Linda sighed before responding. “It does. Basically, those who do not repent, those who do not choose to obey God in this life will go into a different part of the spirit world that is very much like a prison. It’s a state of unhappiness.”
“What kind of unhappiness?” Eve probed further.
“Unless they never really had an opportunity to learn of Christ in life and learn the Gospel so they could freely choose to accept it or not, then hell is an especially horrible place. Those who knew about God and rejected him anyway are the ones in this prison who chose works of evil in life. This causes the spirit of the devil to enter into them and these particularly wicked souls go to a place of darkness away from the heavenly light of peace and rest. Away from the side of the spirit world – known as paradise – where the more righteous go to wait to be resurrected. The wicked basically live in anxious unrest, or dread and fear waiting in darkness for the fiery wrath of God.” Linda said solemnly.
“Well I suppose that makes sense that those who often choose evil with every subsequent evil choice they make they open the door wider and wider to become possessed. That possibility was proven real by Christ Himself as He many times cast devils out of individuals who were possessed.” Samuel added.
“I think it’s important that we keep in mind that possession by the devil is a concept that basically shows how one spiritual side or another can influence us. Now when I say ‘one side or another’ I mean, one side is the devil who influences people spiritually towards evil thoughts and self serving acts that harm themselves and others and the other side is the spiritual influence of God within us towards good thoughts and more selfless acts that uplift, bless and edify us and those around us. The spiritual influence of God always influences us to bring ourselves and others to willingly believe in and follow Christ by freely choosing good works as a means of blessing as many as will freely choose it.” Linda said thoughtfully.
“That’s a good point because the scroll refers to an absolutely perfect form of justice regarding our works here during our lives here on earth.” Robert chimed in while thumbing through his notes.
“What do you mean?” Eve asked.
Stopping at a page and pointing to it, Robert continued. “The kind of happiness, blessings and joy for the righteous are absolutely astounding. But on the other hand, those who chose to harm themselves and others experience the worst kind of suffering under a perfect method of justice.” He paused as everyone in the room listened intently. He then continued.
“What I’m trying to say is, if you’ll recall that Jesus Christ literally experienced each of our lives from birth to death so He could have compassion on us and gives us the best guidance and blessings we need for our unique circumstances. That happens only through the power of God. We may not be able to fathom how it’s possible, but the fact is, that very personal and divine aspect of Christ’s atonement has a flip side to it that brings justice against the wicked and amazing blessings to the righteous as a significant part of both God’s justice and mercy.
“Let’s start with the bad news for the wicked and get that hard fact discussed first so we can move onto the good stuff about the blessings for the righteous. Now the wicked or those who do not sincerely repent and choose good works in God’s plan for happiness before they die, they will have their evil works ‘restored’ unto them, or returned upon their own heads, which means that they will literally experience what it is like to be the people they harmed. If they knowingly harmed animals they’ll literally become the animal long enough to know what it was like to suffer at their own hands as the animal. Then they’ll move on to know what it was like to harm the next being they harmed, which for most people are other humans. So for example, those that have murdered some innocent person, they will experience what it was like to be the person who was murdered. They will know what it was like to be that specific person suffering.
“Like in the story of Cain and Able in the bible, an unrepentant Cain will know exactly what it was like to literally be Able and be slain by his (Cain’s) own hands. Or if a person has unprotected sex and knows he or she has an STI–– especially a potentially fatal STI–– they will know what it’s like to be the person who gets the STI and suffers or dies. Drunk drivers who don’t sincerely repent will know what it was like to be the innocent driver who was killed or became a paraplegic or however much pain the innocent victim(s) suffered. The guilty driver will also experience the pain and suffering by the loved ones of the innocent driver who have mourned for the loss of their loved ones.
“Those who have harmed children physically or sexually or emotionally will know what it was like to be the very children they harmed.”
“Those who are adulterers will personally experience the pains of the one who they cheated on. Murderers, rapists, adulterers, fornicators, liars, thieves, bullies – all people who choose not to follow God’s plans for happiness, those who rebel and mock or otherwise disregard God’s commandments will have a very heavy price to pay that will cause them to learn by firsthand painful experience exactly how much damage their selfish, rebellious thoughts and actions caused those who they have directly or indirectly harmed. This is one of the reasons why the Atonement is so vital. This is why proper repentance is so important to do before it’s too late. For those who don’t repent and have a total change of heart before they die by feeling most concerned with God’s desires and by making full and sincere restitution to all who they’ve harmed and restitute to the best of their ability according to the conditions that salvation requires, then they can’t claim the blessings of the Atonement in time to avoid the degree of suffering that only Christ’s salvation ––the Atonement of Jesus Christ–– can save them from.”
“So the wicked remain in that experience of suffering until the time of their resurrection?” Eve asked.
“Exactly.” Robert answered somberly.
“And how much time might that be until someone is resurrected?” Spence nervously asked.
“According to the scroll references, for some people it can be up to a thousand years.”
“That’s a long time.” Spence said thoughtfully practically shivering in shock.
“That’s an awful way to learn empathy for others.” Eve said.
“But you have to admit, it is the perfect form of justice for the wicked.” Linda said confidently. “But the mercy is even better. Let’s talk about that.”
“Right.” Robert responded just as eager to move onto the more positive side of God’s justice. “The concept of divine mercy goes hand in hand with justice because those who repent receive mercy by not having to experience all of the pain they’ve caused others. But there may be some sins that are so vile that they simply can’t be fully repented of without going through that hellish experience of literally being the victim(s) who suffered. Yet on the flip side, those who choose to do good works get to experience what it was like to be the person being blessed. People who choose good, those who do good works in their life will have their good works ‘restored’ unto them. So for example, doctors who sincerely help their patients have better lives and live longer will know what it was like to have that extra year of life to spend with loved ones before saying goodbye through death. The patient who once couldn’t walk but then later could walk and maybe even run or drive a car or play their favorite sport again – these doctors and health care providers and family care givers will experience what it was like to literally be the person they blessed. They will literally experience their joys, and their happiness over the ability to walk or play a favorite sport or take a trip with their family they thought they’d never get to take.
“The wealthy person who donates to a charity to save the lives of children or provide safe refuge for women and children who escape domestic violence and make better lives for themselves and their children because of that help – help they could not have provided for themselves – these people will literally experience the peace and joy and healing rest that was experienced by those in
nocent people in need who were blessed by those who chose to help them by doing good works. The government officials who pass or improve laws or enforce laws to bless and protect those who may otherwise innocently suffer will experience what it is like to live the lives of those who received the blessings that came from their righteous use of their powerful and influential stewardship in their position(s) of government. The spouse that is faithful in marriage living in total fidelity will know what it was like to experience the peace and absence of great worry or insecurity that would otherwise come to their spouse when adultery is confirmed or reasonably suspected. Peace of mind that they can trust their spouse and the emotional security that faithfulness provides their children – all of the varying intricacies of these blessings will be experienced by faithful spouses to their joy.
“The person who chooses not to ever smoke will never have to experience what it was like to suffer as a victim of secondhand smoke. The same goes for other negative exposure such as what is like the ‘secondhand smoke’ of illicit sexual images of various forms of pornography, foul language, offensive jokes, social or emotional ostracism – if you don’t do these things, if you don’t choose evil, if you don’t choose to expose others to evil, you receive the mercy that comes from no regrets as well as the blessings of what you did to help make someone else’s life happier and better.”
“I like the mercy and blessings.” Alex beamed.
“Me too.” Linda smiled back.
“Amen!” Eve added with a chuckle.
“That’s something I hope to look forward to thanks to the blessings of Jesus Christ’s atonement.” Robert smiled thoughtfully.
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’d prefer the good side of experiencing someone else’s life. But that hell stuff…I think I’d rather do what I can to avoid that punishment if any of this turns out to be true.” Spence half-chuckled.
“Does any of this feel true to you, Spence?” Linda smiled warmly.
After what was a rather long pause, he answered with a humble smile, “Yes. Yes it does feel true. I won’t deny that.”
“It feels true to me too.” Linda responded softly.
“Well at least we know what our options are with justice. It’s either pain and suffering like we’ve never suffered before – basically the worst kind imaginable – or experiencing the best blessings even beyond our imaginations. I’ll choose the happy blessings side of it, thank you. Choosing good works is the plan for me.” Samuel said with a confident nod and a smile as if he’d made up his mind then and there to be set for eternity.
“But what happens to those people who never hear of Christ in their lifetime? What about those who live in far away places who didn’t obey God’s commandments because they never had a chance to learn about his plan for happiness? Or those who die without ever learning about God’s plan?” Alex asked in pity for such people.
“Excellent question.” Robert said as he turned to look to Linda for an answer.
“Two words.” Linda retorted. “Missionary work.”
“Missionary work?” Alex asked bewildered.
“Missionary work.” Linda repeated confidently.
“What do you mean?” Robert asked.
“The gospel of Jesus Christ is actually preached in the spirit world to those who didn’t get the opportunity to hear it when they were alive on earth as well as to those who didn’t obey His gospel. That’s even more mercy.” She answered.
“You mean that the wicked in the hell of spiritual prison actually get a break from suffering at times to be preached to?” Robert inquired curiously.
“That seems to be the case.” She said contentedly.
“Wow.” Alex mouthed in wide-eyed awe.
“It seems that in God’s continuing mercy, He’s willing to offer salvation to all who freely choose to listen, believe and follow his plan by obedience to his laws. He’d like to save as many as want to be saved. Even in death.”
“God doesn’t want to save just some of us.” Alex said gratefully.
“He wants to save as many of us, his children, as he possibly can.” Samuel spoke humbly as he looked at Alex and then Linda. He saw Linda smile softly at him as he took it all in. “What about those who know God’s laws and maybe even followed it once-upon-a-time but then chose not to follow Him anymore? What happens to them?” Samuel asked.
“They suffer a lot. It actually seems that they suffer the most.” Linda sighed. “Those who know they are harming themselves or others but they choose to harm anyway, they receive the greatest punishment because they knew better but chose evil in clear rebellion. They will receive greater punishment if they intentionally procrastinate repenting thinking they can repent during death. That intentional procrastination is especially evil because it mocks the sacredness of Christ’s great atoning sacrifice.”
“Do we know where the spirit world is? Is it somewhere out in space? Is it anywhere near heaven?” Eve wondered.
Linda smiled and wanted to cry but restrained her tears. “Amazingly, the scroll notes show that our righteous loved ones are who have passed away are not far from us. In fact, it teaches that the spirit world is right here on earth all around us.”
“One world inside another? But yet we can’t see it?”
“We can’t see it without an eye of faith. But we can feel it. We can sense it.” Linda added.
“How is that possible?” Eve asked.
“This is where the science of this gets exciting!” Spence said eager to contribute further. “At least to me, anyway.” He shrugged with a smile.
“I was wondering when you might jump in with that perspective.” Linda said curiously.
“Let’s see…How can I best explain this?” He wondered as he looked around the room for some impromptu visual aids.
“How many of you here are familiar with quantum mechanics or string theory?” Spence asked as he raised his hand enthusiastically hoping others would indicate likewise. When no one other than he and Samuel raised their hands, Spence tried not to show he was somewhat disheartened. He then, rather timidly, called on Samuel. “Samuel, what do you know about string theory or quantum physics?”
“I know it has to do with the concept of energy being present at the smallest levels in existence and that it’s flexible in ways that may be hard to believe. You know, it proves what some might think is impossible is actually possible. I think you gave some examples before of like a dimension existing within a dimension, multiple dimensions, parallel universes. I personally like the way ‘degrees of freedom’ is shown to be possible.” Samuel responded as if it was nothing new. Spence now tried to hide his further feelings of dejection over Samuel’s lax attempt to match his own enthusiasm for the subject but he decided instead to simply smile and be grateful for the fact that Samuel at least knew something about string theory.
“Very good. You certainly seemed to have at least dipped your foot in the pool of the subject and have a bit of a feel for it, metaphorically speaking. So how about we share this metaphorical dip with everyone else here so we can all be amazed by some of this science?” Spence smiled. “String theory has shown for a long time now that one dimension can exist within another dimension or one world can exist within another and yet be unseen with the naked eye. Here. Let me show you.” He then grabbed a one gallon glass pitcher of water from the table and he went over to the newly acquired empty fish tank and continued.
“The notes in the scroll regarding the concept of the spirit world being right here on earth all around us is particularly interesting to me since, from a scientific perspective, it has a high probability of being possible and therefore true.” He then pointed to the large empty fish tank. “Suppose this fish tank is our planet earth where we all now, of course, live.” Then holding up the pitcher of water he said, “But we live inside this pitcher of water while we have a mortal body.” He began putting in the pitcher a few nearby decorative figurines. The small statues were placed near the bottom of the pitcher and sun
k into place. He then placed the pitcher of water and statues in the middle of the large empty fish tank just off center towards the left side.
“Now to help this illustration along, we need to imagine that we are the figurines inside the pitcher and that the inside of the pitcher has been previously coated or lined with a special or magical kind of one-way mirrored tint–– metaphorically speaking–– so that all we see as we look around us is our own world here on earth. Mirrored tint, as we all know, is often used inside fish tanks so that the fish can’t see us but we can see them. The humane intent behind this is so that the fish are not shocked and confused seeing this other strange world of humans all around them while the fish are trying to keep their bearings swimming and living in their own world. Our world might at the very least distract them and for some fish possibly scare them ––not because there’s anything wrong with the higher world of intelligence as humans but simply because it’s so different.
“We live off of air and are not surrounded by water–– although we can be if we want to go swimming or scuba diving–– we have that option. But the fish don’t have that option since their world consists of a world of water such as the ocean or a lake. So the one-way mirrored tint makes it so that those living outside of the pitcher can see into it but those living inside the pitcher–– specifically mortals, staying with the spiritual lessons here–– can’t see anything outside of the pitcher. And of course, since the fish tank is inside the room we’re all meeting in, then that’s like another dimension, again for the purposes of this metaphor. Hence the concept of multiple dimensions within one dimension,” he then looked around to see if anyone understood what he just said. With half of the room looking lost and the other half thinking deeply, he added, “Maybe I just lost a few of you on that. Maybe there’s a better way to explain it.”
“But if you have a strong enough beam of light pressed closely enough against a one-way tinted mirror, you can often see what’s on the other side.” Samuel added.
“Yes!” Spence said enthusiastically that someone seemed to be getting it.
“So mortal light, in that example, is symbolic of divine light as an eye of faith.” Linda said in a more eager tone as she thought out loud.
“Yes. That also may be true from what you might call a ‘spiritually scientific’ perspective.” Spence chuckled.
“Spiritually scientific? Are you kidding?” Robert asked in unbelief that Spence would actually describe this phenomenon using words most scientists would be quick to label as an oxymoron.
“Not really.” Spence said almost timidly as if waiting for other scientists to come barging through the door to haul him off to burn him at the stake for scientific heresy. He then continued more boldly since it was now clear to all that he was willing to use terms that may be an oxymoron if it will ultimately be the most accurate and truthful way to describe something so important. “String theory can describe what some may call a spiritual perspective. The possibility that life as a mortal is only one dimension of human existence while also having life as a spiritual being, so that the concept of living after your body has died is actually another dimension of life’s experience. But even though they are two different dimensions–– the physical world we now see and feel and live in and the spirit world most of us can’t see yet–– and even though one of them appears to be a very separate dimension, meaning that our mortal existence now looks to be separate from a spiritual dimension, in reality they can and likely do occupy the same space.”
“So we don’t go anywhere else after we die? We all just stay right here?” Robert asked thoughtfully.
“At least until we’re resurrected and go on to inherit one of God’s heavenly kingdoms–– one of the three levels possible that we can inherit. That’s what the scroll and apparently science seems to indicate.” Linda replied. “So we remain in the world of spirits until the time of judgment where we learn what degree of salvation or what level of heaven it is that we’ve earned thanks to the grace of God as well as based upon what we did in our lives with our thoughts and our physical bodies as well as what the intents of our hearts were.”
As Spence returned to his seat, Robert asked, “So that means that the spirits of the dead, specifically our righteous loved ones, can see us? I mean, they’re watching us all the time?”
“It seems that yes, they can see us, but since the spirit world of paradise is a place of learning and work as well as rest, it doesn’t seem that they are watching us all of the time. It’s more like they work with other deceased loved ones part of the time and at other times they help us on earth when it’s God’s will. It’s those righteous deceased family members helping those of their relatives that are still living here on earth,” she clarified.
“Fathers and grandfathers and even great grandfathers helping and watching over sons and brothers looking out for and helping brothers. It’s the same for women. Mothers and grand mothers and great grandmothers helping and watching over daughters. Sisters helping and watching over sisters.” Alex thought out loud as she visualized the fact in her mind.
Linda thought Alex’s insight was particularly interesting and she couldn’t help but to show Alex how impressed she was with her insight as she smiled. She waited to see if Alex would expound her thoughts on it but Alex didn’t comment further.
“It seems to me that a merciful Father in Heaven would be in control of which spirits see us doing what and when and thereby allow us privacy as it’s right.” Robert said thoughtfully. “Now that privacy factor–– if we could call it that–– could it be controlled by, say, altering the dimension someone is living in–– living or dead?”
“I believe that a supreme organizing intelligence could do that, yes.” Spence answered just short of giving God the credit for such power.
“It makes sense that God, Whom I believe is the author of that power, would have that ability and it makes sense that He would be very careful with that. I mean, we all know how He feels about sacred things. ‘Cast not your pearls before swine’ is the counsel Christ gave in the New Testament.” Robert said.
“That certainly seems logical.” Spence admitted.
“I agree.” Eve chimed in.
“Well, that was basically what I had to say about that for now if you wanted to continue, Linda.” Spence said.
“Thank you for your very insightful thoughts, Spence.” Linda smiled as she stood back up to return to the front of the room to address the group again.
“You’re most welcome.”
“It had been mentioned earlier that the only way we can be brought into our Father in Heaven’s presence to be judged after death is by receiving the blessing of the resurrection when our bodies and our spirits are reunited.”
Robert raised his hand and Linda stopped to let him speak. “There’s so much of this to learn that I was lost in thought earlier when we discussed what our spirit looks like when we die. Can we go over that again? I just wanted to clarify. This is what I understand and you can tell me if I understand it right. What our spirits look like is answered in the light blue notes that tell us that spirit beings have the same bodily form as mortals with the primary difference being that the spirit body is in perfect form. So no matter what imperfections or deformities or missing pieces our mortal bodies may have, our spirit body is in perfect form. We are either spiritually male or female even if our mortal bodies may not reflect that perfectly. Is that right?”
“That’s what I understood,” Linda said.
“Same here,” Eve added as Samuel and Spence also nodded in agreement.
“Got it,” Robert smiled happily over the good news. “And the resurrection happens before the judgment and not after?” he asked.
“Exactly.”
“Does having a resurrected and therefore perfected immortal body mean that if we lose a limb during this life of mortality that our resurrected body will get that limb back?” Eve wondered.
“That’s what seems to be the case.”<
br />
“So the blind will have perfect vision and those who were born with tumors that deform the spine or other parts of the body…” Spence trailed off to let Linda fill in the blanks.
“Their perfected body won’t have tumors or crooked body parts. Any organs missing at birth or lost during life or deformed through any accident or malicious act–– or any other bodily imperfection from virtually any cause will be perfectly healed never to get sick or to cause pain or to handicap or to die ever again. All physical and mental defects and disabilities will be perfectly healed forever.”
“That’s an incredibly powerful and generous God to give that to everyone freely regardless of what good choices or evil choices they’ve made.” Spence chuckled. “But what about reincarnation? Isn’t that something totally different?”
“According to the scroll references and the bible references, the concept of reincarnation is a false doctrine. Reincarnation means being born back into the world again in a totally different form. Reincarnation is not a true teaching.” Robert answered.
“That’s correct.” Linda added. “Resurrection is different and perfectly accurate in that it means receiving an immortal flesh and bone body as part of an eternal reward. The doctrine of resurrection is true doctrine. ”
“But remember, that’s a form of physical salvation which is quite different from spiritual salvation. Right? Is that what you’re getting too from the scroll notes and biblical teachings?” Robert asked her.
“Yes.”
“And we know what the difference is between the two now, right?” Samuel asked squinting his eyes. He then asked, “I mean, didn’t we just go over this?”
Linda chuckled, “This is actually the next level of understanding salvation. We’re advancing even further,” she smiled.
“Oops,” Samuel said sheepishly in true embarrassment that he tried to quickly recover from by saying enthusiastically, “Hey! I’m all for it! Let’s keep going!” Alex shook her head trying not to laugh in disbelief over her uncle Samuel’s momentary inability to keep up. But thankfully Samuel was listening too intently now to Linda to really notice.
Linda sat on the edge of a table in front as she answered his question. “Spiritual salvation through Jesus Christ means Eternal life. Immortality is not the same thing as eternal life. Spiritual salvation is like a spectrum in that we will be rewarded according to what we did in life, what are actions were, as well as what our desires were. When we stand before God at the time of final judgment, we will have perfect memories of what we did with our lives. We will remember perfectly the good works we did in righteousness as well as remembering perfectly our guilt. Because eternal life is the highest level of reward possible – which means those who are worthy of it will receive all that Heavenly Father has as well as eternal relationships with our family and friends who chose it also, eternal life is a gift given only to those who obey His laws, obedient to His gospel. This highest reward means to experience the life God and Jesus Christ enjoy since you know them and associate with them. Only those who are freed from sin and suffering by Jesus Christ’s atoning sacrifice may receive the great gift of eternal life. It is living with God in eternal families forever which is also called ‘exaltation’.”
“And what about the different levels of heaven?” Samuel prodded further.
“When Christ taught in the bible that in His Father’s kingdom are ‘many mansions’ this is one of several references to the concept of various levels of heaven or kingdoms. The final judgment is an extremely important event for each of us since the decision and result is final and eternal. We will be judged for all of our thoughts, actions and words. It’s at judgment that we learn what kingdom we are worthy to receive. Will we be found worthy to receive the highest and best reward? The middle or second best reward? Or the third best and smallest reward?” She then got up and went back to the board and began writing again. She wrote at the top, Celestial Kingdom and then beneath it, Terrestrial Kingdom and beneath that to represent the lowest kingdom, Telestial Kingdom. She then began to explain what she had learned of each one as a level of heaven.
“The Celestial Kingdom is the very best of the best. This is the ultimate eternal reward for righteousness. Those who receive this reward are those who are cleansed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ because they have repented of their sins, received all of the ordinances of His gospel and kept the related covenants to the best of their ability on a daily basis until the end of their mortal lives. This highest reward grants not only the privilege to live in God’s presence as well as the presence of those of their family who qualify, but it also includes the great gift of becoming like Him which results in receiving a fullness of joy. The word of God as contained in holy scripture refers to this as the ‘brightness of the sun’ or ‘glory of the sun.’ So that’s the basics of the Celestial Kingdom.”
“The basics? That’s like describing a few unique traits of the finest and most expensive automobile and saying it’s a few bonus features. It’s like downplaying the incredible features of a $200,000 car.” Spence said in jest.
“That’s an understatement. It seems like what we’ve just learned about the blessings of the Celestial Kingdom is just the tip of the iceberg.” Eve chimed in.
“Well I certainly don’t intend to downplay any of the blessings that can only be received in that highest of kingdoms.” Linda replied.
“What about the Terrestrial Kingdom?” Alex asked.
“The Terrestrial Kingdom is the middle kingdom, or second highest level of heaven. It’s referred to as like the glory of the moon and it’s for those who live honest, honorable lives and who accept the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ but were not truly faithful in their testimony of Jesus. Perhaps they were ashamed to testify to others about what they know is true about the Christ. It’s also a place for those who don’t choose to accept the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ but they were basically good people who lived honest, honorable lives during their mortal lives here on earth. So they won’t be able to live with Heavenly Father ever again but they will be visited by Jesus Christ.”
“What about families? Any eternal families in the Terrestrial Kingdom?” Eve wondered.
“No. Only in the Celestial Kingdom will families be eternal. If you want to live forever with loved ones who are friends or family who qualify for the highest kingdom, you have to qualify for it too by your own free will of obedience to His laws now in this life, during mortality or accept his gospel fully in the next life if you’re someone who never had the opportunity to hear it and accept it in this life.”
“And what about the Telestial Kingdom? That’s the lowest place of glory, right?” Samuel asked.
“The lowest kingdom of glory is the Telestial Kingdom, yes. It’s like the glory of the stars and it is for those who chose not to repent but continued in their sins in this life. These people are often the murderers, liars, pimps, adulterers, child molesters, rapists, fornicators, sorcerers, stalkers, thieves, robbers and other sinners as well as those who don’t promote faith in Christ as the most important source of power with salvation and those who seek His power primarily to abuse it or use it for lustful purposes and basically those who love to bear false witness, stir up contention and those who love to create mischief and cause pain for others. They will not be resurrected until after the Millennium and their time of judgment will be after they have suffered for their own sins in hell. They will not be released from hell until after the Millennium. They will never live with Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ ever again but will only be visited by the Holy Ghost as they live in the lowest kingdom.”
“So the lesson in all of this is what?” Spence asked openly.
“If you have anything in your life that you need to cut out or stop doing and repent of and if there are good works of righteousness you haven’t been doing then the time to start doing good things and to follow the Lord is now. Prepare now to be ready for the Final Judgment. We all have a chance to chang
e. We just have to willingly choose it starting today.” Linda said before she thumbed briefly through her notes to find a place to write some thoughts down.
“It seems to me that in a way, every day is a day of judgment.” Eve added.
“Yes. It’s true that starting that change by repentance is important but keeping it up as best we can, improving more and more every day is the only way to receive the full blessings of the atonement of Jesus Christ.” Linda said.
“And we all hope that we will see our Savior welcome us with love and mercy as He says to us what He promised in Matthew 25:34 that He would say to those who are worthy of the highest kingdom.” Robert replied thoughtfully.
“What did He promise He would say?” Spence asked timidly in slight embarrassment over not being very familiar with the bible.
Then Robert humbly quoted Matthew 25:34 with a gentle smile, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” The room fell silent as they each envisioned with an eye of faith that great statement being spoken by Jesus Christ Himself to them personally in anticipation of being found worthy of God’s highest reward.