Alma 40:12-14
12
And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of those who are
righteous are received into a state of happiness, which is called
paradise, a state of rest, a state of peace, where they shall rest from
all their troubles and from all care, and sorrow.
13
And then shall it come to pass, that the spirits of the wicked, yea,
who are evil--for behold, they have no part nor portion of the Spirit of
the Lord; for behold, they chose evil works rather than good; therefore
the spirit of the devil did enter into them, and take possession of
their house--and these shall be cast out into outer darkness; there
shall be weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth, and this because
of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.
14
Now this is the state of the souls of the wicked, yea, in darkness, and
a state of awful, fearful looking for the fiery indignation of the
wrath of God upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the
righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.
Joseph F. Smith (D&C 138)
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;
Separation of Righteous and Wicked Upon Death
Joseph F. Smith
The
spirits of all men, as soon as they depart from this mortal body,
whether they are good or evil, we are told in the Book of Mormon, are
taken home to that God who gave them life, where there is a separation, a
partial judgment, and the spirits of those who are righteous are
received into a state of happiness which is called paradise, a state of
rest, a state of peace, where they expand in wisdom, where they have
respite from all their troubles, and where care and sorrow do not annoy.
The wicked, on the contrary, have no part nor portion in the Spirit of
the Lord, and they are cast into outer darkness, being led captive,
because of their own iniquity, by the evil one. And in this space
between death and the resurrection of the body, the two classes of souls
remain, in happiness or in misery, until the time which is appointed of
God that the dead shall come forth and be reunited both spirit and
body, and be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to
their works. This is the final judgment. (Gospel Doctrine, p. 448)
Ezra Taft Benson
Even
before the fall of Adam, which ushered death into this world, our
Heavenly Father had prepared a place for the spirits who would
eventually depart this mortal life. At the time of Jesus’ death, the
spirit world was occupied by hosts of our Father’s children who had died
– from Adam’s posterity to the death of Jesus – both the righteous and
the wicked. There were two grand divisions in the world of spirits.
Spirits of the righteous (the just) had gone to paradise, a state of
happiness, peace, and restful work. The spirits of the wicked (the
unjust) had gone to prison, a state of darkness and misery. (See Alma
40: 12-15.) Jesus went only to the righteous – to paradise. (Teachings
of Ezra Taft Benson, p.37)
Joseph Fielding Smith
All
spirits of men after death return to the spirit world. There, as I
understand it, the righteous -- meaning those who have been baptized and
who have been faithful -- are gathered in one part and all the others
in another part of the spirit world. This seems to be true from the
vision given to President Joseph F. Smith and found in Gospel Doctrine.
(Doctrines of Salvation, 2:230; emphasis original)
A State of Rest for the Righteous
Neal A. Maxwell
Some
derive from these words that rest means no work and merely languid
passivity. In fact, the rest described is from the troubles, cares, and
sorrows of this world.
To
begin with, a certain peacefulness and restfulness will occur in
paradise, because the faithful will see things with a more complete,
restful, and reassuring perspective. Nonetheless, the faithful will soon
be caught up fully and be “anxiously engaged” in the vast work underway
in al the spirit world (D&C 58:27). So many of the cares and
demands of the of the world which press upon us here and now, including
doing the chores of this world, will not dominate us there. Hence,
paradise will be, comparatively, “a state of peace.” Furthermore, the
spirit body will not suffer certain of the ills and constraints which
now beset the mortal body. The result will be added zestfulness there,
as described by Elder John Taylor: “[Death] this dark shadow and valley
is so trifling . . . [one is] passed from a state of sorrow [and] grief,
. . . into a state of existence where I can enjoy life to the fullest
extent as far as that can be done without a body. . . . I thirst no
more, I want to sleep no more, I hunger no more, I tire no more, I run, I
walk, I labor, . . . nothing like pain or weariness, I am full of life,
full of vigor” (“Discourse by Elder John Taylor.” Deseret News, 28 July
1874, p. 1). [The Promise of Discipleship, p. 106]
Wicked Suffer in Prison
Joseph Fielding Smith
There is an expression that the Lord made to Enoch in regard to those who should be destroyed in the flood, in the days of Noah.
He
said he had prepared a prison for them, because of their disobedience,
and would shut them in it. There they would remain until the time when
they should be visited by the Son of God, when he should again carry to
them that message which they rejected from Noah. We read in the
scriptures that the Son of God, after his death, went to the spirits in
prison and taught them the principles of the gospel, that they might
live according to God in the spirit and be judged according to men in
the flesh. Those very same spirits, who were disobedient in the days of
Noah, heard the voice of the Son of God when he went to them, while his
body was in the tomb, and all who were willing to receive his testimony
and obey his commandments received relief from their torment.
But
from the time of their death in the flood until the time of the
crucifixion of the Savior, they were shut up in the prison house in
torment, suffering the penalty of their transgressions, because they
refused to hear a prophet of the Lord – and so it will be with every man
who rejects the gospel, whether he lived anciently or whether he lives
now; it makes no difference. Every man who rejects the testimony of
Jesus, who denies the truth, who refuses to receive the testimony as it
is declared unto him by the elders of Israel, shall be punished and
shall be placed in the prison house, and there he shall stay until he
has paid the penalty of his transgressions. (Doctrines of Salvation,
2:228-229; emphasis original)
Righteous Free From Earthly Troubles in Paradise
Joseph Fielding Smith
It
is the righteous who go to paradise. It is the righteous who cease from
those things that trouble. Not so with the wicked. They remain in
torment. They have their anguish of soul intensified, if you please,
when they get on the other side, because they are constantly recalling
to mind their evil deeds. They are aware of their neglected
opportunities, privileges in which they might have served the Lord and
received a reward of restfulness instead of a reward of punishment. And
so they remain in torment until the time comes for their deliverance.
...
The righteous,
those who have kept the commandments of the Lord, are not shut up in any
such place, but are in happiness in paradise. They cease from all this
trouble, and trial, and tribulation, and anguish of soul. They are free
from all these torments, because they have been true and faithful to
their covenants. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:229-230)
The Gulf Bridged Between Paradise and Prison
Joseph Fielding Smith
•
We hear the objection made, from time to time, that Jesus did not come
to save the dead, for he most emphatically declared himself that there
was an impassable gulf that separated the righteous spirits from the
wicked. In defense of their position they quote the words in Luke: “And
beside all this, between us and you there is a great gulf fixed: so that
they which would pass from hence to you cannot; neither can they pass
to us, that would come from thence.”
These
words, according to the story, were spoken by Abraham’s spirit to the
rich man who raised his eyes and asked that Lazarus might go touch his
lips and relieve his torment. Abraham replied that it could not be for
there was a gulf fixed between them that the spirit of no man could
pass. Therefore, say the objectors to the doctrine of universal
salvation, “It is quite evident that the righteous and the wicked who
are dead cannot visit each other, hence there is no salvation for the
dead.” This was true before the days that Jesus atoned for sin, which is
plainly shown in the passage from the Book of Moses previously quoted.
And it was at this period this event occurred. However, Christ came and
through his death bridged that gulf, proclaimed liberty to the captives,
and the opening of this prison door to those who sat in darkness and
captivity.
From that
time forth this gulf is bridged so that the captives, after they have
paid the full penalty of their misdeeds, satisfied justice, and have
accepted the gospel of Christ, having the ordinances attended to in
their behalf by their living relatives or friends, receive the passport
that entitles them to cross the gulf. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:158;
emphasis original)
• Paradise is not
heaven, or the place where God dwells, but a place of departed spirits.
Why the belief should be so general that the thief went to heaven with
the Savior is rather strange, since Jesus did not go there until after
his resurrection. This fact he disclosed to Mary at the tomb. From the
time his spirit left his body until he arose from the tomb, Jesus was
with the thief in paradise, according to his promise. There the Savior
opened the door for the salvation of the dead. Before that time the
unworthy dead were shut up in prison and were not visited. (Moses
7:38-39; Isaiah 24:22.) We have good reason to believe that the
righteous spirits in paradise did not mingle with the unrighteous
spirits before the visit of our Lord to the spirit world. He declared
that there was a gulf fixed that could not be crossed which separated
the righteous from the unrighteous, therefore there was no sound of the
voice of prophets and the Gospel was not declared among the wicked until
Christ went into that world before his resurrection. He it was who
opened the prison doors. – Isaiah 42:6-7; 61:1.
President
Brigham Young declared that “Jesus was the first man that ever went to
preach to the spirits in prison, holding the keys of the Gospel of
salvation to them. Those keys were delivered to him in the day and hour
that he went into the spirit world, and with them he opened the door of
salvation to the spirits in prison.” (J.D. 4:285.) This is in full
accord with the scriptures. President Joseph F. Smith, in the vision he
beheld of the spirit world, confirmed this view. (Gos. Doc., pp.
596-601.) In that world Christ taught the righteous spirits and
commissioned them to carry his message and sent them forth among the
unbaptized dead. In this way he fulfilled his promise made to Isaiah
that he would preach to the spirits of the dead and open their prison
doors that they might go free. (The Way to Perfection, p.315-316)
Bruce R. McConkie
•
The spirit prison is hell, that portion of the spirit world where the
wicked dwell. (Moses 7:37-39.) Before Christ bridged the gulf between
paradise and hell – so that the righteous could mingle with the wicked
and preach them the gospel – the wicked in hell were confined to
locations which precluded them from contact with the righteous in
paradise. Abraham told the rich man in hell that between him and Lazarus
(who was in paradise) there was a great gulf fixed so that none could
go from paradise to hell or from hell to paradise. (Luke 16:19-31.) Now
that the righteous spirits in paradise have been commissioned to carry
the message of salvation to the wicked spirits in hell, there is a
certain amount of mingling together of the good and bad spirits.
Repentance opens the prison doors to the spirits in hell; it enables
those bound with the chains of hell to free themselves from darkness,
unbelief, ignorance, and sin. As rapidly as they can overcome these
obstacles – gain light, believe truth, acquire intelligence, cast off
sin, and break the chains of hell – they can leave the hell that
imprisons them and dwell with the righteous in the peace of paradise.
(Mormon Doctrine, p.755)
• By spirit world is
meant the abiding place of disembodied spirits, those who have passed
from pre-existence to mortality and have also gone on from this temporal
world to another sphere to await the day of their resurrection, final
redemption, and judgment. This world is divided into two parts: paradise
which is the abode of the righteous, and hell which is the abode of the
wicked. (Alma 40:11-14.)
Until
the death of Christ these two spirit abodes were separated by a great
gulf, with the intermingling of their respective inhabitants strictly
forbidden. (Luke 16:19-31.) After our Lord bridged the gulf between the
two (1 Pet. 3:18-21; Moses 7:37-39), the affairs of his kingdom in the
spirit world were so arranged that righteous spirits began teaching the
gospel to wicked ones. (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed., pp. 473-476.)
Thus,
although there are two spheres within the one spirit world, there is
now some intermingling of the righteous and the wicked who inhabit those
spheres; and when the wicked spirits repent, they leave their
prison-hell and join the righteous in paradise. Hence, we find Joseph
Smith saying: “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, p. 310.)
[Mormon Doctrine, p. 762]
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