I have one advantage over President Oaks and his father. The time at which I served as a corporal in the 145th Field Artillery was just before Noah\u2019s ark. They have claim to a more modern period.<\/p>\n
Those occasions on which I come to the Y always serve to put me in a position where my heart beats a little longer and a little faster. And I am in trouble\u2014if I put this manuscript on the podium I cannot see it, and if I hold it up I cannot see you. I\u2019ll hold it up. [laughter] Your youth, your hopes, your fears, your anticipations, your buoyancy, and, yes, your despairs seem to be so much a part of me that as I look at you I want to laugh with joy, but I want to weep also. You are so young and so fragile\u2014and yet seem to have such abiding confidence that you know what you are about and where you are going.<\/p>\n
The truth is that in a way you do know where you are going\u2014not perhaps during the next fifty years, but during the eons of eternity. By reading a few words in the 76th section of the Doctrine and Covenants each of you may know where, in a larger sense, you are going. You may have the vain hope that by acting in a telestial or a terrestial manner somehow you will become celestial. Or you may decide in the first place to be celestial and then really reach that goal. The fact which you will ultimately face, whether you like it or not, is that the Lord God does not lie. He keeps his word, and by keeping that word he will inevitably place you in the kingdom you have earned. You, perhaps, will be glad to be where you are placed, thankful that it is better than you dared to hope. But if it is not as good as you could have had, as soon as you get used to the particular light in the place, you will realize that some of those you love are in a place much brighter, and that you could have been with them but did not choose to so live, but thought, rather, that the earthiness of the earth was more pleasure than the promise of the glory of that heaven where you cannot go.<\/p>\n
Then you will be faced with the eternal question which constitutes the torture of living hell: \u201cWhy did I do the things which forfeited the glory?\u201d No answer will come to you\u2014perhaps that is what hell is like: eternally asking why but never having the satisfactory answer. We all should take warning that the Lord himself said that there be few who find eternal life, and resolve to be one of the few (see Matthew 7:14).<\/p>\n
I have found that it helps me to look back to my beginnings\u2014to know the purpose of my being and of the efforts of certain evil ones to circumvent that purpose. I realize that I cannot see it as it really<\/i> was, but I can imagine the meaning to me of certain commandments given in the beginning, and see more clearly why I must aim high and be consistent\u2014and not falter.<\/p>\n
May I go back to the time when I surveyed eternity\u2014and I assure you that for the next 150 pages this account is purely imaginary. There is not a bit of it that you can claim as doctrine\u2014unless you want to\u2014and I cannot be accused of plagiarizing anything.<\/p>\n
Each star declares the ordered law of heaven,<\/i>
\nEach rising sun the order of our day.<\/i>
\nYet we on earth\u2014<\/i>
\nA small one of creation,<\/i>
\nHeld in its place by one law, heaven given\u2014<\/i>
\nPonder at our terrifying speed through space.<\/i>
\nWe know exactly when the moon arises,<\/i>
\nAnd when the comet flashes into view.<\/i>
\nWe look with precise telescopic vision,<\/i>
\nAnd endlessly count galaxies,<\/i>
\nEach one a million stars,<\/i>
\nEach star so far away that<\/i>
\nWhat we see today<\/i>
\nTook place so many<\/i>
\nThousand thousand years ago<\/i>
\nThat where they are<\/i>
\nOr what they are today<\/i>
\nWe cannot know.<\/i>
\nThen, bursting through the cosmic<\/i>
\nDark, the voice of prophecy is heard.<\/i>
\nWe learn that Kolob is the nearest<\/i>
\nTo the throne of God;<\/i>
\nEach revolution takes a thousand<\/i>
\nOf our years to make its day;<\/i>
\nThat this great star<\/i>
\nHas been assigned by Him who dwells<\/i>
\nOn high<\/i>
\nTo be the measuring rod<\/i>
\nOf our eternal way. <\/i>[Abraham 3:3\u20134]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
There was our home!<\/i>
\nOur spirits given birth<\/i>
\nBy noble parentage;<\/i>
\nThe Father of us all,<\/i>
\nA dweller in eternal light,<\/i>
\nExalted Maker of the universe,<\/i>
\nExalted Man.<\/i>
\nWe bowed before him,<\/i>
\nCalling him by name<\/i>
\nOur Father, Elohim!<\/i>
\nAnd by his side<\/i>
\nOur heavenly mother sat<\/i>
\nAs was her due,<\/i>
\nNot making earths<\/i>
\nNor giving them law,<\/i>
\nBut doing what a heavenly mother does,<\/i>
\nTeaching her spirit children to be true.<\/i>
\nThe spirit children ask, as earthlings do,<\/i>
\nHow may <\/i>we be like Father, filled with light?<\/i>
\nHow do we obtain a body<\/i>
\nFirm of flesh and bone? How do we gain the right<\/i>
\nTo be exalted?<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
What do heavenly mothers say<\/i>
\nTo heavenly children?<\/i>
\nThen faintly to our souls we<\/i>
\nHear her sweet reply.<\/i>
\nObey! That is the law<\/i>
\nHear all of His commands.<\/i>
\nObey each one. Listen and<\/i>
\nHear the music of the spheres,<\/i>
\nOf the worlds as they come into being.<\/i>
\nLearn heaven\u2019s rhythm.<\/i>
\nYour Father gives you freedom<\/i>
\nTo obey or disobey, but you<\/i>
\nYourself must make decision<\/i>
\nIf you would learn to live<\/i>
\nIn heaven.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
I now pick up the words of Abraham (so you will know that I am not plagiarizing):<\/p>\n
And there stood one among them<\/i>
\nThat was like unto God,<\/i>
\nAnd he said unto those who were<\/i>
\nWith him: We will go down,<\/i>
\nFor there is space there,<\/i>
\nAnd we will take of these materials,<\/i>
\nAnd we will make an earth whereon <\/i>these
\nMay dwell. [Abraham 3:24; emphasis added]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
We\u2014you and I\u2014are \u201cthese.\u201d Some of you here today are among those of whom he spoke when he said he would make some his rulers. But \u201cit doth not yet appear what we shall be,\u201d as John said (1 John 3:2), or which of you is designated.<\/p>\n
I like to imagine what took place in that great assembly. In my mind I compare it, in a sense\u2014though it cannot be compared\u2014to this assembly today. We are all of the earth but from this position on the stand, we, your leaders, look over your thousands and, if the building were full, your twenty thousands, your vast assembly, and think of how it could have been then as the Father spoke to his children.<\/p>\n
Let me try to describe it to you as I have imagined it was in that period of our lives\u2014and I do not pretend to know that this is the way it really was, but I like to think that it might have been rather like this:<\/p>\n
The vast concourse of heaven<\/i>
\nGathered at the Father\u2019s call<\/i>
\n[as you gather here at President Oaks\u2019s call].
\nIn seats of honor sat the noble ones,<\/i>
\nThose spirits bright.<\/i>
\nJehovah sat upon his Father\u2019s right<\/i>
\nBefitting one who is the<\/i>
\nFirstborn son.<\/i>
\nSeated next to him, a brilliant son,<\/i>
\nHis face illumed with an inner light,<\/i>
\nWas Michael, then Gabriel<\/i>
\nAnd Raphael strong.<\/i>
\nThese great ones standing out<\/i>
\nAmid the throng.<\/i>
\nAnd there were others, too,<\/i>
\nWhose names were not revealed, but later,<\/i>
\nGiven earthly names,<\/i>
\nWould carry forth the Father\u2019s will,<\/i>
\nHis every word and plan fulfill.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Then to the left were other brilliant sons<\/i>
\nWho liked to win their way by argument<\/i>
\nAnd skill in use of words,<\/i>
\nThese were the angels of the sharp debate,<\/i>
\nWho suited sophistry and logic to their gain.<\/i>
\nThey had not conquered hate. They had not<\/i>
\nLearned that love, that all-inclusive law of heaven,<\/i>
\nImplements the law that God has given.<\/i>
\nAnd here among them Lucifer held sway.<\/i>
\nNo one could say he was not brilliant.<\/i>
\nHe\u2019d earned his name by brilliant thinking power,<\/i>
\nNot faith in Elohim and his great love,<\/i>
\nNot being kind,<\/i>
\nBut by the logic and the process of the mind.<\/i>
\nA great star, a son of the morning. <\/i>[Isaiah 14:12]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
The Father spoke:<\/i>
\nThe multitude of spirit children<\/i>
\nSilent grew, and listened<\/i>
\nTo this great exalted Man,<\/i>
\nThis Man of Holiness,<\/i>
\nTheir Father, Elohim:<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
My children all: You see in me<\/i>
\nExalted man, of flesh and bone<\/i>
\nAnd spirit pure. One time, long<\/i>
\nLong ago, I was as you, a spirit son<\/i>
\nOf an exalted Father. <\/i>[see HC<\/i> 6:302\u201317]
\nYou may become as now I have become<\/i>
\nBut you must do as I have done.<\/i>
\nI\u2019ll send one of my sons<\/i>
\nOut into space<\/i>
\nWhere matter whirls unorganized<\/i>
\nWhere he, by my command and his own faith,<\/i>
\nWill form this cosmic matter into earth<\/i>
\nWhere each of you may go, and there<\/i>
\nEnter within a tabernacle made of earth.<\/i>
\nEach cell within your body will be of the earth.<\/i>
\nIt will respond to earthly stimuli<\/i>
\nBut you must conquer it<\/i>
\nTo your own will<\/i>
\nThen bend your will to<\/i>
\nBe obedient to my command.<\/i>
\nIf you obey, you shall be given<\/i>
\nLife eternal and<\/i>
\nReturn unto this heaven<\/i>
\nTo dwell with me forevermore<\/i>
\nTo be like me, to share my power,<\/i>
\nJoint heirs<\/i>
\nWith all of my exalted<\/i>
\nSons. I give you now<\/i>
\nFree agency: the right<\/i>
\nTo be obedient, or to<\/i>
\nDisobey\u2014this right is<\/i>
\nHeaven-given to each one.<\/i>
\nIf you should choose to<\/i>
\nDisobey, you lose your<\/i>
\nPlace in my exalted heaven.<\/i>
\nThe heavens rang with<\/i>
\nPaeons of exalted joy.<\/i>
\nThe morning stars sang<\/i>
\nForth their hymns of<\/i>
\nPraise.<\/i>
\nThe sons of God with one united<\/i>
\nVoice<\/i>
\nShouted hosannas to the <\/i>
\nLord of hosts. <\/i>[Job 38:7]
\nAll heaven stirred<\/i>
\nIn holy jubilee.<\/i>
\nAll nature trembled<\/i>
\nIn its ecstasy.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
But there were those<\/i>
\nWho took no part with<\/i>
\nThe great joyous throng.<\/i>
\nTo one side in proud disdain stood Lucifer:<\/i>
\nThis rabble shouts in ignorance<\/i>
\nOf what they face.<\/i>
\nMy plan was better.<\/i>
\nI would give them place<\/i>
\nWithout an effort on their part<\/i>
\nIf they would follow me.<\/i>
\nIf I can gain enough of<\/i>
\nFollowing, I may yet<\/i>
\nWin what I might have won,<\/i>
\nTake exaltation\u2019s throne,<\/i>
\nDisplace that favored One,<\/i>
\nThe Firstborn Son.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
We do not know the means<\/i>
\nThat Lucifer employed<\/i>
\nTo gain his ends,<\/i>
\nNor do we know just<\/i>
\nWhat is \u201cWar in Heaven.\u201d <\/i>[Revelation 12:7]
\nBut war it was,<\/i>
\nFought with the means<\/i>
\nAt hand.<\/i>
\nThe hosts of Lucifer<\/i>
\nMade a determined stand<\/i>
\nBut lost. And mighty Michael<\/i>
\nAnd his angels won.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Out of heaven and into the earth<\/i>
\nThe hosts of Lucifer were driven.<\/i>
\nOne-third of all the heavenly<\/i>
\nHosts thus lost their heaven.<\/i>
\nNo home was theirs among<\/i>
\nThe concourse of the stars.<\/i>
\nTheir place was gone.<\/i>
\nThey had no home<\/i>
\nExcept to roam the earth,<\/i>
\nUnwitting agents in the<\/i>
\nLord\u2019s own plan to<\/i>
\nTest the agency and<\/i>
\nFreedom granted unto man.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Let us consider for a moment what it might have felt like to be the first man. I have often thought of that\u2014like being driven up Rock Creek Canyon with nothing in the canyon except rocks, suddenly pushed out from a self-sustaining Eden into a world where every gain was made by sacrifice and toil.<\/p>\n
Adam looked about him<\/i>
\nAnd surveyed the world<\/i>
\nIn which he lived.<\/i>
\nForgotten was the glory of his past;<\/i>
\nLost to him by heavenly decree,<\/i>
\nHis life in Eden lost to memory<\/i>
\nHis greatest worry how to<\/i>
\nFeed and clothe his progeny.<\/i>
\nAnd by him was his Eve,<\/i>
\nThe fairest of the fair<\/i>
\nOf that far day.<\/i>
\nA woman filled with loveliness.<\/i>
\nShe\u2019d borne the pain<\/i>
\nOf many children,<\/i>
\nScattered now upon the land,<\/i>
\nAnd raising children of their own.<\/i>
\nShe\u2019d stood by Adam\u2019s side<\/i>
\nWhen first he tilled the land,<\/i>
\nAnd planted seed. Then<\/i>
\nWatched the growing plants<\/i>
\nAnd harvested.<\/i>
\nShe\u2019d learned to cook and sew<\/i>
\nThe skins which covered them,<\/i>
\nTo know<\/i>
\nThe times of change of the moon,<\/i>
\nOf making of a home,<\/i>
\nAnd much about a woman\u2019s softening<\/i>
\nTouch upon her man.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Let us listen to a prayer that Adam might have offered\u2014I do not think he did, but he might have (see Moses 5:4).<\/p>\n
O Lord, we have not heard thy voice<\/i>
\nThese many days.<\/i>
\nOur sons and daughters grow<\/i>
\nWithout thy word.<\/i>
\nTheir children grow apace<\/i>
\nIn ignorance of thee\u2014except<\/i>
\nTo know that once thou smiled<\/i>
\nOn us, when we began to be.<\/i>
\nWhat shall we tell them, Lord?<\/i>
\nWhat is our destiny?<\/i>
\nShall we ne\u2019er see thee more?<\/i>
\nDo we but knock in vain<\/i>
\nUpon thy door?<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
There is always an answer to a righteous prayer, you know.<\/p>\n
One day while Adam tilled his field,<\/i>
\nA wooden hoe he\u2019d fashioned in his hand,<\/i>
\nHe heard a voice from over Eden way. <\/i>[Moses 5:4]
\nThe voice was one he recognized<\/i>
\nAs of the Lord<\/i>
\nWith sweet accord he kneeled<\/i>
\nUpon the land and wiped the perspiration<\/i>
\nFrom his face. I hear thee, Lord!<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
He heard the voice say:<\/i>
\nAdam, offer sacrifice; begin this day!<\/i>
\nTake the firstborn and the best from out<\/i>
\nThy flock or herd, build me an altar, and<\/i>
\nWith a fire consume the beast.<\/i>
\nTake not the least, but best.<\/i>
\nNo explanation given\u2014<\/i>
\nJust that voice from over Eden way.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Adam built an altar on<\/i>
\nThe highest hill, a platform<\/i>
\nThree feet high and ten feet square.<\/i>
\nThere, he said, I think that will<\/i>
\nDo.<\/i>
\nHe laid the sticks and got the fire<\/i>
\nBurning fierce and high<\/i>
\nThen slew the firstborn lamb\u2014the best<\/i>
\nHe had. No scrub was this.<\/i>
\nIt would have won a prize<\/i>
\nAt any fair.<\/i>
\nThe smoke, most black and thick<\/i>
\nRose high into the morning sky.<\/i>
\nThe stench of burning flesh<\/i>
\nWas on the air.<\/i>
\nHis children and his grandchildren<\/i>
\nGathered round and asked:<\/i>
\nGrandfather, why do you<\/i>
\nBurn up the lamb,<\/i>
\nThe best one you have?<\/i>
\nAnd he replied:<\/i>
\nThe Lord commanded me<\/i>
\nAnd I obey.<\/i>
\nI pray you children likewise<\/i>
\nWill obey.<\/i>
\nSaid one: If you must burn a lamb or calf<\/i>
\nWhy do you take the best?<\/i>
\nWhy not yon scrubby one?<\/i>
\nThen Adam said:<\/i>
\nThe Lord said take the firstlings<\/i>
\nAnd the best.<\/i>
\nSome of his children hastened to obey<\/i>
\nAnd others kept their firstlings from<\/i>
\nThat day.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
The days and years passed by.<\/i>
\nAt stated times the<\/i>
\nSacrifice was made.<\/i>
\nThe flocks and herds increased<\/i>
\nAnd Adam thus obeyed<\/i>
\nThe Lord\u2019s command.<\/i>
\nOne day there stood<\/i>
\nBefore this loyal man<\/i>
\nAn angel of the Lord<\/i>
\nWho said: Adam,<\/i>
\nWhy dost thou offer<\/i>
\nSacrifice?<\/i>
\nI do not know why.<\/i>
\nI<\/i>
\nOnly know the Lord<\/i>
\nCalled out of Eden:<\/i>
\nI recognized his voice.<\/i>
\nI had not heard it<\/i>
\nFor these many years.<\/i>
\nHe said: Adam, offer<\/i>
\nSacrifice.<\/i>
\nI do not question<\/i>
\nWhen I hear that voice.<\/i>
\nI offer sacrifice;<\/i>
\nThe best I have<\/i>
\nThe firstlings of the flock<\/i>.
\nSome of my children offer too,<\/i>
\nWhich thing<\/i>
\nI wish they all would do.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Then spoke the angel.<\/i>
\nYou are accepted of the Lord<\/i>
\nWith all they loyal sons.<\/i>
\nThis act is a similitude<\/i>
\nOf what the Son of God<\/i>
\nWill do<\/i>
\nWhen time shall<\/i>
\nReach meridian.<\/i>
\nHe\u2019ll die upon a cross<\/i>
\nThen resurrected be<\/i>
\nThat you may come<\/i>
\nOnce more into his presence,<\/i>
\nWith all of your posterity,<\/i>
\nIf they will obey as you obey.<\/i>
\nEach time you sacrifice<\/i>
\nYou will remember him,<\/i>
\nHave faith in him,<\/i>
\nRepent of any evil acts<\/i>
\nYou do.<\/i>
\nAnd be baptized, be born again,<\/i>
\nOf water and of spirit.<\/i>
\nYou will then become his son<\/i>
\nAs all must do. <\/i>[see Moses 5:5\u20138; 6:64\u201368]
\nNow teach your children<\/i>
\nThey, too, must obey the<\/i>
\nLord\u2019s command<\/i>
\nAnd offer sacrifice and<\/i>
\nBe baptized and worship<\/i>
\nConstantly the Lord<\/i>
\nWho is to come.<\/i>
\nOne day those sons of Adam<\/i>
\nWho were skeptical<\/i>
\nReceived a visitor.<\/i>
\nAn angel came and<\/i>
\nSpoke to them (that Lucifer,<\/i>
\nThat Satan to the world):<\/i>
\nYour father had an angel<\/i>
\nSpeak to him and told him<\/i>
\nHow to worship God\u2014to kill<\/i>
\nA lamb or calf. I laugh at such<\/i>
\nFoolishness as he has taught.<\/i>
\nI, too, am a son of God.<\/i>
\nI say, believe it not!<\/i>
\nAnd they believed it not.<\/i>
\nThen Adam sent his<\/i>
\nLoyal sons to preach to<\/i>
\nThose who errant were,<\/i>
\nAnd by the spirit of the<\/i>
\nHoly Ghost to bring them<\/i>
\nBack, a promise gave<\/i>
\nThat, if they would repent<\/i>
\nAnd be baptized, they yet<\/i>
\nCould gain their paradise.<\/i>
\nAnd many heard the<\/i>
\nWord and came<\/i>
\nRepenting to their father\u2019s<\/i>
\nHome. <\/i>[Moses 5:13\u201315]
\nBut many would not come.<\/i>
\nTheir selfish hearts<\/i>
\nWere filled with earthly sin.<\/i>
\nThey could not feel the<\/i>
\nWords of truth within<\/i>
\nTheir minds\u2014but<\/i>
\nRather, with sophisticated<\/i>
\nThought,<\/i>
\nBelieved it not,<\/i>
\nAnd bowed their heads<\/i>
\nTo riches and to<\/i>
\nGain.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Our mother Eve, the mother of all flesh<\/i>
\nGrieved in her heart<\/i>
\nThe loss of these benighted sons<\/i>
\nAnd grieving, prayed:<\/i>
\nO Lord, give me a son<\/i>
\nWho will a comfort be;<\/i>
\nWho\u2019ll grow to manhood strong;<\/i>
\nWho\u2019ll worship thee, the Lord,<\/i>
\nAnd pray;<\/i>
\nWho\u2019ll keep all thy commands<\/i>
\nWho will not stray.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Then Cain was born.<\/i>
\nAnd Eve rejoiced,<\/i>
\nBelieving that the<\/i>
\nLord had heard her prayer,<\/i>
\nAnd praised his holy name<\/i>
\nAnd said: I have gotten a<\/i>
\nMan from the Lord.<\/i>
\nBut Cain grew up<\/i>
\nRebellious as had Lucifer<\/i>
\nBefore:<\/i>
\nWho is the Lord, he said,<\/i>
\nThat I should worship him? <\/i>[Moses 5:16]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
His mother Eve mourned o\u2019er<\/i>
\nThis errant son.<\/i>
\nHis father Adam sorrowed<\/i>
\nThat this son rebelled.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Another son was born.<\/i>
\nTo them was given Abel<\/i>
\nTo heal their hearts.<\/i>
\nThis son was one<\/i>
\nTo be obedient<\/i>
\nTo be what they had<\/i>
\nHoped that Cain would<\/i>
\nBe, And as he grew in faithfulness<\/i>
\nHe listened to his father<\/i>
\nAdam speak the truths<\/i>
\nOf God revealed<\/i>
\nTo him. <\/i>[Moses 5:17]
\nCain, growing tall and strong<\/i>
\nAnd handsome, as such<\/i>
\nMen are handsome,<\/i>
\nLooked upon a niece with<\/i>
\nLustful fervor and married<\/i>
\nHer. But neither knew the<\/i>
\nLord but turned their hearts<\/i>
\nAway from Adam, and away<\/i>
\nFrom all he taught and<\/i>
\nFrom the Lord.<\/i>
\nThey could not hear Him<\/i>
\nSpeak, nor feel when he<\/i>
\nHad spoken.<\/i>
\nThen Satan<\/i>
\nCame to Cain<\/i>
\nAnd put into his mind<\/i>
\nThe Oath, the Oath<\/i>
\nOf Hell:<\/i>
\nSwear by thy throat<\/i>
\nThat thou wilt not<\/i>
\nTell this great secret<\/i>
\nTo thy father Adam<\/i>
\nAnd I will show<\/i>
\nThee how thou<\/i>
\nMay obtain thy brother\u2019s<\/i>
\nFlocks and herds. <\/i>[Moses 5:28\u201329]
\nThen Cain swore by his throat<\/i>
\nAnd Satan made it plain<\/i>
\nTo him<\/i>
\nJust how to murder<\/i>
\nAnd get gain.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Adam called his sons<\/i>
\nUnto his side and said:<\/i>
\nI heard the voice of him<\/i>
\nWho is our God<\/i>
\nFrom over Eden way,<\/i>
\nSay:<\/i>
\nOffer up an offering this day<\/i>
\nA sacrifice, a burning<\/i>
\nSacrifice of firstborn<\/i>
\nCalf or lamb\u2014an offering<\/i>
\nIn blood. And I obey.<\/i>
\nSo likewise you,<\/i>
\nCain, my son, receive<\/i>
\nCommand to do<\/i>
\nAs I have done,<\/i>
\nAnd Abel too.<\/i>
\nEach one is to obey.<\/i>
\nThis is a memorial<\/i>
\nTo one who when<\/i>
\nThe time is come<\/i>
\nWill offer up himself,<\/i>
\nThe firstborn<\/i>
\nOf all the Father\u2019s children<\/i>
\nThat we may return<\/i>
\nAgain into his presence.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Then Abel called his family<\/i>
\nAnd said:<\/i>
\nMy Father said to offer up<\/i>
\nThe firstlings of my flocks of sheep<\/i>
\nAnd herds of kine<\/i>
\nHe said God gave the word.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
At his command I\u2019ll build<\/i>
\nAn altar nigh<\/i>
\nAnd send the incense high<\/i>
\nTo honor God and to<\/i>
\nObey his word.<\/i>
\nThe offering to be a sign<\/i>
\nOf one to come, in some far day,<\/i>
\nWho will atone<\/i>
\nAnd wash our sins away.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Then Cain\u2014with knowledge<\/i>
\nOf the oath to Satan\u2014<\/i>
\nHeard his voice\u2014the dulcet voice of Lucifer.<\/i>
\nYou needn\u2019t offer up<\/i>
\nA cow or lamb.<\/i>
\nThrow on the fire<\/i>
\nEars of corn, some<\/i>
\nWheat, a beet or two<\/i>
\nYou may be sure<\/i>
\nThat God will know<\/i>
\nYour heart and recognize your praise<\/i>
\nIf you give to him<\/i>
\nA part of what you raise. <\/i>[Moses 5:18]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
And Cain obeyed<\/i>
\nAnd called his family:<\/i>
\nAnd spoke:<\/i>
\nI am a farmer<\/i>
\nA tiller of the land.<\/i>
\nMy corn and wheat<\/i>
\nGrow tall on either hand<\/i>
\nMy garden stuff is<\/i>
\nGrowing row on row.<\/i>
\nI\u2019m almost ready now<\/i>
\nTo harvest reap.<\/i>
\nWhy should I buy and<\/i>
\nOffer up a sheep<\/i>
\nOr calf: I laugh<\/i>
\nWith scorn at<\/i>
\nSuch an idea now<\/i>
\nAnd I laugh still more<\/i>
\nTo offer up a cow.<\/i>
\nI\u2019ll make my offering<\/i>
\nFrom what I gain from<\/i>
\nLand. I\u2019ll burn some<\/i>
\nCorn and beets and<\/i>
\nGod will understand. <\/i>[Moses 5:19]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
I now quote from the original account in Moses:<\/p>\n
And the Lord had respect<\/i>
\nUnto Abel, and to his offering;<\/i>
\nBut unto Cain, and to his offering,<\/i>
\nHe had not respect. . . .<\/i>
\nAnd Cain was very wroth. . . .<\/i>
\nAnd the Lord said unto Cain:<\/i>
\nWhy art thou wroth?<\/i>
\nWhy is thy countenance fallen?<\/i>
\nIf thou doest well, thou shalt be accepted.<\/i>
\nAnd if thou doest not well,<\/i>
\nSin lieth at the door,<\/i>
\nAnd Satan desireth to have thee;<\/i>
\nAnd except thou shalt hearken<\/i>
\nUnto my commandments,<\/i>
\nI will deliver thee up,<\/i>
\nAnd it shall be unto<\/i>
\nThee according to his desire.<\/i>
\nAnd thou shalt rule over him. . . .<\/i>
\nAnd Cain was wroth, and<\/i>
\nListened not any more to<\/i>
\nThe voice of the Lord,<\/i>
\nNeither to Abel, his brother,<\/i>
\nWho walked in holiness<\/i>
\nBefore the Lord. <\/i>[Moses 5:20\u201323, 26]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
May I now again return to my imaginary account.<\/p>\n
Abel\u2019s wife spoke to Adam:<\/i>
\nAbel is not home this even\u2019<\/i>
\nIt\u2019s growing late, and I<\/i>
\nAm worried. Some<\/i>
\nFateful thing, the danger<\/i>
\nOf the world, the cliff<\/i>
\nO\u2019erhangs the valley.<\/i>
\nThe streams are running<\/i>
\nHigh,<\/i>
\nHe might have slipped<\/i>
\nAnd fallen.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Then Adam said:<\/i>
\nThe morrow, daylight dawning,<\/i>
\nGiving light, then I shall go<\/i>
\nIn search of him.<\/i>
\nLikely he has gone too<\/i>
\nFar in search of a lost lamb<\/i>
\no return in the dark,<\/i>
\nAnd keeps a fire burning<\/i>
\nThere<\/i>
\nTo frighten both<\/i>
\nThe lion and the bear.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
In early dawn he then set forth,<\/i>
\nNot knowing the direction of<\/i>
\nHis going.<\/i>
\nBut soon he came into the field<\/i>
\nWhere Abel kept his sheep<\/i>
\nAnd saw upon the ground<\/i>
\nThe lifeless body of his son,<\/i>
\nThe arms outstretched<\/i>
\n(He could not be asleep),<\/i>
\nThe eyes half-closed<\/i>
\nAnd sightless,<\/i>
\nThe white teeth showing<\/i>
\nThrough half-parted lips.<\/i>
\nHe spoke; he called;<\/i>
\nHe touched the stiffened<\/i>
\nArm\u2014with no response.<\/i>
\nHe somehow knew that<\/i>
\nThis was death.<\/i>
\nHe knelt beside the<\/i>
\nStiffened corpse and<\/i>
\nWept.<\/i>
\nThen Satan to his minions<\/i>
\nMakes it plain:<\/i>
\nWe\u2019ve taught them how<\/i>
\nTo murder and get gain.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
And now we\u2019ll place<\/i>
\nInto their minds<\/i>
\nPerversion of the<\/i>
\nSacred act of<\/i>
\nProcreation,<\/i>
\nThis gift the Father<\/i>
\nGave to all who<\/i>
\nCome to earth,<\/i>
\nWhen all his sons<\/i>
\nWere shown that<\/i>
\nHome and hearth<\/i>
\nAre given as a<\/i>
\nPattern showing men the way<\/i>
\nTo heaven.<\/i>
\nGo forth, you servants of the Devil,<\/i>
\nAnd let men feel the power which<\/i>
\nComes from evil.<\/i>
\nThen they, themselves, will<\/i>
\nCarry forth his work,<\/i>
\nThey\u2019ll lie; they\u2019ll cheat;<\/i>
\nThey\u2019ll rob and murder too.<\/i>
\nThey\u2019ll teach perversion of<\/i>
\nThe heavenly gift.<\/i>
\nThey\u2019ll seek to spoil<\/i>
\nAll those that God would save.<\/i>
\nThey\u2019ll soul and body of mankind<\/i>
\nEnslave.<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n
Well, these are the last two pages; you will notice that they are 102 and 103. [laughter]<\/p>\n
As Cain drove<\/i> The Lord said [unto Cain]:<\/i> You know the rest, and you know that it has gone on all the years since. Ever since that day, the conflict has been whether or not we will obey. And Satan, with all the power of his sophistry and smoothness, teaches us all to break all the laws of God.<\/p>\n We could go on and on and see with introspective horror the proud and haughty Cain, acting in the image of his sponsor, reply to the great question: \u201cWhere is thy brother?\u201d answering with one of the greatest lies of all time: \u201cI know not. Am I my brother\u2019s keeper?\u201d<\/p>\n Let us come back to our day and our time.<\/p>\n The first great law still holds. Obey! Obey the commandments of your Father and my Father. Do what I am sure that our heavenly parents taught you to do in that far day. Have the determination to go back into their presence when the time comes. And come it will, whether you like it or not.<\/p>\n If each of you is not there when the final family gathering takes place, your Heavenly Father will weep, as only an eternal being can weep. Let not any of us cause him that kind of sorrow.<\/p>\n Perhaps it was something like I have portrayed in the beginning. Now, after five thousand nine hundred years (plus or minus) we ourselves need not hear the Lord command Adam any more to desire to obey, for we have the Restoration\u2014the full restoration\u2014and that is that.<\/p>\n God surely lives and is our Father, and we know it. And not Adam but Joseph Smith presented his relationship to us through revelation so that we could understand. Joseph Smith was a prophet just as Adam was a prophet, and also a seer and a revelator. He was given the keys to open the way for us to reach out and find and know our Father and our elder brother, his Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. Let us not fail to reach, to seek, to find, and above all to obey.<\/p>\n In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.<\/p>\n \u00a9 Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"template":"","tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nForth his brother\u2019s<\/i>
\nFlocks to his own<\/i>
\nLand, he heard<\/i>
\nThe voice of God<\/i>
\nSpeak to his<\/i>
\nVery soul, which said:<\/i>
\nCain: Where is Abel, thy<\/i>
\nBrother?<\/i>
\nAnd Cain in<\/i>
\nSnarling, deep<\/i>
\nSatanic speech<\/i>
\nReplied:<\/i>
\nI know not. Am I<\/i>
\nMy brother\u2019s keeper? <\/i>[Moses 5:34]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n<\/b><\/i>The Answer<\/b><\/em><\/h3>\n
\n[and this is the account that is in the
\nPearl of Great Price]
\nWhat hast thou done?<\/i>
\nThe voice of thy brother\u2019s<\/i>
\nBlood cries unto me<\/i>
\nFrom the ground. <\/i>[Moses 5:35]<\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/i><\/p>\n