Mosiah 16
16:1-5 - Abinadi kind of leaves off on the resurrection and judgment of the righteous, but now he's ready to deal in depth with those who are wicked. When the time comes that all "people shall see eye to eye and shall confess before God that his judgements are just," then "shall the wicked be cast out." As with most talk of hell, there are vivid descriptions of physical pain, and maybe we've talked about this before, but I noticed while reading verse 2, all the descriptions are pain that if inflicted to one's self, people howl and weep and wail and gnash their teeth themselves, there is no inflictor, no punisher, there is no talk of a tormentor. These are all things that are done to themselves. If there is no one making them feel this way other than themselves, then that begs the questions, why would they do that to themselves? What would be so awful that people would experience that pain and suffering at them hands of only themselves? I listened to a really good Ensign talk on my way to work today by Brad Wilcox entitled "His Grace is Sufficient." In it, he teaches "Jesus paid our debt in full. He didn't pay it all except for a few coins. He paid it all. It is finished... you have plenty to do, but it is not to pay that debt. We will all be resurrected. We will all go back to God's presence to be judged. What is left to be determined by our obedience is how comfortable we plan to be in God's presence and what degree of glory we plan on receiving." This was such a simple and profound way of looking to who does the rewarding and punishing. I think that for so long, and for so many people there's this idea that if we don't keep all the commandments, if we somehow don't "please God," then he personally will do the whipping, the burning, he will personally administer the horrid punishment and smile while he's doing it. This is a lie fed to us by satan, but it flies in the face of everything I know and love about God. Jesus has already paid the price and is offering us this free gift, and in exchange is asking us to obey the natural laws of happiness, to keep the commandments. I thought about this while I was listening to this in the car, so to be clear, Jesus is "gifting" us perfected immortal bodies through the resurrection, and is offering us eternal life, and all we have to do is be safe and happy through obedience to the commandments. Hmmm..... I mean honestly, when I think about it like that, it doesn't make any sense to be disobedient, I mean we all will and we work through that, which this article has an excellent analogy about making mistakes and moving forward. But to be constantly moving forward, to treasure Christ and the commandments, and to be happy AND saved? It doesn't make any sense to live any other way. But God is merciful, he has given us agency so that we might properly come back to him, but he stands there with these gifts in outstretched arms, he never moves, but he will not drag us kicking and screaming to salvation, it goes against the plan of happiness, it goes against natural law. So those who partake not "the Lord redeemeth them not. For they are carnal and devilish, and the devil has power over them." In an October 2001 general conference address entitled "The Seventh Commandment: A Shield" Elder Neal A. Maxwell teaches "the influential tendencies of the natural man are unfriendly to the seventh commandment and these involve the self-damaging 'carnal, sensual, (and) devilish.' If these words sound too harsh, consider, brothers and sisters, the awful goal the adversary pursues: 'that all men might be miserable like unto himself.'" Abinadi continues that all men were lost as a result of the fall, but those who repent not "remaineth in his fallen state and the devil hath all power over him." But God planned for this and made it the pivotal part of the plan of happiness.
16:6-15 - The pivotal part of the plan of happiness is the atonement and the resurrection, and Abinadi makes sure that the priests know that it is real. In an October 1999 general conference address entitled "For This Cause Came I into the World," Elder Alexander B. Morrison taught "Jesus came to bring not only immortality but also eternal life to our Father's children. Though Christ's atonement provides a universal resurrection to all, regardless of merit, the gift of eternal life- life with the Father and Son, in their perfected presence- is reserved for the faithful, for those who show their love for Christ by their willingness to follow His commandments and to make and keep holy covenants." I like that he differentiates between the resurrection and redemption, one deals physically and the other spiritually, we will all get perfect bodies, but it's up to us to accept a perfect spirit. As Abinadi points out, when it comes time to "stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works... if they be good, to the resurrection of endless lift 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." I really think that Abinadi knows that his message is almost over and that he will soon die, and I think he's doing a really good job of making it an equal message, it's not only death and hell, because of the wickedness of the priests and Noah, but he's also trying to address those who might be on the edge and still desire to choose righteousness. I guess if you think about it from Alma's perspective, if it had only been death and hell preached, he would have been "converted" out of fear, and when he went and taught the people, the message would have been fear. But because there were both messages, he was able to give the people he eventually taught the opportunity to be encouraged, to have hope. I think that we see many societies out there that run on fear, and it's a dark and dreary wasteland as opposed to the Savior's message of hope and redemption. There are times for the carrot and times for the stick and even though I believe that he is addressing very wicked men, and could be justified in speaking of destruction is the message was just for them, oh now that's interesting. The Spirit put the words in Abinadi's mouth to speak, so the Spirit was setting the stage for those who believed in Alma's words to be taught correctly. Because really, if Abinadi's main purpose was to condemn the priests and Noah enough to make them accountable for their actions of killing him, and to teach them the basic principles of the gospel, then a lot of the hope and explanation of the fate of the righteous would not have been necessary. Very interesting. Again the Lord emphasizes here through Abinadi his deep desire for their happiness and well being, but that he also loved them enough to respect their agency. The people who will be tormented after the judgment will be those who "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... and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent." Jesus wants us back desperately, he's amazing, but it's our choice. It's interesting because I believe that satan has tricked us into thinking that for the vast majority of our lives, we have no choice, which makes sense since he wanted to take away our agency in the beginning, so if he can't take it by force through the power of God, then he will get us to give away to him for free. He's convinced us that are happiness and feelings are dictated by someone else, that if someone if mean that we must feel offended. I remember the first time I heard that being offended is a choice, and I thought "no it's not, I can't choose if that person is a jerk," that was my first encounter with the concept that I control my own feelings, I am the master of my own fate. And as I've learned and grown in that concept through the last several years, it's been freeing and empowering, and I've learned that one of the biggest lies that satan tells us is that happiness can be found if only we look hard enough. He tells us we can find that perfect house, that perfect job, the perfect spouse, he tells us that our happiness depends on factors outside of our control, if someone gives us that job, if someone agrees to be with us, etc. And these are all lies, we will never find some thing or some person that will make us happy, it's the "happiness rabbit hole." But what Jesus gives us through the Atonement is the opportunity to find happiness as we strive not to find the perfect job, but to be he perfect worker, not to find the perfect spouse but to become the perfect spouse, not to live in the perfect house but to make the perfect home. This change of heart, these are the "arms of mercy (that) were extended towards them." His gift of mercy isn't only forgiveness, that's only the beginning, his mercy and love are extending us a change of heart and happiness that we could only imagine.
16:6-15 - The pivotal part of the plan of happiness is the atonement and the resurrection, and Abinadi makes sure that the priests know that it is real. In an October 1999 general conference address entitled "For This Cause Came I into the World," Elder Alexander B. Morrison taught "Jesus came to bring not only immortality but also eternal life to our Father's children. Though Christ's atonement provides a universal resurrection to all, regardless of merit, the gift of eternal life- life with the Father and Son, in their perfected presence- is reserved for the faithful, for those who show their love for Christ by their willingness to follow His commandments and to make and keep holy covenants." I like that he differentiates between the resurrection and redemption, one deals physically and the other spiritually, we will all get perfect bodies, but it's up to us to accept a perfect spirit. As Abinadi points out, when it comes time to "stand before the bar of God, to be judged of him according to their works... if they be good, to the resurrection of endless lift 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." I really think that Abinadi knows that his message is almost over and that he will soon die, and I think he's doing a really good job of making it an equal message, it's not only death and hell, because of the wickedness of the priests and Noah, but he's also trying to address those who might be on the edge and still desire to choose righteousness. I guess if you think about it from Alma's perspective, if it had only been death and hell preached, he would have been "converted" out of fear, and when he went and taught the people, the message would have been fear. But because there were both messages, he was able to give the people he eventually taught the opportunity to be encouraged, to have hope. I think that we see many societies out there that run on fear, and it's a dark and dreary wasteland as opposed to the Savior's message of hope and redemption. There are times for the carrot and times for the stick and even though I believe that he is addressing very wicked men, and could be justified in speaking of destruction is the message was just for them, oh now that's interesting. The Spirit put the words in Abinadi's mouth to speak, so the Spirit was setting the stage for those who believed in Alma's words to be taught correctly. Because really, if Abinadi's main purpose was to condemn the priests and Noah enough to make them accountable for their actions of killing him, and to teach them the basic principles of the gospel, then a lot of the hope and explanation of the fate of the righteous would not have been necessary. Very interesting. Again the Lord emphasizes here through Abinadi his deep desire for their happiness and well being, but that he also loved them enough to respect their agency. The people who will be tormented after the judgment will be those who "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... and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent." Jesus wants us back desperately, he's amazing, but it's our choice. It's interesting because I believe that satan has tricked us into thinking that for the vast majority of our lives, we have no choice, which makes sense since he wanted to take away our agency in the beginning, so if he can't take it by force through the power of God, then he will get us to give away to him for free. He's convinced us that are happiness and feelings are dictated by someone else, that if someone if mean that we must feel offended. I remember the first time I heard that being offended is a choice, and I thought "no it's not, I can't choose if that person is a jerk," that was my first encounter with the concept that I control my own feelings, I am the master of my own fate. And as I've learned and grown in that concept through the last several years, it's been freeing and empowering, and I've learned that one of the biggest lies that satan tells us is that happiness can be found if only we look hard enough. He tells us we can find that perfect house, that perfect job, the perfect spouse, he tells us that our happiness depends on factors outside of our control, if someone gives us that job, if someone agrees to be with us, etc. And these are all lies, we will never find some thing or some person that will make us happy, it's the "happiness rabbit hole." But what Jesus gives us through the Atonement is the opportunity to find happiness as we strive not to find the perfect job, but to be he perfect worker, not to find the perfect spouse but to become the perfect spouse, not to live in the perfect house but to make the perfect home. This change of heart, these are the "arms of mercy (that) were extended towards them." His gift of mercy isn't only forgiveness, that's only the beginning, his mercy and love are extending us a change of heart and happiness that we could only imagine.
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