The Spirit World | Neal A. Maxwell
http://scottwoodward.org/Talks/html/Maxwell,%20Neal%20A/MaxwellNA_SpiritWorld.html
Often Church members suffer from a lack of perspective, perhaps understandably, as to the vastness and intensity of the Lord’s work in the spirit world. The scope is enormous! Demographers estimate that some sixty to seventy billion people have lived on this planet thus far. Without diminishing in any way the importance of the absolutely vital and tandem work on this side of the veil, we do need a better grasp of “things as they really will be” (Jacob 4:13). Otherwise, we can so easily come to regard family history as a quaint hobby and its resulting temple work as something we will get around to later. Not only does the word vastness characterize the work there but so does intensity. Of course, we still lack many details and would like to know more. Even so, we ought to pay closer attention to what has been given about the spirit world so that we can truly “cite [our] minds forward” in appropriate ways (Alma 13:1). Let us begin with paradise and Alma’s description of that special destination to be reached after death but on the way to immortality and eternal life: ”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” (Alma 40:12). 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. None theless, the faithful will soon be caught up fully and be “anxiously engaged”in the vast work underway in all the spirit world (D&C 58:27). So many of the cares and demands 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.”1 Further illustrative of the consuming scope and intensity of the work there is the following exchange between the martyred Prophet Joseph Smith and President Wilford Woodruff: ”Joseph Smith continued visiting myself. . . . He said he could not stop to talk with me because he was in a hurry. . . . I saw the Prophet again. . . . ”‘Now,’ said I, ‘I want to know why you are in a hurry. I have been in a hurry all my life; but I expected my hurry would be over when I got into the kingdom of heaven, if I ever did.’ ”Joseph said: ‘ . . . Every dispensation . . . has had a certain amount of work to do . . . Each dispensation has had ample time. . . . We have not. We are the last dispensation, and so much work has to be done, and we need to be in a hurry in order to accomplish it.'”2 The work being done there with such intensity, however, is not a random, hectic, and disorganized thing. Instead, unsurprisingly, it proceeds in a very orderly manner. Follow ing is an account by President Heber C. Kimball, reflecting earlier conversations among members of the First Presidency—Brigham Young, Heber C. Kimball, and Jedediah M. Grant—given at President Grant’s funeral in December 1856: ”[Brother Grant] said to me, brother Heber, I have been into the spirit world two nights in succession, and, of all the dreads that ever came across me, the worst was to have to again return to my body, though I had to do it. But O, says he, the order and government that were there! When in the spirit world, I saw the order of righteous men and women; beheld them organized in their several grades, and there appeared to be no obstruction to my vision; I could see every man and woman in their grade and order. I looked to see whether there was any disorder there, but there was none; neither could I see any death nor any darkness, disorder or confusion. He said that the people he there saw were organized in family capacities; and when he looked at them he saw grade after grade, and all were organized and in perfect harmony. . . . ‘Why, it is just as brother Brigham says it is; it is just as he has told us many a time. . . .’ ”He saw the righteous gathered together in the spirit world, and there were no wicked spirits among them. . . . ”‘To my astonishment,’ he said, ‘when I looked at families there was a deficiency in some, there was a lack, for I saw families that would not be permitted to come and dwell together, because they had not honored their calling here.'”3 Families do not guarantee automatic individual salvation. The vastness of the work in the spirit world of preaching the gospel is confirmed in the 1918 vision of President Joseph F. Smith, which was accepted by the Church in 1976 as a revelation. That work is proceeding, “even to all the spirits of men” (D&C 138:30). Billions and billions of them! Likewise, although Jesus did not personally go among the wicked, He organized His work so it could go forward there, “even to all.” Consider, however, Jesus’ glorious welcome in paradise: ”While this vast multitude waited and conversed, rejoicing in the hour of their deliverance from the chains of death, the Son of God appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful; . . . ”And the saints rejoiced in their redemption, and bowed the knee and acknowledged the Son of God as their Redeemer and Deliverer from death and the chains of hell. ”Their countenances shone, and the radiance from the presence of the Lord rested upon them, and they sang praises unto his holy name” (D&C 138:18, 23-24). Therefore, an interesting constituency awaits us, such as those “who had died in their sins, without a knowledge of the truth” (D&C 138:32). This group is obviously very large! None is to be left out, however, even those in the spirit prison who once “rejected the prophets” or who are there “because of their rebellion and transgression, that they through the ministration of his servants might also hear his words” (D&C 138:32, 37). What are all individuals to hear and to be taught? ”These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, ”And all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit” (D&C 138:33-34). Understandably emphasized is vicarious baptism for the dead, because that ordinance is absolutely essential for their cleansing and salvation. Furthermore, the recipients can thereby qualify to become members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by developing sufficient faith and also by showing sufficient repentance in the spirit world. Typically, in that connection, we here do not emphasize as much the other essential part of what can happen vicariously— confirming Church membership and the bestowal of the great gift of the Holy Ghost. Because the accompanying and essential ordinances remain to be accomplished vicariously on our side of the veil, it would be well if more of the intensity characteristic of work in the spirit world were displayed by us in mortality. Indeed, the gifts of the Holy Ghost also help recipients there to lend a hand and to function more effectively in the spirit world after they are empowered by the vicariously given gift of the Holy Ghost! President Brigham Young described further the spirit world: ”They do not pass out of the organization of this earth on which we live. . . . But where is the spirit world? It is incorporated within this celestial system.”4 President Young also stated: “Is the spirit world here? It is not beyond the sun, but is on this earth that was organized for the people that have lived and that do and will live upon it. No other people can have it, and we can have no other kingdom until we are prepared to inhabit this eternally.”5 The Prophet Joseph said: “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 motions, and are often pained therewith.”6 Brigham Young further observed as to the associational groupings there: “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. No doubt they yet, more or less, see, hear, converse, and have to do with each other, both good and bad.”7 Clearly, there are many other questions to which we do not have detailed answers. But, as has been set forth, we know considerable about the essential things: (1) the vastness of the work there, (2) its intensity, (3) its inclusiveness by sharing the gospel with all, (4) the orderliness with which the Lord carries out His work of mercy and justice in the spirit world, (5) the special status of those who are in paradise, (6) how those who may be emancipated from the spirit prison can then help to accomplish this work, and (7) the grouping together of people in what may have been some natural associations here that will persist there. Sometimes in the Church we speak imprecisely at funerals and otherwise as if individuals who die go immediately to the celestial kingdom and are at once in the full presence of God. We tend to overlook the reality that the spirit world and paradise are part, really, of the second estate. The work of the Lord, so far as the second estate is concerned, is completed before the Judgment and the Resurrection. Since those who go to the celestial kingdom include, as revealed, those who “overcome by faith” (D&C 76:53), the same efforts and triumph would need to occur in the spirit world before they receive resurrection and the entitlement to enter the celestial kingdom. The veil of forgetfulness of the first estate apparently will not be suddenly, automatically, and totally removed at the time of our temporal death. This veil, a condition of our entire second estate, is associated with and is part of our time of mortal trial, testing, proving, and overcoming by faith— and thus will continue in some key respects into the spirit world. Yet, do people who have been wicked and agnostic, when they pass through the veil of death, suddenly and fully realize that there is, in spite of their earlier skepticism, life beyond the grave? Do they thus have an advantage over those who have had to develop faith in mortality concerning that prospect? If, for instance, the same attitudes with which we die persist, then there will be no automatic or immediate flip-flop into a totally different way of thinking. Such can occur there, just as it does here, upon our accepting the gospel and responding with both faith and repentance (Alma 34:34). Again, our existence in the spirit world is part of the mortal sector of our Father’s plan which culminates with the Judgment and the Resurrection. Surely those just and honorable mortals who have done so well here with the light they have received are the most likely to respond in paradise and the spirit world, when the fulness of the light of the gospel is given to them there. Consider the comments of the Prophet Joseph Smith about the important role of spiritual knowledge: ”Knowledge does away darkness, suspense and doubt, for where Knowledge is there is no doubt nor suspense nor darkness. There is no pain so awful as the pain of suspense. This is the condemnation of the wicked; their doubt and anxiety and suspense causes weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth.”8 The “pain of suspense” apparently will necessarily operate to some extent in the spirit prison because of uncertainty—along with a price to be paid as part of repentance for transgressions. The Prophet Joseph also said: ”A man is his own tormentor and his own condemner. Hence the saying, They shall go into the lake that burns with fire and brimstone. The torment of disappointment in the mind of man is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone. I say, so is the torment of man.”9 The word prison carries with it the connotation of “a state of confinement,” including a conceptual confinement. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, for instance, that God has “made ample provision for their redemption, according to their several circumstances, . . . whether in this world, or in the world to come.”10 Surely that declaration is emancipatory! The Prophet also consoled: “God has administrators in the eternal world to release those spirits from Prison. The ordinances being administered by proxy upon them, the law is fulfilled.”11 Likewise, the Prophet, when speaking of us and our chance to become “saviors . . . on Mount Zion,” instructed as to how the merciful salvation for the dead “places the human family upon an equal footing, and harmonizes with every principle of righteousness, justice and truth.”12 The Prophet Joseph declared that those who die in the faith in turn preach to those who have died “that they may live according to God in the Spirit and men do minister for them in the flesh and angels bear the glad tidings to the spirits and they are made happy by these means.”13 Thus, we see from what is presently known concerning the work in the spirit world that its scope is enormous and its intensity real. Its justice and mercy reflect Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation. But missionary work is work both here and there, though the latter proceeds on a much larger scale. We will surely have ample opportunities for service beyond the veil, when that time comes to each of us! How marvelous it is that Heavenly Father gives to all full and generous recognition for all their good deeds and all their good qualities. Thus, we can all be judged justly out of the “book of life” (Revelation 20:12). Yet, God still requires of all obedience to His doctrines, ordinances, and covenants. Nicodemus, one of the best, was nevertheless told that no man shall enter the kingdom of heaven except he shall be born again (John 3:5). Jesus’ baptism, and He was the Best, showed us His obedience and submissiveness to the Father with regard to that essential ordinance (2 Nephi 31:5-7). He, who might have been an exception, nevertheless pointed the way! The ordinances of salvation apply to all. Thus, if not on this side of the veil, then in the spirit world to come, the gospel will be preached to all, including all transgressors, rebels, and rejectors of prophets, along with all those billions who died without a knowledge of the gospel (D&C 138). The mercy of God will finally overpower justice for all. God gave agency to all. He extends His long-suffering to all, as He did in the days of Noah. He further reminds us, in the parable of the wheat and the tares, of the need for restraint and patience regarding the Second Coming (Matthew 13:29; D&C 38:12). To that very end, the Father determines the timing as to when the angels of heaven come down in judgment on the world. He gave us our spirit birth, bringing the first estate to all. He gave the gift to us of mortality, or the second estate, where all might be “added upon,” leaving one-third of the host free to be rebels! (Abraham 3:26; Revelation 12:4). He provides in the spirit world a continuum of mortality’s probation, the great opportunity for all. The specific desires of our individual hearts will finally and ultimately be granted to all. How can we complain? Because He is a loving Father, at Judgment Day, all those who have lived without God in the world will acknowledge that God is God and all will acknowledge that God is just! ”Oh how great [is] the plan of our God!” (2 Nephi 9:13). But how little, really, we would know of that divine plan without the Prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith!
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