My Farewell Talk

Good morning Brothers and Sisters! It is a pleasure to be with you on this Sabbath Day. I’d like to thank you all for being here. It is my hope that we may all have a prayer in our hearts that God will allow his Spirit to be with us today.
I have been asked to speak on The Resurrection. I have been unsure about what to say that could be of value to you. I thought of different directions that I could take, of different goals I might have in mind. But to me, it all boils down to two main topics: The Resurrection of our Savior Jesus Christ, and what the Resurrection means to us personally.
During his Earthly ministry, the Savior was well aware of how his life would end. He knew that he would be crucified and resurrected. He told his disciples, “Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death, And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.”
He said unto Martha of Bethany, “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”
The prophets of the Old Testament taught that the Resurrection would be certain and would be universal. Also, the Book of Mormon prophets taught the doctrine of the Resurrection with great plainness. Samuel the Lamanite prophesied to the Nephites, “For behold, he must surely die that salvation may come; yea, it behooveth him and becometh expedient that he dieth, to bring to pass the Resurrection of the Dead, that thereby men may be brought to the presence of the Lord.”
The Savior willingly submitted himself to suffering in the Garden, and to Crucifixion upon the Cross at Calvary. When his body was taken from the cross and placed in the tomb, he, the sinless Son of God, had already taken upon him not only the sins and temptations of every human soul who will repent, but all of our sickness and grief and pain of every kind. He suffered these afflictions as we suffer them, according to the flesh. He suffered them all. He did this to perfect his mercy and his ability to lift us above every earthly trial.
Three days after the Crucifixion, two women went to visit Christ’s tomb. When they arrived they discovered that the stone blocking the entrance had been moved. Angels were there, waiting to deliver the greatest news that has ever fallen on human ears: “He is not here, for He is risen.”
When He first appeared to the Apostles, they were terrified and thought they had seen a spirit, and he comforted them by saying, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have.”
To further the Testimony of the Risen Lord, we have Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision. He literally saw two personages standing directly above him, whose brightness and glory defy all description. One pointed to the other and said, “This is my Beloved Son, Hear him!”
Now, what does it mean to be Resurrected? The prophet Alma provides a wonderful description of it in his account of his mission to the city of Ammonihah. He stated that, “All shall be raised from this temporal death. The Spirit and the Body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame …. ; and we shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt. Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair on their heads be lost; but everything shall be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now…. And also concerning the resurrection of the mortal body, I say unto you that this mortal body is raised to an immortal body, that is from death, even from the first death unto life, that they can die no more; their spirits uniting with their bodies, never to be divided; thus the whole becoming spiritual and immortal.”
Alma has made it abundantly clear that everyone will receive immortal, resurrected bodies. This is one half of what our Heavenly Father stated to be his work and his glory, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Both parts of this goal come to pass through Christ’s Atonement. First, he broke the bonds of death, granting all men Immortality to live forever as Resurrected Beings. The second, eternal life, or exaltation, is to inherit a place in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, where we will live in God’s presence and continue as families. This is also granted through the Savior’s Atoning Sacrifice, however, it requires our “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”
Brothers and Sisters, it is my testimony that Eternal life is within our grasp. None of us are perfect. But if we do our absolute best, and put our faith in Christ, he will make up the difference. He will make weak things become strong. He will succor us in our trials and in our afflictions. He will allow us to return to our Father’s presence.
I also know that the true doctrine of the miracle of the Resurrection can be a comfort to us. When loved ones depart this life, we will find peace in the knowledge that they will be restored to their bodies, and that, if we obtain and honor our temple covenants, we will be with our families through all eternity.
It is my hope and prayer that we may all live worthily to receive these blessings. I pray that we may always have enough Faith in Jesus Christ that he may make up the difference for us. If any of you do not have a Testimony that Christ died for our sins and was resurrected that we might live, I implore you to find out now. Go to your Heavenly Father, praying with real intent, and you can know, as I do, that Our Redeemer Lives.
And these things I say in the name of Jesus Christ, our Savior, Amen.