Hear His Words

In the vision describing the three degrees of glory, Joseph Smith recorded this about the terrestrial kingdom: “And also they who are the spirits of men kept in prison, whom the Son visited, and preached the gospel unto them, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh; Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:73-74). This is very similar to the statement of Peter who said that Christ “went and preached unto the spirits in prison” (1 Peter 3:19). These two passages suggest that Christ Himself went and preached to those in spirit prison, but the vision that Joseph F. Smith had suggests something slightly different. He was studying this very passage from Peter and pondering its meaning when he saw a vision of the “hosts of the dead, both small and great.” Among other things, he saw an “innumerable company of the spirits of the just, who had been faithful in the testimony of Jesus while they lived in mortality.” He saw that “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; 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.” So the Savior came among the dead and preached the gospel to the righteous. But, President Smith recorded, “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” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:11-12, 18-20). So on the one hand section 76 and the writings of Peter suggest that Christ preached to the wicked who were spirits in prison, but this later revelation clearly teaches that Christ did not go in person to those spirits in prison. How do we understand these two different statements?

                President Smith seemed to be asking that same question in his vision. He recorded, “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.” He recorded the revelation he received in response to this question: “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; 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.” He recorded how these chosen messengers declared the principles of the gospel to those spirits in prison and said, “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; 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” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:28-30, 36-37).

               The key point for reconciling these passages I believe is in that last phrase: the spirits in prison did indeed “hear his words” even if they were physically spoken by messengers instead of the Savior Himself. As He said in another revelation: “whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” (Doctrine and Covenants 1:38, emphasis added). Peter could say that Christ preached unto the spirits in prison because the servants He sent spoke and taught those things He would say. He told the Seventy in mortality when He sent them forth to preach the gospel, “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me; and he that despiseth me despiseth him that sent me” (Luke 10:16). Matthew recorded the Savior’s words this way: “He that receiveth you receiveth me, and he that receiveth me receiveth him that sent me” (Matthew 10:40). Even if He did not go personally, His voice was indeed heard through the physical words of His servants but with the power of His Spirit. In a revelation to Oliver Cowdery, He said this: “For it is my voice which speaketh them unto you; for they are given by my Spirit unto you, and by my power you can read them one to another; and save it were by my power you could not have them; Wherefore, you can testify that you have heard my voice, and know my words” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:35-36). Oliver, in reading this revelation received by the Prophet Joseph, did not hear the physical voice of the Savior and yet because the words were given by the power of the Spirit, he could testify that he indeed had heard the voice of the Savior. In the same manner, those in spirit prison who hearkened to the words of the messengers sent by the Savior could testify that they had heard the voice of the Son. We each can hear the voice of the Lord in the same manner as we study His words and listen to the voice of the Spirit that witnesses to their truth, even if we do not see Him personally.