We Walk by Faith

We Walk by Faith

BY ELDER ORSON F. WHITNEY, OF THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE

"Because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." So said the Savior to Thomas, one of the chosen Twelve. Why is it more blessed to believe without seeing? Is it not because, through the exercise of faith in the midst

of human vicissitudes, we acquire our spiritual develop- ment? And are we not here for that purpose? Is it not a fundamental condition of our mortal existence? In the previous life, we "walked by sight ;" but in this life, we are required to walk by faith — a more difficult thing to do. For keeping our "first estate," we were "added upon," were given these bodies, with opportunities for develop- ment and for keeping this, our "second estate," we shall ;

have glory added upon our heads forever and ever. This is the Lord's promise to us. If he should pour out upon us, prematurely, the ful- ness of knowledge, it would put a stop to our spiritual de- velopment, for knowledge swallows up faith, and removes the opportunity for its exercise. Therefore our Heavenly Father, in his wisdom, speaks only through certain ones, his oracles, his special witnesses,and occasionally reveals himself to them. They know that they have seen and heard him but the great mass of mankind are expected ;

to believe their testimony ;and this because it is best for them. Some day the knowledge of God will cover the earth, and all men shall know him, from the least unto the greatest. Weshall know what we knew before, and a ldr

to it all we have learned since. We do not begin to know in the body what we know out of the body. We are not as good and noble in the body as we are in the spirit, and cannot be until we have subdued the body and brought it under control: We are hampered and held clown by this weight of clay, and when death comes it is a glad release. But we are not going to die. We are deathless be- ings. We lived before we came into this world, and we shall live after we go out of it. What we call death is not worthy the name. There is no death for the righteous. Christ died to destroy death. The change called death is

;;

but a temporary separation of the spirit from the body and while the body goes back to mother earth, the spirit — returns to God who gave it it enters Paradise, the place of departed spirits, there to await the resurrection. Yes the day will come when spirit and body will reunite, to be no more subject to these mortal conditions, and the soul shall inherit eternal life, a fulness of joy. Such are the hopes and promises held out by the gospel. None of our dear departed ones are dead. They have but gone before. This so-called death, when properly understood, is simply a going back home. There is a uni- versal law requiring all things to return to whence they came and to where they belong. It is the law of restitu- tion, spoken of by the holy prophets since' the world be- gan. This sublime lesson is taught not only in the Scrip- tures, but in the Book of Nature. The rain-drops, the moment they strike the ground, begin to trickle back to the ocean, or evaporate to the clouds from which they fell. Up from the bosom of the mighty deep and over the broad land are carried the waters that are showered upon the earth to make it green and flowery and fruitful and when those waters have fulfilled their mission they are gathered back to their ocean reservoir. Not a drop of dew is lost. Matter is eternal, spirit is eternal, in- telligence or the light of truth is eternal and our spirits ;

that come from God, the moment they are born into this — world begin traveling back to eternity begin moving to- ward the great sea out of which they were taken That is !

all there is to death, unless men commit the unpardonable sin, unless they crucify the Savior afresh, by denying the Holy Ghost, that reveals him, by throwing away and trampling upon eternal truth, after the heavens have been opened to them and they have tasted of the glories of the world to come. No soul that believes in Jesus Christ and keeps his commandments need fear to die. It is nothing but a return home.

We part with parents and children, wives and hus- bands, brothers and sisters. We leave father and mother — but how long have they been father and mother to us ? Perhaps for twenty-five, fifty, or sixty years. That is the full length of their parenthood. But what about the eternal Father and Mother ? Have they no claim upon us ? Why should we not return to them, and resume the relations of the previous life? This knowledge, that comes from the possession of the Spirit of God, takes from death its sting, and robs the grave of its victory.