Before man can attain unto the
glory and power here named, he must attain unto a fulness of wisdom,
knowledge, and power; much of this can only be obtained by experience. Man
cannot know the sweet without the bitter, the good without the evil. The Lord
said, ''man is become like unto one of us to know good and evil.'' It is said
of the Saviour, " that he is able to succour those who come unto God
through him, because He had been tempted in all things like unto them,"
and also, " that he was perfected through suffering."
It is God who communicates these
blessings and powers. He has laid down laws by conformity to which they can be
obtained. As He is the source from whence they are derived, it must be evident
that they cannot be obtained otherwise than by obedience to the laws laid down.
Christ had to obey and enter into these privileges by the door; hear what he
said to John, " Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfill
all righteousness." He received not a fulness at first but by obedience
attained unto that power, and the saints by obedience attain unto the like
power; for John says,—" to as many as believed on him he gave power to
become Son's of God." Knowledge is power. Man's advancement to this sphere
is in proportion to his application of the knowledge given, and the knowledge
given is in proportion to man's obedience, the ultimate end of which is the
possession of power and authority to rule. Now to the exercise of these powers:
there must be subjects and these subjects must have locality wherein to dwell,
for to suppose the first to exist without the latter is absurd.
These subjects are those given to
them by the Lord. Abraham will stand at the head of his posterity, because by
obedience he had them sealed unto him as an everlasting inheritance. Moses
stands at the head of the dispensation given unto him. Joseph will stand at the
head of this dispensation. The Saviour being the first that attained unto his exaltation;
He is raised by the power of the Father, and receiveth power to raise others,
and thus he attains unto the power and title given unto him by the Prophet—that
He was to be the ^' everlasting Father." Such as obey the laws the Lord
hath laid down are exalted, and receive power to exalt others. It is on account
of this power to exalt others that the Lord is designated a Saviour; the Lord,
through Isaiah, says, "A just God and a Saviour besides me there is
none." The Son having obeyed the Father in all things has the like power
committed unto him. He said,—"As the Father hath life in himself so hath
he given the Son to have life in himself;" in another place He
saith,—"As the Father raiseth up the dead and quickneth, even so the Son
quickneth Whom He will ;" in Revelation he saith,—"He that overcometh
I will give to sit in my throne, even as I also overcame and am set down with
my Father in His throne." It is because it is through this power given
unto Him by the Father, that as many of the children of Adam as are exalted
obtain thereunto, that He is called the Saviour of men.
The Prophet calls those Saviours
who shall attain unto the blessings of the last days ; He says,—" Saviours
shall come up on Mount Zion. The way in which they become Saviours, is by
obeying the word, entering into the Temple and observing those ordinances for
the dead which they cannot observe themselves. The Apostles in the Corinthians
has given some little light on this subject in the passage —" Else what
shall they do who are baptized for the dead." That something can be done
for the dead is evident from the fact that Christ went to preach to them that
were in prison. Those who thus act in behalf of the dead, will stand in a like
position to them as Abraham to his posterity. This power will be given unto
them through the Prophet Joseph, he having received the same through Christ,
with whom they shall reign as kings and priests. He (Christ) being King of
Kings and Lord of Lords. Thus they will attain to be kings of righteousness. He
being at their head; but they are to obtain unto a fulness, their Father's name
(God) is to be written on their foreheads; they must then have a sphere in
which to move as Gods, otherwise their glory would be to them no glory at all;
to possess capacities and powers to organize and govern without spheres in
which these may be exercised, in place of glory and happiness, it would be
ignomy and misery. But that they are to have a sphere in which their capacities
and powers can be fully excercised is evident from the parable read; there we
find that to one was given ten cites, to another live, to every man according
to his fidelity; also from the words of Christ,—"And I appoint unto you a
kingdom;" again in Revelations,—"I will give him the morning
star."
To be Gods implies the possession
of not only of a fulness of wisdom and knowledge but also power, power to
create or organize; there must also be matter to be organized, and there must
be a continued increase of systems, organized by such as attain unto this power
and glory; each stands at the head of the systems over which they are respectively
placed, and are the head or father’s of those who inhabit them, just as Father
Adam is the head of the human family. (“A
Discourse. Delivered by Elder John Jones, in the Old Assembly Room, King
Street, on Sunday Morning, August 20th,” The Zion’s Watchman 1, nos.
18-19 [September 16, 1854]: 140-41)
