--- title: Improvement Era description: Monthly periodical of the Mormon church, 1897 onward. This library holds the issues of November 1897 to December 1930. authors: - Penrose, Charles W. collections: - periodicals tags: - magazine - improvement-era periodical: Improvement Era volume: 22 number: 9 published: 1919-07 publisher: Young Men’s Mutual Improvement Associations publisher_place: Salt Lake City language: en type: magazine reference: 'Penrose, Charles W., "The First-Born, the Resurrection and the Life," *Improvement Era* 22, no. 9 (July 1919): 747–755.' source: url: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2209unse transcription: Transcribed from the Internet Archive scan of each issue (the item for each issue is named in the issue's own source); unnumbered advertising leaves are omitted, printed page numbers are kept as page markers. identifier: improvementera2209unse start_page: 747 end_page: 755 rights: status: public-domain basis: US publication 1930 or earlier (published 1919-07) source: https://archive.org/details/improvementera2209unse publication_year: 1919 note: The Internet Archive item metadata carries a blanket "© Copyright by Intellectual Reserve, Inc." notice. The library owner judged it inapplicable because this issue was published in 1919, before 1931; a scan-level notice does not restore copyright. --- # The First-Born, the Resurrection and the Life THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE 749 Rest in the Paradise of God. Yes, that sweet rest that we sing about has come to him. No more earthly struggles and sorrows, no more earthly disappointments, no more pain of body or anguish of mind, no more fightings against the influence of the world, the flesh and the devil but rest, sweet rest, with the just and the true and the ; good behind the veil, whose bodies sleep in the dust, but whose spiritual personality and existence continue, and they enjoy that which is to be enjoyed in that sweet place of rest commonly called "the Paradise of God." It has a sweet sound to me. I have long believed in Paradise. I believe that there is a rest prepared for the people of God, where their earthly sorrows and pains shall have fled forever, and where they shall enjoy the society of the good and the true without the intrusion 6f the wicked, the corrupt and the abominable, and where Satan has no power. It is the place where the light of the Lord shines, and where the best and noblest of earth, after passing away, congregate and associate and perform such works as are assigned unto them. Not that they will be resting in laziness, without anything to do. That would not be very much paradise or heaven to John A. Knight. He was accustomed to hard labor for many years, and he had to meet with a great many rebuffs and disappointments, struggles for existence and continuance. Now he will be at rest from these things, but that strong spirit in that stalwart body which commanded our admiration here on the earth, lives still. That is one of the thoughts that gives me comfort and joy, made so plain to us in the revelations of God, particularly in our latter days; that when the individual spirit leaves the body, he or she is the same person that dwelt in the body, only minus the earthly covering that was formed out of the earthly elements. The body goes back to the earthly elements, but the individual continues and is the same person. The Personality of Christ. There is a great deal about personality. A man may be good and true and faithful and loving to some people, and yet not so loving to us; but there is something about some men that is sweet and good, loving and lovable. Brother John A. had this spirit with him whenever I met with him. There are such personalities, and there are some that are not exactly in the same line, yet they are good and true and will obtain their reward. All that belongs to them, all that they have earned through overcoming, and serving God, will come to them, I am sure; for these are eternal verities, without beginning and without end. The truth shall never die it never was born, it always was, and it ; is the truth that will exalt, as we have heard. But there is something about individuality. Take the personality of Jesus of 750 IMPROVEMENT ERA / Nazareth: Was there ever on the earth any other individuality like his? I don't believe there was. I believe that he was specially the Son of God, that he was the Son of God in the spirit, that is, that he was born of God in the spiritual spherehow many millions of ages ago I do not know; it is not revealed — and that he had wonderful experiences, for through him and by him and of him the worlds were made. So we are told by revelation; and he was the beginning of the creation of God in the spirit, so far as this race is concerned to which we belong. He was the Firstborn of our family of spirits. He says so. He told that in the revelation which you will find in the ninetythird section of the Doctrine and Covenants: "I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the Firstborn; ye were also in the beginning with the Father," he said, "that which is spirit." The part of us that is spirit was born in the eternal world, and we are the sons and the daughters of God, born of him or unto him; for the inhabitants of the worlds, we are told in revelations to us, were "begotten sons and daughters unto God." He is the great, eternal Father and him we worship .We believe in him and in his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, who came to the earth at the time appointed, as I think we all did. He came in what is called the "meridian of time," and he came for a purpose. He fulfilled that purpose ; he was born of God here. Mary of the House of David was his mother, but the eternal Deity was his Father, and he is the Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh. Jesus is different from all the rest. What a personality he had! I don't know that we have ever had a proper likeness of him. It has been portrayed by painters, but a great deal of imagination has entered into their work. Wherever he went he carried an influence and a power different from other mortals. Even when he was a little boy, twelve years of age, you see him in the temple, conversing and debating with the doctors of divinity, the doctors of law, and he confounded them. The brightness of the Almighty was upon him, and he was born of — him and manifested his power all through his life what little we learn of it through the New Testament. We have the testimony of Matthew and Mark and Luke and John, all very valuable, and the testimonies of his apostles, but it is a very little that we have concerning him. Hence John said at the close of his writing: If all the things that he said and did were written, "the world itself could not contain the books that should be written." Speaking of him as a personality, although he was a spirit in the beginning, in his body he had a mortal existence; but he was an exceptional Son, because he loved righteousness and hated iniquity; he did not sin, and guile was not found in in that his mouth. No, he was different from all the rest of us respect. He was different from all of his apostles who wor- THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE 751 shiped him, who adored him, and those holy women who went to the sepulchre; they adored him, and his name has come down through the ages that have intervened. The influence and power of his name, what we have learned of his personality, have pervaded the nations of the world, and as the ages come and go he becomes more and more beloved. Distinguished Personalities. In a degree it is so with other men who are not so eminent as Jesus was. Take the Prophet Joseph Smith: All those who were familiar with him, they not only looked up to him for light and truth, and the revelations of God, they loved him, and there was about his personality something that carried him as a great and mighty and distinguished individual, different from his fellows. I find it so with other men. There is Brother Brigham, as we familiarly recall him, many of us here — Brother Romney, in particular, knew Brother Brigham. He was a dear friend of mine, and I always prided myself on being a dear friend of his. He always called me by familiar names. There was something different in him, as compared — with the others of the twelve around him all good men, but there was something impressive about Brother Brigham, something so stalwart and mighty in his spirit that he impressed everybody who came into his presence. So it has been with others of our leaders. So it was with our leader, Joseph F. Smith, who recently passed away, whom I loved with all my heart, and who loved me from the first day we met, over in Liverpool, after I had been traveling about ten years in the ministry. So with Brother Knight; there was something peculiar and impressive about him. He has gone from us, but he is the same person who has shuffled off this mortal coil. The earthly elements have gone down, or will go down to the ground, but he is the same person, and wherever he goes in the spirit world he will make a mark and he will be beloved. Let his family think of him that way. Do not think of him in the throes of pain and sorrow. Do not think of him lying in the coffin, for he is not there. Do not think of him as being in the grave, for he will not be there; but he is in the spirit world where there is no pain, no sorrow, no anxiety, unless it may be in thinking about what may become of his family. I do not know that he knows any more than we do about that. That remains to be seen. But, as one of the brethren has said, when we have finished our course we will be laid away for a time, but we will all come forth again. The Doctrine and Philosophy of the Resurrection. There are some who will not have to depart. The Apostle Paul wrote about them when he said, "We shall not all sleep, but 752 IMPROVEMENT ERA we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye." For the trump shall sound, and the dead shall awake, and we who remain on the earth shall be caught up to meet the Lord. The dead in Christ shall rise first, then comes the quickening of those who remain on the earth, and they will be caught up to meet in the air. Let us look at that just a moment. Who is to be caught up in the air by his presence? It is the body that is to come forth. The dead in Christ shall rise first. In another place Paul tells us Christ is the first-fruit, afterwards those that are Christ's at his coming. So it is the body that is to be raised. Here is the body of Brother Knight, lying in that casket, and to all earthly vision, if we could see it from time to time, if we could look down into the ground, we would find it disintegrating; but there is something that we cannot explain that holds together and makes an affinity, one atom with another, something that brings them together and plants them into one organized body. Now, it is a remarkable fact that when the spirit leaves the body, when this change comes that we call death, all these particles try to get away from each other, all the particles that compose the body; but do they perish? Do they go into nothingness? No, no, the Lord has revealed that "the elements are eternal." Therein begins, to me, the doctrine, the philosophy of the resurrection. Not one particle shall be lost. In the Book of Mormon we read that in the resurrection there shall not be anything lost of the body, that all shall be raised and not a hair of the head shall be lost, but all "restored to its proper and perfect frame." Well, how can that be? Why it can be, because these elements that were united together in that body are eternal. These extraneous particles that we get through eating and drinking, which we are casting off every moment of our lives, they pass away; but there are fundamental elements in the human body, not merely oxygen and hydrogen and nitrogen and carbon, and the rest of these chemical substances that scientists talk about, and talk about very reasonably, too, not merely that, but they are held together by some influence and power, and we shall find, when we learn all about it, that there is an individuality in every — atom or particle I do not care what name you give to it; I mean the fundamental infinitesimal atoms or particles which compose the body. All these are brought together according to the laws of generation. There is an affinity between them; they have been accustomed to be together, and when they part there will be a desire, so to speak, in these elements to come together. At any rate there will be in operation a natural principle of affinity that needs nothing but the quickening, electrifying magnetic power of Jesus Christ, who is "the Resurrection THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE 753 and the Life," to bring together again. His word shall go forth, and they shall come together and rise up on their feet, the bodies will be brought forth, and that will be the resurrection. That is what I would like you to reflect upon this afternoon. Literal Resurrection Neither Impossible Nor Unscientific. There is a heresy getting abroad in what is named "the Christian church," throughout so-called Christendom, and it is emphasized by scientists, that it is an utter impossibility for the body to be brought together again; that the atoms cannot be re-collected; that death is the end of man, so far as the body is concerned. When he dies his body is gone forever. But that is a fearful heresy; for one of the very fundamental principles of real Christianity is the resurrection from the dead. Jesus the Christ declares, himself, "I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Further he says, "Marvel not at this, for the hour is coming in — the which all that are in the graves" not the spirits of men — merely but "all that are in the graves, shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and shall come forth," some in the resurrection of life, and others in the resurrection of damnation, or condemn- ation, a resurrection of the just and a resurrection of the unjust. But all shall be raised from the graves, as we read in the twentyninth section of our book of Doctrine and Covenants. The Lord declares that "they shall all come forth, yea, even all." This truth is made plain in ancient as well as modern scripture, that all shall be raised. "As in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive." Then, when we do come forth we will recognize one another, because we will be the same persons. There is something in the substratum, so to speak, of our bodies that will be quickened by the Celestial or other glory, quickened by spirit instead of blood, and there will be in thein particles that belong one to another, just as we will belong one to another — through the ordinances of the gospel the wife to the husband, the husband to the wife, the parents to the children, families grouped together again, to go on in an everlasting existence. So will it be with these bodies of ours. My brethren and sisters, do not talk about impossibilities. Why, in this age of wonders that word is almost expunged from our own dictionaries, if we think for ourselves. What did we know a few years ago about wireless telegraphy? What did we know about the telephone? What did we know about the won- derful manifestations of electrical forces? Nothing at all, scarcely, but these are being developed and they are just little of the great shower of light and intelligence that shall sparklings be brought down from the sky before many years shall pass Lord on these matters; away. We will take the word of the 754 IMPROVEMENT ERA that is the best we can do. The Lord, himself, we are told, shall descend from heaven with a shout, and we who are alive and remain on the earth shall be caught up to meet him in the air; and all that are in the graves shall be quickened and come forth, some to glory and power and dominion and exaltation, and have kingdoms and dominion and principalities, and powers, worlds without end and some shall come forth to shame ; — so the Book of the Lord says — and everlasting contempt. Some shall come forth in one degree of glory, and some in another, till they are all given what is coming to them; for they will be judged out of the things written in the books, according to their works. The Resurrection as Natural as Birth. These are a few ideas that I think are applicable on this occasion; and while I have this opportunity I want to impress on the minds of my friends the fact that the resurrection will prove to be just as natural as birth; that the coming together of those particles that belong to us and belong to one another, each in a distinct organization, although similar in many respects to others, and the formation or re-formation of our own personality, is just as sure as that we lay down our lives. As we rise in the morning from our night's rest, so it will be with us in the resurrection. What a blessing it shall be to this family to come together, —a father at the head of the household; and our brave boy, John M., who is going forth on his mission, to fight for the Lord, in the struggle of truth against error, and light against darkness, he will be there in his place, and his brothers and sisters by his side, and those, too, from whom they came on the earth, they will be there, every man in his place, every man to receive his own reward, every man and every woman to be himself and herself, with all the lovable qualities that they had while dwelling in mortality, but they will be intensified and glorified and beautified in immortality and eternity. Emotions and Sentiments About the Soldier and the Missionary Dead. God bless you my friends who are called to mourn! May peace be with you in your homes; and when you go to the grave and place this coffin there, do not feel for a moment that your loved one is there. The real person has parted from (he body; for the body without the spirit is dead, and it is only the body that can be confined to the tomb. I regret that we have too much emotion and sentiment about the bodies of our dear ones. It is a splendid sentiment for some of those who desire to have the bodies of those heroes who fought for the liberty of mankind on the continent of Europe, who laid down their bodies some through disease and others going "over the Vop," THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE 755 or being present on the battle front. They made a splendid record, their bodies repose in the ground, marked with some cross or device which designates where they lie. Now shall wi want to have those bodies brought home, across the deep and across the mountains, just to be here in this little place called Utah? What for? Those brave fellows are not there; they arc nearer to us than that; they are not down there, it is only the bodies with which they are done for a time, that lie there. So with our brethren who die in the mission field; should they be brought home, just to please some of our dear friends? It is to me a matter of sentiment, not of good sense. Still we want to gratify that desire, when we can; but their bodies are just as safe, for the resurrection, where they lie, as if they were brought here and put up in our City cemetery, just exactly. Their spirits are just as much alive, and the personality exists, whether the body lies there or is brought here. It seems to me that such a notion only fosters the idea that the person himself is in the casket that is brought home, which, of course, is untrue, for it is only the body. Another thing that it fosters is the idea that they cannot be resurrected over there they have to come here to ; be resurrected. No such thing. Christ the Resurrection and the Life. There is not a spot on the face of the earth where the spirit and power of the resurrection cannot penetrate, not a spot of the globe. Christ is the Lord of all. He is the Lord of the earth. He bought it with his own blood. It is his, and he is the Resur- rection and the Life; and those who are his at his coming will be called forth from the dust. This small globe on which we live is but a little bit of a twinkling star among the great crea- tions of God, and his power is over all. "/ Know that My Redeemer Lives" Now, I will not detain you longer. I thank the Lord and my friends for the privilege of saying a few words this afternoon. God bless this family. God bless all who mourn the loss of their loved ones; God comfort them. There is comt-ort in the -;ong — that was sung here "I Know that My Recdemer Lives." What comfort there is in that blessed saying! What comfort it gives, because we know that he has power over all, and we know that he is our Friend, our Reedemer, our Savior; and as his body was raised from the dead, so shall our bodies be raised, and we will meet with our dear ones, and the sealing ordinances of the House of God which bind families in union, shall bring us together again, and we will have a splendid time throughout the eternities, worshiping God, serving him, doing good to one an- other, and rejoicing in the fulness and the light and glory of God, the Father, through Jesus Christ, his Son. Amen. My Valley By George Gardner There are not many towns that would remind a pioneer of pioneer days. There are not many pioneers now to be reminded of those days; not many, but a few there are who know the ox team, the Indians, the hungry but happy, the cold but contented people of fifty years ago. William Brown is one of these few. It was in 1862 that he was called to settle one of the remote corners of Utah. Brigham Young did well to call Bishop Brown to lead a little band of pioneers across the state. Bishop Brown gave the counsel of a wise father. He gave opportunity to the poor and the poor gave gratitude in return. He foresaw the needs of his little band and was prepared beforehand to meet them. But the journey of three weeks was not made without hardship. And the Bishop had two families to take care of at the end of the journey: his own wife and three children, two young parents and their two children. Neither were all the problems solved. There were crops to plant for the winter's food, while there was time to plant. There were houses to build before the snow. And it could be seen by the deep snow on the mountains that surrounded the little valley, that the winters were hard. There were the cattle. They could not be turned out for the winter on account of the Indians. They could not be wintered in the valley because there would be no hay. Then there was the delicate task of making peace with the Indians. The latter two were the ones that worried Bishop Brown. The first week, while the other men were plowing the new fields, Brother Brown went in search of a place to winter the cattle, for the cattle were the one sure source of food, until they were established. He found this place in a little sheltered valley a few miles below the town. It was low and warm and grassy. It had a natural fence of high cliffs on the north and west, and willows and cottonwood for the other fence. So suited was it to their needs, the Bishop began fencing it on his exploration trip. He was diligently cutting a Cottonwood, when a large Indian walked up quietly from behind. The Indian was tall, straight and well formed. His face was stoic but not savage. The Indian stood silently for several minutes until Bishop MY VALLEY 757 Brown leaned on his ax to get breath and wipe the sweat from his brow. On seeing the Indian, he turned around in surprise! There was a startled expression on his face, but the Indian stood unmoved. He said simply and quietly, "This is my valley." "We make farm here, grow corn, make horses heap fat," Bishop Brown tried to explain. But the only answer from the Indian was, "This is my valley." The little valley had seemed so necessary to the community that the Bishop had started to fence it, with never a thought that it could belong to anyone, as he explained to his wife when he returned home that night: "The Indian took me so much by surprise that I hardly knew what to say. He could have killed me and taken my horse, and no one would have known what became of me. But you know, Martha, the Indians don't treat us like they do the emigrants who are going to California. They would have killed an emigrant and taken the saddle and horse in an instant. Most of the horses and cattle that Walker and his tribe have, were stolen from emigrants. It is 'cheaper to feed them than to fight them,' and I do think that we would better buy the little valley from the Indian. Of course, we haven't anything to spare, but we have more than the Indians here have, and there is an opportunity to get on good terms with them. I wish I had thought of it yesterday, but the Indian didn't give me time to think. He just said that it was his valley, and walked off. But there was a dignity in the way he said it. And I felt that it was his just as much as if he had said, that is my bow or my moccasin. We must pay him for the valley." The Bishop was detained at home the next week, and other men built fence in the little valley. When the Bishop returned, he found the fencing nearly complete. He had gone down to complete it and make the deal with the Indians, as they had not been seen since the first visit of the lone Chief. The Bishop was finishing the little gap in the lower end of the valley when he saw a lone Indian ride into the valley, not far from where he worked. The Indian gave a war whoop, and a small band came out of the gap at the end of the valley, and closed in behind the Chief. The Bishop saw at once that they were on the war path, and that they had discovered him. It was clearly no time to buy valleys when they wanted his scalp. His horse was feeding in the creek-bottom, only a few yards from where he worked. And to get across the creek would mean a fair chance for safety. There was a good chance that his horse could outrun them to the camp. He dropped down into the creek-bottom and was on his horse in an instant. But his horse mired in