Temple Prep Course

I have decided to begin teaching a Temple Prep Course on Sundays in my office. I will be rotating with the other members of the Bishopric. I needed a place to put my preparations and thought this was as good a place as any. I have place the instructions from the manual in normal font some notes from a fellow Bishop who taught the course in italics and my study notes are in Courier font.

Lesson 1: The Temple Teaches about the Great Plan of Salvation

"Lesson 1: The Temple Teaches about the Great Plan of Salvation," Endowed from on High: Temple Preparation Seminar Teacher’s Manual, (2003)

Objective

“And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent” (John 17:3).

To help class members understand that the plan of salvation is taught in the temple.

Preparation

1. Before class begins, prepare a chalkboard or poster illustration of the incomplete diagram showing the plan of salvation (see page 3). (You may wish to make a similar incomplete diagram on a piece of paper for each class member to complete during class discussion.)

2. Make sure that each class member has access to a copy of the scriptures. Also provide a copy of the booklet Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple for each class member. These should have been ordered as part of the class materials.

3. You may want to assign several class members to help you with the second section of the lesson. You could give the scripture references mentioned under each part of the plan of salvation (premortal life, the Fall, etc.) to a class member and ask him or her to come to class prepared to summarize what these scriptures teach about the plan of salvation.

4. If the Come unto Me videocassette (53146) is available, you may want to show “Man’s Search for Happiness,” a 13-minute segment.

Lesson Presentation

The Temple Is a Spiritual School

Invite someone to give an opening prayer.

Before we can talk about how the temple is a spiritual school we need to lay some groundwork. There are some basic tenets of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that if understood would enhance our ability to understand what takes place in temples. 

1. There is a Father in Heaven, he loves and communicates with us his children. He has a son named Jesus Christ who's mission is critical to our happiness in this life.
3. Communication is done through the Holy Ghost, via Prophets often in scriptures. Communication has also been had through temples throughout time. 
4. Prophets are prophets by virtue of the priesthood keys they hold.
5. The priesthood is the authority to act in Heavenly Fathers name as directed by the Holy Ghost. 
6. From the days of Adam prophets with priesthood have been on the earth. 
7. Shortly after the Saviors death all the prophets had been killed. Thus the priesthood was no longer on the earth. 
8. The world entered a period of darkness where no prophets shared the word.
9. This period of darkness is known as the apostasy. 
10. Joseph Smith was looking for the truth.
11. Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ came to him and told him the truth had been lost and scattered and that he (Joseph) would restore it. 
12. Joseph Smith received the priesthood once again. He also found and translated further scriptures known as the Book of Mormon. He also started receiving revelation much of which is recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants. 
13. From the days of Joseph Smith the priesthood has been maintained on the earth and all the keys of that priesthood currently reside with our modern day prophet Thomas S Monson.
14. The modern day temple is founded on the above beliefs.  

1. What is the nature of God the Father and Jesus Christ?

1 Nephi 17:36 (the earth was created by them); 3 Nephi 27:13–22 (justice); John 3:16–17; 2 Nephi 9:6 (merciful); D&C 38:1–3 (knows all); Acts 17:27–29 (He is near and we are his children); Mosiah 4:9 (he hath all wisdom and power); D&C 130:22 (has a body of flesh and bones); Romans 8:16 (we are his children); 3 Nephi 12:48 (He is perfect); Moses 1:39 (His work and glory is our eternal life); Hebrews 12:9 (He is the father of our spirits); 3 Nephi 14:9–11 (He gives to us if we ask); Matthew 5:48 (he is perfect); 1 John 4:7–9 (He is love).


President Benson:
"In his lectures on faith, the Prophet Joseph Smith listed six divine attributes of God that men must understand in order to have faith in Him (see Lectures on Faith 3:12–24). The Book of Mormon bears constant witness that Christ possesses all these attributes.

First, God is the Creator and upholder of all things. King Benjamin said, “He created all things … he has all wisdom, and all power” (Mosiah 4:9).

Second, the excellency of the character of God, His mercy, long-suffering, and goodness. Alma testified that Christ is “full of grace, equity, and truth, full of patience, mercy, and long-suffering” (Alma 9:26).

Third, God changes not. Mormon revealed that God is not “a changeable being; but he is unchangeable from all eternity to all eternity” (Moro. 8:18).

Fourth, God cannot lie. The brother of Jared declared, “Thou art a God of truth, and canst not lie” (Ether 3:12).

Fifth, God is no respecter of persons. Mormon testified that “God is not a partial God” (Moro. 8:18).

Sixth, God is a God of love. Of this divine attribute Nephi wrote that the Lord “doeth not anything save it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he layeth down his own life” (2 Ne. 26:24).

Explain that the scriptures will be used in each lesson. Encourage class members to bring the scriptures to each class.

Distribute a copy of Preparing to Enter the Holy Temple to each class member. Explain that this is the student supplement for the course. Material from the booklet will be discussed throughout the lessons, and each class member should read the booklet during the weeks the course is taught.

Begin the lesson by explaining that the temple is a spiritual school that helps us learn more about the purpose of life and the plan of salvation.

Have class members read the following quotations, which explain some of what we learn in the temple:

President Gordon B. Hinckley said that the temple “becomes a school of instruction in the sweet and sacred things of God. Here we have outlined the plan of a loving Father in behalf of His sons and daughters of all generations. Here we have sketched before us the odyssey of man’s eternal journey from premortal existence through this life to the life beyond. Great fundamental and basic truths are taught with clarity and simplicity well within the understanding of all who hear” (“The Salt Lake Temple,” Ensign, Mar. 1993, 5–6).

President Brigham Young taught that the temple ordinance called the endowment gives us instruction necessary for eternal life: “Your endowment is, to receive all those ordinances in the house of the Lord, which are necessary for you, after you have departed this life, to enable you to walk back to the presence of the Father” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1954], 416).

Have class members read John 17:3.

• What does this scripture teach about the most important knowledge we can obtain?

Explain that in the temple, we learn more about Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and we are able to grow closer to Them. We learn about Their plan for us, which is referred to in the scriptures by various titles, such as the plan of redemption or plan of salvation.

“We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them” (Abraham 3:25).

• What has helped you learn about the plan of salvation thus far in your life?

• How has your understanding of the plan of salvation blessed your life?

In the Temple We Are Taught the Plan of Salvation

Explain that as part of the temple endowment, the plan of salvation is taught. This section of the lesson will help the class members prepare to understand these teachings in the temple.

Refer to the incomplete chalkboard illustration and review the following information, using the scriptures to help the class members understand the ideas. As the scriptures are discussed, write them on the appropriate lines on the chart (see the completed chart on page 5). If the class members have their own copies of the chart, have them add the scripture references to their charts.

If you have assigned class members to help you, ask them to present their information on the plan of salvation. Explain that this discussion will focus on the following questions: Where did we come from? Why are we here on earth? Where are we going after this life?

Premortal Life

The Fall

Mortal Life

From Death to Resurrection

Kingdoms of Glory

Premortal Life

1. We are spirit children of God, our Heavenly Father (Moses 6:51), and we lived with Him before coming to earth (see Romans 8:16–17).

a.       Do we have any ideas as to the location of the pre-earth life?

                                                              i.      Yes. In a poem written by the Prophet Joseph Smith, we find this line: “From the council in Kolob, to time on the earth” (“A Vision,” 82). If Kolob, the planet nearest to the residence of God, is where the Grand Council was held, it seems reasonable to suppose that it was also the planet upon which we resided in our premortal estate.

b.      What did we do there?

                                                              i.      We learn from Abraham 3:22-25 that the Great and Noble Ones helped to create the earth. We know that at the very least, Abraham was present. (see also Abraham 4:1, 26-27.)

c.       Was faith necessary in the pre-earth life?

                                                              i.      Absolutely! Alma 13:3 is an example of that.

                                                            ii.      Indeed, faith was the issue of the council in heaven when a third part was cast out. They did not have faith.

d.      Did sin exist in that place?

                                                              i.      Yes! Enough to make a devil out of Lucifer.

                                                            ii.      D&C 93:38 is a great example.

                                                          iii.      We had agency there. When there is agency there is the ability to act for better or worse.

e.       Did we make choices of companions and families before our mortal birth?

                                                              i.      Maybe. Some clearly were (Adam and Eve, Joseph and Mary, etc.) and some were not. The only way to tell is by revelation. Patriarchal blessings are helpful in this regard.

                                                            ii.      Another way of looking at it from the perspective of the Temple and sealings. They are eternal.

f.       Do the spirits of those yet to be born mingle with the spirits of those who have died?

                                                              i.      This can become an emotional issue not a doctrinal point so be careful.

                                                            ii.      The idea that premortal spirits will mingle with post-mortal spirits plays havoc with the doctrine that those who did not have an opportunity to accept the gospel in mortality will have that chance in the spirit world and thus “be judged according to men in the flesh” (1 Pet. 4:6; D&C 138:10). Surely to be surrounded by the unborn but faithful hosts of the premortal life would more than tip the scales in favor of accepting the gospel for those who did not hear it in mortality. No faith would be necessary in such cases, for the veil of forgetfulness would have been lifted.

The labor of the unborn spirit is to prepare itself for mortality; the labor of the disembodied spirit is to prepare for resurrection and the glories of an immortal world. Perhaps those differences in purpose are themselves sufficient to suggest a difference in place.

                                                          iii.      The only possible argument is in D&C 138. But that is not what is happening.

g.      To what extent do our actions in the premortal existence affect who and what we are in this life?

                                                              i.      The same question could be asked about the decisions of our childhood effecting our adulthood.

                                                            ii.      Alma 34:34 and D&C 130:18-19 and the doctrine of same-o, same-o.

                                                          iii.      Some have talents that were developed there that are manifest here.

                                                          iv.      Alma 13 is a wonderful example of foreordination.

h.      Were there fence sitters or those that did not make a decision?

                                                              i.      No!

                                                            ii.      Every person who came to earth chose to follow Christ, otherwise they would not have kept their first estate and come to the second estate.

2. Heavenly Father called a great council in heaven (see Abraham 3:22–23). He presented a plan for our eternal development and happiness, which is called the plan of salvation. We chose to follow His plan.

a.       Are we trying to return to this location? No we are trying to stay here on earth.

b.      Whose plan is it?

c.       How many plans were presented?

d.      Why is this important?

                                                              i.      God asked, “Whom shall I send?” not “What shall I do?”

3. In harmony with the plan, Jesus Christ, the Firstborn Son of Heavenly Father, volunteered to be our Savior (see Moses 4:2; Abraham 3:27).

a.       The “Firstborn” and the “first” to harmonize the two verses.

4. Lucifer, another son of God, rebelled against Heavenly Father’s plan and “sought to destroy the agency of man.” He and his followers were cast out of heaven and were denied the privileges of receiving a physical body and experiencing mortality. Throughout the ages, Satan, as Lucifer is now called, has tried to make all mankind miserable like himself by tempting them to be wicked (see Moses 4:1, 3–4; 2 Nephi 2:17–18).

a.       His intent was not forced obedience, at least not the way I understand it.

b.      There is nothing in his vocabulary that speaks of righteousness. It is foreign to him.

“When the Eternal Father announced his plan of salvation—a plan that called for a mortal probation for all his spirit children; a plan that required a Redeemer to ransom men from the coming fall; a plan that could only operate if mortal men had agency—when the Father announced his plan, when he chose Christ as the Redeemer and rejected Lucifer, then there was war in heaven. That war was a war of words; it was a conflict of ideologies; it was a rebellion against God and his laws. Lucifer sought to dethrone God, to sit himself on the divine throne, and to save all men without reference to their works. He sought to deny men their agency so they could not sin. He offered a mortal life of carnality and sensuality, of evil and crime and murder, following which all men would be saved. His offer was a philosophical impossibility. There must needs be an opposition in all things. Unless there are opposites, there is nothing. There can be no light without darkness, no heat without cold, no virtue without vice, no good without evil, no salvation without damnation.

“And so, in the courts of heaven, the war of wars was waged. Christ and Michael and a mighty host of noble and great spirits preached the gospel of God and exhorted their brethren to follow the Father. Lucifer and his lieutenants preached another gospel, a gospel of fear and hate and lasciviousness and compulsion. They sought salvation without keeping the commandments, without overcoming the world, without choosing between opposites. And they “prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” And his legions, the legions of hell, are everywhere. They are “the third part of the stars of heaven,” the one-third of the spirit children of the Father; and they were cast out of their heavenly home because of rebellion. And so the holy word says: “Woe to the inhabiters of the earth and of the sea! for the devil is come down unto you, having great wrath.” And he goes forth “to make war” with all men and particularly with those who “keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” (Rev. 12:4-17.) And the war that is now going on among men, the war between good and evil, is but a continuation of the war that began in heaven.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Millennial Messiah, 666-7.)

c.       Elder C. Max Caldwell has written: “Jesus had the authority of his Father to do all things in his behalf. So when Lucifer rebelled against Jesus, he was rebelling against presiding priesthood authority. Consequently, Lucifer was cast out of heaven—not for transgressing, but for rebelling. Transgressors can be forgiven when they repent. But rebels alienate themselves from presiding authority and refuse to yield to directives or counsel from that authority and will not change. The issue is not that they can’t repent when they do wrong; the problem is that they won’t. That is what rebellion is. It is a dangerous practice to be rebellious. Even so-called small, deliberate departures from heeding counsel of priesthood authority can cause a corresponding loss of spirituality and establish a pattern of justifying contrary behavior.” (C. Max Caldwell, Power From on High, p. 32)

d.      In a General Conference (October 2008), Elder Hamula taught the following: Understand, my young friends, that there is only one way to win the war against Satan, and that is to win it in the same way it was won in the beginning. When victory was finally achieved in the War in Heaven, a loud voice was heard to declare: “Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ. . . . For they [referring to Michael and his angels] have overcome him [referring to the devil] by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word of their testimony; for they loved not their own lives, but kept the testimony even unto death.” (JST Revelation 12:9, 11.) Do not miss the significance of this declaration. Satan was overcome in the beginning by (1) faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice (D&C 76:53), (2) testimony of Him that was steadfastly kept to the very end, and (3) consecration of oneself to the Lord and His work. If this was the means for defeating him in the beginning, you can be sure that this is the one sure way to defeat him now.

The Fall

Why do we need to understand what takes place in the Creation and the Garden?

            If we want to understand where we are going, then we need to comprehend where we have come from.

Why study the Fall?

“Just as a man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ.

“No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind. And no other book in the world explains this vital doctrine nearly as well as the Book of Mormon.” Ezra Taft Benson, A Witness and a Warning: A Modern-Day Prophet Testifies of the Book of Mormon, 33.)

Why else should we study the Fall? Elder McConkie called it one of the Three Pillars of Eternity. The Atonement is to answer the effects of the Fall, the Fall came about because of the special way in which the earth and the human family was created, and the Atonement brings us back into the paradisiacal state that existed in Eden (but better!). 

1. Adam and Eve were chosen to be the first of Heavenly Father’s children to come to earth and were placed in the Garden of Eden. At that time, their bodies were not mortal (see Moses 3:7–8, 21–23).

Adam and Eve were created by Heavenly Father

·         Moses 2:27: “I God, created man in mine own image, in the image of mine Only Begotten created I him; make and female created I them.”

·         Luke 3:38: Luke providing the genealogy of Jesus, spoke of Cainan, who “was the son of Enos, which was the son of Seth, which was the son of Adam, which was the son of God” (emphasis added).

·         Moses 6:22: “And this is the genealogy of the sons of Adam, who was the son of God, with whom God, himself, conversed” (emphasis added).

o   In offering commentary on this scripture, a modern Apostle said, “This statement… has a deep and profound significance and also means what it says.” (DNTC 1:73).

·         I don’t think we fully appreciate a statement from Joseph Smith when he taught, 11 days before his death: Where was there ever a son without a father? And where was there ever a father without first being a son? Whenever did a tree or anything spring into existence without a progenitor? And everything comes in this way.” (Teachings, p. 373.)

·         Benjamin F. Johnson, a close friend to the Prophet Joseph wrote: “[Joseph Smith] taught us that God was the great head of human procreation—was really and truly the Father of both our spirits and our bodies.” (Letter to George F. Gibbs, October 1903.)

·         Brigham Young taught: “God has made His children like Himself, to stand erect, and has endowed them with intelligence and power and dominion over all His works and given them the same attributes which He Himself possess. He created man, as we create our children; for there is no other process of creation in heaven, on the earth, in the earth, or under the earth or in all the eternities, that is, that were, or that ever will be… There exist fixed laws and regulations by which the elements are fashioned… and this process of creation is from everlasting to everlasting.” (JD 11:122, emphasis added.)

·         Joseph F. Smith taught it this way: “God is a being with body, parts, and passions and… His Son is in His own likeness, and… man is created in the image of God. The Son, Jesus Christ, grew and developed into manhood the same as you or I, as likewise did God, His Father grow and develop to the Supreme Being that He now is. Man was born of woman; Christ the Savior, was born or woman. Adam, our earthly parent, was also born of woman into this world, the same as Jesus and you and I.” (Deseret Evening News, 27 December 1913, Sec. 3, p. 7, emphasis added.)

·         Brigham Young added: “Adam was conversant with our earthly parents. The Father frequently came to visit his son Adam, and talked and walked with him; and the children of Adam were more or less acquainted with their Grandfather, and their Great-Grandfather.” (JD 9:148.)

·         Brigham Young, expanding on something that Joseph taught (Teachings, p. 300-301), taught: “We have not the power in the flesh to create and bring forth or produce a spirit; but we have the power to produce a temporal body. The germ of this, God has placed within us. And when our spirits receive our bodies [in the resurrection], and through our faithfulness we are worthy to be crowned, we will then receive authority to produce both spirit and body.” (JD 15:137.)

·         On another occasion Brigham Young explained to the Saints: “You have got a spirit in you, and that spirit was created and organized—was born and begotten by our Father and our God before we ever took these bodies; and these bodies were formed by him, and through him, and of him, just as much as the spirit was; for I will tell you, he commenced and brought forth spirits; and then, when he completed that work, he commenced and brought forth tabernacles for those spirits to dwell in. I came through him, both spirit and body.” (JD 6:31.)

·         Again, Joseph F. Smith: “Man has descended from God. In fact, he is the same race as the Gods. His descent has not been from a lower form of life, but from the highest form of life; in other words, man is, in the most literal sense a child of God. This is not only true of the spirit of man, but of his body also.” (Church News, 19 September 1936, p. 8.)

·         It might be wondered, then, how is Christ considered the “Only Begotten”? Clearly, Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. Adam received an immortal body and was placed on earth in a spiritual and immortal condition. Adam was born of an immortal mother, Christ of the mortal woman, Mary. Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written, “Christ is universally attested in the scriptures to be the Only Begotten. At this point, as we consider the ‘creation’ of Adam, and lest there be any misunderstanding, we must remember that Adam was created in immortality, but that Christ came to earth as a mortal; thus our Lord is the Only Begotten in the flesh, meaning into this mortal sphere of existence. Adam came to earth to dwell in immortality until the Fall changed his status to that of mortality.” (“Eve and the Fall,” in Woman, pp. 60-61.)

o    In what two conditions were Adam and Eve in before the Fall?

• A Spiritual State – physical/immortal
• Alma 11:45
• 1 Corinthians 15:44
• D&C 88:27-28
• Moses 3:7-9
• Innocence – 2 Nephi 2:23

2. Adam and Eve chose to eat the fruit that God had forbidden them to eat. As a result, they were separated from God’s presence. This separation is called spiritual death. They became mortal, which means that their physical bodies would eventually die. They also became able to have children. The change to the mortal condition is called the Fall (see 2 Nephi 2:19–25; D&C 29:40–41).

o    Why is it called a Fall?

§  Moving from a Celestial State (in which there was no death, no sin, etc. to a Terrestrial State)

§  Death entered the world (Moses 6:48)

§  Out of presence of God

§  Reliance on a Mediator, a Redeemer

o    Why did God not create man fallen to begin with?

§  God does not create temporality.

§  The Fall was about accountability – it still is.

§  Why is accountability so important?

o    Was the Fall planned?

• 2 Nephi 2:24

o    Was the Fall immediate or a process?

• The spiritual Fall was immediate
• The physical Fall was a process
• A Manuscript of the JST and a journal from Edward Stevenson both taught that Adam lived 1,000 years save six months.

o    Is the Fall of Adam literal or figurative?

§  To what extent did the Fall of Adam and Eve affect the whole world?

§  To the extent that the Atonement affects the whole world.

o    Was the partaking of the forbidden fruit literal or figurative?

§  “What is meant by partaking of the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is that our first parents complied with whatever laws were involved so that their bodies would change from their state of paradisiacal immortality to a state of natural mortality.” (BRM, Christ and the Creation, Ensign 1982, p.15.)

o    What was the serious sin or transgression in the Garden?

§  The serious sin (transgression) of Adam and Eve was that they disobeyed the counsel of their Father, listened to Satan, and then followed Satan’s ideas. TRUE, D&C 20:17-20

o    Adam and Eve would not have had any children had they not partaken of the forbidden fruit. TRUE, 2 Nephi 2:22-23, Moses 5:11

o    The death suffered by Adam and Eve first was first (1) physical, or (2) spiritual? Why? What does each death entail?

§  Alma 12:26-32

§  Alma 42:2-6

o    If Adam and Eve made it back to the tree of life after partaking of the fruit of the “Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil,” they could negate the effects of the Fall on their bodies and lived forever. Thus, God placed Cherubim to stop them.

§  (maybe, this is possible figurative), Alma 12:23, Alma 42:2-6, Adam and Tim and the Mission

o    Does the atonement brings every person back into the presence of God thereby overcoming even spiritual death for all of us (qualified statement).

§  Yes, Helaman 14:17, Alma 42:23

o    Do we believe in original sin? Why does the Book of Moses insist that we were conceived in sin? Or in other words, what does it mean?

§  Moses 6:55. It is blood.

o    What is it about the Fall and blood that makes us evil?

§  Book of Mormon prophets are united in teaching that it is because of the “flesh,” meaning blood, that Satan has power over us and that as long as we have blood coursing in our veins, meaning that as long as we are subject to death, Satan will have power to tempt us.

§  Nephi said, “If I do err, even did they err of old; not that I would excuse myself because of other men, but because of weakness which is in me, according to the flesh, I would excuse myself” (1 Nephi 19:6; italics added).

§  Lehi, enjoined us to keep the commandments of the Messiah and “not choose eternal death, according the will of the flesh and the evil which is there in” which he said, “giveth the spirit of the devil power” to take us captive and lead us down to hell.” (2 Nephi 2:29; italics added).

§  In like manner, we remember Nephi’s expression of lament, “O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which so easily beset me” (2 Nephi 4:17-18; italics added).

§  Jacob stated the matter thus, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not the will of the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved” (2 Nephi 10:24; italics added).

§  “We are unworthy before thee” the brother of Jared said in prayer, “because of the fall our natures have become evil continually” (Ether 3:2; italics added). 

§  By contrast we note with interest the description of translated beings given to us in 3 Nephi. There must be a change “wrought upon their bodies or else it needs be that they must taste of death.” This change resulted in their not being able to suffer pain or sorrow except for the sins of the world. “Now this change was not equal to that which shall take place at the last day; but there was a change wrought upon them, insomuch that Satan could have no power over them, that he could not tempt them; and they were sanctified in the flesh, that they were holy, and that the powers of the earth could not hold them” (3 Nephi 28:37-39).

§  It is blood that gives death dominion over the physical tabernacle.

§  Immortal beings do not differ from mortals in appearance or nature but rather in that the fluid that flows in their veins.

§  Orson Pratt taught: “Death had no dominion over his [Adam’s] tabernacle: the principle of blood which flows in the mortal tabernacles of men did not exist in his immortal body, but his veins and arteries contained a fluid of a far purer nature than that of blood: in other words, they were filled with the spirit of life, which was calculated to preserve them in immortality.” (JD 7:254.)

• The test of mortality is mortality: to overcome our carnal desires (Mosiah 16:4-5)
• Mosiah 3:19 is saying we are all naturally evil (because of the fall and the blood) and we must do something that is unnatural to Telestial bodies—act terrestrial or even celestial through the Atonement of Christ.
• In the act of the Atonement, what was it that Christ purged from his body?
• Mortality or blood.

• Why must we understand the doctrine of the creation in order to understand the doctrine of the fall?

• Without the knowledge that Adam and Eve were literally the children of divine parents we are without the hope that we too are of the same family and that we through Christ can be reconciled to God.

• The purpose of the atonement is to take us back to God not to make of us something that we never were.

• The purpose of the atonement to correct all the evils of the fall. It is to create again a deathless state, a sinless state, a place without wickedness and sin, etc.

• Did Adam and Eve fall up, down, or forward?
• The Fall “had a twofold direction—downward, yet forward. It brought man into the world and set his feet upon progression’s highway” (Orson F. Whitney, in Cowley and Whitney on Doctrine, 287).

• The 2^nd Article of Faith says we are not accountable for Adam’s transgression, what about Adam?
• Moses 6:53

• To what extent did the Fall of Adam and Eve affect the whole world?
• To the extent of which the earth will be restored (AF 10)    
• D&C 101:24-25 – terrestrial earth all becomes new
• D&C 29:24 – celestial earth all become new
• 2 Nephi 2:22 – “all things”

Mortal Life

1. All those who chose in the premortal life to follow Heavenly Father’s plan gain a physical body by being born on this earth. During our mortal life, we are tested to see whether we are willing to live by faith and obey Heavenly Father’s commandments when we are not in His physical presence (see Alma 34:32; Abraham 3:24–26).

• What is the test? Abraham 3:24-26
• Do we have help in this test?
• YES!, where?
• The Articles of Faith and the answers at the end of the book

2. In mortality, each person is free to choose whether he or she will follow God or follow Satan (see 2 Nephi 2:27).

• Why is agency so important?
• What is agency?

READ D&C 29:34-35

Interestingly Webster’s 1828 dictionary (the one Joseph reasonably used) says this:

Agency: “Exerting power,” or “state of being in action.”-no mention of right of choice.

·         Act

·         Active

• Actor
• Agent
• Action
• Principal

Agent is defined as “one who is entrusted with the business of another”

* What is a free agent is sports terms?

* What can a free agent do?

* Once someone has signed with a team what can that agent now do?

* What does it mean to be an “agent unto himself”?

* Who are we agents for?

* Then what do we have a right to do when we exercise “agency”?

We are called moral agents in the scriptures. (D&C 101:78)

* What does that mean we are obligated to do?

READ D&C 29:36

* What was it that the devil was trying to do with agency?

            - He was seeking to destroy agency (Moses 4:3)

Agency was a major factor in war in heaven—

·         Moses 4:1-4

• D&C 29:36-37

Compare BRM’s definition with the popular ideas of Satan’s proposal (2 Nephi 28:7).

BRM’s definition: “When the Eternal Father announced his plan of salvation-a plan that called for a mortal probation for all his spirit children; a plan that required a Redeemer to ransom men from the coming fall; a plan that could only operate if mortal men had agency-when the Father announced his plan, when he chose Christ as the Redeemer and rejected Lucifer, then there was war in heaven. That war was a war of words; it was a conflict of ideologies; it was a rebellion against God and his laws. Lucifer sought to dethrone God, to sit himself on the divine throne, and to save all men without reference to their works. He sought to deny men their agency so they could not sin. He offered a mortal life of carnality and sensuality, of evil and crime and murder, following which all men would be saved. His offer was a philosophical impossibility. There must needs be an opposition in all things. Unless there are opposites, there is nothing. There can be no light without darkness, no heat without cold, no virtue without vice, no good without evil, no salvation without damnation.” (Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah: The Second Coming of the Son of Man, p. 666.)

After the Fall, when Adam and Eve became parents, the Lord said, “It is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves” (Moses 6:56,).

There needs to be an understanding of balance. Because we are given our agency does not mean we have the right to re-decide the 10 commandments.

No such thing as “free agency” for we are “bought with a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19)

How important is agency?

BRM for agency to exist (from Mormon Doctrine):

1.   Laws

2.   Opposites

3.   Knowledge of good and evil

4.   Unfettered power of choice

JFS in CR.

“I have heard people say, and members of the Church too, “I have a right to do as I please.” My answer is: No, you do not. You haven’t any right at all to do just as you please. There is only one right that you have, and that is to do just what I read to you: keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. He has a perfect right to tell us so. We have no right to refuse. I do not care who the man is; I do not care where he lives, or what he is-when the gospel of Jesus Christ is presented to him, he has no right to refuse to receive it. He has the privilege. He is not compelled to receive it, because our Father in heaven has given to everyone of us in the Church and out, the gift of free agency. That free agency gives us the privilege to accept and be loyal to our Lord’s commandments, but it has never given us the right to reject them. Every man who rejects the commandments of our Father in heaven is rebellious.” (President Joseph Fielding Smith, CR, April 1967, p. 120-121.)

Henry D. Moyle mission story.

“Henry D. Moyle, counselor to President David O. McKay, explained the principle of agency in a missionary conference I attended years ago. Apparently he had been told that some missionaries in the mission had said that they had their “free agency” and therefore they didn’t have to get up at six in the morning unless they wanted to.

“President Moyle explained that it had been our right to choose whether we served a mission or not, but now having chosen to serve a mission we had exhausted our agency on that matter. We now had no right but to get up in the morning and do the things required to be a good missionary.

“It is important that we understand this principle. In saying that we exhausted our agency President Moyle meant that we had exhausted our right of choice on that particular matter.”

D&C 93:31-33 - agency and condemnation of man. Why both?

When did we become moral agents in the Priesthood? D&C 84:32-41.

Application:

Home teaching            Prepared in class.

Death and Resurrection

1. When we die, our spirits enter the spirit world, and our bodies remain on earth. This period of separation continues until the time of our resurrection. The spirits of the righteous are received into a state of peace and happiness, which is called paradise. The spirits of the wicked are placed in a state of darkness, which is sometimes referred to as a prison (see Alma 40:9–14; see also 1 Peter 3:19).

READ Alma 40:6

Why is it needful to have a space of time?

Draw the Spirit World diagram

Is there really a division or is it just on a diagram to help us understand the doctrine?

How soon do we see God after death?

READ Alma 40:11

* If at death we enter the spirit world, not God’s actual presence, how are we to understand Alma’s words?

“These words of Alma as I understand them, do not intend to convey the thought that all spirits go back into the presence of God for an assignment to a place of peace or a place of punishment and before him receive their individual sentence. ‘Taken home to God,’ simply means that their mortal existence has come to an end, and they have returned to the world of spirits, where they are assigned to a place according to their works with the just or with the unjust, there to await the resurrection. ‘Back to God’ is a phrase which finds an equivalent in many other well-known conditions. For instance: a man spends a stated time in some foreign mission field. When he is released and returns to the United States, he may say, ‘It is wonderful to be back home’; yet this one may be somewhere in Utah or Idaho or some other part of the west.” (Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Question, 2:84-86, emphasis added.)

Brigham Young renders this verse a “little plainer”

“You read in the Bible [Ecclesiastes 12:5] that when the spirit leaves the body it goes to God who gave it. Now tell me where God is not, if you please; you cannot. How far would you have to go in order to go to God, if your spirits were unclothed? Would you have to go out of this bowery to find God, if you were in the spirit? If God is not here, we had better reserve this place to gather the wicked into, for they will desire to be where God is not. The Lord Almighty is here by His Spirit, by His influence, by His presence. I am not in the north end of this bowery, my body is in the south end of it, but my influence and my voice extend to all parts of it; in like manner is the Lord here.

It reads that the spirit goes to God who gave it. Let me render this scripture a little plainer; when the spirits leave their bodies they are in the presence of our Father and God, they are prepared then to see, hear and understand spiritual things. But where is the spirit world? It is incorporated within this celestial system. Suppose the Lord should touch your eyes that you might see, could you then see the spirits? Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies, as did the servant of Elijah. If the Lord would permit it, and it was His will that it should be done, you could see the spirits that have departed from this world, as plainly as you now see bodies with your natural eyes.” (President Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 3:368. (Emphasis added))

At death we don’t enter God’s presence

“As for my going into the immediate presence of God when I die, I do not expect it, but I expect to go into the world of spirits and associate with my brethren, and preach the Gospel in the spiritual world, and prepare myself in every necessary way to receive my body again, and then enter through the wall [veil] into the celestial world. I never shall come into the presence of my Father and God until I have received my resurrected body, neither will any other person.” (Elder Heber C. Kimball, Journal of Discourses, 3:112-113. (Emphasis added))

Where is the Spirit World?

“When you lay down this tabernacle, where are you going? Into the spiritual world. Are you going into Abraham’s bosom? No, not anywhere near there but into the spirit world. Where is the spirit world? It is right here. Do the good and evil spirits go together? Yes, they do. Do they both inhabit one kingdom? Yes, they do. Do they go to the sun? No. Do they go beyond the boundaries of the organized earth? No, they do not.

The Prophet lays down his body, he lays down his life, and his spirit goes to the world of spirits; the persecutor of the Prophet dies, and he goes to Hades; they both go to one place, and they are not to be separated yet.” (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 376-80, Emphasis added.)

Spirit Prison

READ Bible Dictionary, “Hell,” first paragraph. (Jesus technically went to hell.)

READ D&C 45:17; 138:50

            The spirits there, even the righteous, look upon the long absence of their spirits from their bodies as a bondage.

Brigham Young once said, “I know it is a startling idea, to say that the Prophet [Joseph Smith] and the persecutor of the Prophet, all go to prison together… But they have not got their bodies yet, consequently they are in prison.” (JD 3:95)

Joseph Smith explained: “Hades, the Greek, or Sheol, the Hebrew, these two significations mean a world of spirits. Hades, Sheol, paradise, spirits in prison, are all one; it is a world of spirits. The righteous and the wicked all go to the same world of spirits until the resurrection” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 310).

Paradise

“There has been much said…about the words of Jesus (when on the cross) to the thief, saying ‘This day shalt thou be with me in paradise.’ King James’ translators make it out to say paradise. But what is paradise? It is a modern word: it does not answer at all to the original word that Jesus made use of. There is nothing in the original word in Greek from which this was taken that signifies paradise; but it was—This day thou shalt be with me in the world of the spirits.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 309.)

READ Alma 40:11-16

* How does Alma define paradise and prison (outer darkness)?

Spirits are not far from us

“When men are prepared, they are better off to go hence. …The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work; hence they are blessed in their departure to the world of spirits. Enveloped in flaming fire, they are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and emotions, and are often pained therewith.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 326.)

Righteous spirits are not denied the privilege of looking in on us

“. . . those who labor so diligently in their moral estate to establish the cause of Zion would not be denied the privilege of looking down upon the results of their own labors from their post mortal estate. . . they are as deeply interested in our welfare today, if not with greater capacity, with far more interest, behind the veil, than they were in the flesh. . . Sometimes the Lord expands our vision from this point of view and this side of the veil, so that we feel and seem to realize that we can look beyond the thin veil which separates us from that other sphere.” (President Joseph F. Smith, Conference Report, April 1916, p. 1-8.)

If we could see beyond the veil, suicide would be a temptation

“Charles Walker quoted Wilford Woodruff who quoted Joseph Smith as follows:  ‘if the people knew what was behind the veil, they would try by every means to commit suicide that they might get there, but the Lord in his wisdom has implanted the fear of death in every person that they might cling to life and thus accomplish the designs of their creator.’ ” (Cited in: Studies in Scripture, vol. 1, The Doctrine and Covenants, R. Millet and K. Jackson, p. 307.)

Spirits are tangible

“Spirits are just as familiar with spirits as bodies are with bodies, though spirits are composed of matter so refined as not to be tangible to this coarser organization.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 379.)

Spirit creations still remain

“The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible. They move with ease like lightning… If we want to behold Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior, or see the Garden of Eden as it was when created, there we are, and see it as it existed spiritually, for it was created first spiritually and then temporally, and spiritually it still remains.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 380.)

Proxy baptisms on earth

“Every man that has been baptized and belongs to the kingdom has a right to be baptized for those who have gone before; and as soon as the law of the Gospel is obeyed here by their friends who act as proxy for them, the Lord has administrators there to set them free.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 367.)

Men are called to the other side

“The Prophet Joseph Smith held the keys of this dispensation on this side of the veil, and he will hold them throughout the countless ages of eternity. He went into the spirit world to unlock the prison doors and to preach the gospel to the millions of spirits who are in darkness, and every apostle, every seventy, every elder, etc., who has died in the faith as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry, and there is a thousand times more to preach there than there is here. I have felt of late as if our brethren on the other side of the veil had held a council, and that they had said to this one, and that one, ‘cease thy work on the earth, come hence, we need help,’ and they have called this man and that man. It has appeared so to me in seeing the many men who have been called from our midst lately.

“Perhaps I may be permitted to relate a circumstance with which I am acquainted in relation to Bishop Roskelley, of Smithfield, Cache Valley. On one occasion he was suddenly taken very sick—near to death’s door. While he lay in this condition, President Peter Maughan, who was dead, came to him and said: ‘Brother Roskelley, we held a council on the other side of the veil. I have had a great deal to do, and I have the privilege of coming here to appoint one man to come and help. I have had three names given to me in council, and you are one of them. I want to inquire into your circumstances.’ The bishop told him what he had to do, and they conversed together as one man would converse with another. President Maughan then said to him: ‘I think I will not call you. I think you are wanted here more than perhaps one of the others.’ Bishop Roskelley got well from that hour. Very soon after, the second man was taken sick, but not being able to exercise sufficient faith, Brother Roskelley did not go to him. By and by this man recovered, and on meeting Brother Roskelley he said: ‘Brother Maughan came to me the other night an told me he was sent to call one man from the ward,’ and he named two men as had been done to Brother Roskelley. A few days afterwards the third man was taken sick and died.

“Now, I name this to show a principle. They have work on the other side of the veil; and they want men, and they call them. And that was my view in regard to Brother George A. Smith. When he was almost at death’s door, Brother Cannon administered to him, and in thirty minutes he was up, and ate breakfast with his family. We labored with him in this way, but ultimately, as you know, he died. But it taught me a lesson. I felt that man was wanted behind the veil. We labored also with Brother Pratt; he too, was wanted behind the veil.

“Now. . . those of us who are left here have a great work to do. We have been raised up of the Lord to take this kingdom and bear it off. This is our duty, but if we neglect our duty and set our hearts upon the things of this world, we will be sorry for it.” (President Wilford Woodruff, Journal of Discourses, 22:333-334.)

Elder Maxwell:

“We do not control what I call the great transfer board in the sky. The inconveniences that are sometimes associated with release from our labors here are necessary in order to accelerate the work there. Heavenly Father can't do His work with ten times more people than we have on this planet, except He will on occasion take some of the very best sisters and brothers. The conditions of termination here, painful though they are, are a part of the conditions of acceleration there. Thus we are back to faith in the timing of God, and to be able to say Thy timing be done, even when we do not fully understand it.” (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, Glorify Christ, p. 7.)

What do righteous spirits do in the Spirit World?

D&C 138 (the whole section)

“Father Smith and Carlos and Brother Partridge, yes, and every other good Saint, are just as busy in the spirit world as you and I are here. They can see us, but we cannot see them. . . they are preaching, preaching all the time . . . they are hurrying to get ready by the time we are ready, and we are all hurrying to get ready by the time our Elder Brother is ready. . . . What! A congregated mass of inhabitants there in spirit, mingling with each other, as they do here? Yes, brethren, they are there together, and if they associate together, and collect together, in clans and in societies as they do here, it is their privilege. . . they have to do with each other, both good and bad. . . .

If a person is baptized for the remission of sins, and dies a short time thereafter, he is not prepared at once to enjoy a fulness of the glory . . . he must be schooled, while in the spirit, in the other departments of the house of God, passing on from truth to truth, from intelligence to intelligence . . . We cannot enter into celestial glory in our present state of ignorance and mental darkness.

[T]he fallen spirits—Lucifer and the third part of the heavenly hosts that came with him, and the spirits of wicked men who have dwelt upon this earth, the whole of them combined will have no influence over our spirits. Is not that an advantage? Yes. All the rest of the children of men are more or less subject to them. . . . Spirits are just as familiar with spirits as bodies are with bodies. . . they walk, converse, and have their meetings. . . . We have more friends behind the veil than on this side, and they will hail us more joyfully than you were ever welcomed by your parents and friends in this world. . .

[E]verything there will appear as natural as things now do. Spirits will be familiar with spirits in the spirit world. . . they exercise every variety of communication . . . as familiarly and naturally as while here in tabernacles. If we want to visit Jerusalem, or this, that, or the other place—and I presume we will be permitted if we desire—there we are, looking at its streets. . . . Here, we are continually troubled with ills and ailments of various kinds. In the spirit world we are free from all this and enjoy life, glory, and intelligence; and . . . angels speak to us, and we shall enjoy the society of the just.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 378-381.)

At death do we receive a restoration of our memory of the premortal existence?

If the sacred truths of heaven are dispensed in this life according to the preparation we have made, we can have every assurance that the same will be the case in the spirit world. The memory of our premortal experience will be revealed to us only as we are worthy to receive it. This means that some will never have that knowledge restored to them. The idea that at death our memory of the premortal existence is restored to us disrupts any notion that the blessings of the gospel are dispensed there as they are here or, as Peter said it, “according to men in the flesh” (1 Peter 4:6).

READ also Alma 12:9-11.

Can it properly be said that if someone goes to paradise at death, his or her calling and election is made sure?

Yes. Abraham teaches the principle (Abraham 3:26). See also Alma 7:25 (to go no more out).

What do wicked spirits do in the Spirit World?

Brigham Young gave one thought:

Every person who desires and strives to be a Saint is closely watched by fallen spirits that came here when Lucifer fell, and by the spirits of wicked persons who have been here in tabernacles and departed from them, but who are still under the control of the prince of the power of the air. Those spirits are never idle; they are watching every person who wishes to do right, and are continually prompting them to do wrong. This makes it necessary for us to be continually on our guard—makes this probation a continual warfare. We do not expect to be idle… in the flesh. It is a spiritual warfare. He [the Saint] contends against the spirits of darkness and against the workers of iniquity, and wars all the day long against his own passions that pertain to fallen man. It is therefore necessary that the people speak often one with another, encourage each other in every good word and work, sustain every one in every good act, operate against every evil act, and continue so to do through life. (JD 7:239)

Similarly, George Q. Cannon taught:

We, as a people and as individuals, do not sufficiently realize the importance of keeping guard upon ourselves, and upon our feelings, and of resisting the influences that surround us…. There are influences in the atmosphere that are invisible to us that, while we are here upon the earth, we ought to resist with all our might, mind, and strength—influences which, if we would be led by them, would lead us to destruction—influences that are opposed to the Spirit of God—influences that would bring upon us destruction here and hereafter, if we would yield to them. These influences we have to resist… if our eyes were open to see the spirit world around us, we should feel differently on this subject than we do; we would not be so unguarded and careless, and so indifferent whether we had the spirit and power of God with us or not; but we would be continually watchful and prayerful to our heavenly Father for His Holy Spirit and His holy angels to be around about us to strengthen us to overcome every evil influence. (JD 11:29-30)

  

2. The Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ provide the way for all mankind to overcome physical death by being resurrected. Resurrection means that our spirits and perfected bodies will be reunited for eternity (see 1 Corinthians 15:22; 2 Nephi 9:10–13; Alma 11:42–44).

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (Articles of Faith 1:3).

1.       

The Prophet Joseph Smith said, “The doctrines of the Resurrection of the Dead, and the Eternal Judgment are necessary to preach among the first principles of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 149.) I take that to mean that one’s understanding of the gospel would be incomplete and would lack substance if the teaching of the resurrection were not included.

To be a witness for the resurrection of Jesus is an apostolic thing. We read in Acts that when there was a vacancy in the Quorum occasioned by the death of Judas, Peter rose up and said there “must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his [Christ’s] resurrection” (Acts 1:22). See also Acts 2:32, 3:15, 4:1-2, 33, 5:30-32.

Alma indicates that a knowledge of the resurrection is one of the mysteries of God, knowable only by revelation (Alma 12:8-12; 40:3).

Resurrection: An ordinance

“We have not, neither can we receive here the ordinance and keys of resurrection. The keys will be given to those who have received their bodies again. They will be ordained to go forth and resurrected the saints, just as we receive the ordinance of baptism then receive the keys of authority to baptize others.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Conference Report, April 1977, p. 69.)

Who resurrects us?

It appears to be patriarchal.

Who resurrected Christ? Or what do we know about ordinances?

            Take a look at the Topical Guide under “raise.”

President Kimball will resurrect his wife:

“Your wife is your counterpart, and together you use the God-given powers that are given to you, not by playing with them but by using them to create this great person that is born of yourselves. Now you become the servant of the Lord, with his power. What you have now is a miniature power. I mean there is no one in this room, perhaps, who is enjoying his power to its great limit.... You have the power over the elements. You will have many other powers that you have never thought or dreamed of yet. You will have the power of the resurrection some day. Did you realize that?

“Today you or I could not stand here and call to life a dead person, but the day will come when I can take my wife by the hand and raise her out of the grave in the resurrection. The day will come when you can bring each of your family who has preceded you in death back into a resurrected being to live forever.” (Spencer W. Kimball, Manchester England Area Conference, 21 June 1976, p. 34.)

An idea of the ordinance?

“I would esteem it one of the greatest blessings, if I am to be afflicted in this world, to have my lot cast where I can find brothers and friends all around me. But this is not the thing I referred to: it is to have the privilege of having our dead buried on the land where God has appointed to gather His Saints together, and where there will be none but Saints, where they may have the privilege of laying their bodies where the Son of Man will make His appearance, and where they may hear the sound of the trump that shall call them forth to behold Him, that in the morn of the resurrection they may come forth in a body, and come up out of their graves and strike hands immediately in eternal glory and felicity, rather than be scattered thousands of miles apart. There is something good and sacred to me in this thing. The place where a man is buried is sacred to me….

I will tell you what I want. If tomorrow I shall be called to lie in yonder tomb, in the morning of the resurrection let me strike hands with my father, and cry, ‘My father,’ and he will say, ‘My son, my son,’ as soon as the rock rends and before we come out of our graves….

Would you think it strange if I relate what I have seen in vision in relation to this interesting theme? Those who have died in Jesus Christ may expect to enter into all that fruition of joy when they come forth, which they possessed or anticipated here. So plain was the vision, that I actually saw men, before they had ascended from the tomb, as though they were getting up slowly. They took each other by the hand and said to each other, ‘My father, my son, my mother, my daughter, my brother, my sister.’ And when the voice calls for the dead to arise, suppose I am laid by the side of my father, what would be the first joy of my heart? To meet my father, my mother, my brother, my sister; and when they are by my side, I embrace them and they me. It is my meditation all the day, and more than my meat and drink, to know how I shall make the Saints of God comprehend the visions that roll like an overflowing surge before my mind.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 294-6.)

We initially come forth from the grave with the same body as it was laid down

“As concerning the resurrection, I will surely say that all men will come from the grave as they lie down. Whether old or young; there will not be “added unto their stature one cubit,” neither taken from it; all will be raised by the power of God, having spirit in their bodies, and not blood. Children will be enthroned in the presence of God and the Lamb with bodies of the same stature that they had on earth…” (Joseph Smith, History of the Church 4:555-556.)

Children are resurrected as children

“Of course, children who die do not grow in the grave. They will come forth with their bodies as they were laid down, and then they will grow to the full stature of manhood or womanhood after the resurrection, but all will have their bodies fully restored.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 2, p. 293.)

We are raised up as we were laid down and then restored to perfection

“In speaking about the resurrection at the funeral of Sister Rachel Grant, President Joseph F. Smith said that the same person, the same form and likeness, will come forth ‘Even to the wounds in the flesh. Not that a person will always be marred by scars, wounds, deformities, defects or infirmities, for these will be removed in their course, in their proper time, according to the merciful providence of God.’” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 4^th Ed., p. 30.)

“…in the resurrection of the dead the child that was buried in its infancy will come up in the form of the child that it was when it was laid down; then it will begin to develop.” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 24)

“Joseph Smith declared that the mother who laid down her little child, being deprived of the privilege, the joy, and the satisfaction of bringing it up to manhood or womanhood in this world, would, after the resurrection, have all the joy, satisfaction and pleasure, and even more than it would have been possible to have had in mortality, in seeing her child grow to the full measure of the stature of its spirit.” (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 453.)

Elder Joseph Fielding Smith explained that being restored to perfection happens almost instantly

“President Smith was in full accord with Amulek and Alma. He taught that the body will be restored as stated in Alma 11:42-45 and Alma 40:22-23.  While he expressed the thought that the body will come forth as it was laid down, he also expresses the thought that it will take time to adjust the body form the condition of imperfections. This, of course, is reasonable, but at the same time the length of time to make these adjustments will not cover any appreciable extent of time.

President Smith never intended to convey the thought that it would require weeks or months of time in order for the defects to be removed. These changes will come naturally, of course, but almost instantly. We cannot look upon it in any other way.” (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, Vol. 2, p. 294. (Emphasis added))

We will be resurrected with different types of bodies—depending on what we’ve done in this life

“In a real though figurative sense, the book of life is the record of the acts of men as such record is written in their own bodies. It is the record engraven on the very bones, sinews, and flesh of the mortal body. That is, every thought, word, and deed has an affect on the human body; all these leave their marks, marks which can be read by Him who is Eternal as easily as the words in a book can be read.” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 97.)

“By obedience to celestial law, man gains celestial bodies, bodies which are sanctified by the Spirit… Their renewed bodies are just as different from bodies still in their carnal state as the bodies of the various animals, fowls, and fishes differ from each. (I Cor. 15:39-42).” (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 115.)

The regeneration of the body in this life prefigures (symbolizes) resurrection

“Consider the fact that broken bones men and become strong once again. . . Lacerations in the skin heal themselves. A leak in the circulation system will seal itself, but circulatory systems outside the body do not have this power. . . The concept of self-renewal is remarkable. Each cell in the body is created and then regenerated from elements of the earth according to the recipe or formula contained within genes unique to us. . . To my thinking, this process of self-renewal prefigures the process of resurrection.” (Russell M. Nelson, “The Magnificence of Man,” BYU Devotional, 29 March 1987, p. 4.)

Are animals resurrected?

            Absolutely! Joseph Smith taught the following1 in relation to what John the Beloved saw in his Revelation:

I suppose John saw beings there of a thousand forms, that had been saved from ten thousand times ten thousand earths like this,—strange beasts of which we have no conception: all might be seen in heaven. The grand secret was to show John what there was in heaven. John learned that God glorified Himself by saving all that His hands had made, whether beasts, fowls, fishes or men; and He will glorify Himself with them.

Says one, “I cannot believe in the salvation of beasts.” Any man who would tell you that this could not be, would tell you that the revelations are not true. John heard the words of the beasts giving glory to God, and understood them. God who made the beasts could understand every language spoken by them. The four beasts were four of the most noble animals that had filled the measure of their creation, and had been saved from other worlds, because they were perfect: they were like angels in their sphere. We are not told where they came from, and I do not know; but they were seen and heard by John praising and glorifying God.

The popular religionists of the day tell us, forsooth, that the beasts spoken of in the Revelation represent kingdoms. Very well, on the same principle we can say that the twenty-four elders spoken of represent beasts; for they are all spoken of at the same time, and are represented as all uniting in the same acts of praise and devotion.

This learned interpretation is all as flat as a pancake! “What do you use such vulgar expressions for, being a prophet?” Because the old women understand it—they make pancakes. Deacon Homespun said the earth was flat as a pancake, and ridiculed the science which proved to the contrary. The whole argument is flat, and I don't know of anything better to represent it. The world is full of technicalities and misrepresentation, which I calculate to overthrow, and speak of things as they actually exist.

Again, there is no revelation to prove that things do not exist in heaven as I have set forth, nor yet to show that the beasts meant anything but beasts; and we never can comprehend the things of God and of heaven, but by revelation. We may spiritualize and express opinions to all eternity; but that is no authority. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 291-292)

3. The Atonement of Jesus Christ also provides the way for us to be forgiven and cleansed from sin so we can dwell in the presence of God. The Savior suffered for the sins of all mankind in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross. As a result of His Atonement, we can repent of our sins and receive forgiveness. As we live the gospel, we can qualify to receive the gift of eternal life and become like Him (see Mosiah 3:5–12).

Kingdoms of Glory

It is interesting that immediately after Joseph and Sidney see the Father and the Son, and before they see the degrees of Glory, the two view a vision of the condition of the Sons of Perdition. It is as if the contrast is important in their understanding and our understanding.

READ D&C 76:28

* What does this tell us why Satan did and why he did it.

v. 31, 35, 43 gives us the qualifications for making one’s “calling and damnation sure.”

·         know God’s power (v. 31)

·         have been mace partakers thereof (v. 31)

·         have suffered themselves to be overcome (v. 31)

·         deny the truth (v. 31)

·         defy God’s power (v. 31)

·         deny the Holy Spirit after having received it (v. 35)

·         deny the Only Begotten Son (crucify him unto themselves) (v. 35)

·         deny the Son after the Father has revealed him (v. 43)

The question is often asked, “Just how much does one have to know before one could become a son of perdition?” The following quotations from Joseph Smith and Spencer W. Kimball may help:

All sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto him, and know God, and then sin against Him. After a man has sinned against the Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

When a man begins to be an enemy to this work, he hunts me, he seeks to kill me, and never ceases to thirst for my blood. He gets the spirit of the devil—the same spirit that they had who crucified the Lord of Life—the same spirit that sins against the Holy Ghost. You cannot save such persons; you cannot bring them to repentance; they make open war, like the devil, and awful is the consequence. (TPJS, p. 358.)

President Kimball taught:

The sins unto death may be thought of as somewhat difficult to define and limit with precision. From the words of Joseph Smith quoted above we note that “. . . many apostates of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” will fall into this category. We cannot definitely identify them individually since it is impossible for us to know the extent of their knowledge, the depth of their enlightenment, and the sureness of their testimonies before their fall. . . .

The sin against the Holy Ghost requires such knowledge that it is manifestly impossible for the rank and file to commit such a sin. Comparatively few Church members will commit murder wherein they shed innocent blood, and we hope only few will deny the Holy Ghost. (Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969), pp. 122-23.)

How easy is to commit this sin? Not very. Brigham Young taught: “How much does it take to prepare a man, or woman, or any being, to become angels to the Devil, to suffer with him to all eternity? Just as much as it does to prepare a man to go into the celestial kingdom, into the presence of the Father and the Son, and to be made an heir to his Kingdom, and all his glory, and be crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and eternal lives.” (JD 3:93)

At the time of resurrection, each person will be assigned to a kingdom of glory. Those who are righteous will inherit greater joy and blessings than those who do not obey God’s commandments (see 1 Corinthians 15:35, 40–42).

1. The telestial glory is for those who do not receive the gospel of Jesus Christ or the testimony of Jesus or the prophets of God, and who live sinful lives (see D&C 76:81–88, 98–103).

Requirements for the Telestial Kingdom

• they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus (v. 82)
• they who deny not the Holy Spirit (v. 83)
• they who say they are some of one, and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses—but received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant (vv. 99-101)
• they who are liars and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie (v. 103; Rev. 22:15 adds murderers)

READ D&C 76:99-101

* Tell me about these people, who are they, what defines them?

* What danger do we have of being counted as one of them?

2. The terrestrial glory is for the honorable people of the earth who are deceived and for those who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ (see D&C 76:71–79).

Requirements for the Terrestrial Kingdom

• Died without the law (v. 72)
• Visited by the Son in the Spirit World, received not the Gospel in the flesh but did in the Spirit World (v. 73-4) “they felt it by the Spirit” (See D&C 137)
• Honorable men of the earth (v. 75)
• They receive His glory, but not the fullness of His Glory (v. 76)
• Not valiant in the testimony of Jesus (v. 79)

Melvin J. Ballard said: “Now those who died without law, meaning the pagan nations, for lack of faithfulness, for lack of devotion in the former life, are obtaining all that they are entitled to. I don't mean to say that all of them will be barred from entrance into the highest glory. Any one of them who repents and complies with the conditions might also obtain celestial glory, but the great bulk of them will only obtain terrestrial glory.” ("The Three Degrees of Glory," in Melvin J. Ballard: Crusader for Righteousness (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966), p. 221.)

3. The celestial glory is reserved for those who obey the commandments and receive the ordinances, overcome all things by faith in Jesus Christ, and become pure in heart (see D&C 76:50–70).

Requirements of the Celestial Kingdom:

• Receive the testimony of Jesus (v. 51)
• Believe on His name (we might say faith) (v. 51)
• Baptized (v. 51)
• Keep the commandments (v. 52)
• Receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost (v. 52)
• Overcome by faith (v. 53)
• Sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise (v. 53)

The doctrine in D&C 137 in light of the Celestial Kingdom:

In these verses the principles upon which the doctrine of salvation for the dead rests are announced for the first time in this dispensation. They are:

·         first, that the doctrine applies only to those who “died without a knowledge” of the gospel;

·         second, that God must read the hearts of those concerned and affirm that had the gospel come to them in mortality they would have accepted it;

·         and third, that God must judge that not only would they have accepted the gospel but that they would have done so “with all their hearts,” meaning that they would have endured valiantly and faithfully to the end.

* Who is invited to receive this blessing and see this vision?

Here is what Joseph Smith said:

“I could explain a hundred fold more than I ever have of the glories of the kingdoms manifested to me in vision, were I permitted, and were the people prepared to receive them” (Teachings, 305).

On another occasion he said:

“God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them” (Teachings, 149)

Progression from One Kingdom to Another

Alma 41:3-4—If their works were good they shall be restored unto that which is good.  If their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil.

Once people have been restored to either telestial, terrestial, or celestial bodies do they eventually progress to other kingdoms?

“There are those who say that there is progress from one kingdom to another in the eternal world or that lower kingdoms eventually progress to where higher kingdoms once were.  This is worse than false.  It is an evil and pernicious doctrine.  There is neither progress from one kingdom to another, nor does a lower kingdom ever get where a higher kingdom once was.  Whatever eternal progression there is, it is within a sphere.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, Seven Deadly Heresies, BYU, 1980. (Emphasis added))

“After a person has been assigned to his place in the kingdom, either in the Telestial, the terrestrial, or the celestial or to his exaltation, he will never advance from his assigned glory to another glory.  That is eternal!” (Elder Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness, p. 243-244; also in Melchizedek Priesthood Manual, 1989, p. 167. (Emphasis added))

“There are some people who have supposed that if we are quickened Telestial bodies that eventually, throughout the ages of eternity, we will continue to progress until we will find our place in the celestial kingdom, but the scriptures and revelations of God have said that those who are quickened Telestial bodies cannot come where God and Christ dwell, worlds without end.” (President George Albert Smith, Conference Report, Oct. 1945, p. 172; also Improvement Era, Nov. 1945, p. 720; also Melchizedek Priesthood Manual, 1979-80, p. 145.)

            “The scriptures say there is no progression from one kingdom to another. This really should settle the matter. This is the whole tenor and meaning of Section 76. The statements in Section 88 about coming forth with different kinds of bodies in the resurrection are in the same subject. The statement in Section 132 that ministering servants will remain such and not have exaltation to all eternity is the same teaching. It is difficult to see how the Lord could have been more express in his language than he was in this passage in Section 132 or related passages in Section 76 that say where God and Christ are certain people cannot come worlds without end.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie letter to Vida Lind, March 14, 1973, my possession.)

Ask class members to respond to the following questions:

• What did you learn about the plan of salvation that you did not know before?

• How do you feel when you think about Jesus Christ’s part in this great plan?

• How can we show Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ that we are grateful for Their plan?

To emphasize the great importance of the Savior’s Atonement in the plan of salvation, write the third article of faith below the completed chart as shown.

Conclusion

Emphasize that the temple provides us with knowledge about this plan, knowledge that brings great blessings into our lives. Bear your testimony about the blessings you have received because you understand the plan of salvation and live the principles of the gospel.

You may want to conclude by showing “Man’s Search for Happiness.”

Invite someone to give a closing prayer.

“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel” (Articles of Faith 1:3).