The Restoration of the GospelWidtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Religion
The Restoration of the Gospel
Widtsoe, Osborne J. P.
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
It appears from the doctrine of this revelation that all God's children
will ultimately be saved, except the sons of perdition. Fortunately it
is not easy to become a son of perdition. To become a son of perdition,
one must deny the fulness of the light of the everlasting Gospel after
having experienced it; one must defy the power of God after having
known it and partaken of it; one must deny the Holy Spirit after having
received it; one must consent to the crucifixion of the only Begotten
Son of the Father, and to the putting of Him to open shame. On such a
one only shall the second death have power. "For all the rest shall
be brought forth by the resurrection of the dead, through the triumph
and the glory of the Lamb, who was slain, who was in the bosom of the
Father, before the worlds were made."[G]
[Footnote G: Doc. and Cov. 76:39.]
However, "all the rest" shall not come forth to equal glory. As
there are three degrees of brilliancy in the heavens, represented
figuratively by the sun, the moon, and the stars, so there are three
degrees of glory in the future life; and as the stars in heaven differ
in magnitude, so do the degrees of exaltation within the glories differ
the one from the other. "In my Father's house," said Jesus, "are
many mansions." Each of the children of God will be assigned in the
future life to the mansion for which he has qualified. In other words,
men will be judged by the deeds done while in the body, and will be
rewarded according to their works.
Thus, those only will attain the celestial glory who have been faithful
in all things. They have kept the commandments of God, and have been
sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise. They are the Church of the First
Born; they are priests and kings who receive of the fulness of His
glory. "They are Gods, even the sons of God" and "shall dwell in the
presence of God and His Christ for ever and ever."
The terrestrial world, however, consists of those who have not been
valiant in the testimony of Jesus, as have those of the celestial. They
are those who died without law, "who received not the testimony of
Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it." They are honorable men
of the earth, who could not see the light for the craftiness of men.
They are men who were not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; therefore,
they could not obtain the crown over the kingdom of God. These receive
the presence of the Son, but do not receive the fulness of the Father.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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