That's the law. The law says that no person can suffer for the sins of another person. That's the law! That's what all of those little intelligences are saying. Now you just stop and think why that is so. If I commit an offense, a very serious offense, can you die for it and satisfy this audience, do you think you could? Even though we love each other and you say to everybody, "No, don't let Brother Skousen be killed, I'll die for Brother Skousen." You think they're going to be happy about that? No! It'll violate your sense of justice and it does to all of those little intelligences and Alma 34:11 says that no person can die or be punished for the sins of other people and have it be accepted as justice! "The demands of justice," that's what those little intelligences are. There is an offense here. "They cannot come back, Father." Everybody see the problem?

Now the genius of the solution: The Gods know that these little intelligences have a capacity for compassion. They are just like you and me—intelligences have a capacity for compassion. Therefore, the atonement is based not on law, but on mercy.

That's Alma 34:15. In other words, we're going to try and get to these little intelligences in some way so that we can over come the demands of justice, with what? SYMPATHY! MERCY! So that we'll actually overcome the demands of justice.

The families of the Gods—they must have worked this out eons ago with other families so that this is a pattern. Remember when they were selecting a Savior? Jesus volunteered!

Satan said, "You know, Father, this is very old-fashioned. This just isn't necessary. You can satisfy the intelligences of the Universe. Just put your children in strait jackets and get them through the second estate, and it's a great ideal. I thought I'd really like credit for it because I'm offering the whole family no-risk insurance. All I'm asking you to do is to give up the hang-up that the family has on this 'free-agency' thing. It s only for this little bit of time, we'll put them in a strait jacket, get them through the second estate; nobody can object to them then! We've taken them down, they've got bodies, we've prevented them from violating any laws and bring them back. It's that simple!"

"No," the Father said, "it isn't that simple," apparently implying that if you introduce compulsion into our eternal plan of salvation, or into the cosmic universe, you put coercion there anywhere, you've sown the seeds of what? REVOLUTION! Revolution, disintegration; everything that is out there is moving as it is willing to move. You don't get revolution that way.

Satan says, "I'll start a revolution," and he got it. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the real followers of the Father there for a while were a minority. We had a big uncommitted, in-the-middle majority.

Jesus said, "Father, I'll do it your way. I'll do it the way we've always had to do it. We have to have casualties, true, but at least we maintain a voluntary participation that we've always had in the past. Anal I know somebody has to suffer in order to have that atonement and create that sense of compassion, so I'll do it.

So we had a big argument, and the revelation says that the war in heaven was a testimony meeting, as we said to one another, "The Father's way is the right way. You don't want to introduce compulsion. If you start using compulsion, who says where it can end. Lucifer is trying to steal the throne of our Heavenly Father and he wants the glory for it. There is nothing in that direction but rebellion and destruction.

We finally got two-thirds on our side. I won't be surprised if, when you see this in the vision, that we only had a minority to begin with, but we finally got two-thirds and this other one-third went for no-risk insurance. They wouldn't take a chance with us.

Alright now, how does this atonement work? Watch how the principle functions. Now you're an intelligence, and you are capable of being subjected to so much sympathy and compassion, you stop asking for every pound of flesh that the law permits. Have you ever noticed that in yourself? IT WORKS! First the principle: They must have a person who is infinite, as it says in Alma 34; it must be one who is infinitely loved. Infinite means completely—everybody recognizes him.

So we take a spirit who is so superior he's the first counselor of the first presidency of Heaven. He is so honored that when the Father wants something done, He speaks to this person, and then He tells all the intelligences what to do and he's identified as THE WORD. He's the one through whom the word passes. He's loved and respected by all just like the Father.

So we use Him—He is infinitely loved—and we have Him come down into the second estate and live a perfect life without offense so that he can return to the Father, and incidental thereto, while laboring among the human family, we have Him suffer so terribly that the little intelligences of the entire universe are revolted! It's horrible, the suffering that he went through! They loved Him! And it says in the Book of Mormon, even the elements of the earth northward was different than it was before. The very elements were crying out against this terrible torture of someone that they loved.

And all this was by design. That was the mission of Jesus Christ, You must suffer so much that these little intelligences, when you come and plead on behalf of someone that did the best that he could, which is called repentance, they'll say, "Well, they really shouldn't go back, but if you want them, after all you went through for them, yes, they can come up." That's the Atonement.

Listen to Alma 34:15, as we hear the Prophets, who used to understand and preach this doctrine extensively, which we've kind of stopped preaching among ourselves. Listen to this statement:

"And thus he shall bring salvation to all those who shall believe on His name; this being the intent of this last sacrifice, to bring about the bowels of mercy...."

Whose mercy? The Father already has mercy towards us, This is His plan. We don't have to create that in Him. We have to create it in those that are demanding justice.

"Father, they have sinned and come short of the glory of God."

That is where you must arouse the bowels of mercy, which overpowers justice, meaning the demands of justice, and brings about the means of an end that they may have faith unto repentance, and thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice and encircles them in the arms of safety.