GPC45: Comments and Resources

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Gospel Principles
Unit 10: Life after Death
Chapter 45: The Postmortal Spirit World
Comments and Resources

"The spirits of all men, as soon as they depart from this mortal body, whether they are good or evil...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" (Joseph F. Smith, Improvement Era, June 1904, p. 621)"

During the study of this topic, we will learn more of the conditions existing in the spirit world and the work of preaching the gospel that is being done there.

Resources
Gospel Principles, chapter 45.
Jesus the Christ, chapter 36.
Topical Guide: Spirit World.
Bible Dictionary:  <http://Scriptures.lds.org/en/bd/contents> Paradise; Hell.'
 

Concept 1: Introduction

'Heavenly Father prepared a plan for our salvation.  As part of this plan, he sent us from his presence to live on earth and receive mortal bodies of flesh and blood.  Eventually our mortal bodies will die, and our spirits will go to the spirit world.  The spirit world is a place of waiting, working, learning, and resting from care and sorrow.  Our spirits will live there until we are ready for our resurrection.  Then our mortal bodies will once more unite with our spirits, and we will receive the degree of glory we have prepared for (see chapter 46, "The Last Judgment").

Many of us have wondered what the spirit world is like.  The Scriptures  and Latter-day prophets have given us information about the spirit world.

Discussion

What is the purpose of the spirit world?'


Concept 2: Where Is the Spirit World?

'In a funeral sermon, Joseph Smith declared that the spirits of righteous people who have died "are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions, and are often pained therewith" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 326).  Other Latter-day prophets have made similar statements. President Ezra Taft Benson said: "Sometimes the veil between this life and the life beyond becomes very thin.  Our loved ones who have passed on are not far from us" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1971, p. 18; or Ensign, June 1971, p. 33).  President Brigham Young said: "Where is the spirit world? It is right here" (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 376).

Discussion

Where is the spirit world?'


Concept 3: What Are Spirits Like?

'Spirit beings have the same bodily form as mortals except that the spirit body is in perfect form (Ether 3:16 "Behold, this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit will I appear unto my people in the flesh.").  Spirits carry with them from earth their attitudes of devotion or antagonism toward things of righteousness (Alma 34:34 "Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.").  hey have the same appetites and desires that they had when they lived on earth.  All spirits are in adult form.  They were adults before their mortal existence, and they are in adult form after death, even if they die as infants or children (see Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 455).

Discussion

What do spirit bodies look like?'


Concept 4: Divisions in the Spirit World

'The prophet Alma in the Book of Mormon taught about two divisions or states in the spirit world:

"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.

"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.

"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" (Alma 40:12-14).

The spirits are classified according to the purity of their lives and their obedience to the will of the Lord while on earth.  The righteous and the wicked are separated (1 Nephi 15:28-30 "28. And I said unto them that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God.  29. And I said unto them that it was a representation of that awful hell, which the angel said unto me was prepared for the wicked.  30. And I said unto them that our father also saw that the justice of God did also divide the wicked from the righteous; and the brightness thereof was like unto the brightness of a flaming fire, which ascendeth up unto God forever and ever, and hath no end."), but the spirits may progress from one level to another as they learn gospel principles and live in accordance with them (see Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 762).

Discussion

What divisions are there in the spirit world?'


Concept 5: Paradise 

'According to the prophet Alma, the righteous spirits rest from earthly care and sorrow.  Nevertheless, they are occupied in doing the work of the Lord. President Joseph F. Smith saw in a vision that immediately after Jesus Christ was crucified, he visited the righteous in the spirit world.  He appointed messengers, gave them power and authority, and commissioned them to "carry the light of the gospel to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men" (D&C 138:30).

The Church is organized in the spirit world, with each prophet standing at the head of his own generation (see Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 4:209).  Priesthood holders continue their responsibilities in the spirit world. President Wilford Woodruff taught: "The same Priesthood exists on the other side of the veil. . . . Every Apostle, every Seventy, every Elder, etc., who has died in the faith as soon as he passes to the other side of the veil, enters into the work of the ministry" (in Journal of Discourses, 22:333-34).

Family relationships are also important. President Jedediah M. Grant, a counselor to Brigham Young, saw the spirit world and described to Heber C. Kimball the organization that exists there: "He said that the people he there saw were organized in family capacities. . . . He said, 'When I looked at families, there was a deficiency in some, . . . for I saw families that would not be permitted to come and dwell together, because they had not honored their calling here' " (Heber C. Kimball, in Journal of Discourses, 4:135-36).

Discussion

What do the spirits in paradise do? Why are some families incomplete in paradise?'


Concept 6: Spirit Prison 

'The Apostle Peter referred to the spirit world as a prison, which it is for some (1 Peter 3:18-20 ''18. For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit: 19. By which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison;  20. Which sometime were disobedient, when once the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls were saved by water.").  In the spirit prison are the spirits of those who have not yet received the gospel of Jesus Christ.  These spirits have agency and may be enticed by both good and evil.  If they accept the gospel and the ordinances performed for them in the temples, they may prepare themselves to leave the spirit prison and dwell in paradise.

Also in the spirit prison are those who rejected the gospel after it was preached to them on earth or in the spirit prison.  These spirits suffer in a condition known as hell.  They have removed themselves from the mercy of Jesus Christ, who said, "Behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; but if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit" (D&C 19:16-18 "16. For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; 17. But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; 18. Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink--").  After suffering in full for their sins, they will be allowed to inherit the lowest degree of glory, which is the telestial kingdom.

The hell in the spirit world will not continue forever.  Even the spirits who have committed the greatest sins will have suffered sufficiently by the end of the Millennium (Acts 2:25-27 "25. For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:  26. Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope: 27. Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.").  They will then be resurrected.

Discussion

What are some of the activities that go on in the spirit world?

Additional Scriptures 

1 Peter 4:6 (gospel preached to the dead)
6. For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

Moses 7:37-39 (spirit prison prepared for the wicked)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/moses/7/37-39#37

D&C 76 (revelation about the three kingdoms of glory)
http://Scriptures.lds.org/dc/76

Luke 16:19-31 (fate of beggar and rich man in the spirit world)'
http://Scriptures.lds.org/luke/16/19-31#19


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Moroni 10:4-5
"4. And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost. 
5. And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things."

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