The Book of Mormon Part 78

Alma 40:8 8 Now whether there is more than one time appointed for men to rise it mattereth not; for all do not die at once, and this mattereth not; all is as one day with G.o.d, and time only is measured unto men.

Alma 40:9 9 Therefore, there is a time appointed unto men that they shall rise from the dead; and there is a s.p.a.ce between the time of death and the resurrection. And now, concerning this s.p.a.ce of time, what becometh of the souls of men is the thing which I have inquired diligently of the Lord to know; and this is the thing of which I do know.

Alma 40:10 10 And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that G.o.d knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man.

Alma 40:11 11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection--Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that G.o.d who gave them life.

Alma 40:12 12 And then shall it come to pa.s.s, 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.

Alma 40:13 13 And then shall it come to pa.s.s, 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 gnas.h.i.+ng of teeth, and this because of their own iniquity, being led captive by the will of the devil.

Alma 40:14 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 G.o.d upon them; thus they remain in this state, as well as the righteous in paradise, until the time of their resurrection.

Alma 40:15 15 Now, there are some that have understood that this state of happiness and this state of misery of the soul, before the resurrection, was a first resurrection. Yea, I admit it may be termed a resurrection, the raising of the spirit or the soul and their consignation to happiness or misery, according to the words which have been spoken.

Alma 40:16 16 And behold, again it hath been spoken, that there is a first resurrection, a resurrection of all those who have been, or who are, or who shall be, down to the resurrection of Christ from the dead.

Alma 40:17 17 Now, we do not suppose that this first resurrection, which is spoken of in this manner, can be the resurrection of the souls and their consignation to happiness or misery. Ye cannot suppose that this is what it meaneth.

Alma 40:18 18 Behold, I say unto you, Nay; but it meaneth the reuniting of the soul with the body, of those from the days of Adam down to the resurrection of Christ.

Alma 40:19 19 Now, whether the souls and the bodies of those of whom has been spoken shall all be reunited at once, the wicked as well as the righteous, I do not say; let it suffice; that I say that they all come forth; or in other words, their resurrection cometh to pa.s.s before the resurrection of those who die after the resurrection of Christ.

Alma 40:20 20 Now, my son, I do not say that their resurrection cometh at the resurrection of Christ; but behold, I give it as my opinion, that the souls and the bodies are reunited, of the righteous, at the resurrection of Christ, and his ascension into heaven.

Alma 40:21 21 But whether it be at his resurrection or after, I do not say; but this much I say, that there is a s.p.a.ce between death and the resurrection of the body, and a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed of G.o.d that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and be brought to stand before G.o.d, and be judged according to their works.

Alma 40:22 22 Yea, this bringeth about the restoration of those things of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets.

Alma 40:23 23 The soul shall be restored to the body, and the body to the soul; yea, and every limb and joint shall be restored to its body; yea, even a hair of the head shall not be lost; but all things shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame.

Alma 40:24 24 And now, my son, this is the restoration of which has been spoken by the mouths of the prophets--

Alma 40:25 25 And then shall the righteous s.h.i.+ne forth in the kingdom of G.o.d.

Alma 40:26 26 But behold, an awful death cometh upon the wicked; for they die as to things pertaining to things of righteousness; for they are unclean, and no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of G.o.d; but they are cast out, and consigned to partake of the fruits of their labors or their works, which have been evil; and they drink the dregs of a bitter cup.

Alma 41 Chapter 41

Alma 41:1 1 And now, my son, I have somewhat to say concerning the restoration of which has been spoken; for behold, some have wrested the scriptures, and have gone far astray because of this thing. And I perceive that thy mind has been worried also concerning this thing. But behold, I will explain it unto thee.

Alma 41:2 2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of G.o.d; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. Behold, it is requisite and just, according to the power and resurrection of Christ, that the soul of man should be restored to its body, and that every part of the body should be restored to itself.

Alma 41:3 3 And it is requisite with the justice of G.o.d that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good.

Alma 41:4 4 And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural frame--mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption--raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of G.o.d, or to endless misery to inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other--

Alma 41:5 5 The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

Alma 41:6 6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.

Alma 41:7 7 These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

Alma 41:8 8 Now, the decrees of G.o.d are unalterable; therefore, the way is prepared that whosoever will may walk therein and be saved.

Alma 41:9 9 And now behold, my son, do not risk one more offense against your G.o.d upon those points of doctrine, which ye have hitherto risked to commit sin.

Alma 41:10 10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness.

Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness.

Alma 41:11 11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in the bonds of iniquity; they are without G.o.d in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of G.o.d; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness.

Alma 41:12 12 And now behold, is the meaning of the word restoration to take a thing of a natural state and place it in an unnatural state, or to place it in a state opposite to its nature?

Alma 41:13 13 O, my son, this is not the case; but the meaning of the word restoration is to bring back again evil for evil, or carnal for carnal, or devilish for devilish--good for that which is good; righteous for that which is righteous; just for that which is just; merciful for that which is merciful.

Alma 41:14 14 Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have a righteous judgment restored unto you again; and ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.

Alma 41:15 15 For that which ye do send out shall return unto you again, and be restored; therefore, the word restoration more fully condemneth the sinner, and justifieth him not at all.

Alma 42 Chapter 42

Alma 42:1 1 And now, my son, I perceive there is somewhat more which doth worry your mind, which ye cannot understand--which is concerning the justice of G.o.d in the punishment of the sinner; for ye do try to suppose that it is injustice that the sinner should be consigned to a state of misery.

Alma 42:2 2 Now behold, my son, I will explain this thing unto thee. For behold, after the Lord G.o.d sent our first parents forth from the garden of Eden, to till the ground, from whence they were taken--yea, he drew out the man, and he placed at the east end of the garden of Eden, cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the tree of life--

Alma 42:3 3 Now, we see that the man had become as G.o.d, knowing good and evil; and lest he should put forth his hand, and take also of the tree of life, and eat and live forever, the Lord G.o.d placed cherubim and the flaming sword, that he should not partake of the fruit--

Alma 42:4 4 And thus we see, that there was a time granted unto man to repent, yea, a probationary time, a time to repent and serve G.o.d.

Alma 42:5 5 For behold, if Adam had put forth his hand immediately, and partaken of the tree of life, he would have lived forever, according to the word of G.o.d, having no s.p.a.ce for repentance; yea, and also the word of G.o.d would have been void, and the great plan of salvation would have been frustrated.

Alma 42:6 6 But behold, it was appointed unto man to die--therefore, as they were cut off from the tree of life they should be cut off from the face of the earth--and man became lost forever, yea, they became fallen man.

Alma 42:7 7 And now, ye see by this that our first parents were cut off both temporally and spiritually from the presence of the Lord; and thus we see they became subjects to follow after their own will.

Alma 42:8 8 Now behold, it was not expedient that man should be reclaimed from this temporal death, for that would destroy the great plan of happiness.

Alma 42:9 9 Therefore, as the soul could never die, and the fall had brought upon all mankind a spiritual death as well as a temporal, that is, they were cut off from the presence of the Lord, it was expedient that mankind should be reclaimed from this spiritual death.

Alma 42:10 10 Therefore, as they had become carnal, sensual, and devilish, by nature, this probationary state became a state for them to prepare; it became a preparatory state.

Alma 42:11 11 And now remember, my son, if it were not for the plan of redemption, (laying it aside) as soon as they were dead their souls were miserable, being cut off from the presence of the Lord.

Alma 42:12 12 And now, there was no means to reclaim men from this fallen state, which man had brought upon himself because of his own disobedience;

Alma 42:13 13 Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions, mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, G.o.d would cease to be G.o.d.