The glorious visions in which had appeared Moses and Elias were closed. Joseph and Oliver stood before the pulpit of the temple waiting. But why should they wait for further manifestations? What more could they now expect? Or, what more, indeed, could now be given them? All the living children of the world were provided for. Authority to preach and to baptize Joseph and Oliver had held before the appearance of Moses and Elias. But Israel was a special people. Upon Israel had been passed a special sentence. Moses was the great lawgiver and deliver of ancient Israel. Therefore, that everything might be done in order, Moses came to restore the special authority of redeeming and gathering the chosen people. In like manner, Elias was he who held particularly the authority of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham. Accordingly, in the last days, that everything might be done in order, the authority of the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham was restored by him who held it to the great American prophet, though he held already the full authority of the Priesthood of the Son of God. Thus, the redemption and the salvation, not of living Israel alone, but of all the living human family were provided for. What more could the Prophet and his companion await?

It is said in the Jewish Scripture that every tongue shall confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.^[A] But the very fact that the keys of authority are restored to preach the gospel to the living presupposes a loss of that authority, and a departure from the true doctrine of the Christ. There have died many hundreds of thousands who have not confessed Jesus. Indeed, even at the present time, there die daily in the best Christian lands thousands of persons who have never heard the joyful sound of the Gospel of the Lord. Yet, only through obedience to the Gospel, may mortals be saved. The living may by good chance hear it; but what provision has been made for the dead?

[Footnote A: Phil. 2:11.]

During the visions of the night of September 21st, 1823, the Angel Moroni read to the Prophet Joseph these words of Malachi: "Behold I will reveal unto you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall plant in the hearts of the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children shall turn to their fathers; if it were not so, the whole earth would be utterly wasted at its coming."^[B]

[Footnote B: Doc. and Cov. sec 2.]

The words of the prophet predict undoubtedly a plan for the salvation of the dead. And that the unconverted dead shall have the opportunity of being saved becomes absolutely necessary to the accomplishment of the great scheme of redemption. The Gospel was not designed to save only a few. The whole human family, both the living and the dead—and those yet to be, as well—may gain eternal life through obedience to the Gospel. The world hereafter will be a kingdom of glories, and a glory of kingdoms. Each one who has lived upon the earth will be awarded the degree of exaltation he merits. The children of the great Father of all will be assigned in His kingdom of glories to places they have earned; and each in his place will inherit, to the glory of the Father, a position equal to his earthly achievement. All this seems simple enough. But the kingdoms of the Father will include all His earth-children; and the more that have proved themselves worthy of exaltation and blessing, the greater will be His eternal joy. So also with each of the children, in turn. In the celestial glory each one's kingdom will comprise those of one's own family; and thus the glory of kingdoms will increase from generation to generation, each bound to the other—and all to the great Father—by the ties of kindred. The perfecting of the ties of kindred through a work done by the living for the dead, is undoubtedly what Paul had in mind when he said, speaking of the fathers of Israel, that "they without us should not be made perfect;"^[C] and again, "for to this end Christ both died, and rose and revived, that he might be Lord both of the dead and living."^[D] Hence, it becomes a matter of first importance to provide for the salvation of the dead. Hence, too, Joseph and Oliver might well wait, after they had been commissioned with authority to save the living, to learn if the Lord had further keys of authority to confer upon them.

[Footnote C: Heb. 11:49.]

[Footnote D: Rom. 14:9.]

And the Lord had further authority to confer upon them. After the vision of Elias was closed, the promise given nearly thirteen years before was fulfilled. Another glorious vision opened before the seers. "For Elijah, the prophet," we read, "who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us and said: Behold the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi, testifying that he (Elijah) should be sent before the great and dreadful day of the Lord came, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse. Therefore the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands, and by this ye may know the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors."^[E] Thus, the necessary authority for performing saving ordinances for the dead was restored in this dispensation by him who held it. Another important act in the drama of the Restoration was accomplished.

[Footnote E: Doc. and Cov. 110:13-16.]

During the years following immediately upon the vision of Elijah, not a great deal was accomplished in the great work of salvation for the dead. In after years, however, the subject grew on the Prophet's mind. It was ever present with him. He wrote about it, and he spoke about it. In 1841, in a general conference of the Church held at Nauvoo, he said, "There is never a time, when the spirit is too old to approach God. All are within reach of pardoning mercy, who have not committed the unpardonable sin, which hath no forgiveness, neither in this world, nor in the world to come. There is a way to release the spirits of the dead! that is by the power and authority of the Priesthood—by binding and loosing on earth. This doctrine appears glorious, inasmuch as it exhibits the greatness of divine compassion and benevolence in the extent of the plan of human salvation.

"This glorious truth is well calculated to enlarge the understanding and to sustain the soul under troubles, difficulties, and distresses. For illustration, suppose the case of two men, brothers, equally intelligent, learned, virtuous, and lovely, walking in uprightness and in all good conscience, so far as they have been able to discern from the muddy stream of tradition, or from the blotted page of the book of nature.

"One dies and is buried, having never heard the gospel of reconciliation; to the other the message of salvation is sent, he hears and embraces it, and is made the heir of eternal life. Shall the one become the partaker of glory and the other be consigned to hopeless perdition? Is there no chance for his es cape? Sectarianism answers 'none.' Such an idea is worse than atheism. The truth shall break down and dash in pieces all such bigoted Pharisaism; the sects shall be sifted, the honest in heart brought out, and their priests left in the midst of the corruption.

"This doctrine presents in a clear light the wisdom and mercy of God in preparing an ordinance for the salvation of the dead, being baptized by proxy, their names recorded in heaven and they judged according to the deeds done in the body. This doctrine was the burden of the scriptures. Those Saints who neglect it in behalf of their deceased relatives, do it at the peril of their own salvation."^[F]

[Footnote F: "History of the Church," Vol. IV, pp. 425-6.]

Again, in September of the year following, while he was in hiding from his enemies who pursued him without cause, the Prophet wrote two epistles to the Church.^[G] In these he confesses that the subject of salvation for the dead is uppermost in his mind. He gives detailed instructions for the proper recording of the vicarious work of those who have gone before. He shows by scriptural evidence why it is necessary to preserve an accurate record of all that is done upon the earth. He reviews with spirit the whole of the sublime doctrine of the salvation of the dead. And, finally, he bursts into a beautiful modern psalm^[H] praising the King Immanuel, who ordained before the world was a means whereby the uninitiated dead might be redeemed.

[Footnote G: Doc. and Cov. secs. 127, 128.]

[Footnote H: Doc. and Cov. 128:22-24.]

"It is sufficient to know," he says, discussing the prediction that Elijah should come, "that the earth will be smitten with a curse, unless there is a welding link of some kind or other, between the fathers and the children, upon some subject or other, and behold what is that subject? It is the baptism for the dead. For we without them cannot be made perfect; neither can they without us be made perfect. Neither can they or we, be made perfect without those who have died in the gospel also; for it is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times; which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete, and perfect union and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time."^[I]

[Footnote I: Doc. and Cov. 128:18.]

The restoration of the special authority to perform vicarious work for the dead occurred, it will be remembered, in the Kirtland Temple, April 3rd, 1836. In the Kirtland Temple there were no provisions made, however, for performing ordinances for the dead. It was not erected for that purpose. During the years, then, before suitable accommodations were provided in the Temple, the saving ordinance of baptism for the dead was performed, in compliance with instructions received by the Prophet, in the Mississippi river.

But in a revelation given January 19th, 1841, the Prophet Joseph was commanded to build the temple at Nauvoo.^[J] For this temple the Lord made known by revelation what was necessary for performing the great work of redeeming the dead. Moreover, the Lord declared that the ordinance of baptism for the dead belongs to His Holy House, and cannot be acceptable to Him when performed elsewhere, except during the days of poverty of the Church. An appointed time was named; "and if you do not these things at the end of the appointment, [i. e., perform the work for the dead], ye shall be rejected as a Church, with your dead, saith the Lord your God."^[K] The period of the appointment expired, it would seem, the same year; for at the conference held October 2nd, 1841, the Prophet announced, "There shall be no more baptism for the dead, until the ordinance can be attended to in the Lord's House; and the Church shall not hold another General Conference until they can meet in said house. For thus saith the Lord."^[L]

[Footnote L: "History of the Church," Vol. IV, p. 426.]

[Footnote J: Doc. and Cov. sec. 124.]

[Footnote K: Doc. and Cov. 124:32.]

Since that day, the great work of salvation of the dead has been performed in specially built temples, or houses of the Lord.