Today we lost another member of the Twelve, Elder Richard G.
Scott. A sign of his poor health was his
missing the last two General Conferences.
This leaves three vacancies in the Twelve. According to the Deseret News, the last time this occurred was April 1907.
I always enjoyed listening to him. He had a way of conveying his message that
always touched my spirit. I always felt
his special spirit. His messages were always spot on – something we needed to
hear. We are all better people of having
had the opportunity to learn from him.
As I write this post, it feels right that the subject is the
resurrection. It is an appropriate message
for today.
Elder Scott will be missed.
Chapter 40
Christ bringeth to
pass the resurrection of all men—The righteous dead go to paradise and the
wicked to outer darkness to await the day of their resurrection—All things
shall be restored to their proper and perfect frame in the resurrection. About
74 B.C.
Having answered his son’s questions about the coming of
Christ answered, we come to another area of concern. Corianton is concerned about the resurrection
of the dead.
The first point Alma makes is that the resurrection will not
occurring until after Christ comes. “But
now is Christ risen from the dead, and
become the firstfruits of them that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order [GR
rank]: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are Christ's at his coming” (1
Corinthians 15:20-24).
When we are resurrected we become immortal. Abinadi taught, “Even this mortal shall put
on immortality, and this corruption shall put on incorruption, and shall be
brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their
works whether they be good or whether they be evil—If they be good, to the
resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they be evil, to the
resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the devil, who hath
subjected them, which is damnation—Having gone according to their own carnal
wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy
were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them,
and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would
not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not
repent. And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember
that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?” (Mosiah 16:10-13).
We will go from being corruptible to being incorruptible. “For this corruptible must put on
incorruption, and this mortal must
put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption,
and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass
the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:53-54).
Christ will bring to pass the resurrection. “Jesus, when he had cried again with a loud
voice, yielded up the ghost[1]
… And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept [GR who
had died] arose” (Matthew 27:50, 52).
“Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle
me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39).
“Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which
all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And shall come forth; they
that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil,
unto the resurrection of damnation” (John 5:28-29).
No one knows when the resurrection will be. This is a mystery of God. This mystery is kept and is known only by God
Himself. “Murmur not because of the things
which thou hast not seen, for they are withheld from thee and from the world,
which is wisdom in me in a time to come” (D&C 25:4).
“God shall give unto you knowledge by his Holy Spirit, yea,
by the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the
world was until now” (D&C 121:26).
“For I deign to reveal unto my church things which have been
kept hid from before the foundation of the world, things that pertain to the
dispensation of the fulness of times” (D&C 124:41).
Will there be a second or third time the dead shall come
forth? “For behold, in my name are they
called; and if they know me they shall come forth, and shall have a place
eternally at my right hand. And it shall come to pass that when the second
trump shall sound then shall they that never knew me come forth and shall stand
before me” (Mosiah 26:24-25).
Once again, Alma makes the point only God knows these
things. But, be sure, there is a time
the dead shall rise. “For the day cometh
that the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; the heavens shall shake and
the earth shall tremble, and the trump of God shall sound both long and loud,
and shall say to the sleeping nations: Ye saints arise and live; ye sinners stay
and sleep until I shall call again” (D&C 43:18).
[1] Jesus,
when he had cried again with a loud voice, saying, Father, it is finished, thy will is
done, yielded up the ghost. (Joseph Smith Translation Matthew 27:54).
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