Resurrection and Final Judgment Alma 40-41

1. “Resurrection is much more than merely reuniting a spirit to a body held captive by the grave…”  (Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, 2000 May, pp. 14-16) Resurrection and Final Judgment Alma 40-41

2. Thomas S. Monson http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBxxYyaev7g

3. How many resurrections are there? Is there a set time/date for the Final Resurrection to happen? Will we see God as soon as we die? How will the final judgment work? Will everyone be resurrected? What will we be judged by? What is the law of Restoration? In what ways will we look different after we are resurrected? What happens to people who are cremated or have donated organs? Who will judge us? Is it normal to feel worried about the Final Judgment? Death, Resurrection, & Judgment

4. Read the first verse of Alma 40, 41 and 42 and see what’s happening with Corianton after having heard Alma’s previous message.

5. How many resurrections are there? Is there a set time/date for the Final Resurrection to happen? (see Alma 40:4-5)

6. Resurrection “All people will not be resurrected to the same glory (1 Cor. 15:39–42; D&C 76:89–98), nor will all be resurrected at the same time (1 Cor. 15:22–23; Alma 40:8; D&C 76:64–65, 85). Many Saints were resurrected after Christ’s resurrection (Matt. 27:52). The righteous will be resurrected before the wicked and will come forth in the first resurrection (1 Thes. 4:16); the unrepentant sinners will come forth in the last resurrection (Rev. 20:5–13; D&C 76:85).” Guide to the Scriptures, lds.org

7. Resurrection “We have not the ordinance and the keys of the resurrection. They will be given to those who have passed off; they will be ordained by those who hold the keys of the resurrection, to go forth and resurrect the Saints just as we receive the ordinance of baptism. This is one of the ordinances we cannot receive here, and there are many more.” Discourses of Brigham Young, pp. 397-398. See also Spencer W. Kimball, "Our Great Potential," in CR April 1977, pp. 69-72

8. Will we see God as soon as we die? (Alma 40:11)

9. Will we see God as soon as we die? “These words of Alma as I understand them, do not intend to convey the thought that all spirits go back into the presence of God. “Taken home to God,” simply means that their mortal existence has come to an end, and they have returned to the world of spirits.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:84-86

10. How will the final judgment work? (Alma 40:12-14)

11. Final Judgment “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts – what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts – what we have become.” Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, p. 32

12. Final Judgment “When he does judge us, I feel he will take all things into consideration: our genetic and chemical makeup, our mental state, our intellectual capacity, the teachings we have received, the traditions of our fathers, our health, and so forth.” M. Russell Ballard, “Suicide: Some Things We Know, and Some We Do Not,” Ensign, Oct. 1987, p. 8

13. Will everyone be resurrected? (Alma 40:16)

14. Resurrection “Death releases a spirit for growth and development and places a body in the repair shop of Mother Earth, there to be recast, remolded into a perfect body, clean, whole, perfected, and ready for its occupant for eternity.” The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.45 

15. Resurrection “One day loved ones whom we knew to have disabilities in mortality will stand before us glorified and grand, breathtakingly perfect in body and mind. What a thrilling moment that will be! I do not know whether we will be happier for ourselves that we have witnessed such a miracle or happier for them that they are fully perfect and finally ‘free at last.’” Jeffrey R. Holland, October 2013 General Conference

16. What will our bodies look like? (Alma 40:18)

17. Resurrected Bodies “President Joseph F. Smith said people will come forth "even to the wounds in the flesh. Not that a person will always be marred by scars, for these will be removed in their course, in their proper time..." [Gospel Doctrine, 4th p. 30.] Deformities will be corrected immediately at the time of the uniting of the spirit and body. We may be sure that every man will receive his body in its perfect frame in the resurrection.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 2:293-294.

18. Resurrected Bodies “It is true that Christ showed His wounds to the Nephites to give to them a witness of his suffering. [3 Ne 11:10-17.]These wounds have remained in his hands, side, and feet all through the centuries from the time of his crucifixion and will remain until his Second Coming.”  Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation 2:290-292.

19. What will we be judged by? (Alma 40:21)

20. Final Judgment “In the final day, all men will stand before the bar of God in a final day of judgment. The eventual destiny of all men will have been determined before that day.” Bruce R. McConkie, The Millennial Messiah, p.515

21. Final Judgment “Worthiness interviews represent the rehearsal stage for final judgment. Such interviews are a blessing, a choice opportunity to account to the Lord through His authorized servants of our sacred stewardship.” Joseph B. Wirthlin, “True to the Truth,”Ensign, May 1997, p. 16

22. What is the law of Restoration? (Alma 40:22-23)

23. The Law of Restoration “We will meet the same identical being that we associated with here in the flesh - not some other soul, some other being, or the same being in some other form, but the same identity and the same form and likeness, the same person we knew and were associated with in our mortal existence.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Gospel Doctrine, p. 22

24. The Law of Restoration “Every man and woman will be as beautiful as the angels that surround the throne of God. If you can obtain the right to come up in the morning of the resurrection, you need entertain no fears that the wife will be dissatisfied with her husband, or the husband with the wife; for those of the first resurrection will be free from sin and from the consequences and power of sin.” Brigham Young, Journal of Discourses, 10:24

25. The Law of Restoration “In both of the (lower) kingdoms there will be changes in the bodies and limitations. They will not have the power of increase, neither the power or nature to live as husbands and wives, for this will be denied them and they cannot increase. Some of the functions in the celestial body will not appear. I take it that men and women will, in these kingdoms, be merely immortal beings having received the resurrection. ” Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:288-289

26. In what ways will we look different after we are resurrected? (Alma 40:25)

27. The Beauty of the Resurrection “We bear the image of our earthly parents, but by…the holy resurrection, we shall put on the image of the heavenly, in beauty, glory, power and goodness. Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, p.374 “There is nothing grander that I can imagine than a resurrected body.” Lorenzo Snow, 5 October 1900, CR, p. 4; Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.99

28. What happens to people who are cremated or have donated organs? (Alma 41:2)

29. Death “Much of the cremated body is carried off into the air and only a small portion of ash remains. However it is impossible to destroy a body. It makes no difference whether a body is consumed by fire, buried in the depths of the sea, or placed in the tomb, the time will come when every essential particle will be called back again to its own place, and the individual will be reassembled with every essential part restored.” Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:100

30. What word best describes what we are judged by? (Alma 41:5)

31. Justice and Mercy “For every good deed we have done, we shall receive the full reward that it is possible to bestow…for every ill thing we do, there will be imposed upon us the least penalty that may properly be bestowed – eternal justice seasoned by mercy and love.” J. Reuben Clark, Conference Report, April 1958, pp.48-49

32. Who will judge us? (Alma 41:7)

33. Justice and Mercy “On that dramatic day there can be no saving swagger – no panache. Those whose grievance with God will be simply speechless. The promised day of judgment will come, and all men will be left “without excuse.” (D&C 101:93; Romans 1:20.). We will receive what we really chose, and none can or will question the justice or mercy of God.” Neal A. Maxwell, Things As They Really Are, pp.111-113

34. What if you are worried about the Final Judgment? (Alma 41:9,14)

35. The Final Judgment “I sat with a youngster and he was fretting. And I said, “Son, all you have to worry about is that you are doing your best in the place where you are today. That is all you have to be concerned about. You are not going to be judged by how you measure to someone else. The only measure by which you are going to be measured is, ‘How will you compare with what you had the capacity to do?’ We are all born with different capacities and all He asks is that we do our best; and that’s the measure by which we’ll be judged when that time comes.” The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, pp. 64-65

36. “Resurrection is much more than merely reuniting a spirit to a body held captive by the grave…”  (Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, 2000 May, pp. 14-16) Resurrection and Final Judgment Alma 40-41