Wickedness never was happiness! Alma 40-42

Egypt 1898

Tomb of Amenhotep

The world wants to know… What is out there?

Where Is the Spirit World? Brigham Young I will tell you. Will I locate them? Yes, if you wish me to. They do not pass out of the organization of this earth on which we live. … Would you have to go out of this bowery to find God, if you were in the spirit? But where is the spirit world? It is incorporated within this celestial system. Can you see it with your natural eyes? No. Can you see spirits in this room? No. Suppose the Lord should touch your eyes that you might see, could you then see the spirits? Yes, as plainly as you now see bodies, as did the servant of Elijah.

Brigham Young The brightness and glory of the next apartment is inexpressible. It is not encumbered … They move with ease and like lightning… If we want to behold Jerusalem as it was in the days of the Savior; or if we want to see the Garden of Eden as it was when created, there we are, and we see it as it existed spiritually, for it was created first spiritually and then temporally, and spiritually it still remains.

Brigham Young Continues Here, we are continually troubled with ills and ailments of various kinds, … but in the spirit world we are free from all this and enjoy life, glory, and intelligence; and we have the Father to speak to us, Jesus to speak to us, and angels to speak to us, and we shall enjoy the society of the just and the pure who are in the spirit world until the resurrection.

Alma’s teachings Alma 40: 11 Now, concerning the state of the soul between death and the resurrection—Behold, it has been made known unto me by an angel, that the spirits of all men, as soon as they are departed from this mortal body, yea, the spirits of all men, whether they be good or evil, are taken home to that God who gave them life. …(into a) state of happiness and (a) state of misery of the soul,

Where is the Line? Death State of Paradise State of Misery Righteous Evil

Some Nephites thought they knew just who would make it Nehors And (Nehor) also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life. (Alma 1:4) Zoramites thou hast made it known unto us that there shall be no Christ… thou hast elected us that we shall be saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell

Alma counsels with his son Corianton

Corianton’s Sins? Left his mission Went to Siron to be with the “harlot” Isabel Misunderstood Resurrection Misunderstood the mission of Christ Was it a case of moral transgression? Or had he gone after idolatry?

Alma 41: 2 I say unto thee, my son, that the plan of restoration is requisite with the justice of God; for it is requisite that all things should be restored to their proper order. …

Plan of Restoration What have we lost? Is anything “taken” from us?

Restoration determined by judgement 3 … men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good. 5The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.

Who does the Judging? 6 And so it is on the other hand. If he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness. 7 These are they that are redeemed of the Lord; yea, these are they that are taken out, that are delivered from that endless night of darkness; and thus they stand or fall; for behold, they are their own judges, whether to do good or do evil.

The great misery of departed spirits in the world of spirits, where they go after death, is to know that they came short of the glory that others enjoy and that they might have enjoyed themselves, and they are their own accusers.

Alma 10 Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness. 11 And now, my son, all men that are in a state of nature, … they are without God in the world, and they have gone contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the nature of happiness

Cecil B. De Mille The movie, the Ten Commandments, used to begin with director Cecil B. De Mille walking out from behind a curtain. He would begin the movie by saying: "The history of mankind teaches us that we cannot break God's laws, rather we break ourselves against them."

President Joseph F. Smith April 1918 Conference Sometimes the Lord expands our vision from this point of view and this side of the veil, so that we feel and seem to realize that we can look beyond the thin veil which separates us from that other sphere. … I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. We begin to realize, more and more fully, … that we are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends and associates and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break, … They have advanced; we are advancing; we are growing as they have grown; we are reaching the goal that they have attained unto; and therefore, I claim that we live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever.

The question is not “what’s out there”, the question is: Who’s Waiting For us Out there?