Doctrine and Covenants 138
Section 138
A vision given to President Joseph F. Smith in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 3, 1918. In his opening address at the 89th Semiannual General Conference of the Church, on October 4, 1918, President Smith declared that he had received several divine communications during the previous months. One of these, concerning the Savior’s visit to the spirits of the dead while His body was in the tomb, President Smith had received the previous day. It was written immediately following the close of the conference. On October 31, 1918, it was submitted to the counselors in the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, and the Patriarch, and it was unanimously accepted by them.
1–10, President Joseph F. Smith ponders upon the writings of Peter and our Lord’s visit to the spirit world;
11–24, President Smith sees the righteous dead assembled in paradise and Christ’s ministry among them;
25–37, He sees how the preaching of the gospel was organized among the spirits;
38–52, He sees Adam, Eve, and many of the holy prophets in the spirit world who considered their spirit state before their resurrection as a bondage;
53–60, The righteous dead of this day continue their labors in the world of spirits.
1 On the third of October, in the year nineteen hundred and eighteen, I sat in my room
pondering over the scriptures;
2 And
reflecting upon the great
atoning sacrifice that was made by the Son of God, for the
redemption of the world;
3 And the great and wonderful
love made manifest by the Father and the Son in the coming of the
Redeemer into the world;
4 That through his
atonement, and by
obedience to the principles of the gospel, mankind might be saved.
5 While I was thus engaged, my mind reverted to the writings of the apostle Peter, to the
primitive saints scattered abroad throughout
Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, and other parts of Asia, where the gospel had been
preached after the crucifixion of the Lord.
6 I opened the Bible and read the
third and fourth chapters of the first epistle of Peter, and as I read I was greatly
impressed, more than I had ever been before, with the following passages:
7 “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:
8 “By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in
prison;
9 “Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.” (
1 Peter 3:18–20.)
10 “For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (
1 Peter 4:6.)
11 As I
pondered over these things which are
written, the
eyes of my
understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord
rested upon me, and I saw the hosts of the
dead, both small and great.
12 And there were gathered together in one place an innumerable company of the spirits of the
just, who had been
faithful in the
testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality;
13 And who had offered
sacrifice in the
similitude of the great sacrifice of the Son of God, and had suffered
tribulation in their Redeemer’s
name.
14 All these had departed the mortal life, firm in the
hope of a glorious
resurrection, through the
grace of God the
Father and his
Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
15 I beheld that they were filled with
joy and gladness, and were rejoicing together because the day of their
deliverance was at hand.
16 They were assembled awaiting the advent of the Son of God into the
spirit world, to declare their
redemption from the
bands of death.
17 Their sleeping
dust was to be
restored unto its
perfect frame,
bone to his bone, and the sinews and the flesh upon them, the
spirit and the body to be united never again to be divided, that they might receive a fulness of
joy.
18 While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their
deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring
liberty to the
captives who had been faithful;
19 And there he
preached to them the everlasting
gospel, the doctrine of the
resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the
fall, and from individual sins on conditions of
repentance.
20 But unto the
wicked he did not go, and among the ungodly and the unrepentant who had
defiled themselves while in the flesh, his voice was not raised;
21 Neither did the
rebellious who rejected the
testimonies and the warnings of the ancient
prophets behold his
presence, nor look upon his face.
22 Where these were,
darkness reigned, but among the righteous there was
peace;
23 And the saints rejoiced in their
redemption, and bowed the
knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the
chains of
hell.
24 Their countenances
shone, and the
radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them, and they
sang praises unto his holy name.
25 I marveled, for I understood that the Savior spent about three years in his
ministry among the Jews and those of the house of Israel, endeavoring to
teach them the everlasting gospel and call them unto repentance;
26 And yet, notwithstanding his mighty works, and miracles, and proclamation of the truth, in great
power and authority, there were but
few who hearkened to his voice, and rejoiced in his presence, and received salvation at his hands.
27 But his ministry among those who were dead was limited to the
brief time intervening between the crucifixion and his resurrection;
28 And I wondered at the words of Peter—wherein he said that the Son of God preached unto the
spirits in prison, who sometime were disobedient, when once the long-suffering of God waited in the days of Noah—and how it was possible for him to preach to those spirits and perform the necessary labor among them in so short a time.
29 And as I wondered, my eyes were opened, and my understanding
quickened, and I perceived that the Lord went not in person among the
wicked and the disobedient who had rejected the truth, to teach them;
30 But behold, from among the righteous, he
organized his forces and appointed
messengers,
clothed with power and authority, and
commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel to them that were in
darkness, even to
all the spirits of men; and thus was the gospel preached to the dead.
31 And the chosen messengers went forth to declare the
acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim
liberty to the captives who were bound, even unto all who would
repent of their sins and receive the gospel.
32 Thus was the gospel preached to those who had
died in their sins, without a
knowledge of the truth, or in
transgression, having
rejected the prophets.
33 These were taught
faith in God, repentance from sin,
vicarious baptism for the
remission of sins, the
gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands,
34 And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be
judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.
35 And so it was made known among the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that redemption had been wrought through the
sacrifice of the Son of God upon the
cross.
36 Thus was it made known that our Redeemer spent his time during his sojourn in the world of
spirits, instructing and preparing the faithful spirits of the
prophets who had testified of him in the flesh;
37 That they might carry the message of redemption unto all the dead, unto whom he could not go personally, because of their
rebellion and transgression, that they through the ministration of his servants might also hear his words.
38 Among the great and
mighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation of the righteous were Father
Adam, the
Ancient of Days and father of all,
39 And our glorious
Mother Eve, with many of her faithful
daughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.
40
Abel, the first
martyr, was there, and his brother
Seth, one of the mighty ones, who was in the express
image of his father, Adam.
41
Noah, who gave warning of the flood;
Shem, the great
high priest;
Abraham, the father of the faithful;
Isaac,
Jacob, and Moses, the great
law-giver of Israel;
42 And
Isaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the
prison to them that were bound, were also there.
43 Moreover, Ezekiel, who was shown in vision the great valley of
dry bones, which were to be
clothed upon with flesh, to come forth again in the resurrection of the dead, living souls;
44 Daniel, who foresaw and foretold the establishment of the
kingdom of God in the latter days, never again to be destroyed nor given to other people;
45
Elias, who was with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration;
46 And
Malachi, the prophet who testified of the coming of
Elijah—of whom also Moroni spake to the Prophet Joseph Smith, declaring that he should come before the ushering in of the great and dreadful
day of the Lord—were also there.
47 The Prophet Elijah was to plant in the
hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers,
48 Foreshadowing the great work to be done in the
temples of the Lord in the
dispensation of the fulness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the
sealing of the children to their parents, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse and utterly wasted at his coming.
49 All these and many more, even the
prophets who dwelt among the Nephites and
testified of the coming of the Son of God, mingled in the vast assembly and waited for their deliverance,
50 For the
dead had looked upon the long absence of their
spirits from their bodies as a
bondage.
51 These the Lord taught, and gave them
power to come forth, after his resurrection from the dead, to enter into his Father’s kingdom, there to be crowned with
immortality and eternal life,
52 And continue thenceforth their labor as had been promised by the Lord, and be partakers of all
blessings which were held in reserve for them that love him.
53 The Prophet Joseph Smith, and my father, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and other choice
spirits who were
reserved to come forth in the
fulness of times to take part in laying the
foundations of the great latter-day work,
54 Including the building of the
temples and the performance of ordinances therein for the redemption of the
dead, were also in the spirit world.
55 I observed that they were also among the
noble and great ones who were
chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.
56 Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first
lessons in the world of spirits and were
prepared to come forth in the due
time of the Lord to labor in his
vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.
57 I beheld that the faithful
elders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the
preaching of the
gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the
spirits of the dead.
58 The dead who
repent will be redeemed, through obedience to the
ordinances of the house of God,
59 And after they have paid the
penalty of their transgressions, and are
washed clean, shall receive a
reward according to their
works, for they are heirs of salvation.
60 Thus was the
vision of the redemption of the dead revealed to me, and I bear record, and I know that this
record is
true, through the blessing of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, even so. Amen.
