"Endless punishment" isn't about time. (D&C 19)

19:1

“I am Alpha and Omega, Christ the Lord; yea, even I am he, the beginning and the end, the Redeemer of the world.“ Why is Christ the first and the last, the beginning and the end?

Primarily, He is the beginning and end of the Plan of Salvation. He was there at the beginning in the pre-mortal world, at the creation where all things were created by him in our universe. He is the Creator and will be our judge at the final judgment.

You could also say that he is eternally the same yesterday, today, and forever. He doesn’t change. From the creation to the judgment, his words do not change. It’s important that we know we are worshipping an unchanging God. His priorities don’t change. His opinions don’t change. His purposes don’t change. Without his consistency, our lives would be scary, frustrating, hopeless exercises.

19:2

Part of this verse really hit me. “I, having accomplished and finished the will of him whose I am, even the Father, concerning me—having done this that I might subdue all things unto myself.” Christ knew exactly who he was following. Christ was the perfect example of submission to his Father’s will. He was a perfect creator, the Alpha and Omega - but he was also a child of God who simply did God’s will.

He belonged to God. He followed his Father. Perfectly. We should all be striving to be able to say “I am Christ’s.” I want to be able to speak about Christ and say “of him whose I am.” That statement would suggest that I had given my whole souls to Him. I belonged to Him. I represent Him.

If we saw Christ, we could say that we also saw the Father. He was the perfect embodiment of God himself. Of course, we are all striving to be an example of Jesus Christ. By getting to know us, someone could say that they have a glimpse of what Christ is like. That’s part of being “of him whose I am.”

19:6-12, 15-17

There’s a misunderstanding about the endless punishment of hell. Many other religions believe that hell is a place where the wicked are where they will suffer a burning forever and ever. That’s not what hell is. These verses explain what “endless” or “eternal” damnation is.

“Nevertheless, it is not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless torment.” This sounds like a contradiction but it isn’t. It’s just a matter of knowing what “endless” means in God’s vernacular. “Again, it is written eternal damnation; wherefore it is more express than other scriptures, that it might work upon the hearts of the children of men, altogether for my name’s glory.” Eternal damnation is a closer description than endless damnation. But it still suggests that the punishment will last forever. Which it won’t. The Lord wants to clarify. “Wherefore, I will explain unto you this mystery, for it is meet unto you to know even as mine apostles.”

Here is the explanation: “For, behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it! For, behold, I am endless, and the punishment which is given from my hand is endless punishment, for Endless is my name. Wherefore— Eternal punishment is God’s punishment. Endless punishment is God’s punishment.” So, “eternal” and “endless” are not describing the length of the punishment. Rather, it is explaining the type of punishment. Endless and eternal punishment are God’s punishment.

What does that mean exactly? God’s punishment is not about a small amount of suffering. God’s punishment is reserved only for those who don’t repent. “Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not. For 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.” It is pretty clear that, if we choose not to repent, our suffering will be sore and exquisite.

How bad will this suffering be? Christ describes it. “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.” He’s describing the most sore and exquisite pain that exists in the universe. I think about the different, creative ways that the medieval people invented to torture others. Some of their devices and methods are shockingly awful. Now consider that Jesus suffered worse than all of them combined. It’s a humbling and horrible thought!

Thankfully, if we repent, we will not have to suffer in this way. There will not be punishment for anyone who repents. Praise Jesus!

19:21-22, 31

“And I command you that you preach naught but repentance, and show not these things unto the world until it is wisdom in me. For they cannot bear meat now, but milk they must receive; wherefore, they must not know these things, lest they perish.” Repentance is the primary message for all of us. All principles of the gospel are connected, in some way, to the principle of repentance. If we teach faith disconnected from repentance, the principle of faith is pointless. If we teach the principle of Christ’s atonement without teaching faith, there won’t be any affect on the person.

We need to teach about repentance more than we do. Repentance is a gift. Repentance is the process of giving up our sins. Repentance is progress. Repentance is change. Repentance is the heart of being a disciple of Christ. Repentance is the way that we become like our Heavenly Father and inherit eternal life.

We could teach for hours and hours about the principle of repentance and not cover it adequately to ensure that all listeners are convinced to repent. Unfortunately, we are also attention-deficit and like to learn new and exciting things! We love new topics. We like hearing something that we haven’t heard before. We like to attempt to understand principles that are hard to understand. I think we enjoy this because of the novelty and I think there’s a taste of pride in learning little-known doctrine. If I can understand something that the regular church members don’t, that means I’m smarter or maybe even more righteous!

Unfortunately, learning deeper doctrine without understanding and being committed to repentance is a path to spiritual destruction. If I get caught up in the principles of calculus without understanding addition and subtraction, I am not going to be successful in my mathematical quest. If you hand me a machine gun and I don’t know anything about basic gun safety, it’s not going to end well. If I attempt to learn three different languages at once, it’s likely the entire experience will be frustrating and I’ll just abandon learning another language altogether.

So, for purposes of avoiding frustration and “destructive accountability,” let’s not teach or seek out deeper doctrine without first understanding the first principles of the doctrine.

This principle is reinforced in verse 31. “And of tenets thou shalt not talk, but thou shalt declare repentance and faith on the Savior, and remission of sins by baptism, and by fire, yea, even the Holy Ghost.” We should limit our teaching to the essential principles of the gospel. I heard a recent apostle teach about this recently by saying (I’m paraphrasing), “we gain little but risk much when we focus our learning and teaching on deeper doctrine.” There are a wealth of interesting and compelling ways to teach the basic principles of the gospel. If I spent the rest of my life only teaching about these seven principles:

Faith unto repentance.
Come unto Jesus Christ.
Be baptized in his name.
Receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Receive God’s ordinances.
Keep the commandments.
Endure to the end.

I would never run out of life-changing material to teach others.

19:23

“Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me.” Here’s a recipe for peace. First, we should listen and learn from Christ. This is a big statement. How many of us are thorough experts at knowing what Christ said and did? I once asked a group of adults and children (about 300 in the room) who said a particular quote. No one knew the answer and the answer was Jesus. We can all know more what Jesus said. His words should be more familiar to us than any popular song out now.

Walking in the meekness of his Spirit is another mouthful. This is about being submissive. This is about humbly following the promptings of the Spirit as we receive them. Walking is about action and moving forward and progressing. Meekness is about being teachable and dropping our pride.

If we can do these things, we shall have peace. Peace is a beautiful concept. We all want to feel this. The only true source of peace is doing what is taught in this one sentence. If we look for peace in wealth or power or prestige, we’ll soon find that those things do not offer peace. It is only through Christ that pure, true peace is found.

19:26

The Lord wanted Martin Harris to mortgage his home to finance the production of the Book of Mormon. He then wanted Martin to sell a portion of his property to pay off that debt. “And again, I command thee that thou shalt not covet thine own property, but impart it freely to the printing of the Book of Mormon, which contains the truth and the word of God.” It’s an interesting concept to covet our own property. Let’s think about that a little.

If the Lord is wanting something from us, let’s say tithing, and we desire that money - that is a form of coveting because we are desiring something that belongs to the Lord. All that we have and are belongs to the Lord and if we want to hang onto it rather than give it freely when it is asked for, we are coveting. It is a healthy way of looking at our reservations in sacrificing our worldly things to build the kingdom.

19:29

“And thou shalt declare glad tidings, yea, publish it upon the mountains, and upon every high place, and among every people that thou shalt be permitted to see.” Marci and love doing this. It is part of why we loved being on a mission. It is fully expected, when you’re wearing a missionary badge, that you will speak about the gospel of Jesus Christ to friends and strangers.

The only lasting good news in this world is the gospel. Everything else will die and turn to dust. It’s important that people know about the plan of salvation. We should have no reservation in sharing this gospel with anyone we meet.

19:32-41

In the last part of this chapter, we get a feel for the personality of Jesus and his relationship with Martin Harris. We get a better understanding of how God leads and what he expects of us. The Lord is commanding Martin to not covet his property and preach the gospel - focusing on faith and repentance. “Behold, this is a great and the last commandment which I shall give unto you concerning this matter; for this shall suffice for thy daily walk, even unto the end of thy life.” If you click on the footnote, it takes you to D&C 58:26: “For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward.” God wants us to learn a principle or commandment and then live by it. He likes to command us using broad strokes and not through day-to-day, detailed instructions. He doesn’t want to remind us each morning of what we are commanded to do. Those who require this are not going to progress. We are here to master our agency and being slapped on the wrist with God’s ruler each time we do something wrong will not help us to do so.

There are natural consequences to ignoring the directions/counsels/commandments of the Lord. “And misery thou shalt receive if thou wilt slight these counsels, yea, even the destruction of thyself and property.” God does not pronounce miserable consequences onto anyone - they happen naturally to those who ignore God’s direction.

God does not want us to sacrifice the well-being of our families in support of the kingdom. He doesn’t want you or I to give all of our money and income to the church and let our families starve. “Impart a portion of thy property, yea, even part of thy lands, and all save the support of thy family.” Does he require all of our excess? No - not now. But he might and we should be mentally ready to make that sacrifice.

God gives some good advice about debt. “Pay the debt thou hast contracted with the printer. Release thyself from bondage.” As we know debt can be a type of bondage. Too many of us are in that type of bondage.

“Leave thy house and home, except when thou shalt desire to see thy family.” This verse is instructive. It demonstrates the amount of sacrifice that may be required form us. It is the easiest thing to stay in our homes and enjoy the company of the people that we love most. This is not the life that the Lord wanted for Martin. He wanted Martin out and about - doing good. When Marci and I were on our mission, we had a general practice that we would get in our car and go. It would be easy to stay in the apartment and plan and ponder and practice. That wasn’t going to bring people to Christ. For us to do that, we needed to leave the apartment and go somewhere. It was a good strategy and put us in the homes of many, many families.

God wants us to influence each other. He certainly wants us to teach the gospel. “And speak freely to all; yea, preach, exhort, declare the truth, even with a loud voice, with a sound of rejoicing, crying—Hosanna, hosanna, blessed be the name of the Lord God!” Generally, we are too afraid to speak about the church to acquaintances, friends or family. We should “speak freely to all.”

Prayer is central to us being effective tools in the Lord’s hands. “Pray always, and I will pour out my Spirit upon you, and great shall be your blessing—yea, even more than if you should obtain treasures of earth and corruptibleness to the extent thereof.” How good would a basketball player be if he never spoke to his coach? How smart would we be if we never listened to our teacher? How good of a disciple can we be if we never listen to our Father in Heaven? Same principle. I also like the distinction between blessings from the Spirit being greater than the corruptibleness of the treasures of the earth. Every earthly treasure will eventually turn to dust.

The Lord makes a contrast in the next two verses: “Behold, canst thou read this without rejoicing and lifting up thy heart for gladness? Or canst thou run about longer as a blind guide?” If we have the right perspective, we will be joyful when we get direction or correction from a leader or the Lord. If we reject the Lord’s counsel, we will be simply running in circles as a “blind guide.” We cannot make up our truth as we go along. We see this in the world where “smart” people are inventing “truths” that we should live by. They are using their awesome powers of logic and convincing arguments and flattering speech to draw men and women unto them. Truly, if you are attempting to influence others while simultaneously rejecting God’s truth, you are the definition of a proud, blind guide.

The opposite of this is to be humble. “Or canst thou be humble and meek, and conduct thyself wisely before me? Yea, come unto me thy Savior. Amen.” To be worldly wise is a curse. To be a humble and meek follower of the Savior is wise. The Lord’s wisdom is the greatest wisdom available to us. It’s perfect wisdom and so much wiser than listening to John from the internet.