Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate/Volume 1/Number 6/Gospel, No. VI.
GOSPEL. No. VI.
Inasmuch then, as the gospel was preached to Abraham, would it be tho't hazarding much to say that baptism was preached to him for the remission of sins, or could the gospel be preached to Abraham and this not be preached? Perhaps some might say, that it was told to Abraham that in his seed all the families of the earth should be blessed, & that was all, could it be said that the gospel was preached to Abraham. And yet it was not preached to him, or was Abraham left to guess the rest and find out what was meant by being in his seed. But let us go back and look a little at this subject. Paul as before quoted, has told us that it was a fixed principle in the economy of God and that before the foundation of the world, that men were to be saved by being in Christ. And he also tells us that Christ was Abraham's seed. Is this testimony correct? If it is, ever since man was in existence there has been but one way of being saved; for God, according to the apostle's statement, had fixed it by an irrevocable decree and that before the world was, that men should be saved in this way and none other. The question now arises, was this scheme of things kept hid from the early ages of the world, so that they did not understand it, and were saved by it? If so, there never was any need of understanding it from that day to this; for if they could be saved by it without understanding it, so could we and so could all others, and Paul's assertions to the Ephesians be worse than vain. "That by grace are ye saved through faith," and for when there was no understanding there could be no faith. And there is nothing more certain, than this, that if the ancients were not made acquainted with the scheme of life, they must have been saved without it, or else they were destroyed for want of knowing it. The latter cannot be admitted, and it is very hard to admit the former, that is, that any people were ever saved without understanding how it was done, that they were saved, or that any persons could be washed from all sins by the Lamb, and yet know nothing of Jesus, the Lamb of God, and be taken into heaven by a scheme of things of which they had no knowledge? We are told that without faith it is impossible to please God, and where could faith be in all this matter; or had the ancients the happy faculty of believing on him of whom they had not heard, and of hearing, without a preacher? Mark, reader, that Paul has fixed this matter forever; that it is in Christ Jesus that men were to be saved, since the foundation of the world, and in no other way; so that the ancients must either have known that they were in Christ, (we mean those among them who were saved,) or else they did not: if they did not they were saved in ignorance; and the old maxim with them holds good, that ignorance is the mother of devotion. But on this point there can be no difference of opinion among the candid; for to admit that any portion of the human family, were saved, at any time, or in any period of the world, without knowing how they were saved or by what means they were made partakers of the grace of life, is to suppose an improbability: that is, it is to suppose that they were saved, and were not saved at the same time; for the revelation of the plan of salvation was essential to the salvation of any of the human family. It mattered not how good the scheme of it was, which was devised in eternity, nor how well suited to the situation of man; nor how well calculated to save men; nor yet, how competent it was to save, still it would never have saved one individual since the world began, unless it had been revealed to him. Let it have remained secreted in the bosom of eternity, without its being made known to man, and the world would have been nothing the better of it; but would all have gone to destruction together.
Another thing which would appear very strange, is that there should be an Abel, an Enoch, and others, who had great power with God, who got many revelations from God, and had great faith, so as to obtain testimony that they were accepted of him, and that they pleased him; and yet with all that they knew, they did not know, nor understand the scheme of things, by which they had this power with God, and through which they obtained it.—Enoch prophesied of the coming of the Lord with ten thousand of his saints to judge the world; Jude 14th verse;—which judgment came by reason of the atonement of the anointed Savior, and it would be very strange indeed if Enoch should not have known any thing of the sacrifice of the Savior, and yet knew of his coming to judge the world, because they rejected the salvation which was offered to them by reason of that atonement, and not only knew of the sacrifice of the Savior; but of the way by which the world of mankind was made partakers of the benefits of that atonement; that is by being put into Christ Jesus, and that work of putting in by baptism, in watter [water], according to what Paul has said, "That as many of you as have been baptised into Christ, have put on Christ;" and I may add, that none others, but those who were baptised into Christ did put him on, or could put him on; for there was no other way of putting on Christ.
Who can doubt but that man who had faith sufficient to get revelations, and to obtain knowledge of the great day of judgment, when the Lord should come with ten thousand of his saints, who walked with him three hundred years, and had faith sufficient to be translated, who can doubt I say? but this man was acquainted with the whole scheme of life and salvation, or the gospel. No person can doubt it, but one who is incapable of judging any matters.
But the Scriptures are pointed on this subject, and so clear that a cavaler has no room left, only to show his unfairness and want of candor. Paul says to Timothy, in his second epistle, 1:9, 10, "Who hath saved us, and called us with a holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began; but is now made manifest by the offering of our Savior Jesus Christ, who hath abolished death, and hath brought life and immortality to light, through the gospel." If this statement be correct, life and immortality came to light by the gospel, the same as to say, that unless the gospel had come, life and immortality would not have come to light. Let us ask, when did life and immortality come to light? Before answering this question, let me ask, what is meant by life and immortality? I answer, the knowledge of a future existence, or an existence after the present state, in a state of superior glory; and this is the knowledge which came to light by the gospel. When did it come to light? Enoch had knowledge of life and immortality, or else he would not have had faith to have been translated; for could he have faith about a thing of which he never heard? And Paul says that this knowledge came to light by the gospel. If so, Enoch had knowledge of the gospel, and if he had knowledge of the gospel, he knew that men must be in Christ Jesus, or else they could not be blessed, and he must have known that men were put in Christ by baptism, or else there was another gospel, for this was the one which Paul preached, and which he said was before the foundation of the world, and by which we had grace in Christ, before the world was, and it was through this gospel that life and immortality came to light, and Enoch must have been put into Christ, according to the law of this gospel, or else he would not have walked with God three hundred years; for no man can walk with God unless he has obeyed the gospel; and Enoch must have been baptised for the remission of sins, and have received the gift of the Holy Spirit, by the laying on of the hands of some one who had authority from God so to do, or else he would not have known of life and immortality.
This matter will appear exceedingly plain, if we attend a little to the promises made to those who believe and obey the gospel. They were to those who were baptised for the remission of sins, that they should receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, and through this gift they should see visions, dream dreams and prophesy, see Acts of the Apostles, 2d chap. Let us look at Enoch then, and see what great knowledge he had of things of God, and ask him, how did you come to have this knowledge? The answer: By seeing visions. And how did you obtain power with God to see visions? The answer would be, I obeyed the gospel, received the Holy Spirit, and thereby saw visions, and through this means I obtained all my knowledge.