Our Final Judgment?

This is a post that I eluded to making the other night, but one that I'm not entirely sure how to enumerate on really. This is because it is somewhat speculative in nature and really doesn't have a lot of firm backing for it. Yes, there are things that can be pieced together, but for the most part, its just wondering.

We talk of the nature of God a lot, especially the demeanor of Christ, but do we really consider the infinity of that nature / demeanor? What I mean by this, is we understand Jesus Christ to be a very loving Elder Brother, but yet when considering His role in the final judgment, I believe that there's a good many of us that tend to alter our perceptions of Him and how things will be. The biggest problem is that we don't know - on any of it, because no one has ever gone through it before. We do know several things about its potential though, and we know of things both in heaven and on earth that may give us greater insight into the subject.

My first considerations of this topic actually occurred not with the post from the other night, but as I was working in the temple one day over the seven week break. As I considered the work that was being done for the dead - and the phrase "the hearts of the fathers turned to the children and the hearts of the children turned to the fathers," I began to wonder what things would be like in the hereafter when we meet those that we have done the work for.

While pondering this issue, I began to wonder if perhaps the dead have a bigger role in our lives than we can possibly imagine. My personal belief is that they do, and I'll explain why:

Fact: We know that the government of the Church is in similitude to the government of heaven. Thus, for occurrences, words, and blessings to be bound on earth and accordingly in heaven - the Church must function according to the established patterns of the heretofore and hereafter. Keeping that in mind, one must consider the workings of the Church and how that might be similar to those scenarios which we might encounter after this life.

Fact: We know that the Savior himself will be our judge, with Joseph Smith at his side advising / judging also: Parley P. Pratt says: "He [Joseph Smith] will continue holding those keys through all eternity, and will stand—yes, again in the flesh upon this Earth, as the head of the Latter-day Saints, under Jesus Christ, and under Peter, James and John. He will hold the keys to judge the generation to whom he was sent, and will judge my brethren that preside over me; and will judge me, together with the Apostles ordained by the word of the Lord through him and under his administration. When this is done, those Apostles will judge this generation and the Latter-day Saints; and they will judge them with that judgment which Jesus Christ will give unto them; and they will have the same spirit and the same mind as Jesus Christ, and their judgment will be His judgment, for they will be one * * * Brother Brigham, who now presides over us, will hold the keys under Brother Joseph; and he and his brethren, who hold the keys with him, or under his direction, will judge the people; for they will hold those keys to all eternity, worlds without end. By those keys they will have to judge this generation; and Peter, James, and John will hold the keys to preside over, and judge, and direct Brother Joseph to all eternity; and Jesus Christ will hold the keys over them and over us, under His Father, to whom be all the glory" (Journal of Dis., Vol. V., p. 196).

Fact: We know that the Bishops and Presidents of the Stakes and Wards of Zion stand in the place of Christ and judge according to the manner in which He Himself may render judgment.

Thus - based on all of this, if the Bishops and Stake Presidents judge according to the pattern of Christ, then the way in which that judgment is pronounced must be similar in nature! Now, that having been said, it opens up a school of thought as to how the rest of this occurs.

I say this most humbly and regretfully - but I've been a part of a disciplinary council, so I have first-hand knowledge of how they work. That aside, there is also additional information found in the Scriptures that may offer us additional insight. I invite you to read at this time the 102nd Section of the Doctrine and Covenants - there's far more in there than should be needfully posted here, as to keep the length from exceeding its already expansive size.

When studying this section, one will observe the proceedings of the High Council and how they must "pick sides" in assisting the Stake President with rendering judgment to accused members of the Church. This is a similar pattern to what is conducted in a Bishop's Court - with the Bishop serving as judge, and each counselor taking opposing sides in the case.

That said, we can understand that Jesus Christ will be the judge up in Heaven, and we can assume that Joseph and all the other prophets of our dispensation will draw sides accordingly and argue our individual cases on our behalf. With the sides chosen however, there are those instances in which the accused may stand before the court and present evidences in their behalf (vs. 17-19). Now, having been through a disciplinary council myself, I know from experience, that some of the evidences that can and ought to be presented are not only the hard evidences (those that will be presented out of the "books that are written") but also character evidences presented by others. When I went through this, my good friend and Elder's Quorum President at the time was presented before the Court to offer up a character witness in my behalf.

Now, this will be true I'm sure in the hereafter also - with those close to us being able to present references of our character to the Lord, but I believe that there are yet others that will be able to present a much greater character witness to Him than we have previously considered: the dead!

They will possibly be our most reliable and most detrimental witnesses for and against us. Those that have gone before us will have knowledge of our actions on earth and be able to testify of them accordingly, but they will also be able to stand before the Lord and unequivocally recognize their salvation as being a result of our performance of temple ordinances in their behalf. While not everyone will be grateful for our parts in their salvation, we can be certain that there will be a fair number of individuals that will recognize the charity bestowed upon them, and will seek to repay that in some form.

Additionally, in recognizing this - it is a literal fulfillment of the prophecies that we cannot be saved without our dead. In this instance, I believe this is how our salvation is to occur! We will need to rely on the dead and hope that our charity in performing ordinances in their behalf will be reciprocated - as would be the case in a Christ-like environment.

Those are my thoughts - I could be TOTALLY wrong, but I don't know. Just something that's been on my mind though.