Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"Smith, Joseph Fielding
History
Essentials in Church History: A History of the Church from the Birth of Joseph Smith to the Present Time (1922), with Introductory Chapters on the Antiquity of the Gospel and the "Falling Away"
Smith, Joseph Fielding
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints -- History
After this doctrine was revealed the Lord granted the Saints the
privilege of performing the ordinance of baptism for the dead in the
Mississippi River, until such time as a font could be prepared in the
basement of the temple. When a temporary font was prepared, and long
before the temple was completed, this privilege of baptizing for the
dead in any other place than the temple was discontinued by commandment
of the Lord. So important was this work in behalf of the salvation of
the worthy dead, that the Lord declared that the living could not be
made perfect without them, and, when the opportunity presented itself,
should the members of the Church fail to perform the ordinance for
their dead, the Lord said he would reject them, for the dead were to be
saved by the same principles which would save the living.
Things Hid from the Foundation of the World
Not only was the ordinance of baptism for the dead to be performed in
the temple, but the Lord promised to reveal many things "which have
been kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that
pertain to the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times." Here the keys of
the Holy Priesthood were to be received, for such were ordained to be
obtained in temples that the Saints may receive honor and glory, both
the living and, by proxy, the dead, even those blessings by which they
should be crowned with honor, immortality and eternal life.
The Nauvoo House
Another house was also to be built in Nauvoo. This was the Nauvoo
House, a place for the boarding of strangers. Joseph Smith, Sidney
Rigdon, Hyrum Smith, and many others were called upon to "pay
stock" for themselves and their seed after them "from generation to
generation," in this house. It was to be a place where the "weary
traveler may find health and safety while he shall contemplate the word
of the Lord; and the corner stone [stake] I have appointed for Zion,"
said the Lord. Those who took stock were not to pay less than fifty
dollars, and not more than fifteen thousand dollars for any one man.
The Calling of Hyrum Smith
Another important commandment in this revelation was the appointment
of Hyrum Smith, to act as patriarch in the office which had been held
by his father, and also his ordination to be a "prophet, seer and
revelator" unto the Church, as well as Joseph Smith. The Lord had
pointed out several years before, when Joseph Smith, Sen., was called
to be the patriarch of the Church, that this office was his by right of
lineage, and descended from father to son, and was the right based on
faithfulness of the first born. At the time of Hyrum Smith's call, he
was serving as second counselor in the First Presidency, a place he was
called to occupy after the transgression of Frederick G. Williams. The
revelation relating to this appointment reads as follows:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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