance." This repentance must make such a mighty change in our hearts that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually. Such faith and repentance will lead us to make a formal covenant with God to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, our Redeemer, our Lord, and our Father. This covenant we call baptism and is so necessary that Jesus told his disciples:

". . . Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.

"He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not (and therefore is not baptized) shall be damned"  Mark 16:15-16

The gospel of Jesus Christ has been in the world from the time of Adam. It was preached and taught and practiced by the patriarchs and the prophets. Baptism in water was also practiced as a token of this covenant from earliest times. However you and I realize that there are many in this world who lived and died without ever having an opportunity to hear the gospel of Jesus Christ. We know that there are many men and women who die unbaptized, because some teacher, missionary, or leader who should have taught them was so poorly trained, so lacking in faith and so unprepared to bear personal witness of Jesus Christ that the hearer never understood the message as he should have done. Should such people be damned forever for lack of proper instruction, because of an accident of birth, or because of the inadequacies of others? I say: "No!" God is a God of justice and love and mercy. Every man is entitled to a just chance to know and accept Jesus Christ or to reject him if he feels the price of acceptance is too high.

Opportunity to Covenant

Thus either in this life or in the spirit world each man and woman who has lived upon this earth is given an opportunity to covenant with God through baptism to accept Jesus Christ as Lord and Father. However, just as Jesus taught that there is no marrying in heaven  Matt. 22:30 so there can be no baptism in heaven. Both baptism and marriage are earthly ordinances which must be performed here. Jesus gave Peter and the other Apostles power to seal on earth with the promise that this sealing would then be recognized in heaven  Matt. 16:19 This same power to seal on earth and in heaven has been given us through the laying on of hands by those in authority. Thus baptisms and marriages on earth, sealed by men given such divine authority, are recognized in heaven as valid and are accepted there.

Ordinances Performed Vicariously

For those who are deceased, such ordinances must be performed by the living for and in behalf of those who are dead. This vicarious work of the redemption of others was cited by Paul as another justification for belief in the literal resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Paul explained:

"Else what shall they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are they then baptized for the dead?"  1 Cor. 15:29

The reasoning is clear. All men can escape damnation by making such covenants with God to accept Jesus Christ with all that action requires of us by way of sacrifice and devotion. That all would not achieve the same degree of exaltation was made very clear by Paul as he taught of the various heavens prepared for man in accordance with the diligence man shows in earning such glory. Even as one star differs from another in brightness  1 Cor. 15:40-42 so shall one man's heaven differ from another's according to the service he renders. But the chance to receive the highest glory which Paul typified by the brightness of the sun must be given to every man and every woman.

Genealogy a Means

People not fully acquainted with this concept cannot understand the concern of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints with genealogy. Our expenditure of time, money, and effort in gathering and organizing the names and vital statistics of our ancestors is done to identify them properly. We only gather and correlate these genealogies for one purpose, so that we can do the necessary ordinance work for our kindred dead in the temples of God erected for that purpose. If our ancestors and kinfolk have the desire to accept the gospel of Jesus Christ even beyond the grave, they are free to accept these redeeming ordinances made in their behalf. There is neither force nor compulsion in the gospel of Jesus Christ, only love, mercy, and opportunity.

Christ, an Example of Vicarious Service

The greatness of Jesus Christ was his selfless sacrifice to assist us who are powerless to assist ourselves. By his sacrifice, he opened to us the door to life everlasting and made it possible for us to resurrect our bodies and so regain the presence of Almighty God, provided, of course, that we live righteous lives to merit this privilege. What Jesus did was done as an example to show us how we too could serve others through our own work and sacrifice. In our vicarious work for the salvation of our dead we do follow our Lord and Savior and become ourselves saviors for those who cannot save themselves. It is a beautiful principle and one which helps to establish this Church as the true Church of Jesus Christ. I know of no other church which understands this principle and which practices those early Christian ordinances taught in the Bible. It did require revelation from God, however, to show us the logic of these practices. With this key of knowledge we presently wonder why those passages which appear so clear to us now should have been so long covered in darkness.

A Work of Love

This work is a work of love and sacrifice and illustrates the finest of Christian virtues in serving others where no thanks is either possible or expected in this earthly life. We invite all men everywhere to join us in this Church as we strive toward Christian perfection. In serving others we save ourselves, for we cannot be saved or be happy without our kindred dead. This is a reward which Jesus promised as he taught:

". . . Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me"  Matt. 25:40

My brothers and sisters and my friends who are watching and listening to this program on the air, I bear you my solemn witness that God lives, that Jesus Christ is his Son who rose from the dead and heads this Church today. I bear my witness to you in love that these same principles of salvation apply not only to us, but to those who are dead, which testimony I bear in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.