All ye inhabitants of the world, and dwellers on the earth, See Ye, when He lifteth up an Ensign on the Mountains.-Isaiah xvIII, 3.

VOL. I.

APRIL, 1853.

No. 4.

(Continued.)

tate, they will not be permitted to enter upon the second; and this is their torment because they are held back and are prohibited from advancing in knowledge and glory with the rest of the family who have been faithful.

36. There are two different kinds altogether turned there from; for if of knowledge: one kind is obtained they will not abide in the laws of the from reason and reflection, of which spiritual state and hold sacred the self-evident truths are the foundation; knowledge therein gained, their Father the other kind is gained by sensation will not entrust them with the knowl or experience. The ideas relating edge to be gained in the second esto the first kind are obtained by com- tate. If they keep not the first esparing truth with truth; hence they are acquired by spirits in this manner, and can be communicated to them independant of experience. The ideas of the latter kind cannot be obtained by reasoning or reflection; they can only be learned by experience. Spirits, therefore, can ad. 37. That there has been a rebel. vance to the highest degree of knowl. lion among these spirits, is evident edge in some things, while in others from the Scriptures. The Apostle they must remain in ignorance until John says, "And there appeared they are placed in circumstances to another wonder in Heaven; and belearn them by experience. Now hold a great red dragon, having seven there are many experimental truths heads and ten horns, and seven which are just as necessary to be crowns upon his heads. And his learned as truths of a different nature, tail drew the third part of the stars and without the knowledge of which of Heaven, and did cast them to the an intelligent being could never be earth." "And there was war in perfected in happiness and glory; Heaven: Michael and his angels hence it becomes necessary that these fought against the dragon; and the spirits should enter bodies of flesh and dragon fought and his angels, and bones, that they by experience may prevailed not; neither was their learn things which could not be place found any more in Heaven. learned in the spiritual state. None of these spirits are permitted to have tabernacles of flesh if they have vio. lated the laws of their first estate and

And the great dragon was cast out, that old Serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth,

66

and his angels were cast out with preceeding the one where our spirits him." (Rev. 12; 3, 4, 7, 8, 9.) were on trial, then they would have The name of the being who headed been judged on a previous world. this rebellion, was called, "Dragon," but their judgment day has not yet Serpent," "Devil," or "Satan ;" come, but will come at the end of the the place where the war commenced, earth, or at the time when the wicked was Heaven: the persons, engaged of this world are judged. If, then, with the Devil were "his angels," they are to receive a judgment in called "the stars of Heaven": the num- connection with the inhabitants of ber of Satan's army was "the third this earth, they must have formed a part of the stars of Heaven" or of portion of the same family in the "the angels," the other two thirds first estate, and did not have an origin were headed by Michael: the Devil's anterior to the family, designed for army were banished from Heaven to this earth. the earth. Some, perhaps, may 38. Having learned that there has imagine that these angels were been war in Heaven, let us next inbeings who had been redeemed from quire, at what period this war ended? some former world, and afterwards It is very plain that the war must rebelled; but if this were the case, have been raging in Heaven after they would not be evil spirits, but the earth was formed; for when the would be evil beings, having flesh Devil and his angels were cast out and bones, and consequently would of Heaven, they were banished to be unable to enter into the taberna- our earth, consequently the earth cles of human beings; but as many was formed and in existence at the of them frequently have entered into one person, it shows most clearly that they are spirits. Others, per. haps, may imagine that these fallen angels are the spirits of evil men who have died on some former world, and whose bodies have never been raised; but this conjecture would not harmonize with the plan, pursued in regard to the wicked of this creation who are all to be raised from the dead and their spirits and bodies to be reunited; neither would it harmonize with the testimony of the Apostle Jude who says, "The angels which kept not their first estate, but left their own habitation, he hath reserved in everlasting chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." (Jude, verse 6.) This passage proves that fallen angels are those who were on trial in their first estate. Angels do not receive fleshly bodies until they enter their second estate, consequently those in the first estate must be spirits. That these angels were spirits, pertaining to this creation, and not to a former one, is shown from the fact, that they are reserved "in chains under darkness unto the judgment of the great day." If they had lived in a first estate,

close of the war in Heaven. The
Devil was on the earth at the time
Adam and Eve were in the garden:
it was he that lied to Eve and de-
ceived her; hence, he is called “a liar
from the beginning" or "the father
of lies." Now whether he and his
angels had, at that early period, been
cast out of Heaven upon the earth,
is not, in the English version of the
Bible, clearly revealed. If they had
not at the period of the fall of Adam,
already received their banishment
from heaven, the Devil must, at least,
have come, by permission, to this
earth, and entered into the garden;
and if his expulsion had not, at that
time, taken place, he would, after
having accomplished his evil designs
in bringing about the fall of man,
have returned again to his armies in
Heaven to encourage them in their
unholy and malicious warfare. But
from the testimony, in the revelations
which God gave through Joseph
Smith, the prophet, we are informed
that Adam was Michael.
It is rea
sonable, therefore, to suppose, that
Michael who headed the armies in
Heaven against the Devil's forces
would continue the command until the
close of the war or until the Devil's army

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.

And then the Lord said,

were banished to the earth. To have one answered like unto the Son of left his post, and resigned his com Man, here am I, send me. And mand before the enemy was over- another answered and said, here am come, would have been only a partial victory, and the trial in the first estate would have been incomplete. Nothing short of a full discomfiture of the enemy's forces and their banishment from Heaven, would have rendered the victory complete; nothing short of this, would have entitled them to the praise of having kept their first estate. It is plain, therefore, that the war in Heaven had ended, before Michael left Heaven, and entered a body of flesh and bones under the name of Adam.

let us go down; and they went down at the beginning, and they organized and formed (that is, the Gods) the Heavens and the earth. And the earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the spirit of the Gods was 39. When did this war in Heaven brooding upon the faces of the water." commence ? All the light we have In this divine history, we are informed upon this question is contained in that the rebellion commenced at the modern revelations, and in those an- time that the heavenly host were cient revelations which have been re- counseling together, concerning the vealed anew through Joseph the Seer. formation of this earth and the peoWe quote the following from the book pling of the same. The rebellion, of Abraham: "Now the Lord had therefore, must have been raging from shown unto me, Abraham, the intel. the time of the holding of this grand ligences that were organized before council, until the foundations of the the world was; and among all these, earth were laid, and probably too there were many of the noble and for some time after; but it must have great ones; and God saw these souls been some time during the period that they were good, and he stood in between the beginning of this crea the midst of them, and he said, these tion and the completion of the same, I will make my rulers; for he stood preparatory to the reception of Miamong those that were spirits, and he chael or Adam, that Satan and his saw that they were good; and he said army were overcome and banished to unto me, Abraham, thou art one of the earth. How long the period was, them, thou wast chosen before thou intervening between the time of holdwast 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; and they who keep their first estate, shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate, shall not 40. The cause of Satan's rebel. have glory in the same kingdom with lion is more fully described in the inthose who keep their first estate; and spired translation of the book of they who keep their second estate, Genesis, as revealed by JOSEPH the shall have glory added upon their SEER. We give the following quota. heads forever and ever. And the tion: "And I, the Lord God, spake Lord said, who shall I send? And unto Moses, saying, that Satan, whom

ing the council and the beginning of this creation, is not revealed; it may have been only a very short period, or it may have been millions of years. And again, how long it was from the commencement of the creation, until Satan was cast out, is not revealed; because we do not know the length of time included in each day's work, pertaining to the creation; neither do we know on which of these days or periods he was cast out.

thou hast commanded in the name of the causes which excited the revolt. mine Only Begotten,* is the same It seems that Satan had proposed a which was from the beginning; and plan to "redeem all mankind, that one he came before me saying, behold me, soul should not be lost;" and believ. send me, I will be thy son, and willing that his plan was superior to any redeem all mankind, that one soul other suggested in the council, he was shall not be lost, and surely I will do determined to carry it into effect at it: wherefore give me thine honor all hazards; hence, he said to the But behold, my beloved Son, which Lord, "surely I will do it; wherefore was my beloved and chosen from the give me thine honor." beginning, said unto me, Father, thy 41. If Satan had been permitted will be done, and the glory be thine to carry out his plan, it would either forever. Wherefore, because that have destroyed the agency of man, so Satan rebelled against me, and sought that he could not commit sin; or it to destroy the agency of man, which would have redeemed him in his sins I, the Lord God, had given him, and and wickedness without any repent. also, that I should give unto him mine ance or reformation of life. If the own power, by the power of mine agency of man were destroyed, he Only Begotten I caused that he should would only act as he is acted upon, be cast down; and he became Satan, and consequently he would merely be yea, even the devil, the father of all a machine; and his actions would lies, to deceive and to blind men, and have neither merit or demerit, so tar to lead them captive at his will, even as he was concerned, and could as many as would not hearken unto neither be punished nor rewarded, my voice. And now the serpent was and would produce neither misery more subtle than any beast of the nor joy. Destroy the agency of man, field which J, the Lord God, had and you destroy the main-spring of made. And Satan put it into the his happiness. Again, take away the heart of the serpent, (for he had agency of man, and you deprive him drawn away many after him,) and he of his intelligence; for intelligence is sought also to beguile t.ve, for he the original force or cause of actions; knew not the mind of God: where it is a self-moving force; and all ac fore, he sought to destroy the world, tions, resulting from such a force, yea, and he said unto the woman, must necessarily be free. If. there. yea, hath God said ye shall not eat of fore, the agency of man or his free. every tree of the garden, (and he dom of action be destroyed, you desspake by the mouth of the serpent.) troy his self-moving force; and if you but of the fruit of the tree which thou deprive him of such force, you deprive beholdest in the midst of the garden, him of intelligence; therefore, agency God hath said, ye shall not eat of it, is essential to the very existence of neither shall ye taste it, lest ye die. intelligence. This truth is clearly For God doth know that in the day revealed in a revelation given to ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall JOSEPH the SEER, which reads as folbe opened, and ye shall be as Gods, lows: "All truth is independent in knowing good and evil." From the that sphere in which God has placed quotation which we have given from it, to act for itself, as all intelligence the Book of Abraham, it is shown also, otherwise there is no existence. that the council, where this rebellion Behold, here is the agency of man." first started, was held before the earth (Doc. and Cov., sec. 83, par. 5.) was made. And in this last quota. The plan proposed by the devil, while tion from Genesis, we learn some of ne was yet in his first estate or in Heaven, was to destroy the agency of man, thereby depriving him of the intelligence which God had given to him, and by this process man would be unable to do, of his own accord,

For the contest which Moses had with the devil, see a revelation which was given to Moses, previous to his writing the book of Genesis, published in "The Pearl of Great Price."

either good or evil; and Satan thought perior light of the council; having that he could thus "redeem all man devised the plan, he was determined kind, that not one soul should be lost." to carry it into effect: therefore he He did not perceive that man, re-sought to overthrow the kingdom and deemed after his plan, would be a to usurp the power thereof in his own perfect idiot, without the least glim mering of intelligence.

hands; hence, he demanded of the Lord, saying, "Give me thine honor," or as the Lord expresses himself in the above quotation, "Satan rebelled against me, and sought that I should give unto him mine own power."

42. However foolish Satan's plan may appear to us, it must have ap. peared plausible to many of his breth ren: they looked upon a theory which they supposed would redeem them all to be superior to all others. They either had not sufficient intelligence to judge of the consequences of a scheme, destroying the agency of man; or else they preferred to run the risk of the results, rather than come under a plan, founded upon the principles of justice and mercy, which would punish and reward them ac cording to their works. It inay be, that they were capable of discerning and judging righteously, every scheme that was proposed, but were careless and indifferent upon these subjects, deciding with Satan, before they had made sufficient investigation, and having taken sides, they were de termined to maintain their position.

Some, perhaps, may think we have misrepresented the intentions of the devil; for they can scarcely believe him to be so profoundly ignorant as to propose a plan which would, in its very nature, destroy the intelligence or knowledge of the human race. Such, perhaps, may argue that it is more reasonable to suppose that the devil intended to leave them to their agency, so far as doing good or evil is concerned; and that thus their intelligence would be retained; but that he designed to redeem them from the effects of their sins without any exercise of their agency in the act of repentance or reformation. Such a plan, we admit, would thwart the ends of justice, and would admit unholy and sinful beings into the kingdom of God; such beings would be redeemed in all their sins and would still be determined to pursue a sinful course. And such characters would turn a Heaven into a hell, and make themselves miserable, and also all others with whom they were as sociated. But such a plan, though it 43. It is not likely that the final destroys justice, does not destroy the decision of the contending armies agency of man. It is true, that it took place immediately. Many, no redeems him without the exercise of doubt, were unsettled in their views, his agency, dut does not deprive him unstable in their minds, and undecidof it. But the revelation says, that ed as to which force to join there Satan desired to bring about the re. may have been, for aught we know, demption of all mankind by the de. many deserters from both armies: struction of his agency; it reads thus: and there may have been a long pe "Satan rebelled against me, andriod before the division line was so sought to destroy the agency of man strictly drawn as to become unalter. which I, the Lord God, had given able. Laws, without doubt, were him, and also, that I should give unto enacted, and penalties affixed, achim mine own power." However cording to the nature of the offences wise Satan may have been, in some or crimes: those who altogether respects, this plan certainly was a turned from the Lord, and were devery foolish one. Satan's sin does termined to maintain the cause of not appear to have consisted wholly Satan, and who proceeded to the in the foolishness of the plan which utmost extremities of wickedness, he proposed before the grand council placed themselves without the reach of Heaven, but in his stubbornness of redemption: therefore, such were or unwillingness to yield to the su- prohibited from entering into a second