Read Ebook: Outlines of Mormon Philosophy Or the Answers Given by the Gospel as Revealed Through the Prophet Joseph Smith to the Questions of Life by Wilson Lycurgus A Lycurgus Arnold

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"God himself, finding he was in the midst of spirits and glory, because he was more intelligent, saw proper to institute laws whereby the rest could have a privilege to advance like himself. The relationship we have with God places us in a situation to advance in knowledge. He has power to institute laws to instruct the weaker intelligences, that they may be exalted with himself, so that they might have one glory upon another, and all that knowledge, power, glory and intelligence which is requisite in order to save them in the world of spirits."

No wonder that, in the ecstasy of the moment, he exclaimed:

Here, then, is the inception of the Gospel; the course of study under which we are now working; the plan of salvation, by virtue of which all the creations of God, beginning with Kolob, were made; instituted in the beginning by our Father, to which Jesus the Christ acceded in the grand council in heaven before this earth was made.

Whether or not, in the vast eternities preceding the creation of Kolob, other plans had been tried and found wanting, we are not told; but the fact that, as the Prophet Joseph tells us, God "worked out His Kingdom with fear and trembling," would indicate that He had seen many failures.

It should be noted here, that the ruling sentiment in the inception of the Gospel was the most unselfish love of the Great God for His fellow-creatures. Not satisfied with His own power, glory and intelligence, He must, by force of His affection for those of lesser estate, formulate a plan by which they might arrive at the same station as Himself. It will not, therefore, be surprising to find that Love occupies a high place among the virtues cultivated by the Gospel.

PURPOSE OF THE GOSPEL.

The instructor in school or college, before commencing his work, carefully lays out his courses of study with a definite purpose in view for each course, and is able at the outset to give not only an outline of the work to be done, but the purpose of each course, so that he can tell the applicant for instruction which course will fit him, for example, for practice as a civil engineer. And this line of procedure is of great importance.

Under such an arrangement, the student at every stage of his advancement, will have in mind the purpose of his work, and whatever the obstacles in his path may be, will be impelled to press on with confidence in the wisdom of each step, and an assurance that success will finally crown his best endeavors.

It is, therefore, necessary for us to inquire the purpose for which the Gospel was instituted; and, aside from the inference that may be drawn from what has already been said on the inception of the Gospel, the Lord has given us a direct statement of His designs. After giving an account of a vision in which Moses "beheld the earth and all the inhabitants thereof," the record proceeds:

"And it came to pass that Moses called upon God, saying, Tell me, I pray thee, why these things are so, and by what thou madest them?

"And, behold, the glory of God was upon Moses, so that Moses stood in the presence of God, and he talked with him face to face; and the Lord God said unto Moses, For mine own purpose have I made these things. Here is wisdom, and it remaineth in me. And by the word of my power have I created them, which is my Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth. And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many. But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For, behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many also which now stand, and numberless are they, unto man, but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

"And it came to pass, that Moses spake unto the Lord, saying, Be merciful unto thy servant, O God, and tell me concerning this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, and also the heavens, and then thy servant will be content.

"And the Lord God spake unto Moses, saying, The heavens, they are many, and they cannot be numbered unto man, but they are numbered unto me, for they are mine, and as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof, even so shall others come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.

"For this is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

We have here, then, a plain statement of the purpose of the Lord in formulating the Gospel, and we may now inquire as to the course of procedure to be followed to accomplish the object in view.

PLAN OF THE GOSPEL.

We may use still further the comparison of instructor and pupil. The plan of the work he is to pursue is laid before the student at the outset. All the steps of his progress are pointed out to him from the opening of his course until his graduation. In outline he can trace his work throughout, and can tell at any stage of his advancement how far he has come, and what yet remains to be done before he can claim his diploma.

Just so the Lord has outlined the course of procedure under the Gospel plan, and, as with the student, so we may know how far we have advanced.

Following is a remarkable disclosure in which we have the plan outlined:

"And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate, shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate, shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever."

When the time had arrived for the council in heaven to name a Savior, according to the plan of the Father, to come to the earth in the meridian of time and make possible the resurrection from the dead, there was a rebellion, the account of which gives us an indication of the dividing point in our progress between the first and second estates. It reads as follows:

"And the Lord said, Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first. And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate, and at that day, many followed after him."

Additional information as to the proportion of that host of spirits who "followed after him," is given in the Doctrine and Covenants:

"For, behold, the devil was before Adam, for he rebelled against me, saying, Give me thine honor, which is my power: and also a third part of the hosts of heaven turned he away from me because of their agency; and they were thrust down, and thus came the devil and his angels."

We learn, therefore:

That, according to the plan of the Gospel, there are two estates, with varying glories attached to each.

That one-third of the host of heaven into the midst of whom the Lord came down in the beginning, had not made sufficient progress when the time came for peopling this earth, to keep their first estate, and

That the two-thirds who remained faithful up to that time, were introduced to the next step of advancement by being permitted to take bodies upon this earth, and are, accordingly, on the way to the keeping of the second estate, to which is attached the glory of eternal lives.

Here, then, with an illustration in the case of this earth, is the outline plan of the Gospel.

COVENANTS OF THE GOSPEL.

Pursuing the comparison of instructor and student still further, we find that their relations are governed by an implied contract from beginning to end. The student who sets out to take a course of instruction in civil engineering, for instance, agrees, on his part, to follow the directions of the instructor throughout the term of years prescribed to complete the work. On the part of the instructor an agreement is made that if the student will so follow the course laid out, for the stated number of years, he shall receive a diploma as a civil engineer.

It is proper, therefore, for us to make an inquiry as to the agreement, if any, entered into in the beginning between the Great Formulator of this course of study we are pursuing, and the world of mankind.

It is interesting to note here that the late President Lorenzo Snow looked upon the passage about to be quoted, "I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen," as going the farthest back of any of the revelations we have, direct from the Almighty.

We may here gather from the following quotation, the covenant entered into by the spirits, "in the beginning:"

"I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen.

"Now, the lord had shewn unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones; and God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them, thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

"And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell; and we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them."

The spirits, therefore, after this plan of the Gospel had been presented to and accepted by them, had agreed to "do all things whatsoever the Lord their God should command them." In accord herewith is the statement of President Joseph F. Smith that not order, but obedience, is the first law of heaven.

As to the covenant made by the Lord in His part of the contract, we read in the Doctrine and Covenants:

"And also all they who receive this Priesthood receiveth me, saith the Lord; for he that receiveth my servants receiveth me; and he that receiveth me receiveth my Father; and he that receiveth my Father, receiveth my Father's Kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him; and this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the Priesthood. Therefore, all those who receive the Priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my Father, which he cannot break."

As it is designed in the Gospel plan for the redemption of the dead, that all men who have arrived at years of accountability and who during their life time here were subject to law, shall have the Priesthood conferred upon them, either in person or by proxy, it will be seen how wide the application of this covenant will extend.

The great covenants pertaining to the Gospel are, accordingly; on the part of the spirits, obedience to whatever law is given them; on the part of the Lord, to those who are the most faithful, a fullness of His glory. But, as will be seen hereafter, provision is made for all, even for the least of His creatures.

PERPETUITY OF THE GOSPEL.

Certainly a system of such grandeur and comprehensiveness as the Gospel must have within itself the seeds of perpetuity. No catastrophe the mind of man can contemplate would compare with that which would result if all this beautiful fabric should at some time, by any mischance, go to pieces. But the elements not only of continuity but of continuous growth, are in the Gospel, and the wisdom of God shall not be destroyed.

The spirits, whether they place themselves under the course of instruction provided for in the Gospel or not, are eternal, as are, also, the elements with which, under its plan, they become united; and by following the thought behind the revelations here to be quoted, we may trace therein the design of the Maker for the stability of His work.

In relation to the union of spirit and element, we read in the Doctrine and Covenants:

"For man is spirit. The elements are eternal, and spirit and element, inseparably connected, receiveth a fullness of joy; and, when separated, man cannot receive a fullness of joy."

Here, without doubt, it may be noted in passing, we have one of the great discoveries by which God came to be God.

As to the continuity of the union between spirit and matter, we quote the words of the Prophet Amulek, recorded in the Book of Mormon:

Our next step will be a consideration of the Priesthood, which is designed by the Gospel plan to form a never-ending bond of union between those who arrive at their exaltation under its provisions.

We read in the Book of Mormon:

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