Though the future is most glorious to these people, the past is also bright. The hopes of the future are well grounded on the facts of the past. An ever-present theme is that of Christ"s first visit to the spirit world, when, having died on the cross, He brought life and light and immortality to the world of spirits, entering even into the prison house where the disobedient had lain for a long time, and preached the gospel to them.
And among these who gloried both in the past and in the future were Rupert and Henrik. Often they conversed on themes near to their hearts:
"It must have been a place of darkness, of sad despairing hearts, that prison house, before Christ"s visit to it," said Rupert. "There, as in a pit, dwelt those who in earth-life had rejected the truth, and who, sinking low in the vices of the world, permitted themselves to be led captive by the power of the evil one. Noah in his day preached to them, but they laughed him to scorn and continued in their evil ways. Others of the prophets in their generations had warned them, but without avail; so here were found Satan"s harvest from the fruitful fields of the earth."
"I can well imagine that long, long, night of darkness," added Henrik.
"No ray of hope pierced the gloom of their abode. The prison walls loomed around and above them, shutting out any glimpse of heaven. These had rejected the truth, which alone can make men free. They themselves had shut out the light when it would have shone in upon their vision.
They had chosen the evil, and the evil was claiming its own. Outside the prison were their fellows who had chosen to do the right, basking in the light of a clear conscience, enjoying the approval of the Lord. These faithful ones were going on to eternal perfection. How long would it take the prisoners, if they ever were released, to overtake those ahead?
Between these was a great gulf fixed, which, in the ordinary order of things, could never be lessened or bridged."
"But at last the time of mercy and deliverance came. I remember how the events of the time have been described to me. Just before the coming of the Lord, a peculiar, indescribable tremor ran through this spirit world as if one pulse beat through the universe and that pulse had been disturbed. The spirits in prison looked in awe at one another, many crouching in terror, fearful that the day of judgment had come. The vast mult.i.tude of the ignorant wondered what the "peculiar feeling" could mean. The righteous, who had been looking wistfully for some manifestation of the coming of the Lord, whispered to each other, "The Lord is dying for the sins of the world!"
"Yes; the prophets of every dispensation had labored faithfully to prepare the world of spirits among whom they lived for the coming of the Lord and Savior. There were Adam, Noah, Abraham, with those who followed them; there were Lehi, Nephi, Mosiah, and the others of their race; there were the prophets who had lived among the lost Ten tribes; these had all been valiant in earth-life, and were faithful yet in the spirit world. The burden of their message in mortality had been the coming of Christ the Redeemer, and now they still looked forward with the eye of faith to Him who should die for the sins of the world, and who should deliver them from the bondage of the grave. They understood that the body of flesh which had been given them in mortality was necessary for their full salvation. Christ would bring to pa.s.s the resurrection, so that bodies would be restored to them, not corruptible as before, but perfected, immortal and glorious, a fit tabernacle for the immortal spirit with which to go on into the eternal mansions of the Father."
"But oh, that time, brother, when the Son of G.o.d was dying on the cross!
While the earth was shrouded in darkness, and the bulk of it trembled in sympathy with the death throes of its Maker, the spirit world also received the imprint of the terrible event on Calvary as for a moment the whole spiritual creation lay in tense expectancy. The usual occupations were suspended. Speech became low and constrained. Songs ended abruptly, and laughter ceased. There were no audible sobs, neither sighing. Bird and beast were stilled, as if the end had come, and nothing more mattered. Then, in a little while, the tenseness relaxed, and everything went on as before, though much subdued. The righteous in the Paradise of G.o.d quietly gathered themselves together in their usual places of worship. They clasped each other"s hands, and looked with trembling gladness into each other"s faces. There was no fear here: they were ready."
"And then His actual coming! That which had been fore-ordained from before the foundation of the world was about to be fulfilled; that which had been the theme of the prophets from the beginning was at the door; that which the seers of all times and nations had beheld in vision was now to be realized; that about which poets had sung; that for which every pure heart had yearned; that for which the ages had waited, was now here! A feeling of sweet peace filled the righteous, which expressed itself in songs of praise and gladness. Thus they watched and waited."
"Then Jesus stood in their midst, and they beheld the glorious presence of their Lord. Then there came to their hearts a small, sweet, penetrating voice, testifying that this was Jesus Christ the Son of G.o.d who had glorified the name of the Father; who was the life and the light of the world; who had drunk of the bitter cup which the Father had given him; and had glorified the Father in taking upon Himself the sins of the world, in which He had suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. The mult.i.tude fell down at his feet and worshiped."
"I have been told that as Jesus entered the prison of the condemned in the spirit world, a murmur of greeting welcomed Him. It was timid and faint at first, but it increased in volume and force until it became a shout.
""Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors.""
""Hail, hail, to the Lord.""
""And the King of Glory shall come in.""
""Who is the King of Glory?""
""The Lord, strong and mighty.""
""The Lord, will not cast off forever; but though He cause grief, yet will He have compa.s.sion, according to the mult.i.tude of His mercies.""
""I will not contend forever, neither will I be always wroth.""
""Come and let us return unto the Lord: for He hath torn and He will heal; He hath smitten and He will bind us up.""
""I will heal their back slidings, I will love them freely; for mine anger is turned away.""
""Who is a G.o.d like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity. He retaineth not His anger forever, because He delighteth in mercy.""
""Say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them that are in darkness, show yourselves. I am He that liveth and was dead; and behold I am alive forevermore, anew: and I have the keys of h.e.l.l and death.""
"And thus the gates were lifted, and the King of Glory entered. And what a radiance shone in the gloom! The shades of darkness fled, the chains of error dropped asunder, the overburdened heart found glad relief, for the Lord brought the tidings of great joy to the spirits in prison, offering them pardon and peace in exchange for their broken hearts."
"Then they sang:
""Hark, ten thousand thousand voices Sing a song of Jubilee!
A world, once captive, now rejoices, Freed from long captivity.
Hail, Emanuel! Great Deliverer!
Hail, our Savior, praise to thee!
Now the theme, in pealing thunders, Through the universe is rung; Now in gentle tones, the wonders Of redeeming grace is sung.""
"For three days, as counted by earth-time, the Redeemer ministered in this spirit world, preaching the gospel, giving instructions, and making plain the way of His servants to follow. Joy and gladness filled many hearts. Then, when the time had fully come, the great Captain of Salvation led the way against the enemy of men"s souls. He laid low the Monster that had for ages kept grim watch at the Gates of Death. He broke through the grave to the regions of life and light and immortality. The Hope of Ages thus went forth conquering; and those who followed Him through the resurrection from the dead sang:
""Death is swallowed up in victory! O, death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?""
II.
"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap corruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap life everlasting."--_Gal. 6:7, 8_.
In the spirit world are Rupert, Signe, Henrik, Marie, Rachel and all our friends in their time and place. These are employed in joyous activity, as they see their field of usefulness continually widen.
Rupert had done a great work before the others had come. He had preached the gospel to many people, mostly his ancestors, among whom there had been at the time of his arrival among them an awakening and a desire for the truth. He had traced his family back to those who on earth had been known as the Pilgrim Fathers, thence through many generations to the Nors.e.m.e.n of northern Europe. His wife"s family he had also searched out, and he had discovered, greatly to his delight, that her family and his met in a st.u.r.dy, somewhat fierce, Viking chief. Rupert had sought him out, and had told him of Christ and His gospel--and the Viking had been willing to be taught. When Signe had come, Rupert had brought her to visit her many-times-great-grandmother, who was a beautiful flaxen-haired, blue-eyed woman, whom Signe herself somewhat resembled.
Then when Rupert met and became acquainted with Henrik, Marie, and Rachel, he told them of what he had done, and how that their vicarious work for the dead had fitted so nicely in with his preaching, in that many of those for whom they had been baptized were those whom he had converted. "We have been working in harmony and in conjunction,"
exclaimed Rupert, "and G.o.d"s providence is even now clearly justified."
What joy was there when Henrik and his friends met those for whom they had performed the necessary earthly rites! Many of these had long ago believed the gospel, and their hearts had been turned to their children--their descendants living on the earth--that they would remember their fathers who had gone before; and these were overjoyed when they met their "saviors," as they called them. Then, there were others who had not accepted the work done for them, and these were, naturally, not so enthusiastic in their greetings. Others there were who were yet in ignorance of Christ, of His plan of salvation, and the work that had been done for them. These would have to be taught and given a chance to accept or reject what had been done.
"You enjoy a happiness that does not come to me," said a brother to Henrik, "in that you receive the love and joyous greetings of those for whom you did work in mortality."
"Had you no opportunity to do such work?" asked Henrik.
"Yes; but I had no names of ancestry, and the truth is, I did not try to get any."
"You did not do all in your power?"
"No; I was careless in the matter."
"If you had only tried, the way would have been opened. That is a true principle. We do not know what regions of usefulness lie before us if we do no exploring."
Signe and Rachel were closely a.s.sociated, and they performed missions together to their less enlightened sisters whose condition was not so favorable. These were of the frivolous and foolish women who had been taken captive by earthly things. All their treasures had been of earth, so on earth they had to be left, for none could be taken into the spirit world; these, therefore, were poor indeed. They had nothing with which to occupy themselves: in earth-life, wealth, fashion, the gratification of depraved appet.i.tes and pa.s.sions, and the pampering of worldly vanities had been their chief concern; and now that earthly things were no more, these women were as if lost in a strange world, having no sure footing, groping about in semi-darkness, hungering and thirsting, but finding no means by which they might be satisfied. They laughed and appeared to make merry because it was their nature so to do, but their laugh was empty, and their merriment rang hollow and untrue.
"I am more than ever thankful," said Signe to Rachel when they had labored long with a group of frivolous women, "that the gospel reached us in earth-life."
"And that we accepted it," added Rachel.
"Yes; many of these sisters of ours are not evil; they are just weak,--empty of good. Their earthly training was at fault. And then some of them have told me that they were very much surprised to find that death had not worked a transformation in them: they have still the same feelings, desires and thoughts as before."
"Some foolish things were taught in earth-life," said Rachel, "one of them being deathbed repentance. Common sense, if not reason, ought to have told us that a change of heart coming when a person is in full possession of his faculties is far better than the confessions made in fear of death. Repentance should have come further back, for the sooner we turn about on the right way, the further we get on the road to perfection."
Rachel finished her little speech with a smile--the simple sweet smile, fixed into her nature for all time. A strange sister came up to her, who was greeted pleasantly.
"I want to know more of you two," she said. "There is something about you different from me or my mates. When you mix with us and talk with us, I can feel it, but I don"t know what it is. You appear to me to be, lilies-of-the-valley among weeds--yes, that"s it."