18 And behold, I say
unto you, this is not all. For O how
beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings,
that is the founder of peace, yea, even the Lord, who has redeemed his people;
yea, him who has granted salvation unto his people;
19 For were it not for
the redemption which he hath made for his people, which was prepared from the
foundation of the world, I say unto you, were it not for this, all mankind must
have perished.
20 But behold, the
bands of death shall be broken, and the Son reigneth, and hath power over the
dead; therefore, he bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead.
21 And there cometh a
resurrection, even a first resurrection; yea, even a resurrection of those that
have been, and who are, and who shall be, even until the resurrection of
Christ—for so shall he be called.
22 And now, the
resurrection of all the prophets, and all those that have believed in their
words, or all those that have kept the commandments of God, shall come forth in
the first resurrection; therefore, they are the first resurrection.
23 They are raised to
dwell with God who has redeemed them; thus they have eternal life through
Christ, who has broken the bands of death.
24 And these are those
who have part in the first resurrection; and these are they that have died
before Christ came, in their ignorance, not having salvation declared unto
them. And thus the Lord bringeth about
the restoration of these; and they have a part in the first resurrection, or
have eternal life, being redeemed by the Lord.
25 And little children
also have eternal life.
26 But behold, and
fear, and tremble before God, for ye ought to tremble; for the Lord redeemeth
none such that rebel against him and die in their sins; yea, even all those
that have perished in their sins ever since the world began, that have wilfully
rebelled against God, that have known the commandments of God, and would not
keep them; these are they that have no part in the first resurrection.
27 Therefore ought ye
not to tremble? For salvation cometh to
none such; for the Lord hath redeemed none such; yea, neither can the Lord
redeem such; for he cannot deny himself; for he cannot deny justice when it has
its claim.
28 And now I say unto
you that the time shall come that the salvation of the Lord shall be declared
to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.
29 Yea, Lord, thy
watchmen shall lift up their voice; with the voice together shall they sing;
for they shall see eye to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion.
30 Break forth into joy,
sing together, ye waste places of Jerusalem; for the Lord hath comforted his
people, he hath redeemed Jerusalem.
31 The Lord hath made
bare his holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth
shall see the salvation of our God.
Mosiah 15:18-31
(Note: I have parent/teacher
conference Wednesday and Thursday evenings.
The next post will be on Friday, October 10th.)
Abinadi continues preaching to the priests of Noah.
Christ will bring the good tidings of peace. “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him
that bringeth good tidings, that publisheth peace! O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy
vows: for the wicked shall no more pass through thee; he is utterly cut off”
(Nahum 1:15). The Lord will save and
redeem His people. “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have
peace. In the world ye shall have
tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).
Christ’s redemption was “prepared
for the foundation of the world.” Were
it not for this, we would have perished.
Jacob taught, “Wherefore, it must
needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this
corruption could not put on incorruption.
Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained
to an endless duration. And if so, this
flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no
more” (2 Nephi 9:7).
Christ will break the bands of death, “and the Son reigneth.” “Abinadi
took Isaiah's declaration ‘Thy God reigneth!’ (Isaiah 52:7) and shifted it to
read ‘the Son reigneth’" (Mosiah 15:20; emphasis added),
meaning that the Son had power over death (emphasis in original).”[1] He
will have power over death. Through Him,
there will be a first resurrection. Alma2
explained this to Corianton.
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.
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.
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.
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 pass before the resurrection of those who die after the
resurrection of Christ.
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.
21
But whether it be at his resurrection or after, I do not say; but this much I
say, that there is a space 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 God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and
be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works.
Alma 40:16-21
All who believe in the words of the prophet and kept God’s
commandments will come forth in the first resurrection.
Those who are a part of the first resurrection will dwell
with God. They will have eternal life
through Christ.
Those who die without a knowledge of Christ will also have
part in the first resurrection. These
are those who died before Christ’s ministry.
Little children also have eternal life.
Jacob, teaching about the atonement, told the Nephite
congregation,
25
Wherefore, he has given a law; and where there is no law given there is no
punishment; and where there is no punishment there is no condemnation; and
where there is no condemnation the mercies of the Holy One of Israel have claim
upon them, because of the atonement; for they are delivered by the power of
him.
26
For the atonement satisfieth the demands of his justice upon all those who have
not the law given to them, that they are delivered from that awful monster,
death and hell, and the devil, and the lake of fire and brimstone, which is
endless torment; and they are restored to that God who gave them breath, which
is the Holy One of Israel.
2 Nephi 9:25-26
In this dispensation, the Lord revealed to Joseph Smith, “But behold, I say unto you, that little
children are redeemed from the foundation of the world through mine Only
Begotten” (D&C 29:46). “And I also beheld that all children who die
before they arrive at the years of accountability are saved in the celestial
kingdom of heaven” (D&C 137:10).
Abinadi warns the priests, telling them they should “fear and tremble before God.” “Know ye not that if ye will do these things,
that the power of the redemption and the resurrection, which is in Christ, will
bring you to stand with shame and awful guilt before the bar of God” (Jacob
6:9). They rebel against God. “Destroy
thou them, O God; let them fall by their own counsels; cast them out in the
multitude of their transgressions; for they have rebelled against thee” (Psalms
5:10). They do not want to rebel against
God and die in their sins. A good
example of those who rebel against God are Laman and Lemuel. Nephi warned them, “Wherefore, if they should die in their wickedness they must be cast
off also, as to the things which are spiritual, which are pertaining to
righteousness; wherefore, they must be brought to stand before God, to be judged
of their works; and if their works have been filthiness they must needs be filthy;
and if they be filthy it must needs be that they cannot dwell in the kingdom of
God; if so, the kingdom of God must be filthy also” (1 Nephi 15:33). As he finished the record of the Book of
Mormon, Moroni gave a similar warning. “And wo unto them who shall do these things
away and die, for they die in their sins, and they cannot be saved in the
kingdom of God; and I speak it according to the words of Christ; and I lie not”
(Moroni 10:26).
If you willfully rebel against God, and have no part of His
commandments, they will have no part in the first resurrection.
Salvation will not come to these people; they will not be
redeemed by the Lord. Justice will make
its claim on the sinner. Therefore God gave unto them commandments,
after having made known unto them the plan of redemption, that they should not
do evil, the penalty thereof being a second death, which was an everlasting death
as to things pertaining unto righteousness; for on such the plan of redemption
could have no power, for the works of justice could not be destroyed, according
to the supreme goodness of God” (Alma 12:32).
15
And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on his name;
this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of
mercy, which overpowereth justice, and bringeth about means unto men that they
may have faith unto repentance.
16
And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, and encircles them in the
arms of safety, while he that exercises no faith unto repentance is exposed to
the whole law of the demands of justice; therefore only unto him that has faith
unto repentance is brought about the great and eternal plan of redemption.
Alma 34:15-16
The hallmark of the way of death is
to refuse to hearken to the voice of the Lord. This response is characterized
by following one's own (carnal) desires, rebelling against God, and persisting
in the carnal nature. Evil works are brought forth. Redemption is not possible,
being inconsistent with the nature of God (see Mosiah 15:27), and the
unrepentant are claimed by justice. These people come forth after the
first resurrection in the resurrection of endless damnation and are delivered
to the devil. Their own choices—refusal to hearken to the voice of God—have
placed them in the power of the devil.[2]
The day will come that the gospel and salvation will be
declared unto all people. The Lord will “lift up their voice … [and they] shall
sing.”
[1] The
Trial of Abinadi, Maxwell Institute, accessed October 7, 2014.
[2] The
Way of Life and the Way of Death in the Book of Mormon, Mack C. Stirling,
Maxwell Institute, accessed October 7, 2014.
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