Robert L. Millet - The Life Beyond

Cover photo by Eldon Linschoten
Graphics by Allan Loyborg

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 86-71161

ISBN 0-88494-601-0 (hardbound)
ISBN 978-1-59038-256-1 (paperbound)

Printed in the United States of America
R. R. Donnelley and Sons

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This book is affectionately dedicated to Elder Bruce R. McConkie (19151985), from whom we inherited a love for these principles and the desire to teach and testify of them

Death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great Creator.

Jacob (2 Nephi 9:6)

May I say for the consolation of those who mourn, and for the comfort and guidance of all of us, that no righteous man is ever taken before his time. In the case of the faithful saints, they are simply transferred to other fields of labor. The Lord's work goes on in this life, in the world of spirits, and in the kingdoms of glory where men go after their resurrection.

Joseph Fielding Smith
(in his remarks at the funeral services for Elder Richard L. Evans)

Preface

From time immemorial no subject has captivated the interest and attention of men like that of the life beyond. Kings and princes, philosophers and scholars, theologians and Saints, laymen and peasantsall have sought, with Job, to know, "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14). And if there is a future state, what is its nature? And how best may mortal man prepare for it? Indeed, death has ever remained life's most awesome mystery. In the absence of revelation, man's would-be gaze into future worlds is unable to penetrate the darkness of the grave.

The spring of 1820 heralded the dawning of a brighter day, as celestial light pierced the blackness of the long night of heaven's silence. In the midst of that light stood two eternal beings whose very presence attested to the reality of the life beyond, as would the subsequent appearances of various messengers who would be sent to bestow the knowledge, keys, and powers pertaining to the eternal worlds. With the restoration of these heaven-sent truths, the shadows of doubt and skepticism have fled, and once again the warmth of heaven's light, with its glad tidings of great joy, is felt by men of peace and good will. Thus the living and the dead break forth in anthems of eternal praise to their King Immanuel. The mysteries of God have begun to be unfolded, and the Saints of the Most High are made partakers of that knowledge which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath entered into the heart of unillumined man.

Let there be no mistake. Because of the opening of the heavensthe Vision of the Glories, the Vision of the Celestial Kingdom, the Prophet's discourse at the funeral of King Follett, the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead, our latter-day prophets and current prophecythose of the household of faith have their perceptions and understanding extended beyond the bounds of the Bible and of the visions of earth's most noble and inspired writers and religious leaders. We rejoice in the teachings and testimonies of all who have been commissioned to bear witness of heavenly things, but we owe a special debt of gratitude to the Prophet Joseph Smith and President Joseph F. Smith for their unique contributions to our understanding of these precious verities.

In that which we have written, we have sought to say "none other things than that which the prophets and apostles have written, and that which is taught" us "by the Comforter through the prayer of faith" (D&C 52:9). We alone assume responsibility for what follows, believing the principles contained herein to be true according to the best of our knowledge.

Parting the Veil

The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the churchto have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them.

D&C 107:1819

Thanks be to Godthe heavens have been opened! With the restoration of light and truth and sacred priesthood powers have come the keys which enable man to glimpse into past and future and which provide a divine perspective for the present. Through prophets and priesthood the Lord's people have been invited again to both comprehend and stand in the presence of their God. "This greater priesthood," the revelations state, "administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God" (D&C 84:19). In another revelation on priesthood given to Joseph Smith, the Lord explained: "The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the churchto have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven" (D&C 107:1819).

Our Invitation to the Divine Presence

Enoch was caught away to a high mountain and shown things from his time to the end (Moses 7). Moses was likewise "caught up into an exceedingly high mountain" and saw the Lord Jehovah and the works of his divine hands (Moses 1). Peter, James, and John beheld marvelous things on the holy mount, including the eventual transfiguration of the earth and its inhabitants (Matthew 17:19; 2 Peter 1:1619; D&C 63:2021). The message of the Restoration is that God has opened the heavens again and has called holy men to stand with him on the high mountain, that he might make known his mind and will and purposes. As the ancient prophets and Apostles were permitted a view of eternity, so also in our day have modern oracles penetrated the veil, been witnesses of the world beyond this sphere, and beckoned us to come and be partakers also of that knowledge which both saves and satisfies the soul.

All men know they must die. It is but appropriate that God should reveal something on the subject. And so he has. That which he has revealed constitutes a perfect witness of the restoration of the everlasting gospel and the attendant truths which manifest to man his eternal nature and glorious potential beyond the veil of death. Again the heavens have been opened, the veil parted, and men and women of faith invited to look beyond and know of that which awaits them hereafter. As Lehi in dream partook of that fruit which was sweet above all other, so we too may feast upon that which is most joyous to the soul. Through those precious truths contained in such revelations as the Vision of the Glories (D&C 76), the Vision of the Celestial Kingdom (D&C 137), the King Follett Sermon, and the Vision of the Redemption of the Dead (D&C 138)each plucked from the tree of lifewe are invited to feast upon that same fruit.

The Vision of the Glories

Less than two years passed from the time of the formal organization of the restored Church until the God of glory chose to open the heavens and expand the spiritual horizons of the Saints in a transcendent manner. It was the winter of 1832. Joseph Smith had been engaged in his work of inspired translation of the Bible since June of 1830, and since April of 1831 had concentrated on the New Testament. Joseph and Emma were then living in the home of John Johnson in Hiram, Ohio. On February 16 in the year 1832 Joseph the Prophet and Sidney Rigdon his scribe prayerfully pondered the fifth chapter of John's Gospel, particularly verse 29. By the power of the Spirit the translators felt impressed to alter the King James verse so as to refer to the "resurrection of the