Article of Faith #1
God and the Holy Trinity
January 25, 2007
ARTICLE 1—We believe
in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy
Ghost.
Bruce
went over some class rules. ASK
QUESTIONS! When a class shakes their
head in agreement it usually means they don’t understand what you are saying!
This
book is Elder Talmage’s view on gospel doctrine, just like Elder McConkie’s
book is his view in our time. It’s not
the last word, continuing revelation.
Church is in a much better position now then it was in the early 1900’s
There
has been a lot written and spoken on the Godhead since his writings, they can
be found on the website.
THE FATHER AND THE SON:
A Doctrinal Exposition by The First Presidency and The Twelve
June 30,
1916
Messages of the First Presidency, 5:23-34
1916 --
June 30 -- Original pamphlet. Church Historian's Library, Salt
Lake City, Utah; Improvement Era 19:934-942, August, 1916; Liahona,
the Elders' Journal 21:380-384, March 25, 1924; Jesus the Christ,
Twelfth edition, February 1, 1924, pp. 465-473.
The scriptures plainly and repeatedly affirm that God is the Creator of the
earth and the heavens and all things that in them are. In the sense so
expressed the Creator is an Organizer. God created the earth as an organized
sphere; but He certainly did not create, in the sense of bringing into primal
existence, the ultimate elements of the materials of which the earth consists,
for "the elements are eternal" (Doc. & Cov. 93:33).
So also life is eternal, and not
created; but life, or the vital force, may be infused into organized matter,
though the details of the process have not been revealed unto man. For
illustrative instances see Genesis 2:7; Moses 3:7; and Abraham 5:7. Each of
these scriptures states that God breathed into the body of man the breath of
life. See further Moses 3:19, for the statement that God breathed the breath of
life into the bodies of the beasts and birds. God showed unto Abraham "the
intelligences that were organized before the world was"; and by
"intelligences" we are to understand personal "spirits"
(Abraham 3:22, 23); nevertheless, we are expressly told that
"Intelligence" that is, "the light of truth was not created or
made, neither indeed can be" (Doc. & Cov. 93:29).
The term "Father" as
applied to Deity occurs in sacred writ with plainly different meanings. Each of
the four significations specified in the following treatment should be
carefully segregated.
1.
"Father" as Literal Parent
Scriptures embodying the ordinary
signification -- literally that of Parent -- are too numerous and specific to
require citation. The purport of these scriptures is to the effect that God the
Eternal Father, whom we designate by the exalted name-title "Elohim,"
is the literal Parent of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and of the spirits
of the human race. Elohim is the Father in every sense in which Jesus Christ is
so designated, and distinctively He is the Father of spirits. Thus we read in
the Epistle to the Hebrews: "Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh
which corrected us, and we gave them reverence; shall we not much rather be in
subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?" (Hebrews 12:9). In view
of this fact we are taught by Jesus Christ to pray: "Our Father which art
in heaven, Hallowed be thy name."
Jesus Christ applies to Himself both
titles, "Son" and "Father." Indeed, He specifically said to
the brother of Jared: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the
Son" (Ether 3:14). Jesus Christ is the Son of Elohim both as spiritual and
bodily offspring; that is to say, Elohim is literally the Father of the spirit
of Jesus Christ and also of the body in which Jesus Christ performed His
mission in the flesh, and which body died on the cross and was afterward taken
up by the process of resurrection, and is now the immortalized tabernacle of
the eternal spirit of our Lord and Savior. No extended explanation of the title
"Son of God" as applied to Jesus Christ appears necessary.
2.
"Father" as Creator
A second scriptural meaning of
"Father" is that of Creator, e. g. in passages referring to any one
of the Godhead as "The Father of the heavens and of the earth and all
things that in them are" (Ether 4:7; see also Alma 11:38, 39 and Mosiah
15:4).
God is not the Father of the earth
as one of the worlds in space, nor of the heavenly bodies in whole or in part,
nor of the inanimate objects and the plants and the animals upon the earth, in
the literal sense in which He is the Father of the spirits of mankind.
Therefore, scriptures that refer to God in any way as the Father of the heavens
and the earth are to be understood as signifying that God is the Maker, the
Organizer, the Creator of the heavens and the earth.
With this meaning, as the context
shows in every case, Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ the Son of Elohim, is called
"the Father," and even "the very eternal Father of heaven and of
earth" (see passages before cited, and also Mosiah 16:15). With analogous
meaning Jesus Christ is called "The Everlasting Father" (Isaiah 9:6;
compare 2 Nephi 19:6). The descriptive titles "Everlasting" and
"Eternal" in the foregoing texts are synonymous.
That Jesus Christ, whom we also know
as Jehovah, was the executive of the Father, Elohim, in the work of creation is
set forth in the book "Jesus the Christ" Chapter 4. Jesus Christ,
being the Creator, is consistently called the Father of heaven and earth in the
sense explained above; and since His creations are of eternal quality He is
very properly called the Eternal Father of heaven and earth.
3. Jesus Christ the "Father" of Those Who Abide in His Gospel
A third sense in which Jesus Christ
is regarded as the "Father" has reference to the relationship between
Him and those who accept His Gospel and thereby become heirs of eternal life.
Following are a few of the scriptures illustrating this meaning.
In the fervent prayer offered just
prior to His entrance into
And further: "Neither pray I
for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their
word; That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one,
even as we are one: I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in
one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them,
as thou hast loved me. Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me,
be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me:
for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world" (John 17:20-24).
To His faithful servants in the
present dispensation the Lord has said: "Fear not, little children; for
you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father
hath given me" (Doc. & Cov. 50:41).
Salvation is attainable only through
compliance with the laws and ordinances of the Gospel; and all who are thus
saved become sons and daughters unto God in a distinctive sense. In a
revelation given through Joseph the Prophet to Emma Smith the Lord Jesus
addressed the woman as "My daughter," and said: "for verily I
say unto you, all those who receive my gospel are sons and daughters in my
kingdom" (Doc. & Cov. 25:1). In many instances the Lord has addressed
men as His sons (e. g. Doc. & Cov. 9:1; 34:3; 121:7).
That by obedience to the Gospel men
may become sons of God, both as sons of Jesus Christ, and, through Him, as sons
of His Father, is set forth in many revelations given in the current
dispensation. Thus we read in an utterance of the Lord Jesus Christ to Hyrum
Smith in 1829: "Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the life
and the light of the world. I am the same who came unto my own and my own
received me not; But verily, verily, I say unto you, that as many as receive
me, to them will I give power to become the sons of God, even to them that
believe on my name. Amen." (Doc. & Cov. 11:28-30). To Orson Pratt the
Lord spoke through Joseph the Seer, in 1830: "My son Orson, hearken and
hear and behold what I, the Lord God, shall say unto you, even Jesus Christ
your Redeemer; The light and the life of the world; a light which shineth in
darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not; Who so loved the world that he
gave his own life, that as many as would believe might come the sons of God:
wherefore you are my son" (Doc. & Cov. 34:1-3). In 1830 the Lord thus
addressed Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon: "Listen to the voice of the Lord
your God, even Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, whose course is one
eternal round, the same today as yesterday, and for ever. I am Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, who was crucified for the sins of the world, even as many as
will believe on my name, that they may become the sons of God, even one in me
as I am in the Father, as the Father is one in me, that we may be one"
(Doc. & Cov. 35:1-2). Consider also the following given in 1831:
"Hearken and listen to the voice of him who is from all eternity to all
eternity, the Great I AM, even Jesus Christ, The light and the life of the
world; a light which shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not:
The same which came in the meridian of time unto my own, and my own received me
not; But to as many as received me, gave I power to become my sons, and even so
will I give unto as many as will receive me, power to become my sons"
(Doc. & Cov. 39:1-4). In a revelation given through Joseph Smith in March,
1831 we read: "For verily I say unto you that I am Alpha and Omega, the
beginning and the end, the light and the life of the world -- a light that shineth
in darkness and the darkness comprehendeth it not. I came unto my own, and my
own received me not; but unto as many as received me, gave I power to do many
miracles, and to become the sons of God, and even unto them that believed on my
name gave I power to obtain eternal life" (Doc. & Cov. 45:7-8).
A forceful exposition of this
relationship between Jesus Christ as the Father and those who comply with the
requirements of the Gospel as His children was given by Abinadi, centuries
before our Lord's birth in the flesh: "And now I say unto you. Who shall
declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that when his soul has been
made an offering for sin, he shall see his seed. And now what say ye? And who
shall be his seed? Behold I say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of
the prophets, yea, all the holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the
coming of the Lord; I say unto you, that all those who have hearkened unto
their words, and believed that the Lord would redeem his people, and have
looked forward to that day for a remission of their sins; I say unto you, that
these are his seed, or they are the heirs of the kingdom of God: For these are
they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to redeem
them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed? Yea, and are
not the prophets, every one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has not
fallen into transgression; I mean all the holy prophets ever since the world
began? I say unto you that they are his seed" (Mosiah 15:10-13).
In tragic contrast with the blessed
state of those who become children of God through obedience to the Gospel of
Jesus Christ is that of the unregenerate, who are specifically called the
children of the devil. Note the words of Christ, while in the flesh, to certain
wicked Jews who boasted of their Abrahamic lineage: "If ye were Abraham's
children, ye would do the works of Abraham.
Ye do the deeds of your father. If
God were your Father, ye would love me. Ye are of your father the devil, and
the lusts of your father ye will do" (John 8:39, 41, 42, 44). Thus Satan
is designated as the father of the wicked, though we cannot assume any personal
relationship of parent and children as existing between him and them. A
combined illustration showing that the righteous are the children of God and
the wicked the children of the devil appears in the parable of the Tares:
"The good seed are the children of the kingdom; but the tares are the
children of the wicked one" (Matt. 13:38).
Men may become children of Jesus
Christ by being born anew -- born of God, as the inspired word states: "He
that committeth sin is of the devil; for the devil sinneth from the beginning.
For this purpose the Son of God was manifested, that he might destroy the works
of the devil. Whosoever is born of God doth not commit sin; for his seed
remaineth in him: and he cannot sin, because he is born of God. In this the
children of God are manifest, and the children of the devil: Whosoever doeth
not righteousness is not of God, neither he that loveth not his brother"
(I John 3:8-10).
Those who have been born unto God
through obedience to the Gospel may by valiant devotion to righteousness obtain
exaltation and even reach the status of Godhood. Of such we read:
"Wherefore, as it is written, they are Gods, even the sons of God"
(Doc. & Cov. 76:58; compare 132:20, and contrast paragraph 17 in same
section; see also paragraph 37). Yet, though they be Gods they are still
subject to Jesus Christ as their Father in this exalted relationship; and so we
read in the paragraph following the above quotation: "and they are
Christ's and Christ is God's" (76:59).
By the new birth -- that of water
and the Spirit -- mankind may become children of Jesus Christ, being through
the means by Him provided "begotten sons and daughters unto God"
(Doc. & Cov. 76:2). This solemn truth is further emphasized in the words of
the Lord Jesus Christ given through Joseph Smith in 1833: "And now, verily
I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the Father, and am the firstborn;
And all those who are begotten through me are partakers of the glory of the
same, and are the church of the firstborn" (Doc. & Cov. 93:21, 22).
For such figurative use of the term "begotten" in application to
those who are born unto God see Paul's explanation: "for in Christ Jesus I
have begotten you through the gospel" (I Cor. 4:15). An analogous instance
of sonship attained by righteous service is found in the revelation relating to
the order and functions of Priesthood, given in 1832: "For whoso is
faithful unto the obtaining these two Priesthoods of which I have spoken, and
the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of
their bodies: They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of
Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God" (Doc. &
Cov. 84:33, 34).
If it be proper to speak of those
who accept and abide in the Gospel as Christ's sons and daughters -- and upon
this matter the scriptures are explicit and cannot be gainsaid nor denied -- it
-- is consistently proper to speak of Jesus Christ as the Father of the
righteous, they having become His children and He having been made their Father
through the second birth -- the baptismal regeneration.
4. Jesus Christ the "Father" By Divine Investiture of Authority
A fourth reason for applying the
title "Father" to Jesus Christ is found in the fact that in all His
dealings with the human family Jesus the Son has represented and yet represents
Elohim His Father in power and authority. This is true of Christ in His
preexistent, antemortal, or unembodied state, in the which He was known as
Jehovah; also during His embodiment in the flesh; and during His labors as a
disembodied spirit in the realm of the dead; and since that period in His
resurrected state. To the Jews He said: "I and my Father are one"
(John 10:30; see also 17:11, 22); yet He declared "My Father is greater
than I" (John 14:28); and further, "I am come in my Father's
name" (John 5:43; see also 10:25). The same truth was declared by Christ
Himself to the Nephites (see 3 Nephi 20:35 and 28:10), and has been reaffirmed
by revelation in the present dispensation (Doc. & Gov. 50:43). Thus the
Father placed His name upon the Son; and Jesus Christ spoke and ministered in
and through the Father's name; and so far as power, authority and Godship are
concerned His words and acts were and are those of the Father.
We read, by way of analogy, that God
placed His name upon or in the Angel who was assigned to special ministry unto
the people of
The ancient apostle, John, was
visited by an angel who ministered and spoke in the name of Jesus Christ. As we
read: "The Revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, to shew
unto his servants things which must shortly come to pass; and he sent and
signified it by his angel unto his servant John" (Revelation 1:1). John
was about to worship the angelic being who spoke in the name of the Lord Jesus
Christ, but was forbidden: "And I John saw these things, and heard them.
And when I had heard and seen, I fell down to worship before the feet of the
angel which showed me these things. Then saith he unto me, See thou do it not:
for I am thy fellow-servant, and of thy brethren the prophets, and of them
which keep the sayings of this book: worship God" (Rev. 22:8, 9). And then
the angel continued to speak as though he were the Lord Himself: "And,
behold, I come quickly; and my reward is with me, to give every man according
as his work shall be. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the
first and the last" (verses 12, 13). The resurrected Lord, Jesus Christ,
who had been exalted to the right hand of God His Father, had placed His name
upon the angel sent to John, and the angel spoke in the first person, saying
"I come quickly," "I am Alpha and Omega," though he meant
that Jesus Christ would come, and that Jesus Christ was Alpha and Omega.
None of these considerations,
however, can change in the least degree the solemn fact of the literal
relationship of Father and Son between Elohim and Jesus Christ. Among the
spirit children of Elohim the firstborn was and is Jehovah or Jesus Christ to
whom all others are juniors. Following are affirmative scriptures bearing upon
this great truth. Paul, writing to the Colossians, says of Jesus Christ: "Who
is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature: For by him
were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and
invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers;
all things were created by him, and for him: And he is before all things, and
by him all things consist. And he is the head of the body, the church: who is
the beginning, the firstborn from the dead; that in all things he might have
the preeminence. For it pleased the Father that in him should all fullness
dwell" (Colossians 1:15-19). From this scripture we learn that Jesus
Christ was "the firstborn of every creature" and it is evident that
the seniority here expressed must be with respect to antemortal existence, for
Christ was not the senior of all mortals in the flesh. He is further designated
as "the firstborn from the dead" this having reference to Him as the
first to be resurrected from the dead, or as elsewhere written "the first
fruits of them that slept" (I Corinthians 15:20, see also verse 23); and
"the first begotten of the dead" (Revelation 1:5; compare Acts
26:23). The writer of the Epistle to the Hebrews affirms the status of Jesus
Christ as the firstborn of the spirit children of His Father, and extols the
preeminence of the Christ when tabernacled in flesh: "And again, when he
bringeth in the first begotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels
of God worship him" (Hebrews 1:6; read the preceding verses). That the
spirits who were juniors to Christ were predestined to be born in the image of
their Elder Brother is thus attested by Paul: "And we know that all things
work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called
according to his purpose. For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to
be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many
brethren" (Romans 8:28, 29). John the Revelator was commanded to write to
the head of the Laodicean church, as the words of the Lord Jesus Christ:
"These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning
of the creation of God" (Revelation 3:14). In the course of a revelation
given through Joseph Smith in May, 1833, the Lord Jesus Christ said as before
cited: "And now, verily I say unto you, I was in the beginning with the
Father, and am the firstborn" (Doc. & Cov. 93:21). A later verse makes
plain the fact that human beings generally were similarly existent in spirit
state prior to their embodiment in the flesh: "Ye were also in the beginning
with the Father; that which is Spirit, even the Spirit of truth" (verse
23).
There is no impropriety, therefore,
in speaking of Jesus Christ as the Elder Brother of the rest of human kind.
That He is by spiritual birth Brother to the rest of us is indicated in
Hebrews: "Wherefore in all things it behoved him to be made like unto his
brethren, that he might be a merciful and faithful high priest in things
pertaining to God, to make reconciliation for the sins of the people"
(Hebrews 2:17). Let it not be forgotten, however, that He is essentially
greater than any and all others, by reason (1) of His seniority as the oldest
or firstborn; (2) of His unique status in the flesh as the offspring of a
mortal mother and of an immortal, or resurrected and glorified, Father; (3) of
His selection and foreordination as the one and only Redeemer and Savior of the
race; and (4) of His transcendent sinlessness.
Jesus Christ is not the Father of
the spirits who have taken or yet shall take bodies upon this earth, for He is
one of them. He is The Son, as they are sons or daughters of Elohim. So far as
the stages of eternal progression and attainment have been made known through
divine revelation, we are to understand that only resurrected and glorified
beings can become parents of spirit offspring. Only such exalted souls have
reached maturity in the appointed course of eternal life; and the spirits born
to them in the eternal worlds will pass in due sequence through the several
stages or estates by which the glorified parents have attained exaltation.
THE FIRST
PRESIDENCY AND THE COUNCIL OF THE TWELVE APOSTLES OF THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST
OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS.
Only
One God to Worship, April, 1912
1912 --
April -- Improvement Era 15:483-485 (April, 1912).
Messages of the First Presidency, 4:269-271
This
signed article is an official interpretation by the First Presidency of a
single verse of scripture, namely, Moses 1:6 in the Pearl of Great Price, with
supporting scriptures from the other three Standard Works or scriptures of the
Church.
ONLY ONE GOD TO WORSHIP
By the First Presidency of the Church
Discussions
frequently arise over the meaning of isolated texts of scriptures, most of
which would find interpretation in other passages of holy writ. Some of them
are needless and unimportant, and these should be avoided; but it is proper to
study and arrive at correct conclusions as to the meaning of that which is
written for our learning and edification. The published standards of the
Church, as has been frequently announced, are the Bible, "so far as it is
translated correctly," the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and
the Pearl of Great Price. They have been so accepted by the Church in
conference assembled. Thus we have something at hand which can be appealed to
as authority in doctrine.
The Lord
has also appointed one man at a time on the earth to hold the keys of
revelation to the entire body of the Church in all its organizations,
authorities, ordinances and doctrines. The spirit of revelation is bestowed
upon all its members for the benefit and enlightenment of each individual
receiving its inspiration, and according to the sphere in which he or she is
called to labor. But for the entire Church, he who stands at the head is alone
appointed to receive revelations by way of commandment and as the end of
controversy. Assisted by his counselors, he presides over the whole Church in
all the world; thus the First Presidency hold the right to give authoritative
direction in all matters that pertain to the building up and government and
regulation of the body.
A question
has been discussed in some of the auxiliary societies, and finally has been
submitted to us, in reference to a saying to be found in the Pearl of Great
Price, as follows:
"And I
have a work for thee, Moses, my son; and thou art in the similitude of my Only
Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for He is full of
grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with
me, for I know them all." (Moses 1:6).
The words
particularly debated are; "but there is no God beside me." They
appear to be in conflict with many other statements in scripture, both ancient
and modern, but are not out of harmony with them when properly understood.
Moses was
reared in an atmosphere of idolatry. There were numerous deities among the
Egyptians. In commencing the work which the Lord said he had for Moses to do,
it was necessary to center his mind and faith upon God the Eternal Father as
the only Being to worship. Therefore, the words now under consideration, or
rather those that were actually spoken to Moses of which these are a
translation, were made emphatic, not only as to the false gods of the times but
delusive spirits, of whom Satan was the chief and who tried to pass himself off
to Moses as a divine object of worship, as narrated in the same chapter.
(Verses 12-25).
This was
repeated in substance, and for the same reasons, in the first of the Ten
Commandments: "Thou shalt have no other gods before me," - that is,
beside me, above me, or equal to me, or to be an object of worship, (Exodus
20:2-5). Or, as Paul put it: "For though there be [many] that are called
gods whether in heaven or in earth, (as there are gods many and lords many) yet
to us there is but one God, the Father, of whom are all things, and one Lord,
Jesus Christ, by whom are all things and we by Him." (1 Cor. 8:5-6).
It should
be remembered that it was Christ before he was in the flesh who gave the law
and the commandments to Moses, and who spoke for the Father, as He explained to
the Nephites when he appeared to them after his resurrection. (3 Nephi 15:5.)
He "was in the beginning with God and was God," according to John
1:1. The Father was represented by Him and He acted and spoke for the Father,
in the creation and from that time forward in all the divine dispensations.
Angels also, under Him, have been appointed to speak for God, being so
authorized and empowered. (See Ex. 23:20, 21). But the sole object of worship,
God the Eternal Father, stands supreme and alone, and it is in the name of the
Only Begotten that we thus approach Him, as Christ taught always. "God
standeth in the congregation of the mighty; He judgeth among the gods."
(Psalms 82:1.) Jesus quoted this and did not dispute it (John 10:34-6). All the
perfected beings who are rightly called gods, being, like the Savior, possessed
of "the fullness of the Godhead bodily," are ONE, just as the Father
and the Son and the Holy Ghost are one.
There are
questions relating to doctrine and principle that are proper subjects for class
discussion, when that is conducted for the purpose of gaining information.
There are topics, however, that are of no particular moment, or on which no
definite conclusion can be authoritatively reached, and these ought to be
avoided, as a waste of time and a cause of endless dispute. Let the light shine
and be sought for in faith, but let contention have no place among the
Latter-day Saints!
JOSEPH F.
SMITH,
ANTHON H.
LUND,
CHARLES W.
PENROSE,
First
Presidency.
Jesus
Christ, literal Son of God, December 20, 1914
1914—December 20—The Box Elder News, January
28, 1915.
Copy furnished by Thomas Truitt,
James R. Clark, Messages of the First
Presidency, Vol. 4, pp. 327–332.
This sermon and doctrinal discourse on the
literalness of the Sonship of Jesus Christ is an extremely important addition
to L.D.S. doctrinal literature. Its contents should be carefully studied in
connection with the statement of the First Presidency of 1909 on the Origin of
Man and of the letter to Samuel O. Bennion in 1912 appearing earlier in this
volume. It should also be read in connection with the doctrinal statement of
the First Presidency of June 30, 1916, entitled “The Father and The Son; A
Doctrinal Exposition by the First Presidency and the Twelve.”
I am indebted to Thomas G. Truitt of
The story of the final authentication of this
sermon is given in a little publication by Thomas Truitt in March, 1967,
entitled Lost Talk Found. Circumstances of the reporting and publication
of this sermon and instructions including correct dates and source of
publication are given by Truitt. The sermon was submitted to President Smith
for his editing and approval before publication by the Box elder News. Truitt
writes:
“For over fifteen
years I have been searching for this talk by President Joseph F. Smith. There
are others who have been searching for over twenty-five years. The cause of the
confusion was that the talk was typed up and circulated under the date of Sept.
20, 1914 and that the source was given as the Box Elder Times, both of
which were in error. The correct date of the conference talk was Dec. 20, 1914,
the date of publication was January 28, 1915, and the correct source of
publication was the Box Elder News.” Thomas G. Truitt is a member of the
staff of the
Brigham Young had
earlier made similar statements that Christ was literally the Son of God. (See
JD 4:218, February 5, 1857, and JD 11:268, August 19, 1866.)
THE BOX ELDER NEWS, THURSDAY, JANUARY 28, 1915
PRESIDENT JOS. F.
SMITH’S ADDRESS
SUNDAY MORNING
(Following is a
stenographic report of the address President Joseph F. Smith delivered at the
Sunday morning session of the recent quarterly conference.—Ed.)
I feel very humble
this morning as well as very grateful to have the privilege of meeting with
such a large number of good people and the dear little children also of these
good people who are striving to build up Zion and who are doing all they can,
all at is in their power, to bring up their little children in the way they
should go that when they get old they will not depart from the right way.
I commend the remarks
of Brother George Albert Smith, and I want to tell these little folks who
George Albert is. He is the son of John Henry Smith, who was the son of George
E. Smith, an own cousin of the prophet. Geo. A. Smith was a son of John Smith.
John was a brother of Joseph Smith who was the father of the Prophet, so you
can account for the spirit and for the feeling and the testimony that dwells in
the heart of this good boy who has spoken to us here this morning, and why he
is so earnest and so interested in the well-being of the children of Zion.
Some of the things
that have been mentioned this morning have touched the sensitive part of my
soul, and I possess that degree of human weakness that I cannot help being
affected by the sentiments that have been expressed, not only in relation to the
Prophet and his brother, but relative to the Great Master, Jesus Christ, son of
God.
We are all sons and
daughters of God, and I want the little folks to hear what I am going to tell
you. I am going to tell you a simple truth, yet it is one of the greatest
truths and one of the most simple facts ever revealed to the children of men.
Yet it is one that has been mystified and philosophized by men, more perhaps,
than any other truth ever uttered by the mouths of the prophets. If I talk to
the little folks so they understand the parents and teachers will be able to
understand.
Now in the first book
in the Bible and the Bible has been the standard of the Christian faith for
nineteen centuries, yet nearly all the Christian believers and advocates of the
Bible throughout the world have seemed to ignore one of the great truths that
is taken from this book we read: “In the beginning God created man in his own
image, and in his own likeness male and female.” Right on the face of this
great and yet simple truth that is revealed in Genesis, the Christian world has
formulated a God that is incomprehensible. One of the greatest syndicates of
learned men known in history were once chosen to determine and define the Being
called God, and after deliberating over it for months rendered the decision
that “God was incomprehensible,” and that “to comprehend God would be to
destroy Him.” Yet he said he created man in his own image and likeness, male
and female. If God made man in the likeness of God then he is like God and God
is like man. The Saviour, Jesus Christ, begotten of God, was in the likeness of
his Father, resembling him so nearly that He said on one occasion that “He that
hath seen me has seen the Father.” I see a little boy. He has hair, he has eyes
and he has a face which resembles his father’s, and when he grows up we say
that we cannot tell him from his father, so perfect is resemblance between the
boy and his father. The boy looks like the father and the father looks like the
boy; he looks a little older; of course you can tell the father from the boy
because he is a little older than his son. Jesus Christ was created just like
his Father; had the same features; same frame same kind of body and was so like
Him when you saw him you saw an exact likeness or similitude of His Father.
You all know that your
fathers are indeed your fathers and that your mothers are indeed your mothers
you all know that don’t you? You cannot deny it. Now, we are told in scriptures
that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God in the flesh. Well, now for
the benefit of the older ones, how are children begotten? I answer just as
Jesus Christ was begotten of his father. The Christian denominations believe
that Christ was begotten not of God but of the spirit that overshadowed his
mother. This is nonsense. Why will not the world receive the truth? Why will
they not believe the Father when he says that Jesus Christ is His only begotten
Son? Why will they try to explain this truth away and make mystery of it?
Now if God is a man, a
glorious perfected man—that is, perfect in all his glorious attributes, and
infinite in power, there never will come a time when God the Father will not
have power to extend His dominion and His Glory. He is the maker of Heaven and
the Earth, on which we dwell, for He made this earth by his word and by his
power. How did he make it? He called the elements that are invisible to our
eyes. He formed the earth on which we dwell, and has formed millions of worlds,
and they are peopled with his children, for there is no end to his dominions
and the worlds he has created cannot be numbered unto man.
Now, little boys and
girls, when you are confronted by infidels in the world who know nothing of how
Christ was begotten, you can say he was born just as the infidel was begotten and
born, so was Christ begotten by his Father, who is also our Father—the Father
of our spirits—and he was born of his mother Mary.
The difference between
Jesus Christ and other men is this: Our fathers in the flesh are mortal men,
who are subject unto death; but the Father of Jesus Christ in the flesh is the
God of Heaven. Therefore Jesus, as he declared, received the power of life from
his Father and was never subject unto death but had life in himself as his
father had life in himself. Because of this power he overcame death and the
grave and became master of the resurrection and the means of salvation to us
all.
Shall we as Latter-day
Saints deny the truth and then claim that God made man in his likeness in the
beginning? Shall we come under the impression that God possesses the power of
creation, and yet did not literally create? He is not without his companion any
more than I am without my companion, the mother of my children.
These are truths and I
wish they could be instilled into the hearts of these little children so that
they will not be tossed about by every wind of doctrine and be confused by the
teachers of atheism. Now, by and by you will be able to understand this far
better than you can today. Some of us grandparents find it difficult to conceive
the truth we want to think of something marvelous. We want to try to make it
appear that God does not do things in the right way, or that he has another way
of doing things than what we know, we must come down to the simple fact that
God Almighty was the Father of His Son Jesus Christ. Mary, the virgin girl, who
had never known mortal man, was his mother. God by her begot His son Jesus
Christ, and He was born into the world with power and intelligence like that of
His Father.
He was God with us, He
was indeed Emmanuel for He came for a purpose and He possessed power that no
human being ever possessed. He had power to lay down His life and take it up
again, He had power to resist His murderers; if He had so willed it they never
could have taken his life. He came for a purpose—what was it?—to redeem man
from death. Life everlasting came into the world by the death and sacrifice of
this one man.
He went to the spirits
in prison, to proclaim liberty to them. As Jesus Christ proclaimed liberty to
the living so also He proclaimed liberty to the dead, for He had passed from
mortality to immortality, to make the proclamation to the dead as He had to
those that were in mortal life that all might obtain salvation thru obedience
to the simple ordinances of the gospel.
I was so impressed to
hear these little boys sing as they did. Their beautiful voices were so
harmonious with each other. All that has been sung has been pleasing to hear. I
glory in the son of God, Jesus of Nazareth, the babe of
You understand it is
said here in the Doctrine and Covenants that God cannot look on sin with any
degree of allowance.
Now, my little
friends, I will repeat again in words as simple as I can, and you talk to your parents
about it, that God, the Eternal Father is literally the father of Jesus Christ.
Mary was married to
Joseph for time. No man could take her for eternity because she belonged to the
Father of her divine Son. In the revelation that has come thru Joseph Smith, we
learn that it is the eternal purpose of God that man and woman should be joined
together by the power of God here on earth for time and eternity.
If a man and woman
should be joined together who are incompatible to each other it would be a mercy
to them to be separated that they might have a chance to find other spirits
that will be congenial to them. We may bind on earth and it will be bound in
Heaven, and loose on earth and it will be loosed in Heaven. I would like
teachers of the Sunday school to take these simple facts and teach them to the
children so that they may understand the truth, that their faith may be founded
in fact and in truth; for nothing that is not built upon truth will stand. That
which is false will fall. Only that which is based upon God's truth will
endure.
Now, my brothers and
sisters and the Sunday school workers, we want you to teach the children the
truth and nothing but the truth.
Those who partake of
the Sacrament without the spirit of forgiveness in their hearts eat and drink
condemnation to their souls, because they do it without recognizing the power
of His redeeming grace to them; they came to the table of the Lord's supper
without forgiveness in their hearts, without repentance in their souls. I shall
read the prayer of the bread. (Here read prayer on bread from Doctrine and
Covenants.)
That they will always
keep the commandments of God that they may always have His spirit to be with
them and that they are always willing to take upon them His name and remember
Him. What does it mean? It is a witness unto God that we do always remember Him
and that we are always willing to keep his commandments, that He has given us.
Do we think of that when we partake of the Sacrament? He has said, "I, the
Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive
all men."
We are responsible for
what we do, it is nobler to forgive than to be forgiven. We should feel it is
greater, more Godly to say to those who trespass against us, I forgive you—I
will not allow my soul to be corroded by bitter enmity against my fellow man.
Oh, if this spirit
could be possessed by the Latter-day Saints where would be your High Council
trials? Your Bishop's courts? Where your prisons and your prisoners? Men would
say no matter what you do, I forgive you. It is better to say, let God judge
between me and my enemy.
It is good when a man
can say to those who trespass against him, the Lord have mercy on you, but for
me I forgive you.
May God help us to
forgive all men as we hope to be forgiven by Him. May the Lord bless us with
the spirit of the Lord Jesus Christ, who in the last moments of agony upon the
cross, when he looked down upon his murderers, said, "Oh Father forgive
them, for they know not what they do."
God bless you is my
prayer in the name of Jesus. Amen.
The
Doctrine of God, The Father
1. The Father is an exalted man.
Joseph
Smith:
"I will go back to the beginning before the world was, to show what kind
of being God is. What sort of a being was God in the beginning? Open your ears
and hear, all ye ends of the earth, for I am going to prove it to you by the
Bible, and to tell you the designs of God in relation to the human race, and
why He interferes with the affairs of man.
"God himself was
once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder
heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great
God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all
things by his power, was to make himself visible, -- I say, if you were to see
him today, you would see him like a man in form -- like yourselves in all the
person, image, and very form as a man; for Adam was created in the very
fashion, image and likeness of God, and received instruction from, and walked,
talked and conversed with him, as one man talks and communes with
another." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 345)
2. The Father
is a resurrected being.
Joseph
Smith:
"As the Father hath power in Himself, so hath the Son power in Himself, to
lay down His life and take it again, so He has a body of His own. The Son
doeth what He hath seen the Father do: then the Father hath some day laid down
His life and taken it again; so he has a body of His own; each one will be in
His own body; and yet the sectarian world believe the body of the Son is
identical with the Father's." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
p. 312)
Joseph F. Smith (First Presidency
Statement): "Let it not be forgotten, however, that He [Jesus Christ] is
essentially greater than any and all others, by reason (1) of His seniority as
the oldest or firstborn; (2) of His unique status in the flesh as the offspring
of a mortal mother and of an immortal, or resurrected and glorified, Father;
(3) of His selection and foreordination as the one and only Redeemer and Savior
of the race; and (4) of His transcendent sinlessness. (Messages of the First
Presidency, Vol.5, p.34)
3. The Father
is the father of our spirits.
Brigham
Young:
"He is our Father; he is our God, the Father of our spirits; he is the
framer of our bodies, and set the machine in successful operation to bring
forth these tabernacles that I now look upon in this building, and all that
ever did or ever will live on the face of the whole earth."
(Discourses of Brigham Young, p.24 - p.25)
Lorenzo Snow: "Our
spirit birth gave us godlike capabilities. We were born in the image of God our
Father; He begot us like unto Himself. There is the nature of deity in the
composition of our spiritual organization; in our spiritual birth our Father
transmitted to us the capabilities, powers and faculties which He Himself
possessed -- as much so as the child on its mother's bosom possesses, although
in an undeveloped state, the faculties, powers, and susceptibilities of its
parent." [Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.4]
Joseph F. Smith (First Presidency
Statement): "Man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and
endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father
and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so the undeveloped
offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and
aeons, of evolving into a God." [Messages of the First Presidency,
4:206]
4. The Father's work is to exalt His
children.
"For
behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)
Brigham Young: "The Lord
created you and me for the purpose of becoming Gods like himself; when we have
been proved in our present capacity, and have been faithful with all things he
puts into our possession." [Discourses of Brigham Young, p.57]
Spencer W. Kimball: "If we are
true and faithful, we shall rise, not alone in immortality but unto eternal
life. Immortality is to live forever in an assigned kingdom. Eternal life is to
gain exaltation in the highest heaven and live in the family unit."
[Conference Report, Oct. 1978, p. 109; or Ensign, Nov. 1978, p. 72]
Marion G. Romney:
"Immortality connotes life without end. Eternal life, on the other hand,
connotes quality of life--exaltation, the highest type of immortality, the kind
of life enjoyed by God himself. . . . The crowning work and glory of God is,
therefore, as he has said, to bring to pass the eternal life of man. Such is
the worth of a soul. Surely it "is great in the sight of God"
(D&C 18:10). They should be of like value in the sight of men. As God's
work and glory is to bring to pass the eternal life of man, so the desire,
hope, and work of every man should be to obtain eternal life for himself. And not
for himself only but also for his fellowmen; and it will be when he fully
appreciates who and what he is--his nature, origin, destiny, and potentiality.
In comparison to eternal life, all else sinks into insignificance. For, as
Jesus said: "What shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world,
and lose his own soul? "Or what shall a man give in exchange for his
soul?" (Mark 8:36-37.)" [Conference Report, Oct. 1978, p. 19; or Ensign,
Nov. 1978, p.14-15]
5. The Father
is perfect in his character and attributes.
Characteristics
Joseph
Smith:
"13. First, that He was God before the world was created, and the same God
that He was after it was created.
"14. Secondly, that He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant
in goodness, and that He was so from everlasting, and will be to everlasting.
"15. Thirdly, that He changes not, neither is there variableness with Him;
but that He is the same from everlasting to everlasting, being the same
yesterday, today, and forever; and that His course is one eternal round,
without variation.
"16. Fourthly, that He is a God of truth and cannot lie.
"17. Fifthly, that He is no respecter of persons: but in every nation he
that fears God and works righteousness is accepted of Him.
"18. Sixthly, that He is love." (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 3,
p.35)
Attributes
Joseph
Smith:
"5. First -- Knowledge. Acts 15:18: "Known unto God
are all His works from the beginning of the world," Isaiah 46:9, 10:
"Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else;
I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and
from ancient time the things that are not yet done, saying 'My counsel shall
stand, and I will do all my pleasure.'"
"6. Secondly -- Faith or power. Hebrews 11:3: "Through
faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God."
Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the
earth." Isaiah 14:24, 27: "The Lord of hosts hath sworn,
saying, 'Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass: and as I have
purposed so shall it stand. For the Lord of Hosts hath purposed, and who shall
disannul it? and his hand is stretched out, and who shall turn it
back?'"
"7. Thirdly -- Justice. Psalms 89:14: "Justice and
judgment are the habitation of thy throne." Isaiah 45:21: "Tell
ye, and bring them near; yea, let them take counsel together; who hath declared
this from the ancient times have not I the Lord? and there is no God else
beside me; a just God and a Saviour." Zephaniah 3:5 "The just
Lord is in the midst thereof." Zechariah 9:9: "Rejoice greatly,
O daughter of
"8. Fourthly -- Judgment. Psalms 89:14: "Justice and
judgment are the habitation of thy throne." Deuteronomy 32:4
"He is the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment: a God
of truth and without iniquity, just and right is He." Psalms 9:7:
"but the Lord shall endure forever. He hath prepared His throne for
judgment." Psalms 9:16: "The Lord is known by the judgment
which he executeth."
"9. Fifthly -- Mercy. Psalms 89:14: "Mercy and truth
shall go before His face." Exodus 34:6: "And the Lord passed by
before Him, and proclaimed, 'The Lord, the Lord God, merciful and
gracious.'" Nehemiah 9:17: "But thou art a God ready to pardon,
gracious and merciful."
"10. And sixthly -- Truth. Psalms 89:14: "Mercy and
truth shall go before thy face." Exodus 34:6: "Long-suffering
and abundant in goodness and truth." Deuteronomy 32:4: "He is
the Rock, His work is perfect; for all His ways are judgment: a God of truth
and without iniquity, just and right is He." Psalms 31:5: "Into Thine
hand I commit my spirit; thou hast redeemed me, O Lord God of Truth." “(Lectures
on Faith, Lecture 5)
6. The Father
is Progressing.
Joseph
Fielding Smith:
"The Book of Moses informs us that the great work of the Father is in
creating worlds and peopling them, and "there is no end to my works,
neither to my words," he says, "For behold, this is my work and my
glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man," and in
this is his progression.
"Commenting on this the Prophet Joseph Smith has said: 'What did Jesus do?
Why; I do the things I saw my Father do when worlds come rolling into
existence. My Father worked out his kingdom with fear and trembling, and I must
do the same [that is Christ must do the same]; and when I get my kingdom. I
shall present it to my Father, so that he may obtain kingdom upon kingdom, and
it will exalt him in glory. He will then take a higher exaltation, and I
[Christ] will take his place, and thereby become exalted myself. So that Jesus
treads in the tracks of his Father, and inherits what God did before; and God
is thus glorified and exalted in the salvation and exaltation of all his
children.'
"Do you not see that it is in this manner that our Eternal Father is
progressing? Not by seeking knowledge which he does not have, for such a
thought cannot be maintained in the light of scripture. It is not through
ignorance and learning hidden truth that he progresses, for if there are truths
which he does not know, then these things are greater than he, and this cannot
be. Why can't we learn wisdom and believe what the Lord has revealed? (Doctrines
of Salvation, Vol.1, p.7)
The Doctrine of the
Son
1. He is the
firstborn.
2. He is the
creator.
3. He is the
literal earthly Son of the Father.
4. He is the God
of our fathers.
5. He manifests
and reveals the Father.
6. He is the
Father.
7. He is our
Redeemer, Savior, Mediator, Intercessor, and Advocate with the Father.
8. He is the
Eternal Judge.
9. He is the
light and life of the world.
The Doctrine of the Holy Ghost
1. He is a
personage of spirit.
2. He uses the
light of Christ for his ministry.
3. He is the
sanctifier.
4. He is the
revelator.
5. He is the
testator - witness.
6. He is the
teacher.
7. He is the
comforter (advocate).
8. Through him
we receive spiritual gifts that capacitate.
9. Through him
we may receive the sealing of the Holy Spirit of Promise.
There are different roles each member of the Godhead,
however, Heavenly Father keeps communication with us (PRAYER) for Himself. How He answers our prayers is of course up to
Him!
Elder
Talmage had a special way of explaining gospel doctrine to the outside
world. .He put his lectures in a book
form when he was a member of the 12.
The
chapter title for chapter 2 uses the word Trinity, it isn’t used in our church
but there isn’t anything wrong with the word, it is used widely in the
Protestant world.
The existence of God
is scarcely a question for rational dispute; nor does it call for proof by the
feeble demonstrations of man's logic, for the fact is admitted by the human
family practically without question, and the consciousness of subjection to a
supreme power is an inborn attribute of mankind. The early scriptures are not
devoted to a primary demonstration of God's existence, nor to attacks on the
sophistries of atheism; and from this fact we may infer that the errors of
doubt developed in some later period. The universal assent of mankind to the
existence of God is at least strongly corroborative. There is a filial passion
within human nature that flames toward heaven. Every nation, every tribe, every individual, yearns for some object of
reverence. It is natural for man to worship; his soul is unsatisfied until he
finds a deity. When men through transgression fell into darkness concerning
the true and living God, they established for themselves other deities, and so
arose the abominations of idolatry. And yet, even the most revolting of these
practises testify to the existence of a God by demonstrating man's hereditary
passion for worship.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
26.)
Faith
unto life and salvation:
1. Idea
that God exists – 2. Correct idea of His character and attributes His nature –
3. Actual knowledge that the course you are pursuing is in accordance with
God’s will
– Base our church on the idea of the 1st vision, don’t hide from it,
without it we have nothing! A religion
of man leads to destruction and war. We
want a supernatural religion; like President Hinckley says “Isn’t it
wonderful” Can God’s church come in any
other way?
The Godhead: The
Trinity—Three
personages composing the great presiding council of the universe have revealed
themselves to man: (1) God the Eternal Father; (2) His Son, Jesus Christ; and
(3) the Holy Ghost. That these three are separate individuals, physically
distinct from each other, is demonstrated by the accepted records of divine
dealings with man. On the occasion of the Savior's baptism, John recognized the
sign of the Holy Ghost; he saw before him in a tabernacle of flesh the Christ,
unto whom he had administered the holy ordinance; and he heard the voice of the
Father. fn The three personages of the Godhead were present, manifesting
themselves each in a different way, and each distinct from the others. Later
the Savior promised His disciples that the Comforter, fn who is the Holy Ghost,
should be sent unto them by His Father; here again are the three members of the
Godhead separately defined. Stephen, at the time of his martyrdom, was blessed
with the power of heavenly vision, and he saw Jesus standing on the right hand
of God. fn Joseph Smith, while calling upon the Lord in fervent prayer, saw the
Father and the Son, standing in the midst of light that shamed the brightness
of the sun; and one of these declared of the other, "This is My Beloved
Son. Hear Him!" Each of the members of the Trinity is called God, fn
together they constitute the Godhead.
Unity of the Godhead—The Godhead is a type
of unity in the attributes, powers, and purposes of its members. Jesus, while
on earth fn and in manifesting Himself to His Nephite servants, fn repeatedly
testified of the unity existing between Himself and the Father, and between
them both and the Holy Ghost. This cannot rationally be construed to mean that
the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost are one in substance and in person, nor
that the names represent the same individual under different aspects. A single
reference to prove the error of any such view may suffice: Immediately before
His betrayal, Christ prayed for His disciples, the Twelve, and other converts,
that they should be preserved in unity, fn "that they all may be one"
as the Father and the Son are one. We cannot assume that Christ prayed that His
followers lose their individuality and become one person, even if a change so
directly opposed to nature were possible. Christ desired that all should be
united in heart, spirit, and purpose; for such is the unity between His Father
and Himself, and between them and the Holy Ghost.
This unity is a type of completeness; the mind of any one
member of the Trinity is the mind of the others; seeing as each of them does with the eye of perfection, they see and
understand alike. Under any given conditions each would act in the same way,
guided by the same principles of unerring justice and equity. The one-ness
of the Godhead, to which the scriptures so abundantly testify, implies no
mystical union of substance, nor any unnatural and therefore impossible
blending of personality. Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are as distinct in their
persons and individualities as are any three personages in mortality. Yet their
unity of purpose and operation is such as to make their edicts one, and their
will the will of God. Even in bodily appearance the Father and the Son are
alike; therefore said Christ when importuned by Philip to show to him and
others the Father: "Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou
not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest
thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and
the Father in me? The words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but
the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works. Believe me that I am in the
Father, and the Father in
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
35.)
Their
unity is more then we can comprehend, all 3 work in complete unity, and I must
have faith in that to achieve life unto salvation. An idea does not mean actual knowledge.
They
work within the Godhead, yet have different responsibilities. The Holy Ghost does not yet have a physical
body; He needs a spiritual body to fulfill his role.
Joseph
Smith
From: The
Words of Joseph Smith: The Contemporary Accounts of the Nauvoo Discourses of
the Prophet Joseph. (Andrew F. Ehat, and Lyndon W. Cook, eds..
[Original source: George Laub Journal: 16 June 1844 (1) (Sunday Morning);
spelling and punctuation are original]
The Scripture Say I and my father are one & again that the father son &
holy ghost are one I John 5 ch. 7 vers But these three agree in the Same thing
& did the Saviour pray to the father. I pray not for the world but those
[w]home he gave me out of the world that we might be one, or to Say be of one
mind in the unity of the faith.
but Every one being a diffrent or Seperate person & So is god & is god
& Jesus Christ & the holy ghost. Seperate persons. but the all agree in
one or the Self Same thing But the
holy ghost is yet a Spiritual body and waiting to take to himself a body. as
the Savior did or as god did or the gods before them took bodies
for the Saviour Says the work that my father did do i also & those are the
works he took himself a a body & then laid down his life that he might take
it up again & the Scripture Say those who will obey the commandments shall
be heirs of god & Joint heirs with of Jesus Christ we then also took bodys
to lay them down, to take them up again & the Sperit itself bears witness
with our Spirits that we are the children of god & if children then heirs
and Joint heirs with Jesus Christ if So be that we Suffer with him in the flesh
that we may be also glorified to gether. See Romans 8 ch 16 & 17
Vers. (emphasis added).
Christ
was unified with His Father during mortality (age 12), by 30 think of where He
was with God, one mind, one heart and one purpose, fully unified.
(John
10:15.)
15 As the Father knoweth me, even so know I the Father: and I lay
down my life for the sheep.
(John 17:20-22.) – Do you want to know who God is, watch me!
20 Neither
pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through
their word;
21 That
they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that
they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.
22 And the
glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we
are one:
Intelligence
>>>> Pre Mortality >>>> Mortality >>>>
Spirit World >>>> Millennium >>>> Celestial kingdom
The
whole plan of salvation is a plan of oneness with God. We evolve from intelligences to pre mortality
which begins our journey to the Celestial kingdom. Christ shows us the way; He takes us through
the process.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 76:95.) – Joint heirs with Christ.
95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 88:107.) – Christ’s work is to bring about this oneness and
equality for us with God
107 And then shall the angels be crowned with the glory of his
might, and the saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their
inheritance and be made equal with him.
Man is the child of
God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as
the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of
becoming a man, so the undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable,
by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God. Last paragraph of the “Origin of Man”
(Colossians
1:14-17.) – Christ is the Firstborn of all
14 In whom
we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins:
15 Who is
the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of every creature:
16 For by
him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible
and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities,
or powers: all things were created by him, and for him:
17 And he
is before all things, and by him all things consist.
THE PREEMINENCE OF
CHRIST
(Colossians)
In the fourth and
fifth centuries B.C., the community of
Though it is difficult
to determine the date and the precise location of Paul's whereabouts, it is
likely that Colossians was written from
To understand the
message and reason for this Pauline epistle, it will be helpful to identify
some of the key characters mentioned in the text. Epaphras was apparently
Paul's representative in
From a careful reading
of the Colossian letter, one can readily observe Paul's concern and reaction to
perverted doctrines that were creeping in among the church members. (Col. 2:4,
8.) For Latter-day Saints, this letter is one additional evidence of the
impending apostasy that would engulf the Christian church after the death of
the apostles. Even many Christian
commentators refer to the problems alluded to by Paul as the Colossian
"heresy." fn We cannot determine with certainty the exact origin of
the subversive teachings in
The message to the Colossians can be summarized in three
major topics: the preeminence of Christ, false doctrines that seek to undermine
the doctrine of Christ, and principles that will help us become like Christ.
The Preeminence of Christ
The Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ surpassed all other beings who have lived and will live on this
earth. He is the literal son of God the Father (Col. 1:3), and because of his
life and atoning sacrifice, we have a hope of obtaining eternal life with our
Father in heaven (Col. 1:5). This hope has been made known to prophets in all
generations of the world. (1:6.) As we endeavor to live worthily and to attain
eternal life, we must be filled with a knowledge of what our Heavenly Father
expects of us. This kind of knowledge comes only through the Spirit. (1:9.)
Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote that it is this spiritual understanding or
knowledge that "sets the saints apart from the world. Others may equal or
excel them in scientific knowledge, in philosophical comprehension, or in any
of the things of the world, but only the saints of God do or can understand the
things of God, for these come by revelation. For instance, only the saints
understand the atonement, comprehend the doctrines of salvation, enjoy the
gifts of the Spirit, receive the spiritual rebirth, exercise faith unto life
and salvation, and have a sure hope of eternal life." fn It is revelation
and a knowledge of God's will that can spur us on to be fruitful in doing
righteous works. (Col. 1:10-11.)
In our day as well as
Paul's, spiritual darkness reigns. Our Heavenly Father provided the means
whereby we could escape the darkness by sending his Son. Through Christ's
redemption we can gain forgiveness and be transformed from a carnal nature to a
divine nature, a point at which we are entitled to an inheritance in the
celestial kingdom. (Col. 1:12-14.)
Paul refers to Christ
as the firstborn in two different passages in chapter one of Colossians. A
review of the scriptures reveals that Jesus is the firstborn in three very
significant ways. (1) He is the firstborn spirit son of God, the firstborn of
all creation. (Col. 1:15.) "His is the eternal birthright and the
everlasting right of presidency," wrote Elder McConkie. fn As the
firstborn, it was Jehovah's right to be chosen and foreordained as the Savior.
It would also be his right, under the direction of the Father, to create worlds
without number. (Col. 1:16; see also Moses 1:33.) (2) Jesus Christ is the
literal son of God the Father. (1:3.) He is the Only Begotten or firstborn of
the Father in the flesh. (See John 1:14.) Because of his divine birth, both in
the spirit and in the flesh, it is particularly appropriate to refer to him as
being in the image of his Father, whom we have not seen. (
These three qualities
give Christ preeminence over all things. Because of his unique mortal birth and
his resurrected body, he could possess the fullness of the Godhead. (Col. 1:19;
2:9.) In clarifying this concept, Elder McConkie wrote: "In other words,
in Christ is found every godly attribute in its perfection, which means that
the Father dwells in him and he in the Father." fn This same promise—that
the Father can dwell in us—is offered to all people. As we perfect our lives,
we can become one with the Father and the Son. Concerning this principle the
Prophet Joseph Smith explained: "All those who keep his commandments shall
grow up from grace to grace, and become heirs of the heavenly kingdom, and
joint heirs with Jesus Christ; possessing the same mind, being transformed into
the same image or likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all;
being filled with the fullness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the
Father, Son and Holy Spirit are one." fn
The mission of Jesus
Christ, as the firstborn Son of God, was to offer himself as a ransom for the
sins of all mankind. In this way he was able to help us be reconciled to God
even though we have all committed sins and have thus been enemies to God. (Col.
1:20-22.) Furthermore, as we are reconciled to God we also become reconciled to
Christ and join those who the Father promised would be given unto the Son.
(John 17:11, 20.) This process of being reconciled or having Christ atone for
our sins places certain conditions on us, as Paul explained to the Colossian
saints. We must seek to become holy by removing sin from our lives, so we can
stand blameless before God (Col. 1:22), which requires that we be firmly rooted
or established in the principles of the gospel. (Col. 1:22-23.)
Paul's indication that
the gospel has been preached to every creature under heaven must refer to its
being preached in the pre-earth life (Col. 1:23), for only in that setting had
all of our Father's children heard it preached.
There are mysteries
that God has not seen fit to reveal, nor will he do so until after the coming
of the Son of Man. (See D&C 101:32-34.) There are also mysteries that we
may call the mysteries of godliness, which are made known by revelation to
those who demonstrate maturity and obedience and who diligently seek them from
the scriptures. The mystery about which Paul speaks to the Colossians is one of
the mysteries of godliness. (1:26-27.) This mystery, which, if understood by
modern Christians, would reveal to them the true nature and oneness of the
Godhead, has been explained by Elder McConkie: "It is that Christ dwells
in the hearts of those who have crucified the old man of sin, and that as a
consequence they have a hope of eternal glory!" fn It is a key to
understanding why the scriptures speak of the oneness of the Godhead and yet
maintain that they are also three separate and distinct individuals, and why we
can become one with Christ in the same manner that Christ is one with his
Father. (3 Ne. 19:23, 9.)
Among the Colossian
saints, ideas of mysticism and hidden knowledge were apparently flourishing.
Judging by the concerns voiced by Paul in the second chapter of Colossians, the
saints were entertaining, as one writer described it, "the germs of later
Gnosticism." fn The Gnostics were followers of many religious movements in
the early history of Christianity. They believed that people were saved through
a secret or esoteric knowledge, and that the physical creation was evil. Many
did not believe the physical body was necessary, and thus they often practiced
one of two extremes: either complete self-denial toward physical matters,
particularly sex and marriage, or total promiscuity, since in their view the
body could not affect the spirit and would be destroyed forever at death. fn
Perhaps it was the
emphasis on secret knowledge and mysteries that caused Paul to declare that
real wisdom and knowledge are known only through the Son of God. (Col. 2:2-3.)
This knowledge comes by revelation.
Avoiding False Doctrine
Today and in all ages
there are those who use the power of persuasive speech and the philosophies and
wisdom of the world to try to dissuade the faithful from the strait and narrow
path. (Col. 2:4, 8.) Paul's unwavering response is to remember that it is in
Jesus Christ, whose mission and role he reaffirms, that we must build our faith
if we hope to be saved. (Col. 2:6-7.) False philosophies and supposed secret
knowledge appear to have been challenging the very position and status of the
Son of God. Paul reaffirms that Christ possesses the fullness of the Godhead bodily.
(Col. 2:9.) Some pre-Gnostic Christians at
Paul declares the
corporeal nature of the Godhead. Jesus Christ is the head, the chief
cornerstone upon which the
Paul warns of other
dangerous teachings that were apparently gaining acceptance in
These detractors pride
themselves on what they perceive is their superior intellect and self-made
system of worship. (Col. 2:18, 23.) Moreover, their Gnostic attitude of
neglecting the body and its passions and subjecting themselves to meaningless
man-made rules has given them a false sense of superiority. (Col. 2:20, 23.)
Though the diabolical approaches may differ, every dispensation is challenged
by false philosophical and doctrinal ideas fostered by those who "when
they are learned . . . think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the
counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves,
wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they
shall perish." (2 Ne. 9:28.)
Becoming Like Christ
To raise the Colossian
saints from the grasp of apostate practices, Paul reminds them that through
baptism they have each buried their former sins and worldly teachings, and
through the power of God they have been raised to a new life of faith and
understanding. (Col. 2:12, 20; 3:1.) Those who accept and live the gospel of
Jesus Christ are spiritually circumcised, with their carnal natures or desires
removed, and they become completely open and receptive to the influence of the
Holy Ghost. (Col. 2:11.) When this occurs, Paul says, they will seek the things
of a better life. Obtaining a celestial glory and exaltation requires that the
heart and mind be set firmly on spiritual things. We must become dead to sin
and ultimately have our callings and elections made sure in order to appear
with Christ at his coming. (Col. 3:1-4.) fn
In order to reach that
lofty goal, Paul explains that we must progress toward perfection by putting
off the "old man," the carnal man, and putting on the "new
man," the spiritual man, with all the attributes that must accompany this
new birth. (Col. 3:9-10.) The process requires mortifying or subduing our
physical bodies, thus avoiding sins of commission. Fornication, lust, idolatry,
anger, profanity, and lying are among the sins that must be overcome if we are
to continue the new birth process. (Col. 3:5-9.)
Next Paul turns to
principles that are sometimes neglected by the saints, thus preventing them
from approaching perfection and having their callings and elections made sure.
These qualities are among the attributes of godliness: meekness, longsuffering,
forgiveness, and charity (which binds all the other principles together). (Col.
3:12-15.) Persons who possess these virtues will no longer see themselves
divided by nationality, ideology, or social classes; all will be one with
Christ. (Col. 3:11.)
In this process of
becoming like Christ, Paul reminds us of the powerful impact of spiritual hymns
and songs sung from the heart. All who have experienced the exultation that
comes from meaningful words and inspiring music know why Paul includes this
encouragement to those who are seeking to become one with Christ. (Col. 3:16.)
Commenting on the power of music, President J. Reuben Clark said:
"Sometimes I feel that we get nearer to the Lord through music than
perhaps through any other thing except prayer." fn
Recognizing that many
interactions in this life are done in the home, Paul counsels the Colossians in
their relationships as husbands, wives, and children. (3:18-21.) In emphasizing
this point, President Spencer W. Kimball declared: "God established
families. The Lord organized the whole program in the beginning with a father who
procreates, provides, and loves and directs, and a mother who conceives and
bears and nurtures and feeds and trains . . . [and] where children train and
discipline each other and come to love, honor, and appreciate each other. The
family is the great plan of life as conceived and organized by our Father in
Heaven." fn President Kimball taught on another occasion: "Family
life is the best method for achieving happiness in this world, and it is a
clear pattern . . . of what is to be in the next world." fn
The final counsel Paul
gives pertains to the missionary responsibilities of those who possess the
mystery of Christ. We are to use wisdom in watching for the opportunities to
share the gospel with nonmembers (Col. 4:3-5), and if we set a proper example,
others will see the benefit of having the gospel in their lives. We are also
counseled to study and prepare ourselves so that we may know how to answer
investigators without giving them advanced doctrine when they are only prepared
for the basic principles. (Col. 4:6.) This principle was important for the
Colossians, for they were receiving much advanced doctrine in this letter from
Paul. It was not to be shared indiscriminately with those who had no foundation
in the gospel. To do so would likely place stumbling blocks in the path of
those who were investigating the faith.
Colossians Today
The message to the
Colossians is both timely and relevant for us. Many persons in the Christian
world today deny the preeminence of Christ, both in his mortal mission and in his
divine Sonship. Unfortunately many also rely upon what they perceive as their
superior learning. In their wisdom, they feel no need to become like Christ or
to conform to those principles which lead to perfection. The sins and
diversions found at
Notes
Clyde J. Williams is
assistant professor of ancient scripture at
Footnotes
1. G. H. P. Thompson, The
Letters of Paul to the Ephesians, to the Colossians and to Philemon, The
2. See David R. Seely,
"From Unprofitable Servant to Beloved Brother in Christ," chapter 11,
in this volume.
3. See The New
Bible Commentary, D. Guthrie, et al., ed. (Grand Rapids, Michigan: William
B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1970), p. 1140; The Interpreter's Bible, 12
vols. (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1955), 11:137;J. R. Dummelow, A
Commentary on the Holy Bible (New York: Macmillan, 1936), p. 980.
4. David and Pat
Alexander, ed., Eerdmans' Handbook to the Bible (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
William B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 1973), p. 611.
5. Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal
New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966-73),
3:23-24.
6. Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985),
p. 66.
7. Bruce R. McConkie, The
Promised Messiah: The First Coming of Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
1978), p. 128.
8. Lectures on
Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985), 5:2.
9. McConkie, The
Promised Messiah, p. 124.
10. Marvin R. Vincent,
Word Studies in the New Testament, 4 vols. (
11. Edwin M. Yamauch,
"The Gnostics," in Eerdmans' Handbook to the History of
Christianity (Carmel, New York: Guideposts, 1977), pp. 98-103.
12. Richard Lloyd
Anderson, Understanding Paul (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983), p.
254.
13. Joseph A. Grassi,
"The Letter to the Colossians," in The Jerome Biblical Commentary,
2 vols., ed. Raymond E. Brown, et al. (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice
Hall, 1968), 2:339.
14. McConkie, Doctrinal
New Testament Commentary 3:35.
15. Conference
Report, October 1936, p. 111.
16. The Teachings
of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft,
1982), p. 324.
17. Ensign,
November 1978, p. 103.
(Robert L.
Millet, ed., Studies in Scripture, Vol. 6: Acts to Revelation [Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 136.)
Our
Father’s motivation is to bring us home through Jesus Christ, we are a fallen
people and need the Atonement to come back home.
(Revelation
3:21.) – We can be rulers with Him if we can overcome, we can inherit the
kingdom
21 To him that overcometh will I grant to sit with me in my throne,
even as I also overcame, and am set down with my Father in his throne.
In
the plan of salvation the object of our worship is the Father. The role of Christ is to reveal the Father,
He points the way.
Don’t
elevate Christ above the Father, this is a problem.
The Grandeur of God
Elder
Jeffery R. Holland
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Ensign, Nov. 2003, pp. ??
Of the many magnificent purposes served in
the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, one great aspect of that
mission often goes uncelebrated. His followers did not understand it fully at
the time, and many in modern Christianity do not grasp it now, but the Savior
Himself spoke of it repeatedly and emphatically. It is the grand truth that in
all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning
suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father
is like, how completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation.
In word and in deed Jesus was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true
nature of His Father, our Father in Heaven.
He did
this at least in part because then and now all of us need to know God more
fully in order to love Him more deeply and obey Him more completely. As both
Old and New Testaments declare, "The first of all the commandments is . .
. thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul,
and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first [and great]
commandment" (Mark 12:29-30; see also Matthew 22:37-38; Deuteronomy 6:5).
Little
wonder then that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught: "It is the first
principle of the gospel to know for a certainty the character of God."
"I want you all to know Him," he said, "and to be familiar with
Him" (History of the Church, 6:305.). We must have "a correct
idea of his . . . perfections, and attributes," an admiration for
"the excellency of [His] character" (Lectures on Faith (1985),
38, 42.). Thus the first phrase we utter in the declaration of our faith is,
"We believe in God, the Eternal Father" (Articles of Faith 1:1.). So,
emphatically, did Jesus. Even as He acknowledged His own singular role in the
divine plan, the Savior nevertheless insisted on this prayerful preamble:
"And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true
God" (John 17:3).
After
generations of prophets had tried to teach the family of man the will and the
way of the Father, usually with little success, God in His ultimate effort to
have us know Him, sent to earth His Only Begotten and perfect Son, created in
His very likeness and image, to live and serve among mortals in the everyday
rigors of life.
To come to
earth with such a responsibility, to stand in place of Elohim-speaking as He
would speak, judging and serving, loving and warning, forbearing and forgiving
as He would do-this is a duty of such staggering proportions that you and I
cannot comprehend such a thing. But in the loyalty and determination that would
be characteristic of a divine child, Jesus could comprehend it and He did it.
Then, when the praise and honor began to come, He humbly directed all adulation
to the Father.
"The
Father . . . doeth the works," He said in earnest. "The Son can do
nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever [the
Father] doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise" (John 14:10; 5:19). On
another occasion He said: "I speak that which I have seen with my
Father." "I do nothing of myself; but as my Father hath taught
me." "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will
of him that sent me" (John 8:38, 28; 6:38).
I make my
own heartfelt declaration of God our Eternal Father this morning because some
in the contemporary world suffer from a distressing misconception of Him. Among
these there is a tendency to feel distant from the Father, even estranged from
Him, if they believe in Him at all. And if they do believe, many moderns say
they might feel comfortable in the arms of Jesus, but they are uneasy
contemplating the stern encounter of God (see William Barclay, The Mind of
Jesus (1961), especially the chapter "Looking at the Cross" for a
discussion of this modern tendency). Through a misreading (and surely, in some
cases, a mistranslation) of the Bible, these see God the Father and Jesus
Christ His Son as operating very differently, this in spite of the fact that in
both the Old Testament and the New, the Son of God is one and the same, acting
as He always does under the direction of the Father, who is Himself the same
"yesterday, today, and forever" (for example, 1 Ne. 10:18; 2 Nephi
27:23; Moroni 10:19; D&C 20:12).
In
reflecting on these misconceptions we realize that one of the remarkable
contributions of the Book of Mormon is its seamless, perfectly consistent view
of divinity throughout that majestic book. Here there is no Malachi-to-Matthew
gap, no pause while we shift theological gears, no misreading the God who is
urgently, lovingly, faithfully at work on every page of that record from its
Old Testament beginning to its New Testament end. Yes, in an effort to give the
world back its Bible and a correct view of Deity with it, what we have in the
Book of Mormon is a uniform view of God in all His glory and goodness, all His
richness and complexity-including and especially as again demonstrated through
a personal appearance of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.
How
grateful we are for all the scriptures, especially the scriptures of the
Restoration, that teach us the majesty of each member of the Godhead. How we
would thrill, for example, if all the world would receive and embrace the view
of the Father so movingly described in the Pearl of Great Price.
There, in
the midst of a grand vision of humankind which heaven opened to his view,
Enoch, observing both the blessings and challenges of mortality, turns his gaze
toward the Father and is stunned to see Him weeping. He says in wonder and
amazement to this most powerful Being in the universe: "How is it that
thou canst weep? . . . Thou art just [and] merciful and kind forever; . . .
Peace . . . is the habitation of thy throne; and mercy shall go before thy face
and have no end; how is it thou canst weep?"
Looking
out on the events of almost any day, God replies: "Behold these thy
brethren; they are the workmanship of mine own hands. . . . I gave unto them .
. . [a] commandment, that they should love one another, and that they should
choose me, their Father; but behold, they are without affection, and they hate
their own blood. . . . Wherefore should not the heavens weep, seeing these
shall suffer?" (Moses 7:29-33, 37)
That
single, riveting scene does more to teach the true nature of God than any
theological treatise could ever convey. It also helps us understand much more
emphatically that vivid moment in the Book of Mormon allegory of the olive
tree, when after digging and dunging, watering and weeding, trimming, pruning,
transplanting, and grafting, the great Lord of the vineyard throws down his
spade and his pruning shears and weeps, crying out to any who would listen,
"What could I have done more for my vineyard?" (Jacob 5:41; see also
vv. 47, 49)
What an
indelible image of God's engagement in our lives! What anguish in a parent when
His children do not choose Him nor "the gospel of God" He sent!
(Romans 1:1) How easy to love someone who so singularly loves us!
Of course
the centuries-long drift away from belief in such a perfect and caring Father
hasn't been helped any by the man-made creeds of erring generations which
describe God variously as unknown and unknowable----formless, passionless,
elusive, ethereal, simultaneously everywhere and nowhere at all. Certainly that
does not describe the Being we behold through the eyes of these prophets. Nor
does it match the living, breathing, embodied Jesus of Nazareth who was and is
in "the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his
[Father]" (Hebrews 1:3; see also 2 Corinthians 4:4; Colossians 1:15).
In that
sense Jesus did not come to improve God's view of man nearly so much as He came
to improve man's view of God and to plead with them to love their Heavenly
Father as He has always and will always love them. The plan of God, the power
of God, the holiness of God, yes, even the anger and the judgment of God they
had occasion to understand. But the love of God, the profound depth of His
devotion to His children, they still did not fully know-until Christ came.
So feeding
the hungry, healing the sick, rebuking hypocrisy, pleading for faith-this was
Christ showing us the way of the Father, He who is "merciful and gracious,
slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness" (Lectures on Faith,
42). In His life and especially in His death, Christ was declaring, "This
is God's compassion I am showing you, as well as that of my own."
In the perfect Son's manifestation of the perfect Father's care, in Their
mutual suffering and shared sorrow for the sins and heartaches of the rest of
us, we see ultimate meaning in the declaration: "For God so loved the
world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him
should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the
world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved"
(John 3:16-17).
I bear
personal witness this day of a personal, living God, who knows our names, hears
and answers prayers, and cherishes us eternally as children of His spirit. I
testify that amidst the wondrously complex tasks inherent in the universe, He
seeks our individual happiness and safety above all other godly concerns. We
are created in His very image and likeness (see Genesis 1:26-27; Moses
2:26-27), and Jesus of Nazareth, His Only Begotten Son in the flesh, came to
earth as the perfect mortal manifestation of His grandeur. In addition to the
witness of the ancients we also have the modern miracle of
I bear
witness of a God who has such shoulders. And in the spirit of the holy apostleship,
I say as did one who held this office anciently: "Herein [then] is love,
not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son to be the
propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love
one another"(1 John 4:10)-and to love Him forever, I pray. In the sacred
name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Christ shows us the way to the Father, we
worship the Father just like Christ does.
Heavenly Father
_________________________________ ___________________________
Man
The
Atonement is like a door opening up so we can get back to the Father. I have to do my part to go through the open
door!
We
are supposed to get close to the Father!
I’m not sure what it means to get close to Christ.
Our Relationship With The Lord
Elder
Bruce R. McConkie
(BYU Devotional--Mar 2, 1982)
I shall
speak about our relationship with the Lord and of the true fellowship all
saints should have with the Father. I shall set forth what we must believe
relative to the Father and the Son in order to gain eternal life.
I shall
expound the doctrine of the Church relative to what our relationship should be
to all members of the Godhead, and do so in plainness and simplicity so that
none need mis-understand or be led astray by other voices.
I shall
express the view of the Brethren, of the prophets and apostles of old, and of
all those who understand the scriptures and are in tune with the Holy Spirit.
These
matters lie at the very foundation of revealed religion. In presenting them I
am on my own ground and am at home with my subject. I shall not stoop to petty
wranglings about semantics, but shall stay with matters of substance. I shall
simply go back to basics and set forth fundamental doctrines of the kingdom,
knowing that everyone who is sound spiritually and who has the guidance of the
Holy Spirit will believe my words and follow my counsel.
Please do
not put too much stock in some of the current views and vagaries that are
afloat, but rather, turn to the revealed word, get a sound understanding of the
doctrines, and keep yourselves in the mainstream of the Church.
Now, it is
no secret that many false and vain and foolish things are being taught in the
sectarian world and even among us about our need to gain a special relationship
with the Lord Jesus. I shall summarize the true doctrine in this field and
invite erring teachers and beguiled students to repent and believe the accepted
gospel verities as I shall set them forth.
There is
no salvation in believing any false doctrine, particularly a false or unwise
view about the Godhead or any of its members. Eternal Life is reserved for
those who know God and the one whom he sent to work out the infinite and
eternal atonement.
True and
saving worship is found only among those who know the truth about God and the
Godhead and who understand the true relationship men should have with each
member of that Eternal Presidency.
It follows
that the devil would rather spread false doctrine about God and the Godhead,
and induce false feelings with reference to any one of them that almost any
other thing he could do. The creeds of Christendom illustrate perfectly what
Lucifer wants so- called Christian people to believe about deity, in order to
be damned.
These
creeds codify what Jeremiah calls the lies about God. They say he is unknown,
uncreated, and incomprehensible. They say he is a spirit without body, parts or
passions. They say he is everywhere and nowhere in particular present. That he
fills the immensity of space and yet dwells in the hearts of men, and that he
is an immaterial, incorporeal nothingness. They say he is one-God- in-three and
three-Gods-in-one who neither hears, nor sees, nor speaks. Some even say he is
dead, which he might as well be if their descriptions identify his being.
These
concepts summarize the chief and greatest heresy of Christendom. Truly the most
grievous and evil heresy ever imposed on an erring and wayward Christianity is
their creedal concept about God and the Godhead! But none of this troubles us
very much. God has revealed himself to us in this day even as he did to the
prophets of old.
We know
thereby, that he a personal being in whose image man was made. We know that he
has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's. That he is a resurrected,
glorified, and perfected being; and that he lives in the family unit. We know
that we are his spirit children; that he endowed us with the divine gift of
agency; and that he ordained the laws whereby we might advance and progress and
become like him.
We know
that God is the only supreme and independent being in whom all fullness and
perfection dwell and that he is omnipotent, omniscient, and by the power of his
spirit, omnipresent.
We know
"the Almighty God gave his Only Begotten Son" (D&C 20:21), as the
scriptures attest, to ransom man from the temporal and spiritual death brought
into the world by the fall of Adam, and to put into operation all of the terms
and conditions of the Father's plan.
We know
that the Holy Ghost, as a personage of Spirit, is both a revelator and a
sanctifier and that his chief mission is to bear record of the Father and of
the Son.
Thus there
are, in the eternal Godhead, three persons--God the first, the Creator; God the
second, the Redeemer; and God the third, the Testator. These three are one--one
God if you will--in purposes, in powers, and in perfections. But each has his
own separable work to perform, and mankind has a defined and known and specific
relationship to each one of them. It is of these relationships we shall now
speak.
Let us set forth those doctrines and concepts
that a gracious God has given to us in this day and which must be understood in
order to gain eternal life. They are:
1. We
worship the Father and him only and no one else.
We do not
worship the Son and we do not worship the Holy Ghost. I know perfectly well
what the scriptures say about worshipping Christ and Jehovah, but they are
speaking in an entirely different sense--the sense of standing in awe and being
reverentially grateful to Him who has redeemed us. Worship in the true and
saving sense is reserved for God the first, the Creator.
Our
revelations say that the Father "is infinite and eternal," that he
created mankind, "and gave unto them commandments that they should love
and serve him, the only living and true God, and that he should be the only
being whom they should worship." (D&C 20:17-19)
Jesus said
"True worshippers shall"--note that this is mandatory--"shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to
worship him. For unto such hath God promised his spirit. And they who worship
him in spirit and in truth." (JST, John 4:25-26) There is no other way, no
other approved system of worship.
2. We love
and serve both the Father and the Son.
In the
full, final, and ultimate sense of the word the define decree is: "Thou
shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and
strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him." (D&C
59:5) And Jesus also said, "If ye love me keep my commandments."
(John 14:15)
These,
then, are the commandments of commandments. They tie the Father and the Son
together, as one, so that both receive our love and service.
3. Christ
himself loves, serves, and worships the Father.
Though
Christ is God, yet there is a Deity above him, a Deity whom he worships. That
God is the Father. To Mary Magdalene, the first mortal to see a resurrected
person, Jesus said, "I ascend unto my Father, and your Father; and to my
God, and your God." (John 20:17)
All of us,
Christ included, are the spirit children of the Father; all of us, Christ
included, seek to become like the Father. In this sense, the Firstborn, our
elder brother, goes forward as we do.
4. The
plan of salvation is the gospel of the Father.
The plan
of salvation originated with the Father; he is the author and finisher of our
faith in the final sense; he ordained the laws by obedience to which both we
and Christ become like him.
The Father
did not ask for volunteers to propose a plan whereby man might be saved.
What he did was to ask whom he should send to be the redeemer in the plan he
devised. Christ and Lucifer both volunteered and the Lord chose his Firstborn
and rejected the amendatory offer of the Son of the Morning.
Thus Paul
speaks of "the gospel of God... concerning his Son Jesus Christ, our Lord,
which was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh." (Rom 1:1-3)
It is the Father's gospel, it became the gospel of the Son by adoption, and we
call it after Christ's name because his atoning sacrifice put all of its terms
and conditions into operation.
5. Christ
worked out his own salvation by worshiping the Father.
After the
Firstborn of the Father, while yet a spirit being, had gained power and
intelligence that made him like unto God; after he had become, under the
Father, the Creator of worlds without number; after he had reigned on the
throne of eternal power as the Lord Omnipotent-- after all this he yet had to
gain a mortal and then an immortal body.
After the
Son of God "made flesh" his "tabernacle," and while he yet
"dwelt among the sons of men"; after he left his preexistent glory as
we all do at birth; after he was born of Mary in Bethlehem of Judea--after all
this he was called upon to work out his own salvation.
Of our
Lord's life while in this mortal probation the scripture says, "He
received not of the fullness at the first, but received grace for grace; and he
received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until
he received a fullness." Finally, after his resurrection, "he
received a fullness of the glory of the Father; and he received all power both
in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt
in him." (D&C 93:12-17)
Note it
please, the Lord Jesus worked out his own salvation while in this mortal
probation by going from grace to grace, until having overcome the world and
being raised in immortal glory, he became like the Father in the full,
complete, and eternal sense.
6. All men
must worship the Father in the same way Christ did in order to gain salvation.
Thus saith
the Lord: "I give unto you these sayings"-- those we have just quoted
which tell how Christ gained his salvation by worshipping the Father--"I
give unto you these sayings," saith the Lord, "that you may
understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship,
that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due course receive of his
fullness."
What a
wondrous concept this is. We too can become like the Father "For if you
keep my commandments," the Lord continues, "you shall receive of his
fullness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore I say unto
you, you shall receive grace for grace." (D&C 93:19-20)
7. The
Father sent the Son to work out the infinite and eternal atonement.
As
temporal and spiritual death came by the fall of Adam, so immortality and
eternal life come by the atonement of Christ. Such was and is and ever shall be
the plan of the Father. Adam was sent to earth to fall and Christ came to
ransom men from the fall.
Thus the
Father sent this call forth in the councils of eternity: 'Whom shall I send to
be my Son, to ransom men from temporal and spiritual death, to bring to pass
the immortality and eternal life of man, to put into full operation all of the
terms and conditions of my eternal plan of redemption and salvation?'
Christ is
the Redeemer of men and the Savior of the world because his Father sent him and
gave him power to do the assigned work. He said he had power to lay down his
life and to take it again because he had been so commanded by the Father. Lehi
says he rose from the dead "by the power of the Spirit." (2 Ne. 2:8)
The great
and eternal redemption, in all its phases, was wrought by Christ using the
power of the Father.
8. The Son
came to do the will of the Father in all things.
Jesus
said: "I came down from heaven, not to do mine own will, but the will of
him that sent me." Also I came into the world to do the will of my Father
because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon
the cross." (3 Ne. 27:13-14)
And Paul
said of him: He "made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form
of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men: And being found in fashion
as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of
the cross." (Philip. 2:7-8)
How better
could his relationship that he and his Father have be stated?
9. God,
through Christ, is reconciling men to himself.
Fallen man
is carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature; he is spiritually dead; he is out
of harmony with the Father.
Thus, as
Paul says, "All things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by
Jesus Christ, and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation; To wit, that
God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself." We have "the
word of reconciliation." which is the gospel, and our preaching is:
"Be ye reconciled to God," that is, to the Father. (2Cor. 5:18-20)
10. Christ
is the Mediator between God and man.
Because
all men must be reconciled to God in order to be saved, he, in his goodness and
grace, has provided a Mediator for them.
Paul tells
us: "There is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the man
Christ Jesus: Who gave himself a ransom for all." (1 Tim. 2:5-6) To this
we add: If there were no mediator we could never be reconciled to the Father
and hence there would be no salvation.
11. Christ
is our Intercessor with the Father, our Advocate in the courts above.
In the
process of mediating between us and our Maker, in the process of reconciling
sin-ridden men with a sin-free God, Christ makes intercession for all who
repent. He advocates the cause of those who believe in him. "Father,"
he pleads, "spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may
come unto me and have everlasting life." (D&C 45:5)
12. Our
eternal fellowship is with the Father and the Son.
John says:
"Our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ."
If we keep the commandments, "We have fellowship" with the
Father--which is the object and end of our existence. And in the very nature of
things we also have eternal fellowship with Christ, because he walked in the
light and became and is one with the Father. (1 John 1:3-7)
13. God
was in Christ manifesting himself to the world.
The Son,
Paul tells us, is in "the express image of his (Father's) person."
(Heb 1:3) "I and my Father are one," Jesus said. (John 10:30) Thus in
his appearance, in his person, and in his attributes, the Son is the image and
likeness of the Father. "He that hath seen me hath seen the Father, Jesus
said, the four gospels are a treasure house of knowledge because they set forth
what the son is like, and he is like his Father.
14. Christ
is the revealer of the Father.
God is and
can be known only by revelation; he stands revealed or he remains forever
unknown. Jesus said: "No man knoweth...who the Father is, but his Son, and
he to whom the Son will reveal him." (Luke 10:22)
15. Christ
is the way to the Father.
"I am
the way," he said. "No man cometh unto the Father, but by me."
(John 14:6)
Who can
doubt that Christ's mission is to reveal the Father, to lead men to the Father,
to teach them how to worship the Father, to reconcile them to the Father.
16. Christ
proclaims the gospel of the Father.
In the
ultimate sense the world of salvation comes from the Father. "God, who at
sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the
prophets," Paul says, "Hath in these last days spoken unto us by his
Son." (Heb. 1:1)
The Father
sent the prophets; they represented him; and they spoke his word. When Jesus
quoted the Old Testament prophets to the Nephites, he attributed their words to
the Father.
Through
the revelations came from the Son, yet in the ultimate sense the truths taught
were those of the Father. We are also aware of many instances in which Jesus,
acting by divine investiture of authority, speaks in the first person as though
he were the Father.
Thus Jesus
said: "My doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do
his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I
speak of myself." (John 7:16-17)
17. Christ
glorifies the Father and so must we.
"Glorify
thy Son." Jesus prayed to the Father, "that thy Son also may glorify
thee...I have glorified thee on the earth: I have finished the work which thou
gavest me to do." (John 17:1,4)
As Christ
our Pattern, by obedience and by doing his appointed labors, glorified the
Father, so must we. Acting in his Father's name, Jesus ascribed the honor and
glory in all things to the Father. The very pattern of prayer that he gave us
directs that we go and do likewise.
Now, we
might continue on and add to this list, all of which would bear the same
witness and accord with what we have said. Let us instead, based on these
present concepts, discuss the problem at hand and draw some conclusions.
What is
and should be our relationship to the member of the Godhead?
First, be
it remembered, that most scriptures that speak of God or of the Lord do not
even bother to distinguish between the Father and the Son, simply because it
doesn't make any difference which God is involved. They are one. The words or
deeds of either of them would be the words and deeds of the other in the same
circumstance.
Further,
if a revelation comes from, or by the power of the Holy Ghost, ordinarily the
words will be those of the Son, though what the Son says will be what the
Father would say, and the words may thus be considered as the Father's.
And thus
any feelings of love, praise, awe, or worship that may fill our hearts when we
receive the divine word will be the same no matter who is thought or known to
be the author of them.
And yet we
do have a proper relationship to each member of the Godhead, in part at least
because they are separate and severable functions which each performs, and also
because of what they as one Godhead have done for us.
Our relationship with the Father is supreme,
paramount, and pre-eminent over all others. He is the God we worship. It is his
gospel that saves and exalts. He ordained and established the plan of
salvation. He is the one who was once as we are now. The life he lives is
eternal life, and if we are to gain this greatest of all the gifts of God, it
will be because we become like him.
Our relationship with the Father is one of
parent and child. He is the one who gave us our agency. It was his plan that
provided for a fall and an atonement. And it is to him that we must be
reconciled if we are to gain salvation. He is the one to whom we have direct
access by prayer, and if there were some need--which there is not!--to single
out one member of the Godhead for a special relationship, the Father, not the
Son, would be the one to choose.
Our relationship with the Son is one of
brother or sister in the pre-mortal life and one of being led to the Father by
him while in this mortal sphere. He is the Lord Jehovah who championed our
cause before the foundations of the earth were laid. He is the God of
By faith we are adopted into his family and
become his children. We take upon ourselves his name, keep his commandments,
and rejoice in the cleansing power of his blood. Salvation comes by him. From
creations dawn, as long as eternity endures, there neither has been nor will be
any act of such transcendent power and import as his atoning sacrifice.
We do not have a fraction of the power we
need to properly praise his holy name and ascribe unto him the honor and power
and might and glory and dominion that is his. He is our Lord, our God, and our
King.
Our relationship with the Holy Spirit is
quite another thing. This holy personage is a revelator and a sanctifier. He
bears record of the Father and the Son. He dispenses spiritual gifts to the
faithful. Those of us who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost have the
right to his constant companionship.
And again, if it were proper--and I repeat,
it is not!--to single out one member of the Godhead for some special attention,
we might well conclude that member should be the Holy Ghost. We might well
adopt as a slogan: Seek the Spirit. The reason of course is that the
sanctifying power of the Spirit would assure us of reconciliation with the
Father. And any person who enjoys the constant companionship of the Holy Spirit
will be in complete harmony with the divine will in all things.
Heresies
Now, in
spite of all these truths, which ought to be obvious to every spiritually
enlightened person, heresies rear their ugly heads among us from time to time.
There are
those deluded cultists, and others who, unless they repent, are on the road to
becoming cultists, who choose to believe we should worship Adam. These have or
should find their way out of the Church.
There are
others--in the main they are intellectuals without strong testimonies--who
postulate that God does not know all things but is progressing in truth and knowledge
and will do so everlastingly. These, unless they repent, will live and die weak
in the faith and will fall short of inheriting what might have been theirs in
eternity.
There are
yet others who have an excessive zeal which causes them to go beyond the mark.
Their desire for excellence is inordinate. In an effort to be truer than true
they devote themselves to gaining a special, personal relationship with Christ
that is both improper and perilous.
I say
perilous because this course, particularly in the lives of some who are
spiritually immature, is a gospel hobby which creates an unwholesome
holier-than-thou attitude. In other instances it leads to despondency because
the seeker after perfection knows he is not living the way he supposed he
should.
Another
peril is that those so involved often begin to pray directly to Christ because
of some special friendship they feel has been developed. In this connection a
current and unwise book, which advocates gaining a special relationship with
Jesus, contains this sentence--quote: "Because the Savior is our mediator,
our prayers go through Christ to the Father, and the Father answers our prayers
through his Son." Unquote. This is plain, sectarian non-sense. Our prayers
are addressed to the Father and to him only. They do not go through Christ or
the Blessed Virgin or
And I
rather suppose that He who sitteth upon the throne will chose his own ways to
answer his children, and that they are numerous. Perfect prayer is addressed to
the Father, in the name of the Son; it is uttered by the power of the Holy
Ghost; and it is answered in whatever way seems proper by Him whose ear is
attuned to the needs of his children.
Now I know
that some may be offended at the counsel that they should not strive for a
special and personal relationship with Christ. It will seem to them as though I
am speaking out against mother love, or Americanism, or the little red school
house. But I am not. There is a fine line here over which true worshippers will
not step.
It is true
that there may, with propriety, be a special relationship with a wife, with
children, with friends, with teachers, with the beasts of the field and the
fowls of the sky and the lilies of the valley. But the very moment anyone
singles out one member of the Godhead as the almost sole recipient of his
devotion, to the exclusion of the others, that is the moment when spiritual
instability begins to replace sense and reason.
Stay in
the Mainstream of the Church
The proper
course for all of us is to stay in the mainstream of the Church. This is the
Lord's Church, and it is led by the spirit of inspiration, and the practice of
the Church constitutes the interpretation of the scripture.
And you
have never heard one of the First Presidency or the Twelve, who hold the keys
of the kingdom, and who are appointed to see that we are not "tossed to
and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine" (Eph 4:14), you
have never heard one of them advocate this excessive zeal that calls for
gaining a so-called special and personal relationship with the Lord.
You have
heard them teach and testify of the ministry and mission of the Lord Jesus,
using the most persuasive and powerful language at their command. But never,
never at any time have they taught or endorsed the inordinate and intemperate
zeal that encourages endless, sometimes day-long prayers, in order to gain a
personal relationship with the Savior.
Those who
truly love the Lord and who worship the Father in the name of the Son by the
power of the Spirit, according to the approved patterns, maintain a reverential
barrier between themselves and all the members of the Godhead.
I am well
aware that some who have prayed for endless hours feel they have a special and
personal relationship with Christ that they never had before. I wonder if this
is any or much different, however, from the feelings of fanatical sectarians
who with glassy eyes and fiery tongues assure us they have been saved by grace
and are assured of a place with the Lord in a heavenly abode, when in fact they
have never even received the fullness of the gospel.
I wonder
if it is not part of Lucifer's system to make people feel they are special
friends of Jesus when in fact they are not following the normal and usual
pattern of worship found in the true Church.
Let me
remind you to stay in the course charted by the Church. It is the Lord's Church,
and he will not permit it to be led astray. If we take the counsel that comes
from the prophets and seers we will pursue the course that is pleasing to the
Lord.
Would it
be amiss if I reminded you that Jesus maintained a reserve between him and his
disciples and that he did not allow them the same intimacy with him that they
had with each other. This was particularly true after his resurrection.
For
instance, when Mary Magdalene, in a great outpouring of love and devotion,
sought to embrace the Risen Lord, her hands were stayed. "Touch me
not," he said. Between her and him, no matter the degree of their love,
there was a line over which she could not pass.
And yet,
almost immediately thereafter, a whole group of faithful women held that same
Lord by the feet, and we cannot doubt bathed his wounded feet with their tears.
It is a
fine and sacred line, but clearly there is a difference between a personal and
intimate relationship with the Lord, which is improper, and one of worshipful
adoration, which yet maintains the required reserve between us and Him who has
bought us with his blood.
Now I sincerely hope that no one will imagine
that I have in the slightest degree downgraded the Lord Jesus in the scheme of
things. I have not done so. As far as I know there is not a man on earth who
thinks more highly of him than I do. It just may be that I have preached more
sermons, taught more doctrine, and written more words about the Lord Jesus
Christ than any man now living. I have ten large volumes in print, seven of
which deal almost entirely with Christ, and the other three with him and his
doctrines.
I do not
suppose that what I have here said will be an end to controversy or to the
spread of false views and doctrines. The devil is not dead and he delights in
controversy. But you have been warned, and you have heard the true doctrine
taught. Those who need to study the matter further would do well to get and
study a copy of what I have said when it is published by the
Let us
then end on the note of testimony and of prayer. I bear record of the divine
Sonship of Him of whom we have this day spoken. He is or should be our best
friend through whom we can be reconciled to God.
And I pray
that the true doctrine of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Ghost,
which as the Book of Mormon says is one God, may be found in the hearts and
souls of all of us.
In the
name of the Lord Jesus Christ, Amen.
Satan’s
problem was that he wanted to take the Father’s place not become one with him, like
Christ did.
We
do not worship Jesus Christ but we stand in humble reverence and awe of his
role on behalf of us. We discussed the
term “Elder Brother” in reference to Jesus, the Brethren use this term. Christ has a role in representing the Father
by assignment from the Father, 3 Nephi is an example of this. The poetic version of D&C 76, Joseph
refers to Lucifer in his Godified state before his expulsion from heaven,
(verse 21)
(Abraham
3:22-24.) – We are the noble and great working with Christ, we don’t feel that
way now but it’s true.
22 Now the
Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before
the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;
23 And God
saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he
said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits,
and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of
them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.
24 And there
stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were
with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these
materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;
Personality of Each
Member of the Godhead—From
the evidence already presented, it is clear that the Father is a personal
being, possessing a definite form, with bodily parts and spiritual passions.
Jesus Christ, who was with the Father fn in spirit before coming to dwell in
the flesh, and through whom the worlds were made, fn lived among men as a man,
with all the physical characteristics of a human being; after His resurrection
He appeared in the same form; fn in that form He ascended into heaven; fn and
in that form He has manifested Himself to the Nephites, and to modern prophets.
We are assured that Christ was in the express image of His Father, fn after
which image man also has been created. fn Therefore we know that both the
Father and the Son are in form and stature perfect men; each of them possesses
a tangible body, infinitely pure and perfect and attended by transcendent
glory, nevertheless a body of flesh and bones. fn
The Holy Ghost, called
also Spirit, and Spirit of the Lord, fn Spirit of God, fn Comforter, fn and
Spirit of Truth, fn is not tabernacled in a body of flesh and bones, but is a
personage of spirit; fn yet we know that the Spirit has manifested Himself in
the form of a man. fn Through the ministrations of the Spirit the Father and
the Son may operate in their dealings with mankind; fn through Him knowledge is
communicated, fn and by Him the purposes of the Godhead are achieved. fn The
Holy Ghost is the witness of the Father and the Son, fn declaring to man their
attributes, bearing record of the other personages of the Godhead. fn
Some of the Divine
Attributes—God is Omnipresent—There is no part of
creation, however remote, into which God cannot penetrate; through the medium
of the Spirit the Godhead is in direct communication with all things at all
times. It has been said, therefore, that God is everywhere present; but this
does not mean that the actual person of any one member of the Godhead can be
physically present in more than one place at one time. The senses of each of
the Trinity are of infinite power; His mind is of unlimited capacity; His
powers of transferring Himself from place to place are infinite; plainly,
however, His person cannot be in more than one place at any one time. Admitting
the personality of God, we are compelled to accept the fact of His materiality;
indeed, an "immaterial being," under which meaningless name some have
sought to designate the condition of God, cannot exist, for the very expression
is a contradiction in terms. If God possesses a form, that form is of necessity
of definite proportions and therefore of limited extension in space. It is
impossible for Him to occupy at one time more than one space of such limits;
and it is not surprising, therefore, to learn from the scriptures that He moves
from place to place. Thus we read in connection with the account of the Tower
of Babel, "And the Lord [i. e., Jehovah, the Son] came down to see the
city and the tower." fn Again, God appeared to Abraham, and having
declared Himself to be "the Almighty God," He talked with the
patriarch, and established a covenant with him; then we read "And he left
off talking with him, and God went up from Abraham." fn
God is Omniscient—By Him matter has been
organized and energy directed. He is therefore the Creator of all things that
are created; and "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of
the world." fn His power and His wisdom are alike incomprehensible to man,
for they are infinite. Being Himself eternal and perfect, His knowledge cannot
be otherwise than infinite. To comprehend Himself, an infinite Being, He must
possess an infinite mind. Through the agency of angels and ministering servants
He is in continuous communication with all parts of creation, and may
personally visit as He may determine.
God is Omnipotent—He is properly called
the Almighty. Man can discern proofs of the divine omnipotence on every side,
in the forces that control the elements of earth and guide the orbs of heaven
in their prescribed courses. Whatever His wisdom indicates as necessary to be
done God can and will do. The means through which He operates may not be of
infinite capacity in themselves, but they are directed by an infinite power. A
rational conception of His omnipotence is power to do all that He may will to
do.
God is kind, benevolent, and loving—tender, considerate,
and long-suffering, bearing patiently with the frailties of His children. He is
just and merciful in judgment, fn yet combining with these gentler qualities
firmness in avenging wrongs. fn He is jealous fn of His own power and the reverence
paid to Him; that is to say, He is zealous for the principles of truth and
purity, which are nowhere exemplified in a higher degree than in His personal
attributes. This Being is the author of our existence, Him we are permitted to
approach as Father. fn Our faith will increase in Him as we learn of Him.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
37.)
Perfect
= Complete, it doesn’t mean sinlessness, (we aren’t resurrected yet either!) There is perfection or completion in the
lower kingdoms, lower perfections, but they don’t receive the fulness of what
Heavenly Father has.
Study
the King Follett discourse, God went through what we are going through, He
completely understands, more then we know.
Heavenly
Father has already prepared for our recovery when we sin, way before we
sin! The question for us is this: Do we trust Him? Do we have a correct idea of Him? God will act in our behalf on His own
timetable. The power comes when and how
He sees fit for our benefit. This gift
goes on beyond mortality.
The
Mystery of Godliness
We
have set forth the true doctrine relative to those Gods whose witnesses and
servants we are. It is the same doctrine that those holy beings have always
revealed to their servants the prophets, and it has come anew to us in these
last days by the opening of the heavens. The scriptures, both ancient and
modern, contain as much about the members of the Eternal Godhead as the members
of that Holy Presidency, in their infinite wisdom, feel that we as mortals
should have before us in our present state of spiritual progression. But in the
final and ultimate sense they are known only by personal revelation, revelation
that comes to those separate individuals who attune their souls to the Infinite.
To the faithful, the Holy Ghost bears witness of the Father and the Son. Then
those who receive this divine witness have power, through faith and
righteousness, to progress in spiritual things until the heavens are rent and
they see and know for themselves.
Those
desiring to know the only true God and Jesus Christ, whom he sent into the
world, must of necessity turn for help and guidance to others who have already
gained that knowledge. Truth seekers must heed the voices of the legal
administrators sent to teach the truth in their day, and they must search the
scriptures and ponder the inspired writings of the apostles and prophets of all
ages. The light and truth they receive from the spoken word and from the
written record will depend on their own spiritual status. Each pronouncement in
the holy scriptures, for instance, is so written as to reveal little or much,
depending on the spiritual capacity of the student. To a carnal person, a
passage of scripture may mean nothing; to an honest though uninformed truth
seeker, it may shed forth only a few rays of heavenly light; but to one who has
the mind of Christ, the same passage may blaze forth an effulgence of celestial
light. That which is a mystery to one is plain and simple to another. The
things of the Spirit can be understood only by the power of the Spirit.
Using
the holy scriptures as the recorded source of the knowledge of God, knowing
what the Lord has revealed to them of old in visions and by the power of the
Spirit, and writing as guided by that same Spirit, Joseph Smith and the early
brethren of this dispensation prepared a creedal statement on the Godhead. It
is without question the most excellent summary of revealed and eternal truth
relative to the Godhead that is now extant in mortal language. In it is set
forth the mystery of Godliness; that is, it sets forth the personalities,
missions, and ministries of those holy beings who comprise the supreme
presidency of the universe. To spiritually illiterate persons, it may seem hard
and confusing; to those whose souls are aflame with heavenly light, it is a
nearly perfect summary of those things which must be believed to gain
salvation.
"There
are two personages [of tabernacle] who constitute the great, matchless,
governing, and supreme power over all things, by whom all things were created
and made, that are created and made, whether visible or invisible; whether in
heaven, on earth, or in the earth; under the earth, or throughout the immensity
of space." (Lectures on Faith 5:2.)
These
two, standing alone, are not the Godhead. But they are God the first and God
the second. They are personages, individuals, persons, holy men. They created
and they have power over all things. Their power is supreme and their wisdom
infinite; there is no power they do not possess, no truth they do not know.
From eternity to eternity they are the same; they are omnipotent, omniscient,
and omnipresent.
"They
are the Father and the Son-the Father being a personage of spirit, glory, and
power, possessing all perfection and fullness, the Son, who was in the bosom of
the Father, a personage of tabernacle." (Lectures on Faith 5:2.)
They
are the two personages who came to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820 in a
grove of trees in western
"The
Son, who was in the bosom of the Father, a personage of tabernacle, made or
fashioned like unto man, or being in the form and likeness of man, or rather
man was formed after his likeness and in his image; he is also the express
image and likeness of the personage of the Father, possessing all the fullness
of the Father, or the same fullness with the Father." (Lectures on Faith
5:2.)
Christ
as the Firstborn, the firstborn spirit child of the Father, was in the bosom of
the Father before the world was. Though he was then "in the form of
God" and was "equal with God," as Paul expresses it-equal in
knowledge and truth and all of the attributes of godliness-yet he "made
himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made
in the likeness of men." Thus he was "found in fashion as a
man." (Philippians 2:6-8.) After the days of his flesh and when he had
been raised from mortality to immortality by the power of the Father, he was
able to say: "All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth."
(Matthew 28:18.) Thus, the Son, as Paul tells us, now possesses "the
brightness of his [Father's] glory, and the express image of his person."
(Hebrews 1:3.) From all of this it follows that the Son possesses the same
fulness with the Father, that is, the same glory, the same power, the same
perfection, the same holiness, the same eternal life.
"The
Son, . . . being begotten of him, and ordained from before the foundation of
the world to be a propitiation for the sins of all those who should believe on
his name, . . . is called the Son because of the flesh, and descended in
suffering below that which man can suffer; or, in other words, suffered greater
sufferings, and was exposed to more powerful contradictions than any man can
be." (Lectures on Faith 5:2.)
As
with all men, Christ was a spirit son in preexistence. In that premortal sphere
he was chosen and ordained to be the Redeemer and Savior and to make a
propitiation for the sins of all who believe and obey. But he is the Son
because he alone was begotten in the flesh, in mortality, in this probationary
sphere, where, as a man, he would "suffer temptations, and pain of body,
hunger, thirst, and fatigue, even more than man can suffer, except it be unto
death." (Mosiah 3:7.) The greatest suffering ever endured by man or God
was in
"But,
notwithstanding all this, he kept the law of God, and remained without sin,
showing thereby that it is in the power of man to keep the law and remain also
without sin; and also, that by him a righteous judgment might come upon all
flesh, and that all who walk not in the law of God may justly be condemned by
the law, and have no excuse for their sins." (Lectures on Faith 5:2.)
Jesus
was and is the Sinless One; he kept the whole law of the whole gospel. His
every thought and word and deed conformed to a divine and perfect standard.
Before his birth, during mortality, and now in exalted immortality, he was and
is the Holy One. Because he was sinless and perfect, he is both our Exemplar
and our Judge. Being himself perfect-without taint of sin and under no personal
condemnation-he can sit in judgment upon all others without having his
judgments colored by any untoward thought, word, or deed. Thus, speaking of
himself as both our Exemplar and our Judge, he said to the Nephite Twelve:
"Ye shall be judges of this people, according to the judgment which I
shall give unto you, which shall be just. Therefore, what manner of men ought
ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am." (3 Nephi 27:27.)
"And
he being the Only Begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth, and having
overcome, received a fullness of the glory of the Father, possessing the same
mind with the Father, which mind is the Holy Spirit, that bears record of the
Father and the Son." (Lectures on Faith 5:2.)
The
mortal Jesus, as a man among men, had both a father and a mother. God was his
Father, and Mary was his mother. He was begotten by a Holy Man, by that God
whose name is Man of Holiness; and he was conceived in the womb of a mortal
woman. Mary, a virgin of
"And
these three are one, or, in other words, these three constitute the great,
matchless, governing and supreme power over all things; by whom all things were
created and made that were created and made." (Lectures on Faith
5:2.)
In
what way are the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost one God? Though three
persons are involved, they are one supreme presidency, one in creating all
things, one in governing the universe with almighty power.
"And
these three constitute the Godhead, and are one; the Father and the Son
possessing the same mind, the same wisdom, glory, power and fullness-filling
all in all, the Son being filled with the fullness of the mind, glory, and
power; or, in other words, the spirit, glory, and power, of the Father,
possessing all knowledge and glory, and the same kingdom, sitting at the right
hand of power, in the express image and likeness of the Father, mediator for
man, being filled with the fullness of the mind of the Father; or, in other
words, the Spirit of the Father, which Spirit is shed forth upon all who
believe on his name and keep his commandments." (Lectures on Faith
5:2.)
One
Godhead! Three persons possessing the same mind, power, and glory! Three
individuals actuated by the same spirit, knowing all things, and working
together in perfect unity! God the Creator united in all things with God the
Redeemer, who mediates between the Great Creator and his fallen creatures!
And-wonder of wonders-the same spirit which unites the Gods of heaven is shed
forth on the righteous, that they may be one as the Gods themselves are one.
"And
all those who keep his commandments shall grow up from grace to grace, and
become heirs of the heavenly kingdom, and joint heirs with Jesus
Christ,-possessing the same mind, being transformed into the same image or
likeness, even the express image of him who fills all in all; being filled with
the fullness of his glory, and become one in him, even as the Father, Son, and
Holy Spirit are one." (Lectures on Faith 5:2.)
Thus
is set forth in the creedal document the doctrine-later to be endorsed and
expounded in even plainer language-that as God now is, man may become.
"From
the foregoing account of the Godhead, which is given in his revelations, the
saints have a sure foundation laid for the exercise of faith unto life and
salvation, through the atonement and mediation of Jesus Christ; by whose blood
they have a forgiveness of sins, and also a sure reward laid up for them in
heaven, even that of partaking of the fullness of the Father and the Son
through the spirit. As the Son partakes of the fullness of the Father through
the Spirit, so the saints are, by the same Spirit, to be partakers of the same
fullness, to enjoy the same glory; for as the Father and the Son are one, so,
in like manner, the saints are to be one in them. Through the love of the
Father, the mediation of Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Spirit, they
are to be heirs of God, and joint heirs with Jesus Christ." (Lectures on
Faith 5:3.)
Such
is the course whereby the saints gain eternal life, the greatest of all the
gifts of God. And how could Deity give anything greater to any man than the
glory, power, and dominion that he himself possesses? The name of the kind of
life he lives is eternal life, and all those who know him in the full and
complete sense shall have eternal life.
"Behold, the mystery of godliness, how great is it!"
(D&C 19:10.)
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.71-77
Article of Faith #2
Transgression and the Fall
February 1, 2007
ARTICLE 2—We believe
that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression.
The Agency of Man
Agency—Essential to
Salvation
/Inherent in the whole
system of salvation that grows out of the fall of man; inherent in the great
and eternal plan that makes of this life a preparatory and a probationary
state; inherent in the very atoning sacrifice of God himself—inherent in the
whole eternal plan of salvation is the eternal law of agency. All of the terms
and conditions of the Lord's eternal plan operate because man has his agency,
and none of it would have efficacy, virtue, or force if there were no agency.
Agency requires opposites; agency demands freedom of choice; agency decrees
personal accountability for sin. Every person must forsake his own sins.
Repentance is a personal matter. Men will be punished for their own sins, not
for Adam's transgression.
Speaking of the fall,
Lehi said: "All things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all
things." The fall was part of the Lord's eternal plan and purpose. Then
the ancient prophet gave forth the grand pronouncement: "Adam fell that
men might be; and men are, that they might have joy." Only those who gain
eternal life will receive a fulness of joy. "And the Messiah cometh in the
fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall."
The fall and the atonement are two parts of one doctrine. "And because
that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing
good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by
the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the
commandments which God hath given." Then in exalting tones our ancient
Nephite friend concluded: "Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh;
and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free
to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or
to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the
devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."
(2 Nephi 2:24-27.)
Agency underlies all
things—all advancement, all progression, even existence itself. It is based on
the presence of opposites between which a choice must be made. If there were no
opposites, there would be nothing. "It must needs be, that there is an
opposition in all things," Lehi said. "If not so . . . righteousness
could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery,
neither good nor bad." Then, to show why all this is so, Lehi reasoned,
with divine insight and logic, in this way: If there were no opposites, and
thus no agency, "all things must needs be a compound in one." That
is, things would be both good and bad, hot and cold, light and dark at one and
the same time, a thing that is impossible, as Lehi will show. "Wherefore,
if it should be one body it must needs remain as dead," he continues,
"having no life neither death, nor corruption nor incorruption, happiness
nor misery, neither sense nor insensibility." Again, this is something
that could not be. But assuming it to be so, Lehi reaches this conclusion:
"Wherefore, it must needs have been created for a thing of naught;
wherefore there would have been no purpose in the end of its creation.
Wherefore, this thing must needs destroy the wisdom of God and his eternal
purposes, and also the power, and the mercy, and the justice of God."
Thus, if men were not
accountable for their own sins, if they were not agents unto themselves, the
very purpose of creation and existence would vanish away and the plans and
designs of God would fail. "And if ye shall say there is no law, ye shall
also say there is no sin," the divine reasoning continues. "If ye
shall say there is no sin, ye shall also say there is no righteousness. And if
there be no righteousness there be no happiness. And if there be no
righteousness nor happiness there be no punishment nor misery. And if these
things are not there is no God. And if there is no God we are not, neither the
earth; for there could have been no creation of things, neither to act nor to
be acted upon; wherefore, all things must have vanished away." Such is the
logic and reasoning of heaven. Opposites, agency, justice, rewards and
punishments—all these are and must be part of the eternal plan. Without them,
nothing would or could exist.
Having thus shown why
men must be endowed with agency, Lehi bears his own witness that such is, in
fact, the case. "There is a God," he says, "and he hath created
all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are,
both things to act and things to be acted upon. And to bring about his eternal
purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the
beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are
created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden
fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other
bitter. Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself.
Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed
by the one or the other." (2 Nephi 2:11-16.)
Thus we see why the
Lord gave two conflicting commandments—one to become mortal and have children,
the other to not eat of the tree of knowledge of good and evil out of which mortality
and children and death would result. The issue is one of choosing between
opposites. Adam must choose to become mortal so he could have children, on the
one hand; on the other hand, he must choose to remain forever in the garden in
a state of innocence. He chose to partake of the forbidden fruit so that the
purposes of God might be accomplished by providing a probationary estate for
his spirit children. Adam must needs fall so that he would know good from evil,
virtue from vice, righteousness from wickedness. He could not have done this
without breaking a law and becoming subject to sin. He chose the Lord's way;
there was no other way whereby salvation might come unto the children of men.
Agency—An Eternal Principle
Agency is an eternal
principle and has existed with God from eternity to eternity. When the Father
presented the plan of salvation in the councils of eternity; when all his
spirit children had been taught that through a mortal probation they could gain
immortality and eternal life; when they all knew that to gain salvation they
must choose good rather than evil while in mortality—then the Lord asked whom
he should send to earth to be his Son and to put all the terms and conditions
of his plan into operation. Lucifer, who is Satan, offered his services, but he
did so on his own terms. "Behold, here am I, send me," he said.
"I will be thy son, and I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not
be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor." As we have
seen, this would have been a philosophical impossibility. Opposites must exist
in every department of creation and in all phases of life. There could be no
salvation unless there was also damnation.
/After rejecting
Lucifer's offer to deny men their agency and thus to save them without
reference to any choice of either good or evil on their part, the Lord said:
"Because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the agency
of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto
him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should
be cast down." (Moses 4:1-3.) That is the day when there was war in
heaven—a war fought to preserve the agency of man, a war in which one-third of
the spirit host followed Lucifer "because of their agency."
And thus it is that
the Lord God "gave unto" Adam "that he should be an agent unto
himself," while he yet dwelt in the garden of Eden. Thus it is that the
devil and his angels came out in opposition to all righteousness and were cast out
of heaven. "And it must needs be," the Lord says, "that the
devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto
themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the
sweet—wherefore, it came to pass that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of
the forbidden fruit and transgressed the commandment, wherein he became subject
to the will of the devil, because he yielded unto temptation. Wherefore, I, the
Lord God, caused that he should be cast out from the Garden of Eden, from my
presence, because of his transgression, wherein he became spiritually
dead." Thus was the scene set for repentance, for choosing good rather
than evil while in mortality, and for all of the trials and tests needed to
qualify a human soul for eternal life.
"But . . . I, the
Lord God, gave unto Adam and unto his seed, that they should not die as to the
temporal death, until I, the Lord God, should send forth angels to declare unto
them repentance and redemption, through faith on the name of mine Only Begotten
Son. And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his
probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto
eternal life, even as many as would believe; and they that believe not unto
eternal damnation; for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall,
because they repent not." (D&C 29:35-44.)
Punishment for Sin
Punishment for sin is
part of the divine plan. Indeed, according to the law of agency, which is the
law of opposites and of an opposition in all things, there could be no rewards
unless there were also punishments. And yet many people are troubled in their
minds, as was Corianton, "concerning the justice of God in the punishment
of the sinner"; they "try to suppose that it is injustice that the
sinner should be consigned to a state of misery." (
The reason why
punishments must be imposed is found in a correct understanding of the plan of
salvation, with particular reference to the fall of Adam and the probationary
way of life thereby created. Endowed with agency, having power in himself to
obey or disobey, Adam was commanded not to partake of the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil. The penalty for eating the forbidden fruit was that he would
die spiritually and temporally. He chose to partake. Having partaken, could the
Lord in justice do other than impose the penalty? Can the word of God return
unto him void? Adam transgressed and Adam paid the penalty for his
transgression; he died spiritually and he died temporally.
And as with Adam, so
with his seed. "By one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned." (Romans
5:12.) In this mortal probation men have agency; they can choose for
themselves. While here they are subject to laws—the laws of God, the laws of
nature, the laws of men. And every law carries its own penalty. All men commit
sin. "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." (Romans
3:23.) "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth
is not in us. . . . If we say that we have not sinned, we make him [God] a
liar, and his word is not in us." (1 John 1:8, 10.) And as with Adam, so
with all men; the justice of God requires that they pay the penalty for their
disobedience. That penalty is to die spiritually, to die as to things of
righteousness, to be cast out of the presence of God.
If there were no
resurrection, all men would remain subject to temporal death forever; if there
were no eternal life, all men would remain spiritually dead forever; all would
continue to suffer for their sins everlastingly. Hence the divine plan called
for a Redeemer, for a Savior, for one who could ransom men from their fallen
state, for one who could pay the penalty for their sins. Thus,
Because man could not
redeem himself (that is, because he could not resurrect himself), and because
he could not ransom himself from spiritual death (that is, because he could
not, in the justice of God, return to the Divine Presence while in his sins),
there must needs be a plan of redemption. Arrangements must be made whereby man
could be redeemed from death, hell, the devil, and endless torment.
"Therefore, according to justice, the plan of redemption could not be
brought about, only on conditions of repentance of men in this probationary
state, yea, this preparatory state; for except it were for these conditions,
mercy could not take effect except it should destroy the work of justice. Now
the work of justice could not be destroyed; if so, God would cease to be God.
And thus we see that all mankind were fallen, and they were in the grasp of
justice; yea, the justice of God, which consigned them forever to be cut off
from his presence." Thanks be to God that there was a fall so there could
be a plan of mercy and of redemption!
"And now, the
plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made;
therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the
plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect,
just God, and a merciful God also." (
Having so testified,
Punishment/"Now,
how could a man repent except he should sin? How could he sin if there was no
law? How could there be a law save there was a punishment?" The reasoning
is perfect. "Now, there was a punishment affixed, and a just law given, which
brought remorse of conscience unto man." The damnation of hell is in large
measure nothing more than remorse of conscience.
"Now, if there
was no law given—if a man murdered he should die—would he be afraid he would
die if he should murder? And also, if there was no law given against sin men
would not be afraid to sin. And if there was no law given, if men sinned what
could justice do, or mercy either, for they would have no claim upon the
creature?" Good questions these, philosophically sound, questions that
prepare the mind for the declaration to follow.
"But there is a
law given, and a punishment affixed, and a repentance granted; which repentance
mercy claimeth; otherwise, justice claimeth the creature and executeth the law,
and the law inflicteth the punishment; if not so, the works of justice would be
destroyed, and God would cease to be God." All men are sinners; those who
repent gain mercy from the Lord; upon those who do not, a just God inflicts the
punishment decreed for their disobedience.
"But God ceaseth
not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy cometh because of the
atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the resurrection of the dead; and
the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men into the presence of God; and thus
they are restored into his presence, to be judged according to their works,
according to the law and justice. For behold, justice exerciseth all his
demands, and also mercy claimeth all which is her own; and thus, none but the
truly penitent are saved."
"What, do ye suppose
that mercy can rob justice? I say unto you, Nay; not one whit. If so, God would
cease to be God. And thus God bringeth about his great and eternal purposes,
which were prepared from the foundation of the world. And thus cometh about the
salvation and the redemption of men, and also their destruction and
misery." (
Thus, agency, which is
the law of choosing between opposites, requires both rewards and punishments.
But both of these come in varying degrees. The better man's works, the higher
his reward will be; and the more evil his deeds, the greater his punishment.
The highest reward is eternal life for the sons of God, and the greatest
condemnation is eternal damnation for the sons of perdition. Speaking of what
shall be in the day of judgment,
The extent of one's
punishment depends upon the degree of his disobedience. Even hell shall deliver
up the dead which are in it, so that the once buffeted souls may attain a
telestial inheritance. The nature of eternal punishment is set forth by the
Lord in these words: "Surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God,
am endless." These are the alternatives that face mankind; repentance
begets mercy, otherwise the law inflicts a just penalty. "I revoke not the
judgments which I shall pass," saith the Lord, "but woes shall go
forth, weeping, wailing and gnashing of teeth, yea, to those who are found on
my left hand." The judgments of the Lord are sure; justice will always
prevail where the wicked and ungodly are concerned. "Nevertheless, it is
not written that there shall be no end to this torment, but it is written endless
torment. 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. . . . 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. . . . 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." (D&C 19:4-17.)
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 89.)
Bruce took questions from the class on the
weekly reading. One question was about murderers.
Perdition
– No name in the scriptures, but is a place where the Sons of Perdition go,
they experience the 2nd death.
They lost the power and desire to repent. D&C 76:30-50. These are apostates who have openly rebelled
against the gift of the Holy Ghost and the Lord’s gospel. They have lost the power to repent because
they have denied the Holy Ghost which cleanses and sanctifies the repentant.
They have full knowledge of their actions against the Lord
Teachings Concerning
Sons of Perdition
Joseph Smith
• All
sins shall be forgiven, except the sin against the Holy Ghost; for Jesus will
save all except the sons of perdition. What must a man do to commit the
unpardonable sin? He must receive the Holy Ghost, have the heavens opened unto
him, and know God, and then sin against Him. After a man has sinned against the
Holy Ghost, there is no repentance for him. He has got to say that the sun does
not shine while he sees it; he has got to deny Jesus Christ when the heavens
have been opened unto him, and to deny the plan of salvation with his eyes open
to the truth of it; and from that time he begins to be an enemy. This is the
case with many apostates of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.358)
• Say
to the brothers Hulet and to all others, that the Lord never authorized them to
say that the devil, his angels, or the sons of perdition, should ever be
restored; for their state of destiny was not revealed to man, is not revealed,
nor ever shall be revealed, save to those who are made partakers thereof:
consequently those who teach this doctrine have not received it of the Spirit
of the Lord. Truly Brother Oliver declared it to be the doctrine of devils. We,
therefore, command that this doctrine be taught no more in
Brigham Young
Jesus will redeem the
last and least of the sons of Adam, except the sons of perdition, who will be
held in reserve for another time. They will become angels of the Devil. (Discourses
of Brigham Young, p.29)
Joseph F. Smith
Then
we shall stand before the bar of God to be judged. So says the Bible, so says
the Book of Mormon, and so say the revelations which have come direct to us
through the Prophet Joseph Smith. And then those who have not been subject and
obedient to the celestial law will not be quickened by the celestial glory. And
those who have not been subject and obedient to the terrestrial law will not be
quickened by the terrestrial glory. And those who have not been subject and
obedient to the telestial law will not be quickened by a telestial glory; but
they will have a kingdom without glory.
The sons of perdition,
men who once were in possession of the light and truth, but who turned away
from them and denied the Lord, putting him to an open shame, as did the Jews
when they crucified him and said, “His blood be on us, and on our children;”
men who consent, against light and knowledge, to the shedding of innocent
blood, it will be said unto them, “Depart from me, ye cursed.” (Matt. 25:41) I
never knew you; depart into the second death, even banishment from the presence
of God for ever and ever, where the worm dieth not and the fire is not
quenched, from whence there is no redemption, neither in time nor in eternity.
Herein is the difference between the second and the first death wherein man
became spiritually dead; for from the first death he may be redeemed by the
blood of Christ, through obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel,
but from the second, there is no redemption at all.
We read in the book of
Doctrine and Covenants, that the devil tempted Adam, and he partook of the
forbidden fruit, and transgressed the commandment, wherein he became subject to
the will of the devil because he yielded unto temptation, and because of this
transgression he became “spiritually dead, which is the first death, even that
same death, which is the last death, which is spiritual, which shall be
pronounced upon the wicked when I shall say – Depart, ye cursed!” (Doc. and
Cov. 29:41.)
But who will receive
such punishment? Only those who deserve it, those who commit the unpardonable
sin.
Then there is the
banishment of the transgressor (not the sons of perdition) into the
prison-house, a place of punishment, with no exaltation, no increase, no
dominion, no power, whose inhabitants after their redemption may become
servants of them that have obeyed the laws of God and kept the faith. That will
be the punishment of such as reject the truth, but sin not unto death. (Gospel
Doctrine, p.451)
Joseph Fielding Smith
ALL
SAVED EXCEPT SONS OF PERDITION. It is a very pleasing and consoling thing to
know that the Lord will save all of his children, excepting the very few who
wilfully rebel against him. When his children have paid the penalty of their
transgressions, they shall come forth from the clutches of the second death to
receive a place somewhere in the great heavenly kingdoms, which are prepared
for them with their several glories and degrees of salvation.
It
is the purpose of the Almighty to save all mankind, and all will enter into his
kingdoms in some degree of glory, except sons of perdition who sin beyond the
power of repentance and redemption, and therefore cannot receive forgiveness of
sins. All the rest shall be saved, but not all with the same degree of glory or
exaltation. Every man will be judged according to his works, his opportunities
for receiving the truth, and the intent of his heart. (Doctrines of
Salvation, 2:20-21)
DIFFERENCES
IN KIND OF RESURRECTED BODIES. In section 88 of the Doctrine and Covenants, we
are taught that there is a difference in the kinds of resurrection. Some will
be raised with celestial bodies; some with terrestrial bodies, and some with
telestial bodies; and yet others will be raised with bodies without any
qualification or power of glory, and these will be sons of perdition. (Doctrines
of Salvation, 2:33)
SONS
OF PERDITION WILLFULLY REJECT ATONEMENT. With the Latter-day Saints, this is
not so. While it is true we teach that a man must comply with these principles
of the gospel in order to receive salvation and exaltation in the kingdom of
heaven -- which is proved by many passages of scripture -- nevertheless, we
hold out the hope that all may be saved, excepting the sons of perdition, a
class that wilfully rejects the atonement of the Savior, for the Lord intends
to save all the workmanship of his hands, save these few who will not receive
salvation. Our doctrine consigns none others to perdition, but holds forth the
hope that all will eventually be saved in some degree of glory. (Doctrines
of Salvation, 2:140)
TWO
CLASSES OF SONS OF PERDITION. The great punishment received by these rebellious
spirits is that they are to remain without bodies eternally and are denied the
redemption through the atonement of Jesus Christ. They are banished forever from
the presence of God because they have lost the power of repentance, for they
chose evil by choice after having had the light. While dwelling in the presence
of God they knowingly entered into their rebellion. Their mission on earth is
to attempt to destroy the souls of men and make them miserable as they
themselves are miserable. These spirits are known as sons of perdition.
There
is another class of sons of perdition. This class is composed of all those who
have known the power of God in this mortal life and then, having full knowledge
of the power and purposes of God, rebel against him, putting Jesus Christ to
open shame.
The
Lord has defined this class as follows: “Thus saith the Lord concerning all
those who know my power, and have been made partakers thereof, and suffered
themselves through the power of the devil to be overcome, and to deny the truth
and defy my power -- They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say
that it had been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels
of wrath, doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in
eternity; Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor
in the world to come -- Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it,
and having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him
unto themselves and put him to an open shame.
“These
are they who shall go away into the lake of fire and brimstone, with the devil
and his angels -- And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any
power; Yea, verily, the only ones who shall not be redeemed in the due time of
the Lord, after the sufferings of his wrath.”
PUNISHMENT
OF SONS OF PERDITION. The extent of this punishment none will ever know except
those who partake of it. That it is the most severe punishment that can be
meted out to man is apparent. Outer darkness is something which cannot be
described, except that we know that it is to be placed beyond the benign and
comforting influence of the Spirit of God -- banished entirely from his
presence.
This
extreme punishment will not be given to any but the sons of perdition. Even the
wicked of the earth who never knew the power of God, after they have paid the
price of their sinning -- for they must suffer the excruciating torment which
sin will bring -- shall at last come forth from the prison house, repentant and
willing to bow the knee and acknowledge Christ, to receive some influence of
the Spirit of God in the telestial kingdom.
“For
they shall be judged according to their works, and every man shall receive
according to his own works, his own dominion, in the mansions which are
prepared; And they shall be servants of the Most High; but where God and Christ
dwell they cannot come, worlds without end.”
With
the sons of perdition, however, even this blessing is denied. They have
willfully made themselves servants of Satan and servants to him shall they
remain forever. They place themselves beyond the power of repentance and beyond
the mercies of God. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:219-221)
Spencer W. Kimball
Those who followed
Lucifer in his rebellion in the premortal life and those who in mortality sin
against the Holy Ghost are sons of perdition. The ex-mortal sons of perdition
will be resurrected, as will everyone else; but they will finally suffer the
second death, the spiritual death, for “the are cut off again as to things
pertaining to righteousness.” (Hel. 14:18.)
In the days of the
restoration there apparently were those who taught that the devil and his
angels and the sons of perdition should sometime be restored. The Prophet
Joseph Smith would not countenance the teaching of this doctrine, and
sanctioned the decision of the bishop that any who taught it should be barred
from communion.
In the realms of
perdition or the kingdom of darkness, where there is no light, Satan and the
unembodied spirits of the pre-existence shall dwell together with those of
mortality who retrogress to the level of perdition. These have lost the power
of regeneration. They have sunk so low as to have lost the inclinations and
ability to repent, consequently the gospel plan is useless to them as an agent
of growth and development.
[Quotes D&C
88:24]
[Quotes D&C
76:31-38]
The Prophet Joseph
Smith gives us this further picture:
“. . . Those who
commit the unpardonable sin are doomed to Gnolom to dwell in hell, worlds
without end. As they concocted scenes of bloodshed in this world, so they shall
rise to that resurrection which is as the lake of fire and brimstone. Some
shall rise to the everlasting burnings of God; for God dwells in everlasting
burnings and some shall rise to the damnation of their own filthiness, which is
as exquisite a torment as the lake of fire and brimstone.”
Speculation as to
individual sons of perdition is at best unprofitable. Some have consigned Judas
Iscariot to this doom, based on certain scriptural passages. (See John 12:6;
6:70; 17:12; Acts 1:20.) President Joseph F. Smith questions this interpretation:
“To my mind it
strongly appears that not one of the disciples possessed sufficient light,
knowledge nor wisdom, at the time of the crucifixion, for either exaltation or
condemnation; for it was afterward that their minds were opened to understand
the scriptures, and that they were endowed with power from on high; without
which they were only children in knowledge, in comparison to what they
afterwards became under the influence of the Spirit.” (The Miracle of
Forgiveness, pp.125-127)
James E. Talmage
• Far below the lowest of these
kingdoms of glory is the fate or state decreed for the souls who have sinned in
the full light of knowledge and with conscious guilt, those who having received
the testimony of Christ have ruthlessly and wantonly denied it in the interest
of temporary gain or gratification, who have fallen so far in transgression as
to be known by the awful name “sons of perdition,” for whom no forgiveness is
promised. (See Doctrine & Covenants, 76:32-38). [The Vitality of Mormonism,
p.68]
• The
Sons of Perdition – We learn of another class of souls whose sins are such as
to place them beyond the present possibility of repentance and salvation. These
are called sons of Perdition, children of the fallen angel who was once a Son
of the Morning, Lucifer, now Satan, or Perdition. These are they who have
violated truth in the light of knowledge; who, having received the testimony of
Christ, and having been endowed by the Holy Spirit, then deny the same and defy
the power of God, crucifying the Lord afresh and putting Him to an open shame.
This, the unpardonable sin, can be committed by those only who have received
knowledge and conviction of the truth, against which they then rebel. Their sin
is comparable to the treason of Lucifer, by which he sought to usurp the power
and glory of his God. Concerning them and their dreadful fate, the Lord has
said: “They are they who are the sons of perdition, of whom I say that it had
been better for them never to have been born; For they are vessels of wrath,
doomed to suffer the wrath of God, with the devil and his angels in eternity;
Concerning whom I have said there is no forgiveness in this world nor in the
world to come * * * And the only ones on whom the second death shall have any
power; * * * they shall go away into everlasting punishment, which is endless
punishment, which is eternal punishment, to reign with the devil and his angels
in eternity, where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched, which is
their torment -- And the end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their
torment, no man knows; Neither was it revealed, neither is, neither will be
revealed unto man, except to them who are made partakers thereof; Nevertheless
I, the Lord, show it by vision unto many, but straightway shut it up again;
Wherefore, the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof,
they understand not, neither any man except those who are ordained unto this
condemnation.”
The doctrines of the Church are explicit in
defining the relationship between the mortal probation and the future state,
and in teaching individual accountability and the free agency of man. The
Church affirms that in view of the responsibility under which every man rests,
as the director of his own course, he must be and is free to choose in all
things, from the life that leads to the celestial home to the career that is
but the introduction to the miseries of perdition. Freedom to worship, or to
refuse to worship, is a God-given right, and every soul must abide the result
of his choice. (Articles of Faith, pp.410-411)
John A. Widstoe
Who Are The Sons Of
Perdition? The
name Perdition was given to Lucifer, a son of the morning. He refused to accept
the plan proposed by God the Father, for the salvation of His spirit children.
For this defiant rebellion he was “thrust down from the presence of God and the
Son,” and became Satan or the devil who “maketh war with the saints of God.”
Those who do likewise, who follow Satan are called sons of perdition. (
However,
Lucifer was “an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God.” He
had risen high in knowledge, understanding, and power. He was Lucifer, a son of
the morning (of light). For his rebellion there was no excuse. He committed the
unpardonable sin, in denying that of which he had full and complete knowledge.
He became thereby the father of lies (See D. & C. 76:26, 32-48).
It
is probable that only personages who have acquired similar full knowledge, who
willfully and deliberately deny the truth, when they know it to be the truth,
can commit the unpardonable sin and become sons of perdition. They are sons of
perdition because, “Having denied the Holy Spirit after having received it, and
having denied the Only Begotten Son of the Father, having crucified him unto themselves
and put him to open shame” (D. & C. 76:35). They must have had a fullness
of knowledge; a testimony which cannot be destroyed. One must be on a high
eminence to fall so low; and few in world’s history have attained such a
height. It is doubtful if even Judas, who betrayed Jesus, was sufficiently
enlightened to become a son of perdition (Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine,
p. 545). Cain was called Perdition because of his sin, but it is added “for
thou wast also before the world,” implying a reason from out of the
pre-existent world, for this heavy punishment (Pearl of Great Price, Moses
5:24).
Moreover,
the expression, sons of perdition, is often used in the scriptures to describe
disciples of Satan, all who defy God and teach untruth, and who delight in
lies, without necessarily committing the unpardonable sin. The many brethren
and sisters who have propounded questions about the sons of perdition may rest
secure that with their present knowledge they cannot become sons of perdition.
According
to Mormon doctrine, the bodies of all who have had a mortal existence upon
earth will be resurrected from the grave. The atonement of Jesus Christ knows
no exceptions (Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi 19:22). Yet, after the resurrection
comes the judgment. The acts on earth may forfeit many of the possible gifts
following earth existence (Ibid., 3 Nephi 26:4, 5). The spiritual redemption,
which is part of the redemption from the grave, will apparently be denied the
sons of perdition. That appears to be the meaning of the statements that “he
[the Lord] saves all except them”; and that they are, “the only ones on whom
the second death shall have power (D. & C. 76:38, 43, 44). They who will be
judged to be sons of perdition will arise from the grave with their bodies, but
their bodies will be of no use to them, as the “second death” is meted out to
them in the final judgment.
The
destiny of the sons of perdition is not known. They shall suffer the “second
death”; they shall be subject to “everlasting punishment”; they shall “reign
with the devil and his angels in eternity.” What this means has not been
revealed. The Lord has declared:
“And the
end thereof, neither the place thereof, nor their torment, no man knows;
“Neither
was it revealed neither is neither will be revealed unto man, except to them
who are made partakers thereof; . . .
“Wherefore,
the end, the width, the height, the depth, and the misery thereof, they
understand not, neither any man except those who are ordained unto this
condemnation” (D. & C. 76:45-46, 48).
It
must be a terrible punishment beyond human comprehension, the greatest
conceivable, yet a justified punishment. Since the greatest sin is the
unpardonable sin, it would appear that they will forfeit all the gains of the
ages of pre-existence and the years on earth. It is no wonder that the heavens
wept over Lucifer’s rebellion (D. & C. 76:26).
President
Brigham Young has suggested that the ultimate punishment of the sons of
perdition may be that they, having their spiritual bodies disorganized, must
start over again must begin anew the long journey of existence, repeating the
steps that they took in the eternities before the Great Council was held. That
would be punishment, indeed! “They will be decomposed, both soul and body, and
return to their native element. I do not say that they will be annihilated; but
they will be disorganized, and will be as if they had never been; while we live
and retain our identity and contend against those principles which tend to
death or dissolution” (Journal of Discourses, 7:57). “The clay that
marred in the potter’s hands was thrown back into the unprepared portion to be
prepared over again” (Ibid., 2:124).
Little
is known of the sons of perdition and their destiny, yet that little known stands
as a warning to all men. To deal carelessly with truth, to deny it when once
gained, to defy the laws of truth which are the laws of God must be counted
among the greatest sins. Those who deal lightly with truth in their lives,
though they may not become sons of perdition, must expect a heavy punishment,
which often begins in mortality. (Evidences and Reconciliations,
pp.212-214)
Apostates
have pride which is enmity (competition) or pitting our will against God’s
will, this leads to anger which is a secondary emotion based on pride. Some who are angry against something or
someone can’t let it go. They limit
their agency; they know the gospel but have rejected either God or His
servants.
Moses
1 is a classic example of Satan’s anger; it is lost for him and his
followers. Helaman 1 and 2, losing the
election set off one of the brother’s to extreme anger.
Agency
– the ability to act, it is given to us; we were not born with this. It is either increased or decreased by our
actions God gave man the ability to act.
Laws are necessary to give us the ability to choose. Agency is increased by obedience or is
decreased by punishment.
Free
Agency is like a baseball player without a job!
I am free to choose another agency; if you aren’t picked then you have
no job! You want to be an agent to
God! Lehi makes this perfectly clear,
when you sin during the age of accountability you suffer, we need to repent.
Free
will – We were born with this, this is the only uniquely thing we can give to
God
Free
Choice – Decisions we make of our own volition.
Keep God’s commandments or ignore or violate them. There isn’t another choice
Teachings
Concerning
Free
Choice, Free Will, and Agency
"The greatest right humans possess is the right of free
choice, free will, free agency."
Ezra Taft Benson
(Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson,
p.691)
The
Terms Free Agency and Moral Agency
Boyd K. Packer
The phrase
"free agency" does not appear in scripture. The only agency spoken of
there is moral agency, "which," the Lord said, "I have given
unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of
judgment." (D&C 101:78; italics added.) ["Our Moral
Environment," Ensign, May 1992, p. 67]
Life is
meant to be a test to see if we will keep the commandments of God. (See 2 Ne.
2:5.) We are free to obey or to ignore the spirit and the letter of the law.
But the agency granted to man is a moral agency. (See D&C 101:78.) We are
not free to break our covenants and escape the consequences.
("Covenants," Ensign, Nov. 1990, p. 84)
Spencer J.
Condie
I am
indebted to President Boyd K. Packer, who made us aware of the fact that the
term free agency appears nowhere in holy writ. Instead, the scriptures
generally speak of agency or free will, but when agency is modified, it is
referred to as "moral agency" (D&C 101:78; emphasis
added). Because the term free agency has been used by various modern
prophets, I use the terms free agency and moral agency
interchangeably, aware that the latter term is more correct. ("Agency: The
Gift of Choices," Ensign, Sept. 1995, p. 18)
Note to
the Reader: Following Elder Spencer J. Condie's lead, the quotes in this
compilation use both moral agency and free agency but are meant
to convey the same meaning.
Free
Choice
Free to Choose Good or
Evil
2 Nephi 2
26 And the
Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men
from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have
become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves
and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the
great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.
27
Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them
which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and
eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity
and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh
that all men might be miserable like unto himself.
28 And
now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken
unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal
life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;
29 And not
choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is
therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you
down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom. (Emphasis added)
Brigham Young
Many are
disposed through their own wickedness "to do as I damned please," and
they are damned. (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.65)
Purpose of Life is to Learn to Choose
Boyd K. Packer
We come
into mortal life to receive a body and to be tested, to learn to choose.
("The Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 21)
We Can Never Make A Choice Independent of
Good or Evil Influences
Henry B. Eyring
They may
mock and deride, as did a man named Korihor, with these words recorded in the
Book of Mormon: "And thus ye lead away this people after the foolish
traditions of your fathers, and according to your own desires; and ye keep them
down, even as it were in bondage, that ye may glut yourselves with the labors
of their hands, that they durst not look up with boldness, and that they durst
not enjoy their rights and privileges" (Alma 30:27).
Korihor
was arguing, as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time,
that to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights
of independence. But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality.
When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be
independent of outside influence. We choose another influence. We reject the
protection of a perfectly loving, all-powerful, all-knowing Father in Heaven,
whose whole purpose, as that of His Beloved Son, is to give us eternal life, to
give us all that He has, and to bring us home again in families to the arms of
His love. In rejecting His counsel, we choose the influence of another power,
whose purpose is to make us miserable and whose motive is hatred. We have moral
agency as a gift of God. Rather than the right to choose to be free of
influence, it is the inalienable right to submit ourselves to whichever of
those powers we choose. ("Finding Safety in Counsel," Ensign,
May 1997, p. 25)
The Choice Between Good and Evil is the
Most Important We Will Ever Make
Marion G. Romney
Let us
never forget ... That we are here subject to opposing influences--the influence
of Satan and his followers on the one hand, and the influence of Christ and his
followers on the other hand;
That as we
are being acted upon by these two influences, we are free "to choose
liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose
captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil."
(2 Ne. 2:27.)
It is
important that we keep in mind that the choices we make as we decide what is
good and what is evil are the most important decisions we will ever make. Upon
them depends our happiness or misery throughout time and eternity. ("The
Voice of the Spirit," Ensign, Aug. 1978, p. 4)
Blessings If We Choose
Right Punishments If We Choose Wrong
Neal A.
Maxwell
Moral
agency in the face of difficult choices was not for Adam and Eve alone (Moses
7:32; D&C 101:78). There are blessings if we choose aright and penalties if
we choose wrongly. Therefore, attempting to stand between friends and the
consequences of their wrong choices is not realistic; it is not nearly as
useful as being lovingly at their sides before and when choices are being made.
Men and women really are "free to choose" (2 Nephi 2:27), and we
cannot and should not try to have it otherwise. (But for a Small Moment,
p.130)
We Are Free To Choose Our
Responses
Neal A.
Maxwell
While we are not always free to choose just when and how all of life's
interactions will occur, we are nevertheless free to choose our responses to
these moments. ("The Pathway of Discipleship," Ensign, Sept.
1998, p. 10)
Marvin J.
Ashton
In God's
plan we are usually free to choose the changes we make in our lives and we are
always free to choose how we will respond to the changes that come.
("Progress through Change," Ensign, Nov. 1979, p.61)
Our Choices May Effect
the Next Generation
Neal A.
Maxwell
All are
free to choose, of course, and we would not have it otherwise. Unfortunately,
however, when some choose slackness, they are choosing not only for themselves,
but for the next generation and the next. Small equivocations in parents can
produce large deviations in their children! Earlier generations in a family may
have reflected dedication, while some in the current generation evidence
equivocation. Sadly, in the next, some may choose dissension as erosion takes
its toll. ("Settle This in Your Hearts," Ensign, Nov. 1992, pp.
65-66)
Our Choices Show What We
Value
Boyd K.
Packer
Our lives
are made up of thousands of everyday choices. Over the years these little
choices will be bundled together and show clearly what we value. ("The
Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 21)
Free
Will
Free
Will Defined
Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary, 11 ed
1.Voluntary
choice or decision. 2. Freedom of humans to make choices that are not
determined by prior causes or by divine intervention.
God Created Man To Act
According to Their Free Will
Mosiah 2
God
"has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to
day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to
your own will" (verse 21; emphasis added)
The Free
Joseph
Smith
We deem it
a just principle, and it is one of the force of which we believe ought to be
duly considered by every individual, that all men are created equal, and that
all have the privilege of thinking for themselves upon all matters relative to
conscience. Consequently, then, we are not disposed, had we the power, to
deprive any one of exercising that free independence of mind which heaven has
so graciously bestowed upon the human family as one of its choicest gifts; but
we take the liberty (and this we have a right to do) of looking at this order
of things a few moments, and contrasting it with the order of God as we find it
in the sacred Scriptures. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.49)
Free Will is a True Principle
John
Taylor
We talk
sometimes about free will. Is that a correct principle? Yes. And it is a
principle that has always existed, and proceeded from God, our Heavenly Father.
(The Gospel Kingdom, p.59)
Howard W. Hunter
Abraham
Lincoln once asked, "What constitutes the bulwark of our own liberty and
independence?" He then answered, "It is not our frowning battlements,
our bristling sea coasts, our army and our navy. … Our reliance is in the love
of liberty which God has planted in us." (Speech at Edwardsville,
Illinois, 11 Sept. 1858, quoted in John Bartlett, Familiar Quotations,
Boston: Little, Brown and Co., 1968, p. 636.)
There are,
of course, those who, in bitterness and disbelief, have rejected the idea of an
independent spirit in man that is capable of free will and choice and true
liberty. ("The Golden Thread of Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1989,
17)
Each Person Has the Free
Will to Obey or Disobey
Joseph
Fielding Smith
The Lord
does not delight in the punishment of men. He is kind enough to grant to each
his freedom to merit blessings or punishment according to his free will or
pleasure. It never was the intention of the Lord to destroy, in the sense of
annihilation, any of the souls of his children. His great object is to save
them all, if they will freely partake of the blessings of salvation. (Doctrines
of Salvation, 2:227)
Good
Works are Done Only By Free Will
Mosiah 18
28 And
thus they should impart of their substance of their own free will and good
desires towards God, and to those priests that stood in need, yea, and to every
needy, naked soul.
D&C 58
27 Verily
I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of
their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness;
28 For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto
themselves. And inasmuch as men do good they shall in nowise lose their reward.
Heber J.
Grant
[Quotes D&C 58:27-28] We should have the ambition, we should
have the desire, we should make up our minds that, so far as the Lord Almighty
has given to us talent, we will do our full share in the battle of life. It
should be a matter of pride that no man shall do more than you will do, in
proportion to your ability, in forwarding the work of God here upon the earth.
That has been my ambition all my life--to do my full share. (Gospel
Standards, p. 39)
Spencer W.
Kimball
[Quotes D&C 58:27] All men have been given special powers and
within certain limitations should develop those powers, give vent to their own
imaginations, and not become rubber stamps. They should develop their own
talents and abilities and capacities to their limit and use them to build up
the kingdom. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p. 257)
Gordon B.
[Quotes D&C 58:27] The power is in us, in each of us--the
power to do significant acts of service on our own initiative if we will become
anxiously engaged. (Faith: The Essence of True Religion [Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1989], p. 40).
George Q.
Cannon
Our
Heavenly Father requires something more of us than to be merely obedient to a
commandment when he gives it to us. He desires us to strive to do good of ourselves
without waiting to be commanded to do so. (Gospel Truth, p. 123)
We Must
Exercise Our Free Will to Live God's Law
Lorenzo
Snow
We cannot
be forced into living a celestial law; we must do this ourselves, of our own
free will. (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.166)
Sin Committed By Our Free Will
George Q. Cannon
Therefore,
in the great day, when we stand up to be judged according to the deeds done in
the body, we cannot plead that we could not help doing so and so, because if we
commit sin we do so by our own free will. God has not predestined any of us to
be damned. ("Foreknowledge of God," May 10th, 1891 in Collected
Discourses, Vol 2)
We
Cannot Blame Anyone Else For Misuse of Free Will
Heber J.
Grant
We are
trusted by the Lord. We are agents. We have our free will. And when the battle
of life is over, we have had the ability and the power and the capacity to have
done those things which the Lord required us to do and we cannot blame anybody
else. (Gospel Standards, p.63)
Celestial
Kingdom is Attained By Exercise of Free Will
Lorenzo
Snow
We cannot
be forced into living a celestial law; we must do this ourselves, of our own
free will. And whatever we do in regard to the principles of the united order,
we must do it because we desire to do it. Some of us are practicing in the
spirit of the united order, doing more than the law of tithing requires. We are
not confined to the law of tithing. We have advanced to that point that we feel
to soar above this law. (The Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p. 166.)
Joseph
Fielding Smith
This great
gift of agency, that is the privilege given to man to make his own choice, has
never been revoked, and it never will be. It is an eternal principle giving
freedom of thought and action to every soul. No person, by any decree of the
Father, has ever been compelled to do good; no person has ever been forced to
do evil. Each may act for himself. It was Satan's plan to destroy this
agency and force men to do his will. There could be no satisfactory existence
without this great gift. Men must have the privilege to choose even to the
extent that they may rebel against the divine decrees. Of course salvation
and exaltation must come through the free will without coercion and by
individual merit in order that righteous rewards may be given and proper
punishment be meted out to the transgressor. Therefore, when the great day of
the Lord shall come, the wicked who have merited banishment from a righteous
government will be consumed, or the privilege of continuance on the earth will
be denied. (Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:20; emphasis added)
Free Will-The Only
Personal Thing We Can Give God
Neal A.
Maxwell
In
conclusion, the submission of one's will is really the only uniquely personal
thing we have to place on God's altar. The many other things we
"give," brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already
given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by
letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God's will, then we are really
giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!
("Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father," Ensign, Nov. 1995,
p. 24)
Agency
and Choice
Agency-A Gift From God
Moses 4
3 Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to
destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him . . .
Moses 7
32 The Lord said unto Enoch: Behold these thy brethren; they are
the workmanship of mine own hands, and I gave unto them their knowledge, in the
day I created them; and in the Garden of Eden, gave I unto man his agency;
D&C
101
78 That
every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according
to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be
accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
Agency, The Foundation Principle
Marion G. Romney
I purpose
to make a few remarks about the foundation principle upon which the gospel of
Jesus Christ is built, the principle of agency. (Conference Report, October
1968, p.64)
Agency Is an Eternal
Principle
Brigham
Young
The
volition of the creature is free; this is a law of their existence and the Lord
cannot violate his own law; were he to do that, he would cease to be God. He
has placed life and death before his children, and it is for them to choose. If
they choose life, they receive the blessing of life; if they choose death, they
must abide the penalty. This is a law which has always existed from all
eternity, and will continue to exist throughout all the eternities to come.
Every intelligent being must have the power of choice, and God brings forth the
results of the acts of his creatures to promote his Kingdom and subserve his
purposes in the salvation and exaltation of his children. (Discourses of
Brigham Young, p.62)
Agency - The Power to Act
2 Nephi 2
14 And
now, my sons, I speak unto you these things for your profit and learning; for
there is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth,
and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be
acted upon. (emphasis added)
Dictionary
Definitions of Agency
Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary-Faculty or state of acting or of exercising power; action.
Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary, 11 ed.-The capacity, condition, or state of action or of
exerting power.
Dictionary
of Sociology - The term agency is usually juxtaposed to structure and is often
no more than a synonym for action, emphasizing implicitly the undetermined
nature of human action, as opposed to the alleged determinism of structural
theories.
Agency -
the Power to Do According to Our Own Will
Mosiah 2
God
"has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to
day, by lending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to
your own will" (verse 21; emphasis added)
31
Wherefore, he gave commandments unto men, they having first transgressed the
first commandments as to things which were temporal, and becoming as Gods,
knowing good from evil, placing themselves in a state to act, or being
placed in a state to act according to their wills and pleasures, whether to do
evil or to do good- (emphasis added)
Joseph
Fielding Smith
This great
gift of agency, that is the privilege given to man to make his own choice, has
never been revoked, and it never will be. It is an eternal principle giving
freedom of thought and action to every soul. No person, by any decree of
the Father, has ever been compelled to do good; no person has ever been forced
to do evil. Each may act for himself. It was Satan's plan to destroy
this agency and force men to do his will. There could be no satisfactory
existence without this great gift. Men must have the privilege to choose even
to the extent that they may rebel against the divine decrees. Of course salvation
and exaltation must come through the free will without coercion and by
individual merit in order that righteous rewards may be given and proper
punishment be meted out to the transgressor. Therefore, when the great day of
the Lord shall come, the wicked who have merited banishment from a righteous
government will be consumed, or the privilege of continuance on the earth will
be denied. (Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:20; emphasis added)
Agency - The Power to Choose and Act
Marion G. Romney
Free
agency means the freedom and power to choose and act. Next to life itself, it
is man's most precious inheritance. ("Church Welfare Services' Basic
Principles," Ensign, May 1976, p. 120)
Agency Given to Choose
and
Gordon B.
Mankind
has been given agency to choose between right and wrong. ("Reverence and
Morality," Ensign, May 1987, 47)
Boyd K. Packer
We want
our children and their children to know that the choice of life is not between
fame and obscurity, nor is the choice between wealth and poverty. The choice is
between good and evil, and that is a very different matter indeed. ("The
Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1980, p. 21)
Joseph B. Wirthlin
The
Father's plan gave us our agency to choose right or wrong, good or evil so we
can learn, develop, and progress. ("Deep Roots," Ensign, Nov.
1994, p. 75)
David B. Haight
We have
our agency to choose right from wrong, good from evil. But just because evil
exists does not mean that we must partake of it. You cannot do wrong and feel
right. ("A Time for Preparation," Ensign, Nov. 1991, p. 37)
Dallin H. Oaks
When I say
free agency I refer to what the scripture calls agency, which means an
exercise of the will, the power to choose. ("Free Agency and
Freedom," in The Book of Mormon: Second Nephi, The Doctrinal Structure
[Eds. Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr. Religious Studies Center, BYU,
Provo Utah, 1989] p. 1)
Howard W. Hunter
Today, I
would like to address both groups, members of our church as well as others,
about one of the most important tenets of our faith and one of the most
precious of God's gifts to mankind. It is our freedom, our agency, our
inalienable and divine right to choose what we will believe and what we will not
believe, and to choose what we want to be and what we want to do. I wish to
speak of our responsibility and our opportunity to choose God, and the good,
and eternal life; or to select evil, the destructive, and that which leads to
painful misery and despair. ("The Golden Thread of Choice," Ensign,
Nov. 1989, p. 17)
Neal A. Maxwell
The vital
revelations about the agency of man-our freedom to choose-inevitably disclose
the perfect generosity and justice of God. ("Free to Choose," in Moving
in His Majesty& Power [
Dallin H. Oaks
God has
given us agency--the power to choose between good (the path of life) and evil
(the path of spiritual death and destruction.("Same-Gender
Attraction," Ensign, Oct. 1995, p. 8)
Good and
Evil Is Determined By God Not
Man
Spencer W.
Kimball
You
probably think you have found a new freedom: to think wholly for yourself, to
make wholly your own determinations, to criticize and decide for yourself what
is right and wrong. That was decided eternities ago. Right and wrong are not to
be determined by you or me. Those elements were decided for us before our
birth. We have the free agency to do the right or do the wrong, but who are we
to alter those changeless things? We can scoff at sacred things, express our
own little opinions, but remember that millions of men and women with keener
minds than ours, with more erudite training than yours and mine, have said
things and done things more startling, more ugly, more skeptical than you or I
could think of. Millions have gone down the path you are entering. They have
all come to grief or will ultimately. Shall the violin say to Tony
Stradivarius, "You did not make me"? Shall the created thing question
the creator? ... (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.160)
Richard G.
Scott
Please
understand, no one has the privilege to choose what is right. God reserved that
prerogative to Himself. ("Healing Your Damaged Life," Ensign,
Nov. 1992, p. 61)
Our Choices Can Never Be Independent of
Good or Evil Influences
Henry B. Eyring
Korihor
was arguing, as men and women have falsely argued from the beginning of time,
that to take counsel from the servants of God is to surrender God-given rights
of independence. But the argument is false because it misrepresents reality.
When we reject the counsel which comes from God, we do not choose to be
independent of outside influence. We choose another influence. We reject the
protection of a perfectly loving, all-powerful, all-knowing Father in Heaven,
whose whole purpose, as that of His Beloved Son, is to give us eternal life, to
give us all that He has, and to bring us home again in families to the arms of
His love. In rejecting His counsel, we choose the influence of another power,
whose purpose is to make us miserable and whose motive is hatred. We have moral
agency as a gift of God. Rather than the right to choose to be free of
influence, it is the inalienable right to submit ourselves to whichever of
those powers we choose. ("Finding Safety in Counsel," Ensign,
May 1997, p. 25)
Choice Brings Consequences
Gordon B.
I repeat,
each of us has a choice between right and wrong. But with that choice there
inevitably will follow consequences. ("Reverence and Morality," Ensign,
May 1987, p. 47)
Boyd K.
Packer
In mortality
men are free to choose, and each choice begets a consequence. ("Atonement,
Agency, Accountability," Ensign, May 1988, p.71)
God-Not Man-Determines
Consequences of Actions
Brigham
Young
Our Father
controls the results of our acts at his own pleasure, and we cannot prevent it.
Man can produce and control his own acts, but he has no control over their
results. God causes even the wrath of man to praise him, to redound to his
glory and the salvation of his children. (Discourses of Brigham Young,
p.63)
He has given them the privilege of choosing for themselves,
whether it be good or evil; but the results of our choice is still in his hand.
All his children have the right of making a path for themselves of walking to
the right or to the left, or telling the truth or that which is not true. This
right God has given to all people who dwell on the earth, and they can
legislate and act as they please; but God holds them in his hands, and he will
bring forth the results of his glory, and for the benefit of those who love and
serve him, and he will make the wrath of men to praise him. All of us are in
the hands of that God. (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.62)
Joseph B. Wirthlin
The Lord
has given you the gift of agency (see Moses 7:32) and instructed you sufficiently
to know good from evil (see 2 Ne. 2:5). You are free to choose (see 2 Ne. 2:27)
and are permitted to act (see 2 Ne. 10:23; Hel. 14:30), but you are not free to
choose the consequences. With absolute certainty, choices of good and right
lead to happiness and peace, while choices of sin and evil eventually lead to
unhappiness, sorrow, and misery. ("Running Your
Richard G. Scott
Yes, moral
agency allows you to choose what you will, but you cannot control the outcome
of those choices. Unlike the false creations of man, our Father in Heaven
determines the consequences of your choices. Obedience will yhield happiness,
while ciolation of His commandments will not. ("How To Live Well Amid
Increasing Evil," Ensign, May 2004, pp. 100-103)
The secret to solve problems in your life will be found in
understanding and using the eternally beneficial interaction of your agency
and [God's] truth.
The Master
said: "He that keepeth [the] commandments receiveth truth and light. …
"Light
and truth forsake that evil one …
"And
that wicked one cometh and taketh away light and truth, through disobedience,
from the children of men." (D&C 93:28, 37, 39; emphasis added.)
He also
declared, "Every man may act in doctrine and principle, … according to the
moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be
accountable … in the day of judgment" (D&C 101:78; italics added).
These
scriptures teach how to overcome the effects of wrong choices, whether they be
lying, stealing, gambling, addiction to alcohol or drugs, immorality,
inflicting abuse, or anything like it. Simply stated, one must use his agency
to obey truth.
When
others give you advice, have you ever said, "I just don't believe the way
you do. Those are your standards and your principles. I have my own"?
Please understand that no one can change truth. Rationalization, overpowering
self-interest, all of the arguments of men, anger, or self-will cannot change
truth. Satan knows that, so he tries to create an atmosphere where one unwittingly
begins to feel that he can not only choose what to do, but can determine what
is right to do. Satan strives to persuade us to live outside truth by
rationalizing our actions as the right of choice.
But our
Eternal Father defined truth and established what is right and wrong before the
creation of this earth. He also fixed the consequences of obedience and
disobedience to those truths. He defended our right to choose our path in life
so that we would grow, develop, and be happy, but we do not have the right
to choose the consequences of our acts. Those who willfully, consistently
disobey His commandments will inevitably learn that truth. Joseph Smith was
inspired to record, "When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by
obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:21.)
Please
understand, no one has the privilege to choose what is right. God reserved that
prerogative to Himself. Our agency does allow us to choose among alternate
paths, but then we are bound to the consequence God has decreed. Later, if we
don't like where the path takes us, the only out is through repentance.
("Healing Your Damaged Life," Ensign, Nov. 1992, p. 61)
Not Free To Alter Consequences
Ezra Taft Benson
We are
free to choose, but we are not free to alter the consequences of those choices.
(Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.382)
Not Free to Escape
Consequences of Exercised Agency
Spencer W.
Kimball
Of course
we can choose; the free agency is ours, but we cannot escape the consequences
of our choice. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, p.195)
Men have free agency, as the Lord has made clear. They may do
right or wrong but they cannot escape the responsibility of answering for their
errors if they are normal individuals. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,
p.159)
Russell M.
Nelson
Often,
however, agency is misunderstood. While we are free to choose, once we have
made those choices, we are tied to the consequences of those choices.
("Addiction or Freedom," Ensign, Nov. 1988, p. 7)
We are
free to think. We are free to plan. And then we are free to do. But once an
action has been taken, we are never free from its consequences. ... To clarify
this concept, we can learn from the astronaut. Any time during the selection
process, planning, and preparation, he is free to withdraw. But once the
powerful rocket fuel is ignited, he is no longer free to choose. Now he is
bound by the consequences of his choice. Even if difficulties develop and he
might wish otherwise, the choice made was sealed by action. ("Reverence
for Life," Ensign, May 1985, 13)
Boyd K.
Packer
Life is
meant to be a test to see if we will keep the commandments of God. (See 2 Ne.
2:5.) We are free to obey or to ignore the spirit and the letter of the law.
But the agency granted to man is a moral agency. (See D&C 101:78.) We are
not free to break our covenants and escape the consequences.
("Covenants," Ensign, Nov. 1990, p. 84)
Neal A.
Maxwell
There is
always at least one victim of iniquity. Yes, I am free to choose, but I can
neither be immune from the consequences of my wrong choices nor avoid
accountability. ("Free to Choose," in Moving in His Majesty&
Power [
Consequences to Agency
Reach Even to Our Desires
Dallin H.
Oaks
God's law
can assign consequences solely on the basis of our innermost thoughts and
desires. There is no uncertainty in the administration of this law. As Ammon
taught King Lamoni, God "looketh down upon all the children of men; and he
knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all
created from the beginning." (
Similarly,
Paul warned the Hebrews that God "is a discerner of the thoughts and
intents of the heart," and "all things are naked and opened unto the
eyes of him." (Heb. 4:12-13.)
In other
words, God judges us not only for our acts, but also for the desires of our
hearts. He has said so again and again. This is a challenging reality, but it
is not surprising. Agency and accountability are eternal principles. We
exercise our free agency not only by what we do, but also by what we decide, or
will, or desire. Restrictions on freedom can deprive us of the power to do, but
no one can deprive us of the power to will or desire. Accountability must
therefore reach and attach consequences to the desires of our hearts. (
"The Desires of Our Hearts," Ensign, June 1986, pp. 64-65)
Agency in Pre-mortality
Howard W. Hunter
There are,
of course, those who, in bitterness and disbelief, have rejected the idea of an
independent spirit in man that is capable of free will and choice and true
liberty.
We declare
a bright and glorious view of God and man to all who will hear, a view revealed
in and illuminated by the restored light of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We
testify of God's loving goodness and of his eternal respect for each of us, for
us as individual children of God and for what each of us may become.
As our
prophet leader, President Ezra Taft Benson has declared, "The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims that life is eternal, that it has
purpose. … [God has a] plan … for the benefit and blessing of us, His children.
…
"Basic
to [that] all-important plan is our free agency. …
"The
right of choice … runs like a golden thread throughout the gospel … for the
blessing of His children." (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, Salt
Lake City: Bookcraft, 1988, pp. 80-81.)
Part of
our reassurance about the free, noble, and progressing spirit of man comes from
the glorious realization that we all existed and had our identities, and our
agency, long before we came to this world. To some that will be a new thought,
but the Bible teaches clearly just such an eternal view of life, a life
stretching back before this world was and stretching forward into the
eternities ahead.
God said
to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before
thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a
prophet unto the nations." (Jer. 1:5.) At another time God reminded Job
that "all the sons of God shouted for joy" (Job 38:7) before there
was yet any man or woman on the earth God was creating. The Apostle Paul taught
that God the Father chose us "before the foundation of the world."
(Eph. 1:4.)
Where and
when did all of this happen? Well, it happened long before man's mortal birth.
It happened in a great premortal existence where we developed our identities
and increased our spiritual capabilities by exercising our agency and making
important choices. We developed our intelligence and learned to love the truth,
and we prepared to come to earth to continue our progress.
Our Father
in Heaven wanted our growth to continue in mortality and to be enhanced by our
freedom to choose and learn. He also wanted us to exercise our faith and our
will, especially with a new physical body to master and control. But we know
from both ancient and modern revelation that Satan wished to deny us our
independence and agency in that now-forgotten moment long ago, even as he
wishes to deny them this very hour. Indeed, Satan violently opposed the freedom
of choice offered by the Father, so violently that John in the Revelation
described "war in heaven" (Rev. 12:7) over the matter. Satan would
have coerced us, and he would have robbed us of that most precious of gifts if
he could: our freedom to choose a divine future and the exaltation we all hope
to obtain.
Through
Christ and his valiant defense of our Father's plan, the course of agency and
eternal aspirations prevailed. In that crucial, premortal setting, a major
milestone was passed, a monumental victory was won. As a result, we would be
allowed to continue to pursue what President David O. McKay once described as
the "eternal principle of progress." Later Christ himself would come
to earth, President McKay noted, "to perfect society by perfecting the individual,
and only by the exercising of Free Agency can the individual even approach
perfection." (In Conference Report, Apr. 1940, p. 118). [Howard W. Hunter,
"The Golden Thread of Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1989, p. 18]
The Free Exercise of
Agency -The Purpose of Mortality
Wilford
Woodruff
The Lord
Almighty never created a world like this and peopled it for six thousand years,
as He has done, without having some motive in view. That motive was, that we
might come here and exercise our agency. The probation we are called upon to
pass through is intended to elevate us so that we can dwell in the presence of
God our Father. And that eternal variety of character which existed in the
heavens among the spirits -- from God upon his throne down to Lucifer the son
of the morning - exists here upon the earth. That variety will remain upon the
earth in the creations of God, and for what I know, throughout the endless ages
of eternity. Men will occupy different glories and positions according to their
lives -- according to the law they keep the flesh. (The Discourses of
Wilford Woodruff, p.8)
The Difference Between
Agency and Liberty/Freedom
Marion G.
Romney
While
perhaps it is seldom, if ever, contended that either political independence or
economic freedom alone brings perfect liberty, it is not, however, uncommon for
free agency to be considered as synonymous with freedom of the soul. And it is
true that the God-given right to choose one's course of action is an
indispensable prerequisite to such freedom. Without it we can scarcely enjoy
any type of liberty--political, economic, or personal. It is one of our
greatest heritages. ...
Free
agency, however, precious as it is, is not of itself the perfect liberty we
seek, nor does it necessarily lead thereto. As a matter of fact, through the
exercise of their agency more people have come to political, economic, and
personal bondage than to liberty.
The
Nephites, for example, at one time, by the exercise of their agency, brought
themselves to such a state of affairs that their only course led to political
bondage. This they did while living under a government providing for the freest
exercise of agency. "Their laws and their governments," says the
record, "were established by the voice of the people, and they who chose
evil were more numerous than they who chose good." Therefore, "they
could not be governed by the law nor justice, save it were to their
destruction." (Hel. 5:2-3.) Under these circumstances, they chose as
rulers wicked men, who would certainly destroy their political liberties, to
replace righteous men who had in the past protected and preserved those
liberties and would have continued to do so in the future. ...
With
respect to the loss of personal liberty through the misuse of free agency, our
daily lives are filled with tragic evidence. We see the alcoholic with his
craving for drink, the dope fiend in his frenzy, and worse, the pervert with
his irretrievable loss of manhood. Who will say that such persons enjoy
liberty?
Notwithstanding
the fact that through its misuse, political, economic, and personal liberty are
lost, free agency will always endure because it is an eternal principle. However,
the free agency possessed by any one person is increased or diminished by the
use to which he puts it. Every wrong decision one makes restricts the area in
which he can thereafter exercise his agency. The further one goes in the making
of wrong decisions in the exercise of free agency, the more difficult it is for
him to recover the lost ground. One can, by persisting long enough, reach the
point of no return. He then becomes an abject slave. By the exercise of his
free agency, he has decreased the area in which he can act, almost to the
vanishing point. ...
These poor
souls have placed themselves in the power of Lucifer and his followers, who, as
you remember, became Perdition. (See D&C 76:26.) Their final fate is to be
cast out into outer darkness, such punishment being the natural consequence of
the alternatives they elected in the exercise of their agency. The fact that
they were originally endowed by their Creator with free agency does not save
them from the most awful bondage, the bondage of sin.
Just as
following wrong alternatives restricts free agency and leads to slavery, so
pursuing correct alternatives widens the scope of one's agency and leads to
perfect liberty. As a matter of fact, one may, by this process, obtain freedom of
the soul while at the same time being denied political, economic, and personal
liberty. For example, consider the Prophet Joseph Smith. Here was a man enjoying
freedom of the soul while suffering the deprivation of almost every other
liberty. ("The Perfect Law of Liberty," Ensign, Nov. 1981,
43-45; emphasis added)
Dallin H.
Oaks
First,
because free agency is a God-given precondition to the purpose of mortal
life, no person or organization can take away our free agency in mortality.
Second,
what can be taken away or reduced by the conditions of mortality is our freedom,
the power to act upon our choices. Free agency is absolute, but in
circumstances of mortality freedom is always qualified.
Freedom
may be qualified or taken away (1) by physical laws, including the physical
limitations with which we are born, (2) by our own actions, and (3) by the
actions of others, including governments.
Lehi
taught his son Jacob that "men are free [have freedom] according to the
flesh" (2 Nephi 2:27). For example, in the flesh we are subject to the
physical law of gravity. If I should hang from the catwalk in the
A loss of
freedom reduces the extent to which we can act upon our choices, but it does
not deprive us of our God-given free agency. ...
Interferences
with our freedom do not deprive us of our free agency. When Pharaoh put Joseph
in prison, he restricted Joseph's freedom, but he did not take away his free
agency. When Jesus drove the money changers out of the temple, he interfered
with their freedom to engage in a particular activity at a particular time in a
particular place, but he did not take away their free agency. ("Free
Agency and Freedom," in The Book of Mormon: Second Nephi, The Doctrinal
Structure [Eds. Monte S. Nyman
and Charles D. Tate, Jr. Religious Studies Center, BYU, Provo Utah, 1989] pp.
9-11.)
The
Exercise of Agency Brings Greater or Lesser Freedom
Marion G.
Romney
Every
choice one makes either expands or contracts the area in which he can make and
implement future decisions. When one makes a choice, he irrevocably binds
himself to accept the consequences of that choice. (Conference Report, October
1968, p.65)
[T]he free
agency possessed by any one person is increased or diminished by the use to
which he puts it. Every wrong decision one makes restricts the area in which he
can thereafter exercise his agency. The further one goes in the making of wrong
decisions in the exercise of free agency, the more difficult it is for him to
recover the lost ground. One can, by persisting long enough, reach the point of
no return. He then becomes an abject slave. By the exercise of his free agency,
he has decreased the area in which he can act, almost to the vanishing point. .
. . Just as following wrong alternatives restricts free agency and leads to
slavery, so pursuing correct alternatives widens the scope of one's agency and
leads to perfect liberty. As a matter of fact, one may, by this process, obtain
freedom of the soul while at the same time being denied political, economic,
and personal liberty. ("The Perfect Law of
Spencer W.
Kimball
Sin
becomes a habit. Sin is intensely habit-forming and sometimes moves men to the
tragic point of no return. Without repentance there can be no forgiveness, and
without forgiveness all the blessings of eternity hang in jeopardy. As the
transgressor moves deeper and deeper in his sin, and the error is entrenched
more deeply and the will to change is weakened, it becomes increasingly nearer
hopeless and he skids down and down until either he does not want to climb back
up or he has lost the power to do so. (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,
p.83)
Neal A. Maxwell
Of course,
as individuals, we are free to choose! But wrong choices will make us less
free. Furthermore, erosive error gradually makes one less and less of an
individual. God and His prophets would spare us that shrinkage. ("Answer
Me," Ensign, Nov. 1988, p. 32)
Teaching
Correct Principles Necessary to Correct Use of Agency
John
Taylor
What is it
that will enable one man to govern his fellows aright? It is just as Joseph
Smith said to a certain man who asked him,"How do you govern such a vast
people as this?" "Oh," says Joseph, "it is very easy."
"Why," says the man "but we find it very difficult."
"But," said Joseph, "it is very easy, for I teach the people
correct principles, and they govern themselves." (The Gospel Kingdom,
p.323)
Erastus
Snow
This is
the explanation the Prophet Joseph Smith gave to a certain lawyer in his time
who came to see him and his people and expressed astonishment and surprise at
the ease with which he controlled the people, and said it was something that
was not to be found among the learned men of the world. Said he: "We
cannot do it. What is the secret of your success?" "Why," said
the Prophet, "I do not govern the people. I teach them correct principles
and they govern themselves." (Journal of Discourses, 24:158-159)
Orson F.
Whitney
I am
convinced that of all governments the greatest and the best is that government
in which the people govern themselves. The Prophet Joseph Smith was asked by a
stranger visitor at Nauvoo, "How do you govern these people, these
Americans, these Britons, these Scandinavians, these men from all parts of the
world, all nationalities, speaking different languages, having different customs
and traditions,--how do you govern them, that they live together in peace, with
a common purpose, and in the spirit of unity?" The Prophet sagely
answered--and he never said a wiser thing--"I teach them correct
principles, and they govern themselves." That government in which the
people can and do govern themselves by obedience to correct principles, is
manifestly superior to any government that depends upon one man's will. The
word of God declares, "It is a slothful servant who waits to be commanded
in all things." Even in a government where God might command and direct in
everything, the condition would be inferior to what it would be in a community
of enlightened freemen, enjoying the fullness of the Gospel, filled with the
knowledge of the heavens, doing good of their own accord, governing themselves,
loving their neighbors and doing all things with an eye single to the glory of
God. (Conference Report, April 1909, p.76)
Agency
Is Not a Power Designed to Get What You Want
Richard G.
Scott
Your
agency, the right to make choices, is not given so that you can get what you
want. This divine gift is provided so that you will choose what your Father in
Heaven wants for you. That way He can lead you to become all that He intends
you to be (see D&C 58:26-32). That path leads to glorious joy and
happiness. ("Finding Joy in Life," Ensign, May 1996, p. 25)
All God's Children Have
the "Right" of Agency
Dictionary
Definitions of "Rights"
Merriam-Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary, 11 ed. - Something to which one has just claim. Something that
one may properly claim as due.
Webster's
Collegiate Dictionary - That to which one has a just claim; any power or privilege
vested in a person by the law, custom, etc.
Brigham
Young
My
independence is sacred to me - it is a portion of that same Diety that rules in
the heavens. There is not a being upon the face of the earth who is made in the
image of God, who stands erect and is organized as God is, that would be
deprived of the free exercise of his agency so far as he does not infringe upon
other's rights, save by good advice and a good example. (Discourses of
Brigham Young, p.62)
Wilford
Woodruff
With
regard to the rights of the human family, I wish to say that God has given unto
all of his children of this dispensation, as he gave unto all of his children
of previous dispensations, individual agency. This agency has always been the
heritage of man under the rule and government of God. He possessed it in the
heaven of heavens before the world was, and the Lord maintained and defended it
there against the aggression of Lucifer and those that took sides with him, to
the overthrow of Lucifer and one-third part of the heavenly hosts. By virtue of
this agency you and I and all mankind are made responsible beings, responsible
for the course we pursue, the lives we live, the deeds we do in the body. (The
Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp.8-9)
Do Not Confuse Agency
With the "Right" to Do Wrong
Joseph
Fielding Smith
I have
heard people say, and members of the Church too, "I have a right to do as
I please." My answer is: No, you do not. You haven't any right at all to
do just as you please. There is only one right that you have, and that is to do
just what I read to you: keep the commandments of Jesus Christ. He has a
perfect right to tell us so. We have no right to refuse. I do not care who the
man is; I do not care where he lives, or what he is--when the gospel of Jesus
Christ is presented to him, he has no right to refuse to receive it. He has the
privilege. He is not compelled to receive it, because our Father in heaven has
given to everyone of us in the Church and out, the gift of free agency. That
free agency gives us the privilege to accept and be loyal to our Lord's
commandments, but it has never given us the right to reject them. Every man who
rejects the commandments of our Father in heaven is rebellious. (Conference
Report, April 1967, pp.120-121)
God Will Not Tamper With
Man's Agency
Boyd K.
Packer
But the
decision, the action, must begin with the individual. The Lord will not tamper
with our agency. (The Holy Temple, p. 236.)
David O.
McKay
Men may
choose the right or they may choose the wrong; they may walk in darkness or
they may walk in the light; and, mind you, God has not left his children
without the light. He has given them in the various dispensations of the world
the light of the gospel wherein they could walk and not stumble, wherein they
could find that peace and happiness which he desires, as a loving Father, his
children should enjoy, but the Lord does not take from them their free agency.
(Gospel Ideals, p.301)
We Must Give God the One Thing He Will Not
Take From Us - Our Agency
Boyd K.
Packer
Now, my
young friends, I would like to make reference to another experience, one I
think of often but one I seldom talk about. I shall not mention it in detail; I
only want to refer to it. It happened many years ago when I was perhaps not
quite as young as you are now, and it had to do with my decision to follow that
guide.
I knew
what agency was and knew how important it was to be individual and to be
independent, to be free. I somehow knew there was one thing the Lord would
never take from me, and that was my free agency. I would not surrender my
agency to any being but to Him! I determined that I would give Him the one
thing that He would never take--my agency. I decided, by myself, that from that
time on I would do things His way.
That was a
great trial for me, for I thought I was giving away the most precious thing I
possessed. I was not wise enough in my youth to know that because I exercised
my agency and decided myself, I was not losing it. It was strengthened!
("Spiritual Crocodiles," Ensign, May 1976, p. 32)
Essential Conditions of Agency
Bruce R. McConkie
Four great
principles must be in force if there is to be agency:
1. Laws
must exist, laws ordained by an Omnipotent power, laws which can be obeyed or
disobeyed;
2.
Opposites must exist--good and evil, virtue and vice, right and wrong--that is,
there must be an opposition, one force pulling one way and another pulling the
other.
3. A
knowledge of good and evil must be had by those who are to enjoy the agency,
that is, they must know the difference between the opposites; and
4. An
unfettered power of choice must prevail. (Mormon Doctrine, p. 26)
Harold B. Lee
But, you
ask, why does God, if He truly loves his children, permit Satan to tempt us and
thereby jeopardize our chances to gain the best experiences in mortality and
return to enjoy eternal life in His presence? The answer is given by a great
prophet-teacher: "Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act
for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he
was enticed by the one [which is evil] or the other [which is good]." (2
Nephi 2:16.) Think about that for a moment. If there were no opposition to
good, would there be any chance to exercise your agency or right to choose? To
deny you that privilege would be to deny you the opportunity to grow in
knowledge, experience, and power. God has given laws with penalties affixed so
that man might be made afraid of sin and be guided into paths of truth and
duty. (See
Next to life itself, free agency is God's greatest gift to
mankind, providing thereby the greatest opportunity for the children of God to
advance in this second estate of mortality. A prophet-leader on this continent
explained this to his son as recorded in an ancient scripture: that to bring
about these, the Lord's eternal purposes, there must be opposites, an
enticement by the good on the one hand and by the evil on the other, or to say
it in the language of the scriptures, "... the forbidden fruit in
opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other being
bitter." This father further explained, "Wherefore, the Lord God gave
unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for
himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other." (2
Nephi 2:15-16.) [Stand Ye In Holy Places, p.235]
Preservation of Agency
More Important Than Life
Marion G.
Romney
The
preservation of free agency is more important than the preservation of life
itself. As a matter of fact, without it, there would be no existence.
(Conference Report, October 1968, p.65)
Agency Essential for
Growth and Development
Marion G.
Romney
Latter-day
Saints not only believe that freedom to make one's own choices is an
inalienable divine right; they also know that the exercise of it is essential
to man's growth and development. Deprived of it, men would be but puppets in the
hands of fate. ( (Conference Report, October 1968, p.65)
No Enduring Improvement Without
Agency
Richard G.
Scott
No
enduring improvement can occur without righteous exercise of agency. Do not
attempt to override agency. The Lord himself would not do that. Forced
obedience yields no blessings (see D&C 58:26-33). [“To Help a Loved One in
Need," Ensign, May 1988, p. 60]
Agency Necessary For Individual
Spiritual Growth
Dean L.
Larsen
When we
understand what is right and what is wrong, we are in a position to exercise
our freedom in making choices. In so doing, we must stand accountable for our
decisions, and we cannot escape the inevitable consequences of these choices.
Such freedom to exercise moral agency is essential in an environment where
people have the highest prospects for progress and development.
By our
very endowment as children of an Eternal Father, we have had implanted within
our souls the urgency to be free. It is natural for us to want to be
accountable for our own fates, because there is a whispering within us
confirming that this accountability is absolutely essential to the attainment
of our eternal destiny.
The
existence of laws, regulations, and procedures has never been sufficient to
compel men to obedience. Productive obedience comes through the exercise of
free will. ...
... Today
we are being encouraged to accept greater responsibility for the allocation of
our time, for our spiritual development through personal and family study of
the gospel, and for giving loving Christian service. We must be willing to
respond to this new challenge. Our willingness to accept this added
accountability will exert an influence that will reach far beyond our Sunday
worship service and religious life.
Unless we
retain a vibrant desire to be free, and unless we understand and practice the
principles that give life to essential freedoms, we have little reason to hope
they will endure. If we allow ourselves to accept dependency and regulation and
to cease valuing independence and self-accountability, then we are vulnerable
to the forces that destroy freedom. If righteousness is judged primarily by the
degree to which one responds to programmed activity, then a condition develops
within which opportunities for progress decline. The resulting tragedy affects
the mortal potential of man and has a profound effect on his eternal
possibilities as well.
Programmed
behavior cannot produce the level of spiritual development required to qualify
one for eternal life. A necessary range of freedom and self-determination is
essential to one's spiritual development. With an understanding of correct
principles and an intrinsic desire to apply them, one must be motivated within
himself to do many good things of his own free will; for, as the revelation
says, the power is in him wherein he is an agent unto himself (see D&C
58:27-28).
In
preserving our freedom for self-determination, we cannot ignore the need for
carefully ordered structure and procedure within government or any other
organization. A careful balance must be maintained between that which is
ordered for the welfare of the group and that which is reserved for the
conscience and the incentive of the individual.
This
necessary balance of freedom and restraint is essential to right relationships
within families and communities, and it cannot be ignored in our assignments
within the Church.
I have
pondered the injunctions that have come to us in recent months from leaders of
the Church to simplify and reduce the number of programmed activities
prescribed for the members. There seems to be a sensitivity to the need for
maintaining this essential balance. We have heard increased emphasis given to
the need for individual initiative and accountability within families. In his
concluding remarks at the April 1979 general conference, President Kimball
said:
"The
basic decisions needed for us to move forward, as a people, must be made by the
individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the
Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals. …
"…
Our individual spiritual growth is the key to major numerical growth in the
kingdom" (Ensign, May 1979, p. 82).
I rejoice
in the spirit and intent of this instruction from a living prophet. I see in it
the purposeful effort to preserve our individual accountability in the context
of our Church membership and religious life.
When
members of the Church exercise self-determination in their application of
gospel principles they need not relax in their compliance with these
principles. In fact, optimum progress can only occur when conditions are ideal
for it, and these conditions must include the necessary degree of freedom and
self-accountability. Anything less will guarantee stunted spiritual growth.
We must
understand that as freedom for unrestricted development is enhanced, the
possibilities for failure are also increased. The risk factor is great. The
ideal cannot be achieved otherwise. Celestial attainment can be reached in no
other environment. ("Self-Accountability and Human Progress," Ensign,
May 1980, pp. 76-78)
Without
Atonement Agency Would Be Fatal
Boyd K.
Packer
Lucifer in
clever ways manipulates our choices, deceiving us about sin and consequences.
He, and his angels with him, tempt us to be unworthy, even wicked. But he
cannot, in all eternity he cannot, with all his power he cannot completely
destroy us; not without our own consent. Had agency come to man without the
Atonement, it would have been a fatal gift. ("Atonement, Agency,
Accountability," Ensign, May 1988, p. 71)
The Atonement and Agency
Howard W. Hunter
Given the
freedom to choose, we may, in fact, make wrong choices, bad choices, hurtful
choices. And sometimes we do just that, but that is where the mission and mercy
of Jesus Christ comes into full force and glory. He has taken upon himself the
burden of all the world's risk. He has provided a mediating atonement for the
wrong choices we make. He is our advocate with the Father and has paid, in
advance, for the faults and foolishness we often see in the exercise of our freedom.
We must accept his gift, repent of those mistakes, and follow his commandments
in order to take full advantage of this redemption. The offer is always there;
the way is always open. We can always, even in our darkest hour and most
disastrous errors, look to the Son of God and live. ("The Golden Thread of
Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1989, p. 19)
Richard G.
Scott
I do not
fully understand how it is done, but this divine current does not take away
your moral agency. You can make the decisions you choose to make. Should your
choices be wrong, there is a path back--repentance. When its conditions are
fully met, the Atonement of the Savior provides a release from the demands of
justice for the errors made. He said, "I the Lord cannot look upon sin
with the least degree of allowance; nevertheless, he that repents and does the
commandments of the Lord shall be forgiven" (D&C 1:31-32). ("He
Lives," Ensign, Nov. 1999, p. 87)
Marion G.
Romney
By
yielding to the temptation of Satan we become unclean. To the extent to which
we yield we become carnal, sensual, and devilish. As a consequence, we are
banished from the presence of God. Without being cleansed from the stain of our
transgressions we cannot be readmitted into the presence of God because
"no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom." (3 Ne. 27:19.) Men, in
the exercise of their own free agency, having disqualified themselves for a
place in the
Free Government Necessary For
Exercise of Agency
Dallin H.
Oaks
"That
every man may act … according to the moral agency which I have given unto him,
that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
"Therefore,
it is not right that any man should be in bondage one to another.
"And
for this purpose have I established the Constitution of this land."
(D&C 101:78-80.)
In other
words, the most desirable condition for the effective exercise of God-given
moral agency is a condition of maximum freedom and responsibility. ( "The
Divinely Inspired Constitution," Ensign, Feb. 1992, 72)
Agency and Laws
Wilford
Woodruff
The God of
heaven, who created this earth and placed his children upon it, gave unto them
a law whereby they might be exalted and saved in a kingdom of glory. For there
is a law given unto all kingdoms, and all things are governed by law throughout
the whole universe, Whatever law anyone keeps, he is preserved by that law, and
he receives whatever reward that law guarantee unto him. It is the will of God
that all his children should obey the highest law, that they may receive the highest
glory that is ordained for all immortal beings. But God has given all his
children an agency, to choose what law they will keep. (The Discourses of
Wilford Woodruff, p.10)
One of the
John
Taylor
Besides
the preaching of the gospel, we have another mission, namely, the perpetuation
of the free agency of man and the maintenance of liberty, freedom, and the
rights of man. There are certain principles that belong to humanity outside of
the Constitution, outside of the laws outside of all the enactments and plans
of man, among which is the right to live. God gave us the right and no man: No
government gave it to us, and no government has a right to take it away from
us.
We have a
right to liberty -- that was a right that God gave to all men; and if there has
been oppression, fraud, or tyranny in the earth, it has been the result of the
wickedness and corruptions of men and has always been opposed to God and the
principles of truth righteousness, virtue, and all principles that are
calculated to elevate mankind. (The Gospel Kingdom, p.222)
Word of Wisdom Helps Us Keep
Our Agency
Boyd K.
Packer
Narcotic addiction serves the design of the prince of darkness,
for it disrupts the channel to the holy spirit of truth. At present, the
adversary has an unfair advantage. Addiction has the capacity to disconnect the
human will and nullify moral agency. It can rob one of the power to decide.
Agency is too fundamental a doctrine to be left in such jeopardy. ("Revelation
in a Changing World," Ensign, Nov. 1989, p.14)
Robert D.
Hales
Warning
lights of a personal nature are activated for many reasons. For example, the
use of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, or pornography would turn on warning lights,
because when we choose to use these substances, we become slaves and our moral
agency is limited. We must be prepared with preconditioned responses to reject
these things when they are offered to us, or we will jeopardize our right to
have the Spirit to guide us and direct us and our ability to return to our
Heavenly Father with honor. ("Return with Honor," Ensign, June
1999, p. 10)
Must Make Certain Judgments to
Exercise Agency
Dallin H.
Oaks
In
contrast to forbidding mortals to make final judgments, the scriptures require
mortals to make what I will call "intermediate judgments." These
judgments are essential to the exercise of personal moral agency. ("
'Judge Not' and Judging," Ensign, Aug. 1999, p. 9)
Agency
Is Not the Ultimate Goal - It Is a Means to an End!
Dallin H.
Oaks
My next
example in this message on "weightier" matters is the role of choice,
or agency.
Few
concepts have more potential to mislead us than the idea that choice, or
agency, is an ultimate goal. For Latter-day Saints, this potential confusion is
partly a product of the fact that moral agency--the right to choose--is a
fundamental condition of mortal life. Without this precious gift of God, the
purpose of mortal life could not be realized. To secure our agency in mortality
we fought a mighty contest the book of Revelation calls a "war in
heaven." This premortal contest ended with the devil and his angels being
cast out of heaven and being denied the opportunity of having a body in mortal
life (see Rev. 12:7-9).
But our
war to secure agency was won. The test in this postwar mortal estate is not to
secure choice but to use it--to choose good instead of evil so that we can
achieve our eternal goals. In mortality, choice is a method, not a goal.
Of course,
mortals must still resolve many questions concerning what restrictions or
consequences should be placed upon choices. But those questions come under the
heading of freedom, not agency. Many do not understand that important fact. We
are responsible to use our agency in a world of choices. It will not do to
pretend that our agency has been taken away when we are not free to exercise it
without unwelcome consequences.
Because
choice is a method, choices can be exercised either way on any matter,
and our choices can serve any goal. Therefore, those who consider freedom of
choice as a goal can easily slip into the position of trying to justify any
choice that is made. "Choice" can even become a slogan to justify one
particular choice. For example, today one who says "I am pro-choice"
is clearly understood as opposing any legal restrictions upon a woman''s choice
to abort a fetus.
More than
30 years ago, as a young law professor, I published one of the earliest
articles on the legal consequences of abortion. Since that time I have been a
knowledgeable observer of the national debate and the unfortunate Supreme Court
decisions on the so-called "right to abortion." I have been
fascinated with how cleverly those who sought and now defend legalized abortion
on demand have moved the issue away from a debate on the moral, ethical, and
medical pros and cons of legal restrictions on abortion and focused the debate
on the slogan or issue of choice. The slogan or sound bite
"pro-choice" has had an almost magical effect in justifying abortion
and in neutralizing opposition to it.
Pro-choice
slogans have been particularly seductive to Latter-day Saints because we know
that moral agency, which can be described as the power of choice, is a
fundamental necessity in the gospel plan. All Latter-day Saints are pro-choice
according to that theological definition. But being pro-choice on the need for
moral agency does not end the matter for us. Choice is a method, not the
ultimate goal. We are accountable for our choices, and only righteous choices
will move us toward our eternal goals.
In this effort,
Latter-day Saints follow the teachings of the prophets. On this subject our
prophetic guidance is clear. The Lord commanded, "Thou shalt not … kill,
nor do anything like unto it" (D&C 59:6). The Church opposes elective
abortion for personal or social convenience. Our members are taught that,
subject only to some very rare exceptions, they must not submit to, perform,
encourage, pay for, or arrange for an abortion. That direction tells us what we
need to do on the weightier matters of the law, the choices that will move us
toward eternal life.
In today's
world we are not true to our teachings if we are merely pro-choice. We must
stand up for the right choice. Those who persist in refusing to think
beyond slogans and sound bites like pro-choice wander from the goals they
pretend to espouse and wind up giving their support to results they might not
support if those results were presented without disguise.
For
example, consider the uses some have made of the possible exceptions to our
firm teachings against abortion. Our leaders have taught that the only possible
exceptions are when the pregnancy resulted from rape or incest, or when a
competent physician has determined that the life or health of the mother is in
serious jeopardy or that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the
baby to survive beyond birth. But even these exceptions do not justify abortion
automatically. Because abortion is a most serious matter, we are counseled that
it should be considered only after the persons responsible have consulted with
their bishops and received divine confirmation through prayer.
Some
Latter-day Saints say they deplore abortion, but they give these exceptional
circumstances as a basis for their pro-choice position that the law should
allow abortion on demand in all circumstances. Such persons should face the
reality that the circumstances described in these three exceptions are
extremely rare. For example, conception by incest or rape--the circumstance
most commonly cited by those who use exceptions to argue for abortion on
demand--is involved in only a tiny minority of abortions. More than 95 percent
of the millions of abortions performed each year extinguish the life of a fetus
conceived by consensual relations. Thus the effect in over 95 percent of abortions
is not to vindicate choice but to avoid its consequences. Using arguments of
"choice" to try to justify altering the consequences of choice is a
classic case of omitting what the Savior called "the weightier matters of
the law."
A
prominent basis for the secular or philosophical arguments for abortion on
demand is the argument that a woman should have control over her own body. Not
long ago I received a letter from a thoughtful Latter-day Saint outside the
"Every
woman has, within the limits of nature, the right to choose what will or will
not happen to her body. Every woman has, at the same time, the responsibility
for the way she uses her body. If by her choice she behaves in such a way that
a human fetus is conceived, she has not only the right to but also the
responsibility for that fetus. If it is an unwanted pregnancy, she is
not justified in ending it with the claim that it interferes with her right to
choose. She herself chose what would happen to her body by risking pregnancy.
She had her choice. If she has no better reason, her conscience should tell her
that abortion would be a highly irresponsible choice.
"What
constitutes a good reason? Since a human fetus has intrinsic and infinite human
value, the only good reason for an abortion would be the violation or
deprivation of or the threat to the woman's right to choose what will or will
not happen to her body. Social, educational, financial, and personal
considerations alone do not outweigh the value of the life that is in the
fetus. These considerations by themselves may properly lead to the decision to
place the baby for adoption after its birth, but not to end its existence in
utero.
"The
woman's right to choose what will or will not happen to her body is obviously
violated by rape or incest. When conception results in such a case, the woman
has the moral as well as the legal right to an abortion because the condition
of pregnancy is the result of someone else's irresponsibility, not hers. She
does not have to take responsibility for it. To force her by law to carry the fetus
to term would be a further violation of her right. She also has the right to
refuse an abortion. This would give her the right to the fetus and also the
responsibility for it. She could later relinquish this right and this
responsibility through the process of placing the baby for adoption after it is
born. Whichever way is a responsible choice."
The man
who wrote those words also applied the same reasoning to the other exceptions
allowed by our doctrine--life of the mother and a baby that will not survive
birth.
I conclude
this discussion of choice with two more short points.
If we say
we are anti-abortion in our personal life but pro-choice in public policy, we
are saying that we will not use our influence to establish public policies that
encourage righteous choices on matters God's servants have defined as serious
sins. I urge Latter-day Saints who have taken that position to ask themselves
which other grievous sins should be decriminalized or smiled on by the law due
to this theory that persons should not be hampered in their choices. Should we
decriminalize or lighten the legal consequences of child abuse? of cruelty to
animals? of pollution? of fraud? of fathers who choose to abandon their
families for greater freedom or convenience?
Similarly,
some reach the pro-choice position by saying we should not legislate morality.
Those who take this position should realize that the law of crimes legislates
nothing but morality. Should we repeal all laws with a moral basis so that our
government will not punish any choices some persons consider immoral? Such an
action would wipe out virtually all of the laws against crimes.
("Weightier Matters," Ensign, Jan. 2001, pp. 13-15)
Our Use of Agency Fashions Our Future
Howard W.
Hunter
When the
children of
"Behold,
I set before you this day a blessing and a curse;
"A
blessing, if ye obey the commandments of the Lord your God, which I command you
this day:
"And
a curse, if ye will not obey the commandments of the Lord your God."
(Deut. 11:26-28.)
That is
the choice the Lord puts before us as we face our own promised lands and our
own bright futures. We are given the knowledge, the help, the enticement, and
the freedom to choose the path of eternal safety and salvation. The choice to
do so is ours. By divine decree before this world was, the actual choice is and
always has been our own.
Let us be
conscious of the fact that our future is being fashioned by the decisions we
make. ("The Golden Thread of Choice," Ensign, Nov. 1989, p.
19)
Agency Necessary to Inspiration
Boyd K.
Packer
You have
your agency, and inspiration does not--perhaps cannot--flow unless you ask for
it, or someone asks for you. No message in scripture is repeated more often
than the invitation, even the command, to pray--to ask. Prayer is so essential
a part of revelation that without it the veil may remain closed to you. Learn
to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees.
("Personal Revelation: The Gift, the Test, and the Promise," Ensign,
Nov. 1994, p. 59)
Misuse of Agency Within the Church
Ezra Taft Benson Because God has given men their
agency, there will always be those who will misuse it. The gospel net draws in
the good and the bad, the best and the worst. The worst because the devil,
before the final cleansing, will put some of his followers within the kingdom
in order to try and destroy it. We have some of them within the kingdom today,
and in due course their number shall be known. Time has a way of taking care of
all things, of elevating the good and bringing down the bad. If we see things
going on within the kingdom that disturb us, we might first resolve, if the
matter falls within our stewardship, to go to the person or people involved. If
it is of such a nature that we think it should be called to the attention of
higher authority, then we can, in a kindly and quiet manner, take the necessary
steps at the proper level. (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.82)
We Have Agency to Believe But
Not Teach What We Want
Boyd K.
Packer
It is not
the belief in a false notion that is the problem, it is the teaching of it to
others. In the Church we have the agency to believe whatever we want to believe
about whatever we want to believe. But we are not authorized to teach it to
others as truth. ("From Such Turn Away," Ensign, May 1985, p.
35)
Things
That Aid The Proper Use of Agency
Spencer J.
Condie
Our loving
Father in Heaven has given us many indispensable resources and means to guide
us in the wise exercise of our agency.
The Gift
of the Holy Ghost. In D&C 33:16, the Lord revealed that "the power of
[his] Spirit quickeneth all things." I believe that "all things"
means all things. He will not usurp or override our moral agency, but when
given an invitation, his Spirit will augment and accelerate our agency. When
the Spirit, the gift of the Holy Ghost, is given a chance to influence us,
decisions become easier and despair dissipates as solutions to our challenges
become clearly evident.
The Book
of Mormon prophets make it very clear that the Holy Ghost is willing to exert a
very powerful influence in our lives when we are responsive to his promptings.
Nephi, Mormon, and Ether explained that the Spirit strives with us to guide our
lives on righteous paths (see 2 Ne. 26:11; Morm. 5:16; Ether 2:15).
The
promptings of the Spirit were never intended to supplant our moral agency, but
the Spirit will underscore preferable options in our behavior and clarify a
certain course of action in our hearts and minds.
The
Savior's Example. Jesus Christ set the perfect example for us. Without boasting,
he acknowledged that "the Father hath not left me alone; for I do always
those things that please him" (John 8:29). He has extended to each of us
the invitation to "learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the
meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me" (D&C 19:23).
Scripture. Another
indispensable resource that assists us in using our agency wisely is holy
scripture. The Apostle Paul explained, "All scripture is given by
inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for
correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Tim. 3:16). Nephi gave
the additional prophetic promise that when we "feast upon the words of
Christ, … the words of Christ will tell [us] all things what [we] should
do" (2 Ne. 32:3). In short, the scriptures are our life script, our
instruction manual in mortality, if you will. But of course, if the universal
teachings in holy writ are to benefit us, we must follow Nephi's additional
counsel to "liken all scriptures unto us, that it might be for our profit
and learning" (1 Ne. 19:23).
Testimony. We learn
in the book of Revelation that during the war in heaven, those who overcame
Satan and his followers did so "by the blood of the Lamb, and by the word
of their testimony" (see Rev. 12:7-11). A testimony was an invaluable
weapon in the war in heaven, and it is an indispensable weapon here on earth.
A
testimony that is continually being nourished and is continually growing will
help us at every crossroad when important decisions are made. Indeed, a
testimony supplants the need to make certain decisions under fire, because we
already know well in advance the course of action we will take.
Power of
Prayer. The Apostle James eloquently observed that "the effectual
fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (James 5:16). Alma the
Elder would certainly be an ardent advocate of this statement by James, for
when the angel appeared to Alma's wayward son, he explained to Alma the Younger
that "the Lord hath heard the prayers of his people, and also the prayers
of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has prayed with much faith
concerning thee" (Mosiah 27:14).
All
prayers are, indeed, answered, and it is well to remember that sometimes the
answer is not in the affirmative. As the Son of God prayed in the
Fasting. There
are great blessings promised to those who fast. Through the prophet Isaiah, the
Lord posed an important question, followed by profound promises: "Is not
this the fast that I have chosen? to loose the bands of wickedness, to undo the
heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free, and that ye break every
yoke?" (Isa. 58:6.)
When we
subordinate our physical needs and desires to the dictates of the Spirit, we
tap into a spiritual strength beyond our own. If we are in bondage to bad
habits or unkind thoughts, we can break the bands of weakness or wickedness
through fasting. Our hearts will be filled with love and forgiveness, and we
can get on with our lives after having broken "every yoke."
Ordinances.
Ordinances are outward manifestations of inner covenants, commitments, and
promises. Ordinances are not optional on the pathway to perfection. These
include baptism and confirmation (see John 3:5; 2 Ne. 31:5-12); ordination to
the Melchizedek Priesthood, for all males (see D&C 84:33-42); the temple
endowment and the sealing ordinance (see D&C 132:15-24).
Participation
in ordinances helps us use our agency wisely and well, and a constant
commitment to covenants spares us the emotional energy required to decide and
re-decide what we are going to do each time we face temptation. Each week,
through the ordinance of the sacrament, we solemnly covenant to "always
remember him" (Moro. 4:3; Moro. 5:2; emphasis added).
Living
Prophets. A loving Heavenly Father has provided us with living prophets to
receive and to help us understand his mind and will. In speaking of his
servants, the Savior said: "And whatsoever they shall speak when moved
upon by the Holy Ghost shall be scripture, shall be the will of the Lord, shall
be the mind of the Lord, shall be the word of the Lord, shall be the voice of
the Lord, and the power of God unto salvation" (D&C 68:4). Elsewhere
he declared that "whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my
servants, it is the same" (D&C 1:38).
We sustain
the fifteen men serving today in the First Presidency and in the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators. They are watchmen on the
tower who point out the course of action we should take and who see beyond the
bend in the road and beyond the horizon.
Patriarchal
Blessings. President Ezra Taft Benson encouraged every youth to receive a
patriarchal blessing and admonished, "Study it carefully and regard it as
personal scripture for you--for that is what it is. A patriarchal blessing is
the inspired and prophetic statement of your life's mission, together with
blessings, cautions, and admonitions as the patriarch may be prompted to
give" (Ensign, May 1986, p. 43). ["Agency: The Gift of
Choices," Ensign, Sept. 1995, pp. 21-22]
Enemies of Agency
Spencer J.
Condie
Satan
would have us waste our time in activities that impede our progress on the
pathway to perfection. Following are some of the many enemies of agency.
Addiction. Many
people lead empty lives completely devoid of purpose, meaning, and direction.
Empty lives must be filled with something, anything, so some people fill their
empty lives with endless hours of television, while others become addicted to
pornography, alcohol, tobacco, and other drugs. Still others develop an
unhealthy capacity for overeating. And ever so surely these individuals trade
their moral agency for their addiction until they are no longer able to
exercise their agency. All of their decisions are now on automatic pilot, with
seemingly little hope of changing the direction of their lives. There is little
advantage to living in a free country if we are in bondage to personal habits.
Debt. The
accumulation of financial debt is another dangerous incursion upon our moral
agency. A poignant description of the enslaving power of debt was provided by
the late President J. Reuben Clark: "Interest never sleeps nor sickens nor
dies; it never goes to the hospital; it works on Sundays and holidays; it never
takes a vacation … it has no love, no sympathy; it is as hard and soulless as a
granite cliff. Once in debt, interest is your companion every minute of the day
and night; you cannot shun it or slip away from it; you cannot dismiss it; it
yields neither to entreaties, demands, or orders; and whenever you get in its
way or cross its course or fail to meet its demands, it crushes you" (in
Conference Report, 6 April 1938, p. 103).
There are,
of course, justifiable occasions when one incurs debt, such as for the purchase
of a house or a major business investment. But even then, great wisdom should
be used.
Discouragement.
Discouragement and its fellow travelers of depression, despair, and
hopelessness are much like the proverbial rocking chair: they keep us busily
occupied, but they do not take us anywhere.
I have
found through personal experience that whenever I am discouraged and start
thinking only of myself and how hard hit I have been, when I kneel down and
count my blessings, all of a sudden my personal problems do not seem large at
all.
President
Spencer W. Kimball provided us with excellent counsel in overcoming
discouragement and finding meaning to our lives: "When we concern
ourselves more with others, there is less time to be concerned with ourselves.
In the midst of the miracle of serving, there is the promise of Jesus, that by
losing ourselves, we find ourselves (see Matt. 10:39). … The more we serve our
fellowmen in appropriate ways, the more substance there is to our souls. …
Indeed, it is easier to 'find' ourselves because there is so much more of us to
find!" (Ensign, Dec. 1974, p. 2.)
Cultural
Traditions. A recurrent theme throughout the Book of Mormon is the
constraining influence of the false "tradition of their fathers"
passed down from Laman and Lemuel through subsequent generations (see Mosiah
10:11-12;
Cultural
customs and traditions often provide a useful map for the members of a given
society, but if we are to become members of a celestial culture, we must
overcome the natural man reflected in earthly cultures (see Mosiah 3:19;
D&C 88:22). Indeed, some cultural enticements--such as following the crowd
in matters of fashion and acceptance of worldly standards--are spiritually, and
sometimes even physically, destructive. John the Revelator admonished us to
"love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man
love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 Jn. 2:15;
emphasis added; see James 4:4). ["Agency: The Gift of Choices," Ensign,
Sept. 1995, pp. 20-21]
(2 Nephi 2:26-27.) – Adam’s fall, we are cast
off also (We would be Sons of Perdition).
Without the Atonement we have neither agency nor choice and our free
will is useless.
26 And the
Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men
from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have
become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to
be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last
day, according to the commandments which God hath given.
27
Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them
which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal
life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death,
according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men
might be miserable like unto himself.
Christ
has unconditionally atoned for Adam’s transgression, we are free forever, free
to choose and act.
Adam
chooses to fall so we can be born into this world. When we are born into this mortal body we are
cursed, and cannot return back to the presence of God, we need a Savior!
Spirits Contaminated Upon Birth
Elder
Orson Pratt
Of the Quorum of the Twelve
“Spirits,
though pure and innocent, before they entered the body, would become
contaminated by entering a fallen tabernacle; not contaminated by their own
sins, but by their connection with a body brought into the world by the fall,
earthly, fallen, imperfect, and corrupt in its nature. A spirit, having
entered such a tabernacle, though it may commit no personal sin, is unfit to
return again into the presence of a holy Being. . .”
(“The Pre-existence of Man,” The Seer, Vol. 1, No. 7, (July, 1853).
Republished by Eugene Wagner,
Teachings
Concerning the
The Fall
of Adam
The
Importance of Studying the Fall
Ezra Taft Benson
The Book
of Mormon Saints knew that the plan of redemption must start with the account
of the fall of Adam. In the words of
Just as a
man does not really desire food until he is hungry, so he does not desire the
salvation of Christ until he knows why he needs Christ.
No one
adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he understands and
accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all mankind. And no other
book in the world explains this vital doctrine nearly as well as the Book of
Mormon.
Brethren
and sisters, we all need to take a careful inventory of our performance and
also the performance of those over whom we preside to be sure that we are
teaching the "great plan of the Eternal God" to the Saints.
Are we
accepting and teaching what the revelations tell us about the Creation, Adam
and the fall of man, and redemption from that fall through the atonement of
Christ? Do we frequently review the crucial questions which
Do we
understand and are we effective in teaching and preaching the Atonement? What
personal meaning does the Lord's suffering in Gethsemane and on
What does
redemption from the Fall mean to us? In the words of
Aspects
of the Story of the Fall are Symbolic
Bruce R. McConkie
As to the Fall itself we are told that the Lord planted "the
tree of knowledge of good and evil" in the midst of the garden. (Moses
3:9.) To Adam and Eve the command came: "Of every tree of the garden thou
mayest freely eat, But of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt
not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given
unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou eatest thereof
thou shalt surely die." (Moses 3:16-17.) Again the account is speaking
figuratively. What is meant by partaking of the fruit of the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil is that our first parents complied with whatever
laws were involved so that their bodies would change from their state of
paradisiacal immortality to a state of natural mortality. ( "Christ and
the Creation," Ensign, June 1982, p. 15; emphasis added)
Charles W.
Penrose
We are
placed here in a world of opposites. Just as it was symbolized in the Garden of
Eden with regard to the tree of life and the tree of death, or the tree of the
knowledge of good and evil. So it is here. All through the ages that are past,
God has placed before his children good on the one hand and evil on the other,
and it is the privilege of all men to choose the good or the evil, which they
please. (Journal of Discourses, 22:86)
The
Condition of Adam and Eve in the Garden
Joseph Fielding Smith
We find
Adam in the Garden of Eden with the promise that he can live there, he can stay
there, he can enjoy himself as far as is possible under the conditions, as long
as he wants to, as long as he does not do something he is told not to do, and
that is to partake of the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil. He
was told that in the day that he should eat of that fruit he should surely die.
We find,
then, Adam's status before the fall was:
1. He was
not subject to death.
2. He was
in the presence of God. He saw him just as you see your fathers; was in his
presence, and learned his language. Now if any of you are professors from our
schools of language, and have an idea that language came as these theorists
say, I am going to tell you that Adam had a perfect language, for he was taught
the language of God. That was the first language upon this earth. So much for
those theories.
3. He had
no posterity.
4. He was
without knowledge of good and evil. He had knowledge, of course. He could
speak. He could converse. There were many things he could be taught and was
taught; but under the conditions in which he was living at that time it was
impossible for him to visualize or understand the power of good and evil. He
did not know what pain was. He did not know what sorrow was; and a thousand
other things that have come to us in this life that Adam did not know in the
Garden of Eden and could not understand and would not have known had he
remained there. That was his status before the fall. (Doctrines of Salvation,
1:107-108)
Bruce R. McConkie
Thus we
learn that the initial creation was paradisiacal; death and mortality had not
yet entered the world. There was no mortal flesh upon the earth for any form of
life. The Creation was past, but mortality as we know it lay ahead. All things
had been created in a state of paradisiacal immortality. It was of this day
that Lehi said: "And all things which were created must have remained in
the same state in which they were after they were created; and they must have
remained forever, and had no end." (2 Ne. 2:22.) If there is no death, all
things of necessity must continue to live everlastingly and without end.
Continuing
the divine commentary about the Creation, we read: "And I, the Lord God,
formed man from the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the
breath of life; and man became a living soul, the first flesh upon the earth,
the first man also; nevertheless, all things were before created; but
spiritually were they created and made according to my word." (Moses 3:7.)
How filled with meaning are these words! The physical body of Adam is made from
the dust of this earth, the very earth to which the Gods came down to form him.
His "spirit" enters his body, as Abraham expresses it. (See Abr.
5:7.) Man becomes a living, immortal soul; body and spirit are joined together.
He has been created "spiritually," as all things were because there
is as yet no mortality. Then comes the Fall; Adam falls; mortality and
procreation and death commence. Fallen man is mortal; he has mortal flesh; he
is "the first flesh upon the earth." And the effects of his fall pass
upon all created things. They fall in that they too become mortal. Death enters
the world; mortality reigns; procreation commences; and the Lord's great and
eternal purposes roll onward.
Thus,
"all things" were created as spirit entities in heaven; then
"all things" were created in a paradisiacal state upon the earth;
that is, "spiritually were they created," for there was as yet no
death. They had spiritual bodies made of the elements of the earth as
distinguished from the mortal bodies they would receive after the Fall
when death would enter the scheme of things. Natural bodies are subject to the
natural death; spiritual bodies, being paradisiacal in nature, are not subject
to death. Hence the need for a fall and the mortality and death that grows out
of it.
Thus, as the interpolative exposition in the divine word explains,
"I, the Lord God, planted a garden eastward in
Orson
Pratt
This tree,
of which they both ate, was called the tree of knowledge of good and evil. Why
was it thus termed? I will explain a mystery to you, brethren, why this was
called so. Adam and Eve, while in the garden of Eden, had not the knowledge you
and I have; it is true, they had a degree of intelligence, but they had not the
experience, they had not the knowledge by experience, which you and I have: all
they knew was barely what they knew when they came there; they knew a
commandment had been given to them, and they had sufficient knowledge to name
the beasts of the field as they came up before them; but as for the knowledge
of good, they had not got it, because they never had anything contrary to good
placed before them.
We will
bring up an example. For instance, suppose you had never tasted anything that
was sweet--never had the sensation of sweetness--could you have any correct
idea of the term sweetness? No. On the other hand, how could you understand
bitter if you never had tasted bitterness? Could you define the term to them
who had experienced this sensation, or knew it? No. I will bring another
example. Take a man who had been perfectly blind from his infancy, and never
saw the least gleam of light--could you describe colors to him? No. Would he
know anything about red, blue, violet, or yellow? No; you could not describe it
to him by any way you might undertake. But by some process let his eyes be
opened, and let him gaze upon the sun beams that reflect upon a watery cloud,
producing the rainbow, where he would see a variety of colors, he could then
appreciate them for himself; but tell him about colors when he is blind, he
would not know them from a piece of earthenware. So with Adam previous to
partaking of this fruit; good could not be described to him, because he never
had experienced the opposite. As to undertaking to explain to him what evil
was, you might as well have undertaken to explain, to a being that never had,
for one moment, had his eyes closed to the light, what darkness is. The tree of
knowledge of good and evil was placed there that man might gain certain
information he never could have gained otherwise; by partaking of the forbidden
fruit he experienced misery, then he knew that he was once happy, previously he
could not comprehend what happiness meant, what good was; but now he knows it
by contrast, now he is filled with sorrow and wretchedness, now he sees the
difference between his former and present condition, and if by any means he
could be restored to his first position, he would be prepared to realize it,
like the man that never had seen the light. Let the man to whom all the
beauties of light have been displayed, and who has never been in darkness, be
in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, deprived of his natural sight; what a
change this would be to him; he never knew anything about darkness before, he
never understood the principle at all; it never entered the catalogue of his
ideas, until darkness came upon him, and his eye-sight was destroyed: now he
can comprehend that the medium he once existed in was light. Now, says he, if I
could only regain my sight, I could appreciate it, for I understand the
contrast; restore me back again to my sight, and let me enjoy the light I once
had; let me gaze upon the works of creation, let me look on the beauties
thereof again, and I will be satisfied, and my joy will be full. It was so with
Adam; let the way be prepared for his redemption, and the redemption of his
posterity, and all creation that groans in pain to be delivered--let them be
restored back again to what they lost through the fall, and they will be
prepared to appreciate it. (Journal of Discourses, 1:285)
The Fall
Bruce R. McConkie
We do not
know how the fall was accomplished any more than we know how the Lord caused
the earth to come into being and to spin through the heavens in its paradisiacal
state. We have been given only enough information about the creation and the
fall to enable us to understand the purposes of the Lord, to exercise faith in
him, and to gain our salvation.
As to the
fall, the scriptures set forth that there were in the Garden of Eden two trees.
One was the tree of life, which figuratively refers to eternal life; the other
was the tree of knowledge of good and evil, which figuratively refers to how
and why and in what manner mortality and all that appertains to it came into
being. "Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat," the Lord
told our first parents, "but of the tree of the knowledge of good and
evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself,
for it is given unto thee; but, remember that I forbid it, for in the day thou
eatest thereof thou shalt surely die." (Moses 3:16-17.)
<>Eve
partook without full understanding; Adam partook knowing that unless he did so
he and Eve could not have children and fulfill the commandment they had
received to multiply and replenish the earth. After they had thus complied with
whatever the law was that brought mortality into being, the Lord said to Eve:
"I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception. In sorrow thou
shalt bring forth children, and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he
shall rule over thee." To Adam the decree came: "Cursed shall be the
ground for thy sake; in sorrow shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life.
Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee." Thus the
paradisiacal earth was cursed; thus it fell; and thus it became as it now is.
Adam was
then told that he would surely die, returning through death to the dust whence
his physical body had come. And then the Lord said to his Only Begotten:
"Behold, the man is become as one of us to know good and evil; and now
lest he put forth his hand and partake also of the tree of life and eat and
live forever [in his sins!], therefore I, the Lord God, will send him forth
from the Garden of Eden to till the ground from whence he was taken."
(Moses 4:22-29.) Such is the ancient account of the fall. (A New Witness for
the Articles of Faith, 85-86)
Results
of the Fall
Orson F.
Whitney
Joseph
Fielding Smith
Adam's
status after the fall was:
1. He was banished from the presence of God and partook of the
spiritual death. Now that was a terrible calamity. At least, as we read in the
9th chapter of 2nd Nephi, it would have been a most terrible thing, that
banishment from the presence of God, if there had been no remedy."
2. He also partook of the temporal or physical death, and that
would have been also a terrible calamity if there had been no remedy for
it."
3. He gained knowledge and experience--knowledge of good and evil.
4. He obtained the great gift of posterity. (Doctrines of
Salvation, 1:111)
Because of Adam's transgression, a spiritual death--banishment
from the presence of the Lord--as well as the temporal death, were pronounced
upon him. The spiritual death came at the time of the fall and banishment; and
the seeds of the temporal death were also sown at that same time; that is, a
physical change came over Adam and Eve, who became mortal, and were thus
subject to the ills of the flesh which resulted in their gradual decline to old
age and finally the separation of the spirit from the body.
Before
this temporal death took place the Lord, by his own voice and the visitation
and ministration of angels, taught Adam the principles of the gospel and
administered unto him the saving ordinances, through which he was again
restored to the favor of the Lord and to his presence. Also, through the
atonement, not only Adam, but all his posterity were redeemed from the temporal
effects of the fall, and shall come forth in the resurrection to receive
immortality. (Doctrines of Salvation, 1:111-112)
Bruce R. McConkie
The fall
of Adam brought temporal and spiritual death into the world. Temporal death is
the natural death; it occurs when body and spirit separate, thus leaving the
body to return to the dust whence it came. Spiritual death is to be cast out of
the presence of the Lord and to die as pertaining to the things of
righteousness. Adam died spiritually when he was cast out of the heavenly
presence found in the garden, and he remained spiritually dead until he
repented and was born again through baptism and the receipt of the Holy Spirit.
Having thus the companionship of the Holy Ghost, he became alive in Christ and
was again guided and directed from on high. He was again in the presence of the
Lord. Adam died temporally when his spirit separated from his mortal body. (A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.86-87)
Russell M.
Nelson
To bring
the plan of happiness to fruition, God issued to Adam and Eve the first
commandment ever given to mankind. It was a commandment to beget children. A
law was explained to them. Should they eat from "the tree of the knowledge
of good and evil" (Genesis 2:17), their bodies would change; mortality and
eventual death would come upon them. But partaking of that fruit was
prerequisite to their parenthood.
While I do
not fully understand all the biochemistry involved, I do know that their
physical bodies did change; blood began to circulate in their bodies. Adam and
Eve thereby became mortal. Happily for us, they could also beget children and
fulfill the purposes for which the world was created. Happily for them,
"the Lord said unto Adam [and Eve26]: Behold I have forgiven thee thy
transgression in the Garden of Eden" (Moses 6:53). We and all mankind are
forever blessed because of Eve's great courage and wisdom. By partaking of the
fruit first, she did what needed to be done. Adam was wise enough to do
likewise. Accordingly, we could speak of the fall of Adam in terms of a mortal
creation, because "Adam fell that men might be" (2 Nephi 2:25).27
Other
blessings came to us through the Fall. It activated two closely coupled
additional gifts from God, nearly as precious as life itself--agency and
accountability. We became "free to choose liberty and eternal life . . .
or to choose captivity and death" (2 Nephi 2:27). Freedom of choice cannot
be exercised without accountability for choices made. (Conference Report, Oct.
1993, 46; or Ensign, Nov. 1993, p. 34)
Dallin H.
Oaks
To the first
man and woman on earth, the Lord said, "Be fruitful, and multiply"
(Moses 2:28; Genesis 1:28; see also Abraham 4:28). This commandment was first
in sequence and first in importance. It was essential that God's spirit
children have mortal birth and an opportunity to progress toward eternal life.
Consequently, all things related to procreation are prime targets for the
adversary's efforts to thwart the plan of God.
Necessity of the Fall
When Adam
and Eve received the first commandment, they were in a transitional state, no
longer in the spirit world but with physical bodies not yet subject to death
and not yet capable of procreation. They could not fulfill the Father's first
commandment without transgressing the barrier between the bliss of the Garden
of Eden and the terrible trials and wonderful opportunities of mortal life.
For
reasons that have not been revealed, this transition, or "fall,"
could not happen without a transgression--an exercise of moral agency amounting
to a willful breaking of a law (see Moses 6:59). This would be a planned
offense, a formality to serve an eternal purpose. The Prophet Lehi explained
that "if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen" but
would have remained in the same state in which he was created (2 Nephi 2:22).
"And
they would have had no children; wherefore they would have remained in a state
of innocence, having no joy, for they knew no misery; doing no good, for they
knew no sin" (v. 23).
But the
Fall was planned, Lehi concludes, because "all things have been done in
the wisdom of him who knoweth all things" (v. 24).
Eve's wisdom and courage
It was Eve
who first transgressed the limits of
Some
Christians condemn Eve for her act, concluding that she and her daughters are
somehow flawed by it. Not the Latter-day Saints! Informed by revelation, we
celebrate Eve's act and honor her wisdom and courage in the great episode
called the Fall (see Bruce R. McConkie, "Eve and the Fall," in Woman
[
Contrast between sin and transgression
This
suggested contrast between a sin and a transgression reminds us of the careful
wording in the second article of faith: "We believe that men will be
punished for their own sins, and not for Adam's transgression" (italics
added). It also echoes a familiar distinction in the law. Some acts, like murder,
are crimes because they are inherently wrong. Other acts, like operating
without a license, are crimes only because they are legally prohibited. Under
these distinctions, the act that produced the Fall was not a sin--inherently
wrong--but a transgression--wrong because it was formally prohibited. These
words are not always used to denote something different, but this distinction
seems meaningful in the circumstances of the Fall.
First
parents knew the Fall's necessity
Modern
revelation shows that our first parents understood the necessity of the Fall.
Adam declared, "Blessed be the name of God, for because of my
transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again
in the flesh I shall see God" (Moses 5:10).
Note the
different perspective and the special wisdom of Eve, who focused on the purpose
and effect of the great plan of happiness: "Were it not for our
transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good
and evil, and the joy of our redemption, and the eternal life which God giveth
unto all the obedient" (Moses 5:11). In his vision of the redemption of
the dead, President Joseph F. Smith saw "the great and mighty ones"
assembled to meet the Son of God, and among them was "our glorious Mother
Eve" (D&C 138:38-39).
When we
understand the plan of salvation, we also understand the purpose and effect of
the commandments God has given his children. He teaches us correct principles
and invites us to govern ourselves. We do this by the choices we make in mortality.
We live in
a day when there are many political, legal, and social pressures for changes
that confuse gender and homogenize the differences between men and women. Our
eternal perspective sets us against changes that alter those separate duties
and privileges of men and women that are essential to accomplish the great plan
of happiness. We do not oppose all changes in the treatment of men and women,
since some changes in laws or customs simply correct old wrongs that were never
grounded in eternal principles. (Conference Report, Oct. 1993, 97-99; or Ensign,
Nov. 1993, 72-74)
Orson
Pratt
And what
was the fullest extent of the penalty of Adam's transgression? I will tell
you--it was death. The death of what? The death of the immortal tabernacle--of
that tabernacle where the seeds of death had not been, that was wisely framed,
and pronounced very good: the seeds of death were introduced into it. How, and
in what manner? Some say there was something in the nature of the fruit that
introduced mortality. Be this as it may, one thing is certain, death entered
into the system; it came there by some means, and sin was the main spring by
which this monster was introduced. If there had been no sin, old father Adam
would at this day have been in the garden of Eden, as bright and as blooming,
as fresh and as fair, as ever, together with his lovely consort Eve, dwelling
in all the beauty of youth.
By one man
came death--the death of the body. What becomes of the spirit when the body
dies? Will it be perfectly happy? Would old father Adam's spirit have gone back
into the presence of God, and dwelt there eternally, enjoying all the
felicities and glories of heaven, after his body had died? No; for the penalty
of that transgression was not limited to the body alone. When he sinned, it was
with both the body and the spirit that he sinned: it was not only the body that
eat of the fruit, but the spirit gave the will to eat; the spirit sinned
therefore as well as the body; they were agreed in partaking of that fruit. Was
not the spirit to suffer then as well as the body? Yes. How long? To all ages
of eternity, without any end; while the body was to return back to its mother
earth, and there slumber to all eternity. That was the effect of the fall,
leaving out the plan of redemption; so that, if there had been no plan of
redemption prepared from before the foundation of the world, man would have
been subjected to an eternal dissolution of the body and spirit--the one to lie
mingling with its mother earth, to all ages of eternity, and the other to be
subject, throughout all future duration, to the power that deceived him, and
led them astray; to be completely miserable, or, as the Book of Mormon says,
"dead as to things pertaining to righteousness;" and I defy any such
beings to have any happiness when they are dead as to things pertaining to
righteousness. To them, happiness is out of the question; they are completely
and eternally miserable, and there is no help for them, laying aside the
atonement. That was the penalty pronounced upon father Adam, and upon all the
creation of which he was made lord and governor. This is what is termed
original sin, and the effect of it. (Journal of Discourses, 1:284)
(2 Nephi 9:6-7.) – Consequences are infinite
6 For as
death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of the great
Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the resurrection must
needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the fall came by reason of
transgression; and because man became fallen they were cut off from the
presence of the Lord.
7
Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite
atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first
judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration.
And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother
earth, to rise no more.
Infinite
– Endless duration, sufferings, all of creations, worlds have come and gone yet
the Atonement covered them also, it is a difficult concept yet is true.
How the
Atonement Is Infinite and Eternal
The
atonement is eternal-as eternal as the gospel, as eternal as the plan of
salvation-because its saving and redeeming powers have always been manifest. It
is the means by which Adam and all the ancient saints were saved. Through it
they had the fulness of the everlasting gospel with all its gifts and glories.
Baptism and celestial marriage had eternal efficacy and everlasting virtue for
four thousand years before the Lord Jesus was even born in the flesh. The plan
of salvation is always the same, and souls in those days were just as precious
in the sight of the Lord as are souls today. All that was ever done by the
ancient saints looked forward to and was built upon the foundation of the
atonement that was to be. All was done in anticipation of an act that is
eternal in nature. And the blessings of the atonement will continue to be
manifest as long as there are men on earth-and, for that matter, everlastingly
thereafter. It is truly an eternal, an everlasting, a perpetual thing that,
like God, is to us without beginning and without end.
Speaking
of the infinite scope of the atonement on this earth, the early brethren of
this dispensation published these words: "As effected by Jesus Christ, it
signifies the deliverance, through his death and resurrection, of the earth and
everything pertaining to it, from the power which death has obtained over them
through the transgression of Adam. . . . Redemption from death, through the
sufferings of Christ, is for all men, both the righteous and the wicked; for
this earth, and for all things created upon it." (Compendium, pp.
8-9.)
As
to the effect of the atonement on other worlds, we must note, first, that all
those who receive Christ and his gospel have "power to become [his]
sons." (D&C 39:4.) Through faith, they are born again. They become
"the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters." They are
"spiritually begotten"; Christ becomes their Father; they are members
of his family. (Mosiah 5:7.) All of this is made possible because of his
atoning sacrifice. Also, as Paul tells us, "as many as are led by the
Spirit of God, they are the sons of God." They become "heirs; heirs
of God, and joint-heirs with Christ." (Romans 8:14, 17.) They receive an
"adoption" into the family of the Father. All of this, of course, is
in addition to the fact that they are the spirit children, as all men are, of
that Father who dwells in the heavens.
Next,
we turn to these words of testimony and doctrine as recorded in the vision of
the degrees of glory. "[We] saw the holy angels, and them who are
sanctified before his throne, worshiping God, and the Lamb, who worship him
forever and ever. And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him,
this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives! For we
saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record
that he is the Only Begotten of the Father-That by him, and through him, and of
him, the worlds are and were created and the inhabitants thereof are begotten
sons and daughters unto God." (D&C 76:21-24.) That is to say: Christ
created worlds without number whose inhabitants are adopted into the family of
God by the atoning sacrifice wrought on our earth. The faithful on all worlds
are spiritually begotten in the same way as on our earth; they are begotten
sons and daughters unto, not of, God.
How
wondrous is the holy word! How glorious are the saving truths! How infinite is
the power of God! And how much we have yet to learn of the wonders of
eternity!
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.130-131)
Judgment
is given to all of us on how we used our agency, we will either increase our
ability to act or decrease our ability to act by our choices in mortality. Total Dependence
.When
we take upon the name of Christ we are now His agent. We use our agency to the one who makes the
laws, God. He chooses the consequences
of our actions.
We
become our own agency when we attain Godhood, then we establish our own
laws. Total
Independence
Abortion
is a classic example. Agency has been
exercised by the act of becoming pregnant and people try to change the
consequences, it isn’t our right. We
aren’t fully against abortion, we look at this as an agency issue, the world
looks at it as a choice issue, and the choice had already been made by the
couple involved. We are under eternal
laws not the laws of man. When the
mother’s agency is infringed upon then abortion may be appropriate if confirmed
by God through revelation.
Secularism
– It eliminates God who is the author of eternal law. Procreation is a gift that God gives. Homosexuality is another example, the world
has no problem with it, while the church does have a problem, and it’s against
God’s plan to people the earth.
Honor
code – You exercised your agency by signing the contract to attend school. By breaking it you now suffer the
consequences of your actions. The two
choices don’t come from you; the choices come from either follow God or follow
Satan.
Kingdoms
of glory are also kingdoms of agency; the highest kingdom of agency is the
highest degree in the celestial kingdom.
Agency
is not the freedom to choose, it’s the ability to act and not be acted upon.
Children
can be accountable because they feel guilt.
They haven’t yet committed gross sin, yet they are the product of this
world.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 29:46-48.) – Parents have time to teach the gospel and what sin
is, teach what guilt is.
46 But
behold, I say unto you, that little children are redeemed from the foundation
of the world through mine Only Begotten;
47
Wherefore, they cannot sin, for power is not given unto Satan to tempt little
children, until they begin to become accountable before me;
48 For it
is given unto them even as I will, according to mine own pleasure, that great
things may be required at the hand of their fathers.
Teach
children the difference between feeling the Spirit and feeling guilt.
Difference
between sins and transgressions – Covenant is the key, only God’s people can
transgress; it’s much more serious then sin by the world, the higher level.
(
8 And now, behold, I will testify unto you of myself that these
things are true. Behold, I say unto you, that I do know that Christ shall come
among the children of men, to take upon
him the transgressions of his people, and that he shall atone for the sins
of the world; for the Lord God hath spoken it.
Who
are God’s people? – Those that have made a covenant not to do a certain
act. Means to cross over a boundary, I
agree to certain boundaries.
This
doesn’t work with the Fall of Adam and Eve.
At times in the scriptures they are used interchangeably, at other times
there is a difference
(Jeremiah
34:17-18.) – Specific punishments from Deut 28
17
Therefore thus saith the LORD; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in proclaiming
liberty, every one to his brother, and every man to his neighbour: behold, I
proclaim a liberty for you, saith the LORD, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; and I will make
you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth.
18 And I will give the men that have
transgressed my covenant, which have not performed the words of the covenant
which they had made before me, when they cut the calf in twain, and passed
between the parts thereof,
There
is greater suffering on the Savior’s part in the Atonement when we break a
covenant.
(Mosiah
5:15.) – 4 parts of the Atonement
15 Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable,
always abounding in good works, that Christ, the Lord God Omnipotent, may seal
you his, that you may be brought to heaven, that ye may have everlasting
salvation and eternal life, through the
wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in
heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen.
(
3 And it is
requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their
works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their
hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that
which is good.
4 And if
their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil. Therefore, all
things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to its natural
frame—mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption—raised to
endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God, or to endless misery to
inherit the kingdom of the devil, the one on one hand, the other on the other—
(2 Nephi
2:7-10.) – Blessing (happiness), punishment (misery), obedience to law, justice
& mercy, the Atonement answers both these ends, God gives the law and its
consequences. I can increase my freedom
by obedience or decrease freedom by breaking the law.
7 Behold,
he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto
all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can
the ends of the law be answered.
8
Wherefore, how great the importance to make these things known unto the
inhabitants of the earth, that they may know that there is no flesh that can
dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and
grace of the Holy Messiah, who layeth down his life according to the flesh, and
taketh it again by the power of the Spirit, that he may bring to pass the
resurrection of the dead, being the first that should rise.
9
Wherefore, he is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make
intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be
saved.
10 And
because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God; wherefore, they
stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to the truth and
holiness which is in him. Wherefore, the ends of the law which the Holy One
hath given, unto the inflicting of the punishment which is affixed, which
punishment that is affixed is in opposition to that of the happiness which is
affixed, to answer the ends of the atonement—
Punishment for Sin—As rewards for
righteous deeds are proportionate to deserving acts, so the punishment
prescribed for sin is made adequate to the offense. fn But, be it remembered, both rewards and punishments are natural
consequences. Punishment is inflicted upon the sinner for disciplinary and
reformatory purposes and in accordance with justice. There is nothing of
vindictiveness or of desire to cause suffering manifest in the divine nature;
on the contrary, our Father is cognizant of every pang, and permits such to
afflict for beneficent purposes only. God's mercy is declared in the
retributive pains that He allows, as in the blessings of peace that issue from
Him. It is scarcely profitable to speculate as to the exact nature of the
spiritual suffering imposed as punishment for sin. Comparison with physical
pain, fn such as the tortures of fire in a sulphurous lake, serve to show that
the human mind is incapable of comprehending the extent of these penalties. The
sufferings entailed by the fate of condemnation are more to be feared than are
any possible inflictions of physical torture; the mind, the spirit, the whole
soul is doomed to suffer, and the torment is known by none in the flesh.
(James E. Talmage, Articles
of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 53.)
The greater the
reward the greater the punishment, the path to Godhood is also the path to
become a Son of Perdition, we are warned twice in the temple about this.
Punishment is given
to bring us back to Him, it is reformatory.
If the consequences
came immediately from our actions there would not be a need for the
Atonement. It gives us the opportunity
to repent. There are mortal consequences
but we do not feel the eternal consequences here, (Thankfully)
A knowledge of good
and evil is essential to the advancement that God has made possible for His
children to achieve; and this knowledge can be best gained by actual
experience, with the contrasts of good and its opposite plainly discernible.
Therefore has man been placed upon earth subject to the influence of good and
wicked powers, with a knowledge of the conditions surrounding him, and the
heaven-born right to choose for himself.
(James E. Talmage, Articles
of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 48.)
Opposites give us
knowledge and understanding. Mortality
gives us the experience of sin (bitterness) I can truly exercise my agency to
choose God. I couldn’t do this when I
was with him, there wasn’t good or evil there, and we didn’t have this
experience there.
I have to be able to
recover from the decisions I make, the Atonement.
Our consequences will
mainly be felt in the spirit world, like David, repent now! Endless and eternal punishment is to reform
them. How can someone suffer 1000 years
and not want to reform? Perdition,
beyond our comprehension
Infinity hits at
judgment because of how I used agency, the fulness of agency is in the
celestial kingdom. Other kingdoms have
agency but it is limited by that kingdom.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 88:22-24.) – Repent and keep the law of the kingdom, full realm
in the Celestial
22 For he
who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a
celestial glory.
23 And he
who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial
glory.
24 And he
who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory;
therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a
kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.
The fall of Adam and
Eve brings about mortality, God is not responsible for their choice, it is our
choice yet He helps us recover through the Plan of Salivation and the
Atonement.
False Doctrines about
the Fall
Heresies Concerning
Adam and the Fall
It is not generally
recognized how far man may go astray if he does not understand the true
doctrine about Adam and the fall. The fall of man is one of the great
foundations upon which salvation rests. Unless and until it is placed in its
proper relationship to all things, almost unbelievable heresies will rise to
plague and curse mankind. From among the many that have so risen, and as a
means of dramatizing the need to learn the truth about Adam and his fall, we
shall now list several of the current heresies. It should be noted that these
heresies, though often formally espoused by the same church or group of
believers, disagree with and contradict each other, as one would expect the
case to be in the realms of error.
Heresy 1: There is no Christian
God, no Adam in the sense of his being created as the first man, and no Christ
in the sense of Jesus being the Son of God.
Commentary: This is the atheistic, agnostic, worldly
view held by hosts of people who assume the creation came by chance and that
life developed through evolutionary processes. It prevails among many who
worship at the altars of science, and who espouse that godless communism which
calls religion the opiate of the people. Such unbelievers pretend to find no
need for divine guidance and intervention in the lives of men.
Heresy 2: There is no such
thing as a fall of Adam and an atonement of Christ.
Commentary: This is the view of
all pagan and heathen people who have no knowledge of the true God and the plan
of salvation he ordained and established. It is, for instance, the false
Islamic view. Their Koran teaches that there is no God but Allah and that he
had no need for a son. Allah, it says, has but to speak and his will is done.
It considers Jesus to be in the same class as Moses or one of the prophets,
denies the doctrine of the divine Sonship, and claims to know nothing about the
fall of man.
Heresy 3: Organic evolution is
the process whereby all life on earth came into being, and man, as now
constituted, is the end product of this process.
Commentary: This is the false
view of many self-designated scientists. The tendency among them is to present
Darwinian theories as established realities. These theories postulate the
evolvement of all forms of life from lower orders over astronomically long
periods of time. They assume death has always been present and that there never
was a fall, and they make no provision for a plan of redemption and a
resurrection of all forms of life.
Heresy 4: Evolution is the
process God used to create all forms of life except Adam, who came by special
creation; or Adam was the end product of an evolutionary system used by the
Lord for his own purposes.
Commentary: These false notions,
together with whatever variations of them happen to be in vogue at any given
time, are simply an attempt, on the part of those whose faith falls short of
the divine standard, to harmonize the specious theories of men with the
revelations of the Lord. They pledge a superficial allegiance to religious
truth and allow for a form of divine worship without forsaking the theories of
men. They, of necessity, assume that death has always existed on earth, that it
did not have its beginning with the fall of Adam, and that there must be some
other explanation for all the revelations which say that the atonement ransoms
man from the effects of the fall. When those who espouse this view talk of a
fall and an atonement, they falsely assume such applies only to man rather than
to the earth and all forms of life, as the scriptures attest.
Heresy 5: Salvation comes by
grace alone, without works, through the blood of Christ, and is given only to
those who confess the Lord Jesus with their lips.
Commentary: Christ did it all, so
this heresy supposes, and all that man must do is believe. This heresy
maintains that good works are as nothing; it is grace, and grace alone, that
counts. The concept of a probationary estate, of a preparatory state, of being
baptized for the remission of sins, of keeping the commandments and overcoming
the world, of obedience to all of the laws and ordinances of the whole gospel,
of pressing forward with a steadfastness in Christ, of living by every word
that proceedeth from the mouth of God—all of these are foreign to this
saved-by-grace fantasy.
Heresy 6: Men will be punished
for Adam's transgression. All are subject to original guilt or birth-sin, and
they will automatically be damned because Adam fell. To gain salvation, they
must repent of Adam's transgression and be baptized, infants included.
Commentary: If there was ever a
false doctrine that runs counter to the whole concept of the fall and the
atonement, this is it. Personal accountability for sin lies at the very root of
the plan of salvation. Every man is accountable for his own sins, not for those
of another. Men are judged for the deeds they do in the flesh, not for those of
another. Men work out their own salvation, not the salvation of another. This
is what the plan of salvation is all about—every man being judged according to
his own works and every man being awarded his own place in the kingdoms that
are prepared.
Thus, Adam asked the
Lord: "Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water?" The
answer he received was dual in nature. First it announced the redemption of all
men from original guilt, for which they were in no sense accountable, and then
it proclaimed the need for repentance for all men from their own personal sins.
As to man's freedom
from the transgression of Adam, the Lord said to the first man: "Behold I
have forgiven thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden." Adam himself
was forgiven of this transgression; it no longer rested upon him, let alone
upon any of his posterity. "Hence came the saying abroad among the
people," the scripture continues, "that the Son of God hath atoned
for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the
heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the
world." (Moses 6:53-54.) This accords with the revealed word to the
Prophet Joseph Smith: "Behold, I say unto you," saith the Lord,
"that little children are redeemed from the foundation of the world
through mine Only Begotten; wherefore, they cannot sin, for power is not given
unto Satan to tempt little children, until they begin to become accountable
before me." (D&C 29:46-47.)
As to man's personal
sins, forgiveness comes only by repentance. To Adam the Lord said:
"Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin"—meaning born into a
world of sin—"even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their
hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good. And it
is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto
themselves." Agency is a divine boon conferred upon all men. All are
subject to the law of opposites; all are free to flee from evil and to cleave
unto good. "Teach it unto your children," the Lord commanded Adam,
"that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the
Heresy 7: Everyone, infants
included, must be baptized to rid themselves of the guilt of Adam's fall;
otherwise, they cannot be saved.
Commentary: Few heresies have been more firmly lodged
in the minds of large segments of fallen man than that of infant baptism. Some
even say that because original sin begins not with birth but at conception
itself, baptism is required not only for every aborted fetus, but even for a
blood clot that has yet to take upon itself an embryonic form. The traditional
sectarian phrase in many of the sermons of the past was that the road to hell
was paved with the skulls of unbaptized infants not a span long. And upon few
heresies, as the Book of Mormon attests, has there been such an outpouring of
divine condemnation as upon this practice of infant baptism. (
Heresy 8: Man cannot of his own
free will—that is, by the exercise of his own agency—turn to the Lord and
pursue a course of righteousness; such, rather, is reserved only for those who
are called or elected to be blessed and saved.
Commentary: It is the formal
doctrine of many churches that man by his own power and agency cannot turn to
righteousness and begin the process of working out his own salvation. Unless he
is elected to be saved, he will be damned, as they suppose. The true doctrine
is that all mankind in and through and because of the atoning sacrifice of the
Lord Jesus Christ, may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the
gospel. Such is implicit in the whole eternal scheme of things and is
abundantly set forth in the whole body of revealed writ, as we shall see
throughout this whole work.
Heresy 9: The elect are
justified by faith only, without reference to good works; indeed, if they
perform any good works before they are justified, such works are accounted the
same as sin and accrue not to their benefit but to their condemnation.
Commentary: Justification is the
placing of a divine seal of approval upon the course of conduct pursued by
righteous people. It is the approval of the Holy Spirit of the lives being
lived by members of the Church. It is a divine ratification of the way of life
of the true saints. It is being sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise.
How far the
Christendom of the day has departed from this true doctrine! They even say that
any good works done outside their definition of justification have the nature
of sin. It is as though their goal was to set forth as doctrine the very
opposite of divine reality! How little the professors of religion know of the
true meaning of the doctrine that men are justified by faith alone!
Heresy 10: All men are
predestined to be saved or damned, as the case may be, and there is nothing
they of themselves can do about it one way or the other.
Commentary: Underlying this heresy is the same
philosophy that prompted Satan to offer to save all mankind without reference
to any personal merit or righteousness on their part. It is a doctrine that
denies men their agency, negates the whole probationary nature of this mortal
estate, and withdraws from man the need to strive and labor in the cause of
righteousness. If the elect are to be saved regardless of earth or hell, of
good or evil, of the lives they live or the deeds they do, and if those not so
elected are predestined to be damned without reference to any choice or labors
on their part, has not God's eternal plan of salvation been completely negated?
Truly, if ever there
was a doctrine that runs counter to the whole plan of salvation and to every
principle growing out of both the fall and the atonement, predestination to
eternal life or eternal damnation, according to the whimsy of a god who thus
becomes a respecter of persons, is that doctrine.
Heresy 11: There will be a final
harmony of all souls with God; that is, all will be saved because of the
infinite love and mercy of the Divine Being.
Commentary: Clearly the hope
implicit in this heresy is one born of desperation; it is one that springs up
in the hearts of those who dare not face the trials of life with any real
expectancy of overcoming; it is akin to and a substitute for what Lucifer
proposed with reference to the salvation of all men. That this hope of erring
souls is false is apparent from all that we have already said about justice and
mercy. Mercy cannot rob justice; otherwise God would cease to be God, as we
have already seen.
Heresy 12: There cannot be a
God, at least a just God, who would permit so many of his children to suffer
severe pain and disease and affliction, a God who would permit the desolation
of war and plague to cover the earth.
Commentary: This view is not
suggested as the official doctrine of any given organization, but it is
something that is commonly expressed by many would-be worshippers in divers
sects and cults. That it runs counter to the whole purpose and plan of Deity
goes almost without saying. This life is a probationary estate; it never was
intended to be easy. Men are here gaining experiences that could not be gained
in any other way. Disease, pain, suffering, war, and death—even as it was with
the Son of Man himself, all these are needed. A gracious God allows them as
part of the trials and tests of mortality.
Heresy 13: Adam is our father
and our god and the only god with whom we have to do; he is the father of our
eternal spirits and our mortal bodies, and as such he presides over and is
superior to the Lord Jesus Christ.
Commentary: This so-called
Adam-God theory is false. We are bound by the truths set forth in the Standard
Works, and the Book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price sets forth the true
and proper relationship between Elohim (the Father), Jehovah (the Son), and
Michael, who is Adam. Truly, "the Lord God, the Holy One of Zion, . . .
hath appointed Michael your prince, and established his feet, and set him upon
high, and given unto him the keys of salvation under the counsel and direction
of the Holy One, who is without beginning of days or end of life."
(D&C 78:15-16.)
Heresy 14: There is no
resurrection, no life as conscious identities after death, nothing but the
grave. Death ends all.
Commentary: This was the view of
the Sadducees in ancient Jewry; it is also the view of many religionists in
many sects today. That it is contrary to the whole plan of salvation, including
particularly the fall and the atonement, is apparent.
Other heresies will
occur to the minds of many, and in each instance a true understanding of the
fall and the atonement will constitute their complete refutation. Salvation
comes because of the fall, and until this truth is known, men will never be
able to do the things that will enable them to gain so great a gift.
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 98.)
The Regeneration of
Fallen Man
Robert L. Millet
Robert L. Millet is
dean of Religious Education at
In a revelation given
to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Book of Mormon is described as "a record
of a fallen people" (D&C 20:9). It is certainly a narrative history of
the rise and fall of two great civilizations, a sobering chronicle of how pride
and secret combinations usher nations into destruction. It is also a reminder
that without ever-present divine assistance and the regenerating powers of the
atonement of Christ, men and women remain forevermore lost and fallen
creatures. "Why is it so vital," Elder William R. Bradford asked,
"that we have a record of a fallen people? Why would such a record merit
the trial and suffering of those who have sacrificed to bring forth this book,
even to the constant and direct intervention of God Almighty?" Elder
Or, as Elder Bradford
stated on another occasion, "The Book of Mormon contains the record of a
fallen people. It outlines how man got into a condition which subjects him to
death and separation from God. The Book of Mormon also contains the fulness of
the gospel of Jesus Christ. It outlines for us in perfect clarity what has been
done for us and what we must do ourselves to overcome our fallen condition and
return to the presence of God. . . . The Book of Mormon holds out to us a
fulness of what we must be saved from. It gives us a complete understanding of
the role of, and the need for, a savior. It is another testament of Jesus
Christ." fn
The plight and the
promise, the malady and the medicine, the Fall and the Atonement—that is the
burden of the Book of Mormon.
The Fall and Its Effects
The Latter-day Saint
view of the Fall is remarkably optimistic. We believe that Adam and Eve went
into the Garden of Eden to fall, that what they did had the approbation of the
Gods and thus is termed a transgression and not a sin, and that their fall was
as much a part of the foreordained plan of the Father as was the very
Atonement. We believe in the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith, that "Adam
was made to open the way of the world," fn that the Fall was a move
downward but forward in the eternal scheme of things, and that it "brought
man into the world and set his feet upon progression's highway." fn We do
not believe, as did John Calvin, that men and women are, by virtue of the Fall,
depraved creatures. We do not believe, as did Martin Luther, that men and women
are so inclined to evil that they do not have even the capacity to choose good
on their own. We do not believe, as does much of the Christian world, that
because of the Fall little children are subject to an "original sin."
Sometimes as
Latter-day Saints we get a little nervous about teaching the Fall, fretting
perhaps that we might be misunderstood as accepting a belief in universal human
depravity. We know it is true that all men and women are the literal spirit
sons and daughters of a divine and exalted Father and that we have the capacity
to become as he is. fn It is wondrous indeed to contemplate the majesty of
President Lorenzo Snow's doctrinal couplet:
As Abra'm, Isaac,
Jacob, too,
First babes, then
men—to gods they grew.
As man now is, our God
once was;
As now God is, so man
may be—
Which doth unfold
man's destiny. fn
Having said all of
that, having distanced ourselves from traditional Protestant and Catholic
thought regarding the effects of Adam and Eve's transgression, I hasten to add
that there was a fall and that the Fall does indeed take a measured toll on all
mankind. It is real, and its effects cannot be ignored or its pull on the human
heart mitigated by enlightened conversation. One's capacity to become as God is
one thing; one's inclination to sin is quite another. It is only as men and
women overcome many of the effects of the Fall through the atoning blood and
ransoming power of Jesus Christ that they place themselves on the path to
godhood.
In truth, to fail to
teach the Fall is to lessen the effect of the Atonement. President Ezra Taft
Benson observed: "Just as a man does not really desire food until he is
hungry, so he does not desire the salvation of Christ until he knows why he
needs Christ. No one adequately and properly knows why he needs Christ until he
understands and accepts the doctrine of the Fall and its effect upon all
mankind." fn The Fall and the Atonement are a package deal; one brings the
other into existence, and I am not aware of any discussion of the Atonement in
the Book of Mormon that is not accompanied, either directly or by implication,
with a discussion of the Fall. We do not appreciate and treasure the medicine
until we appreciate the seriousness of the malady. One cannot look earnestly
and longingly to the Redeemer if he or she does not sense the need for redemption.
Jesus came to earth to do more than offer sage advice. He is not merely a
benevolent consultant. He is our Savior. He came to save us.
The following
represent but a few of the principles that may be derived from the Book of
Mormon regarding the effects of the Fall and the nature of fallen humanity.
All mankind are lost and fallen. In what seems the
very first reference in the Book of Mormon to the Fall, Nephi taught, "Six
hundred years from the time that my father left
Men and women are lost
and fallen in that they are subject to spiritual death, the separation from God
(see
We inherit a fallen nature through conception. God spoke to Father
Adam in the dawn of history: "Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in
sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and
they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good" (Moses 6:55).
In one sense, to be conceived in sin is to be conceived into a world of sin, to
come forth into a telestial sphere, a state in which sin predominates. But
there is more to it than that. Conception becomes the vehicle, the means
whereby a fallen nature—mortality, what the scriptures call "the
flesh"—is transmitted to the posterity of Adam and Eve. In short, to say
that we are not responsible for the fall of Adam and Eve is not to say that we
are unaffected by it. To say that we do not inherit an original sin through the
Fall is not to say that we do not inherit a fallen nature and thus the capacity
to sin. Fallenness and mortality are inherited. They come to us as a natural
consequence of the second estate.
Lehi explained to
Jacob that after the Fall "the days of the children of men were prolonged,
according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh;
wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was
lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the
children of men. For he gave commandment that all men must repent; for he
showed unto all men that they were lost, because of the transgression of their
parents" (2 Nephi 2:21). Abinadi likewise explained to the priests of Noah
that yielding to Lucifer's temptation in the Garden of Eden "was the cause
of their [Adam and Eve's] fall; which [fall] was the cause of all mankind
becoming carnal, sensual, devilish, knowing evil from good, subjecting
themselves to the devil. Thus all mankind were lost; and behold, they would
have been endlessly lost were it not that God redeemed his people from their
lost and fallen state" (Mosiah 16:3-4). At this point in reading the
passage, we might be tempted to breathe a sigh of relief and rejoice that the
Fall is already taken care of because Jesus suffered and died. Unfortunately,
Abinadi continues, and in so doing points out that the fallen nature is not
just something we descend into through personal sin, but something out of which
we must be extracted through divine regenerating powers. "But
remember," he said, "that he that persists in his own carnal nature,
and goes on in the ways of sin and rebellion against God, remaineth in his
fallen state and the devil hath all power over him. Therefore he is as though
there was no redemption made, being an enemy to God; and also is the devil an
enemy to God" (Mosiah 16:5).
Elder Bruce R.
McConkie wrote: "Adam fell. We know that this fall came because of
transgression, and that Adam broke the law of God, became mortal, and was thus
subject to sin and disease and all the ills of mortality. We know that the
effects of his fall passed upon all his posterity; all inherited a fallen
state, a state of mortality, a state in which temporal and spiritual death
prevail. In this state all men sin. All are lost. All are fallen. All are cut
off from the presence of God. All have become carnal, sensual, and devilish by
nature. Such a way of life is inherent in this mortal existence." fn
Similarly, President Brigham Young noted that a critical and doubting disposition
concerning the work of the Lord "arises from the power of evil that is so
prevalent upon the face of the whole earth. It was given to you by your father
and mother; it was mingled with your conception in the womb, and it has ripened
in your flesh, in your blood, and in your bones, so that it has become riveted
in your very nature." fn On another occasion he explained: "There are
no persons without evil passions to embitter their lives. Mankind are
revengeful, passionate, hateful, and devilish in their dispositions. This we
inherit through the fall, and the grace of God is designed to enable us to
overcome it." fn
One may be faithful and pure-hearted and yet still be
buffeted by the pulls of a fallen world. Another way of stating
this principle is that there is a difference between the natural man and the
spiritual man who is taunted by the natural world in which he lives. Perhaps
there is no better illustration in scripture than Nephi, son of Lehi. Here was
a man who was obedient and submissive, a man who was led and empowered by the
Spirit of Almighty God. "My soul delighteth in the things of the
Lord," he wrote, "and my heart pondereth continually upon the things
which I have seen and heard." Now note the following words, spoken by a
man who was surely as pure and virtuous as anyone we know: "Nevertheless,
notwithstanding the great goodness of the Lord, in showing me his great and
marvelous works, my heart exclaimeth: O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart
sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities. I
am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins which do so
easily beset me. And when I desire to rejoice, my heart groaneth because of my
sins" (2 Nephi 4:16-19).
The people of Benjamin
were described by their great king as "a diligent people in keeping the
commandments of the Lord" (Mosiah 1:11). We suppose they were members of
The Church of Jesus Christ, followers of our Lord and Savior, people who had
come out of the world by covenant. Benjamin delivered to his people one of the
most significant addresses in all the Book of Mormon. He announced his own
retirement and his son Mosiah as his successor, gave an accounting of his reign
and ministry, encouraged the people to serve one another and thereby serve God,
and counseled them (in the words of an angel) to put off the natural man and
put on Christ through the Atonement. The people were electrified by the power
of the message. Benjamin "cast his eyes round about on the multitude, and
behold they had fallen to the earth, for the fear of the Lord had come upon
them." And then this unusual insight: "And they had viewed themselves
in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth" (Mosiah
4:1-2). They cried unto the Lord for forgiveness and deliverance. Interesting,
isn't it? A noble people, a diligent people who view themselves in their own
carnal state.
In
We can grow in
spiritual graces to the point wherein we have no more disposition to do evil
but to do good continually (see Mosiah 5:2) and wherein we cannot look upon sin
save it be with abhorrence (see
Little children are innocent by virtue of the Atonement,
not by nature. Joseph Smith's
teachings concerning the innocence and salvation of little children—drawn from
the Book of Mormon, his inspired translation of the Bible, and the revelations
we now have in the Doctrine and Covenants—came as a refreshing breeze amidst
the arid and sweltering winds of doctrinal corruption and confusion. But even
in the restored Church there is some confusion on this matter. We ask, Are
little children innocent? The answer is a resounding yes. But that question is
not really a debated issue. We all know that little children are innocent. The
more difficult point is: Why are little children innocent? Two possibilities
suggest themselves. First, there are those who believe little children are
innocent because they are that way by nature. They are pure and holy and decent
and good and unselfish and solicitous and benevolent and submissive, just by
virtue of being little children. The answer in the Book of Mormon and in modern
revelation is that little children are innocent as one of the unconditional
blessings of the Atonement because Jesus Christ decreed them so.
Benjamin, in citing
the message of an angel, declared that "even if it were possible that little
children could sin they could not be saved," meaning, presumably, if there
had been no Atonement; "but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold,
as in Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for
their sins" (Mosiah 3:16). Mormon taught similarly that little children
are innocent "even from the foundation of the world" and that
"all little children are alive in Christ, and also all they that are
without the law. For the power of redemption cometh on all them that have no law"
(
The natural man is an enemy to God and to all
righteousness.
"There is a natural birth, and there is a spiritual birth," Elder
Bruce R. McConkie wrote. "The natural birth is to die as pertaining to
premortal life, to leave the heavenly realms where all spirits dwell in the
Divine Presence, and to begin a new life, a mortal life, a life here on earth.
The natural birth creates a natural man, and the natural man is an enemy to
God. In his fallen state he is carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature.
Appetites and passions govern his life, and he is alive—acutely so—to all that
is evil and wicked in the world." fn The angel explained to Benjamin that
"men drink damnation to their own souls except they humble themselves and
become as little children, and believe that salvation was, and is, and is to
come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent. For the
natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will
be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and
putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of
Christ the Lord" (Mosiah 3:18-19).
The natural man is an
enemy to God in that he (or she) is operating on an agenda other than God's; is
doing everything in his power to bring to pass his own whims and wishes; in
general, has placed his will above that of the Captain of his soul. President
Brigham Young taught that "the natural man is at enmity with God. That
fallen nature in every one is naturally opposed, inherently, through the fall,
to God and to His Kingdom, and wants nothing to do with them." fn Such
persons are thereby operating at cross-purposes to the Father's plan for the
salvation and redemption of his children and thus prove their own worst enemy
as well. "All men that are in a state of nature," Alma observed,
"or I would say, in a carnal state, are in the gall of bitterness and in
the bonds of iniquity; they are without God in the world, and they have gone
contrary to the nature of God; therefore, they are in a state contrary to the
nature of happiness" (Alma 41:11).
The apostle Paul wrote
to the Corinthian Saints that "the natural man receiveth not the things of
the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them,
because they are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:14). In the
process of rejoicing in God, Ammon spoke of the gratitude he felt that he and
his brothers had not been cast off forever for going about to destroy the
(Nurturing Faith
through the Book of Mormon: The 24th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium
[Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1995], 116.)
Article of Faith #3
The Atonement and Salvation
February 8, 2007
ARTICLE 3—We believe
that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to
the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.
We
believe in a general Atonement for all men and all creation it is bigger then
an individual Atonement. Without the Atonement
there isn’t a plan of salvation, all would indeed be lost.
The Doctrine of the
Atonement
What is the true
doctrine of the atonement? What is the finite rationale relative to this
infinite act? Can we explain by reason and logic how even a God could bring to
pass the immortality and eternal life of men, thus redeeming them from temporal
and spiritual death?
We can no more explain
the whole doctrine of the atonement than we can set forth a fulness of
knowledge concerning the creation and the fall. But enough truth has been
revealed about each of these great and eternal verities to enable us to work
out our salvation. Such truths as have been revealed can be understood and
explained, and we are duty-bound to believe and conform to every word that
proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.
We know that Adam and
Eve in their Edenic garden were without sin; that they lived in innocence,
without any taint of evil; that theirs was then a deathless state; and that
they were in perfect harmony with God and his laws. Sin and mortality and death
had their beginnings with the fall. Because of transgression, man died
spiritually and was cast out of the Divine Presence. Christ came to ransom men
from the temporal and spiritual death that came into the world through the
fall. In some way incomprehensible to us, his death and resurrection bring to pass
the resurrection of all men, thus redeeming them from the temporal fall. In
some way equally incomprehensible to us, he bore the sins of all men on
conditions of repentance, so that men may be redeemed from the spiritual fall.
That these concepts might be known and understood by us mortals, they are set
forth in the revealed word under five separate headings, all of which are
interwoven together and are in fact teaching the same truths in different ways.
These are:
1. The Law of Propitiation.
The revealed word
speaks of a propitiation for sins; of a ministry of reconciliation; of
intercession being made for the faithful; of One who advocates the cause of his
people in the courts above; of the labors and work of the great Mediator; and
of what man must do to put off the natural man and be numbered with the
redeemed. It is in connection with all of these divine pronouncements that we
will find the rationale that explains, so far as can be, the infinite and
eternal atonement.
Neither Adam nor any
man has power to save himself. Man cannot create a state of eternal life, nor
can he resurrect himself. Having fallen, man is subject to sin, and no unclean
thing can enter the Divine Presence. Sinful man, having transgressed the law,
is subject to the law of justice unless someone intervenes on his behalf.
And so, according to
the law of propitiation, Christ came to appease the demands of divine justice
and effect a reconciliation between God and man. Thus John taught: "Jesus
Christ the righteous is the propitiation for our sins: and not for ours only,
but also [on conditions of repentance] for the sins of the whole world."
(1 John 2:1-2.) Our theological friend Paul expounds this doctrine by saying,
"All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God." Indeed, the
natural man is an enemy to God and has been cast out of his presence. But the
saints, Paul continues, are "justified freely by [God's] grace through the
redemption that is in Christ Jesus." How is it that the saints are
justified? It is because "God hath set forth [his Son] to be a
propitiation through faith in his blood, to declare his righteousness for the
remission of sins that are past, through the forbearance of God; to declare . .
. his righteousness: that he might be just, and the justifier of him which
believeth in Jesus." (Romans 3:23-26.)
2. The Law of Reconciliation.
Salvation comes to
those fallen men who reconcile themselves to God. Through Christ and by faith,
men may be ransomed from their state of sin and spiritual darkness and be restored
to one of harmony and unity with their Maker. Paul expounded this theological
concept in this manner: "If any man be in Christ, he is a new
creature." That is, he has been born again. "And all things are of
God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ." Christ is the
Reconciler; his atoning sacrifice opened the door so that men could return to
God. And the Lord "hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation. That
ministry and doctrine is "that God was in Christ, reconciling the world
unto himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them."
And what is the
responsibility of those who have been reconciled? The Lord "hath committed
unto us the word of reconciliation." We are to preach the gospel of
reconciliation to the world, inviting all men to return to the Lord and be one
with him. "Now then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did
beseech you by us: we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye reconciled to
God." (2 Corinthians 5:17-20.)
Paul also taught that
"while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us"; that the saints are
"justified by his blood"; and that, accordingly, "we shall be
saved from wrath through him." Mercy shall overpower justice in that
Christ pays the penalty for our sins. "When we were enemies, we were
reconciled to God by the death of his Son," and "being reconciled, we
shall be saved." Therefore, "we also joy in God through our Lord
Jesus Christ, by whom we have now received the atonement." (Romans
5:8-11.)
Such is the law of
reconciliation. And because of it, the prophetic call to all men is:
"Reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil
and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only
in and through the grace of God that ye are saved." (2 Nephi 10:24; 25:23;
33:9.) Yea, "be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his
Only Begotten Son." In this way, in the resurrection, ye shall "be
presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and [having]
obtained a good hope of glory in him." (Jacob 4:11.)
3. The Law of Mediation.
Jesus Christ, as
Mediator/It was God our Father who made the law of mediation; he established it
as one of the chief provisions of his eternal plan of salvation. He is the one
who appointed his Only Begotten Son to stand as the Mediator between himself
and fallen men. Christ is our Mediator; he intervenes between God and man to
effect a reconciliation; he interposes himself between parties at variance. He
who committed no sin invites his mortal brethren to forsake their sins and thus
place themselves in harmony and unity with the Sinless Son and the Sinless
Father.
Jesus is called the
Mediator of the new covenant, to distinguish him from Moses, the mediator of
the old covenant. The blessings of the old covenant, of the old testament, of
the law of carnal commandments, came to
Thus, life, meaning
eternal life, comes by the mediating power of Christ. If there had been no
atonement, the law of Moses, standing alone, would have been "the
administration of death." In this connection Paul says: "Moses . . .
was ordained by the hand of angels to be a mediator of this first covenant,
(the law). Now this mediator was not a mediator of the new covenant; but there
is one mediator of the new covenant, who is Christ, as it is written in the law
concerning the promises made to Abraham and his seed. Now Christ is the
mediator of life; for this is the promise which God made unto Abraham."
(JST, Galatians 3:19-20.)
Those who turn to the
Mediator of life become heirs of eternal salvation. Paul invites men to come
unto Christ and accept the ministry of mediation: "Come unto the knowledge
of the truth which is in Christ Jesus, who is the Only Begotten Son of God, and
ordained to be a Mediator between God and man; who is One God, and hath power
over all men. For there is one God, and one mediator between God and men, the
man Christ Jesus; who gave himself a ransom for all." (JST, 1 Timothy
2:4-6.) Lehi says: "Men are free according to the flesh. . . . They are
free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men,
or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the
devil. Accordingly, Lehi issues this prophetic invitation: "Look to the
great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto
his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy
Spirit." (2 Nephi 2:27-28.) All those who heed the call and live the law
become "just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his
own blood." (D&C 76:69.)
4. The Law of Intercession.
Because the
propitiation of Christ appeased the demands of divine justice; because he paid
the penalty for the sins of all who repent, thus enabling men to be reconciled
to God; because he mediates between God and man—because of all this, he becomes
the Intercessor and the Advocate for all who believe in him.
According to the law
of intercession, as ordained and established by the Father, the Lord Jesus has
"power to make intercession for the children of men." (Mosiah 15:8.)
That is to say, he has the role of interceding, of mediating, of praying,
petitioning, and entreating the Father to grant mercy and blessings to men. One
of Isaiah's great Messianic prophecies says: "He bare the sins of many,
and made intercession for the transgressors." (Isaiah 53:12.) Of this
ministry of intercession, Paul affirms: "It is Christ that died, yea
rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also
maketh intercession for us." (Romans 8:34.) And it is Lehi who tells us:
Christ "is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make
intercession for all the children of men; and they that believe in him shall be
saved. And because of the intercession for all, all men come unto God;
wherefore, they stand in the presence of him, to be judged of him according to
the truth and holiness which is in him." (2 Nephi 2:9-10.)
5. The Law of Advocacy.
According to the law
of advocacy, our Lord intercedes for the faithful saints and pleads their cause
in the courts above. "He claimeth all those who have faith in him,"
Mormon says, "and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good
thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he
dwelleth eternally in the heavens." (
Thus we see that
Christ appeaseth the demands of justice according to the law of propitiation;
that his ministry was one of reconciling sinful man with the Sinless Father;
that he interposed himself as a mediator between God and man, so that fallen
man might regain his pristine innocent and sinless state; that he intercedes
for repentant souls before the Father; and that he advocates the cause of all
who believe in his name, pleading that they may be freed from sin and have
fellowship with Gods and angels. All of this is the rationale that underlies
the atonement. All of it is needed because of the fall of Adam. Christ has
served and is serving in all of the indicated ways. His comforting labors will
not cease. And each man must choose for himself whether to accept or reject the
proffered blessings. Truly, as the angelic ministrant said to King Benjamin:
"The natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam,
and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy
Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the
atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek,
humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord
seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father."
(Mosiah 3:19.)
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1985], 121.)
Getting
access to the Atonement is always through ordinances we must of course be
obedient to the laws and commandments of the Lord’s gospel. Resurrection is an ordinance just like
baptism, Gift of the Holy Ghost, and washing and anointing.
In response to Paul's
question as to "How are the dead raised up?" we have the further
teachings of Apostles and prophets in this dispensation that resurrection is a
priesthood ordinance, and will be conducted in an orderly, assigned manner,
agreeable to the established order of the kingdom. Both President Brigham Young
(Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Photo Lithographic Reprint.
In general conference
of April 1977, President Spencer W. Kimball quoted President Brigham Young:
"We are in possession of all the ordinances that can be administered in
the flesh; but there are other ordinances and administrations that must be
administered beyond this world. I know you would like to ask what they are. I
will mention one. We have not, neither can we receive here, the ordinance and
the keys of resurrection." (Journal of Discourses. 26 vols. Photo
Lithographic Reprint.
Any doctrine or
ordinance as fundamental to man's eternal salvation as the resurrection of the
dead is of necessity regulated and performed by the keys of the Melchizedek
Priesthood. It is also part of the patriarchal order of the family. So far as
the celestial kingdom is concerned, the resurrection is a family event. We
would at first naturally suppose that Jesus would resurrect himself, but
perhaps he did not. Jesus did not baptize himself. The clear rendering of Acts
2:22-24, 32; 3:12;
5:30 (as cited above) represents Peter saying on three separate
occasions that God raised up Jesus from the dead. If we read those passages
literally and combine that concept with the teachings of President Young and
Elder Snow, that only a resurrected being can perform a resurrection, we may
gain an insight into the resurrection process as a patriarchal family order in
which a righteous resurrected father would resurrect his son, and so forth.
A curious observation
in John 20:4-7 indicates that as Peter and John looked into the empty tomb they
saw the linen clothes in which Jesus had been wrapped. The napkin which had
been about his head was in a separate place, neatly folded. Something about the
arrangement of the linen was sufficient to attract the attention of these two
Brethren and also rate a special notice in John's testimony. Whatever else is
meant, the impression is that Jesus had come forth from the dead in orderly,
dignified fashion, and took time to fold the clothing.
After Jesus' resurrection, many of the Saints
whose bodies were in their graves around
(Robert
J. Matthews, Behold the Messiah [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1994], 282.)
Process of Resurrection
Resurrection - An
Ordinance of the Priesthood
Brigham Young
It is supposed by this people that we have all the ordinances in
our possession for life and salvation, and exaltation, and that we are
administering in these ordinances. This is not the case. We are in possession
of all the ordinances that can be administered in the flesh; but there are
other ordinances and administrations that must be administered beyond this
world. I know you would ask what they are. I will mention one. We have not,
neither can we receive here, the ordinance and the keys of the resurrection.
They will be given to those who have passed off this stage of action and have
received their bodies again, as many have already done and many more will. They
will be ordained, by those who hold the keys of the resurrection, to go forth
and resurrect the Saints just as we receive the ordinance of baptism, then the
keys of authority to baptize others for the remission of their sins. This is
one of the ordinances we cannot receive here, and there are many more. We hold
the authority to dispose of, alter and change the elements; but we have not
received authority to organize native element, to even make a spear of grass
grow. (Discourses of Brigham Young, pp.397-398) See also Spencer
W. Kimball, "Our Great Potential," in Conference Report April 1977,
pp. 69-72; Ensign May 1977, p. 49)
Ordinance
of Resurrection Performed by Previously Resurrected Being
Brigham
Young
Some person holding the keys of the resurrection, having
previously passed through that ordeal, will be delegated to resurrect our
bodies, and our spirits will be there and prepared to enter into their bodies.
(Discourses of Brigham Young, p.373)
Times of
Resurrection
Parley P. Pratt
There are
three general resurrections revealed to man on the earth; one of these is past,
and the other two are future.
The first
general resurrection took place in connection with the resurrection of Jesus
Christ. This included the Saints and Prophets of both hemispheres, from Adam
down to John the Baptist; or, in other words, those who died in Christ before
his resurrection.
The second
will take place in a few years from the present time, and will be immediately
succeeded by the coming of Jesus Christ, in power and great glory, with all his
Saints and Angels. This resurrection will include the Former and Latter-day
Saints -- all those who have received the Gospel since the former resurrection.
The third
and last resurrection will take place more than a thousand years afterwards,
and will embrace all the human family not included in the former resurrections
or translations.
After man is raised from the dead he will be judged according to
his works, and will receive the reward, and be consigned to the sphere, exactly
corresponding to his former deeds, and the preparations or qualifications which
he possesses. (Key to the Science of Theology, pp.135-136)
Bruce R. McConkie
Two great
resurrections await the inhabitants of the earth: one is the first
resurrection, the resurrection of life, the resurrection of the just; the other
is the second resurrection, the resurrection of damnation, the resurrection of
the unjust. (John 5:28-29; Rev. 20; D. & C. 76.) But even within these two
separate resurrections, there is an order in which the dead will come forth.
Those being resurrected with celestial bodies, whose destiny is to inherit a
celestial kingdom, will come forth in the morning of the first resurrection.
Their graves shall be opened and they shall be caught up to meet the Lord at
his Second Coming. They are Christ's, the firstfruits, and they shall descend
with him to reign as kings and priests during the millennial era. (D. & C.
29:13; 43:18; 76:50-70; 88:97-98; 1 Thess. 4:16-17; Rev. 20:3-7.)
"And
after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then
cometh the redemption of those who are Christ's at his coming; who have
received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might
receive the gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh." (D.
& C. 88:99.) This is the afternoon of the first resurrection; it takes
place after our Lord has ushered in the millennium. Those coming forth at that
time do so with terrestrial bodies and are thus destined to inherit a
terrestrial glory in eternity. (D. & C. 76:71-80.)
At the end
of the millennium, the second resurrection begins. In the forepart of this
resurrection of the unjust those destined to come forth will be "the
spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation; And
these are the rest of the dead; and they live not again until the thousand
years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth." (D. & C.
88:100-101.) These are the ones who have earned telestial bodies, who were
wicked and carnal in mortality, and who have suffered the wrath of God in hell
"until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall
have finished his work." (D. & C. 76:85.) Their final destiny is to
inherit a telestial glory. (D. & C. 76:81-112.)
Finally, in the latter end of the resurrection of damnation, the
sons of perdition, those who "remain filthy still" (D. & C.
88:102), shall come forth from their graves. (2 Ne. 9:14-16.) "Then is the
time when their torments shall be as a lake of fire and brimstone, whose flame
ascendeth up forever and ever; and then is the time that they shall be chained
down to an everlasting destruction, according to the power and captivity of
Satan, he having subjected them according to his will. Then, I say unto you,
they shall be as though there had been no redemption made; for they cannot be
redeemed according to God's justice; and they cannot die, seeing there is no
more corruption." (
James E. Talmage
[Footnotes
have been added in brackets]
Two
General Resurrections are mentioned in the scriptures, and these may be specified as
first and final, or as the resurrection of the just and the resurrection of the
unjust. The first was inaugurated by the resurrection of Jesus Christ;
immediately following which many of the saints came forth from their graves. A
continuation of this, the resurrection of the just, has been in operation since
[Note the fact that Moroni, the last of the Nephite prophets, who died in the
first quarter of the fifth century A.D., appeared as a resurrected being to
Joseph Smith in 1823], and will be greatly extended, or brought to pass in a
general way, in connection with the coming of Christ in His glory. The final
resurrection will be deferred until the end of the thousand years of peace, and
will be in connection with the last judgment.
The First
Resurrection -- -Christ's Resurrection, and That Immediately Following -- The
facts of Christ's resurrection from the dead are attested by such an array of
scriptural proofs that no doubt of the reality finds place in the mind of any
believer in the inspired records. . . .
Christ,
"the firstfruits of them that slept," [1 Cor. 15:20, 23; see also
Acts 26:23; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5; see Vitality of "Mormonism, "
pp. 288-294] "the firstborn from the dead" and "the first
begotten of the dead" was the first among men to come forth from the grave
in an immortalized body; but soon after His resurrection many of the saints
were brought from their tombs: "And the graves were opened; and many
bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his
resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many." [Matt.
27:52-53.]
Alma, the
Nephite prophet, whose writings antedate by many decades the birth of Christ,
clearly understood that there would be no resurrection prior to that of the
Redeemer, for he said: "Behold, I say unto you, that there is no
resurrection -- or, I would say, in other words, that this mortal does not put
on immortality, this corruption does not put on incorruption -- until after the
coming of Christ." Furthermore,
Resurrection
at the Time of Christ's Second Coming -- Soon after the bodily
departure of Christ from earth, the apostles, upon whom then devolved the
direct responsibilities of the Church, were found preaching the doctrine of a
future and universal resurrection. . . .
The
resurrection was a favorite theme with Paul; in his epistles to the saints, he
gave it frequent and prominent attention. [See Rom. 6:5; 8:11; 1 Cor., chap.
15; 2 Cor. 4:14; Philip. 3:21; Col. 3:4; 1 Thess. 4:14; Heb. 6:2] From him also
we learn that an order of precedence is to be observed in the resurrection:
"But now is Christ risen from the dead, and become the firstfruits of them
that slept. For since by man came death, by man came also the resurrection of
the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive.
But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits; afterward they that are
Christ's at his coming." [1 Cor. 15:20-23; the entire chapter should be
studied]
It is
expressly asserted that many graves shall yield up their dead at the time of
Christ's advent in glory, and the just who have slept, together with many who
have not died, will be caught up to meet the Lord. Paul thus wrote to the
saints in Thessalonica: "Even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God
bring with him. * * * For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a
shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead
in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught
up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air." [1 Thess.
4:14-17]
To the
three Nephite disciples, who had asked the blessing of John the beloved
apostle, Christ promised: "And ye shall never endure the pains of death;
but when I shall come in my glory, ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an
eye from mortality to immortality." [3 Nephi 28:8]
Through
the medium of latter-day revelation the Lord has said: "Behold, I will
come; and they shall see me in the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and
great glory, with all the holy angels; and he that watches not for me shall be
cut off. But before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his
trump, and the saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the
cloud." [D&C 45:44, 45] Of the many signs and wonders which shall
attend the Lord's glorious coming we have this partial description: "And
the face of the Lord shall be unveiled; And the saints that are upon the earth,
who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught up to meet him. And they who
have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened;
and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of
heaven -- They are Christ's, the firstfruits; they who shall descend with him
first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught
up to meet him." [D&C 88:95-98]
Such are
some of the glories to attend the resurrection of the just. And the company of
the righteous will include all who have lived faithfully according to the laws
of God as made known to them; children who have died in their innocence; and
even the just among the heathen nations who have lived in comparative darkness
while groping for light, and who have died in ignorance. This doctrine is made
plain by modern revelation: "And then shall the heathen nations be redeemed,
and they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrection."
[D&C 45:54; see also Ezek. 36:23, 24; 37:28; 39:7, 21, 23] The Millennium
then is to be inaugurated by a glorious deliverance of the just from the power
of death; and of this company of the redeemed it is written: "Blessed and
holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death
hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign
with him a thousand years." [Rev. 20:6.]
The Final
Resurrection -- "But the rest of the dead lived not again until the
thousand years were finished." [Rev. 20:5] So testified the Revelator
after having described the glorious blessings of the righteous, who are given
part in the first resurrection. The unworthy will be called to the judgment of
condemnation, when the regenerated world is ready to be presented to the
Father.
The
contrast between those whose part in the first resurrection is assured, and
those whose doom it is to wait until the time of final judgment, is a strong
one, and in no case do the scriptures lighten it. We are told that it is right
for us to weep over bereavement by death, "and more especially for those
that have not hope of a glorious resurrection." [D&C 42:45] In the
present day, the voice of Jesus Christ is heard in solemn warning:
"Hearken ye, for, behold, the great day of the Lord is nigh at hand. For
the day cometh that the Lord shall utter his voice out of heaven; the heavens
shall shake and the earth shall tremble, and the trump of God shall sound both
long and loud, and shall say to the sleeping nations: Ye saints arise and live;
ye sinners stay and sleep until I shall call again." [D&C 43:17, 18]
The vision of the final scene is
thus described by John:. "And I saw the dead, small and great, stand
before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were
written in the books, according to their works. And the sea gave up the dead
which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them:
and they were judged every man according to their works." [Rev. 20:12, 13]
As the scriptures conclusively prove, the resurrection is to be universal.
While it is true that the dead shall be brought forth in order, each as he is
prepared for the first or a later stage, yet everyone who has tabernacled in
the flesh shall again assume his body; and, with spirit and body reunited, he
shall be judged. (Articles of Faith, p.385)
There was
a question on judgment and final judgment; it is a journey to become celestial,
like graduation at commencement, there won’t be any doubt what degree we have
earned.
Christ’s
actions have produced the various kingdoms of glory; He is the one who gives
final judgment.
Teachings
Concerning
The Final Judgment
_______________
General Statement
Russell M. Nelson
Another unchanging principle, brothers and sisters, is
that of your eventual judgment. Each of you will be judged according to your
individual works and the desires of your hearts (see D&C 137:9). You will
not be required to pay the debt of any other. Your eventual placement in the
celestial, terrestrial or telestial kingdom will not be determined by chance.
The Lord has prescribed unchanging requirements for each. You can know what the
scriptures teach, and pattern your lives accordingly (see John 14:2; 1 Cor.
15:40–41; D&C 76:50–119; D&C 98:18). [“Constancy amid Change,” Ensign,
Nov. 1993, p. 35]
There
Are Many “Days of Judgments”
Bruce R. McConkie
In all ages, from Adam to this hour, the holy prophets have taught the true
doctrine of the judgment. They have always set forth those concepts and
verities that would encourage men to live in such a manner as to gain the
glorious reward of eternal life when their day and time came to stand before
the Eternal Bar. The hour of judgment is not the same for every man. Some are
judged at one time and others at a different hour. There are, in fact, many
days of judgment available, but always the same Judge sits at the same
judgment bar, always the same laws govern the procedures, and always a just and
right judgment is imposed.
Our birth into mortality is a day of judgment in that it signalizes
we were found worthy while in the premortal life to undergo a mortal probation
and thus to continue on the course leading to eternal life. There are those who
press forward along this course during this mortal probation – with a
steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect love of God and of all men, keeping
the commandments, and doing only those things that please their Lord – until
they are translated and taken up into heaven, or until their calling and
election is made sure. Either of these glorious eventualities is in itself a
day of judgment. Their celestial inheritance is thus assured, though they
have not yet gained bodies of immortal glory. Death also is a day of
judgment when the spirits of men go to either paradise or hell as their
deeds warrant.
The second coming of Christ is the great day of judgment for all men,
both the living and the dead. In it those who qualify come forth in the
resurrection of the just and obtain their rewards in the kingdoms established
for them. At that time the decree goes forth that the rest of the dead shall
remain in their graves to await the resurrection of the unjust and their
consequent telestial inheritance. At that time the wicked among men are
consumed as stubble, their bodies become dust again, and their spirits are
consigned to an eternal hell to await the day of the resurrection of damnation.
At that time those mortals who are worthy escape the burning, abide the day,
and remain on the new earth with its new heavens in the presence of earth’s new
King.
Then, in the final day, when all is done and accomplished according to
the divine purpose – after all men, the sons of perdition included, have risen
from death to life and have become immortal – all men will stand before the bar
of God in a final day of judgment. The eventual destiny of all men
will have been determined before that day, but then the final and
irrevocable decrees will be issued as pertaining to every living soul. (The
Millennial Messiah, p.515)
There Shall Be a Final Judgment
3 Nephi 26
4
And even unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and
all nations and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works,
whether they be good or whether they be evil--
D&C 19
3
Retaining all power, even to the destroying of Satan and his works at the end
of the world, and the last great day of judgment, which I shall pass upon the
inhabitants thereof, judging every man according to his works and the deeds
which he hath done.
D&C 38
5 But behold, the
residue of the wicked have I kept in chains of darkness until the judgment of
the great day, which shall come at the end of the earth;
Ezra Taft Benson
I testify that not many years hence the earth will be cleansed. (See D&C
76:41.) Jesus the Christ will come again, this time in power and great glory to
vanquish His foes and to rule and reign on the earth. (See D&C 43:26–33.)
In due time all men will gain a resurrection and then will face the Master in a
final judgment. (See 2 Ne. 9:15, 41.) God will give rewards to each according
to the deeds done in the flesh. (See
Marion G. Romney
I know, of course, as
each of you know that we shall die; that our bodies shall return to the earth
whence they came; that our spirits shall return to the spirit world; that by
reason of Christ’s victory over the grave all of us will be resurrected and as
immortal souls stand before the judgment bar of the great Jehovah; and that
there we shall be assigned that degree of glory the laws of which we have
obeyed while in mortality. (“The Way of Life,” Ensign, May 1976, p. 81)
Joseph B. Wirthlin
At some future day,
you and I will each hear the voice of the Lord calling us forward to render an
account of our mortal stewardship. This accounting will occur when we are
called up to “stand before [the Lord] at the great and judgment day”(2 Ne.
9:22).
Each day on this earth is but a small part of eternity. The day of resurrection
and final judgment will surely come for each one of us.
Then our Father in Heaven’s great and noble heart will be saddened for those of
His children who, because they chose evil, will be cast out, unworthy to return
to His presence. But He will welcome with loving arms and with indescribable
joy those who have chosen to be “true to the truth.” Righteous living, combined
with the grace of the Atonement, will qualify us to stand before Him with clean
hearts and clear consciences. (“True to the Truth,” Ensign, May 1997, p.
16)
Judgment Day
Will Be
the Moment of Truth
Neal A. Maxwell
The
judgment day is one of the things that really will be. The “future shock” of
that judgment and the events to precede it will be without parallel. The
dramatic day described so powerfully by
In writing of this event that really will be, the apostle John described how
“the kings of the earth, and the great men, and the rich men, and the chief
captains, and the mighty men. . . hid themselves in the dens and in the rocks
of the mountains; And said to the mountains and rocks, Fall on us, and hide us
from the face of him that sitteth on the throne, and from the wrath of the
Lamb.” (Revelation 6:15-16.) This is high drama. This is a final confrontation
with the ultimate reality, the living God.
On that dramatic day there can be no saving swagger – no panache. On that day there
can be no grievance with God that can be advanced at all. In that scene
described by John and Alma, those whose grievance with God and his gospel was
that his gospel was too plain and too simple will be simply speechless.
The living scriptures will have been before us. Living prophets’ words will
have previously penetrated every culture and every clime. Goethe said that
“architecture is frozen music,” and the scriptures are the preserved moral
music of the universe that God kept repeating for mankind over the centuries.
The promised Day of Judgment will come, and all men will be left “without
excuse.” (D&C 101:93; Romans 1:20.) All individuals will receive “according
to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.” (JS-V 1:9.) The
justice and mercy of God will have combined so that by then all inhabitants of
the earth will have heard the gospel of Jesus Christ sufficiently to be fully
accountable for it. Even those who died without that opportunity will by then
have heard the gospel “that they might be judged according to men in the flesh,
but live according to God in the spirit.” (JFS-V 1:34, 59.) What President
Joseph F. Smith saw was just what Peter saw much earlier when he wrote of the
preaching of the gospel “to them that are dead, that they might be judged
according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.” (1
Peter 4:6.)
All will have heard from living prophets (through preaching and through the
scriptures), so that personal accountability will be just as complete as Nephi
indicated: “And you that will not partake of the goodness of God, and respect
the words of the Jews, and also my words, and the words which shall proceed
forth out of the mouth of the Lamb of God, behold, I bid you an everlasting
farewell, for these words shall condemn you at the last day.” (2 Nephi 33:14.)
Each individual will have had full opportunity to forge his decision, to give
his real desires full expression. We will receive what we really chose, and
none can or will question the justice or mercy of God. (Things As They
Really Are, pp.111-113)
Every Mortal Soul Will Be Judged at
the
Final Judgment
Mormon 3
20 And these things
doth the Spirit manifest unto me; therefore I write unto you all. And for this
cause I write unto you, that ye may know that ye must all stand before the
judgment-seat of Christ, yea, every soul who belongs to the whole human family
of Adam; and ye must stand to be judged of your works, whether they be good or
evil;
Each Will Be Judged By What
They
Have Become
Ezra Taft Benson
In light of our mortal
probation, our future resurrection, and our final judgment, we need to remember
the question which the resurrected Lord posed to His disciples as recorded in 3
Nephi in the Book of Mormon.
He asked them, “Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to be?” And He answered,
“Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Ne. 27:27). [“The Savior’s Visit to
James E. Talmage
That every soul shall
find his place in the hereafter, that he shall be judged and assigned according
to what he is, is no less truly scriptural than reasonable. He shall inherit
according to his capacity to receive, enjoy, and utilize. This is made
sublimely plain by revelation given in 1832, in which we read: “For he who is not
able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.
And he who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a
terrestrial glory. And he who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom
cannot abide a telestial glory; therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of
glory. Therefore he must abide a kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.” (Articles
of Faith, p.408)
Dallin H. Oaks
The
Apostle Paul taught that the Lord’s teachings and teachers were given that we
may all attain “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Eph.
4:13). This process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even
enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so
that we are converted by it. In contrast to the institutions of the
world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ
challenges us to become something.
Many Bible and modern scriptures speak of a final judgment at which all persons
will be rewarded according to their deeds or works or the desires of their
hearts. But other scriptures enlarge upon this by referring to our being judged
by the condition we have achieved.
The prophet Nephi describes the Final Judgment in terms of what we have
become: “And if their works have been filthiness they must needs be
filthy; and if they beis filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is
righteous shall be righteous still” (Morm. 9:14; emphasis added; see also
Rev. 22:11-12; 2 Ne. 9:16; D&C 88:35). The same would be true of “selfish”
or “disobedient” or any other personal attribute inconsistent with the
requirements of God. Referring to the “state” of the wicked in the Final
Judgment, Alma explains that if we are condemned by our words, our works, and
our thoughts, “we shall not be found spotless; … and in this awful state we
shall not dare to look up to our God” (Alma 12:14). filthy it must needs be
that they cannot dwell in the
From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an
evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts – what we have done. It
is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts – what we
have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions.
The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of
deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus
Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires
us to become.
A parable illustrates this understanding. A wealthy father knew that if he were
to bestow his wealth upon a child who had not yet developed the needed wisdom
and stature, the inheritance would probably be wasted. The father said to his
child:
“All that I have I desire to give you – not only my wealth, but also my
position and standing among men. That which I have I can easily give
you, but that which I am you must obtain for yourself. You will qualify
for your inheritance by learning what I have learned and by living as I have
lived. I will give you the laws and principles by which I have acquired my
wisdom and stature. Follow my example, mastering as I have mastered, and you
will become as I am, and all that I have will be yours.”
This parable parallels the pattern of heaven. The gospel of Jesus Christ
promises the incomparable inheritance of eternal life, the fulness of the
Father, and reveals the laws and principles by which it can be obtained. . . .
The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of
God are supposed to become. This spotless and perfected state will result from
a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions, an accumulation of
right choices, and from continuing repentance. “This life is the time for men
to prepare to meet God” (
Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward
becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should
remember that our family relationships -- even more than our Church callings –
are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur.
The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a
good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough.
Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family
experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it. (“The Challenge to
Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, p. 32)
Every Man Is Accountable For
His Own Sins at the Final Judgment
D&C 101
78
That every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity,
according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may
be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.
Judged According to Works,
Law, and
Justice
23
But God ceaseth not to be God, and mercy claimeth the penitent, and mercy
cometh because of the atonement; and the atonement bringeth to pass the
resurrection of the dead; and the resurrection of the dead bringeth back men
into the presence of God; and thus they are restored into his presence, to be
judged according to their works, according to the law and justice.
After the Resurrection is
the Final Judgment According to Works
Marion G. Romney
The Church also accepts the scriptural doctrine that following the resurrection
each person – then an immortal soul – will be arraigned before the bar of God’s
justice and receive a final judgment based on his performance during his mortal
probation, that the verdict will turn on obedience or disobedience to the laws
and ordinances of the gospel. If these laws and ordinances have been complied
with during mortal life, the candidate will be cleansed from the stain of sin
by the atoning blood of Jesus Christ and be saved in the celestial
Revelation 20
5
But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were
finished. This [is] the first resurrection.
6
Blessed and holy [is] he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the
second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and
shall reign with him a thousand years.
7
And when the thousand years are expired . . .
11
And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face the
earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them.
12
And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were
opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead
were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to
their works.
13
And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up
the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their
works.
Mosiah 16
10
Even this mortal shall put on immortality, and this corruption shall put on
incorruption, and shall be brought to stand before the bar of God, to be judged
of him according to their works whether they be good or whether they be evil–
11
If they be good, to the resurrection of endless life and happiness; and if they
be evil, to the resurrection of endless damnation, being delivered up to the
devil, who hath subjected them, which is damnation-
44
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 of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be
restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be
brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father,
and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their
works, whether they be good or whether they be evil.
12
And Amulek hath spoken plainly concerning death, and being raised from this
mortality to a state of immortality, and being brought before the bar of God,
to be judged according to our works.
13
Then if our hearts have been hardened, yea, if we have hardened our hearts
against the word, insomuch that it has not been found in us, then will our
state be awful, for then we shall be condemned.
14
For our words will condemn us, yea, all our works will condemn us; we shall not
be found spotless; and our thoughts will also condemn us; and in this awful
state we shall not dare to look up to our God; and we would fain be glad if we
could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his
presence.
15
But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in his glory, and
in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and acknowledge to our
everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he is just in all his
works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and that he has all
power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth forth fruit
meet for repentance.
22
If so, wo shall come upon you; but if not so, then cast about your eyes and
begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and
that he shall suffer and die to atone for their sins; and that he shall rise
again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection, that all men
shall stand before him, to be judged at the last and judgment day, according to
their works.
21
But whether it be at his resurrection or after, I do not say; but this much I
say, that there is a space between death and the resurrection of the body, and
a state of the soul in happiness or in misery until the time which is appointed
of God that the dead shall come forth, and be reunited, both soul and body, and
be brought to stand before God, and be judged according to their works.
Joseph Fielding Smith
John
saw these dead as they came to the partial judgment at the coming of Christ. He
saw the righteous made happy as they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand
years, “but the rest of the dead,” after receiving a partial judgment, “lived
not again until the thousand years were finished. * * * Blessed and holy is he
that hath part in the first resurrection; on such the second death hath no
power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him
a thousand years.” (Rev. 20:5-6.) Then he saw the final judgment, after “Satan
shall be loosed out of prison, and shall go out to deceive the nations which
are in the four quarters of the earth.” At this judgment the dead, small and
great,” shall stand before God, and the books shall be opened out of which all
the dead shall be judged. (The Way to Perfection, pp.305-306)
Joseph F. Smith
When
the spirit leaves the body, it returns, says the prophet, immediately to God,
to be assigned to its place, either to associate with the good and the noble
ones who have lived in the paradise of God, or to be confined in the
“prison-house” to await the resurrection of the body from the grave. Therefore
we know that Brother Clayton has gone to God, gone to receive the partial
judgment of the Almighty which pertains to the period intervening between the
death of the body and the resurrection of the body, or the separation of the
spirit from the body and their uniting together again. This judgment is passed
upon the spirit alone. But there will come a time which will be after the
resurrection, when the body and spirit shall be reunited, when the final
judgment will be passed on every man. (Gospel Doctrine, p.449)
Ezra Taft Benson
The
Resurrection is a reality. Activity to help promote our Father’s work is going
forward among the disembodied spirits who have left this life. It will continue
to go forward until every one of God’s children has had an opportunity to
receive the gospel, to hear it and to have it explained to them. And then at
the end of that millennial period we will all stand judgment. There is a
partial judgment before, but the final judgment will be at the end. Then this
earth will undergo a change and receive its paradisiacal glory and will be made
a fit abode for the celestial beings. Those who live to inherit the celestial
kingdom will live on this earth eternally. This is made very clear in the
scriptures. (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.38)
Only God Can Judge
M. Russell Ballard
Only
the Lord knows all the details, and he it is who will judge our actions here on
earth. When he does judge us, I feel he will take all things into
consideration: our genetic and chemical makeup, our mental state, our
intellectual capacity, the teachings we have received, the traditions of our
fathers, our health, and so forth. (“Suicide: Some Things We Know, and Some We
Do Not,” Ensign, Oct. 1987, p. 8)
Harold B. Lee
• There is
nothing we can say on this occasion that would advance the deceased where he is
now. He has written his record. The book is closed, and from out of the books
(the record in the Church) and out of the Lamb’s book of life (which is the
more circumspect and more correct book) he will be judged, and nothing I can
say will advance his station and nothing I can say will diminish his place. He
now will be before the great judge of us all, who will render a righteous
judgment, not only for the things we have done, but also judge us by the
righteous desires of our hearts, and that’s something that no human judge can
determine. (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 65)
• We sometimes
have a “Roman holiday” in our class discussions about this person or that
person not accepting the gospel while upon the earth and therefore we sometimes
conclude he has lost his chance to inherit the celestial glory. Well, who will
say what kind of a teacher that person had? Maybe it was a very poor
missionary, inadequately prepared, who taught him. Or suppose the individual
didn’t have the mentality to grasp the gospel; or suppose something else behind
the scenes that we are unaware of has to be considered in order for a righteous
judgment to be rendered. Who will say which degree of glory he shall merit because
of his life here? The only judge who can render a righteous judgment will be
the Infinite Judge who knows all things from before the beginning of man upon
the earth, even to the end of man. He will take all things into His view, and
the judgment that will be rendered, you may be sure, will be a righteous
judgment where mercy tempers justice, and yet justice has its part. If that
were not so, it would make mockery of the laws that God prepared for us to obey
if we are to inherit His glory. (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 66)
• Don’t you think
we spend too much time confessing the other person’s sins? What about yourself?
How long have you postponed the day of a repentance from your own misdeeds? The
judgment we shall face will be before the Righteous Judge who will take into
account our capacities and our limitations, our opportunities and our
handicaps. One who sins and repents and thereafter fills his life with
purposeful effort may not lose as much in that day of righteous judgment as one
who, though not committing serious sin, falls down miserably by omitting to do
that which he had capacity and opportunity to do but would not. Look to your
own salvation, then, and leave with God the judgment. Remember what the Lord
said, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required
to forgive all men” (D&C 64:10). [The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p.
67-68]
Joseph Smith
While
one portion of the human race is judging and condemning the other without
mercy, the Great Parent of the universe looks upon the whole of the human
family with a fatherly care and paternal regard. … He is a wise Lawgiver, and
will judge all men, not according to the narrow, contracted notions of men,
but, ‘according to the deeds done in the body whether they be good or evil,’ or
whether these deeds were done in England, America, Spain, Turkey, or India. …
We need not doubt the wisdom and intelligence of the Great Jehovah; He will
award judgment or mercy to all nations according to their several deserts,
their means of obtaining intelligence, the laws by which they are governed, the
facilities afforded them of obtaining correct information, and His inscrutable
designs in relation to the human family; and when the designs of God shall be
made manifest, and the curtain of futurity be withdrawn, we shall all of us
eventually have to confess that the Judge of all the earth has done right.” (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 218)
Judgment Based on
Individual Capacities,
Not by Comparison
Harold B. Lee
I
sat with a youngster yesterday who is in his early twenties, and he is
wondering now, worrying, he is fretting for fear he is not in the niche where
he can give the best service. And I said, “Son, all you have to worry about is
that you are doing your best in the place where you are today. That is all you
have to be concerned about. You are not going to be judged by how you measure
to someone else who has achieved a high station in the industrial or financial
or religious world. The only measure by which you are going to be measured is,
How will you compare with what you had the capacity to do? That is the measure
the Lord’s going to measure you by, to see whether or not you have done, to the
best of your ability, whatever came within your hands this day, and if you can
answer the same honestly day by day. And the only day you have to worry about
is today. There is nothing you can do about yesterday except repent. That means
if you made mistakes yesterday, don’t be making them today. Don’t worry about tomorrow,
because you may have no tomorrows. This is the masterpiece you ought to be
thinking about today. And if you can always witness honestly that whatever you
did, you did to the best of your ability, and next day try improvement on that,
when your life’s end comes, of you it can be said in truth, his was a
successful life because he lived to the best that was in him. That’s all the
Lord expects of any one of His children. We are all born with different
capacities, some to do one thing, some to do the other, and all He asks is that
we do our best; and that’s the measure by which we’ll be judged when that time
comes.” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, pp. 64-65)
Dallin H. Oaks
The
Lord’s way of final judgment will be to apply His perfect knowledge of the law
a person has received and to judge on the basis of that person’s circumstances,
motives, and actions throughout his or her entire life (see Luke 12:47–48; John
15:22; 2 Ne. 9:25). [“ ‘Judge Not’ and Judging,” Ensign, Aug. 1999, p.
8]
God Will Judge Men
According to Their Works and Desires
D&C 137
9
For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the
desire of their hearts.
3
And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according
to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of
their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored
unto that which is good.
4
And if their works are evil they shall be restored unto them for evil.
Therefore, all things shall be restored to their proper order, every thing to
its natural frame – mortality raised to immortality, corruption to incorruption
– raised to endless happiness to inherit the
5
The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good
according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his
desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so
shall he have his reward of evil when the night cometh.
Brigham Young
This
is a subject I have reflected upon a great deal, and I have come to the
conclusion that we shall be judged according to the deeds done in the body and
according to the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Discourses of Brigham
Young, p.382)
Neal A. Maxwell
God
thus takes into merciful account not only our desires and our performance, but
also the degrees of difficulty which our varied circumstances impose upon us.
No wonder we will not complain at the final judgment, especially since even the
telestial kingdom’s glory “surpasses all understanding” (D&C 76:89). God
delights in blessing us, especially when we realize “joy in that which [we]
have desired” (D&C 7:8). [“According to the Desire of [Our] Hearts,”
Ensign, Nov. 1996, p. 21]
Dallin H. Oaks
God
judges us not only for our acts, but also for the desires of our hearts. He has
said so again and again. This is a challenging reality, but it is not
surprising. Agency and accountability are eternal principles. We exercise our
free agency not only by what we do, but also by what we decide, or will, or
desire. Restrictions on freedom can deprive us of the power to do, but no one
can deprive us of the power to will or desire. Accountability must therefore
reach and attach consequences to the desires of our hearts.
This
principle applies both in a negative way – making us guilty of sin for evil
thoughts and desires – and in a positive way – promising us blessings for
righteous desires. . . .
The
desires of our hearts will be an important consideration in the final judgment.
That
is a sobering teaching, but it is also a gratifying one. It means that when we
have done all that we can, our desires will carry us the rest of the way. It
also means that if our desires are right, we can be forgiven for the mistakes
we will inevitably make as we try to carry those desires into effect. What a
comfort for our feelings of inadequacy! As
“It
is requisite with the justice of God that … if their works were good in this
life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the
last day, be restored unto that which is good. …
“If
he hath repented of his sins, and desired righteousness until the end of his
days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness.” (
Similarly,
in this dispensation the Lord has revealed that he “will judge all men
according to their works, according to the desires of their hearts.” (D&C
137:9.) I caution against two possible misunderstandings: First, we must
remember that desire is a substitute only when action is truly impossible. If we
attempt to use impossibility of action as a cover for our lack of true desire
and therefore do not do all that we can to perform the acts that have been
commanded, we may deceive ourselves, but we will not deceive the Righteous
Judge.
In
order to serve as a substitute for action, desire cannot be superficial,
impulsive, or temporary. It must be heartfelt, through and through. To be
efficacious for blessings, the desires of our hearts must be so genuine that
they can be called godly.
Second,
we should not assume that the desires of our hearts can serve as a substitute
for an ordinance of the gospel. Consider the words of the Lord in commanding
two gospel ordinances: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, except a man be born
of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
In
the justice and mercy of God, these rigid commands pertaining to essential
ordinances are tempered by divine authorization to perform those ordinances by
proxy for those who did not have them performed in this life. Thus, a person in
the spirit world who so desires is credited with participating in the ordinance
just as if he or she had done so personally. In this manner, through the loving
service of living proxies, departed spirits are also rewarded for the desires
of their hearts.
In
summary, under the law of God we are accountable for our feelings and desires
as well as our acts. Evil thoughts and desires will be punished. Acts that seem
to be good bring blessings only when they are done with real and righteous
intent. On the positive side, we will be blessed for the righteous desires of
our hearts even though some outside circumstance has made it impossible for us to
carry those desires into action.
To
paraphrase Paul’s teaching in Romans 2:29, he is a true Latter-day Saint who is
one inwardly, whose conversion is that of the spirit, in the heart, whose
praise is not of men for outward acts, but of God, for the inward desires of
the heart. (“The Desires of Our Hearts,” Ensign, June 1986, pp.64-67)
Neal A. Maxwell
• Whether in their
conception or expression, our desires profoundly affect the use of our moral
agency. Desires thus become real determinants, even when, with pitiful naivete,
we do not really want the consequences of our desires.
Desire denotes a real longing or craving. Hence righteous
desires are much more than passive preferences or fleeting feelings. Of course
our genes, circumstances, and environments matter very much, and they shape us
significantly. Yet there remains an inner zone in which we are sovereign,
unless we abdicate. In this zone lies the essence of our individuality and our
personal accountability.
Therefore, what we insistently desire, over time, is what
we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity. “For I [said
the Lord] will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire
of their hearts” (D&C 137:9; see also Jer. 17:10).
“For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their
works, according to the desire of their hearts” (D&C 137:8–9).
God thus takes into merciful account not only our desires
and our performance, but also the degrees of difficulty which our varied
circumstances impose upon us. No wonder we will not complain at the final
judgment, especially since even the telestial kingdom’s glory “surpasses all
understanding” (D&C 76:89). God delights in blessing us, especially when we
realize “joy in that which [we] have desired” (D&C 7:8). ( “According to
the Desire of [Our] Hearts,” Ensign, Nov. 1996, p.
21)
• Actually, everything
depends – initially and finally – on our desires. These shape our thought
patterns. Our desires thus precede our deeds and lie at the very cores of our
souls, tilting us toward or away from God (see D&C 4:3). God can “educate
our desires” (see Joseph F. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed.,
The end rule is “according to [our] desires … shall it be
done unto [us]” (D&C 11:17), “for I, the Lord, will judge all men according
to their works, according to the desire of their hearts” (D&C 137:9; see
also
Russell M. Nelson
This
question reminds us that eventually you (and I) are going to die, be
resurrected, be judged, and be awarded a place in eternal realms. (See 1 Cor.
15:22; Alma 12:24; Alma 21:9; Hel. 14:16–17; D&C 138:19.) With each passing
sunset, you are closer to that inevitable day of judgment. Then you will be
asked to account for your faith, your hopes, and your works. The Lord said:
“Every
man may act in doctrine and principle … according to the moral agency which I
have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the
day of judgment.” (D&C 101:78; see also Mosiah 3:24.)
As
all will be resurrected, your physical body will then be restored to its proper
and perfect frame. (See
That
judgment will consider not only your actions, but also your innermost intent
and heartfelt desires. Your everyday thoughts have not been lost. Scriptures
speak of the “bright recollection” (
The
Lord knows the desires of our hearts. At the time of judgment, surely the
special yearnings of single sisters and childless couples, for example, will be
given compassionate consideration by Him who said:
“I,
the Lord, will judge all … according to their works, according to the desire of
their hearts.” (D&C 137:9; see also Heb. 4:12; Alma 18:32; D&C 6:16;
D&C 33:1; D&C 88:109.) [“Choices,” Ensign, Nov. 1990, p. 75]
Marvin J. Ashton
When
the Lord measures an individual, He does not take a tape measure around the
person’s head to determine his mental capacity, nor his chest to determine his
manliness, but He measures the heart as an indicator of the person’s capacity
and potential to bless others.
Why
the heart? Because the heart is a synonym for one’s entire makeup. We often use
phrases about the heart to describe the total person. Thus, we describe people
as being “big-hearted” or “goodhearted” or having a “heart of gold.” Or we
speak of people with faint hearts, wise hearts, pure hearts, willing hearts,
deceitful hearts, conniving hearts, courageous hearts, cold hearts, hearts of
stone, or selfish hearts.
The
measure of our hearts is the measure of our total performance. As used by the
Lord, the “heart” of a person describes his effort to better self, or others,
or the conditions he confronts.
A
question I suggest to you is this: How do you measure up? Ultimately you and I
will be judged not only for our actions, but also for the desires of our
hearts. This truth was revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith at a time when he
was shown in vision the celestial kingdom. The revelation is recorded in
section 137 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Joseph marveled when he saw his
deceased brother Alvin in the celestial kingdom, for
“All
who have died without a knowledge of this gospel, who would have received it if
they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs of the celestial
“For
I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the
desire of their hearts.” (D&C 137:7, 9.)
If
our works and the desires of our hearts are the ultimate criteria of our
character, how do we measure up? What kind of heart should we seek? For what
kind of heart should we pray? How should we measure the worth of other people?
(“The Measure of Our Hearts,” Ensign, Nov. 1988, p. 15)
Impossible to Lie to
God On Judgment Day
Spencer W. Kimball
We
can hide nothing from God. True, it is possible sometimes, by lying and evasion
and half-truth, to conceal the truth from God’s servants on earth, but to what
purpose? It will be impossible to lie to God on judgment day, so the unrepented
sins will certainly be revealed then. Far better to confess them and forsake
them now, and be rid of their burden! (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball,
p.95)
(Doctrine
and Covenants 45:3-5.) – Mediation is going on right now
3 Listen to
him who is the advocate with the Father, who
is pleading your cause before him—
4 Saying:
Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou
wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him
whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;
5
Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they
may come unto me and have everlasting life.
You are
building your eternal house right now; you just haven’t received the keys yet!
(John
14:1-2.) – Under the direction of Heavenly Father, Christ prepares a place for all;
in this regard He is the Father since He produces these kingdoms
1 Let not
your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.
2 In my
Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have
told you. I go to prepare a place for you.
In My Father's House
are Many Mansions
Brigham
Young
Many
Gradations Within
Each
D&C 76:98
And the
glory of the telestial is one, even as the glory of the stars is one, for as
one star differs from another star in glory even so differs one from another in
glory in the telestial world.
D&C
131:1
In the
celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees.
James E.
Talmage
John A.
Widtsoe
These
gradations in salvation may be innumerable, since all members of the human
family are different. The many gradations are however reduced to three classes:
(1) the celestial, the highest, as of the sun in glory; (2) the terrestrial,
the next, as of the moon; (3) the telestial, the lowest, as of the stars. (Evidences
and Reconciliations, p.199)
Bruce R.
McConkie
Rewards
granted individuals in eternity will vary between and within kingdoms. Only
those who are sealed in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and who
thereafter keep the terms and conditions of that covenant will attain the
highest of three heavens within the celestial kingdom. (D. & C. 131:1-4.)
Inhabitants of the telestial kingdom will differ in glory among themselves
"as one star differs from another star in glory." (D. & C. 76:98;
1 Cor. 15:41.) Similar variations will exist among inheritors of the
terrestrial kingdom. (D. & C. 76:71-79.) [Mormon Doctrine, p.420]
End
Results of Atonement Include
the Three Kingdoms of Glory
Neal A.
Maxwell
Though
differing dramatically in degree, the end results of the atonement of Jesus
Christ include everlasting life in the telestial kingdom, which is still a
kingdom of glory. Better still will be the terrestrial kingdom; and, of course,
the most prized of all, the celestial kingdom. (But for a Small Moment,
p.116)
The Law We Live Determines
the
D&C 88
22 For he
who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a
celestial glory.
23 And he
who cannot abide the law of a terrestrial kingdom cannot abide a terrestrial
glory.
24 And he
who cannot abide the law of a telestial kingdom cannot abide a telestial glory;
therefore he is not meet for a kingdom of glory. Therefore he must abide a
kingdom which is not a kingdom of glory.
Brigham
Young
This is
the plan of salvation. Jesus will never cease his work until all are brought up
to the enjoyment of a kingdom in the mansions of his Father, where there are
many kingdoms and many glories, to suit the works and faithfulness of all men
that have lived on the earth. Some will obey the celestial law and receive of
its glory, some will abide the terrestrial and some the telestial, and others
will receive no glory. (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.56)
John
Taylor
There are
infinite levels (degrees) in each kingdom just like the infinite variety of
people who dwell there.
Celestial
kingdom – variety of space ships - Doctorate
Terrestrial
kingdom – variety of cars - Master
Telestial
kingdom – variety of bikes - Bachelor
The 2
Gospels:
Preparatory
Gospel (Strait) Faith >>> Repentance
>>> Baptism >>> Gift of the Holy Ghost >>> Access to
Atonement (1st Ordinance) (2nd Ordinance)
(Doctrine
and Covenants 84:26-27.) – The preparatory gospel
26 And the
lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the
ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;
27 Which
gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins,
and the law of carnal commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to
continue with the house of Aaron among the children of
Selected Teachings Concerning
The Preparatory Gospel
and the Everlasting (Higher) Gospel
What is the Gospel?
Romans
1:16 – Meaning the Atonement
For I am not ashamed of the
gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one
that believeth;
Brigham Young
The Gospel of the Son of God that has been revealed is a plan
or system of laws and ordinances, by strict obedience to which the people who
inhabit this earth are assured that they may return again into the presence of
the Father and the Son. [Journal of Discourses 13:233; Discourses
of Brigham Young, p.1]
Spencer W. Kimball
Now, what
is the gospel of which we speak? It is the power of God unto salvation; it
is the code of laws and commandments which help us to become perfect, and the
ordinances which constitute the entrance requirements.
The ordinances
begin with baptism by immersion by proper authority for the remission of sins
and for entrance into the earthly
Stephen L Richards
Now if it
is essential to receive the gospel in order to receive the Christ, what
follows? To answer this we must understand and define the gospel. Is the gospel
itself anything more than the sum total of the Savior's divine attributes and
qualities? I think that all who give careful consideration to the scriptures
and the works of the Master will agree that it is. Perhaps the most famous of
all definitions of the gospel is that given by Paul when he said: ". . . I
am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto
salvation to every one that believeth..." (Romans 1:16.)
It is
certainly not difficult to gather from the words, "power of God unto
salvation," a meaning beyond that of a moral code for living based upon
the attributes of the Savior. The gospel as a power unto salvation must
embrace not only all the Christlike characteristics of living, but also the
means essential to salvation. These indispensable means or essentials
for salvation have been clearly set forth by the Savior on numerous occasions
and in unmistakable terms. He prescribed ordinances and proclaimed their
indispensable nature.[Conference Report, April 1959, p.52-54]
Harold B. Lee
What is the gospel then? . . . So often I hear my brethren saying
something that I wish we would not say quite that way -- that the gospel is a
way of life. It is not a way of life -- it is the way to eternal life.
It is the science of salvation. [Conference Report, April 1959, p.68]
Two
Gospels
Bruce R.
McConkie
There are two gospels -- the preparatory
gospel and the fulness of the everlasting gospel. There are two
proclamations, two pronouncements of glad tidings, two messages of light and
truth and power, which God has given to his people at one time or another. What
the people receive at any given moment in time depends upon them. The Lord
gives them all of his word, or only a portion, depending on "the heed and
diligence which they give unto him." If all men had open hearts and
receptive minds; if they desired righteousness and sought truth in preference
to all else; if they conformed to every true principle they received -- all
would accept the fulness of his gospel and join that church and kingdom which
is always administered for the benefit and blessing of mankind. As it is
written: "He that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser
portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the
greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries
of God until he know them in full." (
As is evident from the pure meaning of the
words themselves, the fulness of the everlasting gospel has always existed
and will continue to endure forever; the preparatory gospel, on the
other hand, is not eternal in nature, but is something that goes before and
makes people ready for the receipt of the fulness of saving truth. [The
Promised Messiah, p.404]
Delbert L. Stapley
Among the
many choice teachings given by the Savior in that inspiring Sermon on the
Mount, is this important instruction: "Enter ye in at the strait gate . .
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto
life, and few there be that find it." (Matthew 7:13-14.) You will observe
that I have quoted only the positive elements of this scripture. To enter the
straight gate implies obedience to gospel requirements, and the narrow
way that leads to life connotes additional requirements, rites, and ordinances
for all who desire salvation and exaltation. . . .All who have repented and
then been baptized and received the Holy Ghost by authorized servants of I God
have entered in by the straight gate. The narrow way can only be followed by
obedience and faithfulness to all the sacred ordinances and requirements of the
higher gospel plan, obtained in the holy temples of God. [Conference Report,
April 1955, p.65]
Two
Priesthoods
Bruce R.
McConkie
George Q. Cannon
Here is plainly pointed out to us as a people the future glory
that God has in store for all those who receive and magnify the Priesthood.
They are to receive the Father's Kingdom, and if they receive the Father's
Kingdom, they are to receive all that the Father hath, for all that he hath
will be given unto them. Can you conceive of this? Can any human being conceive
of the immeasurable extent of the glory here promised--the immeasurable extent
of exaltation here offered unto all those who receive the Priesthood of the Son
of God, and who magnify it? . . . .
God designed when He led
Now, this Priesthood which God has restored in these last days through Peter,
James and John, is the Priesthood that continueth in the
Without this Priesthood, without its ordinances, without its powers, without
its gifts, "no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and
live." Therefore it is essential that, if a people should be exalted unto
the presence of God, they should have this Melchizedek or greater Priesthood,
and the ordinances thereof, by the means of which they are to be prepared, or
they shall be prepared to enter into the presence of God the Father, and endure
His presence. [Journal of Discourses, 25: 290-294]
The
Preparatory Gospel
D&C
84:26-27
And the
lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the
ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel; Which gospel is the gospel of
repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal
commandments, which the Lord in his wrath caused to continue with the house of
Aaron among the children of Israel until John, whom God raised up, being filled
with the Holy Ghost from his mother's womb.
Joseph
Smith
The spirit
of Elias is to prepare the way for a greater revelation of God, which is the
Priesthood that Aaron was ordained unto. And when God sends a man into the
world to prepare for a greater work, holding the keys of the power of Elias, it
was called the doctrine of Elias, even from the early ages of the world.
John's
mission was limited to preaching and baptizing; but what he did was legal; and
when Jesus Christ came to any of John's disciples, He baptized them with fire
and the Holy Ghost. . . .
John did
not transcend his bounds, but faithfully performed that part belonging to his
office; and every portion of the great building should be prepared right and
assigned to its proper place; and it is necessary to know who holds the keys of
power, and who does not, or we may be likely to be deceived.
That
person who holds the keys of Elias hath a preparatory work. [Teachings of
the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.336]
Bruce R.
McConkie
Christ
through the Atonement has the power to save, he is omnipotent, yet it is
conditional based on our free will, if we choose not to obey He cannot help
us! I obtain access through the
Atonement through covenants and ordinances.
It is by covenants that I exercise my agency; if I don’t make a covenant
I can’t be saved. Teach the why of this
often.
The
gospel is the power of God unto salvation:
(
15 But this cannot be; we must come forth and stand before him in
his glory, and in his power, and in his might, majesty, and dominion, and
acknowledge to our everlasting shame that all his judgments are just; that he
is just in all his works, and that he is merciful unto the children of men, and
that he has all power to save every man that believeth on his name and bringeth
forth fruit meet for repentance.
Covenant
– Mutually beneficial to both parties, 2 parties making promises, with God He wants to save His children, but
He can’t without me making a covenant with Him
giving Him our will to save us.
God will never override free will.
It’s like buying a home, I need a loan from the bank and I must fulfill the
covenant to keep the house, the covenant isn’t binding if I don’t make
payments.
We
don’t have power to overcome spiritual death and become like God on our own. Making covenants and receiving sacred
ordinances by priesthood authority gives us that power to overcome, access to
the Atonement. I can do all the good
works I want but without covenants and ordinances I am still not able to
overcome spiritual death and become as He is.
Salvation for the Saints
However pleasing it
may be to know that there is a general, a universal, and an unconditional
salvation for all men; a salvation that comes by the grace of God alone,
without faith, without repentance, without baptism, without the works of
righteousness; a redeeming power that brings all men forth in immortality; a
divine mercy and a holy compassion that rewards even the wicked and ungodly—yet
this is not the salvation sought by the saints. The true saints seek salvation
in the
"The living
God," Paul says, "is the Saviour of all men, specially of those that
believe." (1 Timothy 4:10.) Jesus said: "Whoso believeth in me, and
is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the
Gaining salvation is a
process, and those so obtaining must sanctify their souls and become fit
companions for Gods and angels. And so Amulek says: "No unclean thing can
inherit the kingdom of heaven; therefore, how can ye be saved, except ye
inherit the kingdom of heaven? Therefore, ye cannot be saved in your
sins." Freedom from sin is salvation, a freedom that no mortal ever fully
obtains. All men sin daily, either in deed or word or thought. Christ
"shall come into the world to redeem his people," Amulek continues,
"and he shall take upon him the transgressions of those who believe on his
name; and these are they that shall have eternal life, and salvation cometh to
none else." As far as the saints are concerned, there is only one
salvation that men ought to seek. "Therefore the wicked remain as though
there had been no redemption made, except it be the loosing of the bands of
death; for behold, the day cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand
before God, and be judged according to their works." (
As Amulek equated
salvation and eternal life, which is exaltation, so do the revelations given in
our day. "If thou wilt do good, yea, and hold out faithful to the end,
thou shalt be saved in the
In the writings that
have come down to us, we find this reasoning of the Prophet Joseph Smith
relative to what salvation is and who will obtain it: "Where shall we find
a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be
made partakers of life and salvation? or, in other words, where shall we find a
saved being?" What better starting point could there be than this—find a
saved being and then seek to be like him.
"For if we can
find a saved being, we may ascertain, without much difficulty, what all others
must be, in order to be saved." They must be like that individual or they
cannot be saved. "We think that it will not be a matter of dispute, that
two beings who are unlike each other cannot both be saved; for whatever
constitutes the salvation of one will constitute the salvation of every
creature which will be saved; and if we find one saved being in all existence,
we may see what all others must be, or else not be saved." The reasoning
is sound; the logic is perfect; and the foundation is laid to introduce a Saved
Being.
"We ask, then,
where is the prototype? or where is the saved being? We conclude, as to the
answer of this question, there will be no dispute among those who believe the
Bible, that it is Christ: all will agree in this, that he is the prototype or
standard of salvation, or, in other words, that he is a saved being." The
Lord Jesus set the pattern in all things. He is the great Exemplar. His command
is that we should be as he is. If he gained salvation by treading the strait
and narrow path, so must it be with us.
"And if we should
continue our interrogation, and ask how it is that he is saved? the answer
would be—because he is a just and holy being; and if he were anything different
from what he is he would not be saved; for his salvation depends on his being
precisely what he is and nothing else; for if it were possible for him to
change, in the least degree, so sure he would fail of salvation and lose all
his dominion, power, authority and glory, which constitute salvation; for
salvation consists in the glory, authority, majesty, power, and dominion which
Jehovah possesses and in nothing else; and no being can possess it but himself
or one like him." (Lectures on Faith 7:9.)
Salvation by Grace
Salvation of every
sort, kind, type, and nature comes by the grace of God; that is, it comes
because of the mercy, love, and condescension of God. If it were not for the
grace of God, there would be nothing—no creation, no fall, no mortal probation,
no atonement, no redemption, no immortality, no eternal life. It is God's grace
that underlies all things, that causes all things to be, that makes all things
possible. Without it there would be nothing; with it there is everything.
And as with the
Father, so with the Son—their goodness and grace redound to the benefit and
blessing of all men. The Messianic promise of the Father himself attests:
"Mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace
and truth." (Moses 1:6.) The Son came. He came to atone for the sins of
the world; he came to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man—and
all that he did in his ministry was because of his goodness and grace.
Thus, as Paul so ably
teaches, "God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved
us even when we were dead, in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by
grace ye are saved;) and hath raised us up together, and made us sit together
in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." That is to say, even when we were
dead spiritually; even when we lived after the manner of the world, and were
carnal, sensual, and devilish; even when we lived in the bondage of sin—yet God
saved us because of his grace. Because of his love, his mercy, and his
condescension, he redeemed us spiritually; because of his grace, he has raised
us from spiritual death to spiritual life through the gospel. We have been born
again and are alive to the things of the Spirit. We have become clean by the
sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost, and we shall stand spotless before the
Lord at the last day. Thus we shall sit down with Christ and the holy angels in
the
Building on the
foundation so laid, Paul proclaims: "By grace are ye saved through faith;
and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: not of works, lest any man
should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works,
which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them." (Ephesians
2:4-10.) Salvation comes by faith. Jesus said it was for "those who have
washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance
of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end." (3 Nephi 27:19.)
But it is available because of the grace of God.
Man cannot save
himself. He cannot be saved by the works of the Mosaic law; he cannot be saved
by the works of the gospel. Man cannot resurrect himself; neither Mosaic works
nor gospel works can bring him forth from the grave. The resurrection comes by
the grace of God; all men are resurrected, and in that sense all are saved by
grace alone. And further: No man can raise himself unto eternal life; he cannot
create a state of salvation and provide the means to obtain it. Man cannot
create the
Nephi's teachings
accord with Paul's. "Believe in Christ," the American Hebrew exhorts,
"and be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are
saved, after all we can do." (2 Nephi 25:23.) His brother Jacob also
accords: "Reconcile yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of
the devil and the flesh; and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that
it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved." (2 Nephi
10:24.) But perhaps no one has ever expounded the doctrine of salvation by
grace better than Moroni did in these words: "Come unto Christ, and be
perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny
yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and
strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be
perfect in Christ." Hear it, O all men: the grace of God, in the full
sense, in the sense of salvation, is manifest only to those who, through
righteousness, become perfect in Christ. "And if by the grace of God ye
are perfect in Christ,"
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1985], 146.)
The Everlasting (Higher) Gospel
Joseph
Smith
Ezra Taft Benson
When our Heavenly Father placed Adam and Eve on this earth, He did
so with the purpose in mind of teaching them how to regain His presence. Our
Father promised a Savior to redeem them from their fallen condition. He gave
them the plan of salvation and told them to teach their children faith in Jesus
Christ and repentance. Further, Adam and his posterity were commanded by God to
be baptized, to receive the Holy Ghost, and to enter into the order of the Son
of God. (See Moses 6.) To enter into the order of the Son of God is the
equivalent today of entering into the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood,
which is only received in the house of the Lord.
Because Adam and Eve had complied with these requirements, God
said to them, "Thou art after the order of him who was without beginning
of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity." (Moses 6:67.)
Three years before Adam's death, a great event occurred. He took
his son Seth, his grandson Enos, and other high priests who were his direct-line
descendants, with others of his righteous posterity, into a valley called
Adam-ondi-Ahman. There Adam gave to these righteous descendants his last
blessing.
The Lord then appeared to them.
The vast congregation rose up and blessed Adam and called him
Michael, the prince and archangel. The Lord himself declared Adam to be a
prince forever over his own posterity. Then Adam in his aged condition rose up
and, being filled with the spirit of prophecy, predicted "whatsoever
should befall his posterity unto the latest generation." All this is
recorded in section 107 of the Doctrine and Covenants (verses 53-56).
The Prophet Joseph Smith said that Adam blessed his posterity
because "he wanted to bring them into the presence of God." (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, Joseph Fielding Smith ed., Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book co., 1938, p. 159.) How did Adam bring his descendants into the
presence of the Lord? The answer: Adam and his descendants entered into the
priesthood order of God. Today we would say they went to the House of the Lord
and received their blessings.
The order of priesthood spoken of in the scriptures is sometimes
referred to as the patriarchal order because it came down from father to son.
But this order is otherwise described in modern revelation as an order of
family government where a man and a woman enter into a covenant with God--just
as did Adam and Eve--to be sealed for eternity, to have posterity, and to do
the will and work of God throughout their mortality.
If a couple are true to their covenants, they are entitled to the
blessing of the highest degree of the celestial kingdom. These covenants today
can only be entered into by going to the House of the Lord. Adam followed this
order and brought his posterity into the presence of God. He is the great
example for us to follow.
Enoch followed this pattern and brought the Saints of his day into
the presence of God. Noah and his son Shem likewise followed the same pattern
after the flood. Abraham, a righteous servant of God, desiring as he said,
"to be a greater follower of righteousness," sought for these same
blessings. Speaking of the order of the priesthood, he said: "It was
conferred upon me from the fathers; it came down from the fathers, from the
beginning of time...even the right of the firstborn, or the first man, who is
Adam, our first father, through the fathers unto me." (Abr. 1:2-3.) So
Abraham declared: "I sought for mine appointment unto the Priesthood
according to the appointment of God unto the fathers." (Abr. 1:4.)
Moses taught this order of priesthood to his people and
"sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face
of God; But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence;
therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore
that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is
the fulness of his glory. Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the
Holy Priesthood also." (D&C 84:23-25.)
We learn through the Joseph Smith Translation that the Lord
further instructed Moses: "I will take away the priesthood out of their
midst; therefore my holy order, and the ordinances thereof." (JST Ex.
34:1; italics added.) This higher priesthood, with its attendant ordinances,
was taken from
John
Taylor
Then Peter, James and John
appeared and conferred upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Melchizedek
Priesthood, which, as you all know, differs from that of the Aaronic. The
Melchizedek Priesthood, which, as you all know, differs from that of the
Aaronic. The Melchizedek Priesthood, according to the Scriptures, is after the
order of the Son of God, and after the power of an endless life. It places men
in communication with God our Heavenly Father, whereby through its influence,
ordinance, powers and blessings, they can approach the presence of God, the
Eternal Father, and come, as it was said by one of old, "To the general
assembly and church of the first born, which are written in heaven, and to God,
the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the
Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling, that speaketh
better things than that of Abel." It is that Priesthood through the
Gospel, that brings life and immortality to light, that places man in a
position whereby he can obtain, through faithfulness and adherence to the laws
of God, all the rich blessings associated with the eternal worlds, of which we
are allowed to partake while we dwell here upon the earth, or hereafter in the
heavens. [Journal of Discourses , 25:178]
Joseph
Fielding Smith
(Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-25.) – Everlasting gospel of the
higher ordinances found in the
19 And this
greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the
mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
20
Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
21 And
without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power
of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
22 For
without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
23 Now this
Moses plainly taught to the children of
24 But they
hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in
his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not
enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fulness of his
glory.
25
Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also;
(Doctrine
and Covenants 107:18-19.) – Power given to become Gods, our works don’t produce
this!
18 The
power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the
keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church—
19 To have
the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the
heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of
the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and
Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.
All of the ordinances that have been revealed point us the way to
the Celestial kingdom. What ordinances
are there for the Terrestrial or Telestial kingdoms? Who cares, I don’t plan on going there and
God certainly hasn’t shown me the way to get there! Explain to you wife and family that you plan
on going to the Telestial kingdom, then be prepared to duck! The Church exists to get us to the Celestial
kingdom; here we receive the ordinances of salvation by priesthood authority
and priesthood keys.
We will learn a lot more about the Everlasting gospel in the
Millennium.
Scripture Study: Elder David A. Bednar, CES Fireside, February 4,
2007 Study the scriptures, study by topic, study by types and patterns
The Pattern: Adam is
fallen spiritually and needs to be born again.
Moses
6:53-68.) – Adam has gone through all of the steps to be spiritually reborn,
and then comes the promise of verse 68.
1. One in me 2. Son of God 3.
May ALL become my sons, an heir to God
53 And our
father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and
be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee
thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.
54 Hence
came the saying abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for
original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the
heads of the children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world.
55 And the
Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin,
even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they
taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.
56 And it
is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto
themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.
57
Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent,
or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can
dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of
Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even
Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.
58
Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your
children, saying:
59 That by
reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and
inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit,
which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born
again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed
by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified
from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal
life in the world to come, even immortal glory;
60 For by
the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the
blood ye are sanctified;
61
Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the
peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which
quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all
things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and
judgment.
62 And now,
behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the
blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.
63 And
behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to
bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are
spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the
earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth,
both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.
64 And it
came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried
unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was
carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought
forth out of the water.
65 And thus
he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born
of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.
66 And he
heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the
Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and
forever;
67 And thou
art after the order of him who was without beginning of days or end of years,
from all eternity to all eternity.
68 Behold,
thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons. Amen.
Mediation
takes place weekly at the Sacrament table.
Look
forward to the resurrection and your new body that won’t be fighting against
you all the time.
A
question came up about the resurrection.
Think of qualities instead of time periods.
1st
Resurrection – Celestial – Morning of the 1st resurrection
Terrestrial –
Afternoon of the 1st resurrection (Elder McConkie’s term)
If
you are righteous you will see the 2nd coming and the ushering of
the Millennium. D&C 29, 45, 88
2nd
Resurrection – After the Millennium, the unjust will be resurrected, Telestial
and Sons of Perdition.
First (Celestial) Resurrection At Beginning
of Millennium
Revelation
20
4 And I
saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and [I
saw] the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the
word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither
had received [his] mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived
and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
5 But the
rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. This
[is] the first resurrection.
D&C 29
13 For a
trump shall sound both long and loud, even as upon Mount Sinai, and all the
earth shall quake, and they shall come forth--yea, even the dead which died in
me, to receive a crown of righteousness, and to be clothed upon, even as I am,
to be with me, that we may be one.
D&C 45
44 And
then they shall look for me, and, behold, I will come; and they shall see me in
the clouds of heaven, clothed with power and great glory; with all the holy
angels; and he that watches not for me shall be cut off.
45 But
before the arm of the Lord shall fall, an angel shall sound his trump, and the
saints that have slept shall come forth to meet me in the cloud.
46
Wherefore, if ye have slept in peace blessed are you; for as you now behold me
and know that I am, even so shall ye come unto me and your souls shall live,
and your redemption shall be perfected; and the saints shall come forth from
the four quarters of the earth.
D&C 88
96 And the
saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be caught
up to meet him.
97 And
they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be
opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar
of heaven--
98 They
are Christ's, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they
who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him;
and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.
James E.
Talmage
Such are
some of the glories to attend the resurrection of the just. And the company of
the righteous will include all who have lived faithfully according to the laws
of God as made known to them; children who have died in their innocence; and
even the just among the heathen nations who have lived in comparative darkness
while groping for light, and who have died in ignorance. This doctrine is made
plain by modern revelation: "And then shall the heathen nations be
redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the first
resurrection." The Millennium then is to be inaugurated by a glorious
deliverance of the just from the power of death; and of this company of the
redeemed it is written: "Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the
first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be
priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years."
(Articles of Faith, pp.389-390)
Joseph
Fielding Smith
While
there was a general resurrection of the righteous at the time Christ arose from
the dead, it is customary for us to speak of the resurrection of the righteous
at the Second Coming of Christ as the first resurrection. It is the first to
us, for we have little thought or concern over that which is past. The Lord has
promised that at the time of his Second Advent the graves will be opened, and
the just shall come forth to reign with him on the earth for a thousand years.
(Doctrines of Salvation, 2:295)
Bruce R.
McConkie
Many
persons have already come forth from the grave in their resurrected and
glorified bodies. Righteous saints who lived from the day of Adam to the day of
Christ were with him in his resurrection. (Matt. 27:52-53; D. & C.
133:54-55; Hela. 14:25.) To us, however, the first resurrection, the
resurrection of the just, will come with the return of our Lord and the
commencement of his millennial reign.
"Yea,
and blessed are the dead that die in the Lord, from henceforth, when he Lord
shall come, and old things shall pass away, and all things become new, they
shall rise from the dead and shall not die after and shall receive an
inheritance before the Lord, in the holy city." (D. & C. 63:49.) [Mormon
Doctrine, p.493]
Resurrection of Terrestrial Bodies
D&C 88
99 And
after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then
cometh the redemption of those who are Christ's at his coming; who have
received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might
receive the gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh.
Joseph
Fielding Smith
Following
this great event [the resurrection of the Celestial], and after the Lord and
the righteous who are caught up to meet him have descended upon the earth,
there will come to pass another resurrection. This may be considered as a part
of the first, although it comes later. In this resurrection will come forth
those of the terrestrial order, who were not worthy to be caught up to meet
him, but who are worthy to come forth to enjoy the millennial reign. (Doctrines
of Salvation, 2:296)
Bruce R.
McConkie
At his
coming, the Lord will sit in judgment on all nations, dividing the sheep from
the goats, sending some to everlasting punishment and others to life eternal.
(Matt. 25:31-46.) At his coming, also, those who have earned the right to come
forth in the resurrection of the just will rise from their graves and inherit
their places in a celestial or a terrestrial kingdom. (D. & C. 88:95-99.) [Mormon
Doctrine, p.697]
Wicked
Remain in Spirit Prison During Millennium
Joseph
Fielding Smith
However,
if we have not kept the commandments of the Lord, if we have been unjust, and
lovers of sin and our hearts have been set upon evil, then we shall die and
shall not live again until the thousand years are ended. It is decreed that the
unrighteous shall have to spend their time during this thousand years in the
prison house prepared for them where they can repent and cleanse themselves
through the things which they shall suffer.
John, in
his great vision, saw the rest of the dead and they lived not again until the
thousand years were ended. That is a calamity -- it is a dreadful thing to
contemplate, for there shall be a great host of men swept off the face of the
earth because of their wickedness. The bodies of these will have to remain in
the grave and their spirits in the spirit house to be taught repentance and
faith in God while the thousand years of peace are progressing upon the earth.
I wish my
good brethren and sisters that we would read these revelations that we would
make ourselves more familiar with that which they contain, for there shall be a
judgment when Christ comes. We are informed that the books shall be opened, the
dead shall be judged out of the things which are written in the books and among
the books will be the book of life. We shall see its pages; we shall see
ourselves just as we are. And we are to understand with a righteous
understanding that the judgments which are meted out to us are just and true,
whether we come into the
Someone
asked a question about the difference between being transfigured and being translated. In our bodies we have now we cannot be in the
presence of God, we need to be changed or transfigured. Translated beings are simply a more permanent
form of transfigured. Neither one is a
permanent state for man. All will be
resurrected sometime. Moses 1 is an
example of this; Moses needed a celestial glorified body to see all of Father’s
creations, as we know that didn’t happen, it was a temporary situation.
Both
translation and transfiguration are done by priesthood ordinance; they weren’t surprised
at the city of
Power
source of God is LIGHT; the endowment teaches us
how to control light.
Light
of Christ discussion: One step leads to
the other stage, on to the final stage
Teachings Concerning
The Light of Christ
Bruce R. McConkie
There is a spirit - the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of Christ,
the light of truth, the light of Christ - that defies description and is beyond
mortal comprehension. It is in us and in all things; it is around us and around
all things; it fills the earth and the heavens and the universe. It is
everywhere, in all immensity, without exception; it is an indwelling, immanent,
ever-present, never-absent spirit. It has neither shape nor form nor
personality. It is not an entity nor a person nor a personage. It has no
agency, does not act independently, and exists not to act but to be acted upon.
As far as we know, it has no substance and is not material, at least as we
measure these things. It is variously described as light and life and law and
truth and power. It is the light of Christ; it is the life that is in all
things; it is the law by which all things are governed; it is truth shining
forth in darkness; it is the power of God who sitteth upon his throne. It may
be that it is also priesthood and faith and omnipotence, for these too are the
power of God.
This light of truth or light of Christ is seen in the light of the
luminaries of heaven; it is the power by which the sun, moon, and stars, and
the earth itself are made. It is the light that proceedeth forth from the
presence of God to fill the immensity of space." It is "the light
which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by
which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his
throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all
things." It is the agency of God's power; it is the means and way whereby
"he comprehendeth all things," so that "all things are before
him, and all (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pp. 257-258)
First
Presidency Statement (Joseph F. Smith, Anthon H. Lund, Charles W. Penrose)
There is a universally diffused essence which is the light and
life of the world, which proceedeth forth from the presence of God throughout
the immensity of space, the light and power of which God bestows in different
degrees to "them that ask him," according to their faith and obedience,
but the Holy Ghost, which Christ said He would send to His apostles from the
Father (John 14:26) was and is a "personage of spirit," and was not
to come until Christ went away (John 16:7). Also the endowment from that divine
being, the third person in the Holy Trinity, called "the gift of the Holy
Ghost," is a special blessing sealed upon baptized repentant believers in
Jesus Christ, and is "an abiding witness." The spirit of God may be
enjoyed as a temporary influence by which divine light and power come to mankind
for special purposes and occasions. But the gift of the Holy Ghost, which was
received by the apostles on the day of Pentecost, and is bestowed in
confirmation, is a permanent witness and higher endowment than the ordinary
manifestation of the Holy Spirit. (Messages of the First Presidency,
Vol.5, p.4)
From True
to the Faith: A Gospel Reference (Published by the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004)
The Light of Christ "proceedeth forth from the presence of
God to fill the immensity of space." It is "the light which is in all
things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things
are governed" (D&C 88:12-13; see also D&C 88:6-11). This power is
an influence for good in the lives of all people (see John 1:9; D&C 93:2).
In the scriptures, the Light of Christ is sometimes called the Spirit of the
Lord, the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Christ, or the Light of Life.
The Light of Christ should not be confused with the Holy Ghost. It
is not a personage, as the Holy Ghost is. Its influence leads people to find
the true gospel, be baptized, and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost (see John
12:46;
Conscience is a manifestation of the Light of Christ, enabling us
to judge good from evil. The prophet Mormon taught: "The Spirit of
Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I
show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and
to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ;
wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. … And now, my
brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is
the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same
judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged" Moroni 7:16, Moroni
7:18). [p. 96]
Joseph
F. Smith
The Holy Ghost as a personage of Spirit can no more be omnipresent
in person than can the Father or the Son, but by his intelligence, his
knowledge, his power and influence, over and through the laws of nature, he is
and can be omnipresent throughout all the works of God. It is not the Holy
Ghost who in person lighteth every man who is born into the world, but it is
the light of Christ, the Spirit of Truth, which proceeds from the source of
intelligence, which permeates all nature, which lighteth every man and fills
the immensity of space. You may call it the Spirit of God, you may call it the
influence of God's intelligence, you may call it the substance of his power, no
matter what it is called, it is the spirit of intelligence that permeates the
universe and gives to the spirits of men understanding, just as Job has said.
(Job 32:8; Doc. and Cov. 88:3-13.) [Gospel Doctrine, p.61]
We get access to this
greater portion of light and knowledge through the Atonement during the
Millennium.
Simple as is the plan
of redemption in its general features, it is confessedly a mystery in detail to
the finite mind. President John Taylor has written in this wise: "In some
mysterious, incomprehensible way, Jesus assumed the responsibility which
naturally would have devolved upon Adam; but which could only be accomplished
through the mediation of Himself, and by taking upon Himself their sorrows,
assuming their responsibilities, and bearing their transgressions or sins. In a
manner to us incomprehensible and inexplicable, He bore the weight of the sins
of the whole world, not only of Adam, but of his posterity; and in doing that,
opened the kingdom of heaven, not only to all believers and all who obeyed the
law of God, but to more than one-half of the human family who die before they
come to years of maturity, as well as to the heathen, who, having died without
law, will through His mediation be resurrected without law, and be judged
without law, and thus participate, according to their capacity, works, and
worth, in the blessings of His atonement." fn
However incomplete may
be our comprehension of the scheme of redemption through Christ's vicarious
sacrifice in all its parts, we cannot reject it without becoming infidel; for
it stands as the fundamental doctrine of all scripture, the very essence of the
spirit of prophecy and revelation, the most prominent of all the declarations
of God unto man.
(James E. Talmage, Articles
of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 69.)
(Mosiah
3:16.) – The child is not accountable yet they can sin in the body, there is a
need for the Atonement
16 And even if it were possible that little children could sin they
could not be saved; but I say unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in
Adam, or by nature, they fall, even so the blood of Christ atoneth for their
sins.
As parents we need to
teach our children the gospel plan while they are young, they understand more
then you think they do.
(Doctrine and Covenants 131:5.) – Calling and Election
is an ordinance and is given by revelation
5 (May 17th, 1843.) The more sure word of prophecy means a man's
knowing that he is sealed up unto eternal life, by revelation and the spirit of
prophecy, through the power of the Holy Priesthood.
Danger
– People strive for this as a life goal instead of working for others in
building up the
Obey,
sacrifice, and consecrate to build up the kingdom we will achieve this. The trick is if you live your temple
ordinances and focus on them then you shall receive your calling and election
and it will be made sure.
All
priesthood ordinances are done under priesthood keys, in this instance a Bishop
or Stake President don’t have this specific key, but someone does hold it on
earth. Enough said!
We
determine where we are heading by the life we are leading. What is my goal? Keep going, continue to strive, endure to the
end, DON’T
QUIT!
We
should be as confident in obtaining God hood as Lehi was in obtaining the land
of promise.
The
Culminating Sealing Ordinance of the Temple
Posted By Bryce Haymond On March 25, 2008 @ 2:10 pm In Favorites,
General Authorities, Scholarship, Temples Today | 41
Comments
No, it isn’t being sealed to your spouse on wedding day, although
that is a prerequisite (preparatory and required) to receive this highest and
most sacred sealing ordinance. The priesthood sealing powers of Elijah, as
restored in this last dispensation (D&C 110:13-16)
and vested in the presiding high priest of the Church (D&C 132:7), are
truly infinite in their application, being enabled to promise eternal life and
exaltation to the faithful saints while yet in this life, as Peter explained to
the ancient saints (2 Pet. 1; Eph. 1:13-14). Those
saints who so receive are they who are of the church of the Firstborn (D&C 76:54, 94),
and who may then receive the Second Comforter (D&C 88:3-5).
The Prophet Joseph Smith declared:
After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is
baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the
laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to
humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and
living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou
shalt be exalted.
When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is
determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling
and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the
other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the
testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the 27th verses.[1]
I would exhort you to go on and continue to call upon God until you
make your calling and election sure for yourselves, by
obtaining this more sure word of prophecy, and wait patiently for the promise
until you obtain it.[2]
Dr. Andrew C. Skinner, currently Executive Director of The Neal A.
Maxwell Institute for Religious Scholarship at BYU, provides more insight
into these sacred principles in his recently published book, Temple Worship:
Another aspect of the sealing power of the priesthood is the
ability of the Lord’s authorized servant to seal men and women unto eternal
life, to perform an ordinance granting them eternal life once they pass beyond
mortality, “to place a seal on them so that no matter what happens in the
world, no matter what desolation sweeps the earth, yet they shall be saved in
the day of the Lord Jesus. (D&C 88:84-85;
D&C 109:38, 46;
D&C 124:124; D&C 131:5; D&C 132:19,
46, 49).”[3] Elder Bruce R. McConkie
added this significant insight: “Since these sealing blessings are conferred
by the laying on of hands of those who hold the keys of this power, it
follows that John’s description of placing a seal in the forehead is not just
apocalyptic imagery but a literal description of what takes place. As with
other sacred things, however, the devil has a substitute seal to place; he puts
a mark in the ‘foreheads’ of his followers also. (Rev. 13:16-18)”[4] [5]
As Elder McConkie noted, this sealing is “conferred by the laying
on of hands” and therefore is a different sealing than when one is first
married and sealed in the temple. Being sealed to your spouse initially at the
altar and its associated promised blessings (including those mentioned in D&C 132) are
contingent upon enduring faithfulness and righteousness throughout one’s
lifetime, whereupon one may then receive this final sealing and ordinance:
The sealing of men and women (couples) to eternal life is predicated
upon continued faithfulness in mortality over time, after their temple
marriage, and is not automatic or inherent in the marriage ceremony when a
couple is first married in the temple, as temple instruction makes clear.
Said President Joseph Fielding Smith, “Blessings pronounced upon couples in
connection with celestial marriage are conditioned upon the subsequent
faithfulness of the participating parties.”[6] In fact, exaltation
comes as a result of proven loyalty to the Lord and his kingdom “at all
hazards.”[7] The Prophet Joseph Smith not only
described the kind of complete devotion to righteousness that is required to
receive this ultimate blessing but showed us the way.[8] In 1843, after years of serving the Lord at
all hazards, Joseph heard the Lord say: “For I am the Lord thy God, and will be
with thee even unto the end of the world, and through all eternity; for verily
I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a throne for you in the kingdom of
my Father, with Abraham your father” (D&C 132:49).[9]
We might ask, “Must we receive this ordinance in mortality, or can
it be administered vicariously after we have passed on?” Dr. Skinner helps us
in understanding:
Regarding the rest of us, the Lord indicates in D&C 50:5 that
whether such a guarantee comes before death or after mortality has concluded,
it makes no difference. The result is the same—exaltation. That is why it
is so important for all of us to endure faithfully, patiently, and cheerfully
to the end of our mortal lives.
In a way, the temple endowment is preparation for the sealing
ordinance of eternal marriage, which in turn is preparation for the promise of
eternal life preparatory to the realization of exaltation.[10]
I would add that baptism and receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost
(a type of washing and anointing) are also preparation for the temple
ordinances which include initiatories (washing and anointing - D&C 124:39),
which are in turn preparation for these higher sealing blessings. Undoubtedly
these ordinances have a relationship to the three degrees of glory found within
the celestial kingdom (D&C 131:1-5).
Note that this sealing ordinance clearly does not make one
like God while in this life, but is the promise, save committing the
unpardonable sin (D&C 132:26-27),
that one will eventually receive such an inheritance in the hereafter (Rom. 8:16-17; Gal. 4:7). Joseph Smith
taught us:
When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and
ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the
principles of the Gospel-you must begin with the first, and go on until you
learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you
have passed through the veil before you will have learned them. It is not all
to be comprehended in this world; it will be a great work to learn our
salvation and exaltation even beyond the grave.[11]
More can be learned about this most solemn and sacred ordinance
and it’s associated principles at the following links:
Notes:
1.
TPJS, 149-151. [↩]
2.
ibid., 299. [↩]
3.
McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 683. [↩]
4.
ibid. [↩]
5.
Skinner, Temple Worship, 2007, 74; emphasis added. [↩]
6.
Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, 2:46. [↩]
7.
Smith, TPJS, 150. [↩]
8.
ibid., 149-51. [↩]
9.
Skinner, Temple Worship, 2007, 74-75; emphasis added. [↩]
10.
Skinner, Temple Worship, 2007, 75; emphasis added. [↩]
11.
TPJS, 348. [↩]
DAVID A. BEDNAR
David A. Bednar was a member of the Quorum of
the Twelve Apostles
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this
fireside address was delivered on 4 February 2007.
Sister Bednar
and I are grateful to meet with you tonight. As we travel the earth, we
especially appreciate opportunities to gather with and learn from faithful
young people like you. Tonight I pray for the assistance of the Holy Ghost as
we worship together and seek in unity to be taught from on high (see D&C
43:16).
I want to
begin by asking a simple question. What is the most valuable substance or
commodity in the world? We might initially think that gold, oil, or diamonds
have the greatest worth. But of all the minerals, metals, gems, and solvents
found on and in the earth, the most valuable is water.
Life springs
from water. Life is sustained by water. Water is the medium required to perform
the various functions associated with all known forms of life. Our physical
bodies are approximately two-thirds water. Whereas a person can survive for
many days or even weeks without food, an individual will usually die in only
three or four days without water. Most of the world’s great centers of
population are situated near sources of fresh water. Simply stated, life could
not exist without the availability of and access to adequate supplies of clean
water.
Living
Water
Given the
vital role of water in sustaining all forms of life, the Savior’s use of the
term “living water” is supernally significant. As described in the fourth
chapter of John, Jesus and His disciples passed through
There
cometh a woman of
(For his
disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.)
Then saith
the woman of
Jesus
answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that
saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would
have given thee living water.
The woman
saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from
whence then hast thou that living water? . . .
Jesus
answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst
again:
But whosoever
drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water
that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into
everlasting life.
[John 4:7–11, 13–14]
The living
water referred to in this episode is a representation of the Lord Jesus Christ
and His gospel. And as water is necessary to sustain physical life, so the
Savior and His doctrines, principles, and ordinances are essential for eternal
life. You and I need His living water daily and in ample supply to sustain our
ongoing spiritual growth and development.
The
Scriptures Are a Reservoir of Living Water
The
scriptures contain the words of Christ and are a reservoir of living water to
which we have ready access and from which we can drink deeply and long. You and
I must look to and come unto Christ, who is “the fountain of living waters” (1
Nephi 11:25; compare Ether 8:26, 12:28), by reading (see Mosiah 1:5), studying
(see D&C 26:1), searching (see John 5:39;
The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a sacred stewardship to preserve the
written revelations in purity and in safety (see D&C 42:56)—this precious
reservoir of living water. A monumental work was accomplished by the Church in
the 1970s and 1980s and resulted in the edition of the scriptures we enjoy
today with extensive footnotes, cross-references, and additional study aids,
maps, and information.
As the
updated scriptures were first introduced to the members of the Church in the
early 1980s, Elder Boyd K. Packer prophesied:
With the
passing of years, these scriptures will produce successive generations of
faithful Christians who know the Lord Jesus Christ and are disposed to obey His
will.
The older
generation has been raised without them, but there is another generation
growing up.
[CR, October 1982, 75; or “Scriptures,” Ensign, November 1982,
53]
Twenty-four
years have passed since Elder Packer spoke those words. And the generation to
which he was referring is seated tonight in Church buildings all across the
globe! He was talking about you, and he was talking about me. The vast majority
of you have only known the scriptures as we have them today. Please keep that
fact in mind as I continue to quote Elder Packer:
The
revelations will be opened to them as to no other in the history of the world.
Into their hands now are placed the sticks of Joseph and of
Not only are
we blessed to have these scriptures so readily available to us today, but we
also have the responsibility to use them consistently and effectively and to
drink deeply from the reservoir of living water. I believe this generation of
youth is more immersed in the scriptures, more deeply acquainted with the words
of the prophets, and more prone to turn to the revelations for answers than any
previous generation. But we still have a great distance to travel along the
strait and narrow path—more to learn, more to apply, and more to experience.
Obtaining
Living Water from the Scriptural Reservoir
I now want to
review with you three basic ways or methods of obtaining living water from the
scriptural reservoir: (1) reading the scriptures from beginning to end,
(2) studying the scriptures by topic, and (3) searching the
scriptures for connections, patterns, and themes. Each of these approaches can
help satisfy our spiritual thirst if we invite the companionship and assistance
of the Holy Ghost as we read, study, and search.
Reading a book of scripture
from beginning to end initiates the flow of living water into our lives by
introducing us to important stories, gospel doctrines, and timeless principles.
This approach also enables us to learn about major characters in the scriptures
and the sequence, timing, and context of events and teachings. Reading the
written word in this way exposes us to the breadth of a volume of scripture.
This is the first and most fundamental way of obtaining living water.
Studying by topic typically
follows, grows out of, and builds upon our reading of the scriptures from
beginning to end. For example, as we read the Book of Mormon we may identify
and seek to find answers to important doctrinal and practical questions such as
these:
• What is
faith in the Savior?
• Why is
faith in Jesus Christ the first principle of the gospel?
• Why and how
does faith in the Redeemer lead to repentance?
• How does
the Atonement strengthen me to do things in my daily life that I could never do
with my own limited capacity and in my own strength?
Focusing upon
such questions and studying by topic, using the Topical Guide and index to the
triple combination, allow us to dig into and explore the depth of the
scriptures and obtain a much richer spiritual knowledge. This approach
increases the rate at which living water flows into our lives.
Both reading
from beginning to end and studying by topic are prerequisites to the third
basic method of obtaining living water from the scriptural reservoir. Whereas
reading a book of scripture from beginning to end provides a basic breadth of
knowledge, studying by topic increases the depth of our knowledge. Searching
in the revelations for connections, patterns, and themes builds upon and adds
to our spiritual knowledge by bringing together and expanding these first two
methods; it broadens our perspective and understanding of the plan of
salvation.
In my
judgment, diligently searching to discover connections, patterns, and themes is
in part what it means to “feast” upon the words of Christ. This approach can
open the floodgates of the spiritual reservoir, enlighten our understanding
through His Spirit, and produce a depth of gratitude for the holy scriptures
and a degree of spiritual commitment that can be received in no other way. Such
searching enables us to build upon the rock of our Redeemer and to withstand
the winds of wickedness in these latter days.
I want to
emphasize an essential point. You might initially assume that a person must
have extensive formal education to use the methods I am describing. This
assumption simply is not correct. Any honest seeker of truth, regardless of
educational background, can successfully employ these simple approaches. You
and I do not need sophisticated study aids and should not rely extensively upon
the spiritual knowledge of others. We simply need to have a sincere desire to
learn, the companionship of the Holy Ghost, the holy scriptures, and an active
and inquiring mind.
The Prophet
Joseph Smith taught that we should
search the
Scriptures—search the revelations which we publish, and ask your Heavenly
Father, in the name of His Son Jesus Christ, to manifest the truth unto you,
and if you do it with an eye single to His glory, nothing doubting, He will
answer you by the power of His Holy Spirit. You will then know for yourselves
and not for another. You will not then be dependent on man for the knowledge of
God.
[HC 1:282]
If you and I
will ask, seek, and knock (see Matthew 7:7), always keeping ourselves worthy to
learn from the Spirit, then the gates of the spiritual reservoir will open to
us and the living water will flow. I witness, I testify, and I promise that
this is true.
Let me
briefly explain and provide examples of what I mean by connections, patterns, and
themes.
Connections
A connection
is a relationship or link between ideas, people, things, or events, and the
scriptures are full of connections. Consider the relationship between the
Eternal Father and His Son, Jesus Christ (see Mosiah 15:1–9); between mercy and
grace (see 2 Nephi 9:8); between clean hands and a pure heart (see Psalm 24:4);
between a broken heart and a contrite spirit (see 3 Nephi 9:20); between the
wheat and the tares (see D&C 101:65); between knowledge and intelligence
(see D&C 130:18–19); between justification and sanctification (see D&C
20:30–31); between sheep and goats (see Matthew 25:32–33); between immortality
and eternal life (see Moses 1:39); and countless others. Prayerfully
identifying, learning about, and pondering such connections—the similarities
and differences, for example—is a primary source of living water and yields
inspired insights and treasures of hidden knowledge.
As I have
read each of the standard works from beginning to end and studied different
topics, I noticed that the word understanding was commonly described in
relation to the heart. Two verses in the Book of Mormon illustrate this
connection:
“Ye have not
applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not been
wise” (Mosiah 12:27; emphasis added).
“And the
multitude did hear and do bear record; and their hearts were open and they did understand
in their hearts the words which he prayed” (3 Nephi 19:33; emphasis
added).
I find it
most interesting in these and many other verses that understanding is linked
primarily to the heart. Note that we are not explicitly counseled to apply our
minds to understanding. Obviously, we must use our minds and our rational
capacity to obtain and evaluate information and to reach appropriate
conclusions and judgments. But perhaps the scriptures are suggesting to us that
reason and “the arm of flesh” (D&C 1:19) are not sufficient to produce true
understanding. Thus, understanding, as the word is used in the scriptures, does
not refer solely or even primarily to intellectual or cognitive comprehension.
Rather, understanding occurs when what we know in our minds is confirmed as
true in our hearts by the witness of the Holy Ghost.
The spiritual
gift of revelation most typically operates as thoughts and feelings put into
our minds and hearts by the Holy Ghost (see D&C 8:2–3, 100:5–8). And as
testimony and conviction move from our heads to our hearts, we no longer just
have information or knowledge—but we begin to understand and seek after the
mighty change of heart. Understanding, then, is the result of revelation; it is
a spiritual gift, it is a prerequisite to conversion, and it entices us to more
consistently live in accordance with the principles we are learning.
This revealed
insight about the relationship between the heart and understanding has greatly
influenced my approach to gospel learning and study, has affected positively
the way Sister Bednar and I teach our children and grandchildren, and has
impacted my priesthood service.
Patterns
A pattern is
a plan, model, or standard that can be used as a guide for repetitively doing
or making something. And the scriptures are full of spiritual patterns.
Typically, a scriptural pattern is broader and more comprehensive than a
connection. In the Doctrine and Covenants we find patterns for preaching the
gospel (see D&C 50:13–29), for avoiding deception (see D&C 52:14,
18–19), for constructing temples (see D&C 115:14–16), for establishing
cities (see D&C 94), for organizing priesthood quorums (see D&C
107:85–100) and high councils (see D&C 102:12), and for a variety of other
purposes. Identifying and studying scriptural patterns is another important
source of living water and helps us become acquainted and more familiar with
the wisdom and the mind of the Lord (see D&C 95:13).
As I have
both read from beginning to end and studied topics in the Doctrine and
Covenants, I have been impressed with a pattern that is evident in many of the
Lord’s responses to the questions of missionaries. On a number of occasions in
1831, various groups of elders who had been called to preach the gospel desired
to know how they should proceed and by what route and manner they should
travel. In revelations given through the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord
respectively counseled these brethren that they could travel on water or by
land (see D&C 61:22), that they could make or purchase the needed vehicles
(see D&C 60:5), that they could travel all together or go two by two (see
D&C 62:5), and that they could appropriately travel in a number of different
directions (see D&C 80:3). The revelations specifically instructed the
brethren to make these decisions “as seemeth you good” (D&C 60:5; 62:5) or
“as it is made known unto them according to their judgments” (D&C 61:22).
And in each of these instances the Savior declared, “It mattereth not unto me”
(D&C 60:5, 61:22, 62:5, 63:40; see also 80:3).
The Lord’s
statement that such things “mattereth not unto me” initially may seem
surprising. Clearly, the Savior was not saying to these missionaries that He
did not care about what they were doing. Rather, He was emphasizing the
importance of putting first things first and focusing upon the right
things—which, in these instances, were getting to the assigned field of labor
and initiating the work. They were to exercise faith, use good judgment, act in
accordance with the direction of the Spirit, and determine the best way to
travel to their assignments. The essential thing was the work they had been
called to perform; how they got there was important but was not essential.
What a
remarkable pattern for you and for me to apply in our lives. Jesus Christ knows
and loves us individually. He is concerned about our spiritual development and
progress, and He encourages us to grow through the exercise of inspired,
righteous, and wise judgment. The Redeemer will never leave us alone. We should
always pray for guidance and direction. We should always seek for the constant
companionship of the Holy Ghost. But we should not be dismayed or discouraged
if answers to our petitions for direction or help do not necessarily come
quickly. Such answers rarely come all at once. Our progress would be hindered
and our judgment would be weak if every answer was given to us immediately and
without requiring the price of faith, work, study, and persistence.
The pattern I
am describing is illustrated succinctly in the following instruction to those
early missionaries:
I, the
Lord, am willing, if any among you desire to ride upon horses, or upon mules,
or in chariots, he shall receive this blessing, if he receive it from the hand
of the Lord, with
a thankful heart in all things.
These
things remain with you to do according to judgment and the directions of the Spirit.
Behold,
the kingdom is yours. And behold, and lo, I am with the faithful always. Even
so. Amen. [D&C 62:7–9; emphasis added]
The principal
issues in this episode are not horses, mules, or chariots; rather, they are
gratitude, judgment, and faithfulness. Please note the basic elements in this
pattern: (1) a thankful heart in all things; (2) act according to judgment and
the directions of the Spirit; and (3) the Savior is with the faithful always.
Can we begin to sense the direction and assurance, the renewal and strength
that can come from following this simple pattern for inspired and righteous
judgment? Truly, scriptural patterns are a precious source of living water.
The most
demanding judgments we ever make are seldom between good or bad or between
attractive and unattractive alternatives. Usually, our toughest choices are between
good and good. In this scriptural episode, horses, mules, and chariots may have
been equally effective options for missionary travel. In a similar way, you and
I also might identify at various times in our lives more than one acceptable
opportunity or option that we could choose to pursue. We should remember this
pattern from the scriptures as we approach such important decisions. If we put
essential things first in our lives—things such as dedicated discipleship,
honoring covenants, and keeping the commandments—then we will be blessed with
inspiration and strong judgment as we pursue the path that leads us back to our
heavenly home. If we put essential things first, we “cannot go amiss” (D&C
80:3).
Themes
Themes are
overarching, recurring, and unifying qualities or ideas, like essential threads
woven throughout a text. Generally, scriptural themes are broader and more
comprehensive than patterns or connections. In fact, themes provide the
background and context for understanding connections and patterns. The process
of searching for and identifying scriptural themes leads us to the fundamental
doctrines and principles of salvation—to the eternal truths that invite the
confirming witness of the Holy Ghost (see 1 John 5:6). This approach to
obtaining living water from the scriptural reservoir is the most demanding and
rigorous; it also yields the greatest edification and spiritual refreshment.
And the scriptures are replete with powerful themes.
For example,
the Book of Mormon came forth in this dispensation to “the convincing of the
Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself
unto all nations” (Book of Mormon title page). The central and recurring theme
of the Book of Mormon is the invitation for all to “come unto Christ, and be
perfected in him” (
Let me
provide a few additional examples of important themes using scriptures from the
Book of Mormon:
“If . . . the
children of men keep the commandments of God he doth nourish them, and
strengthen them, and provide means whereby they can accomplish the thing which
he has commanded them” (1 Nephi 17:3).
“Press
forward with a steadfastness in Christ” (2 Nephi 31:20).
“Men are,
that they might have joy” (2 Nephi 2:25).
“In the
strength of the Lord thou canst do all things” (
“Wickedness
never was happiness” (
If you promise
not to laugh, I will tell you about one of the simple ways I search for
scriptural themes. I do not advocate or recommend that you use the same
approach; different people use different methods with equal effectiveness. I am
simply describing a process that works well for me.
In
preparation for a recent speaking assignment, I was impressed to talk about the
spirit and purposes of gathering. I had been studying and pondering Elder
Russell M. Nelson’s recent conference message on the principle of gathering
(see CR, September–October 2006, 83–87; or “The Gathering of Scattered
Israel,” Ensign, November 2006, 79–82), and the topic was perfectly
suited to the nature of and setting for my assignment (see “The Spirit and
Purposes of Gathering,” address delivered at a BYU–Idaho devotional, 31 October
2006;
www.byui.edu/Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2006_10_31_Bednar.htm).
I recognized
that I had much to learn from the scriptures about gathering. So I identified
and made copies of every scripture in the standard works that included any form
of the word gather. I next read each scripture, looking for connections,
patterns, and themes. It is important to note that I did not start my reading
with a preconceived set of things for which I was looking. I prayed for the
assistance of the Holy Ghost and simply started reading.
As I reviewed
the scriptures about gathering, I marked verses with similar phrases or points
of emphasis, using a colored pencil. By the time I had read all of the
scriptures, some of the verses were marked in red, some were marked in green,
and some were marked in other colors.
Now, here
comes the part that may make you laugh. I next used my scissors to cut out the
scriptures I had copied and sorted them into piles by color. The process produced
a large pile of scriptures marked with red, a large pile of scriptures marked
with green, and so forth. I then sorted the scriptures within each large pile
into smaller piles. As a first grader I must have really liked cutting with
scissors and putting things into piles!
The results
of this process taught me a great deal about the principle of gathering. For
example, I learned from examining my large piles that the scriptures describe
at least three key aspects of gathering: the purposes of gathering, the types
and places of gathering, and the blessings of gathering.
I noted that
some of the primary purposes of gathering are to worship (see Mosiah
18:25), to receive counsel and instruction (see Mosiah 18:7), to build up the
Church (see D&C 101:63–64), and to provide defense and protection (see
D&C 115:6). In studying about the types and places of gathering, I
discovered that we are gathered into eternal families (see Mosiah 2:5), into
the restored Church (see D&C 101:64–65), into stakes of Zion (see D&C
109:59), into holy temples (see Alma 26:5–6), and into two great centers: old
Jerusalem (see Ether 13:11) and the city of Zion or New Jerusalem (see D&C
42:9; Articles of Faith 1:10). I was grateful to learn that edification (see
Ephesians 4:12–13), preservation (see Moses 7:61), and strength (see D&C
82:14) are some of the blessings of gathering.
Through this
process I gained an even deeper appreciation for the spirit of gathering as an
integral part of the restoration of all things in the dispensation of the
fulness of times. I will not take the time now to recount the other things I
learned about gathering; my purpose here is to briefly illustrate one way of
searching for scriptural themes.
The
Blessings We Can Receive
The blessings
of knowledge, understanding, revelation, and spiritual exhilaration that we can
receive as we read, study, and search the scriptures are marvelous. “Feasting
upon the word of Christ” (2 Nephi 31:20) is edifying, exciting, and enjoyable.
The word is good, “for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to
enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me” (
In my
personal reading, studying, and searching over a period of years, I have
focused many times upon the doctrine of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. No
event, knowledge, or influence has had a greater impact upon me during my 54
years of mortality than repeatedly reading about, studying in depth, and
searching for connections, patterns, and themes related to the doctrine of the
Atonement. This central, saving doctrine, over time, gradually has distilled upon
my soul as the dews from heaven; has influenced my thoughts, words, and deeds
(see Mosiah 4:30); and literally has become for me a well of living water.
Lehi’s
Vision
The
importance of reading, studying, and searching the scriptures is highlighted in
several elements of Lehi’s vision of the tree of life.
Father Lehi
saw several groups of people pressing forward along the strait and narrow path,
seeking to obtain the tree and its fruit. The members of each group had entered
onto the path through the gate of repentance and baptism by water and had
received the gift of the Holy Ghost (see 2 Nephi 31:17–20). The tree of life is
the central feature in the dream and is identified in 1 Nephi 11 as a
representation of Jesus Christ. The fruit on the tree is a symbol for the
blessings of the Savior’s Atonement. Interestingly, the major theme of the Book
of Mormon, inviting all to come unto Christ, is central in Lehi’s vision. Of
particular interest is the rod of iron that led to the tree (see 1 Nephi 8:19).
The rod of iron is the word of God.
In 1 Nephi 8,
verses 21 through 23, we learn about a group of people who pressed forward and
commenced in the path that led to the tree of life. However, as the people
encountered the mist of darkness, which represents the temptations of the devil
(see 1 Nephi 12:17), they lost their way, they wandered off, and they were
lost.
It is
important to note that no mention is made about the rod of iron in these
verses. Those who ignore or treat lightly the word of God do not have access to
that divine compass which points the way to the Savior. Consider that this
group obtained the path and pressed forward, exhibiting a measure of faith in
Christ and spiritual conviction, but they were diverted by the temptations of
the devil and were lost.
In verses 24
through 28 of chapter 8 we read about a second group of people who obtained the
strait and narrow path that led to the tree of life. This group pressed forward
through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron even until they did
come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree. However, as this second group
of people was mocked by the occupants of the great and spacious building, they
were ashamed and fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. Please notice
that this group is described as clinging to the rod of iron.
It is
significant that the second group pressed forward with faith and commitment.
They also had the added blessing of the rod of iron, and they were clinging
to it! However, as they were confronted with persecution and adversity,
they fell away into forbidden paths and were lost. Even with faith, commitment,
and the word of God, this group was lost—perhaps because they only periodically
read or studied or searched the scriptures. Clinging to the rod
of iron suggests to me only occasional “bursts” of study or irregular dipping
rather than consistent, ongoing immersion in the word of God.
In verse 30
we read about a third group of people who pressed forward continually holding
fast to the rod of iron until they came forth and fell down and partook of the
fruit of the tree. The key phrase in this verse is “continually holding fast”
to the rod of iron.
The third
group also pressed forward with faith and conviction; however, there is no
indication that they wandered off, fell into forbidden paths, or were lost.
Perhaps this third group of people consistently read and studied and
searched the words of Christ. Perhaps it was the constant flow of living water
that saved the third group from perishing. This is the group you and I should
strive to join.
What
meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to the tree?
And I said
unto them that it was the word of God; and whoso would hearken unto the word of
God, and would
hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither could the temptations
and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them unto blindness, to lead
them away to destruction. [1 Nephi 15:23–24; emphasis added]
What, then,
is the difference between clinging and holding fast to the rod of iron? Let me
suggest that holding fast to the iron rod entails the prayerful and consistent
use of all three of the ways of obtaining living water that we have discussed
tonight.
And it
came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was
the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of
life.
[1 Nephi 11:25]
Each of these
approaches—reading from beginning to end, studying by topic, and searching for
connections, patterns, and themes—is edifying, is instructive, and provides an
intermittent portion of the Savior’s living water. I believe, however, that the
regular use of all three methods produces a more constant flow of living water
and is in large measure what it means to hold fast to the rod of iron.
Through
normal activity each day, you and I lose a substantial amount of the water that
constitutes so much of our physical bodies. Thirst is a demand by the cells of
the body for water, and the water in our bodies must be replenished daily. It
frankly does not make sense to occasionally “fill up” with water, with long
periods of dehydration in between. The same thing is true spiritually.
Spiritual thirst is a need for living water. A constant flow of living water is
far superior to sporadic sipping.
Are you and I
daily reading, studying, and searching the scriptures in a way that enables us
to hold fast to the rod of iron—or are you and I merely clinging? Are you and I
pressing forward toward the fountain of living waters—relying upon the word of
God? These are important questions for each of us to ponder prayerfully.
As we
conclude tonight, we will sing together the hymn “The Iron Rod.” Indeed, this
song of the righteous will be a fervent and poignant prayer (see D&C
25:12). May we have ears to hear the lessons this hymn teaches.
I witness of
Jesus Christ and of the power of His word and of Him as the Word. He is the Son
of the Eternal Father, and I know that He lives. I testify that holding fast to
the rod of iron will lead to His living water. As His servant, I invoke this
blessing upon you: that your desire and capacity to hold fast to the rod of
iron will be enlarged, that your faith in the Savior will increase and replace
your fears, and that as you drink deeply from the scriptural reservoir you will
come to know Him. May we ever remember that
when
temptation’s pow’r is nigh,
Our
pathway clouded o’er,
Upon the
rod we can rely,
And
heaven’s aid implore.
[“The Iron
Rod,” Hymns, 1985, no. 274]
In the sacred
name of Jesus Christ, amen.
(1 Nephi
5:2-8.) – Verse 5, past tense and sharing his testimony, he knew
2 For she
had supposed that we had perished in the wilderness; and she also had
complained against my father, telling him that he was a visionary man; saying:
Behold thou hast led us forth from the land of our inheritance, and my sons are
no more, and we perish in the wilderness.
3 And after
this manner of language had my mother complained against my father.
4 And it
had come to pass that my father spake unto her, saying: I know that I am a visionary
man; for if I had not seen the things of God in a vision I should not have
known the goodness of God, but had tarried at
5 But behold, I have obtained a land of
promise, in the which things I do rejoice; yea, and I know that the Lord
will deliver my sons out of the hands of Laban, and bring them down again unto
us in the wilderness.
6 And after
this manner of language did my father, Lehi, comfort my mother, Sariah,
concerning us, while we journeyed in the wilderness up to the
7 And when
we had returned to the tent of my father, behold their joy was full, and my
mother was comforted.
8 And she
spake, saying: Now I know of a surety
that the Lord hath commanded my husband to flee into the wilderness; yea, and I
also know of a surety that the Lord hath protected my sons, and delivered them
out of the hands of Laban, and given them power whereby they could accomplish
the thing which the Lord hath commanded them. And after this manner of
language did she speak.
(2 Nephi
1:5.)
5 But, said he, notwithstanding our afflictions, we have obtained a
land of promise, a land which is choice above all other lands; a land which the
Lord God hath covenanted with me should be a land for the inheritance of my
seed. Yea, the Lord hath covenanted this land unto me, and to my children
forever, and also all those who should be led out of other countries by the
hand of the Lord.
Immortality-for All
Men
Immortality
is one thing, eternal life another. Immortality is to live forever in a
resurrected state; it is to have a tangible body of flesh and bones. After the
judgment, immortal beings are assigned their places in the celestial,
terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms. Eternal life is the name of the kind of
life possessed by the Eternal One, by the Eternal Father. It is reserved for
those immortal beings who gain an inheritance in the highest heaven of the
celestial realm.
Both
immortality and eternal life come because of the atonement; both are part of
the gospel. Immortality is for all men, both the righteous and the wicked;
eternal life is for those who believe and obey the whole law of the whole
gospel. Immortality is for the disobedient; eternal life is for the obedient.
"Jesus Christ. . . hath abolished death; and hath brought life and
immortality to light through the gospel," Paul said. (2 Timothy 1:10.)
Immortality is the ransom from temporal death; eternal life is the ransom from
spiritual death. Both come by the grace of God. One comes as a free gift; the
other is earned by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.
The
whole purpose of the plan of salvation is to provide immortality for all men
and to make eternal life available for those who overcome the world and qualify
for such a high exaltation. "For behold, this is my work and my
glory," saith God, "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life
of man." (Moses 1:39.) This is accomplished through the redemption of
Christ, by virtue of which all men are "raised in immortality," thus
being redeemed from the temporal fall, and by virtue of which the saints are
"raised [also] unto eternal life," thus being "redeemed from
their spiritual fall." (D&C 29:43-44.)
Salvation
is in Christ. Immortality comes through him; his resurrection brings to pass
the resurrection of all men. Eternal life is his gift to those whose sins he
has borne. "I am the resurrection, and the life," he said. 'Both
immortality and eternal life come because of my atoning sacrifice.' "He
that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live." Temporal
death and spiritual death are both swallowed up in Christ. "And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die." (John 11:25-26.) Those who
are alive in Christ because they have the companionship of the Holy Spirit
shall never die. They are alive spiritually in this sphere, and they shall have
eternal life in the realms ahead.
As
to immortality coming to all men, the scriptures say: "Behold, the day
cometh that all shall rise from the dead and stand before God, and be judged
according to their works." These are the words of Amulek. "Now, there
is a death which is called a temporal death," he continues. "And the
death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be
raised from this temporal death. The spirit and the body shall be reunited
again in its perfect form." There will be no physical imperfections in the
resurrection, no disease, no corruption, nothing to impair the proper functioning
of every organ of the body. "Both limb and joint shall be restored to its
proper frame, even as we now are at this time; and we shall be brought to stand
before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all
our guilt." The resurrection will not erase either the remembrance of sin
or the anguish of conscience as a result of a wasted life.
"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." Men can no more
escape the fact of resurrection than they can choose to go out of existence and
cease to be. The resurrection will be so literal and so real that "even
there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall
be restored to its perfect frame, as it is now, or in the body, and shall be
brought and be arraigned before the bar of Christ the Son, and God the Father,
and the Holy Spirit, which is one Eternal God, to be judged according to their
works, whether they be good or whether they be evil. . . . 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, that they can no more see corruption." (
Eternal Life-for the
Saints
Immortality is for all
men; eternal life is for a favored few. Eternal life is available to all, for
God is no respecter of persons, but few will pay the price in service, in
obedience, and in personal righteousness to gain so great a gift. In its very
nature and by definition, eternal life consists of two things: (1) the
continuation of the family unit in eternity, and (2) receiving the fulness of
the glory and power of the Father.
God
also has all power, all might, and all dominion. He knows all things, has all
wisdom, and is the embodiment of all truth. Those who receive a like state of
glory and exaltation become like him; they become one with the Father and the
Son. They are the ones of whom Jesus said: "Ye shall be even as I am, and
I am even as the Father; and the Father and I are one." (3 Nephi 28:10.)
And it is of them that the revealed word recites: "They shall pass by the
angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all
things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness
and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever. Then shall they be gods,
because they have no end; therefore shall they be from everlasting to
everlasting, because they continue; then shall they be above all, because all
things are subject unto them. Then shall they be gods, because they have all
power, and the angels are subject unto them." (D&C 132:19-20.)
"They
are they who are the church of the Firstborn. They are they into whose hands
the Father has given all things-they are they who are priests and kings, who
have received of his fulness, and of his glory; and are priests of the Most High,
after the order of Melchizedek, which was after the order of Enoch, which was
after the order of the Only Begotten Son. Wherefore, as it is written, they are
gods, even the sons of God-wherefore, all things are theirs, whether life or
death, or things present, or things to come, all are theirs and they are Christ’s
and Christ is God's. And they shall overcome all things. These shall dwell in
the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever. . . . These are they whose
names are written in heaven, where God and Christ are the judge of all. These
are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus the mediator of the new
covenant, who wrought out this perfect atonement through the shedding of his
own blood." (D&C 76:54-60, 68-69.)
Salvation for the
Dead
If
it is the design and purpose and work of the Lord to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man; if eternal life comes by obedience to the
laws and ordinances of the gospel and in no other way; if this gospel has been
given of God to a select few among the masses of men-if these things are true,
what hope is there for the generality of mankind? Are they to be damned because
they never had a chance to hear the true gospel preached by messengers sent of
God? Would a just God damn whole races and nations and kingdoms because their
municipals did not accept a gospel that he himself did not even make available
to them? Will men be saved in a celestial heaven or damned in an endless hell
simply on the basis of whim or chance or happenstance? Would a just God damn
men for not believing a message that he did not send to them? How can God be
other than a respecter of persons if he offers his saving truths to some and
denies them to others?
Every
thoughtful person should know by instinct that a just God will treat all his
children with divine impartiality. Some truths are self-evident. They are bred
in our bones; they are ingrained in our souls. For instance, Jesus said:
"In my Father's house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have
told you." (John 14:2.) That is to say, the Lord expects men to believe in
degrees of glory in the eternal world. Otherwise there could be no judgment
according to works. If there were no levels and degrees of reward in eternity,
the Lord would have to reveal such to us, lest our instincts lead us astray. So
it is also with respect to making salvation available to all men through the
gospel.
Unless
men have closed their minds and bound their sense of reason with the heresies
of a fallen world, they know in their hearts that a just God could not do other
than make salvation available to all his children on the same terms and
conditions. Such is, of course, the case. The gospel is offered to some while
they yet dwell in mortality; it comes to others as they abide in the spirit
world, awaiting the day of their resurrection. The living and the dead are all
alike unto God; all are alive unto him whether, for the moment, they dwell in a
mortal or a spirit sphere.
In
the day when the Lord Jesus dwelt among men, he said: "The hour is coming,
and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and they that
hear shall live." (John 5:25.) He was then preaching to mortals; soon he
would go to the world of spirits, there to preach to the dead. Those in the
spirit world who accepted the gospel would live. They would be born again and
live as pertaining to the things of the Spirit; they would gain spiritual life
as contrasted with spiritual death; and they would be heirs of eternal life.
Peter
recounts the fulfillment of Jesus' promise. In speaking of the false
accusations heaped upon the saints, he says, "It is better . . . that ye
suffer for well doing, than for evil doing," as will be the case with
their persecutors. "For Christ also hath once suffered for sins," he
says, "the just for the unjust," the Sinless One for us sinners,
"that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but
quickened by the Spirit; by which also he went and preached unto the spirits in
prison." For the forty or so hours that his body lay in the Arimathean's
tomb, the Spirit Lord proclaimed liberty to the captives in the paradise of
God. As an illustration of those spirits to whom he offered the gospel, Peter
names those who "were disobedient . . . in the days of Noah." (1
Peter 3:17-20.) For two thousand years they had been shut up in a spirit
prison; now some hope was offered to them through the gospel.
Why
preach the gospel in the spirit world unless believing souls in that realm can
repent and be saved? Truly, as Peter says, all men "shall give account to
him that is ready to judge the quick and the dead." All men are alive in
the sight of God; to him there is no death and there are no dead. Accordingly,
"for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that
they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God
in the spirit." (1 Peter 4:5-6.) The judgments of God are just because of
salvation for the dead. If the dead could not be saved on the same basis as the
living, God would be neither just nor merciful, and thus would cease to be
God.
Baptism
is an ordinance of salvation; it opens the door to celestial salvation, and
without it, no man can be saved. Unless a man is born of water and of the
Spirit, he can neither see nor enter the kingdom of heaven. Baptism in water
can only be performed where there is water. It is an earthly ordinance. Hence,
provision is found in the gospel for this ordinance to be performed by mortals
for and on behalf of the dead. We are privileged to act on a vicarious basis
for our deceased brethren even as the Lord Jesus vicariously atoned for our
sins. If the dead, on their part, believe and obey, then our acts in their
behalf are efficacious; otherwise, they confer no blessings upon them.
Similarly, if we believe and obey, the atoning sacrifice of Christ cleanses us
from sin; otherwise, we are not redeemed from our spiritual fall. In the light
of all this, the true saints understand Paul's statement: "Else what shall
they do which are baptized for the dead, if the dead rise not at all? why are
they then baptized for the dead?" (1 Corinthians 15:29.) And as with
baptism for the dead, so with respect to all of the ordinances of salvation and
exaltation: all are performed in holy places for and on behalf of the dead.
What work is a greater manifestation of love for our fellowmen than this?
If
men reject the gospel in this life and then accept it in the spirit world, are
they heirs of eternal life? Will those who lived in Noah's day and who rejected
him and his word be heirs of the celestial kingdom? If they repent and receive
the gospel in the spirit world, is not their final destiny a place in the
terrestrial kingdom? In one of the great revelations of our day, the Lord said
to Joseph Smith: "All who have died without a knowledge of this gospel,
who would have received it if they had been permitted to tarry, shall be heirs
of the celestial kingdom of God; also all that shall die henceforth without a
knowledge of it, who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be
heirs of that kingdom; for I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their
works, according to the desire of their hearts." (D&C 137:7-9.)
President
Joseph F. Smith saw in vision the visit of the Lord Jesus Christ in the spirit
world. He saw that the Lord appeared to the righteous; that among the wicked
and ungodly he did not go; and that he organized the work there and sent
messengers to preach to all the spirits in prison. "The Son of God
appeared, declaring liberty to the captives who had been faithful," the
scriptural account says, "and there he preached to them the everlasting
gospel, the doctrine of the resurrection and the redemption of mankind from the
fall, and from individual sins on conditions of repentance."
Christ
preached to the righteous; others proclaimed the word to the wicked who were
not entitled to see his face. "But behold, from among the righteous, he
organized his forces and appointed messengers, clothed with power and
authority, and commissioned them to go forth and carry the light of the gospel
to them that were in darkness, even to all the spirits of men; and thus was the
gospel preached to the dead. And the chosen messengers went forth to declare
the acceptable day of the Lord and proclaim liberty to the captives who were
bound, even unto all who would repent of their sins and receive the gospel.
Thus was the gospel preached to those who had died in their sins, without a
knowledge of the truth, or in transgression, having rejected the prophets.
These were taught faith in God, repentance from sin, vicarious baptism for the
remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, and
all other principles of the gospel that were necessary for them to know in
order to qualify themselves that they might be judged according to men in the
flesh, but live according to God in the spirit. And so it was made known among
the dead, both small and great, the unrighteous as well as the faithful, that
redemption had been wrought through the sacrifice of the Son of God upon the
cross."
The
close relationship between the work of the Lord's kingdom here and that in the
spirit world is shown from these words of President Joseph F. Smith: "The
Prophet Joseph Smith, and my father, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor,
Wilford Woodruff, and other choice spirits who were reserved to come forth in
the fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great
latter-day work, including the building of the temples and the performance of
ordinances therein for the redemption of the dead, were also in the spirit
world. I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were
chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.155-158)
Trust
Christ! I can’t do it without the
Atonement; I must have faith in Him. If
you fall get back up and begin again.
Remember, we do not have the power to save ourselves.
THE DOCTRINE OF THE
ATONEMENT
At one time there was
a program on the BYU campus called the "Last Lecture Series." The
idea was that if you had one last opportunity to deliver a lecture, what would
you choose to say? For years I have mulled that over in my mind and wondered
what I would select to talk about in such a setting. Probably I would say
something about family and friends and the blessing of working at BYU in the
company of good people. However, the subject of the Atonement would also be
very high on my priority list of topics to cover in a last lecture. I can't
think of any subject that I have tried harder to master and to understand and
to develop the ability to explain. To learn the charity, generosity, power to
rescue, and the pardoning mercy of God, as set in order by the Atonement, is
the greatest of all studies.
Barriers to an Understanding of the Atonement
As I have taught
various gospel subjects, I have encountered three main topics concerning which
there is much misunderstanding among students-namely, the plates and internal
structure of the Book of Mormon, the scattering and gathering of
As a teacher I have
witnessed some of the barriers that prevent students from coming to a proper
understanding of the Atonement. One of the difficulties is that most people are
neither theologians nor even doctrine-oriented. Many seem to object to linking
scriptural passages together to form a concept. They generally want to see it
all said in one brief passage of scripture rather than shaped through bringing
several passages together and building from point to point.
It seems to be the
common mode of mankind not to search for careful, precise, and specific
information about doctrinal items. It appears that many are content with only
casual, approximate information. Nephi wrote of his feelings about much of
mankind: "They will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge,
when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be" (2
1 Ne. 32:7).
Although many of the
young people now among us are the brightest and the most faithful youth we have
ever seen, this same barrier to understanding also hinders many of them, for it
is not the common practice of mankind to search doctrine.
The "Very Points" of Doctrine
Let us look at some
passages of scripture that I think speak of learning the gospel with precision
rather than approximation. All of these scriptures use some form of the phrase
"points of doctrine."
Nephi said: "And at that day shall the
remnant of our seed . . . come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very
points of his doctrine, that they may know how to come unto him and be
saved" (1 Ne. 15:14, italics added).
Speaking to his son
Corianton,
And in Heleman
11:22-23 we read: "They had peace in the seventy and eighth year,
save it were a few contentions concerning the points of doctrine which had been
laid down by the prophets. And in the seventy and ninth year there began to be
much strife. But it came to pass that Nephi and Lehi, and many of their
brethren who knew concerning the true points of doctrine, having many
revelations daily, therefore they did preach unto the people, inasmuch that
they did put an end to their strife in that same year." (Italics added.)
During the Savior's
visit to the Nephites he said: "There shall be no disputations among you .
. . concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto
been" (3 Ne. 11:28, italics added). And later Jesus declared that the
gospel would be taught to the Gentiles so that "they may repent and come
unto me and be baptized in my name and know of the true points of my
doctrine, that they may be numbered among my people, O house of
Israel" (3 Ne. 21:6, italics added).
The same terminology
appears also in the Doctrine and Covenants, wherein the Lord affirms that the
Book of Mormon shall bring people to the "true points of my doctrine, yea,
and the only doctrine which is in me" (D&C 10:62; see also v. 63).
What is a "point
of doctrine"? One dictionary defines a point as a "penetrating
detail, a precise concept; a prominent or important item; the 'telling part' of
an argument or discussion; the salient feature; the precise thing; the 'turning
point.' "Such is the meaning of a point of doctrine as contrasted
to a teaching that is vague, undefined, ambiguous, uncertain, fuzzy, foggy,
obscure, or unfocused. As I reflect on the scriptural passages above, I hear
the Lord saying that he expects us to learn the very points of his doctrine and
that the Book of Mormon is the principal means he has provided by which we are
to learn them. The Book of Mormon cannot be the "most correct of any book
on earth" and be wrong on the most important doctrines of the gospel.
It is my observation
that the points of doctrine given to us in the Book of Mormon and other
latter-day scripture will answer all the major doctrinal questions that have
been raised during, and as the result of, the Apostasy-those questions which
have been the focus of the great church councils from the Nicene Council to
Vatican II.
Use of the Right Words
If we use the right
words it will help us better understand doctrines such as the Atonement. In
this way we can avoid ambiguity. President Ezra Taft Benson has spoken on at
least two occasions about the importance of using the right words in gospel
teaching:
It is important that
in our teaching we make use of the language of holy writ.
The words and the way
they are used in the Book of Mormon by the Lord should become our source of
understanding and should be used by us in teaching gospel principles.fn
King Benjamin caused
that his three sons "should be taught in all the language of his
fathers." (Mosiah 1:2.) They needed to understand and use the language of
holy writ. If they didn't know the right words, they wouldn't know the plan.fn
In a 1940 letter the
First Presidency gave directions along this same line to the Church Educational
System. This was a sequel to the "Charted Course" statement issued
just two years earlier in 1938. Following is an excerpt from that letter of the
First Presidency, dated 17 February 1940 and addressed to Franklin L. West,
commissioner of Church Education:
Teachers will do well
to give up indoctrinating themselves in the sectarianism of the modern
"Divinity School Theology." If they do not, they will probably bring
themselves to a frame of mind where they will be no longer useful in our
system. The most brilliant of them will find enough in the Gospel to tax all
their brilliancy, even genius. The heights and depths of the Gospel have yet to
be sounded.
The teachers will not
teach ethics or philosophy, ancient or modern, pagan or so-called Christian;
they will as already stated teach the Gospel and that only, and the Gospel as
revealed in these last days.
In their teaching, the
teachers will use the verbiage and terminology which have become classic in the
Church. They will not use terms and concepts which, though in one sense, are
susceptible of being applied to the Church and Church doctrines, yet which, in
another sense, are completely misleading. . . .
The Gospel should
be spoken of as the Gospel, God's revealed truth.fn
In summarizing the
above instructions of the First Presidency, Commissioner West wrote to J. Wiley
Sessions, chairman of the Division of Religion at
The words of President
Benson, coupled with the words of an earlier First Presidency, remind us of
Paul's instruction to the Corinthians given more than nineteen hundred years
ago:
Now we have received,
not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know
the things that are freely given to us of God.
Which things also we
speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost
teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual.
But the natural man
receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God: for they are foolishness unto
him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. (1 Cor.
2:12-14.)
It is important that
we use the language of the scriptures in our gospel teaching. If we will use
direct words and the terminology of the scriptures, our teachings will be clear
and our meanings unmistakable.
Consider the following
example of the use of terminology. I find it is important to make a distinction
between the words spirit and spiritual. It is better, for
instance, to refer to the organization of our spirit bodies as the spirit creation
rather than the spiritual creation. Spirit is a better word in
this case because it has a more definite and limited meaning: it can only refer
to the creation of spirits. Now, we say that the fall of Adam brought two kinds
of death-physical death and spiritual death. The use here of the word spiritual
rather than spirit helps us understand that spiritual death is a
condition, not the actual death of the spirit being; it is a death as to the
things of righteousness, a separation from the presence of God. Furthermore,
the word spiritual can refer to many things. For example, we know that
the condition of man and animals in the Garden of Eden was physical, tangible,
solid, and real, but not mortal; therefore, it is spoken of as a spiritual condition
(see D&C 88:26-28 for a similar use of the term spiritual). Hence,
if we used the word spiritual to refer to the premortal creation of
spirits, we would engender confusion in others' minds if we used it again to
refer to conditions in the Garden of Eden. Thus it is necessary for clarity
that we make some careful distinctions in our use of words like spirit and spiritual.
Does It Matter?
I think we need to
understand the Fall and the Atonement in the way that the scriptures
teach them so that we can teach, when required, the proper concepts to others
with a clear and certain sound, detect false doctrine and incorrect views when
expressed by others, and benefit from the influence such understanding will
have on our own perspective and zeal.
Nephi said he had great joy in proving what he
knew about Christ:
Behold, my soul delighteth
in proving unto my people the truth of the coming of Christ; for, for this end
hath the law of Moses been given; and all things which have been given of God
from the beginning of the world, unto man, are the typifying of him.
And also my soul delighteth
in the covenants of the Lord which he hath made to our fathers; yea, my soul
delighteth in his grace, and in his justice, and power, and mercy in the great
and eternal plan of deliverance from death.
And my soul delighteth
in proving unto my people that save Christ should come all men must perish. (2
Ne. 11:4-6.)
Thus, I think it does
matter whether we are clear and precise in our gospel teaching and learning;
and I think it is important that we learn well the salient points of the
gospel. I, for one, do not want to harbor and accumulate wrong concepts in my
own thinking that I will have to unlearn when I enter the spirit world. I want
to make those adjustments now, in this life, and learn the "very points of
his doctrine" from the scriptures and from the Brethren, and thus gain
whatever correct information and viewpoints I can about life here and
hereafter.
In dealing with
doctrinal topics we can benefit if we examine and compare several reliable
sources. The key is to analyze. Frequently there are parts within a single
source that are sufficiently ambiguous that they could be interpreted in more
than one way. The value of analyzing corroborating witnesses is that often a
second or third source sheds enough light on a concept that it will help delimit
and define an otherwise ambiguous passage. We use the second or third
witnesses, then, to control our interpretation.
In studying gospel
doctrines, I have found it helpful to take a particular scriptural passage and
isolate every separate thought and idea in that passage. One way of doing this
is to number every new element or thought as it occurs in the passage. Then one
can compare these concepts with those found in what seems to be a parallel
passage. It is startling how quickly this process of analysis can bring to
light both the differences and the parallels between the passages.
Various Dimensions of the Atonement
The atonement of Jesus
Christ is multidimensional: it involves not only the payment of a debt but also
elements of love and of service. A study of the Atonement that omitted any of
these dimensions would necessarily be fragmentary; the doctrines of the gospel
do not have much meaning in abstract theory standing separate and apart from
people. Therefore, as the Atonement shows us, we must have love for one another
and teach the importance of service and recognize the condescension of God. If
it were not for his love and condescension, Jesus would never have made an
atonement. I like this statement from Nephi: "He doeth not anything save
it be for the benefit of the world; for he loveth the world, even that he
layeth down his own life that he may draw all men unto him. Wherefore, he
commandeth none that they shall not partake of his salvation. . . . For he
doeth that which is good among the children of men." (2 Ne. 26:24, 33.)
On the other hand, if
we fail to establish the doctrinal foundation, our teaching about the Atonement
can degenerate into ethical and philosophical humanism. The divine element is
preserved and kept in focus only through setting forth the doctrinal foundation
of the great plan of redemption, which existed in the mind of God before the
creation of the world and which was carried out through the Creation, the fall
of Adam, and the atonement of Jesus Christ. The plan of salvation is not
limited to just the first principles and the temple ceremony. The plan of
salvation includes and incorporates the whole transaction-including the grand
premortal council, the Creation, the Fall, the Atonement, all of the gospel
principles and ordinances, the resurrection, the Judgment, exaltation, and so
on.
The Inherited Effects of the Fall of Adam
Let's look at some of
the precise things that are said about the effect the fall of Adam has had on
mankind. It is necessary to have some idea of the Fall in order to appreciate
the Atonement. There are several specific places in the scriptures that deal
with the fall of Adam (or the fall of man), and these passages are our best
sources. Most of them are in the Book of Mormon, but there are some key
passages also in the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.
As I see it, the chief
sources for information on the Fall and its relationship to the Atonement are 2
Ne. 2; 2 Ne. 9; Mosiah 3; Mosiah 12-16; Alma 34; Alma 42; Hel. 14; Morm. 9;
D&C 29; Moses 5-6; and
Lehi and Jacob on the Fall and the Atonement
In 2 Ne. 2 we read the
teachings of Lehi about the Fall and the Atonement, from which I have isolated
the following six items:
1. Adam and Eve were
driven out of the Garden of Eden because they partook of the forbidden fruit
(v. 19).
2. All mankind were
"lost, because of the transgression of their parents" (v. 21).
3. Without the Fall,
all things would have remained as they were created (v. 22).
4. Without the Fall,
Adam and Eve would have had no children (v. 23).
5. The Messiah would
come to redeem mankind from the Fall (v. 26).
6. Because of the
atonement of the Messiah mankind is free to act (v. 26).
Among the things Lehi
does not say about the Fall and the Atonement in this chapter of the Book of
Mormon are the following:
1. He does not define
death, and he does not use the term spiritual death.
2. He does not
specifically mention physical death as distinct from spiritual death.
3. He does not define
what he means when he speaks of mankind's being "lost."
4. He does not define
or explain what would make the Messiah able to redeem mankind, or how the
Redeemer would accomplish it.
5. He does not use
words that refer directly to man's spirit.
We cannot suppose Lehi
didn't know of these things; we simply have to recognize that he used broad
terms and that these unspoken and unexplained details are encompassed in his
use of such words as fall, lost, and redemption. Thus, chapter 2
of 2 Nephi constitutes one of the greatest philosophical statements about good,
evil, law, agency, happiness, misery, God, man, and the devil ever recorded,
and it contains the plainest declaration that Adam and Eve would have had no
children without the Fall. But in speaking of those things, Lehi leaves many of
the details undefined.
Lehi's son Jacob,
however, supplies some very pointed definitions in 2 Ne. 9. He uses specific
words like death of the body, resurrection, spirit, hell, grace, paradise,
spiritual death, and infinite atonement. Among other things, Jacob
specifies the following concerning the Fall and the Atonement:
1. An infinite
atonement is needed to overcome the Fall (v. 7).
2. Without an infinite
atonement, there would be no resurrection of the bodies of men (v. 7).
3. Without an infinite
atonement, the spirits of all men would become devils, forever miserable; that
is, they would not just be subject to the devil, but they would actually become
devils (vv. 8-9).
4. Because of the
Atonement, all mankind will be resurrected, meaning that each person's spirit
will be restored to its own physical body again (vv. 10-13).
5. After the
resurrection, all mankind will be judged of God (v. 15).
6. The Redeemer, who
will die for mankind, is also the Creator (v. 5). (Jacob mentions this but does
not dwell on it at length.)
7. All of these things
are according to an eternal plan of the great Creator (vv. 6, 13).
Jacob may not have known any more about the
plan of salvation than Lehi did, but in his recorded sermon Jacob defined some
of the points more distinctly. Yet Lehi, as we have his words recorded in 2 Ne.
2, covered some fundamental things that Jacob did not cover in his talk as
given in 2 Ne. 9. Thus it is that we need both chapters.
King Benjamin on the Fall and the Atonement
In Mosiah 3, King
Benjamin gives a lengthy statement about the Fall and the Atonement, citing
words which he said he learned from an angel. Benjamin extensively defines and
identifies the Redeemer and his mission as follows:
1. The Lord God
Omnipotent will come to dwell among men in a tabernacle of clay and be the
Savior (vv. 5-11).
2. The Redeemer will
be called Jesus Christ (vv. 8, 12, 18).
3.The Redeemer will
bleed from every pore (v. 7).
4.He is the Creator
(v. 8).
5.His mother will be
named Mary (v. 8).
6.He will be crucified
(v. 9).
7.He will rise from
the dead the third day (v. 10).
8.His blood atones for
the fall of Adam (v. 11).
9.Nothing would save
man if it were not for the atonement of the Lord's blood (v. 15).
10.His blood redeems little
children (v. 16).
11.There is no other
way or means of salvation (v. 17).
Three times Benjamin
mentions the fallen condition experienced by all persons by reason of their
being descendants of Adam: he refers to "those who have fallen by the
transgression of Adam" (Mosiah 3:11) speaking of children, he says that
"in Adam, or by nature, they fall" (Mosiah 3:16) and he declares that
"the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of
Adam" (Mosiah 3:19). In his doctrinal exposition, father Lehi implies this
kind of inheritance from Adam, but Jacob and Benjamin are the ones who spell it
out.
There are three other
strong declarations in the Book of Mormon stating that mankind inherits the
effects of the fall of Adam. Note the expression of the brother of Jared as he
pleaded with the Lord for help: "Now behold, O Lord, and do not be angry
with thy servant because of his weakness before thee; . . . because of the fall
our natures have become evil continually" (Ether 3:2). The second
statement comes from Alma, who said: "Now we see that Adam did fall by the
partaking of the forbidden fruit, according to the word of God; and thus we
see, that by his fall, all mankind became a lost and fallen people" (Alma
12:22). And from Samuel the Lamanite we have the following: "For all
mankind, by the fall of Adam . . . . are considered as dead, both as to things
temporal and to things spiritual" (Hel. 14:16).
The Atonement and Little Children
The matter of
mankind's having inherited the fall of Adam is a fundamental doctrine of the
gospel, but to much of traditional Christianity it is a major stumbling block.
Since about the fourth century, Catholic doctrine has held that because
children inherit the fall from Adam they are thus born in sin. This belief is
based primarily on a misinterpretation of two verses from Romans, which read:
"Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin;
and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned. . . . For as
by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of
one shall many be made righteous." (Rom. 5:12, 19, italics added.)
These verses were
wrongly interpreted by Augustine and others to mean that all mankind sinned in
Adam and that, therefore, children are born in original sin. This resulted in
the development of the practice of infant baptism, since infants were
considered legally to be sinners by inheritance.
Some today, not
feeling comfortable with this traditional Christian doctrine of the depravity
of children, have rejected the concept of the Fall altogether, and so speak
glowingly of the inherent goodness of man. Either extreme position does not
accurately represent the teachings of the scriptures, especially the teachings
of the Book of Mormon. The restored gospel takes a position between the two
extremes, not denying either but showing how the matter is handled by the
Atonement.
Regarding this topic
the Lord told Mormon: "Little children are whole, for they are not capable
of committing sin; wherefore the curse of Adam is taken from them in me, that
it hath no power over them" (Moro. 8:8). Note that here the fall of Adam
or its influence -the Lord even calls it a "curse"-is not denied, but
its damning effect on little children is shown to be blocked by the intercessory
power of the Atonement. The curse is real, but the Atonement prevents it from
occurring.
This is the same
concept taught by King Benjamin, who explains that children, as well as adults,
have need of the Atonement because of the fall of Adam: "And even if it
were possible that little children could sin they could not be saved; but I say
unto you they are blessed; for behold, as in Adam, or by nature, they fall even
so the blood of Christ atoneth for their sins" (Mosiah 3:16). Moreover, we
read in modern revelation that "every spirit of man was innocent in the
beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in
their infant state, innocent before God" (D&C 93:38). And a succinct
expression of this influence and power of the Atonement is found in the second
article of faith: "Men will be punished for their own sins, and not for
Adam's transgression."
These scriptures say
that if it were not for the atonement of Christ, all members of the human
family, upon coming into this world as infants, would be lost because of the
fall of Adam. Hence we can see why the idea that calls for infant baptism is so
erroneous: it sets aside the atonement of Christ as though it had no such power
to redeem little children.
Since the Bible is not
clear on this very important provision of the Atonement, we see the great need
that exists for the enlightening teachings of the Book of Mormon. In a world
that generally does not understand the work of Jesus Christ, the Nephite
scripture is an indispensable tool for making known the "very points"
of Christ's doctrine.
The power of the
Atonement to redeem little children is also dealt with in Joseph Smith's
translation of Matt. 18. The topic under discussion here is who is the greatest
in the kingdom of heaven. Jesus tells the Twelve that they must become as
little children, he places a child in their midst as an object lesson, and then
he declares that his mission is to save mankind. Now, in the King James
Version, Matt. 18:11 reads as follows: "For the Son of man is come to save
that which was lost." However, the Joseph Smith Translation adds to that a
most important teaching:". . . and to call sinners to repentance; but
these little ones have no need of repentance, and I will save them." This
significant clarification is in harmony with the teachings of the Doctrine and
Covenants and the Book of Mormon on the power that the Atonement has to
intercede for children as they are affected by the transgression of Adam. Such
a doctrine is much needed in those circles where traditional Christian views
are still held.
The correct doctrine
is that mankind has inherited the effects of the Fall, but not the sin
associated with it. There is a great difference between inheriting only the
results or effects of the sin and inheriting the sin itself. Since they only
inherit its effects, little children have no accountability or responsibility
for original sin. Thus, because of the atonement of Christ, babies are born
innocent so far as the law of God is concerned, but babies inherit the effects
of the Fall inasmuch as they are out of the presence of God and are subject to
physical death. All human beings, though innocent at birth, are destined to
die; they cannot prevent it. Nor can they reclaim even one soul from death
after it has occurred. Little children are not subject to death because of any
sin of their own-it is a biological inheritance from Adam.
Even Adam himself was
not held responsible for his original transgression in the Garden of Eden; yet
the results and effects of that sin passed upon him when he entered mortality
to exactly the same extent that they pass upon each of us as an inheritance
from Adam. In mortality Adam was in just the same condition as we are. The
Atonement automatically covered the transgression which brought the Fall, and
Adam was held responsible to repent only for the transgressions he may have
committed when in mortality. This is the plain teaching of the prophet Enoch,
as recorded in the book of Moses:
And [God] called upon
our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I made the world, and men
before they were in the flesh.
And he also said unto
him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and
repent of all thy transgressions, and be baptized, even in water, in the name
of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of grace and truth, which is Jesus
Christ, the only name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation
shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be
given you.
And our father Adam
spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized
in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have forgiven thee thy
transgression in the Garden of Eden.
Hence came the saying
abroad among the people, that the Son of God hath atoned for original guilt,
wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the
children, for they are whole from the foundation of the world. (Moses 6:51-54.)
Here we note that Adam
was told he must repent of and be baptized for all his transgressions committed
in mortality, but he was already forgiven of the transgression committed in the
Garden of Eden.
The Divinity of Jesus Christ
When the prophet
Abinadi comes on the scene in the Book of Mormon (see Mosiah 11-17), he teaches
the same doctrine as the earlier prophets but with a little different emphasis
and choice of words. His predecessors mention once or twice that the Redeemer
is also the Creator, the Lord Omnipotent, but Abinadi hammers at it so
emphatically that the reader cannot miss it.
Abinadi cites the Ten
Commandments, which he says God gave to Moses on
1. God himself shall
make an atonement for mankind (Mosiah 13:28). (Thus Abinadi identifies the
Savior as the God who gave Moses the commandments.)
2. Without the
Atonement, which God himself shall make, man must perish (Mosiah 13:28).
3. No one can be saved
without the redemption of God (Mosiah 13:32).
4. Moses prophesied
that God would redeem his people (Mosiah 13:33).
5. All the prophets
have spoken more or less about these things; they have said that God himself
should come down and take upon him the form of man (Mosiah 13:33-34).
6. God himself shall
come down among men and redeem his people (Mosiah 15: 1).
7. And thus God will
break the bands of death (Mosiah 15:8).
8. The Redeemer (whom
Abinadi has repeatedly identified as "God himself") shall be called
Christ (Mosiah 15:21).
Abinadi was not the
first to declare that Christ is God, but he certainly emphasized the fact more
often and with more clarity than the others did. This got him into trouble with
a corrupt generation of Nephites, as King Limhi explained: "And because he
said unto them that Christ was the God, the Father of all things, and said that
he should take upon him the image of man, and it should be the image after
which man was created in the beginning; or in other words, he said that man was
created after the image of God, and that God should come down among the
children of men, and take upon him flesh and blood, and go forth upon the face
of the earth -and now because he said this, they did put him to death"
(Mosiah 7:27-28).
Later in the Book of
Mormon record, the prophet Amulek speaks eloquently about the atonement of
Jesus Christ. We will isolate only two items here.
First, Amulek says
that without an atonement "all mankind must unavoidably perish" (
Second, Amulek defines
the atonement of Christ in a most remarkable manner: "It is
expedient that there should be a great and last sacrifice; yea, not a sacrifice
of man, neither of beast, neither of any manner of fowl; for it shall not be a
human sacrifice; but it must be an infinite and eternal sacrifice" (
We have come a long
way in the "points of doctrine" since we started with 2 Ne. 2. The
writings of the prophets after Lehi and Nephi do not contradict anything
written earlier, but they clarify, focus, and control our understanding and
interpretation of the earlier teachings.
Thus, in the Book of
Mormon, Christ is God. He is not simply a mortal, a great teacher, a friend of
mankind. He is God. I have been surprised to find that the Book of Mormon never
identifies Jesus as the firstborn spirit, man's Elder Brother. In the Book of
Mormon, he isn't so much man's brother as he is man's God.
Jesus the Only Begotten of the Father in the Flesh
Jesus' condition in
mortality was unique (see accompanying chart). Being the Son of a mortal mother
and of an immortal Father, he inherited the effects of the Fall without being
dominated by them as we are. If Jesus had been subject to death as we are, then
in dying at age thirty-three he would have been only giving up his time, for
eventually he would have died anyway. But the scriptures say he gave his life.
Thus I see it as one
of the "very points" of doctrine that we accept Jesus Christ as the
Only Begotten Son of God in the flesh, who would not have had to die physically
or spiritually except as he willed to do so as part of the atoning sacrifice
(see John 5:26; 10:17; Hel. 5:11). He
died a physical death on the cross, and he died a "spiritual death"
in the
The Father withdrew
His spirit from His Son, at the time he was to be crucified. Jesus had been
with his Father, talked with Him, dwelt in His bosom, and knew all about
heaven, about making the earth, about the transgression of man, and what would
redeem the people, and that he was the character who was to redeem the sons of
earth, and the earth itself from all sin that had come upon it. The light,
knowledge, power, and glory with which he was clothed were far above, or
exceeded that of all others who had been upon the earth after the fall,
consequently at the very moment, at the hour when the crisis came for him to
offer up his life, the Father withdrew Himself, withdrew His Spirit, and cast a
veil over him. This is what made him sweat blood. If he had had the power of
God upon him, he would not have sweat blood; but all was withdrawn from him,
and a veil was cast over him, and he then plead with the Father not to forsake
him. "No," says the Father, "you must have your trials, as well
as others."fn
Clearly, a great deal
rested on Jesus' birth, life, suffering in
"Even So in Christ Shall All Be Made Alive"
It seems that many
people do not understand the meaning of Paul's words, "As in Adam all die,
even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22). Most think it
only pertains to the death of the body and the resurrection of the body. In
truth, Paul's statement covers both physical death and spiritual death. As in
Adam all die a physical and a spiritual death, so in Christ shall all be made
alive, that is, be redeemed from both the physical death and the spiritual
death. The Atonement is as broad in its influence as the Fall.
Because of Christ, all
mankind, with no exceptions, will be redeemed from those two deaths. That is,
every human being will be resurrected from the dead and every human being will
be restored to the presence of God. All that was lost in the Fall will be
restored by the Atonement. I have found that many do not understand that. There
is a prevailing idea that although the resurrection is free, only those who
repent and obey the gospel will ever return to the presence of God. Those who
adhere to this idea, however, seem to have missed a very essential point and
fundamental concept of the Atonement, and that is that Jesus Christ has
redeemed all mankind from all the consequences of the fall of Adam.
The scriptures teach
that every person, saint or sinner, will return to the presence of God after
the resurrection. It may be only a temporary reunion in his presence, but
justice requires that all that was lost in Adam be restored in Jesus Christ.
Every person will return to God's presence, behold his face, and be judged for
his own works. Then, those who have obeyed the gospel will be able to stay in
his presence, while all others will have to be shut out of his presence a
second time and will thus die what is called a second spiritual death.
See how clearly this
is taught by Samuel the Lamanite:
For behold, he surely
must 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 into the presence of the Lord.
Yea, behold, this
death bringeth to pass the resurrection, and redeemeth all mankind from the
first death-that spiritual death; for all mankind, by the fall of Adam
being cut off from the presence of the Lord, are considered as dead, both as to
things temporal and to things spiritual.
But behold, the
resurrection of Christ redeemeth mankind, yea, even all mankind, and
bringeth them back into the presence of the Lord.
Yea, and it bringeth
to pass the condition of repentance, that whosoever repenteth the same is not
hewn down and cast into the fire; but whosoever repenteth not is hewn down and
cast into the fire; and there cometh upon them again a spiritual death,
yea, a second death, for they are cut off again as to things
pertaining to righteousness. (Hel. 14:15-18, italics added.)
Similarly,
Behold, [God] created
Adam, and by Adam came the fall of man. And because of the fall of man came
Jesus Christ, even the Father and the Son; and because of Jesus Christ came the
redemption of man.
And because of the
redemption of man, which came by Jesus Christ, they are brought back into the presence
of the Lord; yea, this is wherein all men are redeemed, because the
death of Christ bringeth to pass the resurrection, which bringeth to pass a
redemption from an endless sleep, from which sleep all men shall be awakened by
the power of God when the trump shall sound; and they shall come forth, both
small and great, and all shall stand before his bar, being redeemed and loosed
from this eternal band of death, which death is a temporal death.
And then cometh the
judgment of the Holy One upon them; and then cometh the time that he that is
filthy shall be filthy still; and he that is righteous shall be righteous
still; he that is happy shall be happy still; and he that is unhappy shall be
unhappy still. (Morm. 9:12-14, italics added.)
The two passages above
also give an insight into Jacob's words: "Wo unto all those who die in
their sins; for they shall return to God, and behold his face, and remain in
their sins" (2 Nephi 9: 38).
President Joseph
Fielding Smith wrote on this topic, and in so doing he quoted something Elder
Orson Pratt had said on the subject. Hence, the following excerpt from
President Smith's writings is a testimony from both of them:
Christ's sacrifice and
death did two things for us: it brought unto us unconditional salvation and
conditional salvation. Sometimes we refer to these as general
salvation and individual salvation. I am going to read what Orson Pratt
said in relation to this. It is one of the clearest statements I know about. It
is very concise and well thought out. . . .
". . . Universal
redemption from the effects of original sin, has nothing to do with
redemption from our personal sins; for the original sin of Adam and the
personal sins of his children, are two different things. . . .
"The children of
Adam had no agency in the transgression of their first parents, and therefore,
they are not required to exercise any agency in their redemption from its
penalty. They are redeemed from it without faith, repentance, baptism, or any
other act, either of the mind or body.
"Conditional
redemption is
also universal in its nature; it is offered to all but not received by all; it
is a universal gift, though not universally accepted; its benefits can be
obtained only through faith, repentance, baptism, the laying on of hands, and
obedience to all other requirements of the gospel.
"Unconditional
redemption is
a gift forced upon mankind which they cannot reject, though they were disposed.
Not so with conditional redemption; it can be received or rejected according to
the will of the creature.
"Redemption from
the original sin is without faith or works; redemption from our own sins is
given through faith and works. Both are the gifts of free grace; but
while one is a gift forced upon us unconditionally, the other is a gift
merely offered to us conditionally. The redemption of the one is compulsory;
the reception of the other is voluntary. Man cannot, by any possible
act, prevent his redemption from the fall; but he can utterly refuse and
prevent his redemption from the penalty of his own sins."fn
Frequently, when I am
teaching a class and we have read and discussed 2 Ne. 2 and 9, I quote for the
students Paul's statement, "As in Adam all die, even so in
Christ shall all be made alive," and then ask them, "What death did
Adam bring?" Students seem to have no difficulty in understanding the idea
that Adam brought two deaths-the physical, meaning the death of the body, and
the spiritual, meaning our separation from the presence of God. Then I ask,
"What did the atonement of Jesus Christ bring?" They readily respond
that it brought about mankind's resurrection from the grave; but they seem to
have difficulty in grasping the idea that Jesus also redeemed all mankind from
the spiritual death and that every one of us is going to be in the presence of
God again, if only for the Judgment. Although most students can explain that
the Atonement makes it possible for us to work out our salvation by faith,
repentance, and so forth, they often slide right past this concept that we will
be redeemed from all the effects of the Fall, and seem to feel that no one is
going to return to God's presence except the righteous. While it is true that
not all people will remain permanently in the presence of the Lord, it is
equally true that all will return to his presence for judgment; thus, in our
discussions I do not think we are justified in leaving out this critical part
of the redemption process. This is one of the "very points" of
doctrine taught in the Book of Mormon, a point that a person ought to know.
An Alternate Plan?
Was there an
acceptable alternate plan, or alternate savior, if Jesus had not fulfilled his
mission? This question may seem unimportant or even unnecessary, but it has
some strong implications. Judging from the general life-style of mankind, or
even of church-kind, many people must feel either that salvation is not worth
struggling for or that there is more than one way to gain salvation. The
real question is this: Is acceptance of the gospel of Jesus Christ mandatory or
is it optional? Will the billions of people who have lived on the earth without
a knowledge of Christ have to come to a knowledge of the very points of his
doctrine before they can be saved? Is the gospel of Christ the only way or just
the best way, the quickest way? We know that the creation of the world
and the fall of Adam were parts of the divine plan, but does that mean that
there were alternate ways by which man could have become mortal, the system
used on this earth simply, being only one of them? Or is the gospel-that
process of creation, fall, and atonement that leads to the redemption and
exaltation of mankind-the only absolute and workable way?
What would have
happened if Jesus had not come? or if he had come to earth but not been
obedient to the end and not accomplished the Atonement? Was there then an
alternate plan, another savior, a backup man?
Several years ago I
discussed this topic with a group of teachers, and I noted that they were
strongly of the opinion that if Jesus had failed, there would have been another
way to accomplish salvation. They acknowledged that any other way probably
would have been harder without Jesus, but, they said, man could have eventually
saved himself without Jesus if Jesus had failed. Thus-although I don't think
any of us had at that time searched out the logical implications of our
thoughts-these teachers were saying, in effect, that Jesus Christ was a
convenience but not an ultimate necessity. I countered by quoting Acts 4:12,
wherein are recorded the words of Peter: "Neither is there salvation in
any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby
we must be saved." Their retort was that Peter said this after the
atonement and resurrection of Christ were accomplished facts, and that
therefore there is now no other way; but if Jesus had failed to make the
Atonement, they reasoned, there would have to have been and would be an
alternate way.
At that time I was not
as well acquainted with the Book of Mormon and the book of Moses as I am now,
and I had not thought this subject out completely; hence, while I protested
their conclusion, I could not in the moment of the encounter think of a
scriptural rebuttal. I was certain they were wrong, but I lacked the immediate
ammunition to refute them. However, if I had known then what I know now, I
would have called these teachers' attention to the scriptural items discussed
below.
Looking at things
chronologically, we find that Moses 6:52 is the earliest known reference
stating that there is no other name other than Jesus Christ by which salvation
is obtained. In this passage Enoch recounts a conversation between the Lord and
father Adam. The Lord tells Adam that he must "be baptized, even in water,
in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, . . . which is Jesus Christ, the only
name which shall be given under heaven, whereby salvation shall come
unto the children of men" (italics added).
Next we have 2 Ne.
25:20: "There is none other name given under heaven save it be this
Jesus Christ, . . whereby man can be saved" (italics added).
Then 2 Ne. 31:21:
"There is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man
can be saved in the
But the very clearest
expression of this concept is given by King Benjamin, quoting the words of an
angel from heaven: "There shall be no other name given nor any
other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only
in and through the name of Christ" (Mosiah 3:17, italics added). Later
this same King Benjamin gives some additional particulars: "This is
the means whereby salvation cometh. And there is none other salvation
save this which hath been spoken of; neither are there any conditions whereby
man can be saved except the conditions which I have told you." (Mosiah
4:8, italics added.)
The value of these
passages is that they were spoken before the Atonement had taken place.
This gives them an additional force and focus that they might not have if they
had been spoken afterwards. (See also Mosiah 5:8; Alma 38:9; Hel. 5:9.) In my
estimation, these are some of the "very points" of doctrine that are
clarified for us in the Book of Mormon and other latter-day scriptures, if we
just believe the scriptures mean what they say. All of this is in harmony with
and gives substance to Jesus' words to Thomas: "I am the way, the truth,
and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6; see
also 3 Ne. 27:1-8; D&C 18:23; 109:4).
Hymns Reinforce Doctrine of Atonement
Many of our Church
hymns reinforce the "very points" of doctrine we have discussed in
this chapter. These hymns can enrich and reinforce our understanding of these
subjects. Following are some excerpts from the hymnbook that are pertinent to
the doctrine of the Atonement:
Behold the great
Redeemer die,
A broken law to
satisfy.fn
For us the blood of
Christ was shed;
For us on
And thus dispelled the
awful gloom,
That else were this
creation's doom.fn
How infinite that
wisdom,
The plan of holiness,
That made salvation
perfect
And veiled the Lord in
flesh,
To walk upon his
footstool
And be like man,
almost,
In his exalted
station,
And die, or all was
lost.fn
He died in holy
innocence,
A broken law to
recompense. . . .
This sacrament doth
represent
His blood and body for
me spent.fn
He shed a thousand
drops for you,
A thousand drops of
precious blood.fn
His precious blood he
freely split;
His life he freely
gave,
A sinless sacrifice
for guilt,
A dying world to save.
. . .
How great, how glorious,
how complete,
Redemption's grand
design,
Where justice, love,
and mercy meet
In harmony divine! fn
I marvel that he would
descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so
rebellious and proud as mine. . . .
I think of his hands
pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
Such mercy, such love,
and devotion can I forget?fn
I believe in Christ;
he ransoms me.
From Satan's grasp he
sets me free.fn
Conclusion
In my opinion, the
kind of faith necessary for salvation-the kind of faith spoken of in the Lectures
on Faith-cannot be achieved if one views Jesus Christ's atonement, his
excruciating pain, his bleeding at every pore, as simply an act of major
convenience. As I read the Book of Mormon I perceive the message that the
Fall's effects on all of us, coupled with our own sins, are so severe and
dominating that, unless we are redeemed by One more powerful than all mankind
combined, we will not be redeemed at all. The power of redemption is not in
fallen man. I believe that saving faith requires a person to be completely
convinced that he is entirely dependent upon Jesus Christ, and him only, for
every shred of salvation. Without the Savior all is lost. The slightest
reservation about the absolute necessity of Christ's atonement is injurious to
one's spiritual health and to one's perfect faith and knowledge. I see no
compromise on this point. Our relation to Christ is crucial, not casual. It is
a necessity, not an option. May we diligently study and learn the "very
points" of doctrine regarding the Atonement that we might develop and
maintain that faith in Christ that leads to salvation.
Notes
From a lecture given
to the faculty in Religious Education at
1 Ezra Taft Benson,
"The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants," Ensign 17
(May 1987): 84.
2 Ezra Taft Benson,
"Worthy Fathers, Worthy Sons," Ensign 15 (November 1985): 36.
3 As cited in Ernest
L. Wilkinson, Leonard J. Arrington, and Bruce C. Hafen, Brigham Young
University: The First One Hundred Years, 4 vols. (Provo, Utah: Brigham
Young University Press, 1975-76), 2:381-82, italics in original.
4 As cited in Ernest
L. Wilkinson, Leonard J. Arrington, and Bruce C. Hafen, Brigham Young
University: The First One Hundred Years, 2:383.
5 Brigham Young, in Journal
of Discourses 3:206.
6 Brigham Young, in Journal
of Discourses 10:324.
7 Joseph Fielding
Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. (Salt
Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-56), 2:9-10, italics in original; the source for the
quote from Orson Pratt is the Millennial Star 12 (March 1, 1850): 69.
8 "Behold the
Great Redeemer Die," Hymns, no. 191.
9 "While of These
Emblems We Partake," Hymns, no. 173.
10 "O God,
the Eternal Father," Hymns, no. 175.
11 "God Loved Us,
So He Sent His Son," Hymns, no. 187.
12 "He Died! The
Great Redeemer Died," Hymns, no. 192.
13 "How Great the
Wisdom and the Love," Hymns, no. 195.
14 "I Stand All
Amazed," Hymns, no. 193.
15 "I Believe in
Christ," Hymns, no. 134.
(Robert
J. Matthews, A Bible! A Bible! [
Article of Faith #4
Faith and Repentance
February 15, 2006
ARTICLE 4—We believe
that the first principles and ordinances
of the Gospel are:
first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; * * *
Foundation of Faith—Primarily, and in a
theological sense, we are considering faith as a living, inspiring confidence
in God, and an acceptance of His will as our law, and of His words as our
guide, in life. Faith in God is possible only as we come to know that He
exists, and moreover, that He is a Being of worthy character and attributes.
Upon such knowledge of
God's existence, the worthiness of His character, and the perfection of His
attributes, is man's faith in Him established. Faith in God then cannot be
exercised in the absence of all knowledge of Him; yet even the benighted
heathen show some of the fruits of faith, for they have at least the inborn
conviction that arises from man's natural intuition as to the existence of a
supreme power. In every human soul, even in that of the savage, there is some
basis for faith, however limited and imperfect the darkness of heredity or of
wilful sin may have made it. The heathen's faith may be weak and imperfect, for
his ability to recognize the evidence upon which belief in God depends may be
small. While the first promptings of faith toward God may be the result of
natural intuition, the later development will be largely the result of
unprejudiced and prayerful investigation and search for truth.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
90.)
Understanding
God’s will is essential for us to exercise faith in Him, we should have
confidence in His power.
(Hebrews
11:3.) – God’s faith = power, it is concrete, perfect and complete. Independent of any other force
3 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the
word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do
appear.
Bruce
gave the analogy of a couple looking at a house from opposite sides and giving
each other a description of what they see.
Both descriptions are accurate yet not the same. Studying doctrines of the church is much the
same way. Elder Talmage was describing
faith to a non member in this chapter and as faith exercised by men it is an
incomplete view, while Elder McConkie in his book was writing about faith to
members of the church, both are very correct yet their descriptions are
different. We are trying to develop a
faith like God.
God’s
faith = Real, complete, concrete, perfect equals power and is Independent of
all other influence.
Man’s
faith = Abstract thought, dependent on God
Faith and the
Priesthood
BRETHREN, [of the
Priesthood], I refer again and for a moment only, to what the influence, the
power of this Church would be, if we were united as one man. Then we might meet
the principle announced in the prayer of the Great High Priest in the Garden,
when he prayed that the disciples might be one, even as he and the Father were
one, and as he declared in modern revelation: "I say unto you, be one; and
if ye are not one ye are not mine." (D & C 38:27; and see John 17:21.)
As I have thought
about what I might say I have thought I would like to say just a little bit
about the Priesthood itself. We who are bearers of it, the Holy Priesthood
after the Order of the Son of God, what is this Priesthood that we have? We
have had our definitions. I will come to them, if I may, just a few minutes
later. But I have thought that I would like to look first somewhat at the work
of our Savior. His work was performed through faith. If you will examine a
little bit carefully his life, you will find that in his miracles he performed
many of the great functions of creation. He worked, I repeat, by the power of
the Priesthood.
You will remember that
he walked upon the water, thus defying and overruling, so far as we can see,
the principle of gravity. You will remember that Peter asked to be bidden to
come to him. Peter being so bidden, got out of the boat and walked a short
distance on the water and then becoming fearful, he began to sink and called to
the Lord for help, and the Lord said to him, "O thou of little
faith...."
You will remember that
on one occasion he was on the Sea of Galilee and a violent storm came up, so
much so that those who were with him feared for the sinking of the ship. They
awakened him and appealed to him and he stilled the tempest, having power over
the forces that were involved in that.
You will recall that
he fed a multitude with a few loaves and a few fishes, five thousand on one
occasion, four thousand on another. You will recall that he also provided
miraculous draughts of fish on two or three occasions. The whole world was
under him.
You will recall that
he cursed the barren fig tree. You will recall that he raised the dead to life
again. Think of what was involved in that.
You will recall his
thousands, almost (so far as we know), of healings of all sorts of diseases.
These were manifestations of the power of faith. Sometimes it seems the faith
was partially exercised by those whom he healed, as when the woman touched the
border of his garment and was healed of an issue of blood. At other times it
seemed as if the faith came from himself. Think of the blessing of faith
exercised through the Priesthood.
As a Grain of Mustard Seed
On more than one
occasion, he said: "If ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed...."
(Matt. 17:20; Luke 17:6.) The commentators, I may add, make no explanation of
this. The only statement I have found about that statement—faith is as a grain
of mustard seed—is that the mustard seed is one of the smallest of seeds. And
that was followed by, "...ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to
yonder place; and it shall remove." (Ibid.) And the commentators,
who do not understand nor, apparently, believe in faith, say that this merely
was an exaggerated imagery of the east; and that the expression "remove
mountains" was common among Jewish preachers as indicating the
impressiveness with which a man might speak, and referred only to difficulty.
It is my judgment, my belief, my testimony, that the possible removal of a
mountain is a sober statement of fact.
He told them at one
time that if they had the faith, if they believed, they could say to a sycamine
tree, "Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the
sea," and it would be done. (Luke 17:6.) I believe that. I believe that is
literally true.
We have been given
that Priesthood which carries in it this great power of faith. It has been
given to us, you, me, and all who are listening in of the brethren holding the
Priesthood.
Faith a Principle of Power
What about it? Paul
said, "... faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen." (Heb. 11:1, Inspired Version.) I have never been able quite
to understand that, but I can understand what has been said either by the
Prophet Joseph or with his approval, found in the old "Lectures on
Faith" in the Doctrine and Covenants. He said:
"By this we
understand that the principle of power which existed in the bosom of God, by
which the worlds were framed, was faith; and that it is by reason of this
principle of power existing in the Deity, that all created things exist; so
that all things in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, exist by reason of faith
as it existed in Him." (Lectures on Faith, 1:15.)
As I think about faith, this principle of power, I am
obliged to believe that it is an intelligent force.
Of what kind, I do not know. But it is superior to and overrules all other
forces of which we know. It is the principle, the force, by which the dead are
restored to life.
I do not believe that
the Lord, that God permits any man to have faith that would overrule His
purposes. In that connection, I call to your attention the fact that the
Savior, himself, pleaded that his crucifixion might be turned aside. Yet, on
one occasion he said, when he asked that the hour might be passed on, "...
but for this cause came I unto this hour." (John 12:27.) The Son of God
was not given the necessary faith at that time to enable him to turn aside the
purposes reached by himself and the Father before and still remembered by the
Father. I repeat, I think that the Lord never gives faith to any individual to
enable him to overturn the purposes of his will. Always we are subject to what
he wishes.
I think that we should
never administer to the sick, we should never pray, particularly when we pray
for specific things, that we do not repeat and present to the Lord, even as
Christ prayed in the Garden, "Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be
done." (Luke 22:42.)
Magnify the Priesthood
You brethren, we
brethren, have had this great power given unto us, this power of faith. What
are we doing about it? Can you, can we, do the mighty things that the Savior
did? Yes. They have been done by the members of the Church who had the faith
and the righteousness so to do. Think of what is within your power if you but
live the Gospel, if you but live so that you may invoke the power which is
within you.
And I would like to
add this as a sobering thought to myself and to you, each of you, and all of
you: Remember the parable of the talents where the man who failed to improve
the talent given him, had it taken from him? I ask you brethren, and myself,
are we magnifying our Priesthood in such a way, are we living close enough to
the Lord and in obedience to his commandments that we may exercise this power,
or shall it be wholly or in part taken away from us? You would better think
about it. It is worth thinking about. It is the greatest power that has been
revealed to man.
God grant that we may
all so live that we shall not lose that power, but that always it shall be
available to us. "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain
mercy." Matthew 5:7
"Behold, verily I
say unto you, there are hypocrites among you, who have deceived some, which has
given the adversary power; but behold such shall be reclaimed;
"But the
hypocrites shall be detected and shall be cut off, either in life or in death,
even as I will; and wo unto them who are cut off from my church, for the same
are overcome of the world."
Doctrine and Covenants
50:7-8
(J.
Reuben Clark, Jr., Behold the Lamb of God [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book
Co., 1991], 283.)
Faith
= Power of God
Be
careful when you speak of faith = works is dead. It isn’t correct doctrine; they are different
and should be separated. You can do all
the work like planting seeds in the garden but without the power of God they
won’t grow.
(Helaman
10:4-5.) – Separation of faith and works, they are related but not the same
thing.
4 Blessed
art thou, Nephi, for those things which thou hast done; for I have beheld how
thou hast with unwearyingness declared the word, which I have given unto thee,
unto this people. And thou hast not feared them, and hast not sought thine own
life, but hast sought my will, and to keep my commandments.
5 And now,
because thou hast done this with such unwearyingness, behold, I will bless thee
forever; and I will make thee mighty in
word and in deed, in faith and in works; yea, even that all things shall be
done unto thee according to thy word, for thou shalt not ask that which is
contrary to my will.
1st Nephi
3-4 – Twice the brothers tried to retrieve the brass plates by works, finally
Nephi led by the Holy Ghost used faith and succeeded in retrieving the plates. Were they supposed to get the plates,
YES? Was there a specific way to get the
plates, again YES? Nephi had the
confidence, but wasn’t shown the whole picture; if he had he might have turned
around! The Spirit constrained him to do the deed!
(1 Nephi
4:6.)
6 And I was
led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do.
What Is Faith?
What, then, is faith?
In the broad, generic, and universal sense of the word, having no particular
reference to religion and salvation, the Prophet tells us that faith "is
the moving cause of all action . . . in all intelligent beings." All
accountable and intelligent beings have faith in this sense. Such is part of
life itself. Because this faith dwells in the hearts of all mankind, they sow
with the assurance of reaping; they plant with the hope of harvesting; they
exert themselves in the pursuit of knowledge, wisdom, and intelligence because
they believe they can obtain them. Without this faith, "both mind and body
would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both
physical and mental."
Faith as so defined is
not saving faith; it does not lead to life and salvation; an assurance that
crops will grow is not an assurance of a celestial inheritance. Saving faith
centers in the Lord Jesus Christ and through him in the Father. "As faith
is the moving cause of all action in temporal concerns," the Prophet
continues, "so it is in spiritual. . . . As we receive by faith all
temporal blessings that we do receive, so we in like manner receive by faith
all spiritual blessings that we do receive." (Lectures on Faith 1:10-13.)
Paul's statement that "faith is the substance [confidence or assurance] of
things hoped for, the evidence [the demonstration or proof] of things not
seen" (Hebrews 11:1), applies to both temporal and spiritual concerns.
But faith in its true
signification is more than the moving cause pursuant to which men and angels
act. It is also a principle of power. Faith is power. And where there is power,
there is faith; and where there is no power, there is no faith. Thus, Joseph
Smith continues: "Faith is not only the principle of action, but of power
also, in all intelligent beings, whether in heaven or on earth." Faith
applies in all spheres. All intelligent beings—be they gods, angels, spirits,
or men—all operate by its power.
Thus, “‘Through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear.' (Hebrews 11:3.) By
this we understand that the principle of power which existed in the bosom of
God, by which the worlds were framed, was faith; and that it is by reason of
this principle of power existing in the Deity, that all created things exist;
so that all things in heaven, on earth, or under the earth, exist by reason of
faith as it existed in HIM." How came this earth into being? Whence came
the sidereal heavens? the universe? and created things in all their varieties?
The power that organizes chaotic matter; the power that sends worlds without
number into governed orbits; the power that gives order and system, location
and appointment, to worlds and life—that power is named faith. It is the power
of God; it is the faith of God, the faith that dwells in him independently.
"Had it not been for the principle of faith the worlds would never have
been framed, neither would man have been formed of the dust." Nor, without
faith, would any other form of life have been created.
What if there were no
faith? That would mean no power would exist to create or to control. Faith
"is the principle by which Jehovah works, and through which he exercises
power over all temporal as well as eternal things. Take this principle or
attribute—for it is an attribute—from the Deity, and he would cease to
exist." Thus, if there is no faith, there is no power; if there is no
power, there was no creation; if nothing exists, there is no God; or,
conversely, if there is no God, there is nothing. And thus all things rest on
the foundation of faith, and without faith there would be nothing.
"Who cannot
see," the Prophet asks, "that if God framed the worlds by faith, that
it is by faith that he exercises power over them, and that faith is the
principle of power? And if the principle of power, it must be so in man as well
as in the Deity?" (Lectures on Faith 1:13-17.) Truly, if all of
God's acts are righteous, if his work is to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man, and if all of his works are performed by faith, it follows
that whatever man does, in righteousness, to gain salvation must also be done
by faith, "for whatsoever is not of faith is sin." (Romans 14:23.)
Thus: "It was by
faith that the worlds were framed—God spake, chaos heard, and worlds came into
order by reason of the faith there was in HIM. So with man also; he spake by
faith in the name of God, and the sun stood still, the moon obeyed, mountains
removed, prisons fell, lions' mouths were closed, the human heart lost its
enmity, fire its violence, armies their power, the sword its terror, and death
its dominion; and all this by reason of the faith which was in him. Had it not
been for the faith which was in men, they might have spoken to the sun, the
moon, the mountains, prisons, the human heart, fire, armies, the sword, or to
death in vain!" What miracles and marvels are wrought by faith. And it is
the same whether they are done by men or angels or gods; the same faith
(power!) always brings to pass the same eventuality.
How, then, shall we define faith? Joseph Smith answers:
"Faith [is] the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation
of all righteousness." "Faith . . . is the first great governing
principle which has power, dominion, and authority over all things; by it they
exist, by it they are upheld, by it they are changed, or by it they remain,
agreeable to the will of God. Without it there is no power, and without power
there could be no creation nor existence!" (Lectures on Faith 1:1,
22-24.)
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 163.)
Faith and the
Knowledge of God
God the Father, in the
ultimate and final sense, is the Creator of all things. He is the creator of
spirit men, of mortal men, and of immortal men. He created life and death and
immortality and eternal life. He made the laws whereby spirit men gain
mortality, and mortal men gain immortality, and faithful men gain eternal life.
The power he uses in these and in all things is faith. Faith is power, and the
power of God is the faith of God. "In him the principle of faith dwells
independently, and he is the object in whom the faith of all other rational and
accountable beings center for life and salvation." (Lectures on Faith 2:2.)
God the Father is an eternal being. The very name of the
kind of life he lives is eternal life, and thus eternal life consists in living
and being as he is. In other words, eternal life is to gain the power of God,
which power is faith, and thus to be able to do what he does and to live as he
lives. And the great and eternal plan of salvation that he has ordained and
established consists of those laws, ordinances, and powers whereby faith is
acquired and perfected until it is possessed in the same degree and to the same
extent that it exists in Deity. Faith will thus dwell independently in every
person who gains eternal life.
It follows that to
gain eternal life, men must know God. They must believe in the true and living
God and do the things that will enable them to become like him. Knowledge of
God is the foundation upon which a house of faith is built. This knowledge
begins with the assurance that he actually is, that he exists and is indeed the
Self-Existent One, and that Deity is as real and literal and actual as any of
the common verities of life. As we have seen, "the knowledge of the
existence of God came into the world" when he revealed himself to Adam and
the ancients. And "it was by reason of the knowledge of his existence that
there was a foundation laid for the exercise of faith in him, as the only Being
in whom faith could center for life and salvation; for faith could not center
in a Being of whose existence we have no idea, because the idea of his
existence in the first instance is essential to the exercise of faith in
him." (Lectures on Faith 3:1.)
But by the knowledge
of God is meant not simply that he exists and is a personal being in whose
image man is made; not merely that he is a resurrected, glorified, and
perfected man who has all power, all might, and all dominion; not the mere fact
that he is the Father of spirits and as such lives in the family unit; rather,
in addition to all this, by the knowledge of God is meant the very nature and
kind of being that he is. The knowledge of God includes an understanding of his
character, perfections, and attributes. If men are to become like him, they
must know what his characteristics and attributes are so that they can begin
the process of obtaining these very acquirements, endowments, and personality
traits. As the Prophet taught: "God became an object of faith among men
after the fall," in consequence of which multitudes were "stirred up
. . . to search after a knowledge of his character, perfections and attributes,
until they became extensively acquainted with him," so that they could
"not only commune with him and behold his glory, but [also] be partakers
of his power and stand in his presence." (Lectures on Faith 2:34.)
Accordingly, as the
Prophet expressed it, "We shall proceed to examine his character,
perfections, and attributes, in order that [we] may see, not only the just
grounds which they [the ancient saints] have for the exercise of faith in him
for life and salvation, but the reasons that all the world, also, as far as the
idea of his existence extends, may have to exercise faith in him, the Father of
all living." (Lectures on Faith 3:6.)
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 168.)
Faith and the Light
of Christ could be the same thing; it is something God controls perfectly. With it He has power and governs. We tap into God’s power when we conform to
His will; we accept His will and His laws as our light, to access His power we
must know His will. My problems are real
my sins are real and I need to repent so I can tap into His power.
LF 2:2
We
here observe that God is the only supreme governor and independent being in
whom all fulness and perfection dwell. He is omnipotent, omnipresent, and
omniscient, without beginning of days or end of life. In him every good gift
and every good principle dwell, and he is the Father of lights. In him the
principle of faith dwells independently, and he is the object in whom the faith
of all other rational and accountable beings centers for life and salvation.
(Larry E. Dahl and
Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., The Lectures on Faith in Historical Perspective
[Provo: BYU Religious Studies Center, 1990], 39.)
Priesthood is the
authorized use of God’s power. Eternal
life is to gain the power of God; it’s an easy concept to grasp. When I give a priesthood blessing I am
dependant on finding out His will before I can act! There are times when He asks us to use our
brain to figure things out, it won’t matter to Him.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 60:5.)
5 But,
verily, I will speak unto you concerning your journey unto the land from whence
you came. Let there be a craft made, or bought, as seemeth you good, it
mattereth not unto me, and take your journey speedily for the place which is
called
(Doctrine
and Covenants 62:5.)
5 And then
you may return to bear record, yea, even altogether, or two by two, as seemeth
you good, it mattereth not unto me; only be faithful, and declare glad tidings
unto the inhabitants of the earth, or among the congregations of the wicked.
Ye receive no witness
until after the trial of your faith] To have our spiritual eyes opened through
faith necessitates a "trial" of our faith. Believing without seeing
will result in greater seeing. This opening of our spiritual eyes is not
granted by God to us without effort on our part. It comes only as we are
willing to exercise our faith anti trust in the Lord when the path we must
pursue is not completely illuminated. Regarding his return to the city of
Jerusalem on a dangerous mission to procure the sacred brass plates that were
in the possession of Laban, Nephi said: "And I was led by the Spirit, not
knowing beforehand the things which I should do" (1 Nephi 4:6, italics
added). Nephi's "witness"- seeing the mission fulfilled in a
miraculous and unexpected way- came only after a "trial' of his faith. The
way was opened for him to do what the Lord commanded, but only after he was
willing to "walk by faith, not by sight" (see 2 Corinthians 5:7)
This concept is
further illustrated in the following experience of Elder Boyd K. Packer:
"Some years ago I learned a lesson that I shall never forget. I had been
called as an Assistant to the Council of the Twelve, and we were to move to
"But there was no
way we could proceed. I had just completed the course work on a doctor's degree
and was writing the dissertation. With the support of my wife and our eight
children, all of the resources we could gather over the years had been spent on
education. By borrowing on our insurance, gathering every resource, we could
barely get into the house, without sufficient left to even make the first
monthly payment.
"Brother Lee
insisted, 'Go ahead. I know it is right.'
"I was in deep
turmoil because I had been counseled to do something I had never done before- to
sign a contract without having the resources to meet the payments. When Brother
Lee sensed my feelings he sent me to President David O. McKay, who listened
very carefully as I explained the circumstances. He said, 'You do this. It is
the right thing.' But he extended no resources to make the doing of it
possible.
"When I reported
to Brother Lee he said, 'That confirms what I have told you.'
"I was still not
at peace and then came the lesson. Elder Lee said, 'Do you know what is wrong
with you-you always want to see the end from the beginning.' I replied quietly
that I wanted to see at least a few steps ahead. He answered by quoting from
the sixth verse of the twelfth chapter of Ether: 'Wherefore, dispute not
because ye see not, for ye receive no witness until after the trial of your
faith.' And then he added, 'My boy, you must learn to walk to the edge of the
light and perhaps a few steps into the darkness, and you will find that the
light will appear and move ahead of you.'
"And so it has-
but only as we walked to the edge of the light." (The Holy Temple,
pp. 183-85.)
7-22. Faith precedes
miracles- whatever their nature or manifestation.
By using each of these
examples,
(Joseph Fielding
McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 4
vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1987-1992], 4: 296.)
"Faith in the
Lord Jesus Christ"
Even without the
fourth Article of Faith, which lists "faith in the Lord Jesus Christ"
as the first principle of the gospel, it would be obvious to anyone opening the
standard works that faith is a pervasive, all-encompassing principle. The word
itself and its cognate forms are found hundreds of times. Its importance in the
plan of salvation could best be summarized by Paul's statement that
"without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God
must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek
him" (Heb. 11:6). Joseph Smith, commenting on that verse, said, "If
it should be asked—Why is it impossible to please God without faith? The answer
would be—Because without faith it is impossible for men to be saved; and as God
desires the salvation of men, he must, of course, desire that they should have
faith; and he could not be pleased unless they had, or else he could be pleased
with their destruction."1
Clearly, then, faith
is at the center of all that we do and teach in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Unfortunately, however, in the Church we occasionally find some whose attitude
seems to be that, since it is the first principle of the gospel, it is also a
simple principle, easily comprehended and left behind as one moves on to more
complicated and challenging areas of study. However, this is not the case.
Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone has summed up, as well as any, the challenge of
studying faith as a concept:
"What a great thing it is if we
understand what faith is. What is faith? How does it work? Do you have total
faith? When we come to a full and total understanding of faith, then I think we
ought to move on to repentance. When we understand that totally, then we should
move through the principles. But I doubt we will ever really get through an
understanding and complete knowledge of faith in a life-time. I don't care how
intellectual you are, or how long you study, I doubt you will ever come to an
end of the study of faith, the first principle of the gospel. The gospel is so
simple that a fool will not err therein, but it is so beautiful and so
sophisticated that I believe the greatest intellectual can make a study of
faith and never come to an end of understanding."2
Faith—a Principle of Power
If a typical Church
group were to give a one-word synonym for faith, the usual answers would
be belief, trust, assurance, hope, and so on. Joseph Smith's Lectures
on Faith gives a different definition for faith, one that has profound
implication for our understanding. In the first lecture, commenting on Heb.
11:3, the Prophet said: "Faith is not only the principle of action, but of
power also, in all intelligent beings, whether in heaven or on earth. Thus says
the author of the epistle to the Hebrews (11:3):
"'Through faith
we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things
which are seen were not made of things which do appear.'
"By this we
understand that the principle of power which existed in the bosom of God, by
which the worlds were framed, was faith; and that it is by reason of this
principle of power existing in the Deity, that all created things exist; so
that all things in heaven, on earth, or under the earth exist by reason of
faith as it existed in HIM.
"Had it not been
for the principle of faith the worlds would never have been framed, neither
would man have been formed of the dust. It is the principle by which Jehovah
works, and through which he exercises power over all temporal as well as
eternal things. Take this principle or attribute—for it is an attribute—from
the Deity, and he would cease to exist.
"Who cannot see,
that if God framed the worlds by faith, that it is by faith that he exercises
power over them, and that faith is the principle of power? And if the principle
of power, it must be so in man as well as in the Deity? This is the testimony
of all the sacred writers and the lesson which they have been endeavoring to
teach to man."3
That faith is a principle of power is evident
in scripture. As we look in the standard works and find examples of men with
faith, we find in virtually every case demonstrations of tremendous and
marvelous power. We read about Enoch, for example, speaking the word of the
Lord, and the earth trembling and the mountains fleeing! (see Moses 7:13). We
see Joshua saying, "Sun, stand thou still"; and the sun obeys! (see
Josh. 10:12-14). Or we find Peter spying a lame man near a gate of the temple—a
man with a congenital birth defect who had been unable to walk for the forty
years of his life. Peter said simply, "In the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth rise up and walk." The record states, "And he leaping up
stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping,
and praising God" (Acts 3:1-10). Faith is the power by which God speaks,
creating worlds, solar systems, and universes. So when we speak of faith, we
speak of tremendous power, not only physical power, but even power that can
save a man from temporal and spiritual death.
Requirements for Developing Faith
In the third lecture
on faith, Joseph Smith described what is necessary for people to have faith
sufficient to bring them salvation:
"Let us here
observe, that three things are necessary in order that any rational and intelligent
being may exercise faith in God unto life and salvation.
"First, the idea
that he actually exists.
"Secondly, a correct
idea of his character, perfections, and attributes.
"Thirdly, an
actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to
his will. For without an acquaintance with these three important facts, the
faith of every rational being must be imperfect and unproductive; but with this
understanding it can become perfect and fruitful, abounding in righteousness,
unto the praise and glory of God the Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."4
Looking at these three
requirements carefully, we can see that each of the three involves knowledge;
that is, we have an idea in the first one, a correct idea in the second one,
and anactual knowledge in the third one. If a sequence were designed depicting
an individual's movement toward salvation, it would look something like this:
In other words, if we are to achieve
salvation, we must have faith; and if we are to have faith, we must have
knowledge. This is a crucial thing to know about faith and the means to develop
it, and yet it raises a troubling question. If we say that knowledge is the
requirement or prerequisite of faith, someone will invariably ask, But if
knowledge leads to faith, how do you explain
After carefully
rereading
Some words of caution
need to be given, however, before we begin looking at the model itself. First,
one danger of any model is that it tends to oversimplify. This is of value in
one way, because the simplification helps us to conceptualize or grasp the
relationships of a complex subject. But when we begin to apply the model
closely to reality, we find that it may not hold up in all cases. Exceptions
will exist that do not truly fit the model. The paradigm of faith included in
this chapter is only to help people conceptualize a grand and complex subject.
Second, Elder Featherstone's comment that the study of faith can be pursued
without ever reaching the end of understanding suggests that the model
presented here should be refined or adapted as an individual pursues a deeper
understanding of faith. Third, the model is based heavily on three major
sections in the Book of Mormon dealing with faith in Jesus Christ: Alma 32,
Ether 12, and Moro. 7. Thus, understanding the paradigm is based in part upon a
thorough study of those chapters.
The Process We Call Faith
One of the challenges
in describing or discussing faith is the idea that faith is a process involving
various stages of development. A prophet may use the word faith to speak
of faith as a whole or to refer to any one of the different stages of the
process. This presents a challenge in studying the scriptures, and sometimes
even results in confusion. Joseph Smith, for example, said that faith is power;
The tendency for prophets to use one word—faith—to
discuss different aspects of faith makes it difficult to delineate the
different stages of the process. After some consideration, I decided that,
rather than try to generate new terms—terms the prophets did not use—I would
instead use the basic word with a number, thus describing the stages of the
process as Faith 1, Faith 2, and so on. In addition, it seems to me that each
stage of faith always contains three basic components: hope, action, and
confirmation. Again, because these may differ somewhat in their nature,
depending on which level of the process of faith a person is at, I have chosen
to designate these with subscripts too: Hope 1, Hope 2; Action 1, Action 2;
Confirmation 1, Confirmation 2; and so on.
To begin, let us
examine
When
Notice also in
Level One: Faith or Hope
At each stage of
faith, we must move through three components to reach the next level. Note the
diagram of the first level of faith, or Faith 1, on the following page. The
three components are shown in their proper relationship to one another.
Hope 1, or the initial
level of hope, would be the beginning step for the whole process. This level of
hope is really nothing more than the desire or wish that something be true. It
is as though we are motivated to say, "I want to know if this is true."
Notice in verse twenty-seven,
When we act by
experimenting, awaking, exercising, and so on, we are led to the third component
of faith, which is a confirmation of our hope. This initial level of the faith
process would be called confirmation.
Based on this real,
though difficult to express evidence, we can say, as
When we move through the trial of faith (hope
that moves us to act, which leads to a confirmation of that hope), we can say
that we have achieved the first stage of faith. These preliminary steps are at
an investigator level: we are investigating whether something is true.
Level Two: Faith or Knowledge
When we have achieved
Faith 1, have we achieved all that there is to have? Obviously not. Alma
himself encouraged the people to continue on once they had received this
"perfect knowledge." He told them to nourish the seed that was
starting to grow until it became a great tree providing them with the fruit of
eternal life (see vv. 25-43). In other words, once we have Faith 1, we can move
on to the next level of the process in developing faith. The second stage of
faith (Faith 2), diagrammed on the following page, is a level of faith entailing
belief and knowledge.
Once again there are
the three components: Hope 2, Action 2, and Confirmation 2. In the second level
of hope, we have more than a desire to know if something is true. Now our
attitude could be described not as "I want to know if this is true,"
but as "I desire this truth." As
When we move into this second level of hope
(Hope 2), where we begin to sincerely believe in the things we have heard
rather than simply desiring to believe, we will then be motivated to action
again. However, this action (Action 2) is on a higher level than that of Faith
1 and could be defined as a willingness to live the truths we believe to be
true. Whereas we had previously acted to find out if the Lord's word was true,
now we act to incorporate into our lives the truths we have learned. Here again
we find in operation the principle in Ether 12:6: we must have our faith tried;
we must prove by our actions that the hope in us truly is sincere and serious. Notice
what
When we operate at the
Action 2 level, we again undergo the trial of faith. We must show that we are
willing to trust in things not seen. When we do so, we receive confirmation
(Confirmation 2), specifically evidence on a behavioral level. This empirical
evidence is more outward than that received in Confirmation 1, where the
evidence consisted mostly of inner feelings (although Confirmation 2 still
includes many feelings). Such evidence is easier to identify and to put into
words. It would involve statements such as "Yes, my prayer was
answered" or "I can see that this principle works in my life."
Such confirmation leads us to say not "I believe . . ." but "I
know the gospel is true." The word has grown to the point where we can
actually begin to taste the fruits of it in our lives (see
Now that we have
examined the first two levels of faith, we begin to appreciate the profound
implications of the discussion of faith and works James the apostle gave. If we
do not have works joined to our faith, then our faith is dead, "being
alone" (see James 2:17). If we have the hope or desire that something is
true (Hope 1) but refuse to act on that hope, we will receive no confirmation,
and our faith, even at this early stage, will be dead. The same is true in level
two. Once we believe that something is true but refuse to live the truth, then
we have faith without works, and our faith dies. We will receive no
confirmation. The confirmation comes only after the trial of faith. But in this
second level, our trial is not on an investigator level; we are tried on a
higher level involving conversion, or testimony.
Level Three—Faith or Power
Now we are prepared to
look at the next level of faith, which brings us to faith as Joseph Smith
defined it. We could say that Faith 3, diagrammed on the next page, is the
power level of faith. Once again we are describing a major step upward from the
previous level, and once again we find all three components operating as in the
previous levels.
Hope 1 is to hope that something is true, and
Hope 2 is to believe that it is true. After having gone through the process of
Faith 2, however, we have confirmation and knowledge that the things we cannot
see are indeed true. This makes a new level of hope possible. Hope 3, the third
level of hope, could be described as a knowledge and assurance of things not
seen. At this level, our attitude is reflected by this statement: I have the
truth, and I desire to use it to become like God. This is, I believe, what
In our development of
faith, if we have reached this point of hope or knowledge but refuse to act
accordingly, then, as James said, "as the body without the spirit is dead,
so faith without works is dead also" (James 2:26). We have failed the
trial of faith and will receive no confirmation of our hope. Notice the
quotation by Joseph Smith from the Lectures on Faith included in the
diagram. He said that only a willingness to sacrifice whatever God requires
brings the knowledge that allows us to obtain the faith required for
salvation.5
If we operate at this
level of action, we would expect that confirmation of this hope would be
forthcoming, and such is the case. We could describe this level of confirmation
(Confirmation 3) as evidence on many levels of experience. It can not only
involve experiences of inner feelings and knowledge, but also include experiences
available to the senses, such as visions, visitations of angels, the
demonstration of power in miracles, speaking in tongues, and the like. These
may still be hard to express in words (in the sense that words are inadequate
to describe them), but they are irrefutable kinds of evidence, demonstrations
that the honest person cannot deny.
Notice the promises
cited under the Confirmation 3 level in the diagram. This is what the Lord
meant when he said, "These signs shall follow them that believe"
(Mark 16:17). This power level of faith also helps us to better understand what
the Lord meant when he said: "Faith cometh not by signs, but signs follow
those that believe. Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of men, nor as
they please, but by the will of God. Yea, signs come by faith, unto mighty
works, for without faith no man pleaseth God" (D&C 63:9-11).
I believe that understanding the process of
Faith 3 also gives us added insight as to why those who seek signs to bolster
faith are called "a wicked and adulterous generation" (Matt. 16:4). A
person who wants to build his faith only on the basis of confirmation or
evidence, without living the principles, seeks to circumvent the trial of faith
that
Level Four—Faith or Perfection
In level three of
faith, or the power level, we looked to the faith shown by the people in the
scriptures whom we typically characterize as having great faith. Many people
might think of this as being the highest level of faith, but I feel that there
is a fourth level of faith, which could be described as the perfection level.
Once again, this is a
major step upward. We have to be a little more speculative as we describe this
level of the process of faith because relatively few have achieved it; and
those who have seem reticent (by direction of the Spirit) to talk about it in
much detail. But I believe again that it involves our three components of hope,
action, and confirmation, as diagrammed on the following page.
In level three, hope
involved knowledge and assurance. How could one come to a higher level than
that? I suggest that Hope 4 is the actual knowledge that one will become like
God, and it can be characterized by the attitude, I desire to be as God is. Two
scriptures come to mind: "The more sure word of prophecy means a man's
knowing that he is sealed up unto eternal life" (D&C 131:5;
emphasis added); and "If ye do these things, ye shall never fall"
(2 Pet. 1:10; emphasis added), which is Peter's promise to those who were
laboring to make their calling and election sure.
When someone has reached this level of faith
in mortality, his calling and election is made sure, and he is told by the more
sure word of prophecy that he will be exalted. Imagine the level of hope or
desire that such a revelation would create in him. Such hope would lead him to
the fourth or highest level of action (Action 4)—the level where his life
becomes more and more godlike until he is made perfect and becomes worthy to
become a god. Whether the phrase "trial of faith" adequately
describes Action 4 is not important. What is important is to know that the
person must still live at a level of action commensurate with the level of hope
within him. When he does so, he will receive a level of confirmation also
commensurate with his level of action. In the highest level of confirmation
(Confirmation 4), a man receives the ultimate proof of the truths of the
gospel—he is made a god!
As discussed at the
beginning, the paradigm of the four levels of faith in Jesus Christ is
inadequate to describe all the complexities of faith. Certainly it needs
further clarification and refinement. But I have found it to be tremendously helpful
as I think through what the prophets have said about faith. When Joseph Smith
said faith is power, he was obviously speaking about a different level of faith
than when
I also find it helpful to think of the three
components—hope, action, and confirmation—at each level of faith, for I find
the three principles operating in the lives of those who demonstrate faith.
These principles also have relationship to repentance, baptism, and enduring to
the end. Often we risk the danger of becoming sign seekers by talking of having
one's calling and election made sure. As we talk about this important concept,
we must clearly define the price to be paid so we do not end up testing God.
Rather, we should operate according to the level of knowledge and hope that the
Lord has granted us. Then we will receive a greater and greater confirmation
until Jesus Christ makes us joint heirs with him, and we become gods. I firmly believe
that this is the process that we must follow in our lives if we are to find
that power. Joseph Smith said this:
"All the saints
of whom we have account, in all the revelations of God which are extant,
obtained the knowledge which they had of their acceptance in his sight through
the sacrifice which they offered unto him; and through the knowledge thus
obtained their faith became sufficiently strong to lay hold upon the promise of
eternal life, and to endure as seeing him who is invisible; and were enabled,
through faith, to combat the powers of darkness, contend against the wiles of
the adversary, overcome the world, and obtain the end of their faith, even the
salvation of their souls."6
Until now, we have not
said anything about charity, though faith, hope, and charity are clearly
interwoven, interdependent concepts (see 1 Cor. 13; Moro. 7:44-48). We can
understand the interrelationship of faith and hope fairly clearly through the
paradigm, but where does charity enter in? As I have pondered this, I find a
profoundly moving answer—charity enters in at every level, every aspect, every
point. The pure love of Christ validates every level of action to make it
productive. This seems to be what Paul meant when he said that one can prophesy
or give alms or do numerous other things, yet such actions are meaningless if
not done because of a love for God and fellowman. Charity is what lights our
hope, strengthens our will, deepens our confirmation. It suffers long, endures
much, is properly motivated, hopes for all things, and endures all things. I
have not shown charity in the paradigm because it would need to be shown
everywhere, for it permeates the whole process of faith and salvation. Mormon
explained it thus:
"Charity is the pure love of Christ, and
it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it
shall be well with him. Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father
with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he
hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye
may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for
we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified
even as he is pure" (Moro. 7:47-48).
Notes
From "An
Exploration of the Process of Faith as Taught in the Book of Mormon," in The
Second Annual Church Educational System Religious Educators' Symposium: A
Symposium on the Book of Mormon (Provo: Brigham Young University Religious
Studies, 1978), 74-80.
1. Joseph Smith, Lectures
on Faith (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1985), 7:7.
2. Vaughn J.
Featherstone, "As If They Would Ask Him to Tarry a Little Longer," in
Speeches of the Year, 1975 (Provo: Brigham Young University Press,
1976), 375.
3. Smith, Lectures
on Faith, 1:13-17.
4. Ibid., 3:2-5.
5. Ibid., 6:7.
6. Ibid., 6:11.
(Gerald
N. Lund, Selected Writings of Gerald N. Lund: Gospel Scholars Series [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1999], 237.)
Study
the Lectures on Faith to understand the faith of God and the faith of
The
moral values upon which civilization itself must depend spiral downward at an
ever-increasing pace. Nevertheless, I do not fear the future.
Boyd
K. Packer, “Do Not Fear,” Ensign, May
2004, 77
A few weeks ago our youngest son and his wife and family stopped to see us. The
first one out of the car was our two-year-old grandson. He came running to me
with his arms outstretched, shouting, “Gwampa! Gwampa! Gwampa!”
He hugged my
legs, and I looked down at that smiling face and those big, innocent eyes and
thought, “What kind of a world awaits him?”
For a moment
I had that feeling of anxiety, that fear of the future that so many parents
express to us. Everywhere we go fathers and mothers worry about the future of
their children in this very troubled world.
But then a
feeling of assurance came over me. My fear of the future faded.
That guiding,
comforting Spirit, with which we in the Church are so familiar, brought to my
remembrance what I already knew. The fear of the future was gone. That
bright-eyed, little two-year-old can have a good life—a very good life—and so
can his children and his grandchildren, even though they will live in a world
where there is much of wickedness.
They will see
many events transpire in the course of their lifetime. Some of these shall tax
their courage and extend their faith. But if they seek prayerfully for help and
guidance, they shall be given power over adverse things. Such trials shall not
be permitted to stand in the way of their progress, but instead shall act as
stepping-stones to greater knowledge.
As a
grandfather and as one of the Twelve, I will give you some counsel, some
caution, and a lot of encouragement. I could do this much better if the
grandmother in our family, my wife of 57 years, were standing beside me.
Mothers know much more about life than fathers do, but I will do the best I
can.
We do not
fear the future for ourselves or for our children. We live in dangerously
troubled times. The values that steadied mankind in earlier times are being
tossed away.
We must not
ignore
We cannot
take lightly this warning from the Book of Mormon:
“The Lord in
his great infinite goodness doth bless and prosper those who put their trust in
him … doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then
is the time that they do harden their hearts, and do forget the Lord their God,
and do trample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their
ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.
“And thus we
see that except the Lord doth chasten his people with many afflictions, yea,
except he doth visit them with death and with terror, and with famine
and with all manner of pestilence, they will not remember him” (Hel. 12:1–3;
emphasis added).
Have you
noticed that word terror in that prophetic Book of Mormon warning?
The moral
values upon which civilization itself must depend spiral downward at an
ever-increasing pace. Nevertheless, I do not fear the future.
World War I
ended only six years before I was born. When we were children, the effects of
the war were everywhere present. World War II came only 15 years later. And
dark clouds were already gathering.
We had the
same anxious feelings that many of you do now. We wondered what the future held
for us in an unsettled world.
When I was a
boy, childhood diseases appeared regularly in every community. When someone had
chicken pox or measles or mumps, the health officer would visit the home and
place a quarantine sign on the porch or in the window to warn everyone to stay
away. In a large family like ours, those diseases would visit by relay, one
child getting it from another, so the sign might stay up for weeks.
We could not
blockade ourselves inside our homes or stay hidden away to avoid those terrible
contagions. We had to go to school, to employment, to church—to life!
Two of my
sisters were stricken with very severe cases of measles. At first they seemed
to recover. A few weeks later Mother glanced out of the window and saw Adele,
the younger of the two, leaning against a swing. She was faint and weak with a
fever. It was rheumatic fever! It came as a complication from measles. The other
sister also had the fever.
There was
little that could be done. In spite of all of the prayers of my parents, Adele
died. She was eight years old.
While Nona,
two years older, recovered, she had fragile health for most of her life.
When I was in
the seventh grade, in a health class, the teacher read an article. A mother
learned that the neighbor children had chicken pox. She faced the probability
that her children would have it as well, perhaps one at a time. She determined
to get it all over with at once.
So she sent
her children to the neighbor’s to play with their children to let them be
exposed, and then she would be done with it. Imagine her horror when the doctor
finally came and announced that it was not chicken pox the children had; it was
smallpox.
The best
thing to do then and what we must do now is to avoid places where there is
danger of physical or spiritual contagion.
We have
little concern that our grandchildren will get the measles. They have been
immunized and can move freely without fear of that.
While in much
of the world measles has virtually been eradicated, it is still the leading
cause of vaccine-preventable death in children.
From money
generously donated by Latter-day Saints, the Church recently donated a million
dollars to a cooperative effort to immunize the children of
Parents now
are concerned about the moral and spiritual diseases. These can have terrible
complications when standards and values are abandoned. We must all take
protective measures.
With the
proper serum, the physical body is protected against disease. We can also
protect our children from moral and spiritual diseases.
The word inoculate
has two parts: in—“to be within”—and oculate means “eye to
see.”
When children
are baptized and confirmed (see D&C 20:41, 43;
D&C 33:15),
we place an eye within them—the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost (see D&C 121:26).
With the Restoration of the gospel came authority to confer this gift.
The Book of
Mormon gives us the key:
“Angels speak
by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. …
Feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you
[and your children as well] all things what ye should do” (2 Ne. 32:3).
If you will
accept it in your mind and cradle it in your feelings, a knowledge of the
restored gospel and a testimony of Jesus Christ can spiritually immunize your
children.
One thing is
very clear: the safest place and the best protection against the moral and
spiritual diseases is a stable home and family. This has always been true; it
will be true forever. We must keep that foremost in our minds.
The
scriptures speak of “the shield of faith wherewith,” the Lord said, “ye shall
be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked” (D&C 27:17).
This shield
of faith is best fabricated in a cottage industry. While the shield can be
polished in classes in the Church and in activities, it is meant to be
handcrafted in the home and fitted to each individual.
The Lord
said, “Take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil
day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand” (D&C 27:15).
Our young
people in many ways are much stronger and better than we were. They and we
should not be afraid of what is ahead.
Encourage our
young people. They need not live in fear (see D&C 6:36).
Fear is the opposite of faith.
While we
cannot erase wickedness, we can produce young Latter-day Saints who,
spiritually nourished, are immunized against evil influences.
As a
grandfather who has lived a long time, I counsel you to have faith. Things have
a way of working out. Stay close to the Church. Keep your children close to the
Church.
In Alma’s day
“the preaching of the word had a great tendency to lead the people to do that
which was just—yea, it … had more powerful effect upon the minds of the people
than the sword, or anything else, which had happened unto them—therefore Alma
thought it was expedient that they should try the virtue of the word of God” (Alma 31:5).
True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes
and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior
quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.
Find
happiness in ordinary things, and keep your sense of humor.
Nona
recovered from measles and rheumatic fever. She lived long enough to benefit
from open-heart surgery and enjoyed years of much improved health. Others spoke
of her newly acquired energy. She said, “I have a Cadillac engine in a Model T
frame.”
Keep your
sense of humor!
Do not be afraid to bring children into the
world. We are under covenant to provide physical bodies so that spirits may
enter mortality (see Gen. 1:28; Moses
2:28). Children are the
future of the restored Church.
Put your homes in order. If Mother is working
outside of the home, see if there are ways to change that, even a little. It
may be very difficult to change at the present time. But analyze carefully and
be prayerful (see D&C 9:8–9). Then expect to have inspiration, which is revelation
(see D&C 8:2–3). Expect intervention from power from beyond the veil to
help you move, in due time, to what is best for your family.
Alma called
the plan of salvation “the great plan of happiness” (Alma 42:8; see
also 2 Ne. 11:5; Alma 12:25; Alma 17:16; Alma 34:9; Alma 41:2; Alma 42:5, 11–13,
15, 31; Moses 6:62).
Each of us
came into mortality to receive a mortal body and to be tested (see Abr. 3:24–26).
Life will not
be free from challenges, some of them bitter and hard to bear. We may wish to
be spared all the trials of life, but that would be contrary to the great plan
of happiness, “for it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things”
(2 Ne. 2:11).
This testing is the source of our strength.
As an innocent
child, my sister Adele’s life was cruelly interrupted by disease and suffering.
She and all the others so taken continue the work of the Lord beyond the veil.
She will not be denied anything essential for her eternal progression.
We also lost
an infant granddaughter. She was named Emma after my mother. We receive comfort
from the scriptures.
“Little
children need no repentance, neither baptism. …
“… Little
children are alive in Christ” (Moro. 8:11–12).
Remember the
Atonement of Christ. Do not despair or count as forever lost those who have
fallen to the temptations of Satan. They will, after the debt is paid to “the
uttermost farthing” (Matt. 5:26) and
after the healing which attends complete repentance takes place, receive a
salvation.
Follow the
leaders who are called to preside over you, for the promise is given: “If my
people will hearken unto my voice, and unto the voice of my servants whom I
have appointed to lead my people, behold, verily I say unto you, they shall not
be moved out of their place” (D&C 124:45).
The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints will go forward “until it has filled the
whole earth” (D&C 65:2) and
the great Jehovah announces that His work is done (see History of the
Church, 4:540). The Church is a safe harbor. We will be protected by justice
and comforted by mercy (see Alma 34:15–16).
No unhallowed hand can stay the progress of this work (see D&C
76:3).
We are not
blind to the conditions in the world.
The Apostle
Paul prophesied of “perilous times” in the last days (2 Tim. 3:1), and
he warned, “We wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities,
against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against
spiritual wickedness in high places” (Eph. 6:12).
Isaiah
promised, “In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from
oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come
near thee” (Isa. 54:14).
The Lord
Himself encouraged, “Wherefore, be of good cheer, and do not fear, for I the
Lord am with you, and will stand by you; and ye shall bear record of me, even
Jesus Christ, that I am the Son of the living God, that I was, that I am, and
that I am to come” (D&C 68:6). In
the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
This source
is the most powerful of all, I can tap into it, and we will be asked to do
things well beyond our power, but with Him all is possible, this is real and
concrete.
What is required for
us to have faith? Faith as exercised by
man, it isn’t belief or self confidence.
1.
Living
inspiring confidence in God, He is all powerful
2.
Acceptance
of God’s will
3.
His
will is our law
4.
Learn
the will of God – I must be taught and instructed
a.
Scriptures
b.
Living
Prophets
c.
Personal
revelation – specific for my needs, specific application
d.
Done
on the Lord’s timetable – Elder Oaks “Timing”
Be ready to
drink what the Spirit has to offer, He will do all He can to bring us home.
Learn to
apply the rule; don’t look at being the exception to the rule.
God
General guidelines Faith Personal revelation
Weak
faith Man Specific application
POWERFUL FAITH, POWER OF PROTECTION
Line upon
line, precept upon precept to increase our power to act by the Spirit, I need
inspiration of all of my children and how to conduct my life in accordance to
His will.
(Luke
9:51.) – Heading toward
51
¶ And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to
(Luke
11:1-2.) – Our focus is on building up the kingdom, and doing it in God’s way,
that is faith! The kingdom to come is
the 2nd coming. This is what
we pray for!
1 And it
came to pass, that, as he was praying in a certain place, when he ceased, one
of his disciples said unto him, Lord, teach us to pray, as John also taught his
disciples.
2 And he
said unto them, When ye pray, say, Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be
thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, as in heaven, so in earth.
(Luke
17:20-22.) – He is abstract (vague) with unbelievers but is detailed with the
disciples
20 ¶ And
when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he
answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:
21 Neither
shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the
22 And he
said unto the disciples, The days will come, when ye shall desire to see one of
the days of the Son of man, and ye shall not see it.
(Luke
18:1-8.) – Look at this parable in its context, it isn’t only about
prayer. You can see Joseph asking the
Lord the same thing! This is about the
latter days, don’t quit, if an unjust judge gives in what would God do who
earnestly wants us home? The use of our
faith is critical to endure
1 And he
spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray,
and not to faint;
2 Saying,
There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man:
3 And there
was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine
adversary.
4 And he
would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not
God, nor regard man;
5 Yet
because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual
coming she weary me.
6 And the
Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith.
7 And shall
not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear
long with them?
8 I tell
you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless
when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?
Does His
will become their law? No, look at
Shall He Find Faith on the Earth
Elder
Joseph B. Wirthlin
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Ensign, Nov. 2002, pp. 82-84
That was
the most beautiful rendition of a magnificent song, "A Poor Wayfaring Man
of Grief," which was the favorite of the Prophet Joseph and his brother
Hyrum. What a beautiful performance from the choir and orchestra.
I pray I
may have the Spirit of the Lord with me that has been with us during our
conference, that I may say those things that will be beneficial to members of
the Church and those who are not members. I feel very humble in this
assignment.
Today I
ask a question the Savior asked nearly 2,000 years ago: "When the Son of
man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?" (Luke 18:8)
First Principle
of the Gospel
What is
true faith? Faith is defined as "belief and trust in and loyalty to God; .
. . firm belief in something for which there is no proof" (Webster's
Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary (1984), "Faith," p. 446). We
believe that "faith is to hope for things which are not seen, but which
are true . . . , and must be centered in Jesus Christ." In fact, we
believe that "faith in Jesus Christ is the first principle of the
gospel" (Bible Dictionary, "Faith," pp. 669-70).
A Widow's
Faith
There are
those who can teach us regarding faith if we will but open our hearts and our
minds. One such person is a woman whose husband had died. Left alone to raise
her son, she had tried to find ways of supporting herself, but she lived in a
time of terrible famine. Food was scarce and many were perishing because of
hunger.
As
available food diminished, so did the woman's chance of surviving. Every day,
she watched helplessly as her meager supply of food decreased.
Hoping for
relief but finding none, the woman finally realized the day had come when she
had only enough food for one last meal.
It was
then that a stranger approached and asked the unthinkable. "Bring me, I
pray thee," he said to her, "a morsel of bread."
The woman
turned to the man and said, "As the Lord thy God liveth, I have not a
cake, but an handful of meal in a barrel, and a little oil in a cruse."
She told him she was about to prepare it as a last meal for herself and her
son, "that we may eat it, and die."
She did
not know that the man before her was the prophet Elijah, sent to her by the
Lord. What this prophet told her next may seem surprising to those today who do
not understand the principle of faith.
"Fear
not," he said to her, "but make me thereof a little cake first, and
bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son."
Can you
imagine what she must have thought? What she must have felt? She hardly had
time to reply when the man continued, "For thus saith the Lord God of
Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil
fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth."
The woman,
after hearing this prophetic promise, went in faith and did as Elijah had
directed. "And she, and he, and her house, did eat many days. And the
barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail, according to the
word of the Lord, which he spake by Elijah" (see 1 Kings 17:11-16).
In the
wisdom of our day, the prophet's request may seem unfair and selfish. In the
wisdom of our day, the widow's response may appear foolish and unwise. That is
largely because we often learn to make decisions based upon what we see. We
make decisions based on the evidence before us and what appears to be in our
immediate best interest.
"Faith,"
on the other hand, "is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen (Hebrews 11:1; see also Hebrews 11:2 -40; Ether 12:7-22.).
Faith has eyes that penetrate the darkness, seeing into the light beyond.
"Your faith should not stand in the wisdom of men, but in the power of
God" (1 Cor,. 2:5)
Failure to
Exercise Faith
Too often
today, we do not rely on faith so much as on our own ability to reason and
solve problems. If we become ill, modern medicine can work healing miracles. We
can travel great distances in a short time. We have at our fingertips
information that 500 years ago would have made the poorest man a prince.
True Faith
"The
just shall live by faith"(Romans 1:7), we are told in holy writ. I ask
again, What is faith?
Faith exists when absolute confidence in that
which we cannot see combines with action that is in absolute conformity to the
will of our Heavenly Father. Without all three--first, absolute confidence;
second, action; and third, absolute conformity--without these three all we have
is a counterfeit, a weak and watered-down faith. Let me discuss each of these
three imperatives of faith.
First, we must have confidence in that which
we cannot see. When Thomas finally felt the prints of the nails and thrust his
hand into the side of the resurrected Savior, he confessed that he, at last,
believed.
"Jesus saith unto him, Thomas, because
thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and
yet have believed" (John 20:29).
Peter echoed those words when he praised early
followers for their faith in Jesus the Christ. He said:
"Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom,
though now ye see him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and
full of glory:
"Receiving the end of your faith, even
the salvation of your souls" (1 Peter 1:8-9).
Second, for our faith to make a difference,
we must act. We must do all that is in our power to change passive belief into
active faith, for truly, "faith, if it hath not works, is dead"
(James 2:17).
In 1998, President Gordon B. Hinckley raised
a voice of warning to the Saints of this Church as well as to the world at
large. He uttered that same warning last night at priesthood meeting. He said:
"I am suggesting that the time has come to get our houses in order. So
many people are living on the very edge of their incomes. In fact, some are
living on borrowings. . . . I am troubled by the huge consumer installment debt
which hangs over the people of the nation, including our own people"
("To the Boys and to the Men," Ensign, Nov. 1998, 53; Liahona,
Jan. 1999, 65).
Brothers and sisters, when these prophetic
words were uttered, some faithful members of the Church mustered their faith
and heeded the counsel of the prophet. They are profoundly grateful today that
they did. Others perhaps believed that what the prophet said was true but
lacked faith; even as small as a grain of mustard seed. Consequently, some have
suffered financial, personal, and family distress.
Third, one's faith should be consistent with
the will of our Heavenly Father, including His laws of nature. The sparrow
flying into a hurricane may believe that he can successfully navigate the
storm, but the unforgiving natural law will convince him otherwise in the end.
Are we
wiser than the sparrow? Often what passes for faith in this world is little
more than gullibility. It is distressing to see how eager some people are to
embrace fads and theories while rejecting or giving less credence and attention
to the everlasting principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is distressing
how eagerly some rush into foolish or unethical behavior, believing that God
will somehow deliver them from the inevitable tragic consequences of their
actions. They even go so far as to ask for the blessings of heaven, knowing in
their hearts that what they do is contrary to the will of our Father in Heaven.
How do we
know when our faith conforms to the will of our Heavenly Father and He approves
of that which we seek? We must know the word of God. One of the reasons we
immerse ourselves in the scriptures is to know of Heavenly Father's dealings
with man from the beginning. If the desires of our heart are contrary to
scripture, then we should not pursue them further.
Next, we
must heed the counsel of latter-day prophets as they give inspired instruction.
Additionally,
we must ponder and pray and seek the guidance of the Spirit. If we do so, the
Lord has promised, "I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the
Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in your heart"
(D&C 8:2).
Only when
our faith is aligned with the will of our Heavenly Father will we be empowered
to receive the blessings we seek.
Principle
of Power
Truly
understood and properly practiced, faith is one of the grand and glorious
powers of eternity. It is a force powerful beyond our comprehension.
"Through faith . . . the worlds were framed by the word of God" (Heb.
11:3). Through faith, waters are parted, the sick healed, the wicked silenced,
and salvation made possible.
Our faith
is the foundation upon which all our spiritual lives rest. It should be the
most important resource of our lives. Faith is not so much something we
believe; faith is something we live.
Remember
the words of the Savior: "If thou canst believe, all things are possible
to him that believeth" (Mark 9:23). "He that believeth on me, the
works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he
do" (John 14:12).
Teaching
the Principle
Those who
walk in faith will feel their lives encompassed with the light and blessings of
heaven. They will understand and know things that others cannot. Those who do
not walk in faith esteem the things of the Spirit as foolishness, for the
things of the Spirit can only be discerned by the Spirit (see 1 Cor. 2:14).
The
manifestations of heaven are sealed from the understanding of those who do not
believe. "For if there be no faith among the children of men,"
Yet throughout
history, even in times of darkness there were those who, through eyes of faith,
pierced the darkness and beheld things as they truly are. Moroni reveals that
"there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong . . . [they] could
not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things
which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad" (Hebrews
11:3).
Our homes
should be havens of faith. Mothers and fathers should teach the principles of
faith to their children. Grandparents, too, can help. When I'm at a family
gathering, I try to spend time, when appropriate, to have a one-on-one
discussion with some of our grandchildren. I sit with them and ask them a few
questions: "How are you doing?" "How is school?"
Then I ask
them how they feel about the true Church, which means so much to me. I try to
discover the depth of their faith and testimony. If I perceive areas of
uncertainty, I'll ask them, "Would you accept a goal from your
granddad?"
Then I'll
suggest they read the scriptures daily and recommend they kneel down every
morning and night and pray with their father and mother and have personal
prayers. I admonish them to go to their sacrament meetings. I admonish them
always to keep themselves pure and clean, always attend their meetings, and
finally, among other things, always strive to be sensitive to the whisperings
of the Lord.
Now one
time after a talk with Joseph, our eight-year-old grandson, he looked into my
eyes and asked this pointed question: "May I go now, Granddad?" He
ran from my arms and I thought, "Did I do any good?" Apparently I
did, because the next day he said, "Thanks for the little talk we
had."
If we
approach them with love rather than reproach, we will find that the faith of
our grandchildren will increase as a result of the influence and testimony of
someone who loves the Savior and His divine Church.
Trials
Sometimes
the world appears dark. Sometimes our faith is tried. Sometimes we feel that
the heavens are closed against us. Yet we should not despair. We should never
abandon our faith. We should not lose hope.
A few
years ago, I began to notice that things around me were beginning to darken. It
troubled me because simple things like reading the print in my scriptures were
becoming more difficult. I wondered what had happened to the quality of the
lightbulbs and wondered why manufacturers today couldn't make things like they
had in years past.
I replaced
the bulbs with brighter ones. They, too, became dim. I blamed the poor design
of the lamps and bulbs. I even questioned whether the brightness of the sun was
fading before the thought occurred to me that the problem might not be with the
amount of light in the room--the problem might be with my own eyes.
Shortly
thereafter, I went to an ophthalmologist who assured me that the world was not
going dark at all. A cataract on my eye was the reason the light seemed to be
fading. This certainly gives you my age. I placed my faith in the capable hands
of this trained specialist, the cataract was removed, and behold, light again
flooded my life! The light had never diminished; only my capacity to see the
light had been lessened.
This
taught me a profound truth. Often when the world seems dark, when the heavens
seem distant, we seek to blame everything around us, when the real cause of the
darkness may be a lack of faith within ourselves.
Be of good
cheer. Have faith and confidence. The Lord will not forsake you.
The Lord
has promised if we "search diligently, pray always, and be believing, and
all things shall work together for your good, if ye walk uprightly"
(D&C 90:24).
I know, as
did
Our
Heavenly Father is a powerful, moving, directing being. While we may, at times,
bear burdens of sorrow, pain, and grief; while we may struggle to understand
trials of faith we are called to pass through; while life may seem dark and
dreary--through faith, we have absolute confidence that a loving Heavenly
Father is at our side.
As the
Apostle Paul promised, "Therefore being justified by faith, we have peace
with God through our Lord Jesus Christ" (Romans 5:1).
And one
day, we will fully see through the darkness into the light. We will understand
His eternal plan, His mercy, and His love.
"When
the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?"
Perhaps as
members of the Church trust with all their hearts, transform their hopes and
beliefs into action, and seek to align themselves with the will of the Lord,
the answer to the question the Savior asked 2,000 years ago will be a
resounding "Yes, He will find faith. He will find faith among those who
take upon themselves His name. He will find it among those who are living His
divine principles."
Testimony
I testify
that through our prophet, seer, and revelator, President Gordon B. Hinckley,
our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, speaks to all of us today. I testify the
gospel was restored in its fulness through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Faith, an
eternal power, is a gift from our Heavenly Father for all mankind. To this
eternal truth I bear my personal witness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Repentance
and Faith are related topics
The Meaning of Repentance
Elder Theodore M. Burton
Of the First Quorum of Seventy
Ensign, Aug. 1988, pp. 5-9
The most
basic principles of the gospel are sometimes those least understood. And one of
the most fundamental gospel principles is repentance.
Repentance
is a mechanism for personal growth and development. So fundamental is the
principle that the Lord stressed its importance seventy-one times in the
Doctrine and Covenants. Two of those revelations, one following the other in
the Doctrine and Covenants, are identical and conclude with these words:
"And
now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth
unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring
souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father."
(D&C 15:6; D&C 16:6; italics added.)
Why would
the Lord give two identical revelations and have them published in the Doctrine
and Covenants, one following the other? The Lord is a Master Teacher; he knows
the value of repetition in learning. It may be that these revelations were
intended not only for those to whom they were given, but also for all of us. If
these revelations do indeed apply to you and to me, they help us understand
that what is of greatest worth to each of us is to declare repentance to others
and to practice it ourselves.
Just what
is repentance? Actually, in some ways it is easier to understand what
repentance is not than to understand what it is.
As a
General Authority, I have prepared information for the First Presidency to use
in considering applications to readmit repentant transgressors into the Church
and to restore priesthood and temple blessings. Many times a bishop will write,
"I feel he has suffered enough!" But suffering is not repentance.
Suffering comes from lack of complete repentance. A stake president will write,
"I feel he has been punished enough!" But punishment is not
repentance. Punishment follows disobedience and precedes repentance. A husband
will write, "My wife has confessed everything!" But confession is not
repentance. Confession is an admission of guilt that occurs as repentance
begins. A wife will write, "My husband is filled with remorse!" But
remorse is not repentance. Remorse and sorrow continue because a person has not
yet fully repented. Suffering, punishment, confession, remorse, and sorrow may
sometimes accompany repentance, but they are not repentance. What, then, is
repentance?
To find
the answer to this question, we must go to the Old Testament. The Old Testament
was originally written in Hebrew, and the word used in it to refer to the
concept of repentance is shube. We can better understand what shube
means by reading a passage from Ezekiel and inserting the word shube,
along with its English translation. To the "watchmen" appointed to
warn
"When
I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if thou dost not
speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his
iniquity; but his blood will I require at thine hand.
"Nevertheless,
if thou warn the wicked of his way to turn from [shube] it; if he do not
turn from [shube] his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but thou hast
delivered thy soul. …
"Say
unto them, As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure in the death of
the wicked; but that the wicked turn from [shube] his way and
live." (Ezek. 33:8-11.)
I know of
no kinder, sweeter passage in the Old Testament than those beautiful lines. In
reading them, can you think of a kind, wise, gentle, loving Father in Heaven
pleading with you to shube, or turn back to him--to leave unhappiness,
sorrow, regret, and despair behind and turn back to your Father's family, where
you can find happiness, joy, and acceptance among his other children?
That is
the message of the Old Testament. Prophet after prophet writes of shube--that
turning back to the Lord, where we can be received with joy and rejoicing. The
Old Testament teaches time and again that we must turn from evil and do instead
that which is noble and good. This means that we must not only change our ways,
we must change our very thoughts, which control our actions.
The
concept of shube is also found in the New Testament, which was written
in Greek. The Greek writers used the [page 8] Greek word metaneoeo to refer
to repentance. metaneoeo is a compound word. The first part, meta-,
is used as a prefix in our English vocabulary. It refers to change. The second
part of the word metaneoeo can be spelled various ways. The letter n,
for instance, is sometimes transliterated as pn, and can mean air, the
mind, thought, thinking, or spirit--depending on how it is used.
In the
context in which meta- and -neoeo are used in the New Testament,
the word metaneoeo means a change of mind, thought, or thinking so
powerful that it changes one's very way of life. I think the Greek word metaneoeo
is an excellent synonym for the Hebrew word shube. Both words mean
thoroughly changing or turning from evil to God and righteousness.
Confusion
came, however, when the New Testament was translated from Greek into Latin.
Here an unfortunate choice was made in translation; the Greek word metaneoeo
was translated into the Latin word poenitere. The Latin root poen in
that word is the same root found in our English words punish, penance, penitent,
and repentance. The beautiful meaning of the Hebrew and Greek words was thus
changed in Latin to a meaning that involved hurting, punishing, whipping,
cutting, mutilating, disfiguring, starving, or even torturing! It is no small
wonder, then, that people have come to fear and dread the word repentance,
which they understand to mean repeated or unending punishment.
The
meaning of repentance is not that people be punished, but rather that they
change their lives so that God can help them escape eternal punishment and
enter into his rest with joy and rejoicing. If we have this understanding, our
anxiety and fears will be relieved. Repentance will become a welcome and
treasured word in our religious vocabulary.
We can
learn more about the meaning of repentance from the thirty-third chapter of
Ezekiel, where we read, "If the wicked restore the pledge, give again that
he had robbed, walk in the statutes of life, without committing iniquity; he
shall surely live, he shall not die." (Ezek. 33:15.)
Let us
analyze these three steps of repentance. The first is commitment--to
"restore the pledge." This is the most difficult step in the
repentance process. What does "restoring the pledge" mean?
To restore
or renew a pledge means to renew one's covenant with the Lord. We must forget
all excuses and recognize fully, exactly, what we have done. We must not say,
"If I hadn't been so angry," "If my parents had only been more
strict," "If my bishop had only been more understanding,"
"If my teachers had only taught me better," "If it hadn't been
so dark!" There are hundreds of such excuses--none of which matters much
in the final analysis.
To truly
repent, we must forget all such rationalizations. We must kneel down before God
and openly and honestly admit that what we did was wrong. As we do so, we open
our hearts to our Heavenly Father and commit ourselves completely to him.
To really
commit oneself to God and to changing one's life--and to mean it--is the
beginning of repentance. Our Savior's great commitment to his Father is
exemplified best by his terrible trial in the
Before
this experience, he had always had ready communication with his Father. But now
he was left alone to carry the burden of the world's sins. It was as if the
heavens over his head were made of brass and he couldn't get through!
As he
struggled in prayer and suffered horribly under the strain, he asked that the
cup might pass and that some other path might be found. It is true that he
added the words, "Thy will be done," but there was no answer to his
request, and his soul continued to be filled with anguish.
Three
times he pleaded for release, and all three times the answer was the same. (See
Matt. 26:36-44.)
Yet Christ
had fully committed himself to do what he had been appointed to do. He was
willing, and he went forward! Though it cost him tremendous suffering, he had
made up his mind and committed himself to be obedient in every particular,
regardless of the cost.
Our
struggles to repent may cost us agony of mind and body also, but our commitment
to our Heavenly Father to do his will will make repentance possible and
bearable for us. In our repentance, we should remember that the Lord does not
punish us for our sins; he simply withholds his blessings. We punish ourselves.
The scriptures tell us again and again that the wicked are punished by the
wicked. A simple illustration can show how we do this.
Suppose my
mother told me not to touch a hot stove because it would burn me. She would
only be stating the law. Suppose I should forget or deliberately touch that hot
stove. I would be burned. I could cry and complain of my hurt, but who would be
responsible for the hurt I received? Not my mother. Certainly not the hot
stove! I would be responsible. I would have punished myself.
This
illustration, however, disregards the important element of mercy, which I will
try to make clear in discussing a second step in the process of
repentance--restitution, or to "give again that [which we have]
robbed." (Ezek. 33:15.) If you have stolen money or goods, you can repay
them--even sizable amounts, in time. But what if you have robbed yourself of
virtue? Is there anything you can do, of yourself, to restore your virtue? Even
if you gave your very life, you could not restore your virtue. But--perish the
thought--does that then mean that it is useless to attempt restitution by
performing significant good works or that your sin is unforgivable? No!
Jesus
Christ has paid for your sin and has thus satisfied justice. Therefore, he will
extend mercy to you--if you repent. True repentance on your part, [page 9]
including a change in your life-style, enables Christ, in mercy, to forgive
your sin.
The more
serious the sin, the greater the effort it takes to repent. But if we work
daily at turning completely to the Lord, we can stand blameless before the
Savior. The key is to allow the Lord to complete the healing process without
reopening the wound. Just as it takes time for a wound of the body to heal, so
it takes time for a wound of the soul to heal.
If I cut
myself, for example, the wound will gradually heal. But as it heals, it may
begin to itch, and if I scratch it, it may open up again and take longer to
heal. But there is a greater danger. If I scratch the wound, it may become
infected from the bacteria on my fingers. I may poison the wound and lose that
part of my body or even my life!
We must
allow injuries to follow their prescribed healing course. If they are serious,
we must see a doctor for skilled help. So it is with injuries to the soul.
Allow the injury to follow its prescribed healing course without
"scratching" it through vain regrets. If the transgression requires
ecclesiastical confession, go to your bishop and get spiritual help. It may
hurt as he disinfects the wound and sews it back together, but it will heal
properly that way.
As you
undergo the process of repentance, be patient. Be active with positive,
righteous thoughts and deeds so that you can become happy and productive again.
As long as
we dwell on sin or evil and refuse to forgive ourselves, we will be subject to
return again to our sins. But if we turn from our problems and sins and put
them behind us in both thought and action, we can concentrate on good and
positive things. As we become fully engaged in good causes, sin will no longer
be such a great temptation for us.
Now we
come to a third step of repentance--forsaking sin, or striving to "walk in
the statutes of life, without committing iniquity." (Ezek. 33:15.) We must
forsake our sins, one by one. If we do this, the Lord has promised: "None
[not even one] of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him:
he hath done that which is lawful and right; he shall surely live." (Ezek.
33:16.)
In our
day, the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith, "Behold, he who has repented
of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no
more."
How do we
know if a man or a woman has repented of his or her sins? The Lord answers that
question in the next verse: "By this ye may know if a man repenteth of his
sins--behold, he will confess them and forsake them." (D&C 58:42-43.)
Naturally,
the confession that precedes repentance for serious sins should be made to a
bishop or stake president who has the authority to hear such confession.
Confessions to others--particularly confessions repeated in open meetings,
unless the sin has been a public sin requiring public forgiveness--only demean
both the confessor and the hearer. Repenting of serious sins takes time and
effort. But whether the sin is small or great, the final step of
repentance--forsaking sin--means that we do not repeat that transgression.
How
grateful we should be for a kind, wise, loving Savior who will help us overcome
our faults, our mistakes, and our sins. He loves and understands us and is
sympathetic to the fact that we face temptations.
In the
Book of Mormon, King Benjamin explains one way we can show our gratitude to the
Lord for his great mercy and his sacrifice for our sins: "Behold, I tell
you these things that ye may learn wisdom: that ye may learn that when ye are
in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your
God." (Mosiah 2:17.) God's work and glory is to redeem his children. If we
participate in redemptive service to others, we can, in some small measure,
repay him for his blessings.
God is
merciful; he has provided a way for us to apply the principle of repentance in
our lives and thus escape the bondage of pain, sorrow, suffering, and despair that
comes from disobedience. After all is said and done, we are God's sons and
daughters. And for those who understand its true meaning, repentance is a
beautiful word and a marvelous refuge.
(Mosiah
4:10.) – One can confess, one can feel remorse, and one can forsake yet never
repent!
10
And again, believe that ye must repent of your sins and forsake them, and
humble yourselves before God; and ask in sincerity of heart that he would
forgive you; and now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them.
Metenoeo –
You have one view and you are exposed to another view and you adopt the new
view. It’s a reformation, a change of
heart and mind of the inner man. (Adopt
a new view)
In most languages the
Church is designated as that of the Last Days, and so this speech, which is
only a pastiche of quotations from its founders, is unblushingly apocalyptic.
Did our grandparents over-react to signs of the times? For many years a stock
cartoon in sophisticated magazines has poked fun at the barefoot bearded character
in the long nightshirt carrying a placard calling all to "Repent, for the
End is at Hand". But where is the joke? Ask the smart people who thought
up the funny pictures and captions: Where are they now?
For all of us as
individuals the fashion of this world passeth away; but the Big Bang is
something else. How near is that? Should we be concerned at all? The problem
may be stated in the form of a little dialogue:
We: Dear Father, whenever the end is scheduled to be,
can't you give us an extension of time?
He: Willingly. But tell me first, what will you do with
it?
We: Well ... ah ... we will go on doing pretty much what
we have been doing; after all, isn't that why we are asking for an extension?
He: And isn't that exactly why I want to end it soon —
because you show no inclination to change? Why should I reverse the order of
nature so that you can go on doing the very things I want to put an end to?
We: But is what we are doing so terribly wrong? The
economy seems sound enough. Why shouldn't we go on doing the things which have
made this country great?
He: Haven't I made it clear enough to you what kind of
greatness I expect of my offspring? Forget the statistics; you are capable of
better things — your stirring commercials don't impress me in the least.
We: But why should we repent when all we are doing is
what each considers to be for the best good of himself and the nation?
He: Because it is not you but I who decide what that
shall be, and I have told you a hundred times what is best for you individually
and collectively — and that is repentance, no matter who you are.
We: We find your inference objectionable, Sir — quite
unacceptable.
He: I know.
(Hugh Nibley,
Nibley on the Timely and the Timeless [Provo: BYU Religious Studies
Center, 1978], 280.)
As a Bishop
help them walk through this whole process that brings about this full change. I need to adopt His view as my own. Faith and repentance go hand in hand, by
faith we find out God’s will and in repentance we are adopting His will as our
law.
(2 Nephi 2:21.) – 1. All people must repent 2. There must be enough time for all people to
repent
21
And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of
God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a
state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the
commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men. For he gave
commandment that all men must repent; for he showed unto all men that they were
lost, because of the transgression of their parents.
(Helaman
15:7.) – 3. Faith must be present in the
process of repentance
7
And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of
them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked
and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy
scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which
leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and
repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them—
Going
through the steps of repentance isn’t repentance!
Redemption from the
Fall
Some years ago I sat with my counselors in a bishopric
meeting. The session was drawing to a close because sacrament meeting would be
starting in just ten minutes. A knock came at the door. A young woman from my
ward asked if she could visit with me for a moment. I indicated to her that we
could chat for a bit, but that sacrament meeting would be starting soon. She
assured me that we would be together for only a minute or two. After we had
been seated for a few seconds, she said: "Bishop, I need to confess a
sin." I was startled with the suddenness of the statement, but, managing
to maintain my composure, I offered, "Well, that could take some time,
couldn't it? Shall we meet after the block of meetings today?" She quickly
responded, "Oh no! This will just take a second."
She proceeded to describe a very serious moral
transgression in which she had been involved. It was now about one minute
before the meetings were to start, and so I tried again: "Why don't we get
together after priesthood and Relief Society meetings?" She staggered me
with, "Well, I don't know why we would need to, unless it would be helpful
to you, or something." I indicated that such a meeting might prove
beneficial to both of us. She agreed to return. Three hours later, and after we
had exchanged a few pleasantries, I asked her, "How do you feel about what
has happened?" She responded, "Just fine." I must have shown my
perplexity because she added, "For a number of hours I felt bad about what
had happened, but it's okay now because I've repented."
I couldn't ask her the question fast enough: "What
do you mean when you say that you have repented?" She had explained to me
earlier that the transgression had taken place on Friday night, and it was now
Sunday afternoon. At that point, she reached into her purse and retrieved a
yellow sheet of legal-size paper. Pointing one by one to various headings that
began with an R, she said, "I've done this, and this, and this, and
this, and finally I've confessed to you. I've repented."
"It seems to me that you've skipped an R,
that your list is missing something," I said. I noted a startled look in
her eyes and a slight impatience with me as she said, "No, that can't be.
I have everything listed here!"
"The R you're missing," I responded,
"is Redeemer. You have no place for Christ on your list. I mean,
what does Jesus Christ have to do with your transgression? What does what
happened in Gethsemane and on
She answered: "Jesus died for me. He died for my
sins."
To almost every question I asked thereafter she gave a
perfectly correct answer. She had been well trained, and her answers reflected
an awareness of the doctrines associated with repentance. But the answers were
all totally cerebral, straight from memory and mind, not from the heart. She
obviously saw no real tie between her own ungodly actions and the infinite
actions of a God. We spent a few hours together that day and many days
thereafter searching the scriptures, praying together, and counseling over the
way back to the strait and narrow path. We talked often and intently about
Jesus Christ. She came in time to know the correct answers by feeling—that is,
from the heart.
Since that time, I
have formulated my own brief list of Rs, those that point my mind and
rivet my affections to Jesus the Messiah. There is nothing sacred about this
list (how many, what order, and so on), except that they direct my own heart to
sacred things.
RESOLVING to come unto Christ. Some years ago it was
not uncommon to see bumper stickers and placards that read "Jesus is the
answer." As we suggested earlier, answers are always much more meaningful
when we know the question. As was the case anciently in
Those who labor
tirelessly to lighten burdens or alleviate human suffering but at the same time
deny that Jesus Christ is God or deny the need for a Savior in this enlightened
age cannot have the lasting effect on society that they could have through
drawing upon the spiritual forces that center in the Lord Omnipotent. Those in
our day who focus endlessly on the moral teachings of Jesus but who downplay
the divine Sonship miss the mark dramatically. For some, Jesus stands as the
preeminent example of kindness, the ultimate illustration of social and
interpersonal graciousness and morality. A favorite text for them is the Sermon
on the Mount; their highest aspiration is the call to live the Golden Rule. A
Roman Catholic philosopher observed: "According to the theological
liberal, this sermon [the Sermon on the Mount] is the essence of Christianity,
and Christ is the best of human teachers and examples. . . . Christianity is
essentially ethics. What's missing here?" he asks. "Simply, the
essence of Christianity, which is not the Sermon on the Mount. When
Christianity was proclaimed throughout the world, the proclamation (kerygma)
was not 'Love your enemies!' but 'Christ is risen!' This was not a new ideal
but a new event, that God became man, died, and rose for our salvation.
Christianity is first of all not ideal but real, an event, news, the gospel,
the 'good news.' The essence of Christianity is not Christianity; the essence
of Christianity is Christ." fn
We come unto Christ
not alone to be taught but to be transformed. He is not only our Example but
also our Change Agent and our Benefactor. Jesus is not only a convenient
resource; he is the vital and indispensible element in our quest for happiness
here and eternal reward hereafter. There is no hope and no possibility of
reconciliation with the Father except by and through the Savior.
Enos wrestled with his
sins until he heard the voice of God declaring, "Enos, thy sins are
forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed." "Lord, how is it
done?" Enos asked. The Lord answered: "Because of thy faith in
Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. . . . Wherefore, go to, thy
faith hath made thee whole" (Enos 1:5-8). In his agony, confronted and
tortured spiritually through the medium of memory,
And it came to pass
that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory
of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy
unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to
atone for the sins of the world.
Now, as my mind caught
hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have
mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the
everlasting chains of death.
And now, behold, when
I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by
the memory of my sins no more.
And oh, what joy, and
what marvelous light I did behold; yea, my soul was filled with joy as
exceeding as was my pain! [
Indeed, Jesus Christ
is the Source of solace. Jesus Christ is the Prince of Peace.
A grand key to coming
unto Christ is acknowledging the goodness and omnipotence of Christ. It
consists of yielding our hearts unto him (see Helaman 3:35), submitting to his
wisdom and omniscience. It is an unconditional surrender, an unqualified
sacrifice of self on the altar of Christ. It is to hearken to the counsel of
Amaleki: "And now . . . , I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is
the Holy One of
Being RECONCILED to God through Christ. The Fall brought
changes to the earth and all forms of life on earth, changes both cosmic and
personal. In the spiritual realm, men and women began life in a new sphere, a
new state, a new kind of being. Whereas in Eden Adam and Eve had enjoyed the
blessings of a terrestrial, immortal condition in which things were not subject
to death, now on a fallen telestial earth all things began their steady decline
toward dissolution. From modern revelation "we learn man's situation at
his first creation, the knowledge with which he was endowed, and the high and
exalted station in which he was placed—lord or governor of all things on earth,
and at the same time enjoying communion . . . with his Maker, without a veil to
separate between." fn After the Fall, however, Adam and Eve "heard
the voice of the Lord from the way toward the Garden of Eden, speaking unto
them, and they saw him not; for they were shut out from his presence"
(Moses 5:4; compare D&C 29:41).
The Atonement is that
divine act of mercy and grace and condescension by which our Father and God
opens the door to reunion. In and through Adam we partake of mortality and
death. In and through Christ, our Mediator and Intercessor, we partake of
immortality and the abundant life. By means of the Atonement we are reconciled
to the Father. By means of the Atonement the finite is reconciled to the
Infinite, the incomplete to the Complete, the unfinished to the Finished, the
imperfect to the Perfect. Jacob pleaded: "Wherefore . . . reconcile
yourselves to the will of God, and not to the will of the devil and the flesh;
and remember, after ye are reconciled unto God, that it is only in and through
the grace of God that ye are saved" (2 Nephi 10:24). The Atonement, as an
act of grace, demonstrates the love of the Father for his children. Jesus
Christ, who lived a sinless and perfect life, claims of the Father "his
rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men" (
Being RENEWED in Christ. The Book of Mormon is
a powerful invitation to come unto Christ and be changed. Indeed, one who
chooses Christ chooses to be changed. The plan of salvation is not just a
program bent on making bad men good and good men better; the Rotary Club can do
that. Rather, it is a system of salvation that seeks to renovate society and
transform the whole of humankind. The gospel of Jesus Christ is intended to
make of earth a heaven and of man a god.
Those who are dead to
the things of the Spirit must be quickened, made alive, or born again to enter
the realm of divine experience. That is not optional; it is required. Elder
McConkie has written: "The spiritual birth comes after the natural birth.
It is to die as pertaining to worldliness and carnality and to become a new
creature by the power of the Spirit. It is to begin a new life, a life in which
we bridle our passions and control our appetites, a life of righteousness, a
spiritual life. Whereas we were in a deep abyss of darkness, now we are alive
in Christ and bask in the shining rays of his everlasting light. Such is the
new birth, the second birth, the birth into the household of Christ." fn
The new birth is the means by which "the dark veil of unbelief" is
removed from our minds and by which the "light of the glory of God"
infuses joy into our souls (
The renewal of which
we speak is a conversion from worldliness to saintliness, from being lured by
the lurid to being enticed by holiness. It comes to us by virtue of the
cleansing blood of Jesus and through the medium of the Holy Ghost, who is the
Sanctifier. After hearing a powerful address, the people of Benjamin
"cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou
hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of
the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or
in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good
continually" (Mosiah 5:2; compare Alma 19:33). This conversion experience
was real. It was born of the Spirit. It was of God. Surely as time passed and
as the people grew into that meaningful spiritual union with Christ of which
the prophets speak, there would be little in the world to recommend itself to
them, for their desires were to please the Almighty and enjoy his approbation.
We do not suppose, however, that the people of Benjamin never sinned again;
that would be impossible in this fallen sphere. No, they sinned and made
mistakes thereafter, but they had no desires to do so. And, thanks be to God,
we shall be judged not only by our works but also by the desires of our hearts
(see Alma 41:3; D&C 137:9).
The testimony of
President Ezra Taft
Benson noted that "we must be careful, as we seek to become more and more
godlike, that we do not become discouraged and lose hope. Becoming Christlike
is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow,
almost imperceptible." Then, after talking about the sudden spiritual
transformations of such notables as
Being REINSTATED in the family of God. The Fall distances us
from righteousness and alienates us from the family of God. We come into this
fallen world nameless and familyless. The Atonement therefore provides the
means for forgiveness of sins and also of reinstatement in the royal family.
Benjamin acknowledged this marvelous truth when he commended his people for
their willingness to renew their baptismal covenant and come again unto Christ.
And now, because of
the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his
sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you;
for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore,
ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.
And under this head ye
are made free, and there is no other head whereby ye can be made free. There is
no other name given whereby salvation cometh; therefore, I would that ye should
take upon you the name of Christ, all you that have entered into the covenant
with God that ye should be obedient unto the end of your lives. [Mosiah 5:7-8;
compare 27:25]
Just as the newborn in
our mortal world automatically enters into a family relationship through birth,
so the new birth, the birth of the Spirit, becomes an avenue of life into the
family of the Lord Jesus Christ. Christ is thus the Father of our awakening
into newness of life, the Father of our resurrection, the Father of our
salvation. We take his name upon us and seek to be worthy of that holy name. As
members of his family we are expected to know who we are and act accordingly—to
keep his commandments with fidelity and devotion and to take seriously our
divine birthright as Christians. Thus we, as the seed of Christ, hearken unto
the word of the prophets, look to Jesus our Lord for redemption, and publish
peace after the manner of our Prince of Peace (see Mosiah 15:11-18). He is the
Shepherd, and we are the sheep of his fold. "Behold,
I say unto you, that the good shepherd doth call you; yea, and in his own name
he doth call you, which is the name of Christ; and if ye will not hearken unto
the voice of the good shepherd, to the name by which ye are called, behold, ye
are not the sheep of the good shepherd" (Alma 5:38).
RELYING on the merits and mercy of Christ. The Book of Mormon
teaches that we are saved by merit, but not our own merit. "Since man had
fallen," Aaron explained to the father of Lamoni, "he could not merit
anything of himself; but the sufferings and death of Christ atone for their
sins, through faith and repentance, and so forth" (
We are expected to do
the best we can, to give our whole service to our Master and our whole heart
and soul to the cause of righteousness in the earth. But in the end it will not
be enough. There are not enough cakes and pies and home teaching visits to make
and meetings to attend and prayers to offer and temple ordinances to perform.
We cannot, simply cannot, save ourselves. Our merits, no matter how godlike and
consistent, will not qualify us for the highest heaven. Truly, as Lehi
explained, "there is no flesh that can dwell in the presence of God, save
it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah" (2
Nephi 2:8). "Where-fore, I know that thou art redeemed," Lehi
explained to his son Jacob. Why was he redeemed? Because of his faithfulness,
his submissiveness, his willingness, like Nephi, to follow the counsel of his
father? No. Jacob was redeemed "because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer"
(2 Nephi 2:3).
The prophet Abinadi
scathingly denounced Noah and his priests, particularly for the manner in which
they feigned allegiance to the law of Moses but failed to live in harmony with
its moral precepts. Further, he corrected their false impression that salvation
could come by the law alone. "I say unto you," he declared,
"that it is expedient that ye should keep the law of Moses as yet; but I
say unto you, . . . that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it
not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities
of his people, that they must unavoidably perish, notwithstanding the law of
Moses" (Mosiah 13:27-28).
Elder Bruce R.
McConkie suggested a latter-day application of Abinadi's words:
Suppose we have the
scriptures, the gospel, the priesthood, the Church, the ordinances, the
organization, even the keys of the kingdom—everything that now is down to the
last jot and tittle—and yet there is no atonement of Christ. What then? Can we
be saved? Will all our good works save us? Will we be rewarded for all our
righteousness?
Most assuredly we will
not. We are not saved by works alone, no matter how good; we are saved because
God sent his Son to shed his blood in Gethsemane and on
To paraphrase Abinadi:
Salvation doth not come by the church alone: and were it not for the atonement,
given by the grace of God as a free gift, all men must unavoidably perish, and
this notwithstanding the Church and all that appertains to it. fn
The issue is not
whether we are saved by works or by grace. Both are necessary. The real
questions to be asked are, In whom do I trust? On whom do I rely? If I trust in
my own works or rely on the labors of my own hands—no matter how noble they may
be—I am propping my ladder against the wrong wall. If my confidence is in my
capacity to "handle it myself," then my perspective is skewed and my
hope is misplaced. Our reliance must be wholly upon the "merits of
him who is mighty to save" (2 Nephi 31:19), alone upon "the
merits of Christ, who [is] the author and the finisher of our faith" (
The sense in which a
Christian leaves it to God is that he puts all his trust in Christ: trusts that
Christ will somehow share with him the perfect human obedience which He carried
out from His birth to His crucifixion: that Christ will make the man more like
Himself and, in a sense, make good his deficiencies. . . . And, in yet another
sense, handing everything over to Christ does not, of course, mean that you
stop trying. To trust Him means, of course, trying to do all that He says.
There would be no sense in saying you trusted a person if you would not take
his advice. Thus if you have really handed yourself over to Him, it must follow
that you are trying to obey Him. But trying in a new way, a less worried
way. fn
RETAINING a remission of sins. It is a marvelous
thing to know that through the cleansing powers of the blood of Christ we may
obtain a remission of sins and thus stand spotless before God. The promise of
forgiveness is indeed a miracle, a wondrous act on the part of a merciful and
omniloving God. We know we are forgiven as the Spirit of the Lord returns and
as joy and peace of conscience fill our souls once more (see Mosiah 4:1-3). And
yet we stand each day, as it were, precariously, on the edge of a cliff—we are
subject to subsequent sin. How can we, without trifling with repentance, remain
pure?
The Book of Mormon
prophets provide the answer. They speak of remaining in a justified condition,
of maintaining or retaining our spotless standing before God even though we
make mistakes. Like the people of Benjamin, we may err after our covenant with
the Master, but we have no desire to do so. That is, our heart, our affections,
our desires have all been surrendered unto Christ, and we have no desire to
stray from our binding covenant with him. As we endure to the end through
living constantly in a state of repentance with an ever-present desire to be
transformed in Christ, the Savior holds us guiltless (see 3 Nephi 27:16;
compare D&C 4:2).
Benjamin explained two
means by which the Saints are enabled to retain a remission of sins from day to
day. First of all, he said:
As ye have come to the
knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have
tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth
such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should
remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own
nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy
creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the
name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is
to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel.
And behold,
I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled
with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye
shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the
knowledge of that which is just and true. [Mosiah 4:11-12; emphasis added;
compare Moroni 7:42-44]
Acknowledgment of
God's greatness and goodness, recognition of our absolute ineptitude without
divine assistance, surrender to the sobering verity that our spiritual
condition is bankrupt without the Atonement—these are the conditions for
redemption in Christ, the means whereby we retain a remission of sins from day
to day. Surely to the degree that we bow in humble reverence before the Lord
Omnipotent and trust in his incomparable might, to that degree we open
ourselves to the sweet enabling power we know as the grace of God. That power
serves not only as a final spiritual boost into exaltation hereafter but also
as a significant means for the renovation of our character and personality in
this life, the power behind the process wherein we become "partakers of
the divine nature" (2 Peter 1:4) and evidence the "fruit of the
Spirit" (Galatians 5:22-25).
The second means of
retaining a remission of sins is set forth by King Benjamin after his lengthy
plea with the people of God to look to the care of the needy. "And now,
for the sake of these things which I have spoken unto you—that is, for the sake
of retaining a remission of your sins from day to day, that ye may walk
guiltless before God—I would that ye should impart of your substance to the
poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry,
clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both
spiritually and temporally, according to their wants" (Mosiah 4:26).
Perhaps these two matters are really one; that is, the
more I look to the Lord, humble myself before him, freely acknowledge his
goodness and grace, and strive to be like him, the more I am inclined to look
to the welfare of my brothers and sisters about me. Being filled with the love
of God results in meaningful and lasting service to the children of God.
Mormon spoke of a time
in the Nephite church's history when the pride and wickedness of the members
proved to be "a great stumbling-block to those who did not belong to the
church; and thus the church began to fail in its progress." On the other
hand, "others were abasing themselves, succoring those who stood in need
of their succor, such as imparting their substance to the poor and the needy,
feeding the hungry, and suffering all manner of afflictions for Christ's sake,
who should come according to the spirit of prophecy; looking forward to that
day, thus retaining a remission of their sins; being filled with great joy
because of the resurrection of the dead, according to the will and power and
deliverance of Jesus Christ from the bands of death" (Alma 4:10, 13-14).
Conclusion
We might go on and on
in listing different Rs of regeneration in Christ. But I desire to close
with the R of REJOICING
in Christ. Jacob surely sang the
song of redeeming love (see Alma 5:26) when he gloried in the wisdom, goodness,
greatness, justice, mercy, and holiness of our God (see 2 Nephi 9:8, 10, 17,
19, 20). Ammon boasted not in his own strength but in the infinite power of his
Lord: "Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak;
therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his
strength I can do all things" (
I rejoice in the great
plan of happiness and in the satisfaction that comes from the knowledge that
God does indeed have a plan and that there is purpose in all we experience in
this life. I rejoice that Adam fell that we might be (see 2 Nephi 2:25) and
that because of that fall, all of us enter into mortality to undertake the
second phase of our eternal journey. I rejoice in the Fall, for it brought
forth the Atonement, the means whereby our hearts might be cleansed and our
souls transformed and prepared to dwell with Christ and our Eternal Father.
I know of the malady
we call the fallen condition and of the heartache that comes to us as we yield
to the flesh. I also know of the consummate peace that comes as we strive to
put off the natural man through the Atonement and yield to the enticings of the
Holy Spirit. Thus "we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of
Christ, we prophesy of Christ . . . that our children may know to what source
they may look for a remission of their sins" (2 Nephi 25:26). Like Nephi,
"I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath
redeemed my soul from hell" (2 Nephi 33:6). Of that supernal truth I
testify. For that good news, those glad tidings, I am immeasurably grateful.
(Nurturing
Faith through the Book of Mormon: The 24th Annual Sidney B. Sperry Symposium
[Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1995], 131.)
The New Testament on
Repentance – Gary P. Gillum Professor at BYU, Sperry Symposium, 1985
The most common Greek
words used in the New Testament for "repentance" are metanoeo
(the verb), metanoia (the noun), and metamelomai (the present
participle). These Greek words usually mean not merely feeling sorry or
changing one's mind, but a complete alteration of the basic motivation and
direction of one's life. This explains why John the Baptist demanded baptism as
an expression of this repentance, not just for obvious "sinners," but
for the "righteous" Jews as well. Metanoia was often used in
the Septuagint to translate the Hebrew nisham. So defined, repentance
might seem purely intellectual, but this is not the case, for writers of the
Bible seemed to be aware of the unity of human personality. To change one's
mind was to change one's attitude, and thus to change the actions and even the
whole way of life. fn Metanoeo occurs thirty-four times and is mostly
used in a favorable sense to include faith. Metanoia is used
twenty-three times in the sense of the whole process of change. It can mean an
inward change of mind, affections, and convictions as well as a commitment
rooted in the fear of God and sorrow for offenses committed against him. When
accompanied by faith in Jesus Christ, this repentance results in an outward
turning from sin to God and his service in all of life. It is a gift from God,
and the repentant person never regrets having repented. fn The Roman Catholic
Douai version of the Bible interprets metanoia as penance, the
performance of ecclesiastically prescribed acts to make satisfaction for
postbaptismal sin. According to The New International Dictionary of the
Christian Church, this use of the word has no place in New Testament
Christianity. fn Metamelomai is used very seldom and means
"regretting" or "having remorse."
If the use of
repentance is both God's gift and man's responsibility, then the call for
repentance on the part of man "is a call for him to return to his
creaturely and covenant dependence on God." fn It should be clear to all
of us that it is God's way that is important, not ours. Paul said it best in
Romans 8:6: "Set your minds on things which are above, where God and
Christ dwell, for to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded
is life eternal." God encouraged the Saints, after they had forgotten or
erased undesirable thoughts and attitudes and things which were behind, to
plant good thoughts in their place, as in Philippians 3:13-14 (or Article of
Faith 13): "But this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are
behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward
the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ." Paul must
have experienced repentance in a big way, for prior to his conversion on the
road to
As I read some of
these passages of scripture before my own conversion, I had to ask myself a few
questions: Is it true that all things are new for me, too? Do I feel renewed in
the mind and spirit? If not, is it perhaps because I feel repentance is only
for committed sin, not an act which is calculated to bring me ever closer to
the Father? Hence, my own change from human thinking to divine understanding
was truly a necessary consequence in "putting on the new man." The
act of repentance had always been for me a mere remorse for sin and often a
half-hearted promise "never to do it again," even though I suspected
that the next chance I got I would sin again—such was the force of
"negative" theology in my life. It is important to consider, then,
that true conversion is incomplete unless it is preceded not only by a remorse
for former sins and future rejection of them, but a total transformation of
one's entire thought process—one implying an erasure of thoughts and images
foreign to the pure gospel revealed to us by the Holy Ghost.
The Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants on
Repentance
The Book of
Mormon tells us three very important things about repentance: (1) All people
must repent, (2) there must be enough time for all people to repent, and (3)
faith must be present in the process. One verse covers the first two well:
"And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will
of God, that they might repent while in the flesh . . . for . . . all men must
repent" (2 Nephi 2:21), and another covers the third: "And behold, ye
do know of yourselves, for ye have witnessed it, that as many of them as are
brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable
traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea,
the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to
faith on the Lord, and unto repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a
change of heart unto them" (Helaman 15:7).
Understanding the
meanings of repentance as used in the Book of Mormon or the Doctrine and
Covenants is more difficult than in the Bible simply because the English
language is not as precise as Hebrew or Greek. We must understand the meanings
of these by context, inspiration, and revelation—and only secondarily by
language. fn Mosiah 27:26 elucidates this further: "And thus they become
new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the
Following my
conversion, I found that my renewed mind and understanding now freed me from
the bondage of not only wrong thinking but wrong actions which had proceeded
from human thinking. In my freedom I also discovered that I could now act
according to the Spirit instead of being acted upon by the natural desires of
the flesh.
The Doctrine and
Covenants points out some additional teachings about repentance. Sections 137
and 138 are two very important sections which are too often ignored by
Latter-day Saints. To me, however, these are two of the most important passages
of scripture, both because they can lead to true repentance by helping us to
understand better some of the more ineffable facts about our eternal existence
and because they answer the challenge of the Lord: "Let the solemnities of
eternity rest upon your minds" (D&C 43:34). Joseph Smith has further
added this well-known admonition, "The things of God are of deep import,
and time and experience and careful, ponderous and solemn thoughts can only
find them out. Thy mind, O man, if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must
stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the
darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity. Thou must commune with
God." fn
Those two revelations,
added in 1976 to the Doctrine and Covenants, both talk about death and the life
hereafter. Perhaps they are important to me because, like many people
throughout the world (Latter-day Saint or not), I had a life-after-death
experience in 1963 while trying to recover from a critical automobile accident.
The experience was like that of Joseph Smith's learning more by looking into
the heavens then by reading many books, but the experience has had advantages
and disadvantages: on the one hand a small portion of my faith has been
replaced by absolute knowledge of life after death. On the other hand, such a
glimpse into the eternities results in an extra measure of discernment which
gives me a sorrowful impatience concerning the world. (It's like looking into
the hearts and minds of anyone you meet, and although it can be very useful in
helping teach a wayward student here at Brigham Young University, it can be
frustrating to be out in the world where sin and ignorance of spiritual matters
are the measure of the children of man.) Moreover, this type of experience gave
me an immediate megadose of repentance, or rethinking—what to many people is a
figment of foolish imagination rather than a serious matter of eternal
consequences. (A friend once remarked to me that with such knowledge I could
almost start my own church. Surprised at his comment, I answered that I would
not do such a thing because of the experience I had had. That very
conversation gives us a further hint into how people behave differently in
various stages of repentance.)
Several passages of
scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants give us further practical information
about repentance as well, and I believe they reveal as much about rethinking as
they do about remorse, confession, and restitution. One sobering thought is
that "surely every man must repent or suffer, for I, God, am endless"
(D&C 19:4). However, the Lord graciously gives us our free agency, for the
farther along we are in our repentance, the less we have to suffer. In some
cases this is simply a change of our attitude, for our sufferings will work to
our eternal betterment if we allow them to be growth experiences. Even so, the
more our mind thinks like God's, the less we will suffer. Furthermore, the Lord
tells us that our "sorrow shall be great" unless we "speedily repent,
yea very speedily" (D&C 136:35). That reminds us how much more God
knows about each of us and the direction in which we are headed. Do not just
"do it," he is saying, "do it now." "And how
great is his joy in the soul that repenteth" (D&C 18:13). And what
godly parent would not want his children to have the mind and wisdom and
knowledge of life he or she has had?
Teachings from General Authorities on Repentance
Spencer W. Kimball is
one of the Church's leading experts on the teachings of repentance, especially
the practical applications of it. Particularly well-known are his five steps
for repentance: (1) sorrow for sin, (2) abandonment of sin, (3) confession of
sin, (4) restitution for sin, and (5) doing the will of the Father. fn Rather
than spend a lot of time summarizing his own teachings on repentance, I am
going to list them briefly so that you will be able to see how they support
repentance as rethinking.
1. Repentance must be
as universal as sin. fn
2. The delay in
repentance encourages the continuation of sin. fn
3. If we are humble
and desirous of living the gospel, we will come to think of repentance as
applying to everything we do in life, whether it be spiritual or temporal in
nature. Repentance is for every soul who has not yet reached perfection. fn
4. Conscience is a
celestial spark which God has put into all people for the purpose of saving
their souls. It awakens the soul to consciousness of sin, spurs a person to
make up his mind to adjust, to convict himself of the transgression without
soft-pedaling or minimizing the error, to be willing to face facts, meet the
issue, and pay necessary penalties—and until the person is in this frame of
mind [!] he has not begun to repent. fn
5. Repentance is
timeless. The evidence of repentance is transformation. We certainly must keep
our values straight and our evaluations intact. fn
6. True repentance
incorporates within it a washing, a purging, a changing of attitudes, a
reappraising, a strengthening toward self-mastery. It is not a simple matter
for one to transform his life overnight, nor to change attitudes in a moment,
nor to rid himself in a hurry of unworthy companions. fn
7. In abandoning sin
one cannot merely wish for better conditions. He must make them. He needs to
come to hate the spotted garments and loathe the sin. He must be certain not
only that he has abandoned the sin but that he has changed the situations
surrounding the sin. He should avoid the places and conditions and
circumstances where the sin occurred, for these could most readily breed it
again. He must abandon the people with whom the sin was committed. He may not
hate the persons involved, but he must avoid them and everything associated
with the sin. He must dispose of all letters, trinkets, and things which will remind
him of the "old days" and "old times." He must forget
addresses, telephone numbers, people, places, and situations from the sinful
past, and build a new life. He must eliminate anything which would stir the old
memories. fn
The last passage would
seem to indicate practical acts which would enable not only the sinner but the
would-be Saint to acquire a godly perspective which enables one to see the
eternal plan more clearly. Moreover, all of the passages seem to support one
important result of repentance: the ability to forgive all people.
Church leaders who are
contemporary with President Kimball can lend further insight to our study.
David O. McKay once said that to repent is "to change one's mind [and
one's heart] in regard to past or intended actions or conduct on account of
regret or dissatisfaction." fn By now, however, we can see that it is
infinitely better and easier to repent before reaching the point of
regret or dissatisfaction. In fact, Bruce R. McConkie elucidates this further:
"Repentance is easy or difficult of attainment by various people depending
upon their own attitude and conduct, and upon the seriousness of the sins they
have committed." fn
Nor can we leave out
Church leaders who preceded our own day. According to the Prophet Joseph Smith,
"It is the will of God that man should repent and serve Him in health, and
in the strength and power of his mind, in order to secure his blessing, and not
wait until he is called to die." fn
Repentance is a thing
that cannot be trifled with every day. Daily transgression and daily repentance
is not that which is pleasing in the sight of God. fn (The Prophet is probably
speaking of penance here.)
Repent! Repent! Obey
the Gospel. Turn to God. fn
Parley P. Pratt,
"Cultivate the mind, renew the spirit, invigorate the body, cheer the
heart, ennoble the soul of man." fn All of these things make up true
repentance. Brigham Young, "Train your minds." fn What a simple
definition for repentance! And finally, President Young's reverse definition of
repentance, "Sin consists in doing wrong when we know and can do
better." fn
Hugh Nibley on Repentance
If Spencer W. Kimball
is the Church's most prolific official spokesman on the meaning of repentance,
Hugh Nibley is certainly the most prolific apologist and scholar on repentance.
Unfortunately, not enough members of the Church take him seriously when he
talks about doctrinal subjects. As I have studied his writings during the past
few years, I found that most of his recent addresses have more or less been cries
of repentance, or as he calls it, "the eschatological viewpoint."
That viewpoint is best exemplified by his parable in the November 1955 issue of
the Improvement Era. fn It is much too long to share here, but since it
is one of his most inspiring writings, I would highly recommend it to you for
thorough study. Briefly, it tells of a successful businessman who has been told
by his doctor that because he suffers from a serious disease, he has but a
short time to live. Facing imminent death, the priorities in his life change
considerably, so that his perspective has become "eschatological," or
having to do with the last things and last days. His colleagues believe he has
gone crazy, because the things of the world no longer mean that much to him anymore—it's
the intangible, everlasting things about life that now attract our businessman.
But lo and behold, he finds out a few days later with a second series of tests
that he may yet live for many years. With this new piece of news you would
think that this good man would go back to his old habits, but no, he retains
his "eschatological" or "repentant" viewpoint, continuing
in this positive and eternal mode for the rest of his long life. And that,
Nibley insists, is the true eschatological attitude which all Latter-day Saints
would do well to emulate: act as if you knew you were to die in the very near
future.
Elsewhere, in an
article entitled "The Historicity of the Bible," Brother Nibley
defines this viewpoint:
The eschatological
viewpoint is that which sees and judges everything in terms of a great eternal
plan. Whether we like it or not, we belong to the eternities: we cannot escape
the universe. All our thoughts and deeds must be viewed against an infinite
background and against no other. Eschatos means ultimate and refers to
that which lies beyond all local and limited goals and interests. Limited
objectives are very well in their way, but only as contributing to something
eternal. Extreme as this doctrine may seem, the only alternative, as the
philosophers of old repeatedly observed, is a trip to nowhere, a few seconds of
pleasure in an hour of pain, and after that only "the depth of
emptiness." fn
When asked what do we
think about in this life, Nibley responded, "That very question."
How so, I wondered? I
looked in my Nibley subject index under repentance to find out what else he had
written, and found the following juicy tidbits:
1. "Sin is waste.
It is doing one thing when you should be doing other and better things for
which you have the capacity. Hence, there are no innocent idle thoughts. That
is why even the righteous must repent, constantly and progressively, since all
fall short of their capacity and calling." fn
2. "The fatal
symptom of our day is not that men do wrong—they always have—and commit crimes,
and even recognize their wrongdoing as foolish and unfortunate, but that they
have no intention of repenting, while God has told us that the first
rule that he has given the human race is that all men everywhere must
repent." fn
3. "The gospel of
repentance is a constant reminder that the most righteous are still being
tested and may yet fall, and that the most wicked are not yet beyond redemption
and may still be saved. And that is what God wants: 'Have I any pleasure at all
that the wicked should die?' There are poles for all to see, but in this life
no one has reached and few have ever approached either pole, and no one has any
idea at what point between his neighbors stand. Only God knows that." fn
4. "Does not one
person need repentance more than another? . . . You can always find somebody
who is worse than you are to make you feel virtuous. It's a cheap shot: those
awful terrorists, perverts, communists—they are the ones who need to repent!
Yes, indeed they do, and for them repentance will be a full-time job, exactly
as it is for all the rest of us." fn
5. "You are
either repenting or not repenting and that is, according to the scriptures, the
whole difference between being righteous or being wicked." fn
Famous Protestant
theologians like Malcolm Muggeridge have also spoken out in ways similar to
Hugh Nibley, but William Temple comes the closest: "The world, as we live
in it, is like a shop window into which some mischievous person has got
overnight, and shifted all the price- labels so that the cheap things have the
high price-labels on them, and the really precious things are priced low. We
let ourselves be taken in. Repentance means getting those price-labels back in
the right place." fn
(John M.
Lundquist and Stephen D. Ricks, eds., By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in
Honor of Hugh W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March
1990, 2 vols. [Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for
Ancient Research and Mormon Studies, 1990], 2: 410.)
Article of Faith #4
The Holy Ghost
February 22, 2007
ARTICLE 4—We believe
that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: * * * fourth,
Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Faith, Repentance,
Baptism and the Gift of the Holy Ghost are different facets of a package deal,
the product of this package is to give us increased spiritual power.
The Gift
of the Holy Ghost is Enhanced Spiritual Power
James E. Faust
In simple
terms, the gift of the Holy Ghost is an enhanced spiritual power permitting
those entitled thereto to receive it, to receive a greater knowledge and
enjoyment of the influence of Deity. ("The Gift of the Holy Ghost--A Sure
Compass," Ensign, Apr. 1996, p. 6)
The point of
receiving the ordinances is to qualify one to receive this increased spiritual
power. Indeed what is being done is to
take someone who is spiritually dead and through this spiritual package bring
them to spiritual life. To connect their
spirit to a greater power source, a higher level.
This power
source is under the direction of the Holy Ghost, (Light of Christ) we must
understand the Holy Ghost at a deeper level, a higher level. This is far deeper then a baptismal or
Sacrament meeting talks.
Most Members Live Beneath Their Privileges With Regards to the
Gift of the Holy Ghost
Brigham
Young
There is no doubt, if a person lives according to the revelations
given to God's people, he may have the Spirit of the Lord to signify to him his
will, and to guide and to direct him in the discharge of his duties, in his
temporal as well as his spiritual exercises. I am satisfied, however, that in
this respect, we live far beneath our
privileges. (Discourses of Brigham Young, p. 32)
Neal A. Maxwell
The gift of the Holy Ghost truly is one of the greatest blessings
available to members of the Church. Actually, many gifts can come from the Holy
Ghost. These are needed in every age and dispensation but certainly no less in
the commotion-filled last days of the last dispensation. They are likewise
needed at every stage and in every situation of life. ... Yet, for different reasons, many of us live far below, or are unaware
of, our privileges! [The Promise of Discipleship, pp. 92-93]
For Many Members, the Gift of Holy Ghost Lies Dormant
Neal A.
Maxwell
The
overall gift of the Holy Ghost truly is one of the greatest blessings available
to members of the Church. We all need to stress-for ourselves and for those
whom we teach-the vital connection with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. These
gifts are vital at every stage of an individual's life and in every situation
of life. Members of the Church have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, but in
many it lies dormant-somewhat like the ancients who had received the gift but
knew it not (see 3 Ne. 9:20). ["The Holy Ghost: Glorifying Christ," Ensign,
July 2002, p. 56]
(3 Nephi
12:6.) – To hunger and thirst is an all consuming experience. Is it a constant concern to you to have the
Holy Ghost in your life? It’s an all
consuming experience, not something to be desired occasionally in our lives.
6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Bruce
said it’s amazing how much time and effort we spend seeking money and the
things of the world versus seeking the Holy Ghost and what He can offer which
is of such eternal worth! The word Privilege is used by President Young and
Elder Maxwell.
Parable of the Unjust
Steward – Luke 16:1-13
Properly understood,
the Parable of the Unjust Steward is not an endorsement of the fraudulent course
pursued by an unrighteous servant, but a forceful explanation of how the saints
should use their own money and property to lay up eternal treasures for
themselves in heaven.
First it should be
noted that the parable is addressed to the disciples, to the members of the
Church and kingdom of God on earth, to those who already know and understand
the gospel plan and to whom it should never so much as occur that Jesus would
speak with approval of a course of deceit and fraud on the part of a hired
servant. To them it should be clear that the Master Teacher is:
(1) In the parable
itself—pointing out the diligence and foresight with which worldly persons make
provision for the only future that concerns them, such being an illustration of
how the saints should apply themselves in preparing for their eternal heavenly
future; and
(2) In the exposition
following the parable—teaching the proper use of wealth on the part of members
of the Church, showing that it should not be squandered on selfish, worldly
pleasures, but used for the furtherance of the Lord's work on earth, for the
building up of his kingdom, and for the advancement of the cause of Zion so
that the saints will have, in effect, a bank account awaiting them in heaven.
"Our Lord's purpose," Elder James E. Talmage
has written in analyzing the parable, "was to show the contrast between
the care, thoughtfulness, and devotion of men engaged in the moneymaking
affairs of earth, and the halfhearted ways of many who are professedly striving
after spiritual riches. Worldly-minded men do not neglect provision for their
future years, and often are sinfully eager to amass plenty; while the 'children
of light,' or those who believe spiritual wealth to be above all earthly
possessions, are less energetic, prudent, or wise."
As to the proper use of wealth, Elder Talmage writes that
Jesus is saying in effect: "Make such use of your wealth as shall insure
you friends hereafter. Be diligent; for the day in which you can use your
earthly riches will soon pass. Take a lesson from even the dishonest and the
evil; if they are so prudent as to provide for the only future they think of,
how much more should you, who believe in an eternal future, provide
therefor!" (Talmage, pp. 463-464.)
8. By his master the
dishonest servant is commended, not for his malfeasance in office, but for the
effective way in which he made provision for his own future. Then Jesus draws
this conclusion: The children of this world (worldly people) are in their
generation (in the time and season of their deceitful and carnal dealings with
other worldly people) wiser (exhibit greater prudence and foresight, as
pertaining to temporal things) than the children of light (those who have
received the gospel, as pertaining to spiritual things).
9. In the Revised Version
this verse reads: "And I say unto you, Make to yourself friends by means
of the mammon of unrighteousness, that, when it shall fail, they may receive
you into the eternal tabernacles." The sense and meaning is: 'Ye saints of
God, be as wise and prudent in spiritual things as the unjust steward was in
worldly things. Use the things of this world—which are God's and with reference
to which you are stewards—to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and heal the
sick, always remembering that when ye do any of these things unto the least of
one of these my brethren, ye do it unto me. By such a course, when your money
is gone and your life is past, your friends in heaven will welcome you into
eternal mansions of bliss.'
Mammon of
unrighteousness] Mammon
is an Aramaic word for riches; as here used the connotation indicates deceitful
wealth, wealth that is fleeting and will not of itself endure in the eternal
worlds.
10-11. 'If you earthly
stewards are not faithful in handling the wealth of the world which the Lord
has entrusted to you, using it for the furtherance of his purposes, why do you
think he will commit to you kingdoms and thrones and eternal riches hereafter.
For he that is faithful over an earthly stewardship will be faithful over
kingdoms and dominions in the world to come, but he that is unjust and does not
use his wealth aright here, would be unjust in administering eternal riches.'
12. "If you do not
spend your money rightly, you will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. Money is
here called that which is another's, because Christians are to regard it not as
their own, but as a trust for which they must one day give account. That which
is your own is the joy of heaven, 'the kingdom prepared for you from the
foundation of the world.'" (Dummelow, p. 760.) To illustrate: If the
earthly stewards, having covenanted to do so in the waters of baptism, do not
return to their Lord as tithing one—tenth of their interest annually, how can
they expect to be found worthy to handle the true riches of a celestial
inheritance?
13. See Matt. 6:24. In the
properly adjusted life, wealth is a servant, not a master.
(Bruce
R. McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. [Salt Lake
City: Bookcraft, 1965-1973], 1: 513.)
The Holy
Ghost is the Most Important Thing We Can Receive in Mortality
Ezra Taft
Benson
The most
important thing in our lives is the Spirit. I have always felt that. We must
remain open and sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost in all aspects of
our lives. ("Seek the Spirit of the Lord," Ensign, Apr. 1988,
p. 2)
Dallin H.
Oaks
To have
the continuous companionship of the Holy Ghost is the most precious possession
we can have in mortality. ("The Aaronic Priesthood and the
Sacrament," Ensign, Nov. 1998, p. 38)
Wilford Woodruff
I have had
many interviews with Brother Joseph until the last fifteen or twenty years of
my life; I have not seen him for that length of time. But during my travels in
the southern country last winter I had many interviews with President Young,
and with Heber C. Kimball, and George A. Smith, and Jedediah M. Grant, and many
others who are dead. They attended our conference, they attended our meetings.
And on one occasion, I saw Brother Brigham and Brother Heber ride in carriage
ahead of the carriage in which I rode when I was on my way to attend
conference; and they were dressed in the most priestly robes. When we arrived
at our destination I asked President Young if he would preach to us. He said,
"No, I have finished my testimony in the flesh. I shall not talk to this
people any more." "But, said he, "I have come to see you; I have
come to watch over you, and to see what the people are doing." Then, said
he, "I want you to teach the people-and I want you to follow this counsel
yourself- that they must labor and so live as to obtain the Holy Spirit, for
without this you cannot build up the kingdom; without the spirit of God you are
in danger of walking in the dark, and in danger of failing to accomplish your
calling as apostles and as elders in the church and kingdom of God." And,
said he, "Brother Joseph taught me this principle." (The
Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p.289)
Personality and Powers
of the Holy Ghost—The
Holy Ghost is associated with the Father and the Son in the Godhead. In the
light of revelation, we are instructed as to the distinct personality of the
Holy Ghost. He is a being endowed with the attributes and powers of Deity, and
not a mere force, or essence. The term Holy Ghost and its common synonyms,
Spirit of God, fn Spirit of the Lord, or simply, Spirit, fn Comforter, fn and
Spirit of Truth, fn occur in the scriptures with plainly different meanings,
referring in some cases to the person of God the Holy Ghost, and in other
instances to the power or authority of this great Personage, or to the agencies
through which He ministers.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
144.)
Difference Between Holy Ghost and Gift of the Holy Ghost
Bruce R.
McConkie
"There
is a difference between the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy Ghost,"
the Prophet taught. (History of the Church 4:555.) The Holy Ghost is a
personage of Spirit; the gift of the Holy Ghost is the right to receive the
companionship and association of the Spirit, together with all the spiritual
graces and blessings reserved for the faithful. The Holy Ghost is properly
referred to as "he," the gift of the Holy Ghost as "it." (A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pp.256-257)
Power of God – Light of Christ
General
Phase Gift
of the Holy Ghost
2nd Comforter
Candle
in a dark room A bright day The Sun
Enhanced Spiritual Power
Much of the confusion
existing in human conceptions concerning the nature of the Holy Ghost arises
from the common failure to segregate His person and powers. Plainly, such
expressions as being filled with the Holy Ghost, fn and His falling upon
persons, having reference to the powers and influences that emanate from God,
and which are characteristic of Him; for the Holy Ghost may in this way operate
simultaneously upon many persons even though they be widely separated, whereas
the actual person of the Holy Ghost cannot be in more than one place at a time.
Yet we read that through the power of the Spirit, the Father and the Son operate
in their creative acts and in their general dealings with the human family. fn
The Holy Ghost may be regarded as the minister of the Godhead, carrying into
effect the decision of the Supreme Council.
In the execution of
these great purposes, the Holy Ghost directs and controls the varied forces of
nature, of which indeed a few, and these perhaps of minor order wonderful as
even the least of them appears to man, have thus far been investigated by
mortals. Gravitation, sound, heat, light, and the still more mysterious and
seemingly supernatural power of electricity, are but the common servants of the
Holy Ghost in His operations. No earnest thinker, no sincere investigator
supposes that he has yet learned of all the forces existing in and operating
upon matter; indeed, the observed phenomena of nature, yet wholly inexplicable
to him, far outnumber those for which he has devised even a partial
explanation. There are powers and forces at the command of God, compared with
which electricity is as the pack-horse to the locomotive, the foot messenger to
the telegraph, the raft of logs to the ocean steamer. With all his scientific
knowledge man knows but little respecting the enginery of creation; and yet the
few forces known to him have brought about miracles and wonders, which but for
their actual realization would be beyond belief. These mighty agencies, and the mightier ones still to man unknown, and
many, perhaps, to the present condition of the human mind unknowable, do not
constitute the Holy Ghost, but are the agencies ordained to serve His purposes.
Subtler, mightier, and
more mysterious than any or all of the physical forces of nature are the powers
that operate upon conscious organisms, the means by which the mind, the heart,
the soul of man may be energized by spiritual forces. In our ignorance of the
true nature of electricity we may speak of it as a fluid; and so by analogy the
forces through which the mind is governed have been called spiritual fluids.
The true nature of these manifestations of energy is unknown to us, for the
elements of comparison and analogy, so necessary to our human reasoning, are
wanting; nevertheless the effects are experienced by all. As the conducting
medium in an electric circuit is capable of conveying but a limited current,
the maximum capacity depending upon the resistance offered by the conductor,
and, as separate circuits of different degrees of conductivity may carry
currents of widely varying intensity, so human souls are of varied capacity
with respect to the higher powers. But as the medium is purified, as
obstructions are removed, so resistance to the energy decreases, and the forces
manifest themselves with greater intensity. By analogous processes of
purification our spirits may be made more susceptible to the forces of life,
which are emanations from the Holy Spirit. Therefore are we taught to pray by
word and action for a constantly increasing portion of the Spirit, that is, the
power of the Spirit, which is a measure of this gift of God unto us.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 145.)
Agencies
= Spiritual power
(Matthew
1:20.) – The action between God and man is by the power of the Holy Ghost.
20 But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the
Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not
to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the
Holy Ghost.
(Luke
1:34-35.)
34 Then
said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
35 And the
angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the
power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing
which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 121:45-46.) – Greatest teaching is between you and God through
the Holy Ghost. We need to take a
timeout to listen.
45 Let thy
bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and to the household of faith,
and let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax
strong in the presence of God; and the
doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
46 The Holy
Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and thy scepter an unchanging scepter of
righteousness and truth; and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and
without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee forever and ever.
Doctrine
distils like dew, and dew generally distils daily, doctrine is taught line upon
line, and dew distils when there is no wind, when the air is still.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 101:16.) – You have to take timeout to understand doctrine
16 Therefore, let your hearts be comforted concerning
Busyness
is our downfall – TV, computers, cell phones, music, iPods, etc. . . . Sin cannot destroy me unless I allow it! Mormon raised Moroni in one of the worst
times in earth’s history, we do the same today.
Early
morning study is the best time to be taught by the Spirit. Study the doctrines of the gospel daily. Study in short sessions regularly rather
than huge gulps every so often, take the time to enhance your spiritual
power. We cannot comprehend the
spiritual forces God controls, Elijah; Nephi (son of Helaman) controlled this
power, fully developed the gift of the Holy Ghost.
Personality and Powers
of the Holy Ghost—The
Holy Ghost is associated with the Father and the Son in the Godhead. In the
light of revelation, we are instructed as to the distinct personality of the
Holy Ghost. He is a being endowed with the attributes and powers of Deity, and
not a mere force, or essence. The term Holy Ghost and its common synonyms,
Spirit of God, fn Spirit of the Lord, or simply, Spirit, fn Comforter, fn and Spirit
of Truth, fn occur in the scriptures with plainly different meanings, referring
in some cases to the person of God the Holy Ghost, and in other instances to
the power or authority of this great Personage, or to the agencies through
which He ministers. The context of such passages show which of these
significations applies.
The Holy Ghost
undoubtedly possesses personal powers and affections; these attributes exist in
Him in perfection. Thus, He teaches and guides, fn testifies of the Father and
the Son, fn reproves for sin, fn speaks, commands, and commissions, fn makes
intercession for sinners, fn is grieved, fn searches and investigates, fn
entices, fn and knows all things. fn These are not figurative expressions, but
plain statements of the attributes and characteristics of the Holy Ghost. That
the Spirit of the Lord is capable of manifesting Himself in the form and figure
of man, is indicated by the wonderful interview between the Spirit and Nephi,
in which He revealed Himself to the prophet, questioned him concerning his
desires and belief, instructed him in the things of God, speaking face to face
with the man. "I spake unto him," says Nephi, "as a man
speaketh; for I beheld that he was in the form of a man; yet nevertheless, I
knew that it was the Spirit of the Lord; and he spake unto me as a man speaketh
with another." fn However, the Holy Ghost does not possess a body of flesh
and bones, as do both the Father and the Son, but is a personage of spirit. fn
Much of the confusion
existing in human conceptions concerning the nature of the Holy Ghost arises
from the common failure to segregate His person and powers. Plainly, such
expressions as being filled with the Holy Ghost, fn and His falling upon
persons, having reference to the powers and influences that emanate from God,
and which are characteristic of Him; for the Holy Ghost may in this way operate
simultaneously upon many persons even though they be widely separated, whereas
the actual person of the Holy Ghost cannot be in more than one place at a time.
Yet we read that through the power of the Spirit, the Father and the Son
operate in their creative acts and in their general dealings with the human
family. fn The Holy Ghost may be regarded as the minister of the Godhead,
carrying into effect the decision of the Supreme Council.
In the execution of
these great purposes, the Holy Ghost directs and controls the varied forces of
nature, of which indeed a few, and these perhaps of minor order wonderful as
even the least of them appears to man, have thus far been investigated by
mortals. Gravitation, sound, heat, light, and the still more mysterious and
seemingly supernatural power of electricity, are but the common servants of the
Holy Ghost in His operations. No earnest thinker, no sincere investigator
supposes that he has yet learned of all the forces existing in and operating
upon matter; indeed, the observed phenomena of nature, yet wholly inexplicable
to him, far outnumber those for which he has devised even a partial
explanation. There are powers and forces at the command of God, compared with
which electricity is as the pack-horse to the locomotive, the foot messenger to
the telegraph, the raft of logs to the ocean steamer. With all his scientific
knowledge man knows but little respecting the enginery of creation; and yet the
few forces known to him have brought about miracles and wonders, which but for
their actual realization would be beyond belief. These mighty agencies, and the
mightier ones still to man unknown, and many, perhaps, to the present condition
of the human mind unknowable, do not constitute the Holy Ghost, but are the
agencies ordained to serve His purposes.
Subtler, mightier, and
more mysterious than any or all of the physical forces of nature are the powers
that operate upon conscious organisms, the means by which the mind, the heart,
the soul of man may be energized by spiritual forces. In our ignorance of the
true nature of electricity we may speak of it as a fluid; and so by analogy the
forces through which the mind is governed have been called spiritual fluids.
The true nature of these manifestations of energy is unknown to us, for the
elements of comparison and analogy, so necessary to our human reasoning, are
wanting; nevertheless the effects are experienced by all. As the conducting
medium in an electric circuit is capable of conveying but a limited current,
the maximum capacity depending upon the resistance offered by the conductor,
and, as separate circuits of different degrees of conductivity may carry
currents of widely varying intensity, so human souls are of varied capacity
with respect to the higher powers. But as the medium is purified, as
obstructions are removed, so resistance to the energy decreases, and the forces
manifest themselves with greater intensity. By analogous processes of
purification our spirits may be made more susceptible to the forces of life,
which are emanations from the Holy Spirit. Therefore are we taught to pray by
word and action for a constantly increasing portion of the Spirit, that is, the
power of the Spirit, which is a measure of this gift of God unto us.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
144.)
In
order to have this power we will need to exercise faith, repent and become
clean, and enter into a covenant relationship with God which we cannot quite
comprehend. Tremendous power comes from
spiritual sources.
Gift of
the Holy Ghost is a Greater Endowment of the Light of Christ
Charles W.
Penrose – We are moving into a greater realm of light
In using
that term, the "gift of the Holy Ghost," we do not mean some
particular gift of the Spirit, but the gift of the Spirit itself-the Holy Ghost
given unto us as a gift from God. We will find that term, "gift of the
Holy Ghost," used in the old Scriptures, and in the latter day Scriptures.
It is the Holy Ghost itself given unto us as a gift from the Almighty.
"Then laid they their hands upon them and they received the Holy
Ghost." The promise is to those who
will repent and be baptized for the remission of sins; they shall receive
"the gift of the Holy Ghost." What is it? It is a greater and higher
endowment of the same spirit which enlightens every man that comes into the
world; a greater power given unto us as an abiding witness, to be a light to
our feet and a lamp to our path; as a restraint against sin, to guide us into
all truth, to open up the vision of the mind, to bring things past to our
remembrance, and to make manifest things to come. (Journal of Discourses,
23:350)
(Doctrine
and Covenants 109:15.) – Greater endowment of power which must be developed, to
live up to our privileges, to receive more and more of the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
15 And that they may grow up in thee, and receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost, and be
organized according to thy laws, and be prepared to obtain every needful thing;
Gifts of
the Spirit
Joseph Smith on Gifts of the Spirit
Joseph
Smith
We believe
in the gift of the Holy Ghost being enjoyed now, as much as it was in the
Apostles' days; we believe that it [the gift of the Holy Ghost] is necessary to
make and to organize the Priesthood, that no man can be called to fill any
office in the ministry without it; we also believe in prophecy, in tongues, in
visions, and in revelations, in gifts, and in healings; and that these things
cannot be enjoyed without the gift of the Holy Ghost. ...
We believe
that the Holy Ghost is imparted by the laying on of hands of those in
authority, and that the gift of tongues, and also the gift of prophecy are
gifts of the Spirit, and are obtained through that medium; ...
The Church
is a compact body composed of different members, and is strictly analogous to
the human system, and Paul, after speaking of the different gifts, says,
"Now ye are the body of Christ and members in particular; and God hath set
some in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily Prophets, thirdly Teachers,
after that miracles, then gifts of healing, helps, governments, diversities of
tongues. Are all Teachers? Are all workers of miracles? Do all speak with
tongues? Do all interpret?" It is evident that they do not; yet are they
all members of one body. All members of the natural body are not the eye, the
ear, the head or the hand -- yet the eye cannot say to the ear, I have no need
of thee, nor the head to the foot, I have no need of thee; they are all so many
component parts in the perfect machines -- the one body; and if one member
suffer, the whole of the members suffer with it; and if one member rejoice, all
the rest are honored with it.
These,
then, are all gifts; they come from God; they are of God; they are all the
gifts of the Holy Ghost; they are what Christ ascended into heaven to impart;
and yet how few of them could be known by the generality of men. ...
The gifts
of God are all useful in their place, but when they are applied to that which
God does not intend, they prove an injury, a snare and a curse instead of a
blessing. We may some future time enter more fully into this subject, but shall
let this suffice for the present. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
pp.243-247)
Preparatory Gifts of the
Spirit
Dallin H. Oaks
We need to
distinguish between a manifestation of the Holy Ghost and the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
As men and
women desire to believe, they develop faith in God. (See
In
summary, the Spirit of Christ is given to all men and women that they may know
good from evil, and manifestations of the Holy Ghost are given to lead earnest
seekers to repentance and baptism. These are preparatory gifts. What we term
spiritual gifts come next. ["Spiritual Gifts," Ensign, Sept.
1986, pp. 9]
Spiritual
Gifts Come to Those Who Have Received the Gift of the Holy Ghost
Dallin H.
Oaks
Spiritual
gifts come to those who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. As the
Prophet Joseph Smith taught, the gifts of the Spirit "are obtained through
that medium" [the Holy Ghost] and "cannot be enjoyed without the gift
of the Holy Ghost. … The world in general can know nothing about them." (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1938, pp. 243, 245; see lso Elder Marion G. Romney in
Conference Report, April 1956, p. 72.)
The gift
of the Holy Ghost is conferred on both men and women. So are spiritual gifts.
As Elder Bruce R. McConkie declared in Nauvoo at the dedication of the Monument
to Women: "Where spiritual things are concerned, as pertaining to all of
the gifts of the Spirit, with reference to the receipt of revelation, the
gaining of testimonies, and the seeing of visions, in all matters that pertain
to godliness and holiness and which are brought to pass as a result of personal
righteousness in all these things men and women stand in a position of absolute
equality before the Lord. He is no respecter of persons nor of sexes, and he
blesses those men and those women who seek him and serve him and keep his
commandments." (Ensign, Jan. 1979, p. 61.)
Spiritual
gifts do not come visibly, automatically, and immediately to all who have
received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that most
such gifts are "not visible to the natural vision, or understanding of
man," and that it "require[s] time and circumstances to call these
gifts into operation." (Teachings, pp. 244, 246.)
The
scriptures tell us that we should desire and zealously seek spiritual gifts.
(See D&C 46:8; 1 Cor. 12:31; 1 Cor. 14:1, 11.) We are also told that some
will receive one gift and some will receive another. (See D&C 46:11; 1 Cor.
12; Moro. 10:8-18.) In every case, the receipt of spiritual gifts is predicated
upon faith, obedience, and personal righteousness. ...
When we
believe and seek spiritual gifts to benefit others "and not for a
sign" (D&C 46:9), we are told that signs will follow. "Behold, …
signs follow those that believe. Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of
men, nor as they please, but by the will of God. Yea, signs come by faith, unto
mighty works." (D&C 63:9-11.) The Holy Ghost "maketh manifest
unto the children of men, according to their faith." (Jarom 1:4.) [From
"Spiritual Gifts," Ensign, Sept. 1986, pp. 9]
Gift of
the Holy Ghost and the Ministering of Angels
2 Nephi 32
3 Angels
speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of
Christ.
Dallin H.
Oaks
"The
word 'angel' is used in the scriptures for any heavenly being bearing God's
message" (George Q. Cannon, Gospel Truth, sel. Jerreld L. Newquist
[1987], 54). The scriptures recite numerous instances where an angel appeared
personally. Angelic appearances to Zacharias and Mary (see Luke 1) and to King
Benjamin [page 39] and Nephi, the grandson of Helaman (see Mosiah 3:2; 3 Ne.
7:17-18) are only a few examples. When I was young, I thought such personal
appearances were the only meaning of the ministering of angels. As a young
holder of the Aaronic Priesthood, I did not think I would see an angel, and I
wondered what such appearances had to do with the Aaronic Priesthood.
But the
ministering of angels can also be unseen. Angelic messages can be delivered by
a voice or merely by thoughts or feelings communicated to the mind. President
John Taylor described "the action of the angels, or messengers of God,
upon our minds, so that the heart can conceive … revelations from the eternal
world" (Gospel Kingdom, sel. G. Homer Durham [1987], 31).
Nephi
described three manifestations of the ministering of angels when he reminded
his rebellious brothers that (1) they had "seen an angel," (2) they
had "heard his voice from time to time," and (3) also that an angel
had "spoken unto [them] in a still small voice" though they were
"past feeling" and "could not feel his words" (1 Ne.
17:45). The scriptures contain many other statements that angels are sent to
teach the gospel and bring men to Christ (see Heb. 1:14;
How does
the Aaronic Priesthood hold the key to the ministering of angels? The answer is
the same as for the Spirit of the Lord.
In
general, the blessings of spiritual companionship and communication are only
available to those who are clean. As explained earlier, through the Aaronic
Priesthood ordinances of baptism and the sacrament, we are cleansed of our sins
and promised that if we keep our covenants we will always have His Spirit to be
with us. I believe that promise not only refers to the Holy Ghost but also to
the ministering of angels, for "angels speak by the power of the Holy
Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ" (2 Ne. 32:3). So it is
that those who hold the Aaronic Priesthood open the door for all Church members
who worthily partake of the sacrament to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit
of the Lord and the ministering of angels. ("The Aaronic Priesthood and
the Sacrament," Ensign, Nov. 1998, p. 39)
The Holy
Ghost as the Holy Spirit of Promise
Harold B. Lee
Now, what
does it mean to be sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise? ... Now, that is the
promise which is put into our hearts by the Holy Ghost when we have been sealed
because of the kind of life we have lived here, the use we have made of our
priesthood, the temple covenants which we have been true to, true to the
covenants we made in the waters of baptism. When that is sealed upon us by the
Holy Spirit of Promise through the Holy Ghost, then we have a right to eternal
life in the celestial kingdom.
The Holy
Spirit of Promise is the Holy Ghost, which searches the hearts of men, one who
reads our thoughts and our doings, and until He gives His sealing approval,
then only will our blessings be efficacious and of full force when we are out
of this world. (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 15)
Joseph Fielding Smith
The Holy
Spirit of Promise is the Holy Ghost who places the stamp of approval upon every
ordinance: baptism, confirmation, ordination, marriage. The promise is that the
blessings will be received through faithfulness.
If a
person violates a covenant, whether it be of baptism, ordination, marriage or
anything else, the Spirit withdraws the stamp of approval, and the blessings
will not be received.
Every
ordinance is sealed, with a promise of a reward based upon faithfulness. The
Holy Spirit withdraws the stamp of approval where covenants are broken. (Doctrines
of Salvation, 1:45)
James E.
Faust
I wish to
say a word about the Holy Spirit of Promise, which is the sealing and ratifying
power of the Holy Ghost. To have a covenant or ordinance sealed by the Holy
Spirit of Promise is a compact through which the inherent blessings will be
obtained, provided those seeking the blessing are true and faithful (see
D&C 76:50-54). ... To have a covenant or ordinance sealed by the Holy
Spirit of Promise means that the compact is binding on earth and in heaven.
("The Gift of the Holy Ghost--A Sure Compass," Ensign, Apr.
1996, pp. 5-6)
The
Holy Ghost through the light of Christ can do a number of activities. Open up, clarify and teach you the things of
God.
1. Teacher sent from Heavenly Father, this is
greater than manifestations. This comes
in private situations; your greatest learning will never come in a classroom,
but privately between you and God.
(2 Nephi
33:1.)
1 And now I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught
among my people; neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a
man speaketh by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost
carrieth it unto the hearts of the children of men.
Collect
teachings about the Holy Ghost to better understand how to receive this power
in our lives.
The
Savior Described Six Functions of the Holy Ghost
Harold B.
Lee
When
Christ bade farewell to His disciples before His crucifixion, He told them that
if He went, He would pray to the Father that He would give them another
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost that He might abide with them forever. And
then He gave six things that the power of the Comforter, or Holy Ghost, would
do when it came. First, He will teach you all things--and, mark you, He
personalized the Holy Ghost by saying, "He"--He shall teach you all
things; He will bring all things to your remembrance; He shall testify of me;
He will guide you into all truth; He will show you things to come; and He will
reprove the world of sin. (See John 14:16-27.) [From The Teachings of Harold
B. Lee, p. 15.]
[The
following are teachings regarding the six different functions of the Holy
Ghost]
1. The Gift of the Holy Ghost as a
Teacher/Revelator
Gift of the Holy Ghost is God's Minister (Teacher)
Brigham
Young
We believe
we are entitled to the gift of the Holy Ghost in extent according to the
discretion and wisdom of God and our faithfulness; which gift brings all things
to our remembrance, past, present, and to come, that are necessary for us to
know, and as far as our minds are prepared to receive the knowledge of God
revealed by that all-wise Agent. The Holy Ghost is God's minister, and is
delegated to visit the sons and daughters of men. All intelligent beings
pertaining to this earth are instructed from the same source. (Discourses of
Brigham Young, pp.160-161)
Holy Ghost is a Revelator
Joseph
Smith
No man can
receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations. The Holy Ghost is a
revelator. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.328)
Joseph Fielding Smith
His
mission is to teach us all truth. He partakes of the things of the Father and
the Son and reveals them to those who serve the Lord in faithfulness. (Doctrines
of Salvation, 1:38)
Cannot
Comprehend the
John Taylor
The Savior
then told [Nicodemus], that unless a man was born of the water and of the
Spirit, he could not enter the
The Holy Ghost Reveals the Truth of All Things
John 16
13 Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he
shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
and he will shew you things to come.
D&C
121
26 God
shall give unto you knowledge by his holy Spirit, yea, by the unspeakable gift
of the Holy Ghost, that has not been revealed since the world was until now;
27 Which
our forefathers have awaited with anxious expectation to be revealed in the
last times, which their minds were pointed to by the angels, as held in reserve
for the fulness of their glory;
28 A time
to come in the which nothing shall be withheld, whether there be one God or
many gods, they shall be manifest.
5 And by
the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.
Joseph
Fielding Smith
We may
after baptism and confirmation become companions of the Holy Ghost who will
teach us the ways of the Lord, quicken our minds and help us to understand the
truth. The people of the world do not receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. (Doctrines
of Salvation, 1:42)
Gospel Truths Taught Through the Gift of the Holy Ghost
Moses 5
58 And
thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by
holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by
the gift of the Holy Ghost.
D&C 39
6 And this
is my gospel--repentance and baptism by water, and then cometh the baptism of
fire and the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which showeth all things, and
teacheth the peaceable things of the kingdom.
D&C 50
13
Wherefore, I the Lord ask you this question--unto what were ye ordained?
14 To
preach my gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter which was sent forth to
teach the truth.
15 And
then received ye spirits which ye could not understand, and received them to be
of God; and in this are ye justified?
16 Behold
ye shall answer this question yourselves; nevertheless, I will be merciful unto
you; he that is weak among you hereafter shall be made strong.
17 Verily
I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of
truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he preach it by the Spirit
of truth or some other way?
18 And if
it be by some other way it is not of God.
19 And
again, he that receiveth the word of truth, doth he receive it by the Spirit of
truth or some other way?
20 If it
be some other way it is not of God.
21
Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth
the word by the Spirit of truth receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of
truth?
22
Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and
both are edified and rejoice together.
23 And
that which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness.
24 That
which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God,
receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the
perfect day.
Gordon B.
The Holy
Ghost is the Testifier of Truth, who can teach men things they cannot teach one
another. ("The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost," Ensign, Mar.
1998, p. 7)
Joseph B.
Wirthlin
He is a revelator
and teacher who conveys information to our spirits with far more certainty than
is possible by our natural senses. ( "Deep Roots," Ensign,
Nov. 1994, p. 76)
Bruce R.
McConkie
Spiritual
things, without which there is no salvation, can be known only by the power of
the Spirit. Paul lays it down as an eternal principle that "the things of
God knoweth no man, except he has the Spirit of God." (JST, 1 Corinthians
2:11.) It could not be otherwise, for salvation is found in a spiritual
realm-in a different dimension of existence, a realm that is separate and apart
and removed from this mortal sphere. Hence, the Spirit of God has the divine
commission to teach spiritual truths by conformity to which the saints can
qualify to gain the promised spiritual heights. (A New Witness for the
Articles of Faith, pp.267-268)
David A.
Bednar
The Holy
Ghost is the third member of the Godhead, and He is the teacher and
witness of all truth. Elder James E. Talmage explained: "The office of the
Holy Ghost in His ministrations among men is described in scripture. He is a
teacher sent from the Father; and unto those who are entitled to His tuition He
will reveal all things necessary for the soul's advancement" (The
Articles of Faith, 12th ed. [1924], 162).
We should
always remember that the Holy Ghost is the teacher who, through proper
invitation, can enter into a learner's heart. Indeed, you and I have the
responsibility to preach the gospel by the Spirit, even the Comforter, as a
prerequisite for the learning by faith that can be achieved only by and through
the Holy Ghost (see D&C 50:14). In this regard, you and I are much like the
long, thin strands of glass used to create the fiber-optic cables through which
light signals are transmitted over very long distances. Just as the glass in
these cables must be pure to conduct the light efficiently and effectively, so
we should become and remain worthy conduits through whom the Spirit of the Lord
can operate.
But
brothers and sisters, we must be careful to remember in our service that we are
conduits and channels; we are not the light. "For it is not ye that speak,
but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you" (Matthew 10:20). It
is never about me and it is never about you. In fact, anything you or I do as
an instructor that knowingly and intentionally draws attention to self--in the
messages we present, in the methods we use, or in our personal demeanor--is a
form of priestcraft that inhibits the teaching effectiveness of the Holy Ghost.
"Doth he preach it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be
by some other way it is not of God" (D&C 50:17-18). ["Seek
Learning By Faith," Evening With a General Authority, February 2,
2006, Address Delivered to CES Educators, p. 4]
The Holy
Ghost Carries Teachings Unto But Not Necessarily Into the Heart
David A. Bednar
Nephi teaches us, "When a man speaketh
by the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth [the
message] unto the hearts of the children of men" (2 Nephi 33:1). Please
notice how the power of the Spirit carries the message unto but not necessarily
into the heart. A teacher can explain, demonstrate, persuade, and
testify, and do so with great spiritual power and effectiveness. Ultimately,
however, the content of a message and the witness of the Holy Ghost penetrate
into the heart only if a receiver allows them to enter. ...
A learner exercising agency by acting in
accordance with correct principles opens his or her heart to the Holy Ghost-and
invites His teaching, testifying power, and confirming witness. Learning by
faith requires spiritual, mental, and physical exertion and not just passive
reception. It is in the sincerity and consistency of our faith-inspired action
that we indicate to our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, our
willingness to learn and receive instruction from the Holy Ghost. ("Seek
Learning By Faith," Address to CES Religious Educators, February 3, 2006,
pp. 1, 3)
Learning Incomplete Unless Guided by the Holy Ghost
Marion G.
Romney
In the latter days, the Lord reaffirmed these
basic truths through the Prophet Joseph Smith. In the dedicatory prayer of the
And for what purpose?
"… that they may grow up in thee, and
receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost, and be organized according to thy laws,
and be prepared to obtain every needful thing." (D&C 109:14-15.)
This prayer makes it clear that the Lord
views one's learning as complete only when one is guided by the Holy Spirit. On
another occasion the Lord said, "If ye continue in my word … ye shall know
the truth, and the truth shall make you free." (John 8:31-32.) The truths
that can free us from our sins, guilt, false concepts, erroneous understanding,
and unproductive habits and behavior are to be had only through the Holy
Spirit.
There has never been a day such as now in all
of earthly history when secular learning was so far advanced and widespread as
it is today. Yet so many of those around us do not enjoy the truths and the
freedom those truths bring of which the Master taught. Rather, to so many people,
it seems that truth and true freedom elude their grasp.
The central core of the Father's plan of
salvation is that to obtain these truths and the peace, happiness, security,
and freedom these truths bring to their righteous adherents, we must draw upon a
source of knowledge that lies above and beyond the reach of ordinary learning
processes. ("Receiving and Applying Spiritual Truth," Ensign,
Feb. 1984, p. 4)
The Holy Ghost Opens Door to Knowledge of God
David B.
Haight
The gift of the Holy Ghost is a
priceless possession and opens the door to our ongoing knowledge of God and
eternal joy. ("The Sacrament--and the Sacrifice," Ensign, Nov.
1989, p. 61)
David O. McKay
The
Latter-day Saints have learned the truth that the everlasting gospel has been
restored. And what does this knowledge bring to them? It brings to all who have
honestly and sincerely obeyed the principles of repentance and baptism the gift
of the Holy Ghost, which enlightens their minds, quickens their understanding,
and imparts unto them a knowledge of Christ.
The
Latter-day Saints have a guide, a help, a means to assist in their acquisition
of truth, in their desire to know what their duty is, that the world does not
possess. And this guide is necessary; man cannot find out truth-he cannot find
out God by intellect alone. It has been said that no man can find out God by a
microscope. Reason alone is not a sufficient guide in searching for truth.
There is another, higher, more sure guide than reason.
That guide
is faith-that principle which draws our spirit into communion with the higher
Spirit which will bring all things to our remembrance, show us things to come,
and teach us all things. To acquire that Spirit is the responsibility of the
Latter-day Saint who would know truth. (Gospel Ideals, p.139)
The Holy Ghost Will Take Us Beyond the Superficial
Neal A. Maxwell
The Holy
Ghost will teach us, providing perspective about "things as they really
are, and . . . things as they really will be" (Jacob 4:13; D&C 39:6;
75:10). This sense of proportion is needed daily! Not only does He reach
mortals in their many niches, but the Holy Spirit "searcheth all things,
yea, the deep things of God," and this must be so because the "things
of the Spirit of God . . . are spiritually discerned" (1 Corinthians 2:10,
14). The Holy Spirit is thus ready, if we are, to take us well beyond being
superficial so that we can learn the things of most worth. (The Promise of
Discipleship, p. 95)
Holy
Ghost Helps One Learn and Apply Doctrine
Russell M. Nelson
Living the Lord's standards requires that we
cultivate the gift of the Holy Ghost. That gift helps us understand doctrine
and apply it personally. Because truth given by revelation can only be
understood by revelation (see 1 Cor. 2:11-14), our studies need to be prayerful.
("Living by Scriptural Guidance," Ensign, Nov. 2000, pp.
16-18).
2. Holy Ghost Brings All Things to
Remembrance
We Need
Help Remembering
Neal A. Maxwell
What we
remember, as well as remembering itself, requires help. (The Promise of
Discipleship, p. 99)
Holy
Ghost Brings All Things to Our Remembrance
John 14
26 But the
Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he
shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance,
whatsoever I have said unto you.
Joseph F.
Smith
The office
and duty of the Holy Ghost is to bring to our remembrance things that are past,
to make clear to our understanding things that are present, and to show us
things that are to come. ("I Know That My Redeemer Liveth," in Collected
Discourses, October 18, 1896, Vol.5)
Neal A.
Maxwell
The Holy
Ghost will bring all things to our remembrance, especially the words of Jesus
or about him (2 Nephi 32:3, 5; John 14:26; 15:26). This enhanced recall
includes remembering to be true to our past, to our covenants, and to God, who
has been proven "in days that are past"7 (John 14:26; 2 Peter 1:13;
3:1; 2 Thessalonians 2:5;
Apostles
Remembered the Savior's Teachings through the Holy Ghost
Joseph
Fielding Smith
It was
through the teachings of the Comforter, or Holy Ghost, that the teachings of
Jesus Christ were recalled by the apostles. (Doctrines of Salvation,
1:38)
Holy Ghost
Brings To Remembrance All Things That Are Necessary For Us To Know
Brigham
Young
We believe
we are entitled to the gift of the Holy Ghost in extent according to the
discretion and wisdom of God and our faithfulness; which gift brings all things
to our remembrance, past, present, and to come, that are necessary for us to
know, and as far as our minds are prepared to receive the knowledge of God
revealed by that all-wise Agent. (Discourses of Brigham Young,
pp.160-161)
Holy
Ghost Will Brings to Our Remembrance Things Taught in General Conference
J. Reuben
Clark, Jr.
The Holy
Ghost has been with us during this Conference, and also the gifts of the Holy
Ghost, and may that Being continue with us, that to us also He may bring all
things to our remembrance, whatsoever we have heard here at this conference.
(Conference Report, April 1944, p.157)
Holy
Ghost Will Help Us Remember What We Should Remember
James E. Faust
This
Comforter can be with us as we seek to improve. It can function as a source of
revelation to warn us of impending danger and also help keep us from making
mistakes. It can enhance our natural senses so that we can see more clearly,
hear more keenly, and remember what we should remember. ("The Gift of the
Holy Ghost--A Sure Compass," Ensign, Apr. 1996, p. 5)
Holy Ghost Will Bring Only Relevant Things to Our Remembrance
Neal A.
Maxwell
As to that
portion of our past which is relevant and instructive, the Holy Ghost will
bring things to our remembrance. He will also comfort us, so that any remembrance
can be redemptive in its effect rather than debilitating or discouraging. (Men
and Women of Christ, pp.31-32)
The Holy Ghost Can Only Bring Remembrance to What We Have Put
Into Our Minds
Neal A.
Maxwell
As we
reflect on how the Holy Ghost preaches to us from the pulpit of memory, we
consider
3. The Holy Ghost Is Our Guide
We Covenanted at Baptism to Follow the Guidance of the Holy
Ghost
Lorenzo Snow
We made a
covenant to follow the Spirit. When we received this gospel, we covenanted
before God that we would be led, that we would be governed, and would follow
the suggestions of the Holy Spirit, that we would follow the suggestions of the
principle that gives life, that gives knowledge, that gives understanding of
the things of God, that communicates the mind of God; and that we would labor
for the accomplishment of the purposes of God in the salvation of the human
family, adopting as a motto of life, "The kingdom of God, or
nothing." (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow, p.108)
Learn to
Live By the Spirit
Boyd K.
Packer
This is my
counsel to you, my brethren and sisters in
Following
baptism, each of us was confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints. We were blessed to receive the Holy Ghost, which was to be a
gift and a blessing to us in our lives.
Through
the Holy Ghost we may always have a very clear signal to follow. If we are
living worthily that signal will be a constant guide to us. (Let Not Your
Heart Be Troubled [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991], p. 232)
Holy
Ghost Will Give Us Sudden Strokes of Ideas That Will Guide Us
Joseph
Smith
The Spirit
of Revelation is in connection with these blessings. A person may profit by
noticing the first intimation of the spirit of revelation; for instance, when
you feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of
ideas, so that by noticing it, you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon;
(i.e.,) those things that were presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God,
will come to pass; and thus by learning the Spirit of God and understanding it,
you may grow into the principle of revelation, until you become perfect in
Christ Jesus. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.151)
Ezra Taft
Benson
Brothers
and sisters and friends, learn this principle. The Lord will increase our
knowledge, wisdom, and capacity to obey when we obey His fundamental laws. This
is what the Prophet Joseph Smith meant when he said we could have "sudden
strokes of ideas" which come into our minds as "pure
intelligence." (See Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel.
Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1938, p. 151.) This is
revelation. We must learn to rely on the Holy Ghost so we can use it to guide
our lives and the lives of those for whom we have responsibility. ("A
Principle with a Promise," Ensign, May 1983, p. 54)
Boyd K.
Packer
The Lord
has a way of pouring pure intelligence into our minds to prompt us, to guide
us, to teach us, to warn us. You can know the things you need to know
instantly! Learn to receive inspiration. ("Prayers and Answers," Ensign,
Nov. 1979, p. 20)
No
Greater Guide Than the Holy Ghost
Russell M.
Nelson
Standard-bearers
of the Lord have qualified by covenant to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.
There can be no greater guide to assure spiritual help through all your days.
("Standards of the Lord's Standard-Bearers," Ensign, Aug.
1991, p. 10)
The Holy
Ghost Will Show You All Things What Ye Should Do
Joseph B. Wirthlin
The gift
of the Holy Ghost is one of the most precious gifts you can receive in
mortality. The Holy Ghost can become your guiding light. The Holy Ghost
"will show unto you all things what ye should do" (2 Ne. 32:5). The
Holy Ghost can be helpful to you in any righteous endeavor in which you are
involved, including in school and among your friends. ("Growing into the
Priesthood," Ensign, Nov. 1999, p. 40)
Neal A. Maxwell
Those
vital things always go first, and they can go within a generation unless we
truly are feasting upon the scriptures. Feasting on the scriptures, combined
with the gift of the Holy Ghost, will "show unto you all things what ye
should do" (2 Ne. 32:5). ["The Pathway of Discipleship,"
Ensign, Sept. 1998, p. 11]
Holy
Ghost a Personal Compass
Joseph B.
Wirthlin
The gift of the Holy Ghost may be likened to a sure, personal
compass to provide lifesaving vision, wisdom, and insight as a spiritual
window. The Holy Ghost gives us clear guidance and direction in a world of
unanchored faith. ("Windows of Light and Truth," Ensign, Nov.
1995, p. 77)
Holy Ghost is One of Three Sources of Guidance
James E.
Faust
There are
three sources of guidance for making moral judgments. First is the guidance of
the Holy Ghost. This is always a sure compass for those who have been baptized
and received this supernal gift. The second source is the wise counsel of
priesthood leaders whom the Lord has put in place to guide us. Third, the
constant demonstration of love should temper all our judgments. Sometimes this
means discipline. ("The Weightier Matters of the Law: Judgment, Mercy, and
Faith," Ensign, Nov. 1997, p. 54)
Holy Ghost Often Gives Directions Without Explanation
Neal A. Maxwell
President
Boyd K. Packer has counseled us that often when we receive guidance from the
Holy Ghost, we get directions without explanation. (The Promise of
Discipleship, pp. 99-100)
Cannot
Accomplish the Work of God By Our Own Intelligence
Lorenzo Snow
We must
depend on the Spirit. We ought to understand-and I presume that we do
generally-that the work which we have come into this life to perform cannot be
done to the glory of God or to the satisfaction of ourselves merely by our own
natural intelligence. We are dependent upon the Spirit of the Lord to aid us
and to manifest to us from time to time what is necessary for us to accomplish
under the peculiar circumstances that may surround us. (Teachings of Lorenzo
Snow, p.109)
Holy
Ghost Will Guide Through Troubled Times
Marion G. Romney
Now, we
have the Holy Ghost. Each one of us who is a member of the Church has had hands
laid upon his head and has been given, as far as an ordinance can give it, the
gift of the Holy Ghost. But, as I remember, when I was confirmed, the Holy
Ghost was not directed to come to me; I was directed to "receive the Holy
Ghost." If I receive the Holy Ghost and follow his guidance, I will be
among those who are protected and carried through these troubled times. And so
will you, and so will every other soul who lives under his direction. If ye are
prepared, ye need not fear. ("If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear," Ensign,
July 1981, p. 5)
Holy
Ghost Will Guide Us in Major and Minor Things
Neal A. Maxwell
Additionally
and expansively, the Holy Ghost will show us "all things what [we] should
do," including both major and minor things (2 Nephi 32:5). This gift is so
practical, for "we are of God. . . . Hereby know we the spirit of truth,
and the spirit of error" (1 John 4:6). How often in life do we need help
to detect the "spirit of error," which might otherwise carry the day,
as well as to receive verification and direction? "And by the power of the
Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things" (
Holy
Ghost Will Help Us in the Gray Areas
Neal A. Maxwell
He can
thus help us both in the defining moments as well as in what might be called
life's gray zones of choices. Our decisions, after all, are not such contests
as the choice between whether we will rob a bank or hold family home evening.
At times we must choose among good options, "A1" and "A2."
But we need help in order to attend to the "weightier matters" and do
the things of "most worth" (Matthew 23:23; D&C 15:6; 16:4, 6; 2
Nephi 9:51). [The Promise of Discipleship, p. 97]
Using
Free Will AND Being Directed By the Spirit
Bruce R. McConkie
It is not,
never has been, and never will be the design and purpose of the Lord-however
much we seek him in prayer- to answer all our problems and concerns without
struggle and effort on our part. This mortality is a probationary estate. In it
we have our agency. We are being tested to see how we will respond in various
situations; how we will decide issues; what course we will pursue while we are
here walking, not by sight, but by faith. Hence, we are to solve our own
problems and then to counsel with the Lord in prayer and receive a spiritual
confirmation that our decisions are correct. ("Why the Lord Ordained
Prayer," Ensign, Jan. 1976, p. 11)
Neal A.
Maxwell
Because
the divine maxim is "nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself"
(Moses 3:17), we are to learn to choose responsibly, yet in doing this we need
help. We also need help regularly. The plan of salvation is designed to
facilitate our learning to choose wisely when we opt for righteousness and
eternal life instead of misery and death (2 Nephi 2:27).
In the
early days of the Church, there were several petitions to the Lord to which He
responded in a tutoring manner. On one occasion, the brethren needed a
watercraft. The Lord responded that whether they made one or bought one,
"it mattereth not to me" (D&C 61:22). It did matter to the Lord
that some "take their journey speedily" (D&C 52:7).
In like
manner, a question arose as to whether they should go by land or water. The
Lord said they should do "according to their judgments" (D&C
61:22). A similar divine response was given to the question of whether some of
the brethren should go in a group or two by two; they were told this was
something for them to determine. On another occasion, as to the direction in
which they should proceed, the Lord said whether it was east or west or north
or south, it didn't matter; they could not go amiss, because so many
opportunities awaited (D&C 80:3).
These
incidents do not suggest any divine indifference whatsoever as to details.
Rather, they illustrate how the mentoring of the Lord will surely guide us, but
He expects us to use our own minds reliably and to develop them even further in
our capacity to choose. Experience, therefore, can be a workhorse way of
learning, as we develop our capacity to choose wisely under the influence of
the Spirit. (The Promise of Discipleship, pp. 100-101)
Dallin H.
Oaks
We are
often left to work out problems, without the dictation or specific direction of
the Spirit. That is part of the experience we must have in mortality.
Fortunately, we are never out of our Savior's sight, and if our judgment leads
us to actions beyond the limits of what is permissible and if we are listening
to the still small voice, the Lord will restrain us by the promptings of His
Spirit. (Quoted in L. Lionel Kendrick, "Personal Revelation," Ensign,
Sept. 1999, p. 10)
L. Lionel
Kendrick (Seventy)
Frequency
of revelation. It is a misconception to believe that we should consult Heavenly
Father on every matter in life. He expects us to solve a portion of our
problems without petitioning Him for potential solutions. It is through this
process that we grow, develop, and become more perfect. He is not always
concerned about mundane matters unless they are not in keeping with sacred
principles. We should daily petition for the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
With this presence of the Spirit, we will feel the promptings without
petitioning Heavenly Father on every personal matter. ("Personal
Revelation," Ensign, Sept. 1999, p. 10)
4. The Holy Ghost is a
Testifier
Holy
Ghost is the Testifier of Truth
Gordon B.
The Holy
Ghost is the Testifier of Truth, who can teach men things they cannot teach one
another. In those great and challenging words of
Bruce R.
McConkie
Thus the
Holy Ghost is the source of saving knowledge; his mission, assigned by the
Father, is to bear witness to the truth of those things which enable men to
gain eternal life. His witness is sure; it cannot be controverted; it will
stand forever. (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.267)
Holy Ghost Testifies of the Father and the Son
2 Nephi 31
18 And then
are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have
entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the
Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the
Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that
if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.
D&C 20
27 As well
as those who should come after, who should believe in the gifts and callings of
God by the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of the Father and of the Son;
28 Which
Father, Son, and Holy Ghost are one God, infinite and eternal, without end.
Amen.
Marion G. Romney
The Holy
Ghost is the great witness of, the messenger for, and testifier of the Father
and the Son. ("The Light of Christ," Ensign, May 1977, p. 44)
Joseph B.
Wirthlin
However,
the principal mission of the Holy Ghost is to testify of our Heavenly Father
and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ. If you are careful in keeping the
commandments, the Holy Ghost will help you learn more about Heavenly Father and
Jesus Christ. ("Growing into the Priesthood," Ensign, Nov.
1999, pp. 40-41)
Dallin H.
Oaks
If we seek
and accept revelation and inspiration to enlarge our understanding of the
scriptures, we will realize a fulfillment of Nephi's inspired promise that
those who diligently seek will have "the mysteries of God … unfolded unto
them, by the power of the Holy Ghost" (1 Ne. 10:19).
To
illustrate this essential truth, consider the fact that the most important
knowledge we can obtain is a testimony of the Father and the Son. This vital
knowledge is received through the witness of the Holy Ghost (see D&C
20:27). ["Scripture
Holy Ghost Testifies and Glorifies the Atonement
Neal A.
Maxwell
In the Holy
Ghost's role in the Godhead, He "witnesses of the Father and the
Son" (2 Ne. 31:18; emphasis added), and further He actually glorifies
Christ (see John 16:14). Ever relevant, this glorification of our Savior is so
vital in the last days, when so many esteem Jesus, the Lord of the Universe, as
"naught" (1 Ne. 19:7). Therefore, at the center of the gifts of the
Holy Ghost is His unique witnessing to us of Christ's atoning act, history's
greatest emancipation: "To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the
world" (D&C 46:13). [From "The Holy Ghost: Glorifying
Christ," Ensign, July 2002, p. 56]
5 He
will show you things to come
John 16
13 Howbeit
when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he
shall not speak of himself; but whatsoever he shall hear, that shall he speak:
and he will shew you things to come.
16 Now
they did not suppose that salvation came by the law of Moses; but the law of
Moses did serve to strengthen their faith in Christ; and thus they did retain a
hope through faith, unto eternal salvation, relying upon the spirit of
prophecy, which spake of those things to come.
Joseph
Smith
We believe
that the Holy Ghost, and that holy men in these days speak by the same
principle; we believe in its being a comforter and a witness bearer, that it
brings things past to our remembrance, leads us into all truth, and shows us of
things to come; we believe that "no man can know that Jesus is the Christ,
but by the Holy Ghost." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
p.243)
Joseph F.
Smith
The office
and duty of the Holy Ghost is to bring to our remembrance things that are past,
to make clear to our understanding things that are present, and to show us
things that are to come. ("I Know That My Redeemer Liveth," in Collected
Discourses, October 18, 1896, Vol.5)
James E.
Talmage
Not alone
does the Holy Ghost bring to mind the past and explain the things of the
present, but His power is manifested in prophecy concerning the future.
"He will shew you things to come," declared the Savior to the
apostles in promising the advent of the Comforter. (Articles of Faith,
pp.162-163)
Bruce R.
McConkie
The
inspired utterances of prophets are called prophecy. These declarations may pertain to the past, present, or future.
New truths or unknown events may be revealed in them, or they may contain
expressions which confirm and give added witness to truths already revealed and
testified to by other prophets. In their most dramatic form they are
declarations of things to come, things which no mortal power could have made
manifest.
Prophecy
is the announcement of something that has been revealed to a prophet; it always
comes by the power of the Holy Ghost. (Mormon Doctrine, p.602)
Heber C.
Kimball
By the
Spirit of prophecy you can become acquainted with things to come, and declare
them to the Saints by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost. When men prophesy with
this Spirit upon them, they will come to pass, for the Holy Ghost cannot lie. (Journal
of Discourses, 9:135)
6. Reproves the World of Sin
John 16
8 And when
he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of
judgment:
9 Of sin,
because they believe not on me;
10 Of
righteousness, because I go to my Father, and ye see me no more;
11 Of
judgment, because the prince of this world is judged.
Spencer W.
Kimball
The Holy
Ghost can play an important role in convincing the sinner of his error. He
helps in making known "the truth of all things" (Moro. 10:5); in
teaching all things and bringing all things to one's remembrance (John 14:26);
and in reproving the world of sin (John 16:8). [The Miracle of Forgiveness,
p.152]
Bruce R.
McConkie
Men are
convicted of sin when they reject the Spirit-borne witness that Jesus is the
Christ. They are convicted for rejecting the witness that he is righteous and
that righteousness comes by him. They are convicted of false judgment in
rejecting the Lord of life and living instead after the manner of the world. Thus
saith the Lord: "Behold, I send you out to reprove the world of all their
unrighteous deeds, and to teach them of a judgment which is to come."
(D&C 84:87.) Truly, the Holy Ghost, by the mouths of the Lord's agents,
reproves the world for sin! (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith,
p.273)
Bruce shared his testimony about
the instruction received by the Holy Ghost.
He couldn’t learn this from a mortal man. He (the Holy Ghost) is a remarkable teacher
with powers mortals don’t have. He is a
guide to greater mysteries, this will change our direction in life, our focus!
By faith, repentance and covenant
we pay the tuition to be like Him, to conform our will to His. When we reach this point then the windows of
heaven are opened to us, to receive greater revelations. We will follow what He
teaches us, wherever it may lead. We are
under covenant to follow and obey what is taught. Absolute confidence in something I cannot
see. Faith, Repentance, and Covenant
Renewal
The Office of the Holy Ghost in His ministrations
among men is described in scripture. He
is a teacher sent from the Father; fn and unto those who are entitled to His
tuition He will reveal all things necessary for the soul's advancement. Through
the influences of the Holy Spirit the powers of the human mind may be quickened
and increased, so that things past may be brought to remembrance. He will serve as a
guide in things divine unto all who will obey Him, fn enlightening every man,
fn in the measure of his humility and obedience; fn unfolding the mysteries of
God, fn as the knowledge thus revealed may effect greater spiritual growth;
conveying knowledge from God to man; fn sanctifying those who have been cleansed
through obedience to the requirements of the Gospel; fn manifesting all things;
fn and bearing witness unto men concerning the existence and infallibility of
the Father and the Son. fn
Not alone does the
Holy Ghost bring to mind the past and explain the things of the present, but
His power is manifested in prophecy concerning the future. "He will shew
you things to come," declared the Savior to the apostles in promising the
advent of the Comforter. Adam, the first prophet of earth, under the influence
of the Holy Ghost "predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto
the latest generation." fn The
power of the Holy Ghost then, is the spirit of prophecy and revelation; His
office is that of enlightenment of the mind, quickening of the intellect, and
sanctification of the soul.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [
We
are guided to greater spiritual enlightenment, a guide to greater mysteries;
this will change your actions and direction in life, to purify who you are, in
essence, to unlock greater spiritual power.
I
am cleansed when I quit doing sin, which can be anybody, but to be sanctified
means to be dedicated and consecrated to one end, to the things of God
(Sacrament). To move up to the next
level one must be focused to build up the kingdom, the Holy Ghost guided us in
how to do this, He helps our focus and journey.
Sacrament
- Key to Gift of the Holy Ghost
Marion G.
Romney
The
purpose of the sacrament is to promote the maintenance of spirituality. Both
the revealed prayers over the bread and over the water contain the phrase,
"that they [who partake] may … have his Spirit to be with them" (see
D&C 20:77, 79). ["Maintaining Spirituality," Ensign, Nov.
1979, p. 16]
Dallin H.
Oaks
The close
relationship between partaking of the sacrament and the companionship of the
Holy Ghost is explained in the revealed prayer on the sacrament. In partaking
of the bread, we witness that we are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus
Christ and always remember Him and keep His commandments. When we do so, we
have the promise that we will always have His Spirit to be with us (see D&C
20:77).
To have
the continuous companionship of the Holy Ghost is the most precious possession
we can have in mortality. The gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred upon us by
the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood after our baptism. But to realize
the blessings of that gift, we must keep ourselves free from sin. When we
commit sin, we become unclean and the Spirit of the Lord withdraws from us. The
Spirit of the Lord does not dwell in "unholy temples" (see Mosiah
2:36-37;
A few
weeks ago I used a chain saw to cut down a tree in my backyard. It was a dirty
job, and when I was done I was splattered with a filthy mixture of sawdust and
oil. In that condition I did not want anyone to see me. I just wanted to be
cleansed in water so I would again feel comfortable in the presence of other
people.
Not one of
you young men and not one of your leaders has lived without sin since his
baptism. Without some provision for further cleansing after our baptism, each
of us is lost to things spiritual. We cannot have the companionship of the Holy
Ghost, and at the final judgment we would be bound to be "cast off
forever" (1 Ne. 10:21). How grateful we are that the Lord has provided a
process for each baptized member of His Church to be periodically cleansed from
the soil of sin. The sacrament is an essential part of that process.
We are
commanded to repent of our sins and to come to the Lord with a brokenheart and
a contrite spirit and partake of the sacrament in compliance with its
covenants. When we renew our baptismal covenants in this way, the Lord renews
the cleansing effect of our baptism. In this way we are made clean and can
always have His Spirit to be with us. The importance of this is evident in the
Lord's commandment that we partake of the sacrament each week (see D&C
59:8-9). ["The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament," Ensign,
Nov. 1998, p. 38]
The
Holy Ghost sanctifies an individual as they sanctify themselves!
(Ether
3:7-18.) – Do you believe now what I will tell you later? Will you believe whatever I will teach you? (vs. 11) Absolute confidence in something I
cannot see (vs. 9) your agency has been developed. Now I am able to be taught what the Lord
wants to teach me, guide me, even if I don’t know the outcome of following Him!
(Faith)
7 And the
Lord saw that the brother of Jared had fallen to the earth; and the Lord said
unto him: Arise, why hast thou fallen?
8 And he
saith unto the Lord: I saw the finger of the Lord, and I feared lest he should
smite me; for I knew not that the Lord had flesh and blood.
9 And the
Lord said unto him: Because of thy faith thou hast seen that I shall take upon
me flesh and blood; and never has man come before me with such exceeding faith
as thou hast; for were it not so ye could not have seen my finger. Sawest thou
more than this?
10 And he
answered: Nay; Lord, show thyself unto me.
11 And the
Lord said unto him: Believest thou the words which I shall speak?
12 And he
answered: Yea, Lord, I know that thou speakest the truth, for thou art a God of
truth, and canst not lie.
13 And when
he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said:
Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye
are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.
14 Behold,
I am he who was prepared from the foundation of the world to redeem my people.
Behold, I am Jesus Christ. I am the Father and the Son. In me shall all mankind
have life, and that eternally, even they who shall believe on my name; and they
shall become my sons and my daughters.
15 And
never have I showed myself unto man whom I have created, for never has man
believed in me as thou hast. Seest thou that ye are created after mine own
image? Yea, even all men were created in the beginning after mine own image.
16 Behold,
this body, which ye now behold, is the body of my spirit; and man have I created
after the body of my spirit; and even as I appear unto thee to be in the spirit
will I appear unto my people in the flesh.
17 And now,
as I,
18 And he
ministered unto him even as he ministered unto the Nephites; and all this, that
this man might know that he was God, because of the many great works which the
Lord had showed unto him.
The Holy Ghost: Glorifying Christ
By Elder Neal A.
Maxwell
Of the Quorum of the
Twelve Apostles
Ensign, July 2002, pp. 56ff
[From a satellite
broadcast address to religious educators in the Church Educational System
at the Salt
At the center of the
gifts of the Holy Ghost is His unique witnessing to us of Christ’s atoning act,
history’s greatest emancipation.
The
overall gift of the Holy Ghost truly is one of the greatest blessings available
to members of the Church. We all need to stress–for ourselves and for those
whom we teach–the vital connection with the gifts of the Holy Ghost. These gifts
are vital at every stage of an individual’s life and in every situation of
life. Members of the Church have received the gift of the Holy Ghost, but in
many it lies dormant–somewhat like the ancients who had received the gift but
knew it not (see 3 Ne. 9:20).
Consider
the statement of Elder Parley P. Pratt (1807-57) of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles:
“The
Holy Ghost …… quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges,
expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them,
by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates,
and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and
affections of our nature” (Key to the Science of Theology [1978], 61).
What
a promise! No wonder we are instructed to “seek ye … the best gifts” and their
attendant joys (D&C 46:8). We are not limited to just one gift, though that
is the minimum each is given. Since the realization of so many blessings does
lie latent, the Apostle Paul urged us to “stir up the gift of God, which is in
thee” (2 Tim. 1:6).
In
the Holy Ghost’s role in the Godhead, He “witnesses of the Father and
the Son” (2 Ne. 31:18; emphasis added), and further He actually glorifies
Christ (see John 16:14). Ever relevant, this glorification of our Savior is so
vital in the last days, when so many esteem Jesus, the Lord of the Universe, as
“naught” (1 Ne. 19:7). Therefore, at the center of the gifts of the Holy Ghost
is His unique witnessing to us of Christ’s atoning act, history’s greatest
emancipation: “To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ
is the Son of God, and that he was crucified for the sins of the world”
(D&C 46:13).
There
is such a difference between the admiration and the adoration of Jesus!
The Holy Ghost
Glorifies Christ and His Atonement
Christ’s
Atonement, of course, is for super sinners and the midrange sinners and then
good people who make a lot of mistakes but are not wicked! Each of these acts
of drawing upon the Atonement requires us to put off the natural man. I am
persuaded that so much of taking up the cross daily –- daily, not
quarterly or semiannually –- consists of putting off the natural man
(see Mosiah 3:19). Doing this involves some arduous isometrics -– the old man
working against the new spiritual man. That natural man, as you know, will not
go quietly or easily. And even when he is put off, he has a way of hanging
around, hoping to throw his saddle on us once again.
May
I call your attention to the word repentance and the Greek word from
which it came, which casts the concept in a broad and helpful light and which
covers the ground so very nicely. If we understood the nature of repentance
better, there would be more of it!
The
English word repentance is the rendering for a Greek word which means “a
change of mind,” such as changing one’s view of himself, God, the universe,
life, others, and so on (see Bible Dictionary, “Repentance,” 760). How good you
and I get at repenting will determine how good life is.
Those
who overcome this world by repenting will in the process have formed character
which will give them “so much the advantage in the world to come” (D&C
130:19).
So
much, therefore, of overcoming the world consists of overcoming the
proclivities of the natural man and woman. For example, submissiveness does not
come naturally to the arrogant natural man. Meekness–which isn’t valued much as
a virtue by the world–facilitates our submissiveness. For example, John the
Baptist never had a greater spiritual size, in my opinion, than when he
testified of Jesus’ emerging mission and said, “He must increase, but I must
decrease” (John 3:30). Of John the Baptist, Jesus said in turn, “Among those
that are born of women there is not a greater prophet” than he (Luke 7:28). But
we live in a world in which people don’t gladly “decrease” so that someone else
can “increase.”
Jesus
was at His perfect best when things were at their worst in Gethsemane and
He
confides in us, in my opinion, what perhaps concerned Him most when He said,
“Would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink” (D&C 19:18). In
that connection, He felt “the fierceness of the wrath of Almighty God” (D&C
76:107). I never recite or read that line without some inner tremulation – “the
fierceness of the wrath of the Almighty God,” during which He stood in our
stead and paid for our sins. If we will let the foregoing imagery rest upon our
minds and in our hearts more often, it will bring the special chemistry of
contemplation, evoking an even deeper love for Christ and the Father and
greater gratitude for what took place. Remember King Benjamin’s words about
knowing Christ in our hearts and minds (see Mosiah 5:12-13). Remember, too, one
of the gifts of the Holy Ghost is that He glorifies Christ.
Greater Need for Our
Personal Submissiveness
Now,
we often make some common mistakes when applying the Atonement in our lives. I
will mention several. God leaves us free to make these very mistakes. Yet each
of these mistakes reflects a greater need for our personal submissiveness.
First,
we make a mistake when we think we own ourselves and that we own blocks of
time. It’s a natural thing to do. But our faith in God includes faith in God’s
timing, enough to be able to say, in effect, “Thy timing be done” (see
D&C 64:32).
We
make another mistake when we fail to realize how much serious discipleship
consists of downsizing our egos and diminishing our selfishness! The bloated
natural man will resist any downsizing. But meekness is what has to happen.
Another
mistake we can make is that we maybe don’t take life’s little quizzes seriously
enough. We think we will cram and pass the final exam! The infinite Atonement
is there for our finite mistakes, including the daily mistakes we tend to make.
It is understandable, of course that we focus on the crunch times in our lives.
We are mindful of these spikes of suffering and stress, and we sometimes,
ironically, let ourselves become overcome by relentless routineness–with what
might be called the daily dampening of things spiritual.
We
make another mistake. We fail to focus on and to develop patience as
well as faith (see Mosiah 23:21). These two attributes are in tandem;
they go together. By the way, if we are meek, being tried means being developed.
We don’t look at impatience in terms of its downside. When we are impatient, in
effect, we do not honor what is implied in the words “in process of time.” We
foolishly wish to have some of life’s moments over and done with, seasons to be
over with, ignoring the possibilities for service that are inherent in them. We
are somewhat like airline passengers in
We
may feel put upon by events and circumstances – another mistake we can make
when not approaching the Atonement properly. Yet many of these things that we
feel put upon by actually constitute the customized curricula needed for our
personal development. Still, our tendency is to push away the necessary and
prescribed courses of spiritual calisthenics. We can’t withdraw from all of
life’s courses and still really stay enrolled in school!
Another
mistake we make is that we foolishly think we are free to choose, without
wanting the consequences of those choices! (see
Another
mistake commonly made is that we play to the mortal galleries! We listen too
much to the wrong peers. There is what I call the mystic “they,” who for some
become ascendant. In terms of the choices they make, they want to please the
mystic “they.” We see this politically, in the corporate world, in academic
life, and so on.
Some
people are so anxious to be politically correct and to conform to the fashions
of the world! What is worse, however, is when we see members of the Church try
to conform eternal truths to the ways and thinking of the world. But it won’t
work! As Paul warned, “The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit
of God: for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because
they are spiritually discerned” (1 Cor. 2:14). It is a terrible mistake for us
to try to please the world by twisting and conforming things that won’t fit in
the secular matrix.
Now,
these mistakes are but a few we make; they keep us from fully applying the
Atonement to our lives. They are not worthy of Jesus and what He accomplished
in Gethsemane and on
To
understand and have faith, therefore, in the character and the purposes of God
means that instead of complaining, we accept (more than we do) the menu of life
and what is allotted to us. Sometimes with particular individuals that may seem
to be the equivalent of “Eat your spinach” and “Clean your plate.”
Part
of discipleship should be to become high-yield, low-maintenance members of the
Church. These members are not high profile; they won’t be on the six o’clock
evening news when they die. But they have done what Heavenly Father has wanted
them to do meekly and humbly.
I’m
going to mention two such sisters. Many years ago, one wonderful sister, Roxie
N. Rich, who had been married for 11 years in 1944 and had no children, prayed
in the temple that she and her husband could have a child. And then they were
able to adopt a child. She noticed that when the birth certificate was finally
given to them, the birth of the child was on the day she offered the prayer in
the
Her
husband, recently deceased, was a bishop and high councilor for 18 years. She
wrote very modestly, almost offhandedly, that she had been a ward organist for
16 different bishops. They have an organ in their home. This sweet sister
writes that though her husband’s memory was failing, he liked to sit in the
overstuffed chair with his pet dog at his feet and listen to her play Church
hymns, and when she did, he would clap. The son whom they adopted many years
ago died of cancer recently. He called the night before, long distance, and
asked his mother to tell his father good-bye and said good-bye to his mother.
This sweet sister is emblematic of the kind of discipleship about which I am
striving to speak.
There
is another sister, Sister Esther Packard, who had 16 children. Her husband was
on
Isn’t
that similar to what we would like to have said of us? In the fifth chapter of
Helaman we are reminded of parents and what was said and written of them: “That
they were good” (Hel. 5:6). This goodness is inherent in the two sisters I’ve
attempted to describe so briefly, made possible by the discipleship which draws
regularly upon the Atonement of Christ and which endures well–not just survives
but endures well. It is a wonderful thing to think of someone whose résumé
wouldn’t impress the world but who was ward organist for 16 bishops. And to
think of another sister with 16 children and over 100 grandchildren, who could
say in her moment of departure, “I’ve been a good girl.”
We Should Glorify
Christ
For
you and me, to be part of this work amid these kinds of people is a precious
thing. Since the Holy Ghost glorifies Christ as indicated, so should we. One of
the ways you and I can glorify Christ is by improving and repenting, showing
that we take seriously the proffered discipleship that comes from Him. We
should care enough about it that it lies at the very center of our lives. The
world may miss it altogether. The world may see the doctrines we teach as foolishness,
but we know that doctrines drive discipleship and that the Spirit gives us so
many gifts, including the several I have enumerated here.
I
conclude by sharing my growing feeling of appreciation for another reality of
the gospel. What we do on this earth is so vital, but it is actually a
preparation for our labors in paradise in the spirit world. The scope in that
spirit world is 10 times as large as are the demographics of this world. It is,
though, a place of peace, a place of intense devotion. One sees in section 138
of the Doctrine and Covenants words that tell us about the character of God.
Not only will the gospel go to those who have never heard of it, but also
included are those who have been in transgression, in rebellion, and who have rejected
the prophets.
No
wonder on Judgment Day every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus
is the Christ. Those who have lived without God in the world will confess that
God is God. His mercy is supernal. Indeed, as the Book of Mormon says, His
mercy “overpowereth justice” (
We
do not control what I call “the great transfer board in the sky.” The
inconveniences that are sometimes associated with release from our labors here
are necessary in order to accelerate the work there. Heavenly Father can’t do
His work there, with 10 times more people than we have on this planet, without
on occasion taking some of the very best sisters and brothers from among us. The
conditions of termination here, painful though they are, are a part of the
conditions of acceleration there. Thus we are back to faith in the timing of God, and to our need to be able to say “Thy timing be done,” even when we do not fully understand
it.
I
testify to you that the Church is led by a prophet who was prepared for a long,
long time before he became the President of the Church. President Gordon B.
Hinckley is naturally bright and keen. He has a fabulous memory and, most of
all, is well connected with the Spirit.
The
Church will pass through some turbulence that lies ahead. We will be all right.
However, do all you can to be connected with the gifts of the Holy Ghost, and
He will glorify Christ. He will give you a precious reassurance about The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Faster
than we realize, we are being more sharply defined and are seen in ways that
are significantly different. We must measure up to our time and say with the
ancient prophet Nephi, as he thought upon the ministries of those who preceded
him, “I am consigned that these are my days” (Hel. 7:9). These are your days,
brothers and sisters. And the intertwining of your lives with the lives of
others isn’t simply reflective of this mortal second estate. I so testify to
you! I seek to glorify Christ. I know it is my apostolic duty, but it is also
my delight.
Baptism
is where we covenant to obey His commandments.
Why
was Christ baptized?
Baptism
does not remit sins! The Holy Ghost is
the Sanctifier! The Holy Ghost will
sanctify an individual as he/she sanctifies himself.
(2 Nephi
31:4-9.) – Obedience to the Law of Baptism (vs.7), in this mortal body I will
be obedient to your word. He was
adopting the will of God. He will do
God’s will by being baptized, and then He could receive the Holy Ghost and
receive grace (capacity to grow)
4
Wherefore, I would that ye should remember that I have spoken unto you
concerning that prophet which the Lord showed unto me, that should baptize the
Lamb of God, which should take away the sins of the world.
5 And now,
if the Lamb of God, he being holy, should have need to be baptized by water, to
fulfil all righteousness, O then, how much more need have we, being unholy, to
be baptized, yea, even by water!
6 And now,
I would ask of you, my beloved brethren, wherein the Lamb of God did fulfil all
righteousness in being baptized by water?
7 Know ye not that he was holy? But
notwithstanding he being holy, he showeth unto the children of men that,
according to the flesh he humbleth himself before the Father, and witnesseth
unto the Father that he would be obedient unto him in keeping his commandments.
8
Wherefore, after he was baptized with water the Holy Ghost descended upon him
in the form of a dove.
9 And
again, it showeth unto the children of men the straitness of the path, and the
narrowness of the gate, by which they should enter, he having set the example
before them.
Faith is learning the will of
God
Repentance is adopting Gods
will as my own
Baptism is covenanting to do
God’s will
By
making this covenant at baptism he qualified to receive the Gift of the Holy
Ghost. Christ did not sin but He made
the covenant to do God’s will and keep God’s commandments.
He
didn’t do this just as an example to us; He HAD to do this for himself because of the mortal body. He needed the Gift of the Holy Ghost just
like we need it. The Spirit drove Him
into the wilderness to teach Him at a greater level, He exercised faith and
demonstrated His obedience to follow the will of God by entering into a
covenant relationship, and then He qualified for the Gift of the Holy Ghost. He showed us how it was to be done.
Prayer
was a constant for Him! He had a great
desire to be taught and guided. He
retained the gift by obedience to what He was taught.
For
us we don’t enter into any more covenants at the temple then when we were
baptized. The temple is just unfolding
the covenants at baptism. Essentially to
live by every word that comes from the mouth of God, means that I will obey
every word and sacrifice and consecrate my life to build up God’s kingdom here
on earth. (Temple)
(3 Nephi
12:6.) – If you want the Gift of the Holy Ghost then focus on building up the
kingdom. By doing this we can reach the
sanctifying end.
6 And blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after
righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.
Must
Submit Our Will To God
L. Tom
Perry
The Holy
Ghost will be our constant companion if we submit ourselves to the will of our
Father in Heaven, always remembering Him and keeping His commandments.
("That Spirit Which Leadeth to Do Good," Ensign, May 1997, p.
69)
Focus On
Building the Kingdom
Heber J.
Grant
If any man
lacks the Spirit of God, let him go to work and labor for the advancement of
the
Must Keep the Commandments to Have Holy Ghost
Robert D.
Hales
Living the
commandments brings us into harmony with Deity; we become one in purpose with
the Father and the Son. When we are one with God, we walk with spiritual light.
Our diligence in keeping the commandments allows the Holy Ghost to dwell within
us. We are given the gift of personal revelation. This is a spiritual light
that protects us and serves as a beacon, guiding us in righteous ways. It
dispels the darkness of the adversary. So powerful is this light that it can
reach us even when we are drawn into a black hole of sin so deep and so dark
that we believe no spiritual light could ever penetrate. ("If Thou Wilt
Enter into Life, Keep the Commandments," Ensign, May 1996, p. 36)
The Importance of Prayer
Marion G. Romney
Prayer and
searching the scriptures are companion aids in both obtaining and maintaining
spirituality. ("Maintaining Spirituality," Ensign, Nov. 1979,
p. 16)
Richard G.
Scott
When we
receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we must strive to become increasingly
sensitive to its singular influence in our lives. Prayer is our communication
link with God. He answers earnest prayer through the Holy Ghost, which brings
inspiration, direction, and power into our lives. ("Happiness Now and
Forever," Ensign, Nov. 1979, p. 71)
Scripture
Study Essential
Marion G.
Romney
Searching
the scriptures is another powerful assist in maintaining spirituality.
"They
had waxed strong in the knowledge of the truth," he said, "for they
were men of a sound understanding and they had searched the scriptures diligently,
that they might know the word of God.
"But
this is not all; they had given themselves to much prayer, and fasting;
therefore they had the spirit of prophecy, and the spirit of revelation, and
when they taught, they taught with power and authority of God" (Alma
17:2-3). ["Maintaining Spirituality," Ensign, Nov. 1979, p.
16]
Must
Maintain a Spirit of Reverence
Boyd K.
Packer
And in the
spirit of reverence, I bear testimony that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ
that the Holy Ghost--our comforter, our teacher--will come to us if we will
maintain a spirit of reverence. ("Reverence Invites Revelation," Ensign,
Nov. 1991, p. 23)
Inspiration
Comes Easier In Peaceful Settings
Boyd K. Packer
Inspiration
comes more easily in peaceful settings. Such words as quiet, still, peaceable,
Comforter abound in the scriptures: "Be still, and know that I am
God." (Ps. 46:10; italics added.) And the promise, "You shall receive
my Spirit, the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which shall teach you the peaceable
things of the kingdom." (D&C 36:2; italics added.) ["Reverence
Invites Revelation," Ensign, Nov. 1991, p. 21]
Ezra Taft
Benson
The most
important thing in our lives is the Spirit. I have always felt that. We must
remain open and sensitive to the promptings of the Holy Ghost in all aspects of
our lives.
President
David O. McKay and President Harold B. Lee used to relate an incident from the
life of Bishop John Wells that is instructive to all of us. Bishop Wells was a
great detail man and was responsible for many Church reports.
A son of
Bishop and Sister Wells was killed in a railroad accident on October 15, 1915.
He was run over by a freight car. Sister Wells could not be consoled. She
received no comfort during the funeral and continued her mourning after her son
was laid to rest. Bishop Wells feared for her health, as she was in a state of
deep anguish.
One day,
soon after the funeral, Sister Wells was lying on her bed in a state of
mourning. The son appeared to her and said, "Mother, do not mourn, do not
cry. I am all right."
He then
related to her how the accident took place. Apparently there had been some
question--even suspicion--about the accident because the young man was an
experienced railroad man. But he told his mother that it was clearly an
accident.
Now note
this: He also told her that as soon as he realized that he was in another
sphere, he had tried to reach his father but could not. His father was so busy
with the details of his office and work that he could not respond to the
promptings. Therefore, the son had come to his mother.
He then
said, "Tell Father that all is well with me, and I want you not to mourn
any more." (See David O. McKay, Gospel Ideals, Salt Lake City:
Improvement Era, 1953, pp. 525-26.)
President McKay and President Lee used this experience to teach
that we must always be responsive to the whisperings of the Spirit. These
promptings most often come when we are not under the pressure of appointments
and when we are not caught up in the worries of day-to-day life. ("Seek
the Spirit of the Lord," Ensign, Apr. 1988, p. 2)
(Doctrine
and Covenants 35:20-21.) – Preparatory of the 2nd coming. Being qualified to see the Lord
20 And a
commandment I give unto thee—that thou shalt write for him; and the scriptures
shall be given, even as they are in mine own bosom, to the salvation of mine
own elect;
21 For they will hear my voice, and shall see
me, and shall not be asleep, and shall abide the day of my coming; for they
shall be purified, even as I am pure.
D&C
38-39 – Promised to be endowed with power from on high, necessary to abide the
2nd coming.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 67:1-3, 10) – Fear drives away faith; the promise is given to see. Several lacked faith in Joseph as the prophet
because of his weaknesses, (can’t this guy who claims to receive revelation
write them down?)
1 Behold
and hearken, O ye elders of my church, who have assembled yourselves together,
whose prayers I have heard, and whose hearts I know, and whose desires have
come up before me.
2 Behold
and lo, mine eyes are upon you, and the heavens and the earth are in mine
hands, and the riches of eternity are mine to give.
3 Ye
endeavored to believe that ye should receive the blessing which was offered
unto you; but behold, verily I say unto you there were fears in your hearts,
and verily this is the reason that ye did not receive.
10 And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and
a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that
inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble
yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be
rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither
natural mind, but with the spiritual.
D&C
76 – The beginning and end of the section, the Lord gives great promises to us.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 76:114-119.) + 76:5-10
114 But
great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom
which he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in
might, and in dominion;
115 Which
he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are
not lawful for man to utter;
116 Neither is man capable to make them known,
for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the Holy Spirit,
which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves before him;
117 To whom he grants this privilege of seeing
and knowing for themselves;
118 That
through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, they may
be able to bear his presence in the world of glory.
119 And to
God and the Lamb be glory, and honor, and dominion forever and ever. Amen.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 88:49-50, 63-68) – Read this in the Celestial room, we
symbolically just went through this in the endowment. When
we sanctify ourselves the Spirit will sanctify us and prepare us for this
event, which we are commanded to seek.
49 The
light shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not; nevertheless,
the day shall come when you shall comprehend even God, being quickened in him
and by him.
50 Then shall ye know that ye have seen me,
that I am, and that I am the true light that is in you, and that you are in me;
otherwise ye could not abound.
63 Draw
near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall
find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
64
Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you, that is
expedient for you;
65 And if
ye ask anything that is not expedient for you, it shall turn unto your
condemnation.
66 Behold,
that which you hear is as the voice of one crying in the wilderness—in the
wilderness, because you cannot see him—my voice, because my voice is Spirit; my
Spirit is truth; truth abideth and hath no end; and if it be in you it shall abound.
67 And if
your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light,
and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light
comprehendeth all things.
68 Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your
minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for
he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his
own way, and according to his own will.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 93:1.) – This is how we sanctify ourselves! The oneness of the Father and the Son, we pay
our tuition.
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every
soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my
face and know that I am;
Receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost, Sanctify ourselves then we get to the highest level
which is administered by Christ himself.
We become mature to receive the witness of the Father and the Son.
This
must be developed in every individual to come unto Christ. Remember the privilege!
Moving
from the Gift of the Holy Ghost to the witness of the 2nd Comforter
comes as we mature in the Spirit. Its
hard work!
The power of
the Holy Ghost then, is the spirit of prophecy and revelation; His office is
that of enlightenment of the mind, quickening of the intellect, and
sanctification of the soul.
The
Holy Ghost is paramount, not a sideshow. This is something we study daily it
should dominate our thoughts, not to think about every so often. Bruce shared his witness of what he taught us
is true. There is no teacher like the
Holy Ghost!
Must Make Every Sacrifice to Get the Gift of the Holy Ghost
Lorenzo
Snow
We should
sacrifice to obtain the Spirit. As Saints of God, elders of Israel, we should
be willing to devote time and labor, making every necessary sacrifice in order
to obtain the proper spiritual qualifications to be highly useful in our
several callings. And may the Lord inspire every heart with the importance of
these matters that we may seek diligently and energetically for the gifts and
powers promised in the gospel we have obeyed. (Teachings of Lorenzo Snow,
p.110)
How We
Withdraw Ourselves From
The Gift of the Holy Ghost
Joseph B. Wirthlin
The
consummate reward of integrity is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.
(See D&C 121:46.) The Holy Ghost does not attend us when we do evil. But
when we do what is right, he can dwell with us and guide us in all we do.
("Personal Integrity," Ensign, May 1990, p. 33)
David A. Bednar
In our
individual study and classroom instruction, we repeatedly emphasize the
importance of recognizing the inspiration and promptings we receive from the
Spirit of the Lord. And such an approach is correct and useful. We should seek
diligently to recognize and respond to promptings as they come to us. However,
an important aspect of baptism by the Spirit may frequently be overlooked in
our spiritual development.
We should
also endeavor to discern when we "withdraw [ourselves] from the Spirit of
the Lord, that it may have no place in [us] to guide [us] in wisdom's paths
that [we] may be blessed, prospered, and preserved" (Mosiah 2:36).
Precisely because the promised blessing is that we may always have
His Spirit to be with us, we should attend to and learn from the choices
and influences that separate us from the Holy Spirit.
The
standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from
the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that
thing. If that which is intended to entertain, for example, alienates us from
the Holy Spirit, then certainly that type of entertainment is not for us.
Because the Spirit cannot abide that which is vulgar, crude, or immodest, then clearly
such things are not for us. Because we estrange the Spirit of the Lord when we
engage in activities we know we should shun, then such things definitely are
not for us. ("That We May Always Have His Spirit To Be With Us," Ensign,
May, 2006, pp. pp. 29-30)
The Sacrament of the
Lord's Supper
Three Ordinances, One
Covenant
There neither is nor
can be any covenant greater than the covenant of salvation. "[To] be saved
in the
The gospel in its
everlasting fulness is the covenant of salvation; it is the everlasting
covenant or, more particularly, the new and everlasting covenant. It is the
covenant wherein God promises to save and exalt his children provided they
believe his word and keep his law. This gospel covenant is accepted by men in
the waters of baptism. In baptism we covenant to love and serve the Lord, to
keep his commandments, and to live as becometh saints. He in turn promises us
the companionship of the Holy Spirit beginning here and now and the wondrous
gift of eternal life in the kingdom of his Father in the realms ahead. Baptism
is thus the formal and divinely approved occasion when each penitent person
makes for himself the covenant of salvation.
Baptism is a
once-in-a-lifetime ordinance. We are baptized on one occasion only—for the
remission of our sins, for entrance into the earthly church, and for future
admission into the kingdom of heaven. After baptism, all men sin. None obey the
Lord's law in perfection; none remain clean and spotless and fit for the
association of Gods and angels. But in the goodness of God, provision is made
to renew and give continuing efficacy to our baptismal covenant. From Adam to
the death of the Lord Jesus, baptized persons were privileged to renew all of
the terms and conditions of their own personal covenant of baptism through the
performance of sacrificial offerings. And from the night before the crucifixion
until the Lord comes again, and thereafter as long at least as the earth shall
stand, baptized persons are privileged to renew their own personal covenant of
salvation by partaking worthily of the sacramental emblems.
Each of these
ordinances—baptism, sacrifice, and sacrament—is performed in similitude of the
atoning sacrifice by which salvation comes. Baptism is in similitude of the
death, burial, and resurrection of our Lord. Sacrifices were performed in
similitude of the coming sacrifice of the Lamb of God. The sacramental emblems
are eaten in remembrance of the broken flesh and spilt blood of Him who died on
Baptism, sacrifice,
and sacrament are thus members of the same family. They are offspring of the
same parents, are endowed with similar powers, and exert a like influence upon
the lives of men. They were conceived by the same father, and they came forth
from the same mother. They were then reared in the same household of faith, and
they received the same divine commission—to prepare repentant souls for
salvation.
Each is a separate
ordinance with its own distinctive types and shadows; each has its own
personality and does its own work in its own way. But no one of them acts
alone. In ancient days, those who were subject to the covenant of baptism were
then privileged to gain the blessings of sacrificial offerings. In the
so-called Christian era, the blessings of the sacrament are offered to baptized
persons. All three are ordinances of salvation, meaning they are essential to
salvation. Thus, those in ancient days who were baptized and who then offered
sacrifices were candidates for salvation and, in fact, could not be saved
without these two ordinances. And thus also those of us in the Christian era
who are baptized and who partake worthily of the sacramental emblems become
heirs of salvation and, in fact, cannot be saved without each of these ordinances.
Sacrificial
ordinances, designed as they were to point the attention of true believers
forward to the coming sacrifice of the Son of God, had an end when our Lord was
lifted up upon the cross. His atoning sacrifice, wrought by the shedding of his
own blood, ended the shedding of the blood of animals. The types and shadows of
a future sacrifice were no longer needed when the supreme sacrifice toward
which they pointed had been accomplished. Then it was that the sacramental
emblems taken in token of the broken flesh and spilt blood of the Eternal
Sacrificial Lamb, became the typifying symbols of the atoning sacrifice.
As animal sacrifice
was done away the sacrament was introduced. The ordinance of sacrifice bore its
last witness of the Lord when Jesus and the Twelve ate the Paschal Supper in an
Upper Room in old
The Doctrine of the Sacrament
What is the doctrine
of the sacrament of the Lord's Supper? What part does this holy ordinance play
in enabling the Lord's people to work out their salvation with fear and
trembling before him? What must we do to gain the glorious blessings promised
the faithful when they partake of the emblems of our Lord's death? Can we be
saved in the
1. The covenant of the sacrament.
When we partake of the
sacrament, we enter into a covenant with the Lord. The promises on our part
are: (1) to "always remember him"—we eat the broken bread in
remembrance of the body of Christ who was crucified for us, and we drink the
wine or water in remembrance of the blood of our Lord which was shed for us in
Gethsemane and on Calvary; (2) to witness unto the Father that we are willing
to take upon us the name of Christ and be numbered with his people; (3) to
witness unto the Father that we are willing to keep the commandments of Christ
that he has given us.
The promises on the
part of Deity are: (1) that we "may always have his Spirit to be
with" us (D&C 20:77-79); (2) that we shall have eternal life.
"Whoso eateth my flesh, and drinketh my blood, hath eternal life,"
Jesus said, "and I will raise him up at the last day." (John 6:54.)
2. The renewal of the covenant of baptism.
When we are baptized,
we covenant to come into the fold of Christ and be members of his church; to be
called his people and take upon ourselves his name; to bear the burdens, both
temporal and spiritual, of our fellow saints; to mourn with those who mourn; to
comfort those who stand in need of comfort; to offer the message of salvation
to our Father's other children; and to keep the commandments of God. The Lord
on his part promises us that he will "pour out his Spirit more abundantly
upon" us; that we will be numbered with those of the first resurrection;
and that we shall have eternal life. (Mosiah 18:8-10.) This is the identical
covenant made in the sacramental ordinance. That is to say, it becomes our
privilege every time we partake of the sacrament to receive anew the promises
and blessings first offered to us in baptism.
3. The sacrament—for church members.
Because the sacrament
is the ordinance in which we renew the covenant made in the waters of baptism,
it follows that it is an ordinance reserved for members of the church. Little
children who belong to the church partake of the sacrament in anticipation of
the covenant they will make when eight years of age. Thus Jesus instructed his
Nephite disciples: "Break bread and bless it and give it unto the people
of my church, unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my
name." With reference to administering the sacramental wine, he said:
"This shall ye always do to those who repent and are baptized in my
name."
A nonmember of the
church might properly attend a sacrament meeting without partaking of the
sacrament. The saints were commanded to pray for such a person, "and if it
so be that he repenteth and is baptized in my name," Jesus said,
"then shall ye receive him, and shall minister unto him of my flesh and
blood." (3 Nephi 18:5, 11, 30.) In our day the scriptural word attests:
"The elders or priests are to have a sufficient time to expound all
things" unto new converts "previous to their partaking of the
sacrament so that all things may be done in order." (D&C 20:68.)
4. The law of sacramental worthiness.
Blessings come as a
result of obedience. "When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by
obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:21.) It
is personal worthiness that qualifies us to receive the blessings and
ordinances of the gospel. Every ordinance must be ratified and sealed by the
Holy Spirit of Promise, or it will have no efficacy, virtue, or force in the
eternal worlds, for the Holy Spirit of Promise is shed forth upon those only
who are just and true. Thus we find
The worthiness to be
baptized and the worthiness to partake of the sacrament are one and the same.
Recipients of each of these ordinances must meet the same identical standards.
In each instance, penitent persons must "come forth with broken hearts and
contrite spirits, and witness before the church that they have truly repented
of all their sins, and are willing to take upon them the name of Jesus Christ,
having a determination to serve him to the end, and [they must] truly manifest
by their works that they have received of the Spirit of Christ unto the
remission of their sins." (D&C 20:37.) The preparation is the same for
each ordinance; the covenant is the same; and the rewards are the same.
Those who make a
mockery of sacred things not only fail to receive the promised blessings, but
also heap condemnation upon themselves for seeking in unworthiness that which
is reserved for those who are true and faithful. Thus we find Jesus commanding
the Nephites: "Ye shall not suffer any one knowingly to partake of my
flesh and blood unworthily, when ye shall minister it; for whoso eateth and
drinketh my flesh and blood unworthily eateth and drinketh damnation to his
soul; therefore if ye know that a man is unworthy to eat and drink of my flesh
and blood ye shall forbid him." Such a person, Jesus said, should be
labored with in the hope that he would repent and be baptized and become
worthy. (3 Nephi 18:28-30.) If a nonmember with no ill intent partakes of the
sacrament, it is in his case as though he had simply eaten bread and drunk wine
or water. He will be judged according to the intent of his heart.
Paul spoke similarly,
but with particular reference to unworthy members of the church. Of the
sacramental emblems he said: "As often as ye eat this bread, and drink
this cup, ye do shew the Lord's death till he come. Wherefore whosoever shall
eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord, unworthily, shall be guilty of
the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him
eat of that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh
unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's
body. For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep."
(1 Corinthians 11:26-30.)
5. The sacrament and the Spirit of the Lord.
Desire righteousness,
love the Lord, seek the Spirit—these are the Christian's goals. Paul calls upon
us to partake of "the fruit of the Spirit," to "live in the
Spirit," to "walk in the Spirit." (Galatians 5:22-25.) There is
no better counsel; there is no better way. Man can have no higher aim, no
greater goal; he can pursue no grander course than that of seeking the Spirit.
A Christian's whole purpose in life is to enjoy the companionship of the Holy
Spirit, for he knows that through such a course he will find peace in this
world and gain eternal life in the world to come.
What better provision
could the Lord have made in his eternal plan of salvation than to provide,
first, a baptism so that man might "be sanctified by the reception of the
Holy Ghost" (3 Nephi 27:20), and then, second, a sacrament so that all who
partake worthily might have the Spirit to be with them always? Is it any wonder
that all men are commanded to repent and be baptized, and that the saints are
commanded to meet together often to partake of the sacramental emblems and to
remember the Lord's death till he comes? Baptism and the sacrament, these two
holy ordinances above all others, are designed to enable and encourage men to
seek that Spirit without whose companionship they cannot be saved in the
When men eat the
sanctified bread and drink the sanctified water, they are entitled to be filled
with the Holy Spirit. Thus Jesus, speaking of eating the emblem of his broken
flesh, said to the Nephites: "This shall ye do in remembrance of my body,
which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that
ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my
Spirit to be with you." And thus Jesus, speaking of drinking the
emblem of his spilt blood, said to that same ancient people: "Ye shall do
it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness
unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember
me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you." (3 Nephi 18:7-11. Italics
added.)
And thus it is that we
receive a remission of our sins through baptism and through the sacrament. The
Spirit will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle, and when men receive the
Spirit, they become clean and pure and spotless.
6. False sacraments.
Just as there are
false churches whose gospels cannot save, just as there are false baptisms that
do not open the door to heaven, so there are false sacraments, sacraments that
are not of God, sacraments that do not assure men of the companionship of the
Spirit in this life nor of eternal life in the world to come. So important is
the sacrament to our salvation that it must be performed in the Lord's own way
and by his legal administrators, and in no other way and by no other professing
priests. After giving the true order of the sacrament to the Nephites, Jesus
said: "I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if
ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.
But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my
rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and
the floods come, and the winds blow, and beat upon them, they shall fall, and
the gates of hell are ready open to receive them." (3 Nephi 18:12-13.)
Paul, in even stronger
language, counseled the Corinthians to "flee from idolatry," a sin
that was creeping in among them because of their perversion of the ordinance of
the sacrament. "The cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
communion of the blood of Christ?" he asked. "The bread which we
break is it not the communion of the body of Christ?" He called upon the
saints in his day to be united in partaking of the true sacrament. "For we
being many are one bread, and one body," he said, "for we are all
partakers of that one bread." There cannot be two differing and true
systems of sacramental administration any more than there can be two approved
systems of sacrifice.
Paul continued by
comparing their sacramental aberrations with false sacrifices. "The things
which the Gentiles sacrifice they sacrifice to devils, and not to God," he
said, "and I would not that ye should have fellowship with devils."
His conclusion: "Ye cannot drink the cup of the Lord, and the cup of the
devils: ye cannot be partakers of the Lord's table, and of the table of
devils." (1 Corinthians 10:14-21.)
False sacrifices,
false sacraments—all false ordinances, for that matter—are not of God. True
saints do not want to drink from "the cup of the devils" nor to eat
the supposed emblems of our Lord's death at "the table of devils."
The Law of the Sabbath
The Sabbath is a day
of worship. It is the Lord's day, a day on which we renew our allegiance to
that Lord on whose errand we serve. On the Sabbath day we feed our spirits, we
feast upon the word of Christ, and we renew our covenants to serve him with all
our might, mind, and strength. The Sabbath is a day of rest from our temporal
pursuits, a day in which we do no servile work.
Man does not live by
bread alone. He must also take into his soul the word of God. Temporal bread
feeds the body, and the word of the Lord feeds the spirit. Body and spirit
together, when nourished and strengthened by the fruit of the earth and the
fruit from heaven, become the kind of eternal soul that attains salvation. Thus
the law of the Sabbath decrees: "Six days shalt thou labour, and do all
thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou
shalt not do any work." (Exodus 20:9-10.) The law of the Sabbath requires
that man labor in the fields of the earth, in the spirit of the gospel, for six
days so that his body may be fed, and that he then labor in the spirit on the
seventh day so that his spirit may be fed.
The Sabbath is the
leaven of life. Our conduct on all days is influenced by what we do on the
Lord's day. Ancient
The Sabbath is the day
appointed on which we should chart a course to eternal life. On it we partake
of the sacrament and make the covenant that enables us to have the Lord's
Spirit with us on all days and at all times. The course we must pursue to keep
this day holy is set forth for us in latter-day revelation. These words of revelation
set the tone for the day: "Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all
things." It is a day to praise God from whom all blessings flow. The
Lord's people are a thankful people, and he is pleased with those who recognize
his hand in all things.
"Thou shalt offer
a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness," the divine word
continues, "even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit." Those
whose hearts are broken and whose spirits are contrite are candidates for
salvation. It is with them as it was with their forebears in
"And that thou
mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world," the Lord
continues, "thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy
sacraments upon my holy day." Offer up thy sacraments! A sacrament is a
spiritual covenant between God and man. It is a personal covenant between each
man and his Maker, a pledge and promise on man's part to forsake personal sins,
knowing that if he does so he will be blessed by the Lord. When the saints
partake of the ordinance of the sacrament, they promise not simply to keep the
commandments in general, but also to serve and conform and obey where they as
individuals have fallen short in the past. Every man's sacraments are thus his
own; he alone knows his failures and sins, and he alone must overcome the world
and the flesh so that he can have fellowship with the saints.
"For verily this
[my holy day] is a day appointed unto you to rest from your labors, and to pay
thy devotions unto the Most High." Cease from servile work on the Sabbath;
rest as pertaining to temporal pursuits; do the Lord's work on the Lord's day.
Worship the Lord. "Nevertheless thy vows shall be offered up in
righteousness on all days and at all times." True worship goes on seven
days a week. Sacraments and vows and covenants of renewal ascend to heaven
daily in personal prayer. "But remember that on this, the Lord's day, thou
shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing
thy sins unto thy brethren, and before the Lord." Our oblations are our
offerings to the Lord; they are both temporal and spiritual. We pay our fast
offerings and make our means available for the furtherance of the Lord's work
on earth. Such offerings are temporal. But we also offer to the Lord a broken
heart and a contrite spirit. These offerings are spiritual, and when we make
them, it is accounted unto us as though we had put all things on the altar.
"On this day thou
shalt do none other thing, only let thy food be prepared with singleness of
heart that thy fasting may be perfect, or, in other words, that thy joy may be
full. Verily, this is fasting and prayer, or in other words, rejoicing and
prayer." Rejoice in the Lord on his holy day! Fast; pray; worship. Pay thy
devotions! It is the Lord's day; do thereon the things he wants done. He has
given us six days to do our own work. On the Lord's day we do the Lord's work.
Can we not labor one day for him, knowing that if we do we shall reap great
blessings in the fields of mortality? As it was anciently, so it is today: temporal
as well as spiritual blessings come to those who keep the Sabbath. "And
inasmuch as ye do these things with thanksgiving . . . the fulness of the earth
is yours." (D&C 59:7-16.) Such is the law of the Sabbath.
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 293.)
Partake Worthily of
the Sacrament
Baptism is for the
remission of sins; it is the ordinance, ordained of God, to cleanse a human
soul. Baptism is in water and of the Spirit and is preceded by repentance. The
actual cleansing of the soul comes when the Holy Ghost is received. The Holy
Ghost is a sanctifier whose divine commission is to burn dross and evil out of
a human soul as though by fire, thus giving rise to the expression baptism
of fire, which is the baptism of the Spirit. Forgiveness is assured when
the contrite soul receives the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit will not dwell
in an unclean tabernacle.
The sacrament of the
Lord's Supper is the ordinance, ordained of God, in which baptized saints are
privileged, repeatedly and often, to renew the covenant of baptism. Those who
partake worthily of the sacramental emblems, by so doing, covenant on their
part to remember the body of the Son of God who was crucified for them; to take
upon them his name, as they did in the waters of baptism; and to "always
remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may
always have his Spirit to be with them." (D&C 20:77.) Thus those who
partake worthily of the sacrament—and the same repentance and contrition and
desires for righteousness should precede the partaking of the sacrament as
precede baptism—all such receive the companionship of the Holy Spirit. Because
the Spirit will not dwell in an unclean tabernacle, they thus receive a
remission of their sins through the sacramental ordinance. Through this
ordinance the Lord puts a seal of approval upon them; they are renewed in
spirit and become new creatures of the Holy Ghost, even as they did at baptism;
they put off the old man of sin and put on Christ whose children they then are.
There are also
numerous other sacred occasions when the saints may get in tune with and
receive the sanctifying power of the Holy Spirit in their lives. The receipt of
this heaven-sent boon always attests that the recipient has forsaken the world
and is no longer encumbered by its wicked ways. One of these occasions may
attend a proper anointing and blessing of the sick. "Is any sick among
you?" James asks. "Let him call for the elders of the church; and let
them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and the
prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he
have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Confess your faults one to
another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed." (James
5:14-16.) If the Spirit of the Lord rests upon one who is being blessed by the
elders, in connection with this or any other ordinance, it automatically
follows that the one blessed receives a remission of his sins; otherwise the
Spirit would not be present. We do not want for occasions upon which sins may
be remitted. Our problem is one of so living that we are worthy to have the
companionship of the Spirit in our lives.
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 239.)
Articles of Faith #5-6
Authority in the Ministry
March 1, 2007
ARTICLE 5—We believe
that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands,
by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel and administer in the
ordinances thereof.
ARTICLE 6—We believe
in the same organization that existed in the
Ordination of Men to the Ministry
As sanctioned by
scriptural precedent and established by direct revelation of God's will, is to
be effected through the gift of prophecy and by the imposition of hands by
those who are in authority. By prophecy is meant the right to receive and the
power to interpret manifestations of the divine will. That the laying on of
hands is usual as a part of the ordinance is seen in several of the instances
already cited; nevertheless the scriptures record numerous ordinations to the
offices of the Priesthood without specific statement concerning the imposition
of hands or any other details. Such instances do not warrant the conclusion
that the laying on of hands was omitted; and in the light of modern revelation
it is clear that the imposition of hands was a usual accompaniment of
ordination as also of confirming blessings fn and of bestowing the Holy Ghost.
Authority/Thus, the
Holy Priesthood descended from Adam to Noah under the hands of the fathers. fn
Enos was ordained by the hand of Adam; and the same was true of Mahalaleel,
Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah. Lamech was ordained under the hand of Seth; Noah
received his authority under the hand of Methuselah. And so may the Holy
Priesthood be traced, bestowed as the spirit of prophecy directed, by the hand
of one upon another, till the time of Moses. Melchizedek, who conferred this
authority upon Abraham, received his own through the direct lineage of his
fathers from Noah. Esaias, a contemporary of Abraham, received his ordination
under the hand of God. Through the hand of Esaias, the authority passed to Gad,
thence by the same means to Jeremy, Elihu, Caleb, and Jethro the priest of
Midian under whose hand Moses was ordained. fn Joshua the son of Nun was set
apart as directed of God, through the imposition of hands by Moses. fn
Authority/In the days
of the apostles circumstances rendered it expedient to appoint special officers
in the Church, to care for the poor and attend to the distribution of supplies;
these were selected with care and were set apart through prayer and laying on
of hands. fn Timothy was similarly ordained, as witness the admonitions given
him by Paul: "Neglect not the gift that is in thee, which was given thee
by prophecy, with the laying on of the hands of the presbytery," fn and again,
"Stir up the gift of God, which is in thee by the putting on of my
hands." fn The Lord has bound Himself by covenant to acknowledge the acts
of His authorized servants. Unto whomsoever the elders of the Church give
promise after acceptable baptism, the Holy Ghost will come. fn Whatever the
Priesthood shall bind or loose on earth, in accordance with the Lord's
commands, is to be bound or loosed in heaven; fn the sick upon whom the elders
lay their hands are to recover; fn and many other signs are to follow them that
believe. So jealous is the Lord of the power to officiate in His name, that at
the judgment all who have aided or persecuted His servants are to be rewarded
or punished as if they had done those things unto Himself. fn 1
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
164.)
We
are called of God by inspiration.
Preexistence
= what does that mean? Premortality is a
better word.
FOREORDINATION AND
PREEXISTENCE
Foreordination—In an interview with
Abraham, the Lord revealed many things ordinarily withheld from mortals.
Concerning this the patriarch wrote: "Now the Lord had shown unto me,
Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among
all these there were many of the noble and great ones; And God saw these souls
that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I
will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw
that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast
chosen before thou wast born." fn This is one of the many scriptural
proofs that the spirits of mankind existed prior to their earthly probation—a
condition in which these intelligences lived and exercised their free agency
before they assumed bodily tabernacles. Thus the natures, dispositions, and
tendencies of men are known to the Father of their spirits, even before they
are born into mortality. The word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, telling him
that before he was conceived in the flesh he had been ordained to be a prophet
unto the nations. fn
Evidence is abundant
that Jesus Christ was chosen and ordained to be the Redeemer of the world, even
in the beginning. We read of His foremost position amongst the sons of God in
offering Himself as a sacrifice to carry into effect the will of the Father. He
it was, "Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the
world." fn
Paul taught the
doctrine of divine selection and preappointment thus: "For whom he did
foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son. * *
* Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called." fn And again:
"God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew." fn
Alma, the Nephite
prophet, spoke of the priests who had been ordained after the order of the Son,
and added: "And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being
called and prepared from the foundation of the world according to the
foreknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in
the first place being left to choose good or evil; therefore they having chosen
good, and exercising exceeding great faith, are called with a holy calling,
yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a
preparatory redemption for such." fn
Foreordination Does
Not Imply Compulsion—The
doctrine of absolute predestination, resulting in a nullification of man's free
agency, has been advocated with various modifications by different sects.
Nevertheless, such teachings are wholly unjustified by both the letter and the
spirit of sacred writ. God's foreknowledge concerning the natures and
capacities of His children enables Him to see the end of their earthly career
even from the first: "Known unto God are all his works from the beginning
of the world." fn Many people have been led to regard this foreknowledge
of God as a predestination whereby souls are designated for glory or
condemnation even before their birth in the flesh, and irrespective of
individual merit or demerit. This heretical doctrine seeks to rob Deity of
mercy, justice, and love; it would make God appear capricious and selfish,
directing and creating all things solely for His own glory, caring not for the
suffering of His victims. How dreadful, how inconsistent is such an idea of
God! It leads to the absurd conclusion that the mere knowledge of coming events
must act as a determining influence in bringing about those occurrences. God's
knowledge of spiritual and of human nature enables Him to conclude with
certainty as to the actions of any of His children under given conditions; yet
that knowledge is not of compelling force upon the creature. fn
Doubtless He knows of
some spirits that they await only the opportunity of choice between good and
evil to choose the latter and to accomplish their own destruction; these are
they as spoken of by Jude, "who were before of old ordained to this
condemnation." fn To avert the fate of such their free agency would have
to be taken away; they can be saved by force alone; and compulsion is forbidden
by the laws of heaven alike for salvation and condemnation. There are others
whose integrity and faithfulness have been demonstrated in their pristine
state; the Father knows how unreservedly they may be trusted, and many of them
are called even in their mortal youth to special and exalted labors as
commissioned servants of the Most High.
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
171.)
Study
priesthood organization, offices, keys etc.
Different
organizations in the Old Testament (Theocracy, God is king), Book of Mormon
(Not a good reference for priesthood organization), and in the New Testament,
then to our day
Book
of Mormon brings men to Christ
Doctrine
and Covenants bring men to Christ’s kingdom, meaning the organization is given
in our day
Religious Civil Warner’s
Priests
and Levites
Kings and Judges Prophets
48 Levitical cities Kings are God’s Teach
the Law
(They
failed in their duty) Representative
on earth They are here to warn
Abinadi, Samuel the Lamanite
King
Mosiah and Alma the Elder is an example of this. Great with righteous kings but terrible with
a wicked king (King Benjamin and King Noah)
Christ
organized a different system in the New Testament and a slightly different
system in our day, Ephesians 3-4.
Adam,
Melchizedek, and Abraham had a very different system then any of the above
organizations. What is needed to teach
the people and bring them to Christ is what was given as an organization.
This
is the last dispensation and the only one which will not be removed from the
earth.
(Doctrine and
Covenants Official Declaration—1.)
The Lord will never
permit me or any other man who stands as President of this Church to lead you astray.
It is not in the programme. It is not in the mind of God. If I were to attempt
that, the Lord would remove me out of my place, and so He will any other man
who attempts to lead the children of men astray from the oracles of God and
from their duty. (Sixty-first Semiannual General Conference of the Church,
Monday, October 6, 1890, Salt Lake City, Utah. Reported in
We
briefly discussed the Council of 50 – A civil authority to run the government
(Doctrine
and Covenants 65:1-6.) – Goes with Matthew 6, our organization will not fail
1 Hearken,
and lo, a voice as of one sent down from on high, who is mighty and powerful,
whose going forth is unto the ends of the earth, yea, whose voice is unto
men—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.
2 The keys
of the
3 Yea, a
voice crying—Prepare ye the way of the Lord, prepare ye the supper of the Lamb,
make ready for the Bridegroom.
4 Pray unto
the Lord, call upon his holy name, make known his wonderful works among the
people.
5 Call upon
the Lord, that his kingdom may go forth upon the earth, that the inhabitants
thereof may receive it, and be prepared for the days to come, in the which the
Son of Man shall come down in heaven, clothed in the brightness of his glory,
to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth.
6
Wherefore, may the kingdom of God go forth, that the kingdom of heaven may
come, that thou, O God, mayest be glorified in heaven so on earth, that thine
enemies may be subdued; for thine is the honor, power and glory, forever and
ever. Amen.
Council of Fifty
The Council of Fifty,
a council formed in Nauvoo in 1844, provided a pattern of political government
under priesthood and revelation. It was, to its members, the nucleus or focus
of God's latter-day kingdom.
Old Testament prophecy
speaks of a stone "cut out of the mountain without hands" that will
roll forth to fill the whole earth (Dan. 2:44-45). Joseph Smith and his
associates believed that the "little stone" represented in part a
political kingdom similar to the other kingdoms referred to by Daniel. Joseph
Smith taught that in this, the dispensation of the fulness of times, "all
things" would be set in place for Christ's return, including the basic
principles and organization for a system that would govern the earth during the
Millennium (JD 1:202-203; 2:189; 17:156-57).
On April 7, 1842,
Joseph Smith received a revelation giving the formal name of the "Living
Constitution"-or, as it came to be known by the number of its members, the
Council of Fifty-and indicating that the nucleus of a government of God would
be organized. Two years later, in the spring of 1844, after a small group of
faithful Church leaders and members had received their
Members of the council
understood its principles to be consistent with the ethics of scripture and
with the protections and responsibilities of the Constitution of the
The council had some
practical responsibilities for organizing Joseph Smith's presidential campaign
in 1844, the exodus from Nauvoo in 1845-1846 (see Westward Migration), and
early government in the
The council,
therefore, did not challenge existing systems of law and government (even in
Nauvoo), but functioned more as a private organization learning to operate in a
pluralistic society. Its exercise of actual political power was modest, but
provided a symbol of the future theocratic
After the westward
migration and the early pioneer period, the Council of Fifty largely
disappeared as a functioning body, except for a brief resurgence during John
Taylor's presidency when the Church again faced intense political challenges.
Still, the Saints found consolation in the belief that one day, when the Savior
returned, the Council of Fifty, or a council based on its principles, would
rise again to govern the world under the King of Kings.
Bibliography
Andrus, Hyrum L. Joseph
Smith and World Government.
Ehat, Andrew F.
"It Seems Like Heaven Began on Earth: Joseph Smith and the Constitution of
the
Hansen, Klaus J. Quest
for Empire.
Quinn, D. Michael.
"The Council of Fifty and Its Members, 1844 to 1945." BYU Studies
20 (Winter 1980):163-97.
KENNETH W. GODFREY
(Encyclopedia
of Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan,
1992), 326.)
We
had a discussion on the Sons of Levi
(Joseph
Smith-History: 69.)
69 Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah, I confer
the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and
of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of
sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth until the sons of Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in
righteousness.
(Joseph
Smith-History.)
"But, dear brother, think, further think for a moment, what
joy filled our hearts, and with what surprise we must have bowed, (for who
would not have bowed the knee for such a blessing?) when we received under his
hand the Holy Priesthood as he said, `Upon you my fellow-servants, in the name
of Messiah, I confer this Priesthood and this authority, which shall remain
upon earth, that the Sons of Levi
may yet offer an offering unto the Lord in righteousness!'
(Malachi
1:6-8.)-The offerings were not in accordance with the Law of Moses, the best
were not sacrificed to the Lord, they had a any lamb will do attitude.
6 ¶ A son
honoureth his father, and a servant his master: if then I be a
father, where is mine honour? and if I be a master, where is
my fear? saith the LORD of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise my name. And
ye say, Wherein have we despised thy name?
7 Ye offer
polluted bread upon mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted thee? In
that ye say, The table of the LORD is contemptible.
8 And if ye
offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame
and sick, is it not evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be
pleased with thee, or accept thy person? saith the LORD of hosts.
(Malachi
3:1-3.) – This is how Oliver remembers the words from John the Baptist
concerning the Sons of Levi
1 Behold, I
will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord,
whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the
covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
2 But who
may abide the day of his coming? and who shall stand when he appeareth? for he is
like a refiner's fire, and like fullers' soap:
3 And he
shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver: and he shall purify the
sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may offer unto the LORD an offering in righteousness.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 128:24.) – The priesthood is restored so whatever is asked of us
can be done, the ordinances can now be done in righteousness.
24 Behold,
the great day of the Lord is at hand; and who can abide the day of his coming,
and who can stand when he appeareth? For he is like a refiner's fire, and like
fuller's soap; and he shall sit as a refiner and purifier of silver, and he
shall purify the sons of Levi, and purge them as gold and silver, that they may
offer unto the Lord an offering in righteousness. Let us, therefore, as a
church and a people, and as Latter-day Saints, offer unto the Lord an offering
in righteousness; and let us present in
his holy temple, when it is finished, a book containing the records of our
dead, which shall be worthy of all acceptation.
We
can do what our ancestors couldn’t do, we are fulfilling Malachi’s prophesy, do
everything in righteousness (Home Teaching, temple work, etc.)
Purpose
of priesthood according to Article 5
Priesthood—Its Nature
and Power
The Doctrine of
Authority in the Ministry
Some truths are
self-evident. They shed forth the evidence of their own verity, and to state
them is to prove them. No proof is needed to show that man exists, that he
dwells on an earth, and that he will die in due course.
Some truths are so
obvious and their proof so universally evident that every rational being
accepts them the moment they come to his attention. No biblical scriptures need
be quoted, no textbooks need be studied, and no sermons need be preached to
convince men that the sun rises in the eastern sky, that birds fly in the
aerial heavens, and that fish swim in the waters of the world. Anyone who opens
his eyes and lets a glimmer of reason enter his mind automatically knows and
believes these things.
Such also is the case
with reference to authority in the ministry. There is no doctrine of the
gospel, no truth revealed from heaven, no eternal verity given of God to man
that is more self-evident than the fact that a man must be called and empowered
by the Lord in order to preach the gospel and administer in its ordinances.
It is self-evident and
axiomatic that man cannot create God, or salvation, or the gospel. Man cannot
resurrect himself, and he cannot raise himself unto eternal life. And man
cannot presume to be a true minister of salvation unless he is called of God,
unless he receives revelation so as to learn what he is to do and say, and
unless he holds the Holy Priesthood. "No man taketh this honour unto
himself," Paul said with reference to the power to perform in a priestly
capacity, "but he that is called of God, as was Aaron." Even the Lord
Jesus Christ, the very Son of God, "glorified not himself to be made an
high priest" (Hebrews 5:4-5), but was called of God to perform the
ministry to which he was appointed.
If there is a plan of
salvation, it can be known only by revelation. If the gospel is revealed to
men, it must come from God to prophets of God's own choosing. If Deity reveals
the ordinances of salvation, he must choose and authorize ministers to perform
them. If there are no prophets to whom the Lord speaks, then his gospel, his
mind and will, and his saving truths cannot be known. And if there are no legal
administrators to preach the true gospel, to regulate the earthly kingdom, and
to perform the saving ordinances, there will be no salvation. Thus Paul taught:
"Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."
Salvation comes from God and from him only. But: "How then shall they call
on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of
whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher? And how
shall they preach, except they be sent?" True ministers must be called and
empowered from on high. "So then faith cometh by hearing" the word of
truth as it is taught by the power of the Spirit, "and hearing [comes] by
the word of God." (Romans 10:13-17.) The word goes forth by those who are
called of God and to whom he gives the revelations of his mind and will.
Thus, to understand
the doctrine of authority in the ministry, men must accept and believe the
following verities:
1. There is a God in
heaven whose powers and authority are infinite. He is the author and creator of
salvation, and he has offered salvation to men on his own terms and on no
others.
2. The Lord's house is
a house of order. He has given a law unto all things, and all blessings come by
obedience to those laws upon which their receipt is predicated.
3. Salvation is
available to men through the gospel. The gospel is, in fact, the plan of
salvation, and in it are set forth the terms and conditions upon which God
offers salvation to men.
4. Deity calls his own
prophets, his own ministers, and his own legal administrators to preach his
gospel and to administer the affairs of his earthly kingdom, all so that
salvation may be made available to his earthly children.
What then is the
doctrine of authority in the ministry? And how does it apply to men? Nowhere in
all the scriptures is the doctrine set forth in such perfection as in these
words of the Lord to his latter-day prophet: "All covenants, contracts,
bonds, obligations, oaths, vows, performances, connections, associations, or
expectations, that are not made and entered into and sealed by the Holy Spirit
of promise, of him who is anointed, both as well for time and for all eternity,
and that too most holy, by revelation and commandment through the medium of
mine anointed, whom I have appointed on the earth to hold this power, . . . are
of no efficacy, virtue, or force in and after the resurrection from the dead;
for all contracts that are not made unto this end have an end when men are
dead."
Men can do what they
please and make any assumptions they like as to the validity of any of their
acts in this life. But as the Lord lives, nothing they do will endure in heaven
unless it meets the divine standard here set forth. It must be done in
righteousness; it must be approved by the Spirit; and it must be performed and
sealed by a legal administrator.
"Behold, mine
house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of
confusion." (D&C 132:7-8.) Is it rational to suppose that doctrines of
every varying sort and ordinances of every conflicting kind, and that churches
which are at war with each other, are all part of the Lord's house of order?
"Is Christ divided?" (1 Corinthians 1:13.) "Will I accept of an
offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name?" Has he appointed
the worship of those who do not even approach the Father in his name? "Or
will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed?" Has he
appointed infant baptism, or the ritualistic maze of the mass, or marriages
that couple divorce at death with wedlock for life? "And will I appoint
unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my Father ordained
unto you, before the world was?" Can man create his own religion, his own
power to preach, his own salvation?
To those into whose souls
the light of heaven, rising as the sun in the firmament, has begun to gleam,
the answers are self-evident and axiomatic. "I am the Lord thy God,"
cries the Divine Voice, "and I give unto you this commandment—that no man
shall come unto the Father but by me or by my word, which is my law."
There is no other way. "And everything that is in the world"—there
are no exceptions—"whether it be ordained of men, by thrones, or
principalities, or powers, or things of name, whatsoever they may be, that are
not by me or by my word, saith the Lord, shall be thrown down and shall not
remain after men are dead, neither in nor after the resurrection, saith the
Lord your God."
By me or by my word!
Either the Lord must do it personally or he must appoint a legal administrator
to stand in his place and stead; otherwise the deed will be as the nothingness
of dust in the day of judgment. "For whatsoever things remain are by me;
and whatsoever things are not by me shall be shaken and destroyed."
(D&C 132:9-14.)
All men are bound to
find true ministers who preach the true gospel and who have power to perform
the true ordinances of salvation so they will be binding on earth and in
heaven. Such is the Lord's way, and he has no other.
Priesthood and Keys—Their Nature and Eternity
Authority in the
ministry! The right and power to speak for the Lord, to state what he wants
stated, to say what he would say if he personally were here! Divine power, the
power to perform the ordinances of salvation, the power to bind on earth and
have it sealed everlastingly in the heavens! Without all these things, there is
no true gospel, no divine church, no salvation for fallen man.
Authority in the
ministry means men must hold the priesthood, for that is the name of the
authority of God himself. If men hold the holy priesthood, they are the Lord's
agents. As agents, they are authorized to represent the Eternal Principal,
saying and doing, with delegated authority, what he would say and do in his own
person under the same circumstances. If men do not hold the priesthood, and yet
assume to preach the gospel and administer its ordinances, they are false
agents, false teachers, false ministers. Their acts are not binding upon the
Eternal Principal, for he neither employed them in his business nor sent them
forth on his errand.
Of his truly appointed
ministers, the Lord says: "As ye are agents, ye are on the Lord's errand;
and whatever ye do according to the will of the Lord is the Lord's
business." (D&C 64:29.) But those whom he has not called are not
engaged in "the Lord's business." Any promises they make are not
binding upon him, and the ordinances they perform have no efficacy, virtue, or
force in and after the resurrection from the dead.
Priesthood—without
which no man can represent the Lord; without which no man can be a true
minister; without which no man can bind on earth and seal in heaven—priesthood
is the very power of God himself. In the broadest sense, priesthood and faith,
the two welded together as one, constitute the power by which the worlds were
and are and everlastingly shall be made. Through the priesthood, the sidereal
heavens were framed. By this power, worlds without number have been created,
peopled, and redeemed. By it, all the eternal purposes of the Almighty are
accomplished. "The Priesthood is an everlasting principle," the
Prophet Joseph Smith said, and has "existed with God from eternity, and
will to eternity, without beginning of days or end of years." (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 157.)
As pertaining to this mortal
sphere, priesthood is the power and authority of God, delegated to men on
earth, to act in all things for the salvation of men. It is the same power held
by the noble and great spirits before the foundations of this world were laid.
It is the same power carried into the spirit world by the faithful elders when
they depart this life. It is the same power the redeemed of the Lord will
possess when they rise in glorious immortality and enter into their exaltation,
when, reigning from eternal thrones, they will exercise this supreme power
forever.
The keys of the
priesthood are the right and power of presidency. They are the directing,
controlling, and governing power. Those who hold them are empowered to direct
the manner in which others use their priesthood. Every ministerial act
performed by a priesthood holder must be done at the proper time and place and
in the proper way. The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of
the priesthood. Every elder, for instance, has the power to baptize, but no
elder can use this power unless he is authorized to do so by someone holding
the keys.
The keys of the
kingdom are the power, right, and authority to preside over the
There were priesthood
holders in preexistence; there are many who have held and do hold priestly
powers in this probationary estate; and exalted beings will rule with this
divine power to all eternity. "The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he
obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to
generation," the Prophet said. "He obtained it in the Creation,
before the world was formed." (Teachings, p. 157.) Certainly this
was also true of the other noble and great ones. Those who sided with Christ
and Adam and who joined with them in taking of the materials that existed and
in making an earth—certainly they all acted in the power and authority of the
same priesthood held by Jehovah and Michael.
Then, as a mortal and
after his baptism, Adam again received the priesthood. Upon its receipt he was
told by the Lord: "Thou art after the order of him who was without
beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity. Behold,
thou art one in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my sons." (Moses
6:67-68.)
"Christ is the
Great High Priest; Adam next." (Teachings, p. 158.) These two set
the pattern; they are the great prototypes. They held the priesthood before the
world was, again in mortality, and now in immortal glory. Each of them, as a
mortal, performed his foreordained labors. And so should it be with all of the
Lord's ministers, with reference to whose foreordination in preexistence and
reordination in mortality the Prophet said: "Every man who has a calling
to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose
in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was." (Teachings,
p. 365.) And, be it noted, every holder of the priesthood has a calling to
minister, in one way or another, to the inhabitants of the earth.
As to the priesthood
received by Adam, the scripture says: "Now this same Priesthood, which was
in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also." (Moses 6:7.)
From Adam it went to Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah,
Lamech, and Noah, the great patriarchs who lived before the flood, and to all
of the brethren in their days who were righteous. (D&C 107:41-52.) After
the flood, the spiritual giants who bore with honor the holy priesthood
included Shem and his descendants; Melchizedek, who conferred it upon Abraham;
and Esaias, Gad, Jeremy, Elihu, Caleb, and Jethro, under whose hands it was given
to Moses. (D&C 84:6-16.)
Abraham received a
promise that his seed, the literal seed of his body, should have a right to the
priesthood through all their generations. (Abraham 2:8-11.) There were at many
times, and may have been at all times, prophets in
Jesus and his apostles
and hosts of believers in their day were all priests after this higher order,
which Peter called "a royal priesthood." (1 Peter 2:5-9.) But with
the martyrdom of the apostles, save John only, the keys of the kingdom were
taken from mortals. The priesthood could no longer be conferred upon men, and
the long night of apostate darkness fell upon the earth. During that day, only
translated beings held the priesthood, and it so continued until those arose
whose right it was by lineage to claim the holy order again in the day of
restoration. (D&C 86:8-11.)
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1985], 305.)
The
work is going on both sides of the veil, there is communication between both
sides, which is one reason meetings are held in temples. There is a connection between the 2 kingdoms;
coordination takes place between the 2.
I am grateful beyond
my power of expression for the faith and prayers of the people and for the
blessings of the Lord in my behalf. For two and one-half years I have been
gaining a little since I became ill. I have been home since that illness overtook
me a little longer than two years, and when people have asked me how I am, I
have said, "Better than I was yesterday," and this is really true-I
have been gaining a little all the time. To begin with I could not move my left
leg or my left arm. The doctors said it was not a paralytic stroke, but it must
have been at least a second cousin to it. I could walk upstairs only one step
at a time and drag my left leg up. Now, I can walk up and down stairs. I can
walk across the floor without scraping my foot on the carpet; I can throw my
left leg over my right one with perfect ease, and back again; my improvement is
very remarkable considering the condition I was in, and I attribute it to the
prayers of the Saints in my behalf. I am grateful to them beyond expression and
I am grateful to the doctors who have so very kindly taken care of me in
I have decided to tell
in detail one or two very remarkable things that have happened in my life.
I was made one of the
apostles in October, 1882. On the 6th of October, 1882, I met Brother George
Teasdale at the south gate of the temple. His face lit up, and he said:
"Brother Grant, you and I"-very enthusiastically-and then he
commenced
coughing and choking,
and went on into meeting and did not finish his sentence. It came to me as
plainly as though he had said the words: "Are going to be chosen this
afternoon to fill the vacancies in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles."
I went to the meeting
and my head swelled, and I thought to myself, "Well, I am going to be one
of the apostles," and I was willing to vote for myself, but the conference
adjourned without anyone being chosen.
Ten days later I
received a telegram saying, "You must be in
"Never
mind," he said; "it was not I who sent for you; it was Brother Lyman.
He told me to send the telegram and sign my name to it. He told me to come and
meet you and take you to the President's office. That is all I know."
So I went to the
President's office, and there sat Brother Teasdale, and all of the ten Apostles, and the Presidency of the Church,
and also
Brother Teasdale was blessed by President John Taylor,
and George Q. Cannon blessed me.
After the meeting I
said to Brother Teasdale, "I know what you were going to say to me on the
sixth of October when you happened to choke half to death and then went into
the meeting."
"Yes, I do,"
and I repeated it: "You and I are going to be called to the
apostleship."
He said, "Well,
that is what I was going to say, and then it occurred to me that I had no right
to tell it, that I had received a manifestation from the Lord." He said,
"Heber, I have suffered the tortures of the damned for ten days, thinking
I could not tell the difference between a manifestation from the Lord and one
from the devil, that the devil had deceived me."
I said, "I have
not suffered like that, but I never prayed so hard in my life for anything as I
did that the Lord would forgive me for the egotism of thinking that I was fit
to be an apostle, and that I was ready to go into that meeting ten days ago and
vote for myself to be an apostle."
I was a very unhappy
man from October until February. For the next four months whenever I would bear
my testimony of the divinity of the Savior, there seemed to be a voice that
would say: "You lie, because you have never seen Him." One of the
brethren had made the remark that unless a man had seen the Lamb of God-that
was his expression-he was not fit to be an apostle. This feeling that I have
mentioned would follow me. I would wake up in the night with the impression:
"You do not know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, because you
have never seen Him," and the same feeling would come to me when I would
preach and bear testimony. It worried me from October until the following
February.
I was in
We were going due east
when the road changed and went almost north, but there was a trail ahead of us,
and I said, "Hold on,
I said, "Brother
Smith, where does this trail lead?"
He said, "It
leads to a great gully just a short distance away, and no team can possibly
travel over it. We have to make a regular mule shoe of a ride to get to the
other side of the gully'"
I said, "Is there
any danger from Indians if a man were alone over there?" "None at
all."
I said: "I
visited the spot yesterday where George A. Smith, Jr., was killed by a Navajo
Indian, who asked him for his pistol and then shot him with it, and I feel a
little nervous, but if there is no danger I want to be all alone, so you go on
with the party and I will take that trail."
I had this feeling
that I ought not to testify any more about the Savior and that; really, I was
not fit to be an apostle. It seemed overwhelming to me that I should be one.
There was a spirit that said: "If you have not seen the Savior, why don't
you resign your position?"
As I rode along alone, I seemed to see a council in
heaven. The Savior was there; the Prophet Joseph was there; my father and
others that I knew were there. In this council it seemed that they decided that
a mistake had been made in not filling the vacancies in the Quorum of the
Twelve, and conference had adjourned. The chances were the Brethren would wait
another six months, and the way to remedy the situation was to send a
revelation naming the men who should fill the vacancies. In this council the Prophet
said, "I want to be represented by one of my own in that Council."
A little while before this I had attended the funeral of
Brother Snedeker; a counselor in the bishopric of Mill Creek Ward, and Brother
Joseph E. Taylor spoke at the services. In his remarks he became very pathetic
to think that the Prophet had given his life for the Cause and that he had no
representative in the quorums of the Priesthood of the Church. He was followed
by Brother Joseph F. Smith, and Brother Smith said: "'We believe the Bible
to be the word of God as far as it is translated correctly,' and I believe it
is translated correctly when it says that if a man die his brother shall marry
his widow and raise up seed to the dead man, and I need to take only two steps
from where I am standing now to place my hand on the shoulder of a man who is
one of the Twelve Apostles of the Church, who is a son of the Prophet
Joseph," and he pointed directly at me.
It made a very profound impression upon me, and I
wondered if I should tell the people about it. I had always understood and
known that my mother was sealed to the Prophet, and that Brigham Young had told
my father that he would not marry my mother to him for eternity, because he had
instructions from the Prophet that if anything happened to him before he was
married to Rachel Ivins she must be sealed to him for eternity, that she
belonged to him.
That is the reason that Father spoke up in this council
to which I have referred, and said: "Why not choose the boy who bears my
name, who belongs to you, to be one of the apostles?" That inspiration was
given to me.
I can truthfully say
that from February, 1883, until today I have never had any of that trouble, and
I Can bear my testimony that I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ,
the Savior of the world and that Joseph Smith is a l prophet of the living God;
and the evil one does not try to persuade me that I do not know what I am
talking about. I have never had one slight impression to the contrary. I have
just had real, genuine joy and satisfaction in proclaiming the gospel and
bearing my testimony of the divinity of Jesus Christ, and the divine calling of
Joseph Smith, the prophet.
Now, brethren, I could
go on dictating by the hour, there are so many things that have happened in my
life that I would like to tell you.
I once more thank the
Saints for their faith and for their prayers, and for the strength that I have
today in comparison with two and one-half years ago.
May God's blessings be
and abide with you, one and all, and all the Saints and all the honest people
the world over, is the prayer of my heart, even so. Amen.
He
didn’t think of himself as a spiritual man, but he was extremely dedicated to
the building up of the kingdom here on earth.
Opening Address – In
the Presence of the Divine
Former Church leaders,
now in spirit world, still deeply interested in our welfare.--Their presence
and influence, and that of other heavenly beings, felt here.--God an
individual, not personally omnipresent--His power and knowledge embraces all
creation--Obedience to the Gospel imparts a knowledge of God, which insures
eternal life--The necessary Divine authority restored in this age--Special
ministry of the Twelve Apostles--The Saints should be exponents and exemplars
of righteousness--Fourteen years summary of Church finances.
I shall need the
assistance of the Good Spirit and the good feeling and faith and sympathy of my
brethren and sisters this morning in an endeavor to speak to you for a short
time. I hope it will be a short time, too, for at present I do not feel nor
design to occupy very much of the time. I could not express my gratitude with
language in my possession, which I feel this morning in being permitted, under
the mercies of the Father of us all, to be present with you and behold the
sight that I see in the assembled multitudes gathered here in the opening
session of this conference, on the Eighty-sixth anniversary of the organization
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I feel sure that the
Prophet Joseph Smith and his associates, who, under the guidance and
inspiration of the Almighty, and by His power, began this latter-day work,
would rejoice and do rejoice.--I was going to say if they were permitted to
look down upon the scene that I behold in this tabernacle, but I believe they
do have the privilege of looking down upon us just as the all-seeing eye of God
beholds every part of His handiwork. For I believe that those who have been
chosen in this dispensation and in former dispensations, to lay the foundation
of God's work in the midst of the children of men, for their salvation and
exaltation, will not be deprived in the spirit world from looking down upon the
results of their own labors, efforts and mission assigned them by the wisdom
and purpose of God, to help to redeem and to reclaim the children of the Father
from their sins. So I feel quite confident that the eye of Joseph, the Prophet,
and of the martyrs of this dispensation, and of Brigham and John and Wilford,
and those faithful men who were associated with them in their ministry upon the
earth, are carefully guarding the interests of the Kingdom of God in which they
labored and for which they strove during their mortal lives. I believe they are
as deeply interested in our welfare today, if not with greater capacity, with
far more interest behind the veil, than they were in the flesh. I believe they
know more; I believe their minds have expanded beyond their comprehension in
mortal life, and their interests are enlarged and expanded in the work of the
Lord to which they gave their lives and their best service. Although some may
feel and think that it is a little extreme to take this view, yet I believe
that it is true; and I have a feeling in my heart that I stand in the presence
not only of the Father and of the Son, but in the presence of those whom God
commissioned, raised up and inspired to lay the foundations of the work in
which we are engaged. Accompanying that sense or feeling, I am impressed with
the thought that I would not this moment say or do one thing that would be
taken as unwise or imprudent, or that would give offense to any of my former
associates and co-laborers in the work of the Lord.
I would not like to
say one thing, or express a thought that would grieve the heart of Joseph, or
of Brigham, or of John, or of Wilford, or Lorenzo, or any of their faithful
associates in the ministry. Sometimes
the Lord expands our vision from this point of view and this side of the veil
that we feel and seem to realize that we can look beyond the thin veil which
separates us from that other sphere. If we can see by the enlightening
influence of the Spirit of God and through the words that have been spoken by
the holy prophets of God, beyond the veil that separates us from the spirit
world, surely those who have passed beyond, can see more clearly through the
veil back here to us than it is possible for us to see to them from our sphere
of action. I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly
messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. We begin to
realize more and more fully, as we become acquainted with the principles of the
Gospel, as they have been revealed anew in this dispensation, that we are
closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends and associates
and co-laborers who have preceded us into the spirit world. We cannot forget
them; we do not cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in
memory, and thus we are associated and united to them by ties that we can not
break, that we can not dissolve or free ourselves from. If this is the case
with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses,
shortsightedness, lack of inspiration and wisdom from time to time, how much
more certain it is and reasonable and consistent to believe that those who have
been faithful, who have gone beyond and are still engaged in the work for the
salvation of the souls of men, the opening of the prison doors to them that are
bound and proclaiming liberty to the captives who can see us better than we can
see them; that they know us better than we know them. They have advanced; we
are advancing; we are growing as they have grown; we are reaching the goal that
they have attained unto; and therefore, I claim that we live in their presence,
they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than
ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; they can comprehend better
than ever before, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead us into dark and forbidden
paths. They see the temptations and the evils that beset us in life and the
proneness of mortal beings to yield to temptation and to wrong doing; hence
their solicitude for us and their love for us and their desire for our well
being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves. I thank God
for the feeling that I possess and enjoy and for the realization that I have,
that I stand, not only in the presence of Almighty God, my Maker and Father,
but in the presence of His Only Begotten Son in the flesh, the Savior of the
world; and I stand in the presence of Peter and James, (and perhaps the eyes of
John are also upon us and we know it not); and that I stand also in the
presence of Joseph and Hyrum and Brigham and John, and those who have been valiant
in the testimony of Jesus Christ and faithful to their mission in the world,
who have gone before. When I go I want to have the privilege of meeting them
with the consciousness that I have followed their example, that I have carried
out the mission in which they were engaged as they would have it carried out;
that I have been as faithful in the discharge of duty committed to me and
required at my hand as they were faithful in their time, and that when I meet
them I shall meet them as I met them here, in love, in harmony, in unison and
in perfect confidence that I have done my duty as they have done theirs.
I hope you will
forgive me for my emotion. You would have peculiar emotions, would you not, if
you felt that you stood in the presence of your Father, in the very presence of
Almighty God, in the very presence of the Son of God and of holy angels? You
would feel rather emotional, rather sensitive. I feel it to the very depths of
my soul this moment. So I hope you will forgive me, if I exhibit some of my
real feelings. I am only a child, I am only learning, and I hope I shall not be
ever learning and never come to the knowledge of the truth. I sincerely hope
that as I learn little by little, line upon line and precept upon precept, here
a little and there a little, day by day, and month by month, and year by year,
that there will come a time when I shall have learned indeed the truth and
shall know it as God knows it and be saved and exalted in His presence. Now, my
mission, my duty, from the days of my childhood, has been to proclaim the
Gospel of Jesus Christ as the power of God unto salvation, Unto all who will
receive and obey it. It is my duty to proclaim to my brethren, to the household
of faith, as well as to the world, when opportunity presents, that I believe in
the living God, the Father of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, who begot His
Son, his only begotten in the flesh, and that Son grew from His birth unto His
manhood and developed into the very image and likeness of His Father, insomuch that
He declared on one occasion that "he that hath seen me, hath seen the
Father." I do not believe in the doctrines held by some that God is only a
spirit and that He is of such a nature that He fills the immensity of space,
and is everywhere present in person or without person, for I can not conceive
it possible that God could be a person if He filled the immensity of space and
was everywhere present at the same time. It is a physical, a theological, an
unreasonable, inconsistency to imagine that even God the Eternal Father would
be in two places, as an individual, at the same moment. It is impossible. But
His power extends throughout the immensity of space, His power extends to all
His creations, and His knowledge comprehends them all, and He governs them all
and He knows all. It is a scriptural truth that this is life eternal to know
the only true and living God and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent. I believe
that the Latter-day Saints, through the teachings of the scriptures and through
the revelations that have come to them by the voice of the Prophet Joseph
Smith, are able to learn the true and living God and know Him and also His Son
whom He has sent into the world, whom to know is life eternal. Not simply the
knowledge of it but having that knowledge we are inclined and determined to
observe His precepts, obey His laws, be submissive to His requirements in every
particular and accept every ordinance of the house of God and of the Gospel of
Jesus Christ that has been devised by the will of the Father for the
qualification of His children in the earth to return into His presence. And he
that knoweth God and Jesus Christ, whom to know is life eternal, will verify
that knowledge by ample and continuous and faithful obedience to every
requirement that God makes of His children, and therein consists the salvation
and the gift of eternal life. The devil knows the Father much better than we.
Lucifer, the son of the morning, knows Jesus Christ, the Son of God, much
better than we, but in him it is not and will not redound to eternal life; for
knowing, he yet rebels; knowing he yet is disobedient; he will not receive the
truth; he will not abide in the truth; hence he is Perdition, and there is no
salvation for him. The same doctrine applies to me and to you and to all the
sons and daughters of God who have judgment and knowledge and are able to
reason between cause and effect, and determine the right from the wrong and the
good from the evil and who are capable of seeing the light and distinguishing
it from the darkness. Then this is the Gospel of Jesus Christ, to know the only
true and living God and His Son whom He has sent into the world, which
knowledge comes through obedience to all His commandments, faith, repentance of
sin, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins, the gift of the Holy Ghost
by the laying on of hands by divine authority, and not by the will of man. This
then is the Gospel of Jesus Christ which is the power of God unto salvation;
obedience to the truth, submission to the order that God has established in His
house, for the house of God is a house of order and not a house of confusion.
God has set in His Church apostles and prophets and evangelists and pastors and
teachers whose duty is to administer to the people, to teach, instruct, expound,
exhort, admonish and lead in the path of righteousness. The people who are
associated in this organization, must harken to the voice of him who has divine
authority to guide and direct and counsel in the midst of
Now we all need
patience, forbearance, forgiveness, humility, charity, love unfeigned, devotion
to the truth, abhorrence of sin and wickedness, rebellion and disobedience to
the requirements of the Gospel. These are the qualifications requisite to
Latter-day Saints and to becoming Latter-day Saints and members in good
standing in the Church of Jesus Christ and heirs of God and joint heirs with
Jesus Christ. No member in good standing in the Church will be drunken or
riotous or profane or will take advantage of his brother or his neighbor or
will violate the principles of virtue and honor and righteousness. No member of
the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in good standing will ever be
chargeable with such offenses as these because they will avoid these evils and
they will live above them. Then we have a mission in the world, each man, each
woman, each child, who has grown to understanding or to the years of
accountability, ought to be examples to the world, ought, not only to be
qualified to preach the truth, to bear testimony of the truth, but they ought
to live so that the very life they live, the very words they speak, their every
action m life, will be a sermon to the unwary and to the ignorant, teaching
them goodness, purity, uprightness, faith in God and love for the human family.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 138:57.) – The righteous are taken to another assignment when
they are needed.
57 I beheld that the faithful elders of this dispensation, when
they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the preaching of the
gospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten
Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the
great world of the spirits of the dead.
WHEN MEN ARE CALLED TO
THE OTHER SIDE Perhaps
I may be permitted to relate a circumstance with which I am acquainted in
relation to Bishop Roskelley, of
On one occasion he was
suddenly taken very sick-near to death's door. While he lay in this condition,
President Peter Maughan, who was dead, came to him and said: "Brother Roskelley,
we held a council on the other side of the veil. I have had a great deal to do,
and I have the privilege of coming here to appoint one man to come and help. I
have had three names given to me in council, and you are one of them. I want to
inquire into your circumstances.
The Bishop told him
what he had to do, and they conversed together as one man would converse with
another. President Maughan then said to him: "I think I will not call you.
I think you are wanted here more than perhaps one of the others."
Bishop Roskelley got
well from that hour. Very soon after, the second man was taken sick, but not
being able to exercise sufficient faith, Brother Roskelley did not go to him.
By and by this man recovered, and on meeting Brother Roskelley, he said:
"brother Maughan came to me the other night and told me he was sent to
call one man from the ward," and he named two men as had been done to
Brother Roskelley. A few days afterwards the third man was taken sick and died.
Now, I name this to
show a principle. They have work on the other side of the veil; and they want
men, and they call them. And that was my view in regards to Brother George A.
Smith. When he was almost at death's door, Brother Cannon administered to him,
and in thirty minutes he was up and ate breakfast with his family. We labored
with him in this way, but ultimately, as you know, he died. But it taught me a
lesson. I felt that man was wanted behind the veil. We labored also with
Brother Pratt; but he, too, was wanted behind the veil.—JD 22:334, October 8,
1881.
PASSING OF A. H.
CANNON We
lost one of our apostles a short time since. He was about the youngest man in
the quorum of the apostles. He was suddenly called away from us. There is a
meaning to this. Many times things take place with us that we do not
comprehend, unless it is given to us by revelation. But there is a meaning in
the loss of that young apostle. I had a manifestation of that while in
One evening, as I fell
asleep, I was very much troubled with evil spirits that tried to afflict me;
and while laboring to throw off these spirits and their influence, there was
another spirit visited me that seemed to have power over the evil spirits, and
they departed from me. Before he left me he told me not to grieve because of
the departure of Abraham Hoagland Cannon; for the Lord had called him to fill
another important mission in the spirit world, as a pure and holy apostle from
Zion in the Rocky Mountains-a labor which would not only prove a great benefit
to his father's household, but to the Church and kingdom of God on the earth. I
feel to name this, because it is true. I have become acquainted with many
things in our history that I have marveled at. While in the St. George temple I
had a son, who was in the north country, drowned. He had a warning of this. In
a dream he was notified how he would die. We had testimony of that after his
death. I asked the Lord why he was taken from me. The answer to me was,
"You are doing a great deal for the redemption of your dead; but the law
of redemption requires some of your own seed in the spirit world to attend to
work connected with this." That was a new principle to me; but it
satisfied me why he was taken away. I name this, because there are a great many
instances like it among the Latter-day Saints. This was the case with Brother
Abraham Cannon. He was taken away to fulfil that mission. And where we have
anything of this kind, we should leave it in the hands of God to reconcile.—MS
58:742, October 4, 1896
(Wilford
Woodruff, The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, edited by G. Homer Durham
[Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969], 290.)
A man must be called
by prophesy, whether here or there, the revelation comes and they are very
concerned and involved in what happens here.
Unauthorized
use of the priesthood has no power to save a soul; there isn’t power to perform
saving ordinances. They may spread the
good news of Christ, but have no authority to bring one soul unto Him.
We
get access to the
Ordinances
are for the Celestial kingdom, how can someone be saved in the other kingdoms?
Let
the Lord handle His kingdom, don’t steady the ark, let the keys operate as the
Lord directs.
Keys
are given to the calling, like a released Bishop, he still has the office but
the keys are gone to the next Bishop.
If
all of the apostles were killed all priesthood keys and authority would be
gone. A Stake President or a Bishop
would have no authority to act. Only one
(the Prophet) holds all of the keys at one time that are active, the other apostle’s
keys are inactive.
Teachings Concerning
Priesthood Keys
What is the Purpose of Priesthood?
Wilford
Woodruff
What is
the priesthood for? It is to administer the ordinances of the gospel, even the
gospel of our Father in heaven, the eternal God, the Eloheim of the Jews and
the God of the Gentiles, and all he has ever done from the beginning has been
performed by and through the power of that priesthood, which is "without
father, without mother, without descent, having neither beginning of days, nor
end of life," and the administration of his servants holding this
priesthood is binding, being the savior of life unto life or death unto death.
(The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p.67)
What Are Priesthood Keys?
Church
Handbook of Instructions
The
exercise of priesthood authority is governed by those who hold its keys (see
D&C 65:2; 124:123). These keys are the right to preside over and direct the
Church within a jurisdiction. (Book Two, p. 161 [Published by The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah, 1998])
Joseph F. Smith
The
Priesthood in general is the authority given to man to act for God. Every man
ordained to any degree of the Priesthood, has this authority delegated to him.
But it is necessary that every act performed under this authority shall be done
at the proper time and place, in the proper way, and after the proper order.
The power of directing these labors constitutes the keys of the Priesthood. (Gospel
Doctrine, p.136)
Joseph Fielding Smith
These keys
are the right of presidency; they are the power and authority to govern and
direct all of the Lord's affairs on earth. Those who hold them have power to
govern and control the manner in which all others may serve in the priesthood.
All of us may hold the priesthood, but we can only use it as authorized and
directed so to do by those who hold the keys. ("Eternal Keys and the Right
to Preside," Ensign, July 1972, p. 87)
James E. Faust
To be
efficacious and valid, every act in the Church must be performed under the
authority of the keys at the appropriate time and place, and in the proper
manner and order. The authority and power to direct all of the labors of the
Russell M. Nelson
Preparation,
priesthood service, and keys are all related, but different. Service of any
type requires preparation. But proper authorization to give that service
requires keys. May I illustrate?
Prior to
my call to the Twelve, I served as a medical doctor and surgeon. I had earned
two doctor's degrees. I had been certified by two specialty boards. That long
preparation had consumed many years, yet it carried no legal permission. Keys
were required. They were held by authorities of the state government and the
hospitals in which I desired to work. Once those holding proper authority
exercised those keys by granting me a license and permission, then I could
perform operations. In return, I was obligated to obey the law, to be loyal,
and to understand and not abuse the power of a surgeon's knife. The important
steps of preparation, permission, and obligation likewise pertain to other
occupations. ( "Keys of the Priesthood," Ensign, Nov. 1987, p.
36)
Only President of Church Holds Priesthood Keys in Fulness
Church Handbook of Instructions
The Lord
Jesus Christ holds all the keys of the priesthood. He has given His Apostles
the keys that are necessary for governing His Church. Only the senior Apostle,
the President or the Church, may use (or authorize another person to use) these
keys for governing the entire Church (see D&C 43:1-4; 81:2; 132:7). (Book
Two, p. 161 [Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt
Lake City, Utah, 1998])
Joseph F. Smith
In their
fulness, the keys are held by only one person at a time, the prophet and president
of the Church. He may delegate any portion of this power to another, in which
case that person holds the keys of that particular labor. Thus, the president
of a temple, the president of a stake, the bishop of a ward, the president of a
mission, the president of a quorum, each holds the keys of the labors performed
in that particular body or locality. His Priesthood is not increased by this
special appointment, for a seventy who presides over a mission has no more
Priesthood than a seventy who labors under his direction; and the president of
an elders' quorum, for example, has no more Priesthood than any member of that
quorum. But he holds the power of directing the official labors performed in
the mission or the quorum, or in other words, the keys of that division of that
work. So it is throughout all the ramifications of the Priesthood -- a
distinction must be carefully made between the general authority, and the
directing of the labors performed by that authority. (Gospel Doctrine,
p.136)
Joseph Fielding Smith
Bruce R. McConkie
The keys
of the
But since
keys are the right of presidency, they can only be exercised in their fulness
by one man on earth at a time. He is always the senior Apostle, the presiding
Apostle, the presiding high priest, the presiding elder. He alone can give
direction to all others, direction from which none is exempt.
Thus, the
keys, though vested in all of the Twelve, are used by any one of them to a
limited degree only, unless and until one of them attains that seniority which
makes him the Lord's anointed on earth. ("The Keys of the Kingdom," Ensign,
May 1983, 22-23)
Who Receives Delegated Priesthood Keys?
Church Handbook of Instructions
The
President of the Church authorizes presidents of temples, missions, stakes, and
districts; bishops and branch presidents; and quorum presidents to hold the
priesthood keys they need to preside. A person who serves in one of these
positions holds the keys only until he is released. Counselors do not receive
keys, but they do receive delegated authority by calling and assignment. No
priesthood keys exist on earth except with the officers of the Church. (Book
Two, p. 161 [Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt
Lake City, Utah, 1998])
What Are the Keys of the Kingdom?
Joseph Fielding Smith
We also
hold the keys of the
Joseph Smith Received All Priesthood Keys
Wilford Woodruff
Every key
relating to this dispensation was given to the Prophet Joseph, and they remain
with the priesthood today. (The Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, p.71)
Joseph Smith Gave Keys to the Twelve Apostles
Wilford Woodruff
All that
President Young or myself, or any member of the quorum need have done in the
matter was to have referred to the last instructions at the last meeting we had
with the Prophet Joseph before starting on our mission [to the eastern states].
I have alluded to that meeting many times in my life.
The
Prophet Joseph, I am now satisfied, had a thorough presentiment that that was
the last meeting we would hold together here in the flesh. We had had our
endowments; we had had all the blessings sealed upon our heads that were ever
given to the apostles or prophets on the face of the earth. On that occasion
the Prophet Joseph rose up and said to us: "Brethren,
I have desired to live to see this temple built. I shall never live to see it,
but you will. I have sealed upon your heads all the keys of the
Now, don't
you wonder why we, as apostles, could not have understood that the prophet of
God was going to be taken away from us? But we did not understand it. The
apostles in the days of Jesus Christ could not understand what the Savior meant
when he told them “I am going away; if I do not go away the Comforter will not
come." Neither did we understand what Joseph meant. "But," he
said, after having done this, "ye apostles of the Lamb of God, my
brethren, upon your shoulders this kingdom rests; now you have got to round up
your shoulders and bear off the kingdom." And he also made this very
strange remark, "If you do not do it you will be damned." (The
Discourses of Wilford Woodruff, pp .71-72)
How Have the Keys Been Passed On to the Present?
See Bruce R.
McConkie, "The Keys of the Kingdom," Ensign, May 1983, 21-23
James E. Faust
Prior to
the martyrdom, no doubt with a sense of foreboding, the Prophet Joseph prepared
for his death. President Joseph Fielding Smith states:
"The
Prophet declared that he knew not why, but the Lord commanded him to endow the
Twelve with these keys and priesthood, and after it was done, he rejoiced very
much, saying in substance, 'Now, if they kill me, you have all the keys and all
the ordinances and you can confer them upon others, and the powers of Satan
will not be able to tear down the kingdom as fast as you will be able to build
it up, and upon your shoulders will the responsibility of leading this people
rest' " (Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce
R. McConkie, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954-56], 1:259).
After
learning of the deaths of the Prophet Joseph and the Patriarch Hyrum, Wilford
Woodruff reports his meeting with Brigham Young, who was then the President of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, as follows: "I met Brigham Young in the
streets of
When
Brigham Young returned to Nauvoo, Sidney Rigdon, who had been a Counselor to
Joseph Smith, challenged the leadership of Brigham Young and the Apostles. Said
Brigham Young to the Saints in meeting assembled, "If the people want
President Rigdon to lead them they may have him; but I say unto you that the
Quorum of the Twelve have the keys of the
Brigham
Young, as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, subsequently became the
President of the Church, following the Prophet Joseph Smith. So it was with
President Howard W. Hunter following the death of President Ezra Taft Benson.
As President Joseph Fielding Smith wrote:
"There
is no mystery about the choosing of the successor to the President of the
Church. The Lord [page 73] settled this a long time ago, and the senior apostle
automatically becomes the presiding officer of the Church, and he is so
sustained by the Council of the Twelve which becomes the presiding body of the
Church when there is no First Presidency. The president is not elected, but he
has to be sustained both by his brethren of the Council and by the members of
the Church" (Doctrines of Salvation, 3:156).
On the
fifth of June 1994, the Quorum of the Twelve, of which President Hunter was
then President, collectively holding all of the keys of the kingdom, convened
in the
A List of Some of the Priesthood Keys Restored to Joseph Smith
[For an excellent article concerning this see, Bruce
R. McConkie, "This Final Glorious Gospel Dispensation," Ensign,
Apr. 1980, pp. 21-25.]
"Behold,
this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will
drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, and with Moroni, whom I
have sent unto you to reveal the Book of Mormon, containing the fulness of my
everlasting gospel, to whom I have committed the keys of the record of the
stick of Ephraim" (D&C 27:5)
John the
Baptist
"Upon
you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of
Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of the gospel of
repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; and this
shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of Levi do offer
again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness." (D&C 13)
Peter,
James, and John
"And
also with Peter, and James, and John, whom I have sent unto you, by whom I have
ordained you and confirmed you to be apostles, and especial witnesses of my
name, and bear the keys of your ministry and of the same things which I
revealed unto them; Unto whom I have committed the keys of my kingdom, and a
dispensation of the gospel for the last times; and for the fulness of times, in
the which I will gather together in one all things, both which are in heaven,
and which are on earth" (D&C 27:12-13).
"Peter,
James, and John, who were the First Presidency in their day, brought back the
Melchizedek Priesthood including the holy apostleship; they restored the keys
of the kingdom; and they conferred the keys of the dispensation of the fulness
of times." (Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, April 1980, p. 22)
"The
keys or power to go forth and proclaim the gospel was restored to Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery when Peter, James, and John conferred upon them the
Melchizedek Priesthood before the organization of the Church. It is true that
John the Baptist had conferred upon them the keys of the Aaronic Priesthood
before the Melchizedek Priesthood was restored. This was necessary because the
time had come for them to be baptized and hold this priesthood preparatory to
the coming of the higher priesthood. We read in the Doctrine and Covenants that
the Aaronic Priesthood holds the keys of the preparatory gospel; that is to
say, the teaching of faith, repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins.
This authority was given on the fifteenth day of May, 1829, but there was no
commandment given for Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to go forth to teach and
baptize until the Church was organized, although a few earnest souls who were
acquainted with the restoration had sought baptism and had been baptized. It
remained for Peter, James, and John to come with the keys of the Melchizedek
Priesthood to complete the authority to proclaim the gospel to the world."
(Joseph Fielding Smith, Jr., Answers to Gospel Questions, 1:132)
Moses
"After
this vision closed, the heavens were again opened unto us; and Moses appeared
before us, and committed unto us the keys of the gathering of
"Question:
"What is the difference between the keys of the missionary work given the
Prophet Joseph Smith by Peter, James, and John and the keys restored by Moses
for the gathering of
"Answer:
The answer to this question is a simple one. When Moses was called to gather
In these
latter days when
You will
recall the fact that it was immediately after the organization of the Church
that the spirit entered into the brethren to go forth and preach the gospel.
The coming of Moses was not until April 1836, six years following the sending
forth of missionaries to convert the world. So if it were dependent on the
restoration of the keys held by Moses for the preaching of the gospel, then it
would seem that Moses should have come April 6, 1830, at the beginning, but the
work of proselyting commenced immediately following the organization of the
Church. (Answers to Gospel Questions, 3:153-154)
"What
was the object of gathering the Jews, or the people of God in any age of the
world? . . . The main object was to build unto the Lord a house whereby He
could reveal unto His people the ordinances of His house and the glories of His
kingdom, and teach the people the way of salvation; for there are certain
ordinances and principles that, when they are taught and practiced, must be
done in a place or house built for that purpose." (Joseph Smith, Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.307-308)
Elias
"After
this, Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham,
saying that in us and our seed all generations after us should be
blessed." (D&C 110:12)
"And
so, the Lord be praised, the marriage discipline of Abraham was restored; it is
the system that enables a family unit to continue in eternity; it is the system
out of which eternal life grows." (Bruce R. McConkie, Ensign, April 1980,
p. 23)
Elijah
"After
this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for
Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before
us, and said: Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth
of Malachi--testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and
dreadful day of the Lord come-- To turn the hearts of the fathers to the
children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with
a curse-- Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your
hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is
near, even at the doors." (D&C 110:13-16)
"Elijah
restored the keys of the sealing power, by which the ordinances in the temple
are bound in heaven as well as on earth, for both the living and the
dead." (Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines of Salvation, 2:234)
Elijah
restored to this Church and, if they would receive it, to the world, the keys
of the sealing power; and that sealing power puts the stamp of approval upon
every ordinance that is done in this Church and more particularly those that
are performed in the temples of the Lord. Through that restoration, each of
you, my brethren, has the privilege of going into this house or one of the
other temples (I believe most of you have done so) to have your wife sealed to
you for time and for all eternity, and your children sealed to you also, or
better, have them born under that covenant." (Joseph Fielding Smith Jr., Doctrines
of Salvation, 3:129)
"The
keys of Elijah's work and ministry are extremely interesting. His coming was
the fulfilling of the promise made through Malachi. It is the planting in the
hearts of the children the promises made to their fathers, that in these last
days, the children should do the work which was denied the fathers upon which
their salvation depends. Many members of the Church have thought that the keys
restored by Elijah were keys pertaining to the dead, and therefore Elijah
practiced in his day ordinances in behalf of the dead.This is an error. There
was no work performed for the dead by Elijah or any other prophet before the
crucifixion of Jesus Christ.The keys held by Elijah were the keys of the
sealing power by which all ordinances are sanctioned and approved and upon
which the eternal seal of authority is placed." (Joseph Fielding Smith, The
Signs of the Times, p.188)
"Now
for Elijah. The spirit, power, and calling of Elijah is, that ye have power to
hold the key of the revelations, ordinances, oracles, powers and endowments of
the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood and of the kingdom of God on the
earth; and to receive, obtain, and perform all the ordinances belonging to the
kingdom of God, even unto the turning of the hearts of the fathers unto the
children, and the hearts of the children unto the fathers, even those who are
in heaven. . . Then what you seal on earth, by the keys of Elijah, is sealed in
heaven; and this is the power of Elijah, and this is the difference between the
spirit and power of Elias and Elijah; for while the spirit of Elias is a
forerunner, the power of Elijah is sufficient to make our calling and election
sure; and the same doctrine, where we are exhorted to go on to perfection, not
laying again the foundation of repentance from dead works, and of laying on of
hands, resurrection of the dead, &c." (Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, pp.337-338)
(Acts
17:25-26.) – President Lee’s last Conference talk October, 1973. God determines when and where you are born.
25 Neither
is worshipped with men's hands, as though he needed any thing, seeing he giveth
to all life, and breath, and all things;
26 And hath
made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell on all the face of the earth,
and hath determined the times before appointed, and the bounds of their
habitation;
Premortal
valiancy of the House of Israel
(
1 And
again, my brethren, I would cite your minds forward to the time when the Lord
God gave these commandments unto his children; and I would that ye should
remember that the Lord God ordained priests, after his holy order, which was
after the order of his Son, to teach these things unto the people.
2 And those
priests were ordained after the order of his Son, in a manner that thereby the
people might know in what manner to look forward to his Son for redemption.
3 And this
is the manner after which they were ordained—being called and prepared from the
foundation of the world according to the foreknowledge of God, on account of
their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to choose
good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly
great faith, are called with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which
was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.
A More Determined Discipleship
Elder Neal
A. Maxwell
An Address delivered at
Ensign (Feb. 1979), pp. 69-73
(The sub-headings are not Neal A. Maxwell's
but have been added.)
Speaking
to student leaders in higher education, I have often used the analogy that in a
university the faculty, staff, and administration are like the
"natives," and the students are like the "tourists." In
many ways, a recurring devotional speaker is more like one of the
"natives." Even so, I thank President Oaks for once again extending
this precious privilege to me. You may conclude, however, that I am becoming
more like a "tourist," since today I will try to cover two topics in
order to make the most of these fleeting moments.
DISCIPLESHIP
Discipleship
Means Following the Brethren
Discipleship
includes good citizenship. In this connection, if you are a careful student of
the statements of the modern prophets, you will have noticed that with rare
exceptions -- especially when the First Presidency has spoken out--the concerns
expressed have been over moral issues, not issues between political parties.
The declarations are about principles, not people; and causes, not candidates.
On occasions, at other levels in the Church, a few have not been so discreet,
so wise, or so inspired.
Make no
mistake about it, brothers and sisters, in the months and years ahead, events
are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he will follow the
First Presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between
two opinions. (See I Kings 18:21.)
President
Marion G. Romney said, many years ago, that he had "never hesitated to
follow the counsel of the Authorities of the Church even though it crossed my
social, professional or political life" (in Conference Report, Apr. 1941,
p. 123). This is a hard doctrine, but it is a particularly vital doctrine in a
society which is becoming more wicked. In short, brothers and sisters, not
being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the
prophets of Jesus Christ!
Irreligion
- The State Religion
We are now
entering a time of incredible ironies. Let us cite but one of these ironies
which is yet in its subtle stages: We will see a maximum, if indirect, effort
made to establish irreligion as the state religion. It is actually a new
form of paganism-which uses the carefully preserved and cultivated freedoms of
western civilization to shrink freedom, even as it rejects the value essence of
our rich Judeo-Christian heritage.
M. J.
Sobran wrote recently:
"The
Framers of the Constitution ... forbade the Congress to make any law,
respecting' the establishment of religion, thus leaving the states free to do
so (as several of them did); and they explicitly forbade the Congress to
abridge `the free exercise' of religion, thus giving actual religious
observance a rhetorical emphasis that fully accords with the special concern we
know they had for religion. It takes a special ingenuity to wring out of this a
governmental indifference to religion, let alone an aggressive secularism. Yet
there are those who insist that the First Amendment actually proscribes
governmental partiality not only to any single religion, but to religion as
such; so that tax exemption for churches is now thought to be unconstitutional.
It is startling to consider that a clause-clearly protecting religion can be
construed as requiring that it be denied a status routinely granted to
educational and charitable enterprises, which have no overt constitutional
protection. Far from equalizing unbelief, secularism has succeeded in
virtually establishing it....
"What
the secularists are increasingly demanding, in their disingenuous way, is that
religious people, when they act politically, act only on secularist grounds.
They are trying to equate acting on religion with establishing religion.
And--I repeat--the consequence of such logic is really to establish secularism.
It is in fact, to force the religious to internalize the major premise of
secularism: that religion has no proper bearing on public affairs." (Human
Life Review, Summer 1978, pp. 51-52, 60-61.)
Brothers
and sisters, irreligion as the state religion would be the worst of all
combinations. Its orthodoxy would be insistent and its inquisitors inevitable.
Its paid ministry would be numerous beyond belief. Its Caesars would be
insufferably condescending. Its majorities--when faced with clear alternatives--will
make the Barabbas choice, as did a mob centuries ago when Pilate confronted
them with the need to decide.
Your
discipleship may see the time when such religious convictions are discounted.
M. J. Sobran also said, "A religious conviction is now a second-class
conviction, expected to step deferentially to the back of the secular bus and
not to get uppity about it" (Human Life Review, Summer 1978, pp.
58-59).
This new
irreligious imperialism seeks to disallow certain opinions simply because those
opinions grow out of religious convictions. Resistance to abortion will be seen
as primitive. Concern over the institution or the family will be viewed as
untrendy and unenlightened.
In its
mildest form, irreligion will merely be condescending toward those who hold to
traditional Judeo-Christian values. In its more harsh forms, as is always the
case with those whose dogmatism is blinding, the secular church will do what it
can to reduce the influence of those who still worry over standards such as
those in the Ten Commandments. It is always such an easy step from dogmatism to
unfair play--especially so when the dogmatists believe themselves to be dealing
with primitive people who do not know what is best for them--the secular
bureaucrats' burden, you see.
Irreligion
and Discipleship
Am I
saying that the voting rights of people of religion are in danger? Of course
not! Am I saying, "It's back to the catacombs?" No! But there is
occurring a discounting of religiously based opinions. There may even be a covert
and subtle disqualification of some for certain offices in some situations, in
an ironic irreligious test for office.
If people,
however, are not permitted to advocate, to assert, and to bring to bear, in
every legitimate way, the opinions and views they hold which grow out of their
religious convictions, what manner of men and women would we be?
Our
founding fathers did not wish to have a state church established nor to have a
particular religion favored by government. They wanted religion to be free to
make its own way. But neither did they intend to have irreligion made into a
favored state church.
Notice the
terrible irony if this trend were to continue. When the secular church goes
after its heretics, where are the sanctuaries? To what landfalls and Plymouth
Rocks can future pilgrims go?
If we let
come into being a secular church which is shorn of traditional and divine
values, where shall we go for inspiration in the crises of tomorrow? Can we
appeal to the rightness of specific regulation to sustain us in our hour of
need? Will we be able to seek shelter under a First Amendment which by then may
have been twisted to favor irreligion? Will we be able to rely for counter
force on value education aided in school systems which are increasingly secularized?
And if our governments and schools were to fail us, would we be able
to fall back upon and rely upon the institution of the family, when so many secular
movements seek to shred it?
It may
well be that as our time comes to "suffer shame for his name" (Acts
5:41), some of that special stress will grow out of that portion of
discipleship which involves citizenship. Remember, as Nephi and Jacob said, we
must learn to endure "the crosses of the world" and yet to
despise "the shame of it" (2 Ne. 9: 18; Jac. 1: 8). To go on clinging
to the iron rod in spite of the mockery and scorn that flow at us from the
multitudes in that great and spacious building seen by Father Lehi, which is
the "pride of the world" (1 Ne. 11:36)-is to disregard the shame of
the world. Parenthetically, why, really why, do the disbelievers who line that
spacious building watch so intently what the believers are doing? (See I Ne.
8:33.) Surely there must be other things for the scorners to do. Unless
deep within their seeming disinterest.... Unless....
If the
challenge of the secular church becomes very real, let us, as in all other
relationships, be principled but pleasant. Let us be perceptive without being
pompous. Let us have integrity and not write checks with our tongues which our
conduct cannot cash.
Before the
ultimate victory of the forces of righteousness, some skirmishes will be lost.
Even in these, however, let us leave a record so that .the choices are clear,
letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel.
There will
also be times, happily, when a minor defeat seems probable, but others will
step forward, having been rallied to rightness by what we do. We will know the
joy, on occasion, of having awakened a slumbering majority of the decent people
of all races and creeds which was, till then, unconscious of itself.
Jesus said
that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, "summer is nigh"
(Matt. 24:32). Thus warned that summer is upon us, let us not then complain of
the heat!
DISCIPLESHIP AND FOREORDINATION
Have I
come today, however, only to add one more to the already long list of special
challenges faced by you and me? Not really. I have also come to say to you that
God, who foresaw all challenges, has given to us a precious doctrine which can
encourage us in meeting this and all other challenges.
Foreordination
is Not Predestination
The
combined doctrine of God's foreordination is one of the doctrinal roads
"least traveled by." Yet it clearly underlines how very long how
perfectly God has loved us and known us with our individual needs and
capacities. Isolated from other doctrines, or mishandled, these truths can
stoke the fires of fatalism, impact adversely upon agency, cause us to focus on
status rather than service and carry us over into predestination. President
Joseph Fielding Smith once warned:
"It
is very evident from a thorough study of the gospel and the plan of salvation
that a conclusion that those who accepted the Savior were predestined to be
saved no matter what the nature of their lives must be an error.... Surely Paul
never intended to convey such a thought.... This might have been one of the
passages in Paul's teachings which cause Peter to declare that there are in
Paul's writings, 'some things hard to be understood, which they that are
unlearned and unstable wrest, as they do also the other scriptures, unto their
own destruction" (Improvement Era, May 1963, p. 35 see 2 Pet. 3:
16).
Paul
stressed running life's race the full distance; he did not intend a
casual Christianity in which some had won even before the race started!
Foreordination
and the Second Estate
Yet,
though foreordination is a difficult doctrine, it has been given to us by the
living God, through living, prophets, for a purpose. It can actually increase
our understanding of how crucial this mortal second estate is and can further
encourage us in good works. This precious doctrine can also help us go the second
mile because we are doubly called.
In some
ways, our second estate in relationship to our first estate, is like agreeing
in advance to surgery. Then the anesthetic of forgetfulness settles in upon us.
Just as doctors do not de-anestlictize a patient in the midst of authorized
surgery to ask him again if the surgery should be continued, so, after divine tutoring,
we agreed to come here and to submit ourselves to certain experiences; it was
an irrevocable decision.
Of course,
when we mortals try to comprehend, rather than accept, foreordination, the
result is one in which finite minds futilely try to comprehend omniscience. A
full understanding is impossible; we simply have to trust in what the Lord has
told us, knowing enough however, to realize that we are not dealing with
guarantees from God but extra opportunities--and heavier responsibilities. If
those responsibilities are in some ways linked to past performance or to past
capabilities, it should not surprise us.
Foreordination
Based on Premortal Obedience
The Lord
said:
"There
is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world,
upon which all blessing are predicated-- "And when we obtain any blessing
from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated"
(D&C 130:20-2 1). This eternal law prevailed in the first estate as it does
in the second estate. It should not disconcert us, therefore, that the Lord has
indicated that he chose some individuals before they came here to carry out
certain assignments; hence, these individuals have been foreordained to those
assignments. "Every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants
of the world," said the Prophet Joseph Smith, "was ordained to that
very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was. I suppose I
was ordained to this very office in that Grand Council." (Teachings of
the Prophet JosephSmith, p. 365.)
Foreordination
and Mortal Obedience
Foreordination
is like any other blessing--it is a conditional bestowal subject to our
faithfulness. Prophecies foreshadow events without determining the outcome,
because of a divine foreseeing of outcomes. So foreordination is a conditional
bestowal of a role, a responsibility, or a blessing which, likewise, foresees
but does not fix the outcome.
There have
been those who have failed or who have been treasonous to their trust, such as
David, Solomon, and Judas. God foresaw the fall of David, but was not the cause
of it. It was David who saw Bathsheba from the balcony and sent for her. But
neither was God surprised by such a sad development.
God
foresaw, but did not cause, Martin Harris's loss of certain pages of the
translated Book of Mormon; God made plans to cope with failure over 1,500 years
before it was to occur! (See preface to D&C 10 and Words of Mormon.)
Thus,
foreordination is clearly no excuse for fatalism, or arrogance, or the abuse of
agency. It is not, however, a doctrine that can be ignored simply because it is
difficult. Indeed, deep inside the hardest doctrines are some of the pearls of
greatest price.
Those
Foreordained to Accept the Gospel in Mortality
The
doctrine pertains not only to the foreordination of prophets, but to God's
precise assessment, beforehand, as to each of those who will respond to the
words of the Savior and the prophets. From the Savior's own lips came these
words, "I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of
mine" (John 10:14). Similarly the Savior said, "My sheep hear my
voice, and I know them, and they follow me" (John 10:27). Further, he
declared, "And ye are called to bring to pass the gathering of mine elect;
for mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts" (D&C 29:7).
This
responsiveness could not be gauged without divine foreknowledge concerning all
mortals and their response to the gospel--which foreknowledge is so perfect it
leaves the realm of prediction and enters the realm of prophecy.
The
foreseeing of those who will accept the gospel in mortality, gladly and with
alacrity, is based upon their parallel responsiveness in the premortal world.
No wonder the Lord could say, as he did to Jeremiah, "Before I formed thee
in the belly I knew thee; . . . and I ordained thee a prophet unto the
nations" (Jer. 1:5). Paul, when writing to the Saints in
The Lord,
who was able to say to his disciples, "Cast the net on the right side of
the ship" (John 21:6), knew beforehand that there was a multitude of
fishes there. If he knew beforehand the movements and where about of fishes in
the little
The
Omniscience of God
It does no
violence even to our frail human logic to observe that there cannot be a grand
plan of salvation for all mankind, unless there is also a plan for each
individual. The salvational sum will reflect all its parts.
Once the
believer acknowledges that the past, present, and future are before God simultaneously--even
though we do not understand how-- then the doctrine of foreordination may be
seen somewhat more clearly. For instance, it was necessary for God to know how
the economic difficulties and crop failures of the Joseph Smith Sr., family in
The Lord
would need to have perfect comprehension of all the military and political
developments in the Middle East--some of which are unfolding even now--which
would combine to bring to pass a latter-day condition in which "all
nations" will be gathered "against Jerusalem to battle" (Zech.
14:2).
It should
not surprise us that the Lord, who notices the fall of each sparrow and the
hair from every head, would know centuries before how much money Judas would
receive-thirty pieces of silver-at the time he betrayed the Savior. (See Matt.
26:15, Matt. 27:3, Zech. 11:12.)
Quite
understandably, the manner in which things unfold seems to us mortals to be so
natural. Our not knowing what is to come (in the perfect way that God knows it)
thus preserves our free agency completely.
When, through
a process we call inspiration and revelation, we are permitted at times to tap
that divine databank, we are accessing, for the narrow purposes at hand, the
knowledge of God. No wonder that experience is so unforgettable!
Foreordination
and Those With Special Limitations
There are
clearly special cases of individuals with special limitations in life, which
conditions we mortals cannot now fully fathom. For all we now know, the seeming
limitations may have been an agreed-upon spur to achievement--a "thorn in
the flesh" (2 Cor. 12:7). Like him who was "blind from birth,"
some come to bring glory to God (John 9:1-2). We must be exceedingly careful
about imputing either wrong causes or wrong rewards to all in such
circumstances. They are in the Lord's hands, and he loves them perfectly.
Indeed, some of those who have required much waiting upon in this life may be
waited upon again by the rest of us in the next world but for the highest of
reasons!
Priesthood
Foreordination
Thus, when
we are elected to certain mortal chores, we are elected "according to the
foreknowledge of God the Father" (I Pet. 1:2). When Abraham was advised
that he was "chosen before thou wast born," he was among the
"noble and great ones" (Abr. 3:22-23). Through the revelation given
to us by the prophet Joseph F. Smith, we read that the Prophet Joseph Smith,
Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, "and other
choice spirits" were also reserved by God "to come forth in the
fulness of times to take part in laying the foundations of the great latter-day
work" [D&C 138:53]. These individuals are among the rulers that
Abraham had described to him centuries earlier by God. They were to be
"rulers in the
President
Joseph Fielding Smith said,
"In
regard to the holding of the priesthood in the pre-existence, I will say that
there was an organization there just as well as an organization here, and we
there held authority. Men chosen to positions of trust in the spirit world held
the priesthood.' (Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, Salt
Lake City: Bookcraft, 1956, Vol. 3, p. 81.)
Foreordination
and Premortal Covenants
The
omniscience of God made it possible, therefore, for him to determine the
boundaries and times of nations (see Acts 17:26; Deut. 32:8).
Elder
Orson Hyde said of our life in the premortal world, "We understood things
better there than we do in this lower world." He also surmised as to the
agreements we made there that "it is not impossible that we signed the
articles thereof with our own hands,--which articles may be retained in the
archives above, to be presented to us when we rise from the dead, and be judged
out of our own mouths, according to that which is written in the books."
Just because we have forgotten, said Elder Hyde, "our forgetfulness cannot
alter the facts." (Journal of Discourses, 7:314- 15.) Hence,
the degree of detail involved in the covenants and promises we participated in
at that time may be a more highly customized thing than many of us surmise.
Yet, on occasion, even with our forgetting, there are inklings. President
Joseph F. Smith said:
"But
in coming here, we forgot all, that our agency might be free indeed, to choose
good or evil, that we might merit the reward of our own choice and conduct. But
by the power of the Spirit, in the redemption of Christ, through obedience,
we often catch a spark from the awakened memories of the immortal
soul, which lights up our whole being as with the glory of our former
home" (Gospel Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1977, pp.
13-14; italics added).
Understanding
God's Omniscience
As
indicated earlier, this powerful teaching of foreordination is bound to be a
puzzlement in some respects, if we do not have faith and trust in the Lord. Yet
if we think about it, even within our finite framework of experience, it
shouldn't startle us. Mortal parents are reasonably good at predicting the
behavior of their children in certain circumstances. Of this Elder James E.
Talmage wrote:
"Our
Heavenly Father has a full knowledge of the nature and disposition of each of
His children, a knowledge gained by long observation and experience in the past
eternity of our primeval childhood; a knowledge compared with which that gained
by earthly parents through mortal experience with their children is
infinitesimally small. By reason of that surpassing knowledge, God reads the
future of child and children, of men individually and of men collectively as
communities and nations; He knows what each will do under given conditions, and
sees the end from the beginning. His foreknowledge is based on intelligence and
reason. He foresees the future as a state which naturally and surely will be
not as one which must be because He has arbitrarily willed that it shall
be." (James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book Co., 1977, p. 29.)
Another
helpful analogy for students is the reality that universities can and do
predict with a high degree of accuracy the grades entering students will
receive in the college careers based upon certain tests and past performances.
If mortals can do this with reasonable accuracy (even with our short span of
familiarity and with finite data), God the Father, who knows us perfectly,
surely can foresee how we will respond to various challenges.
While we
often do not rise to our opportunities, God is neither pleased nor surprised.
But we cannot say to him later on that we could have achieved had we just been
given the chance! This is all part of the justice of God.
One of the
most helpful--indeed, very necessary--parallel truths to be pondered when
studying this powerful doctrine of foreordination is given in the revelation of
the Lord to Moses in which the Lord says, "And all things are present with
me for I know them all" (Moses 1:6). God does not live in the dimension of
time as do we. Moreover, since "all things are present with" God, his
is not simply a predicting based solely upon the past. In ways which are not
clear to us, he actually sees, rather than foresees, the future
because all things are at once, present, before him!
In a
revelation given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord describes himself as
"the same which knoweth all things, for all things art present before mine
eyes" (D&C 38:2). From the prophet Nephi we receive the same basic
insight in which we likewise must trust: "But the Lord knoweth all things
from the beginning; wherefore, he prepareth a way to accomplish all his works
among the children of men" (I Ne. 9:6).
It was by
divine design that the marvelous Mary became the mother of Jesus. Further, Lucy
Mack Smith, who played such a crucial role in the rearing of Joseph Smith, did
not come to that assignment by chance.
One of the
dimensions of worshiping a living God is to know that he is alive and living in
the sense of seeing and acting. He is not a retired God whose best years are
past--to whom we should pay a retroactive obeisance, worshiping him for what he
has already done. He is the living God who is, at once, in the dimensions of
the past and present and future, while we labor constrained by the limitations
of time itself.
It is
imperative that we always keep in mind the caveats noted earlier, so that we do
not indulge ourselves or our whims simply because of the presence of this
powerful doctrine of foreordination, for with special opportunities come
special responsibilities and much greater risks.
But the
doctrine of foreordination properly understood and humbly pursued can help us
immensely in coping with the vicissitudes of life. Otherwise, time can play so
many tricks upon us. We should always understand that while God is not
surprised, we often are.
Life's
episodes may thus take on new meaning. For instance, Simon, the Cyrenian,
wandered into
Foreordination
and Our Allotments in Life
Properly
humbled and instructed concerning the great privileges that are ours, we can
cope with what seem to be very dark days, and with true perspective about
"things as they really are," we can see in them a great chance to
contribute. Churchill, in trying to rally his countrymen in an address at
"Do
not let us speak of darker days; let us speak rather of sterner days. These are
not dark days: these are great days--the greatest days our country has ever
lived; and we must all thank God that we have been allowed, each of us
according to our stations, to play a part in making these days memorable in the
history of our race." (Bartlett's Familiar Quotations, P. 923.)
So should
we regard the dispensation of the fulness of time even when we face
stern-challenges and circumstances. "These are great days"! Our
hearts need not fail us. We can be equal to our challenges, including the
aforementioned challenge of the secular church!
The truth
about foreordination also helps us to taste of the deep wisdom of Alma, when he
said we ought to be content with things that God hath allotted to each of us
(see Al. 29:3-4). If, indeed, the things allotted to each of us have been
divinely customized according to our ability and capacity, then for us to seek
to wrench ourselves free of our schooling circumstances could be to tear
ourselves away from carefully matched opportunities. To rant and to rail could
be to go against divine wisdom, wisdom in which we may once have concurred
before we came here. God knew beforehand each of our coefficients for coping
and contributing.
President
Henry D. Moyle said:
"I
believe that we, as fellow workers in the priesthood, might well take to heart
the admonition of
By the
way, the things "allotted" do not include a bad temper or
deficiencies of a developmental variety.
Foreordination
Breeds Optimism
What a
vastly different view of life the doctrine of foreordination gives to us! Shorn
of this perspective, others are puzzled or bitter about life. Without gospel
perspective, life is like trying to play a game of billiards on a table with a
rumpled cloth, with a crooked cue, and an elliptical billiard ball. Perhaps the
moral of that analogy is that we should stay out of pool halls! In any event,
pessimism does not see life or the universe as these things "really
are."
The
disciple will be puzzled at times, too. But he persists. Later he rejoices and
exclaims over how wonderfully things fit together, realizing, only then, that
with God-- things never were apart!
Jacob said
the Spirit teaches us the truth "of things as they really are, and ...
really will be" (Jac. 4:13). Centuries later Paul said, "The Spirit
searcheth ... the deep things of God" (1 Cor. 2: 10). Of some of these
deep things we have spoken today and of how things really are.
Foreordination
and Discipleship
Brothers
and sisters, in some of those precious and personal moments of discovery, there
will be a sudden surge of recognition of an immortal insight, a doctrinal deja
vu. We will sometimes experience a flash from the mirror of memory that
beckons us forward to a far horizon.
When, in
situations of stress, we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be
comforted to know that God, who knows our capacities perfectly, placed us here
to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked.
When we
have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured
before and were found equal to our tasks; and therefore, let us continue but
with a more determined discipleship.
When we
feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not overprogram
us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear (see D&C 50:40).
The
doctrine of foreordination is, therefore, not a doctrine of repose; it is a
doctrine for the second-milers; it can draw out of us the last full measure of
devotion.
It is a
doctrine of perspiration--not aspiration. Moreover, it discourages aspiring,
lest we covet, like two early disciples, that which has already been given to
another (see Matt. 20:20-23).
It is a
doctrine for the deep believer and will only bring scorn from the skeptic.
When, as
President Joseph F. Smith said, we "catch a spark from the awakened
memories of the immortal soul," let us be quietly grateful. When of great
truths we can say, "I know," that powerful spiritual witness may also
carry with it the sense of our having known before! With rediscovery,
we are really saying "I know--again! No wonder so often real
teaching is reminding.
God bless
you and keep you, my special friends, to the end that you will carry out each
and every assignment given to you so very long ago. You have been measured and
found adequate for the challenges that will face you as citizens of the
Someone
asked a question concerning the keys of the Presiding Bishop, here is a short
article about that.
Not
long ago I was presiding at a stake conference. It was a new stake, organized
just six months before, and this was the stake’s first conference after being
constituted out of a district. The new stake president and I had our interview,
and at the conclusion of our time I asked if he had any questions he would like
to ask. His first question was “What is the Presiding Bishopric?” He added, “I
didn’t even know there was a Presiding Bishopric until I received a letter
indicating that you would be presiding at our conference.” This is not an
uncommon question.
I
proceeded to explain to this stake president what the Presiding Bishopric is,
to whom we report, and what our responsibilities entail. I explained that under
the direction of the First Presidency the Presiding Bishopric serves as the
presidency of the Aaronic Priesthood of the Church (see D&C
107:15) and that the Presiding Bishopric also administers the Church’s
temporal affairs (see D&C 107:68).
The Presiding Bishop of the
Church—Bishop H. David Burton—holds the keys as president of the Aaronic
Priesthood. He exercises those keys as directed by the First Presidency and the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Bishop
Burton serves as a member of the Priesthood Executive Council, which includes
members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and other General Authorities.
This council hears and evaluates proposals from the Young Men general
presidency and gives counsel and direction regarding the Young Men program. In
this way, the Presiding Bishopric is kept abreast of the work of the Young Men
general presidency and the young men’s activity program in the Church.
The
Presiding Bishopric is also the channel through which temporal matters of the
Church are carried out. These temporal matters include issues that deal with
tithes; fast offerings; the recording, disbursement, and management of funds;
and the welfare program of the Church and its humanitarian efforts. The
Presiding Bishopric is also responsible for Church buildings; for membership
records; for the production of temple clothing; and for the translating,
printing, binding, and distributing of materials that are used in support of
proclaiming and teaching the gospel. These materials include the scriptures,
curriculum materials, posters, DVDs, videos, teaching aids, and the Church
magazines—all in support of the spiritual purposes of the Church. All members
of the Presiding Bishopric are General Authorities and as such can do whatever
the First Presidency or Quorum of the Twelve Apostles asks of us. And so it was
that I was on assignment to preside over a stake conference when this question
came to me.
In
most people’s minds, the temporal affairs for which the Presiding Bishopric is
responsible are the business aspects of the Church. But in the 29th section of
the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says, “Wherefore, verily I say unto you
that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto
you a law which was temporal; … for my commandments are spiritual” (D&C
29:34–35).
The
Lord does not look at things the way we do. And so it is with the temporal
affairs of the Church. Because a copy of the Book of Mormon is a printed book,
to the unknowing eye it may appear to be like any other book. But this book is
produced to introduce to the world the everlasting gospel of Jesus Christ. And so
the “temporal affairs” that bring about the translating, printing, binding, and
distributing of the Book of Mormon are rife with spiritual implications. This
principle is true for everything “temporal” the Church does.
In
a very real way our purpose as the Presiding Bishopric is to help bring about
all that Heavenly Father’s children need to obtain the blessings of the
everlasting gospel. We help provide the earthly, or temporal, support in order
for that to happen.
There
are wonderful scriptures in the 78th section of the Doctrine and Covenants in
which the Lord talks about His storehouse. In the broadest terms, this
storehouse could be described as the time and
“It
must needs be that there be an organization of my people, in regulating and
establishing the affairs of the storehouse for the poor of my people. …
“For
a permanent and everlasting establishment and order unto my church, to advance
the cause, which ye have espoused, to the salvation of man, and to the glory of
your Father who is in heaven” (D&C 78:3–4).
In
my capacity as a member of the Presiding Bishopric, I have come to know that
the mantle of the priesthood and the spirit of prophecy and revelation are
vital and alive in these temporal aspects of the Lord’s work.
Modern-day Legal
Administrators
Priesthood and Keys—Their
Restoration
Because there neither
has been nor is nor ever can be any hope of salvation for fallen man unless God
intervenes in the affairs of men, revealing himself and his plan of salvation,
we ask: To whom, if anyone, has that revelation come in our day?
Because this
revelation always has and always will come to legal administrators, called and
empowered by the Lord himself, we ask: Where, if anywhere, are the modern
legal administrators who have power to represent the Lord on earth?
Because no man can
assume, unilaterally and by one or many acts on his part alone, the prerogative
to be the mouthpiece or agent of Deity, we ask: If there are legal
administrators now on earth, how and in what way were they called of God?
Because God is the
same yesterday, today, and forever, because he esteems a soul to be just as
precious today as it was in ancient times, because he has always dealt through
apostles and prophets, we ask: Where, if anywhere, are the apostles and
prophets today?
Because there has been
a universal apostasy and the faith once delivered to the saints has not come
down from the fathers unto us, we ask: What of men today? How can they be
saved? What hope is there for the decent and the good and the upright of the
earth who are willing to believe and obey all that the Lord will reveal to
them?
To all these
questions, and others that are kin to them, there is only one answer. It is:
There has been a glorious restoration of the truths and powers of salvation in
our day. The Lord has given again every power, right, prerogative, priesthood,
and key ever held by any mortal in days gone by. We live in the dispensation of
the fulness of times, which means the dispensation of the fulness of
dispensations. This is the promised day that bears the name "the times of
restitution of all things." In it, all things "which God hath spoken
by the mouth of all his holy prophets since the world began" either have
been or will be restored. So far this restoration has included the basic doctrines
of salvation and all of the powers and keys needed to seal men up unto eternal
life. In due course, "when the times of refreshing shall come from the
presence of the Lord" (Acts 3:19-21), when the Lord Jesus comes in power
and glory to reign personally upon the earth, then all of the truths and
doctrines ever known, together with others that have been kept hidden from the
foundations of the world, will be revealed by a gracious God to his children on
earth.
Keys of the
Priesthood/Prophets and apostles of old held such powers and keys as were
needed in their respective days to do the work assigned them. None of them
assumed the prerogative to go forth in the Lord's name; all of them were called
of God in the same way he always chooses those whom he sends forth on his errand.
All of them had divine power. For instance, Jesus "called unto him his
twelve disciples [and] gave them power against unclean spirits, to cast them
out, and to heal all manner of sickness and all manner of disease."
(Matthew 10:1.) Of these apostles Jesus said: "Ye have not chosen me, but
I have chosen you, and ordained you." (John 15:16.) The ancient apostles
were ordained; they received the holy priesthood; they were endowed with power
from on high. After they had received the priesthood all of them were given the
keys of the kingdom.
Keys of the
Priesthood/"I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven,"
Jesus promised Peter. Holding these keys, Peter would have power to preside
over and regulate all of the affairs of that church which is the
Keys of the
Priesthood/Jesus and Moses and Elijah gave the keys of the kingdom to Peter,
James, and John on the Mount of Transfiguration. (Teachings, p. 158.)
Thereafter the keys were given to all of the Twelve. (Matthew 18:18.) "As
my Father hath sent me, even so send I you," Jesus told them. And then,
referring to the keys vested in them all, he said: "Whose soever sins ye
remit, they are remitted unto them; and whose soever sins ye retain, they are
retained." (John 20:21-23.) By obedience to the laws and ordinances of the
gospel, as administered by those holding the keys, men can free themselves from
sin and become fit candidates for a celestial inheritance; otherwise their sins
are retained and they pay the penalty for the deeds done in the flesh.
Keys of the
Priesthood/As it was anciently, so it is today. Priesthoods and keys and
heavenly powers are just as important as they ever were. Where they are
present, there is a hope of salvation; if they are absent, there is no true
gospel, no power of God unto salvation, no redeeming power, no hope of eternal
life.
Keys of the
Priesthood/But thanks be to God, all that mortals possessed anciently in the
way of priesthoods and keys has been restored. John the Baptist, ministering as
a resurrected and glorified being, on the 15th day of May in 1829, conferred
upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery the Aaronic Priesthood and all of the keys
and powers that unto it do appertain. It "holds the keys of the
ministering of angels, and of the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by
immersion for the remission of sins." (D&C 13.) It is the power by which
Aaron and his sons and the Levites in general administered the temporal and
spiritual affairs of the Lord in ancient
Keys of the
Priesthood/Soon thereafter Peter and James, in resurrected glory, and John
their fellow minister, serving as a translated being, came also to Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery. These heavenly ministrants conferred upon their mortal fellows
the Melchizedek Priesthood, the keys of the
Keys of the
Priesthood/Thereafter, to fulfill the ancient promise—"I will reveal unto
you the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet, before the coming of the
great and dreadful day of the Lord" (D&C 2:1 )—that ancient
Israelitish seer came to modern Israelitish souls. On April 3, 1836, in the
Keys of the
Priesthood/That same day "Elias appeared, and committed the dispensation
of the gospel of Abraham," meaning the great commission given to Abraham
that he and his seed had a right to the priesthood, the gospel, and eternal
life. Accordingly, Elias promised those upon whom these ancient promises were
then renewed that in them and in their seed all generations should be blessed.
(D&C 110:12-16.) Thus, through the joint ministry of Elijah, who brought
the sealing power, and Elias, who restored the marriage discipline of Abraham,
the way was prepared for the planting in the hearts of the children of the
promises made to the fathers. (D&C 2:2.) These are the promises of eternal
life through the priesthood and the gospel and celestial marriage.
Keys of the
Priesthood/Also on that glorious April day, Moses appeared and conferred the
keys of the gathering of
Keys of the
Priesthood/We do not know all of the places and times when angelic ministrants
brought back their ancient powers. We do know that all of the rivers of the
past flow into the ocean of the present. We do know that "it is necessary
in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times . . . that a
whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations,
and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the
days of Adam even to the present time." We do know that Michael, Gabriel,
Raphael, and "divers angels, from Michael or Adam down to the present
time," have appeared to mortals—"all declaring their dispensation,
their rights, their keys, their honors, their majesty and glory, and the power
of their priesthood." (D&C 128:18, 21.)
Keys of the
Priesthood/As to the restoration of all these keys and powers and authorities,
suffice it to say: They are now held by the First Presidency and the Twelve who
preside over The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And they will
continue so to be held, by these brethren and their successors in interest,
until the Lord Jesus Christ descends in the clouds of glory to reign personally
upon the earth for a thousand years. Truly, "the keys of the
How Men Are Called of God
Our Article of Faith
sets forth that a man must be called of God in two ways in order to do two
things. He must be called of God by prophecy, and by the laying on of hands of
those who are in authority. Having been thus called, he has power to preach the
gospel and to administer in the ordinances thereof.
These terms and
expressions must be clearly understood if we are to envision how and in what
manner the Lord's true ministers perform the divine service to which they are
called. It is because they are misunderstood or completely disregarded that we
find the loose and tangled web of assumed authority that prevails in the
sectarian world. According to the revealed word, their true meaning is as
follows:
1. To be called of
God by prophecy means to be called by the spirit of inspiration. It means
that the one making the call has the gift of prophecy, which is the testimony
of Jesus. It means that he has the spirit of revelation; that he is in tune
with the Holy Spirit of God; that he makes the call by the power of the Holy
Ghost. In other words, the call comes from the Lord, by the mouth of his
servant, as that servant is moved upon by the Spirit. One man does not call
another to the ministry. It is the Lord's call, and a servant of the Lord
simply conveys to the called person the glad tidings that the Lord has chosen
him and is granting him the requisite divine power to accomplish the work. Men
are called of God in the literal and true sense, and if God does not call them
by prophecy, they are not his ministers. The Lord's house is a house of order.
2. To be called by
the laying on of hands of those who are in authority means that more than
one person approves the call and that the Lord's servants—formally, officially,
and by the performance of an ordinance—convey the power and authority needed to
do the ministerial work involved. Men who desire to serve God are not left free
to assume, because of some inner feeling, that the Lord wants them to labor in
his vineyard. They must receive a formal call from a legal administrator, and
they must feel the hands of the Lord's servants on their heads as the words of
ordination or conferral or authorization are spoken. The Lord's house is a
house of order.
3. To preach the
gospel with divine approval means just that. It means that the preacher has
been called of God and that he preaches the gospel of God. It means that the
doctrine taught is the Lord's doctrine. It is what the Lord would say if he
personally were present. It is what he wants said under whatever circumstances
prevail. It is his mind, his will, and his voice; the words spoken are his
words. Hence, the gospel is and can be preached by the power of the Holy Ghost
and in no other way. The Holy Ghost, as a revelator, must tell the preacher
what to say; otherwise the minister cannot truly represent the Lord and do the
Lord's will. It is because men deny the Holy Ghost who giveth utterance, and
preach instead their own ideas of what the scriptures mean, that there are so
many false and vain and foolish notions in so-called Christendom, making of the
Lord's house so-called a house of confusion rather than of order.
4. To administer
the ordinances of the gospel with divine approval means that legal
administrators must perform the right ordinances, for the approved individuals,
by the power of the Holy Ghost. They must baptize those whom the Lord would
baptize if he were doing it; they must ordain those whom the Lord wants
ordained. It is his work and not man's. No man can create a baptism or make any
ordinance that will have efficacy, virtue, and force in eternity. The Lord
alone can do that. True ordinances are his ordinances and he must authorize and
approve all that are performed by his servants; otherwise they will be of no
avail. The various ordinances performed in divers ways by those devoid of
priestly authority stand as a witness that the Lord's hand is not manifest in
the churches of men. Truly, the Lord's house is a house of order and not of
confusion.
The whole body of
revealed writ attests to the verity of the concepts here summarized. For
instance, as a pattern for what others also are called to do, the Lord said to
the Twelve in this dispensation: "Behold, you are they who are ordained of
me to ordain priests and teachers; to declare my gospel, according to the power
of the Holy Ghost which is in you, and according to the callings and gifts of
God unto men." (D&C 18:32.)
To all the elders of
his kingdom the Lord commands: "Ye shall go forth in the power of my
Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as
with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God. And ye
shall go forth baptizing with water, saying: Repent ye, repent ye, for the
kingdom of heaven is at hand." And then, so that all men may know how and
in what manner and by whom the word is to be preached and the ordinances
performed, the divine word continues: "It shall not be given to any one to
go forth to preach my gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained
by some one who has authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority
and has been regularly ordained by the heads of the church." The Lord's
house is a house of order.
"And again, the
elders, priests and teachers of this church [and all the other officers placed
in the church since the day of this revelation] shall teach the principles of
my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the
fulness of the gospel. And they shall observe the covenants and church articles
to do them, and these shall be their teachings, as they shall be directed by
the Spirit. And the Spirit shall be given unto you by the prayer of faith; and
if ye receive not the Spirit ye shall not teach." (D&C 42:6-14.) On
another occasion this divine word was forthcoming: "Go ye into all the
world, preach the gospel to every creature, acting in the authority which I
have given you, baptizing in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the
Holy Ghost." (D&C 68:8.)
Let us, then, reason
together along this wise:
If the Lord
himself—the great God who governs and controls his affairs on earth personally
called a man to be a minister or a prophet or an apostle, who would doubt the
legality and efficacy of the call? This, of course, is what he did when he
ministered among men.
If an angel, sent from
heaven, came down and called one of his mortal fellowservants, one who had the
testimony of Jesus, to serve as a minister of Christ, surely the one called
would be a true legal administrator. Angels speak and act by the power of the
Holy Ghost; they represent the Lord, and their acts are his acts.
Similarly, if mortal
men who themselves are the servants of the Lord, acting by the spirit of
prophecy and revelation, call others to the ministry, those so chosen are the
very persons the Lord himself, if ministering personally, would have called.
What difference does it make whether the Lord acts personally, or sends angelic
ministrants to deliver the call, or directs his mortal servants, by the Spirit,
to make the appointment? Whether it is done by his own voice or by the voice of
his servants, it is the same. And there is no other way.
Let us, then, conclude
that calls to service in the ministry of the Master must —
1. come from an
authorized minister, one who himself holds the holy priesthood and who has been
directed from on high to call others to serve on the Lord's errand;
2. be made by
prophecy, meaning by the spirit of inspiration and revelation as directed by
the Holy Spirit;
3. be confirmed and
finalized by the laying on of hands, as the means of conferring the authority
involved and of testifying, visibly and without question, that the powers or
keys of prerogatives are vested in the recipient; and
4. be known and
announced to the Church and have the approval of the heads of the Church.
"Behold, mine
house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of
confusion." (D&C 132:8.)
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1985], 319.)
Article of Faith # 6
Church and its Plan of Organization
March 8, 2007
ARTICLE 6—We believe
in the same organization that existed in the Primitive Church, viz., apostles,
prophets, pastors, teachers, evangelists, etc.
Whenever John the
Revelator was translated the priesthood keys left with him.
30-100 AD
150 years Black Hole Aftermath of
Apostasy
The apostasy was
complete around 150 AD, the church looked very different with Bishops running
the church instead of Apostles and Prophets.
Bishops had authority as long as the Apostles were still on the earth,
once they were killed the keys left with them.
Neo Platonic thought
– God is a spirit and does not have a physical body. This thought is the authorized view of
Christianity today.
Apostasy – Means to
go against or rebel against God. A
person in apostasy is fighting against former allegiances. The Catholic Church believes they are
carrying on God’s church, so they are not rebelling against God.
"Watch and
Remember": The New Testament and the Great Apostasy
Kent P. Jackson
Since its beginning,
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has proclaimed to the world
that there was an apostasy of the church which had been founded by Jesus during
his earthly ministry and led by his apostles following his ascension. fn This
is a fundamental belief of the restored church. In fact, it is the apostasy of
early Christianity which creates the very need for the restored Latter-day
Saint faith: if there had not been an apostasy, there would have been no need
for a restoration. fn
Latter-day Saint
theology asserts that the church of Jesus and his apostles came to an end not
long after its formation; the doctrines which its inspired leaders taught were
corrupted and changed by others not of similar inspiration (1 Nephi 13:26-27),
the authority to act in God's name was taken from the earth, and the Christian
systems that existed in the world after those developments did not enjoy divine
endorsement. It was precisely the question of divine endorsement — in Joseph
Smith's words, "which of all the sects was right" (Joseph
Smith-History 1:18) — that led to the glorious event that ushered in the
restoration of the gospel: the appearance of the Father and the Son to the
young prophet. In response to Joseph Smith's search for a true church, he was
told to join none of them, "for they were all wrong," and all their
creeds were "an abomination" in the sight of God (Joseph
Smith-History 1:19). fn The message of the Latter-day Saints is that following
seventeen centuries of darkness since the days of the apostles, the heavens
were again opened, divinely authored doctrines were revealed anew, the
authority to speak and act in God's name was brought back to earth, and the
In this paper the
apostasy will be discussed on two fronts. First I will examine statements of
Jesus and his apostles that foretell the passing of the early church. Then I
will consider the evidence in the New Testament that shows apostasy taking
place as the New Testament documents were being written.
1. THE APOSTASY FORETOLD
The writings of the
New Testament contain several statements made by Jesus and his apostles about
the future of their work. Though they labored with great zeal to bring souls to
the Lord and to establish the church throughout the world, still their
prophetic utterances concerning the end result of their efforts foretold
tragedy. In short, they knew that the church would fall into apostasy shortly
after their time, and they bore candid testimony of that fact. The following
prophetic passages demonstrate that Jesus and his apostles foreknew and
foretold the falling of the church.
Matthew 24:5, 9-11
One of the Savior's
most significant sermons, the Olivet Discourse, is recorded in Matthew 24-25.
In response to questions of the Twelve with regard to the destruction of the
temple at Jerusalem and the destruction of the world (see Joseph Smith-Matthew
1:4, 21), Jesus prophesied of events which would transpire in the near and
distant future, especially regarding the Jews (Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:21). In
this connection, Matthew 24:9-11 records a prophecy of great importance
concerning the future of the apostles:
Then shall they
deliver you up to be afflicted, and shall kill you: and ye shall be hated of
all nations for my name's sake. And then shall many be offended, and shall
betray one another, and shall hate one another. And many false prophets shall
rise, and shall deceive many. fn
The Joseph Smith-Matthew
rendering of this passage places it clearly in the context of the first century
A.D. (Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:4-21). A number of important statements are
contained in these verses. Matthew 24:9 foretells the fate of the apostles
themselves: affliction, hatred, and death for Christ's sake (cf. also John
16:1-4). The only scripturally attested fulfillment of the martyrdom prophecy
is the death of James at the hands of Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-2), but early
Christian tradition tells of similar fates for other apostles. Yet the killing
of the apostles was not the cause of the apostasy. Other references clearly
teach that Christianity died from an internal wound, the rejection of true
doctrine by the members of the church.
Matthew 24:10 provides
a valuable prophecy of the rejection of truth by many of the saints.
Unfortunately, the King James translation obscures its intended meaning beyond
modern recognition with the phrase "then shall many be offended." In
the New International Version (NIV), an excellent recent translation, we read:
"At that time many will turn away from the faith." From the Phillips
Modern English Version: "Then comes the time when many will lose their
faith." The Greek verb skandalízo in the passive voice (here a
third person plural, future tense), means, in a theological sense, "to
give up one's faith." "Many," the Savior foretold, will do it at
that day. Only those who remain steadfast and are not overcome will be saved
(Joseph Smith-Matthew 1:11).
Matthew 24:11 records
the additional prophecy that many false prophets would arise and would
"deceive many" (emphasis added). Recall that the historical
context here is the last days of the apostolic era, when the apostles would be
afflicted, hated, and killed (Matthew 24:9). Attempting to take their places
would be what the Savior calls "many false prophets." The related
passage in Matthew 24:5 is also significant: "For many shall come in my
name, saying, I am Christ; and shall deceive many." Notice that there
would be many false Christs, and, like the false prophets, they would
deceive many. One can only lament the fact that the available sources,
scriptural and nonscriptural, give us little history of the fulfillment of
these words.
Acts 20:29-31
On his way from
For I know this, that
after my departing shall grievous wolves enter in among you, not sparing the
flock. Also of your own selves shall men arise, speaking perverse things, to
draw away disciples after them. Therefore watch, and remember, that by the
space of three years I ceased not to warn every one night and day with tears
(Acts 20:29-31).
Paul warned the elders
of
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
In his first
Thessalonian letter Paul cleared up a doctrinal misunderstanding concerning the
status of those who would die prior to the Second Coming of Jesus. In the
second he warned them of a much greater doctrinal problem — the belief that the
"day of Christ" was "at hand" (2 Thessalonians 2:2). We do
not know the details of Paul's concern here. fn Whatever the exact
misunderstanding of the Thessalonians may have been, Paul explained that the
day of Christ's coming would not take place until after a "falling
away" and the revelation of the "man of sin," "the son of
perdition" (2 Thessalonians 2:3).
The King James words
"falling away" are translated from the Greek noun apostasíRoman
from which we get our word "apostasy," which is equal to it in meaning.
Whereas the term "falling away" may give the incorrect impression of
a process of drifting or gradually losing ground, the original term means
something much more drastic. Some modern translations use the terms "the
rebellion" (NIV, RSV), "rejection of God" (Phillips), or
"the Great Revolt" (JB). The two Greek elements combined in
apostasíRoman are the verb hí fnemi, "to stand," and ap,
"away from"; the basic meaning of the word is "revolution."
Ancient sources used the term to describe political rebellion and revolution.
fn What Paul was describing was a revolution against God and his position in
the church. And, as he wrote in the following verses, the revolution would
succeed.
The chief feature of
this revolution would be the triumph of the "man of sin." Paul wrote:
Let no man deceive you
by any means: for that day shall not come, except there come a falling away
first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and
exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped; so that
he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God (2
Thessalonians 2:3-4).
Latter-day Saint
commentators generally equate the "man of sin" mentioned in these
verses with Satan, an interpretation with which I concur. fn As part of the
rebellion, Paul noted, Satan would be made manifest. He would exalt himself
over all that is called divine in order to assume the place of God and supplant
him from his position. The metaphorical term "temple" probably refers
to the church, as also in 1 Corinthians 3:16 and Ephesians 2:21. fn If Paul did
have the church in mind here, it is of historical and theological significance
that the church survives. But God is not at its head, making that church —
following the appearance in it of Satan — no longer the
Paul's words
correspond well with evidence that we have from other scriptures. When the Lord
appeared to Joseph Smith in the spring of 1820, he told the young prophet that
all of the Christian churches of his day were "wrong" (Joseph
Smith-History 1:19). The Book of Mormon prophet Nephi envisioned in the latter
days following the Restoration only two churches: "the church of
the Lamb of God" and "the church of the devil" (1 Nephi 14:10).
Since whoever does not belong to "the church of the Lamb of God"
belongs to "the church of the devil," as Nephi announced, then all
systems of worship outside of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
would be classified as "the church of the devil" by Nephi's
definition. fn It appears that Paul was making the same point as he foretold
the "man of sin" supplanting God in the era of the revolution.
To suggest that fallen
Christianity has Satan at its head in the place of God is certainly not to say
that all that is in it is satanic. Indeed, Latter-day Saints should rejoice —
as the heavens undoubtedly do — at the great works of righteousness and faith,
and the leavening influence on the world, of those whose lives are touched in
any degree by him whose gospel the Saints enjoy in its fulness. But it is only
in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints — which the Lord himself has
proclaimed to be "the only true and living church upon the face of the
whole earth with which I the Lord am well pleased" (D&C 1:30) — that
"the power of God unto salvation" (Romans 1:16) is found. The
restoration of the fulness of the gospel, with its priesthood and other
blessings, took place because it is only in its light that salvation in
its true sense is possible to humankind. While these features are absent as
Satan sits enthroned in what was once the Lord's church, Satan's goal of
hindering God's children from returning to their Father's glory is realized.
How appropriate therefore is Paul's description of him sitting in the place of
God in the church of the apostasíRoman
In the next verse,
Paul punctuated his prophecy by reminding the saints that when he had been with
them personally, he had taught them of the apostasy and the coming of Satan:
"Remember ye not, that, when I was yet with you, I told you these
things?" (2 Thessalonians 2:5). But his message did not stop there. Even
at that time, said Paul, the "man of sin" was being restrained
"from appearing before his appointed time" (2 Thessalonians 2:6, JB).
"For the mystery of lawlessness [KJV: 'mystery of iniquity'] is already at
work; only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way. And
then the lawless one will be revealed" (2 Thessalonians 2:7, RSV). In
these verses Paul stated that the overt manifestation of Satan was still in the
future. Yet even then the "mystery of iniquity" was operating,
waiting in the wings, as it were, for its chance to come to the fore. Paul
wrote of some force which restrained the "man of sin" from making his
appearance before his time. It is not altogether clear whether he was referring
to the Lord, the collective power of the apostleship, or something or someone
else as the obstacle to the dominance of the "man of sin." In any
case, the message comes through clearly that Satan and his works were at that
time already operational but were being held back until the divine power that
restrained them would be removed. "And then shall that wicked one be
revealed" (2 Thessalonians 2:8,JST . fn
In 2 Thessalonians
2:9-12 Paul told of the deceptive power of Satan and his apostate priesthood.
They would come with "power and signs and lying wonders, and with all
deceivableness of unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:9-10). Those who
would follow them are they who "received not the love of the truth,"
who "believe a lie," and who "believed not the truth, but had
pleasure in unrighteousness" (2 Thessalonians 2:10-12). In short, Satan's
work, accompanied by signs and miracles meant to counterfeit those of the
Lord's true servants, would prosper because many would reject the truth and
believe falsehood. Paul, therefore, exhorted his converts to "stand
fast" unto "the obtaining of the glory" to which they were
called (2 Thessalonians 2:13-15).
2 Thessalonians 2:1-12
constitutes perhaps the most important prophecy in the New Testament concerning
the apostasy. Scholars of all perspectives generally agree that Paul was, in
fact, expressing his belief in a rebellion of some sort against God that would
precede the anticipated second advent of Jesus Christ. fn Through the light of
the restored gospel, Latter-day Saints can understand the full implications of
this rebellion. fn
1 Timothy 4:1-3
In Paul's first letter
to Timothy, he prophesied concerning the departure of some of the saints from
the faith:
Now the Spirit
speaketh expressly, that in the latter times some shall depart from the faith,
giving heed to seducing spirits, and doctrines of devils; speaking lies in
hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron; forbidding to marry,
and commanding to abstain from meats, which God hath created to be received
with thanksgiving to them which believe and know the truth (1 Timothy 4:1-3).
This prophecy has a
number of features that make it of considerable interest. First of all, Paul
specifically stated that his belief in the future defection was the result of
revelation. In fact, not only did the Spirit speak these words to Paul, but it
did so "expressly." The chronological note is also important. Paul
used the term "latter times" (hú fneroi kairoí) to denote the
period in which the developments that he foretold would take place. In the
ultimate sense, the period of time in which we now live can be called "the
latter times" better than any other. As we learn through modern
revelation, our day is the dispensation of the fulness of times — the
preparatory era that precedes the Second Coming of the Savior. Yet Paul spoke
using a different definition for "latter times." His focus was on the
last days of the Christianity of his era, the "latter times" of the
early church.
A few decades after
Paul foretold the departure of some from the faith in the "latter
times," Jude announced to his readers that they were then in "the
last time" (é fnhatos chrs, Jude 1:17-19). Similarly, John
expressed to the readers of his first letter the certainty of the fact that
they themselves were in "the last hour" (escháebar; hoabar;, 1
John 2:18-19). With the revealed knowledge of important future events, John and
Jude knew that they were not in the final era of the world. But their words
reveal the fact that they knew that they were in the final days of the
Christian church. That was the period of time concerning which the spirit spoke
"expressly" (1 Timothy 4:1) to Paul.
As we have seen in
other prophecies examined so far, the departure from the faith would be a
rebellion against true principles of doctrine. Paul wrote that those who would
depart would give heed to what he calls "seducing spirits" and
"doctrines of devils." It must be emphasized that what Paul saw was
not an abandonment of religion but a shifting of loyalties from "the
faith" to a false faith. Accompanying this defection would be the
manifestation of the negative character traits cited in 1 Timothy 4:2.
1 Timothy 4:3 is
interesting because it mentions two examples of the false ideas that the
counterfeit religious system would foster: a prohibition against marriage and a
prohibition against certain foods. Beyond that the Apostle gave no further
details.
In his prophecy in 1
Timothy, Paul did not express any of the feelings of doom or urgency that are
so obvious in the letters of his fellow apostle John, written about thirty-five
years later. Yet for Paul the present danger was real enough that he admonished
Timothy personally to reject strange ideas (1 Timothy 4:7) and to remind
"the brethren" of his warnings (1 Timothy 4:6).
2 Timothy 4:3-4
Paul's final prophecy
of the abandonment of true religion is found in the last chapter of 2 Timothy.
After exhorting Timothy to "continue in the things" which he had
learned (2 Timothy 3:14), Paul spoke of those who would pervert the truth:
For the time will come
when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own
desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what
their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth
and turn aside to myths (2 Timothy 4:3-4, NIV).
This passage paints a
picture of rejection of the truth that is consistent in every detail with the
other prophecies examined so far. In the verses that precede it, Paul charged
Timothy strongly to "preach," "correct, rebuke and
encourage" (NIV) the saints. Verse 3 reveals that the reason for his
urgency is the fact that he knew that a time was coming in which men would no
longer accept the truth. Paul's desire in this, his last preserved letter, was
to hold off the onslaught of the inevitable revolution. As has been noted
already, what he foresaw was not an abandonment of religion. Much more serious
than that, it was a willful rejection of true doctrine and its replacement by
doctrines which were untrue but more to the liking of those who would hear
them. Notice that the people involved, although unwilling to put up with
correct teachings, desired teachings nonetheless. Having "itching
ears," i.e., a desire to hear religion, they would acquire teachers whose
doctrines were acceptable to them. The final outcome of their actions would be
the abandonment of truth and the acceptance of "fables" (2 Timothy
4:4).
2 Peter 2:1-3
Paul was not alone
among the apostles in prophesying doom for early Christianity. In 2 Peter, the
chief apostle foretold the introduction of false teachers into the church:
But there were false
prophets also among the people, even as there shall be false teachers among
you, who privily shall bring in damnable heresies, even denying the Lord that
bought them, and bring upon themselves swift destruction. And many shall follow
their pernicious ways; by reason of whom the way of truth shall be evil spoken
of (2 Peter 2:1-2).
These false teachers,
according to Peter, would "secretly introduce" (NIV) "damnable
heresies." So successful would they be that as a result of their efforts,
"the way of truth" would be blasphemed (future passive from blaspheméo).
fn 2 Peter 2:3 tells us more: "In their greed these teachers will exploit
you with stories they have made up" (NIV). This tells us something
concerning their purpose: to exploit the members of the church ("make
merchandise of you," 2 Peter 2:3, KJV), and their method of doing so: by
making up doctrine — "sheer fabrications" (REB).
1 John 2:18; Jude 1:4, 17-18
There are a few
passages in the New Testament that give evidence indirectly that an
apostasy had been foretold. Of these the most informative are found in 1 John
2:18 and Jude 1:4, 17-18. These verses actually speak of apostasy already
present in the church. While doing so they make mention of the fact that the
saints knew that it should come and had been warned appropriately. John wrote:
"Little children, it is the last time: and as ye have heard that
antichrist shall come, even now are there many antichrists; whereby we know
that it is the last time" (1 John 2:18, emphasis added). This passage will
be discussed more fully below. What is important at this point is the fact that
John reminded the saints to whom he wrote that they had heard earlier that a
time would come — called the "last time" (escháebar; hoabar;)
— in which "antichrist" would come among the church. They had been
warned. Similarly, Jude wrote:
Certain people have
infiltrated among you, and they
are the ones you had a
warning about, in writing, long ago, when they were condemned for denying all
religion, turning the grace of our God into immorality, and rejecting our only
Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 1:4, JB, emphasis added).
This passage, which is
much less clear in the King James Version, tells that the readers had received
written warning in the past of the coming of "godless men" (NIV) who
would pervert the gospel and reject the Lord. After writing more about those
predicted apostates and likening them to some of more ancient times, Jude
continued:
But, dear friends, remember
what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, "In
the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires."
These are the men who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not
have the Spirit (Jude 1:17-19, NIV, emphasis added).
The coming in the
"last times" (é fnhatos chrs) of those who would scoff at the
true faith had been foretold, according to Jude, by "the apostles."
Revelation 13:1-9
The final prophecy to
be examined is found in Revelation 13. Here we read John's vision of the
victory of the forces of Satan over the saints of the Lord. In chapter 12 John
characterized the continual conflict between Satan and the works of God as the
efforts of a red dragon — Satan — to destroy a woman and her children. In
Revelation 12:17 we read, "And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and
went to make war with the remnant of her seed, which keep the commandments of
God, and have the testimony of Jesus Christ." This is part of an ongoing
conflict that has existed since before humankind was placed on the earth, and
it will continue until Satan suffers final defeat following the Millennium (Revelation
20:10).
The episode from that
conflict which is recorded in Revelation 13 is directly relevant to the end of
the early Christian church. As the vision continued, John saw the appearance of
a beast, "having seven heads and ten horns, and upon his horns ten crowns,
and upon his heads the name of blasphemy" (Revelation 13:1). This beast
was the agent of the dragon, Satan, from whom he had received "his power
and his throne and great authority" (Revelation 13:2, NIV). In John's
narrative we find the beast blaspheming God, God's name, his dwelling place,
and those who live in heaven (cf. blaspheméo in 2 Peter 2:2). John
continued: "And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and
to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues,
and nations" (Revelation 13:7, emphasis added). Without yielding to the
temptation to attach rigid interpretations to John's metaphors, I feel that the
information provided is sufficient to enable us to draw two conclusions about
the beast, its identity, and its work.
First of all, it is a
deputy of Satan; it derives its power from him and does his work (Revelation
13:2, 4). As God's work is "to bring to pass the immortality and eternal
life of man" (Moses 1:39), Satan's and that of his beast is to do the
opposite. In the Joseph Smith Translation the beast is "in the likeness of
the kingdoms of the earth" (Revelation 13:1,JST . "Kingdom" in a
scriptural context can mean, of course, any kind of institution, movement,
force, or power — religious, political, or otherwise. fn
The second statement
that we can make concerning the beast is that it accomplished what it was sent
to do. Verse 7 records the tragic fact that it succeeded: it overcame the
saints. In viewing John's beast in the light of its context in Revelation 13
and other prophetic statements concerning the fall of the church, we can
identify it as the institutions or forces of Satan that prevailed over early
Christianity during and following the time of the apostles. As for the nature
of those forces, it should be remembered that the scriptures that we have
examined so far present in clear focus the prophetic vision of the apostles:
the cause of the apostasy would be the rejection of the truth by the members of
the church. In this light, the beast seen by John that overcame the saints
might be interpreted best as being Christianity itself — not the Christianity
of Jesus, Peter, John, and Paul, but the Christianity that overcame the saints
and apostles and survived into the next generation, "in the likeness of
the kingdoms of the earth" (Revelation 13:1,JST . fn
The scriptural
passages examined above demonstrate that Jesus and his apostles knew that the
church which they headed would come to an end shortly after their generation.
fn They bore a somber witness to that knowledge in the record that they left
behind in the New Testament. All Christians who take seriously the apostolic
testimony must reckon with the prophetic word of the inspired witnesses that
the forces of false religion would prevail over those of the truth; the church
which was guided by the power of the apostleship in the first century would no
longer exist in the second.
2. THE NEW TESTAMENT WITNESS
One of the strongest
witnesses of the Latter-day Saint view of the apostasy of New Testament
Christianity is the New Testament itself. Not only does it prophesy that
apostasy would take place in the church, but just as significantly it actually
records apostasy happening as its books were being written. Its pages record
the continuing struggle of the apostles to keep the church free of false ideas
and practices. As the first century A.D. progressed, the heresies against which
the apostles contended became increasingly virulent and increasingly
successful, as the record attests. Near the end of the first century, the
apostolic record came to a sudden close.
In order to
demonstrate the extent to which the apostasy developed and grew in the first
century A.D., I will examine in chronological order several issues from the New
Testament epistles and from Revelation. It will become apparent that during the
course of the first century, the doctrinal and behavioral problems against
which the apostles struggled increased until the apostles could no longer
reverse the trend of false religion and save the church from itself. In the
earliest letters, written midway through the first century, the apostles had to
contend with relatively harmless issues of doctrinal misunderstanding. By the
time of the last-written letters at the end of the century, the heresies
mentioned are of such a malignant nature that they clearly would destroy the
original faith if they were not corrected. The evidence tells us that they were
not.
1 and 2 Thessalonians (ca. A.D. 50-51)
In the Thessalonian
letters the doctrinal problems to which Paul had to address himself were such
that they could, presumably, be corrected fairly easily. In both letters,
misunderstandings concerning Jesus' Second Coming are evident. In 1
Thessalonians the problem was the belief that those who were alive when the
Second Coming took place would have an advantage over those who had died
previously ( 1 Thessalonians 4:13-17). Paul comforted the saints concerning
their faithful dead by telling them that those "who are left alive until
the Lord's coming will not have any advantage over those who have died" (1
Thessalonians 4:15, JB). In the second letter, Paul responded to the belief
that the "day of Christ" was "at hand" (2 Thessalonians
2:2). He refuted the idea by prophesying of the apostasy that would precede
that day (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4).
We can assume that a
belief such as that to which Paul responded in 2 Thessalonians could have grave
implications for the Church. We should conclude, perhaps, that without Paul's
corrective letter the Thessalonian saints may have developed greater problems.
The church was fortunate to have an apostle like Paul, who by virtue of his
apostolic priesthood authority and divinely endowed spiritual gifts could speak
the Lord's word to insure the integrity of the church. One might ask, what
happens to the church when such men are no longer in it?
James (ca. mid-50s A.D.)
In the letter of James
it is clear that the apostle-writer was contending against incorrect ideas
concerning the nature of faith vis-ŕ-vis Christian works. His corrective words
include, "For as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without
works is dead also" (James 2:26). An under-emphasis of the works of the
gospel is perhaps not the kind of problem that would bring all of Christianity
to ruin, and James gave us no hint that he expected wholesale apostasy because
of it. Yet those who were guilty of disregarding the importance of works had a
"dead" religion, to use James's word, and a "dead" religion
certainly has no power to save. Perhaps without James's letter more serious
problems could have developed.
1 Corinthians (ca. A.D. 56)
As indicated by 1
Corinthians, the church at
In 1 Corinthians 1-4
Paul wrote concerning factions or divisions that had developed in the
Corinthian church around various authorities. The mere thought that some may
have been focusing their allegiance on him rather than on Christ was so
offensive to Paul that he considered himself fortunate that he had not baptized
more into the church (1 Corinthians 1:14-16). He showed his alarm by asking,
"Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were ye baptized in the
name of Paul?" (1 Corinthians 1:13). And he told the saints that they were
carnal, rather than spiritual, because of their misguided allegiance to individuals
(1 Corinthians 3:3-7). It can be argued that this problem in lesser degrees is
not the stuff from which apostasy develops. It is clear, however, that if left
uncorrected it could result in factions that could bring more serious problems
and heretical ideas into the church.
In chapter 5 Paul
reprimanded the Corinthian saints in strong terms for allowing a case of incest
to go uncorrected. He commanded in the name of the Lord that the guilty party
be excommunicated. Paul said, "Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth
the whole lump?" (1 Corinthians 5:6), speaking of the damaging potential
of allowing a moral problem as serious as incest to remain unpurged. It should
be recalled that a few years later Paul prophesied that the abandonment of true
religion would be accompanied by the acceptance of degenerate standards of
moral behavior (2 Timothy 3:1-4). The Corinthians were blessed to have Paul's
letter to warn them of the danger.
1 Corinthians deals
with doctrinal heresies as well; Paul felt a need to explain the correct
use of the Lord's supper (chap. 11) and spiritual gifts (chaps. 12-14). Yet
perhaps the most revealing doctrinal problem at
To deal with each of
these issues at
2 Corinthians (ca. A.D. 57)
For the purposes of
this study, one particular aspect of 2 Corinthians is significant. This is the
letter in which Paul was most revealing of himself, his problems, and his
actions. Among the Corinthians were some who had attacked Paul's doctrine and
his dedication to the work of the Lord. Paul felt that the situation was
serious enough that he needed to defend himself by speaking frankly in his own
behalf. Against his own better judgment he boasted of his sacrifices in behalf
of the gospel. He told of his beatings, imprisonments, stonings, shipwrecks,
pain, hunger, and thirst, and of his visions and revelations (2 Corinthians
11:23-27; 12:1-12). Paul chastised himself for mentioning those things, stating
that he was speaking foolishly in doing so (2 Corinthians 11:21, 23). Yet as a
representative of the Lord and as the one who had brought the gospel to the
readers of the letter, Paul knew that he had an obligation to defend his own
integrity and that of his message. If the Corinthian saints rejected Paul, the
messenger who brought them the gospel, what would prevent them from rejecting
the message as well? His fears appear to have been well-founded. Already they
were being taught "another Jesus, whom we have not preached" (2
Corinthians 11:4), and among them were "false apostles, deceitful workers,
transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ" (2 Corinthians
11:13).
Galatians (ca. A.D. 58)
In the letter to the
Galatians, Paul responded to the problem of a movement within the church that
countered his teachings with a Judaized Christianity and attacked him
personally. It appears from the letter that the success rate of the
anti-Pauline Judaizers was high, which caused Paul a great deal of concern. The
false ideas that the Galatians were entertaining were of such a nature that
without correction the gospel as taught by him would have been changed
drastically. Paul accused the saints of turning to what he called "another
gospel" under the influence of those who would "pervert the gospel of
Christ" (Galatians 1:6-7). Among other things, he accused them of looking
back to the Law of Moses for salvation (Galatians 3:1-5), observing Jewish
holidays (Galatians 4:10), and accepting circumcision again (Galatians 5:2-4).
So emphatic was he with regard to the apostolic authority of his message and
its divine origin that he punctuated his rebuke by saying that even if an angel
came from heaven teaching doctrine different than what he had taught, it should
be rejected (Galatians 1:6-12)!
Paul clearly viewed
the Galatian heresy with alarm. In his concerned effort to save the Galatians
from even greater problems, he wrote the letter. We know nothing concerning its
results. If during Paul's lifetime the Galatian churches had turned to
"another gospel," to use his words, it is likely that they would have
turned even farther afield without guidance and correction from men in the
church such as Paul who could proclaim: "The gospel which was preached of
me is not after man. For I neither received it of man, neither was I taught it,
but by the revelation of Jesus Christ" (Galatians 1:11-12).
Colossians (ca. A.D. 61)
Colossians is the only
one of the prison epistles in which Paul appears to be contending with a
serious doctrinal problem. The nature of the problem, which is often called the
"Colossian heresy," is not known precisely. Paul gave us only a few
hints concerning it, and rather than dealing directly with the problem, he
taught proper doctrine in an affirmative way — presumably in an effort to
counterbalance falsehood with increased emphasis on truth. In the letter he
wrote at great length concerning the role of Christ as the preeminent being in
the universe, giving us one of the greatest statements found anywhere in sacred
writings concerning the nature and mission of Jesus (Colossians 1:12-23; cf.
2:9-10). Paul's emphasis suggests that the so-called "Colossian
heresy" included incorrect ideas concerning Jesus' standing among the
powers of the heavens. In fact, Paul denounced the worship of others who had
begun to be revered: "Do not be taken in by people who like groveling to
angels and worshiping them; people like that are always going on about some
vision they have had, inflating themselves to a false importance with their
worldly outlook" (Colossians 2:18, JB).
Some commentators
believe that Paul's reference to the worship of angels is evidence of elements
of Gnosticism or something similar at
One problem that
Christian Gnostics faced was that of the nature of Jesus Christ. As Christ was believed
to have been both God and man, having had a material body, his position in the
heavenly hierarchies was problematic. Perhaps when Paul emphasized Christ's
position in a cosmic perspective that was unprecedented in any other letter,
the apostle was responding to this kind of ambivalence regarding the role of
Jesus. Paul pointed out:
For in him all things
were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or
dominions or principalities or authorities — all things were created through
him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together
(Colossians 1:16-17, RSV).
He stated further,
"For in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily," and
Jesus "is the head of all principality and power" (Colossians
2:9-10). Paul's emphasis on Jesus' preeminence makes good sense in light of the
Gnostic hierarchy of intermediary subdeities and the impossibility of fitting
Jesus into the system.
The letter to the
Colossians is a letter of urgent warning, and rightly so considering the
perversion of doctrine to which the saints at
Paul continued,
"Beware lest any man spoil you through philosophy and vain deceit, after
the tradition of men, after the rudiments of the world, and not after
Christ" (Colossians 2:8).
If Gnosticism in some
primitive form was indeed the heresy that was making inroads into the church at
1 Timothy and Titus (ca. A.D. 63) fn
The pastoral epistles
give additional evidence that apostate doctrines were widespread in
Christianity while Paul was still alive. Once again the main source of
heretical teaching appears to have been Gnosticism. In 1 Timothy and Titus the
evidence for a Gnostic perversion of Christianity is compelling.
The term
"gnosticism" comes from the Greek noun gno fns, which means
"knowledge." Gnostics were characterized by a belief that they had
secret knowledge that had been passed on to them by Jesus or the apostles. They
believed that it was through this gno fns that one was saved, by becoming
able to rise above the evil physical world. That Paul was aware of Gnosticism
and recognized it as a threat is evident in the final words of 1 Timothy:
"O Timothy, guard what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the godless
chatter and contradictions of what is falsely called knowledge, for by
professing it some have missed the mark as regards the faith" (1 Timothy
6:20-21, RSV, emphasis added). fn
In 1 Timothy 1:3-4
Paul counseled Timothy to teach others to avoid "fables and endless
genealogies." Similarly, he admonished Titus to speak out against
"foolish questions, and genealogies" (Titus 3:9). We know that
genealogy for worthy purposes was known among early Christians (see Matthew
1:1-16; Luke 3:23-28; Acts 4:36; Philippians 3:5). What Paul was referring to
here was quite different, as he denounced it in the context of speculative
doctrinal contention that was "unprofitable and vain" (1 Timothy 1:4;
Titus 3:8-9). As stated previously, the Gnostic dualism of pure spirit on one
extreme and evil matter on the other gave rise to an extensive hierarchy of
subordinate deities. In a descending series beginning with the ultimate god,
lower gods were begotten or created in turn until finally the lowest committed
the ultimate evil act by creating the material world and man in it. In some
second-century Gnostic systems, as contemporary accounts reveal, there were as
many as 365 levels in this chain of heavens and divine beings. fn Paul's
prohibition against "endless genealogies" seems to refer to this type
of structure. Such diverting speculations do not edify in faith, he said, but
"minister questions" (1 Timothy 1:4). fn
The pastoral epistles
show other signs of the popularity of false doctrine in the church, not only of
gentile origin but of Jewish origin as well. Paul warned Timothy of those who
teach ideas other than the divine doctrine of the word of Jesus Christ. Those
who do so are obsessed with "questions and strifes of words," out of
which come "perverse disputings of men of corrupt minds" (1 Timothy
6:3-5; cf. 2 Timothy 2:23). He told Titus:
For there are many
unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, specially they of the circumcision:
Whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which
they ought not. . . . Wherefore rebuke them sharply, that they may be sound in
the faith; Not giving heed to Jewish fables, and commandments of men, that turn
from the truth (Titus 1:10-11, 13-14).
2 Timothy (ca. A.D. 67)
Paul's final letter,
written to his beloved associate Timothy, is the product of the aged apostle as
he awaited his execution in
In this pathetic
setting Paul spoke of apostasy both future and present. In the future the
saints would no longer "endure sound doctrine" (2 Timothy 4:3). But
Paul knew that as he wrote, the process was already underway. He warned Timothy
against "profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more
ungodliness. And their word will eat as doth a canker" (2 Timothy
2:16-17). He mentioned two men guilty of spreading cankerous false doctrine,
who had ruined the faith of some by teaching that the resurrection had already
taken place.
Perhaps Paul's most
sorrow-filled words are those found in 2 Timothy 1:15: "This thou knowest,
that all they which are in
Jude (ca. A.D. 80)
By the time of the
writing of Jude, the apostasy that had been prophesied was well underway. Jude
tells us as much.
As he began his
letter, Jude mentioned that it was necessary for him to write and exhort his
readers that they "should earnestly contend for the faith which was once
delivered unto the saints" (Jude 1:3). The impression one gets from Jude's
urgent words is that "the faith which was once delivered unto the
saints" was facing substantial opposition. Jude explained why:
Certain people have
infiltrated among you,
and they are the ones you had a warning about, in writing, long ago, when they
were condemned for denying all religion, turning the grace of our God into
immorality, and rejecting our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ (Jude 1:4, JB,
emphasis added).
This passage tells us
both of the prophecy of the infiltration of godless men into the church and of
its fulfillment. By this point in history the saints had received numerous
prophecies that this kind of trouble would come in the last days of the church.
Jude's words demonstrate that they knew it and that the time had arrived. His
statement does not describe persecution or opposition from without, but
apostasy from within, as "certain men crept in unawares" and gained
influence to promote their false ideas.
Jude continued by
likening the apostates of his day with several from more ancient times. Among
other charges with which he condemned them was the fact that they "reject
authority, and defame dignitaries" (Jude 1:8, Reicke), an overt act of
rebellion similar to that described in 3 John.
Near the end of the
letter Jude reminded the readers again that they had been warned and that the
day had arrived:
But, dear friends,
remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you,
"In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own
ungodly desires." These are the men who divide you, who follow mere
natural instincts and do not have the Spirit (Jude 1:17-19, NIV).
Revelation (ca. A.D. 96)
In John's apocalypse
we find additional convincing evidence that apostasy was ruining the church. As
had Jude before him, John told of the forces of rebellion already at work in
Christianity. And, as he reported, they were succeeding.
The evidence of
apostasy in progress is found in the messages to seven churches of
To
The two remaining
messages are those to
If the messages to the
seven churches of
1 and 2 John (ca. A.D. 98)
John's letters are
probably the latest writings of the New Testament. As such they are the most
informative source for the final days of the Christianity of the apostles.
Predictably, the view that they provide of the church at the end of the century
is a tragic one. John, who at this point certainly was the senior apostle of
the church, told his readers that the last hours of the church had come, as
prophesied, and that the powers of apostasy were among them in force. He
stated:
Little children, it
is the last time: and as ye have heard that antichrist shall come, even now
are there many antichrists; whereby we know that it is the last time (1 John
2:18, emphasis added). fn
John and his readers
knew that they were in the "last time" (escháebar; hoabar;,
more literally "last hour") because they knew of prophecies that in
the final days of the church "antichrist" would be found among them.
Since "many antichrists" were then within the church, John knew with
certainty that the final days had arrived. fn
In Paul's great
prophecy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4, he foretold the manifestation of the
"man of sin," Satan, in the period of apostasy. Paul's "man of
sin" is the equivalent of John's "antichrist." Yet the fact that
John mentioned many antichrists among the saints shows that it refers here not
only to Satan singularly, but also to his followers, those who were inspired of
him, and his entire movement. Continuing, John stated that the antichrists had
come from among the saints: "They went out from us, but they were not of
us; for if they had been of us, they would no doubt have continued with
us" (1 John 2:19).
Later in his letter,
John warned his readers further about apostate influences among them:
"Beloved, believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are
of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the world" (1 John
4:1). This passage contains three messages of importance to early Christians:
(1) Do not believe every "spirit." John used the term
"spirit" in a broad sense, possibly to mean something like
"idea," "movement," "teacher," or
"prophet." (2) Test those influences to see if they are from God. (3)
"Many false prophets" were in the world. John clearly was writing
about false prophets within Christianity. Recall that in his letter from
Next, John gave the means
by which his readers could test the "spirits" to see if they were of
God:
Hereby know ye the
Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the
flesh is of God: and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come
in the flesh is not of God: and this is that spirit of antichrist, whereof ye
have heard that it should come; and even now already is it in the world (1 John
4:2-3).
The test was simple:
if the spirit testified that Jesus had not come in the flesh, that was the
anticipated spirit of antichrist.
Apparently John's
readers had been influenced by docetism, a doctrine that denied that
Christ had come in the flesh. fn Docetism, from the Greek verb dokéo,
"to seem," held that Christ had not really come in the flesh, but
only appeared to do so. This belief was based on the Gnostic view that matter
was evil, and that it would be impossible for a divine being such as Christ to
be associated with it.
Docetism denied,
therefore, the humanity of Christ, his physical suffering, his physical death,
and his physical resurrection; he only seemed to have a physical body.
John's concern over
this doctrinal development is understandable, considering the fact that he had
been one of the closest individuals to Jesus during his mortality. To him such
a belief was antichrist. In both 1 and 2 John he denounced it strongly (see 1
John 2:26; 2 John 1:7) and pleaded with the saints to hold fast to true
doctrine: "Let that therefore abide in you, which ye have heard from the
beginning. If that which ye have heard from the beginning shall remain in you,
ye also shall continue in the Son, and in the Father" (1 John 2:24).
3 John (ca. A.D. 98)
John's third letter is
a letter of apostasy. In it he made reference to one Diotrephes, a local church
leader who had refused to receive John. Diotrephes, according to John,
"loveth to have the preeminence" among the saints (3 John 1:9). John
— the presiding authority of the church — had written to him; but Diotrephes
would not receive John. Neither would he receive "the brethren," and
he would not let his congregation do so either. In fact, he excommunicated
those who would (3 John 1:10).
This was apostasy by
any definition. It was rebellion against divinely instituted authority. John
promised to deal with the offending leader when he could, but if Diotrephes did
not recognize John's authority, no doubt he would not have responded to his
discipline either.
We have no way of
knowing to what extent this type of rebellion characterized the Christian church
at that time. Yet if, as we learn from John's other letters, rebellion against
true doctrine was commonplace, undoubtedly the struggle against those who
opposed that rebellion was equally widespread. The Diotrephes incident may have
been one of many such events, as people of the rising third generation of
Christian history had no loyalty to John, the last remaining witness of the
first. For those who rejected John, the final legitimate link of doctrinal and
priesthood authority between Christ and the church that bore his name in that
day was broken.
3. THE END OF THE APOSTOLIC ERA
The New Testament does
not preserve for us a complete history of the Christian church of the first
century A.D. We possess in addition to the gospels only the twenty-eight chapters
of the book of Acts — much of which is not a history of the church but a
history of the career of one apostle — and less than two dozen letters. These
documents give us only a faint view of the seventy-year period which they span.
fn There are major gaps in our knowledge of the activities of the apostles,
their lives, their teachings, and their deaths. We do know that in the early
years following the resurrection of Jesus the apostles added additional members
to their number as vacancies required. A good case for the fact that there had
to be twelve apostles during the early period can be made on the basis of the
choosing of Matthias to fill the position vacated by Judas Iscariot. It is
significant to note that among the first things that the apostles did following
the ascension of Jesus was to choose another to join them. As Peter explained,
to fill Judas's place one had to "be ordained to be a witness with us of
his resurrection" (Acts 1:22). Others are mentioned as well, who appear to
have been added to the group of apostles in the following years. Although we
lack the details of their choosing, ordination, or whom they replaced, we know
that James (see Acts 12:17 and Acts 15; Galatians 1:19), Paul (Acts 14:14;
Romans 1:1), and Barnabas (Acts 14:14; Romans 1:1) were added as time
progressed. There may have been others concerning whom we have no information.
It is evident that
James, Paul, and Barnabas were made apostles prior to A.D. 50. At least up
until that point in history it appears that the Lord perpetuated his system of
apostolic succession in accordance with the precedent of the choosing of
Matthias: when there was a vacancy in the Twelve, one was chosen to fill it.
Later, however, it seems that the succession was ended. By A.D. 95 only John
remained, as far as we know. The scriptural record is silent concerning others,
but early Christian sources outside of the Bible show John as the only living
apostle by the end of the century. When John left his public ministry,
apostleship ceased in the church. Had it been God's will, others certainly
could have been chosen. But clearly it was not. The Lord allowed the
apostleship to die out. fn
When Jesus sent forth
his special witnesses, he commanded them to bear testimony of him to all the
world (e.g., Acts 1:8). They did this in two significant ways. First, they
traveled far, preaching the gospel and bearing witness of Jesus and his work
wherever they went. Second, and perhaps even more importantly, they left their
testimony in the form of the records that we call collectively the New
Testament. It is the written testimony of the apostles, preserved for all
generations as the witness of those who were commissioned to be "witnesses
unto [Christ] . . . unto the uttermost part of the earth" (Acts 1:8). The
apostles were kept on earth long enough to fulfill the divine command. They did
not fail.
The Lord knew, and he
gave his apostles to know, that many saints would turn away from the true faith
that had been taught to them. We have seen that it happened — slowly at first,
but with increasing speed and irreversibility in each succeeding decade. And,
as we have seen, with the rejection of true religion came the rejection of true
authority as well. There must have come a time at some point near the year A.D.
100 when, had the apostolic succession continued, there would have been twelve
apostles on earth and a church that rejected both their doctrine and their
authority. This was not allowed to happen. It was fortunate, in fact, that the
system of succession was not perpetuated further. By the time of 3 John, ca.
A.D. 98, even John, the senior apostle of the church, was being rejected. The
Great Apostasy had come.
Footnotes
1. E.g., Dean C.
Jessee, ed., The Personal Writings of Joseph Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book, 1984), 5, 200 (Joseph Smith-History 1:18-19), 213; Oliver Cowdery,
"Address," Latter Day Saints' Messenger and Advocate 1
(October 1834): 2; Orson Pratt, A Interesting Account of Several Remarkable
Visions (Edinburgh, 1840), 29; James E. Talmage, The Great Apostasy
(Salt Lake City: Deseret News, 1909), and The Articles of Faith (Salt
Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1960), 198-204.
2. It is an honor for
me to include a discussion of the apostasy in a volume that celebrates the
contributions of Hugh W. Nibley, whose writings contain numerous references to
the fall of the Early Christian Church. Over the years he has demonstrated that
the Latter-day Saint position on this matter is defensible by an appeal to the
earliest Christian documents, including the New Testament itself. In his
studies in early Christian history he has pointed out convincingly that the
Christian church of the second century was not the same as that of the first.
His major works specifically dealing with the apostasy include "The
Passing of the Primitive Church: Forty Variations on an Unpopular Theme,"
and "The Way of the Church," in Mormonism and Early Christianity,
vol. 4, The Collected Works of Hugh Nibley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book
and F.A.R.M.S., 1987), 168-208 and 209-322. The first of these is among
Nibley's finest works. Additional discussion of the apostasy is found
throughout his other writings, particularly in Mormonism and Early
Christianity and in The World and the Prophets, vol. 3, The
Collected Works of Hugh Nibley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book and
F.A.R.M.S., 1987).
3. For insights into
the phrase, "they were all wrong," see Larry E. Dahl, "The
Theological Significance of the First Vision," in Robert L. Millet and
Kent P. Jackson, eds., Studies in Scripture, Vol. 2: The
4. All biblical
quotations are from the King James Version unless indicated otherwise by the
following abbreviations: JB — Jerusalem Bible; JST — Joseph Smith Translation;
NIV — New International Version; Phillips — Phillips Modern English Version;
REB — Revised English Bible; Reicke — Bo Reicke, The Epistles of James,
Peter, and Jude, Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964); RSV —
Revised Standard Version.
5. The Greek verbal
conjugation ené fnen, translated "at hand" in the King James
Bible, has been rendered in a variety of ways in other translations. The basic
meaning of the word is "is present," so perhaps the reading "has
come" (RSV), or something similar to it as found in the majority of the
versions, is more accurate than the ambiguous "at hand." Albrecht
Oepke, "Ení fnemi," in Gerhard Kittel, ed., Theological Dictionary
of the New Testament, 10 vols. (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1964),
2:543-44.
6. Heinrich Schlier,
"Apostasí in Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New Testament,
1:513-14; F. F. Bruce, 1 and 2 Thessalonians, Word Biblical Commentary
(Waco, TX: Word Books, 1982), 166. Richard D. Draper pointed out to me why he
prefers to use the word "revolution" over "rebellion." In a
rebellion the rulers are challenged (and sometimes overthrown) but the state
remains intact. In a successful revolution, not only are the leaders overthrown
but the constitution is thrown out as well. The basic framework and objectives
of the state are discarded in favor of new ones cast in the image of the new
leaders. Stephen Robinson's term "mutiny" carries the same
connotation. When the captain of the ship is thrown overboard the new men at
the helm steer a new course; see Stephen E. Robinson, "Early Christianity
and 1 Nephi 13-14," in Monte S. Nyman and Charles D. Tate, Jr., eds., First
Nephi, the Doctrinal Foundation (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center,
Brigham Young University, 1988), 178. These scenarios describe accurately the
ultimate result of the fall of early Christianity.
7. E.g., Bruce R.
McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City:
Bookcraft, 1966-73), 3:63; Sidney B. Sperry, Paul's Life and Letters
(Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1955; repr. 1987), 103.
8. See Richard Lloyd
Anderson, Understanding Paul (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1983), 86.
See also William F. Orr and James Arthur Walther, 1 Corinthians, Anchor
Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1976), 172-74.
9. See Robert E.
Parsons, "The Great and Abominable Church," in Kent P. Jackson, ed., Studies
in Scripture, Vol. 7: 1 Nephi to Alma 29 (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1987),
54-59; Robinson, "Early Christianity and 1 Nephi 13-14," 177-91.
10. See Dahl, "The
Theological Significance of the First Vision," 326-27, 331-32.
11. Bruce, 1 and 2
Thessalonians, 170-71; John W. Bailey, "2 Thessalonians,
Exegesis," in George A. Buttrick et al., eds., The Interpreter's Bible,
12 vols. (Nashville/New York: Abingdon, 1953-57), 11:328.
12. E.g., Bailey,
"2 Thessalonians," 11:327.
13. For other
insights, see Anderson, Understanding Paul, 85-87.
14. See Hermann W.
Beyer, "Blaspheméo," in Kittel, Theological Dictionary of the New
Testament, 1:621-25.
15. Cf. McConkie, Doctrinal
New Testament Commentary, 3:520-22.
16. See Robinson,
"Early Christianity and 1 Nephi 13-14," 188-90.
17. For additional New
Testament evidence, see Nibley, "The Passing of the
18. An argument for
Gnosticism in first-century (New Testament) Christianity is found in R. McL.
Wilson, Gnosis and the New Testament (Philadelphia: Fortress Press,
1968), 31-84. For a popular introduction to Gnosticism in early Christianity,
see Elaine Pagels, The Gnostic Gospels (New York: Random House, 1979);
see also F. F. Bruce, New Testament History (Garden City, NY:
Anchor/Double-day, 1972), 415-18.
19. E.g., Irenaeus, Against
Heresies; Clement of
20. For excellent
discussions concerning the dates of the Pastoral Epistles, see Anderson, Understanding
Paul, 310-14; D. Edmond Hiebert, An Introduction to the Pauline Epistles
(Chicago: Moody Press, 1954), 308-24. The dates accepted here necessarily
presuppose both Pauline authorship and an early development of Gnosticism in
first-century Christianity. Though most definitions or descriptions of
Gnosticism reflect its second-century (and later) characteristics, it is not
inaccurate to use the term with regard to the movements manifest in Colossians,
the Pastoral Letters, and 1-2 John.
21. See Anderson, Understanding
Paul, 318-20.
22. Irenaeus, Against
Heresies I, 24, 3-4.
23. See Anderson, Understanding
Paul, 320-21.
24. Richard Lloyd
Anderson, "Ramsay, The
25. Raymond E. Brown's
translation reads as follows: "Children, it is the last hour. You heard
that Antichrist is to come: well, now many Antichrists have made their
appearance, and this makes us certain that it really is the last hour," The
Epistles of John, Anchor Bible (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1982), 329.
26. Scholars generally
believe that John had in mind the "last hour" (of whatever duration)
before the return of Jesus. See Brown, The Epistles of John, 330-32;
Stephen S. Smalley, 1, 2, 3 John, Word Biblical Commentary (Waco, TX:
Word Books, 1984), 94-101. While it is not altogether clear how long the
apostles anticipated the apostasy to last, this verse and those discussed above
(particularly 2 Thessalonians 2:1-12) demonstrate that the coming of
"antichrist" (or the "man of sin") was inevitable before
Jesus' return. Assuming, as we must, that John realized that there would be a
restoration before the Second Coming, the "last hour" can only point
to the end of the church, not the end of the world (see Joseph Smith-Matthew
1:4). Thus Brown's suggestion that John "was wrong" misses the point;
The Epistles of John, 330.
27. See F. F. Bruce, The
Epistles of John (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970), 15-18, 104-5. For a
brief survey of interpretations, see I. Howard Marshall, The Epistles of
John, The New International Commentary on the New Testament (Grand Rapids,
MI: Eerdmans, 1978), 14-22.
28. Nibley suggests
that censorship and "the silent treatment" are two reasons why so
little has survived from the earliest Christianity, showing examples from
antiquity; "The Way of the Church," 223-31.
29. Note Nibley's
insightful comment: "The failure of the apostles to leave behind them
written instructions for the future guidance of the church has often been noted
and sadly regretted. It is hard to conceive of such a colossal oversight if the
founders had actually envisaged a long future for the church," Nibley,
"The Passing of the
(John M. Lundquist and
Stephen D. Ricks, eds., By Study and Also by Faith: Essays in Honor of Hugh
W. Nibley on the Occasion of His Eightieth Birthday, 27 March 1990, 2 vols.
[Salt Lake City and Provo: Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research
and Mormon Studies, 1990], 1: 81.)
Great cities of
Christianity, Bishops controlled these cities.
THE CHURCH IN FORMER
AND LATTER DAYS
Besides these specific
offices in the Priesthood, there were other callings of a more temporal nature,
to which men were also set apart by authority; such for instance was the case
of the seven men of honest report who, in the days of the apostles, were appointed
to minister to the poor, thus leaving the Twelve freer to attend to the
particular duties of their office. fn This special appointment illustrates the
nature of the helps and governments fn set in the Church, to assist in the work
under the direction of the regular officers of the Priesthood.
The ministers so
appointed and the members among whom they labor constitute the Church of
Christ, which has been impressively compared to a perfect body, the individuals
typifying the separate members, each with its own functions, all cooperating
for the welfare of the whole. fn Every office so established, every officer so
commissioned, is necessary to the development of the Church and to the
accomplishment of its work. An organization established of God comprises no
superfluities; the eye, the ear, the hand, the foot, every organ of the body,
is essential to the symmetry and perfection of the physical structure; in the
Church no officer can rightly say to another: "I have no need of
thee." fn
The existence of these
officers, and particularly their operation with accompaniments of divine
assistance and power, may be taken as a distinguishing characteristic of the
Church in any age of the world—a crucial test, whereby the validity or falsity
of any claim to divine authority may be determined. The Gospel of Jesus Christ
is the everlasting Gospel; its principles, laws and ordinances, and the Church
organization founded thereon, must be ever the same. In searching for the true
Church, therefore, one must look for an organization comprising the offices
established of old, the callings of apostles, prophets, evangelists, high
priests, seventies, pastors, bishops, elders, priests, teachers, deacons—not
men bearing these names merely, but ministers able to vindicate their claim to
position as officers in the Lord's service, through the evidences of power and
authority accompanying their ministry.
Apostasy from the
Primitive Church—Question
may arise in the mind of the earnest investigator, as to whether these
authorities, together with the attesting gifts of the Holy Spirit, have
remained with men from the apostolic age to the present; in short, as to the
existence of the Church of Jesus Christ upon the earth during this long
interval. In answer, let the facts following be considered. Since the period
immediately succeeding that of the ministrations of the apostles of old, and
until the nineteenth century, no organization had maintained a claim to direct
revelation from God; in fact, the teachings of professed ministers of the
Gospel for centuries have been to the effect that such gifts of God have
ceased, that the days of miracles have gone, and that the present depends for
its guiding code wholly upon the past. A self-suggesting interpretation of
history indicates that there has been a great departure from the way of
salvation as laid down by the Savior, a universal apostasy from the
In the first quarter
of the fourth century, however, a change in the attitude of paganism toward
Christianity was marked by the so-called conversion of Constantine the Great,
under whose patronage the Christian profession grew in favor and became in fact
the religion of State. But what a profession, what a religion it was by this
time! Its simplicity had departed; earnest devotion and self-sacrificing
sincerity were no longer characteristic of the ministers of the Church. Those
professed followers of the humble Prophet of Nazareth, those self-styled
representatives of the Lord whose kingdom was not of earth earthy, those loudly
proclaimed lovers of the Man of Sorrows acquainted with grief, lived amidst
conditions strangely inconsistent with the life of their divine Exemplar.
Church offices were sought after for the distinction of honor and wealth
accompanying them; ministers of the Gospel affected the state of secular
dignitaries; bishops exhibited the pomp of princes, archbishops lived as kings
and popes like emperors. With these innovations came many changes in the
ordinances of the so-called church—the rites of baptism were perverted; the
sacrament was altered; public worship became an exhibition of art; men were
canonized, martyrs were made subjects of adoration; blasphemy grew apace, in
that men without authority essayed to exercise the prerogatives of God. Ages of
darkness came upon the earth; the power of Satan seemed almost supreme.
For a special
consideration of the evidence of a general apostasy from the
John Wesley, founder
of an influential sect, declared that the distinctive gifts of the Holy Ghost
were no longer with the Church, having been taken away on account of the
unworthiness of professing Christians, whom he characterized indeed as heathen,
with only a dead form of worship. fn In the Church of England Homily Against
Peril of Idolatry we read: "So that laity and clergy, learned and
unlearned, all ages, sects, and degrees of men, women, and children of whole
Christendom—an horrible and most dreadful thing to think—have been at once
drowned in abominable idolatry; of all other vices most detested by God, and
most damnable to man; and that by the space of eight hundred years and
more." The Book of Homilies dates from about the middle of the
sixteenth century; and in it is thus officially affirmed that the so-called
Church and the whole religious world had been utterly apostate for eight
centuries or more prior to the establishment of the Church of England. fn
This Great Apostasy
was Foretold—The
foreknowledge of God made plain to Him even from the beginning this falling
away from the truth; and, through inspiration the prophets of old uttered
solemn warnings of the approaching dangers. Isaiah was contemplating the era of
spiritual darkness when he declared: "The earth also is defiled under the inhabitants
thereof; because they have transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken
the everlasting covenant." fn Deeply impressive are the words of the Lord
through Jeremiah: "For my people have committed two evils: they have
forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken
cisterns, that can hold no water." fn
The prophecies of the
apostles relative to the false teachers then soon to trouble the flock show
that the apostasy was at that early time approaching rapidly. Paul warned the
saints of Thessalonica that they be not deceived by those who cried that the
second coming of Christ was then at hand—"For," said the apostle,
"that day shall not come except there come a falling away first, and that
man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition; Who opposeth and exalteth himself
above all that is called God, or that is worshiped; so that he as God sitteth
in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God." fn This falling
away had begun even in the days of the apostles: "Even now," says
John, "are there many anti-Christs." fn And Paul, in addressing the
Galatians, declared, "There be some that trouble you, and would pervert
the gospel of Christ." fn
Not less conclusive
are the prophecies contained in the Book of Mormon relating to this great
falling away. Nephi, son of Lehi, predicted the oppression of the North
American Indians at the hands of the Gentiles, and declared that at that time
the people will be lifted up in self-pride, having departed from the ordinances
of God's house; they will build to themselves many churches, but in these they
will preach their own wisdom, with envyings, and strife, and malice, denying,
however, the power and miracles of God. fn
Restoration of the
Church—From
the facts already stated it is evident that the Church was literally driven
from the earth; in the first ten centuries immediately following the ministry
of Christ the authority of the Holy Priesthood was lost from among men, and no
human power could restore it. But the Lord in His mercy provided for the
reestablishment of His Church in the last days, and for the last time; and
prophets of olden time foresaw this era of renewed enlightenment, and sang in
joyous tones of its coming. fn This restoration was effected by the Lord through
the Prophet Joseph Smith, who, together with Oliver Cowdery, in 1829, received
the Aaronic Priesthood under the hands of John the Baptist; and later the
Melchizedek Priesthood under the hands of the former-day apostles, Peter,
James, and John. By the authority thus bestowed the Church has been again
organized with all its former completeness, and mankind once more rejoices in
the priceless privileges of the counsels of God. The Latter-day Saints declare
their high claim to the true Church organization, similar in all essentials to
the organization effected by Christ among the Jews. This people of the last
days profess to have the Priesthood of the Almighty, the power to act in the
name of God, which power commands respect both on earth and in heaven.
(James E. Talmage, Articles
of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 180.)
Nicean Creed – A
council was held to discredit the Bishop of Alexandria who switched sides in
prison. He changed his mind about
excommunicating those who left the church (they were afraid of being killed) to
those who wanted to keep them in the church.
There was disagreement on how to run the church, without revelation they
were lost.
Apostasy and
Restoration
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints has many beliefs in common with other Christian churches. But we have
differences, and those differences explain why we send missionaries to other
Christians, why we build temples in addition to churches, and why our beliefs
bring us such happiness and strength to deal with the challenges of life and
death. I wish to discuss some of the important additions our doctrines make to
the Christian faith. My subject is apostasy and restoration.
In 1994, searchers discovered a Roman fort and
city in the Sinai close to the
We would be wiser if we could restore the
knowledge of some important things that have been distorted, ignored, or
forgotten. This also applies to religious knowledge. It explains the need for
the gospel restoration we proclaim.
When Joseph Smith was asked to explain the
major tenets of our faith, he wrote what we now call the Articles of Faith. The
first article states, "We believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His
Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost." The Prophet later declared that
"the simple and first principles of the gospel" include knowing
"for a certainty the character of God."2 We must begin with the truth
about God and our relationship to him. Everything else follows from that.
In common with the rest of Christianity, we
believe in a Godhead of Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. However, we testify that
these three members of the Godhead are three separate and distinct beings. We
also testify that God the Father is not just a spirit but is a glorified person
with a tangible body, as is his resurrected Son, Jesus Christ.
When first communicated to mankind by
prophets, the teachings we now have in the Bible were "plain and pure, and
most precious and easy" to understand
(1 1 Ne. 14:23). Even
in the transmitted and translated version we have today, the Bible language
confirms that God the Father and his resurrected Son, Jesus Christ, are
tangible, separate beings. To cite only two of many such teachings, the Bible
declares that man was created in the image of God, and it describes three
separate members of the Godhead manifested at the baptism of Jesus (see Gen.
1:27; Matt. 3:13-17).
In contrast, many Christians reject the idea
of a tangible, personal God and a Godhead of three separate beings. They
believe that God is a spirit and that the Godhead is only one God. In our view,
these concepts are evidence of the falling away we call the Great Apostasy.
We maintain that the concepts identified by
such nonscriptural terms as "the incomprehensible mystery of God" and
"the mystery of the Holy Trinity" are attributable to the ideas of
Greek philosophy. These philosophical concepts transformed Christianity in the
first few centuries following the deaths of the Apostles. For example,
philosophers then maintained that physical matter was evil and that God was a
spirit without feelings or passions. Persons of this persuasion, including
learned men who became influential converts to Christianity, had a hard time
accepting the simple teachings of early Christianity: an Only Begotten Son who
said he was in the express image of his Father in Heaven and who taught his
followers to be one as he and his Father were one, and a Messiah who died on a
cross and later appeared to his followers as a resurrected being with flesh and
bones.
The collision
between the speculative world of Greek philosophy and the simple, literal faith
and practice of the earliest Christians produced sharp contentions that
threatened to widen political divisions in the fragmenting
Other councils followed, and from their
decisions and the writings of churchmen and philosophers there came a synthesis
of Greek philosophy and Christian doctrine in which the orthodox Christians of
that day lost the fulness of truth about the nature of God and the Godhead. The
consequences persist in the various creeds of Christianity, which declare a
Godhead of only one being and which describe that single being or God as
"incomprehensible" and "without body, parts, or passions."
One of the distinguishing features of the doctrine of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints is its rejection of all of these postbiblical
creeds.3
In the process of what we call the Apostasy,
the tangible, personal God described in the Old and New Testaments was replaced
by the abstract, incomprehensible deity defined by compromise with the
speculative principles of Greek philosophy. The received language of the Bible
remained, but the so-called "hidden meanings" of scriptural words
were now explained in the vocabulary of a philosophy alien to their origins. In
the language of that philosophy, God the Father ceased to be a Father in any
but an allegorical sense. He ceased to exist as a comprehensible and
compassionate being. And the separate identity of his Only Begotten Son was
swallowed up in a philosophical abstraction that attempted to define a common
substance and an incomprehensible relationship.
These descriptions of a religious philosophy
are surely undiplomatic, but I hasten to add that Latter-day Saints do not
apply such criticism to the men and women who profess these beliefs. We believe
that most religious leaders and followers are sincere believers who love God
and understand and serve him to the best of their abilities. We are indebted to
the men and women who kept the light of faith and learning alive through the
centuries to the present day. We have only to contrast the lesser light that
exists among peoples unfamiliar with the names of God and Jesus Christ to realize
the great contribution made by Christian teachers through the ages. We honor
them as servants of God.
Then came the First Vision. An unschooled boy,
seeking knowledge from the ultimate source, saw two personages of indescribable
brightness and glory and heard one of them say, while pointing to the other,
"This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!" (JS-H 1:17). The divine teaching
in that vision began the restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus
Christ. God the Son told the boy prophet that all the "creeds" of the
churches of that day "were an abomination in his sight" (v. 19). We
affirm that this divine declaration was a condemnation of the creeds, not of
the faithful seekers who believed in them. Joseph Smith's First Vision showed that
the prevailing concepts of the nature of God and the Godhead were untrue and
could not lead their adherents to the destiny God desired for them.
After a subsequent outpouring of modern
scripture and revelation, this modern prophet declared, "The Father has a
body of flesh and bones as tangible as man's; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost
has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit" (D&C
130:22).
This belief does not mean that we claim
sufficient spiritual maturity to comprehend God. Nor do we equate our imperfect
mortal bodies to his immortal, glorified being. But we can comprehend the
fundamentals he has revealed about himself and the other members of the
Godhead. And that knowledge is essential to our understanding of the purpose of
mortal life and of our eternal destiny as resurrected beings after mortal life.
In the theology of the restored
Like other Christians, we believe in a heaven
or para- dise and a hell following mortal life, but to us that two-part
division of the righteous and the wicked is merely temporary, while the spirits
of the dead await their resurrections and final judgments. The destinations
that follow the final judgments are much more diverse. Our restored knowledge
of the separateness of the three members of the Godhead provides a key to help
us understand the diversities of resurrected glory.
In their final judgment, the children of God
will be assigned to a kingdom of glory for which their obedience has qualified
them. In his letters to the Corinthians, the Apostle Paul described these
places. He told of a vision in which he was "caught up to the third
heaven" and "heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a
man to utter" (2 Cor. 12:2, 4). of
the resurrection of the dead, he described "celestial bodies,"
"bodies terrestrial" (1 Speaking 1 Cor. 15:40), and "bodies
telestial" (JST, 1 Cor. 15:40), each pertaining to a different degree of
glory. He likened these different glories to the sun, to the moon, and to
different stars (see
1 Cor. 15:41).
We learn from modern revelation that these
three different degrees of glory have a special relationship to the three
different members of the Godhead.
The lowest degree is the telestial domain of
those who "received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus,
neither the prophets" (D&C 76:101) and who have had to suffer for
their wickedness. But even this degree has a glory that "surpasses all understanding"
(D&C 76:89). Its occupants receive the Holy Spirit and the administering of
angels, for even those who have been wicked will ultimately be "heirs of
[this degree of] salvation" (D&C 76:88).
The next higher degree of glory, the
terrestrial, "excels in all things the glory of the telestial, even in
glory, and in power, and in might, and in dominion" (D&C 76:91). The
terrestrial is the abode of those who were the "honorable men of the
earth" (D&C 76:75). Its most distinguishing feature is that those who
qualify for terrestrial glory "receive of the presence of the Son"
(v. 77). Concepts
familiar to all Christians might liken this higher kingdom to heaven because it
has the presence of the Son.
In contrast to traditional Christianity, we
join with Paul in affirming the existence of a third or higher heaven. Modern
revelation describes it as the celestial kingdom—the abode of those "whose
bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of
God" (D&C 76:70). Those who qualify for this kingdom of glory
"shall dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever"
(D&C 76:62). Those who have met the highest requirements for this kingdom,
including faithfulness to covenants made in a temple of God and marriage for
eternity, will be exalted to the godlike state referred to as the
"fulness" of the Father or eternal life (see D&C 76:56, 94; see also D&C 131; 132:19). (This destiny of eternal life or
God's life should be familiar to all who have studied the ancient Christian
doctrine of and belief in deification or apotheosis.) For us, eternal life is
not a mystical union with an incomprehensible spirit-god. Eternal life is
family life with a loving Father in Heaven and with our progenitors and our
posterity.
The theology of the restored gospel of Jesus
Christ is comprehensive, universal, merciful, and true. Following the necessary
experience of mortal life, all sons and daughters of God will ultimately be
resurrected and go to a kingdom of glory. The righteous—regardless of current
religious denomination or belief—will ultimately go to a kingdom of glory more
wonderful than any of us can comprehend. Even the wicked, or almost all of
them, will ultimately go to a marvelous—though lesser—kingdom of glory. All of
that will occur because of God's love for his children and because of the
atonement and resurrection of Jesus Christ, "who glorifies the Father, and
saves all the works of his hands" (D&C 76:43).
The purpose of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints is to help all of the children of God understand their
potential and achieve their highest destiny. This church exists to provide the
sons and daughters of God with the means of entrance into and exaltation in the
celestial kingdom. This is a family-centered church in doctrine and practices.
Our understanding of the nature and purpose of God the Eternal Father explains
our destiny and our relationship in his eternal family. Our theology begins
with heavenly parents. Our highest aspiration is to be like them. Under the
merciful plan of the Father, all of this is possible through the atonement of
the Only Begotten of the Father, our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As earthly
parents we participate in the gospel plan by providing mortal bodies for the
spirit children of God. The fulness of eternal salvation is a family matter.
It is the reality of these glorious
possibilities that causes us to proclaim our message of restored Christianity
to all people, even to good practicing Christians with other beliefs. This is
why we build temples. This is the faith that gives us strength and joy to
confront the challenges of mortal life. We offer these truths and opportunities
to all people and testify to their truthfulness.
Notes
1. See "Remains of Roman Fortress Emerge
from
2. "Conference Minutes," Times
and Seasons, 15 Aug. 1844, p. 614.
3. See Stephen E. Robinson, Are Mormons
Christians? (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991); Daniel H. Ludlow, ed., Encyclopedia
of Mormonism, 5 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), s.v.
"apostasy," "doctrine," "God the Father," and
"Godhead."
4. In Journal of Discourses, 16:75; see
also The Words of Joseph Smith, ed. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon W. Cook
(Provo, Utah: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1980), p.
340.
(The Prophet and
His Work: Essays from General Authorities on Joseph Smith and the Restoration [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1996], 66.)
Book of Abraham shows
the reality of the premortal world, which was something the church hadn’t
thought about until this book was translated.
Restoration of
Priesthood – Authority – Keys – Organization
Priesthood – God’s
power delegated to man (conferred).
Authority to act in God’s name for the salvation of man
Keys – The right to
direct Priesthood authority within an organization
Offices – Divisions
of responsibility (Ordain)
Quorums – Group or
brotherhood of those serving in the same office of the priesthood
Callings – Particular
stewardships that usually have a beginning and an end (Set apart)
Ordinances of
Salvation – Gives access to God’s power (ultimately receive access to the
Atonement)
Everything
in the organization is leading to the ordinances.
What Every Elder Should Know--
and Every Sister as Well:
A Primer on Principles of Priesthood Government
Elder Boyd
K. Packer
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Ensign, Feb. 1993, pp. 7-13
Because
elders cannot receive the fulness of the blessings of the priesthood without
the sisters, it was thought the sisters, too, could benefit from these excerpts
from a talk given at a training session of the General Authorities at general
conference, April 1992.
Less than a year after the Church was organized, the Prophet
Joseph Smith received a revelation which said:
"Hearken,
O ye elders of my church whom I have called, behold I give unto you a
commandment, that ye shall assemble yourselves together to agree upon my word;
"And
by the prayer of your faith ye shall receive my law, that ye may know how to
govern my church and have all things right before me." (D&C 41:2-3.)
There are
some things about the priesthood that every elder should know if he is to
understand how the Church is governed to have things right before the Lord.
There are principles and precepts and rules which are often overlooked and
seldom taught.
Some of
these principles are found in the scriptures, others in the handbooks. Some of
them are not found in either. They are found in the Church. You might call them
traditions, but they are more than that. They are revelations which came when
the Brethren of the past assembled themselves, agreed upon His word, and
offered their prayers of faith.
The Lord
then showed them what to do. They received by revelation, "line upon line,
precept upon precept," true principles which form the priesthood way of
doing things. (See Isa. 28:13; 2 Ne. 28:30; D&C 98:12.) These are things we
do to have things right before the Lord.
The
Priesthood
Priesthood is the authority and the power which God has granted to
men on earth to act for Him. (See JST, Gen. 14:28-31.) When we exercise priesthood
authority properly, we do what He would do if He were present.
The Melchizedek or Higher Priesthood
There are in the Church two priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek
and Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood. The first is called the
Melchizedek Priesthood because Melchizedek was such a great high priest:
"Before his day it was called the Holy Priesthood, after the Order of the
Son of God." (D&C 107:1-3.)
The
Melchizedek Priesthood is also spoken of in the scriptures as the "greater
priesthood" or the priesthood "which is after the holiest order of
God" (D&C 84:18-19) and the priesthood "after the order of mine
Only Begotten Son" (D&C 124:123; see also D&C 76:57).
"Out
of respect or reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too
frequent repetition of his name, they, the church, in ancient days, called that
priesthood after Melchizedek, or the Melchizedek Priesthood." (D&C
107:4.) We can understand why that should be. The name of the priesthood is
frequently talked about in meetings and lessons and is printed in handbooks and
manuals. It would be irreverent to use informally the sacred title which
includes the name of Deity.
Melchizedek,
the great high priest, is identified in the scriptures as the "king of
There are
references to a patriarchal priesthood. The patriarchal order is not a third,
separate priesthood. (See D&C 84:6-17; D&C 107:40-57.) Whatever relates
to the patriarchal order is embraced in the Melchizedek Priesthood. "All
other authorities or offices in the church are appendages to [the Melchizedek]
priesthood." (D&C 107:5.) The patriarchal order is a part of the
Melchizedek Priesthood which enables endowed and worthy men to preside over
their posterity in time and eternity.
The Aaronic or Lesser Priesthood
"The second priesthood is called the Priesthood of Aaron,
because it was conferred upon Aaron and his [page 8] seed. … It is called the
lesser priesthood … because it is an appendage to the greater, or the
Melchizedek Priesthood, and has power in administering outward
ordinances." (D&C 107:13-14.)
It is
sometimes called the preparatory priesthood because it prepares one for the
higher priesthood.
The
Levitical Priesthood (see Heb. 7:11; D&C 107:6, 10) is an order in or a
part of the Aaronic Priesthood. Moses and Aaron belonged to the tribe of Levi.
(See Ex. 2:1-2, 10; Ex. 4:14.) During the exodus from
The Keys of the Priesthood
There are keys of the priesthood. While the word key has other
meanings, like keys of wisdom or keys of knowledge, the keys of the priesthood
are the right to preside and direct the affairs of the Church within a
jurisdiction. All priesthood keys are within The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, and no keys exist outside the Church on earth.
Apostles
All men who are ordained Apostles and sustained as members of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles have all priesthood keys conferred upon them.
(See D&C 27:13; D&C 110:11-16; D&C 112:30.)
The
President of the Church is the only person on earth who has the right to
exercise all the keys in their fulness. (See D&C 132:7.) He receives
authority by setting apart by the Twelve Apostles.
"The
power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the
keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church. …
"The
power and authority of the lesser, or Aaronic Priesthood, is to hold the keys
of the ministering of angels, and to administer in outward ordinances, the
letter of the gospel, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins,
agreeable to the covenants and commandments." (D&C 107:18, 20.)
Keys are
conferred upon a man when he is set apart to be a president, such as a
president of a stake, of a quorum, or as a bishop. Counselors do not receive
keys.
The Priesthood Is Not Divisible
The priesthood is greater than any of its offices. When someone
first receives the Aaronic or Melchizedek Priesthood, it is conferred upon them
by the laying on of hands. After the priesthood has been conferred upon him, he
is ordained to an office in the priesthood. All offices derive their authority
from the priesthood.
The
priesthood is not divisible. An elder holds as much priesthood as an Apostle.
(See D&C 20:38.) When a man receives the priesthood, he receives all of it.
However, there are offices within the priesthood--divisions of authority and
responsibility. One may exercise his priesthood according to the rights of the
office to which he is ordained or set apart.
"The
Melchizedek Priesthood holds the right of presidency, and has power and
authority over all the offices in the church in all ages of the world, to administer
in spiritual things." (D&C 107:8.)
Whoever
holds the Melchizedek Priesthood or higher priesthood holds all of the
authority of the Aaronic or lesser priesthood as well.
The Ordained Offices in the Aaronic Priesthood
The ordained offices in the Aaronic Priesthood are:
Deacon
Teacher
Priest
The bishop
is the president of the Aaronic Priesthood. He has the keys conferred upon him
at the time of his ordination. He delegates responsibility to [page 9] his
counselors. The three of them form the bishopric, which is a presidency. (See
D&C 107:15-17.)
The
Ordained Offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood
The ordained offices in the higher priesthood are:
Elder
High Priest
Patriarch
Seventy
Apostle
Besides
identifying a specific ordained office in the Melchizedek Priesthood, the title
"elder" is used to identify anyone holding the higher priesthood.
Therefore Seventies and Apostles may be referred to as "elder." (See
D&C 20:38.)
While all
who have had the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred upon them receive the full
priesthood, sometimes one office is spoken of as being "higher than"
or "lower than" another office. Rather than "higher" or
"lower," offices in the Melchizedek Priesthood represent different
areas of service.
There are
different rights, privileges, and authorities which expand with each succeeding
office. For instance, the offices of teacher or priest are spoken of as being
higher than the office of deacon. A priest in the Aaronic Priesthood can
perform any duty assigned to the teachers or deacons. For example, a priest may
pass the sacrament, a duty usually assigned to deacons. A deacon, on the other
hand, cannot bless the sacrament nor perform baptisms, duties which are
assigned to priests.
An elder
can perform any duty assigned to any office in the Aaronic Priesthood, but he
cannot do some things which belong to the office of high priest. These
principles of priesthood government are established by revelation and do not
change.
Quorums
In the dispensation of the fulness of times, the Lord instructed
that the priesthood should be organized into quorums, meaning selected
assemblies of brethren given authority that His business might be transacted
and His work proceed.
A quorum
is a brotherhood. Except for the offices of bishop and patriarch, those
ordained to offices in the priesthood are organized into quorums.
Though one
may be called to and released from ecclesiastical assignments for which one is
set apart, membership in a quorum is a steady, sustaining citizenship. It
becomes a right of one ordained to an office in the priesthood. And the holding
of the priesthood, including the attendant membership in the quorum, is to be
regarded as a sacred privilege.
Melchizedek
Priesthood quorums are:
• The First Presidency
• The Quorum of the Twelve
• Seventies quorums
• High priests quorums
• Elders quorums
Aaronic Priesthood quorums are:
• Priests quorums
• Teachers quorums
• Deacons quorums
Each quorum is presided over by a president or a presidency. The
Quorum of the Twelve is presided over by one president, the President of the
Twelve (see D&C 124:127), as is the priests quorum presided over by the
bishop (see D&C 107:87-88).
The
seventies quorums are presided over by seven presidents. (See D&C 107:93.)
All other quorums are presided over by a presidency consisting of a president,
a first counselor, and a second counselor.
The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
There is an oath and covenant of the priesthood. The covenant
rests with man; the oath with God. The Melchizedek Priesthood is received by
covenant. A man's covenant with God is to: be faithful and [page 10] magnify
his callings in the priesthood; give heed to the words of eternal life; and to
live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God. (See D&C
84:33, 43, 44.)
God, for
his part, declares with an everlasting oath that all who receive the priesthood
and obey the covenants that pertain to that priesthood shall receive "all
that [the] Father hath." (See D&C 84:38.)
"And
this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.
"Therefore,
all those who receive the priesthood, receive this oath and covenant of my
Father, which he cannot break, neither can it be moved." (D&C
84:39-40.)
Ordination and Setting Apart
There are two ways authority is conferred in the Church: by
ordination and by setting apart. Offices in the priesthood--deacon, teacher,
priest, elder, high priest, patriarch, seventy, and Apostle--always come by
ordination. The keys of presidency and the authority to act in callings in the
priesthood are received by setting apart.
For
instance, the office of elder in the Melchizedek Priesthood is an ordained
office, but the office of president of an elders quorum is an office to which
one is set apart rather than ordained. In either case, he is given a blessing
to accompany his service in an office to which he is ordained or set apart.
There are
many "set apart" offices in the Church in both the priesthood and the
auxiliary organizations. Some duties are inherent in the priesthood, and one
need not be set apart to do them. Visiting the homes of members (home teaching)
is an example.
Because
women are not ordained to the priesthood, when sisters are set apart to
offices, including the office of president in an auxiliary, they receive
authority, responsibility, and blessings connected with the office, but they do
not receive keys.
Limits to Authority
Ordinarily, the privileges connected with an ordination to the
priesthood may be exercised anywhere in the Church. Priesthood holders need no
prior authorization to perform ordinances or blessings that are not recorded on
the records of the Church, such as consecrating oil, administering to the sick,
and giving fathers' blessings.
The
priesthood is always regulated by those who have the keys, and an ordinance
must be authorized by the presiding authority who holds the proper keys and
priesthood if the ordinance is to be recorded on the records of the Church.
Authority
connected to an office to which one is set apart has limits, including
geographic ones. The authority of a man set apart as president of a stake is
limited to the boundaries of that stake. He is not a stake president to members
in a neighboring stake, nor is a bishop the bishop over members outside his
ward. When a man is ordained a bishop, he is also set apart to preside in a
specific ward and has no authority outside its boundaries. When he is released
as bishop of that ward, he may still hold the ordained office of bishop, but he
cannot function unless he is set apart again to preside over a ward.
When a
patriarch is ordained, he is set apart to give blessings to members of his own
stake or to those who come into the boundaries of his stake with a recommend
from proper authority from a stake where there is no patriarch. These
principles of priesthood government are established by revelations.
Usual Age at the Time of Call to Priesthood Offices
So that there may be order in advancement in the priesthood, a
minimum age is set for receiving the priesthood and for ordination to [page 11]
each succeeding office within the priesthood.
The
Aaronic Priesthood is conferred upon a young man when he is ordained a deacon
at age twelve or older. He then joins a quorum of up to twelve deacons. (See
D&C 107:85.) When he is fourteen, he may be ordained to the office of
teacher. He then joins a quorum of up to twenty-four teachers. (See D&C
107:86.) When he is sixteen, he may be ordained a priest. He then joins a
quorum of up to forty-eight priests. (See D&C 107:87.) When he is eighteen
or older, he may have the Melchizedek Priesthood conferred upon him and be
ordained an elder. He then joins a quorum of up to ninety-six elders.
The
revelations state that "duty of the president over the office of elders is
to preside over ninety-six elders, and to sit in council with them, and to
teach them according to the covenants." (D&C 107:89.) The high priests
have no specific age and there is no specific number in a high priests quorum.
High priests are organized into groups with group leaders. The stake presidency
is the presidency of the high priests quorum in the stake.
Calls to
Office
In the Church we do not assume authority belonging to either an
ordained or a set apart office or calling. We must be called to a position and
sustained, be ordained or set apart and given authority. The fifth Article of
Faith says, "We believe that a man must be called of God, by prophecy, and
by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority, to preach the Gospel
and administer in the ordinances thereof." (A of F 1:5.)
Every
elder should know that a call is more than an invitation or a request, even
more than an assignment. Too frequently we hear such expressions as, "I
have been asked to serve as a counselor in the elders quorum presidency."
It would be more proper to say, "I have been called to serve as a
counselor."
We do not
call ourselves to offices in the Church. Rather we respond to the call of those
who preside over us. It is the responsibility of those who preside to
prayerfully consult the Lord as to His will concerning a position in the
Church. Then the principle of revelation is at work. The call is then delivered
by the presiding officer who is acting for the Lord.
We do not,
under ordinary circumstances, refuse a call. Neither do we ask for a release
beyond calling to the attention of the presiding officer circumstances which
may make a release advisable.
When we
refer to those who have been called to a presiding position by the title of
their office such as bishop or president, it lends dignity to the office and
reminds the one holding it of his sacred responsibility and it reminds us of
our obligation to follow their counsel and respond to their calls.
Sustaining
in an Office
The Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthoods are not conferred, nor is one
ordained or set apart to an office in either priesthood, unless he is willing
to live the standards of worthiness. Those standards include moral purity, the
payment of tithes, keeping the Word of Wisdom, and general standards of
Christian conduct.
He must be
called by those who have the proper authority, and sustained, or voted on, in
an appropriate meeting, and ordained or set apart by one who has the authority.
This is called "common consent," or the voice of the people. (See
D&C 41:9.) This follows the instructions given in revelation:
"Again
I say unto you, that it shall not be given to any one to go forth to preach my
gospel, or to build up my church, except he be ordained by some one who has
authority, and it is known to the church that he has authority and has been
regularly ordained by the heads of the church." (D&C 42:11.)
Notice
that there are two requirements: First, we must receive authority from someone
who has it and has been ordained by the heads of the Church. Next, [page 12] it
must be known in the Church that he has the authority.
The
sustaining in the priesthood and the setting apart to office is done openly
where it can be known to the Church who has authority, as the scriptures
require.
There is
great safety to the Church in having the names of those called to offices in
the Church presented in the proper meeting. (See D&C 20:65.) Anyone who is
a pretender or a deceiver will be recognized. If someone claims to have been
secretly ordained to a special calling or higher order of the priesthood, you
may know immediately that the claim is false!
The names
of those to be ordained to the Melchizedek Priesthood or to another office in
the Melchizedek Priesthood are presented in stake or district conferences. (A
district in a mission is like a stake. A branch in a stake or district is like
a ward.) The congregation is asked to approve the ordination by raising the
right hand, or, if opposed to the ordination, they may signify by the same
sign. This occurs in a stake meeting because the stake presidency presides over
the Melchizedek Priesthood.
In an
emergency, for instance if a young man is leaving for a mission and has not
been ordained an elder, the stake presidency should have his name presented for
sustaining in his own ward sacrament meeting. The ordination is then presented
for ratification at the first appropriate stake meeting. Only in an emergency
would this process be followed; otherwise it is not in order.
Advancements
in the Aaronic Priesthood are sustained in ward meetings because the bishopric
presides over the Aaronic Priesthood. Members called to positions in the
auxiliary organizations are also sustained before being set apart in the
appropriate stake or ward meeting.
The
bishop, as the common judge, presides over all members of his ward, including
holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood. (See D&C 107:74.) All members pay
tithing to the bishop and should seek counsel from him.
The bishop
must be a high priest (see D&C 68:19; D&C 84:29; D&C 107:17, 69-73)
and is designated as the presiding high priest in the ward. In this capacity he
may preside over the ward council and ward priesthood executive council
meetings, where elders quorum and high priests group officers are in
attendance.
While the
bishop may recommend that a man be ordained an elder or high priest, and verify
his worthiness, the approval and ordination are under the direction of the
stake presidency. A bishop does not call, nor can he release the presidency of
an elders quorum; they come under the direction of the stake presidency.
A bishop
might convene a disciplinary council to consider the transgression of an elder
in his ward. He may disfellowship the elder if that is merited, but he cannot
deprive him of his priesthood by excommunication. That would require a disciplinary
council presided over by the stake presidency, who govern the Melchizedek
Priesthood.
The bishop has authority to judge the worthiness of a member to
receive a temple recommend, and his counselors have the authority to assist in
interviewing ward members for subsequent temple recommends. The stake president
or his counselors also interview those going to the temple, because there
members will participate in ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
More Than One Ordained Office
Sometimes a man may hold more than one ordained office at a time.
For instance, both bishops and patriarchs are also high priests. Also, a man
may hold an ordained office and be set apart to other offices. For instance, an
ordained elder may be set [page 13] apart to offices such as president of his
quorum, a ward mission leader, or Sunday School president.
Let Every Man Act in the Office to Which He Is Called
The Lord counseled us to "let every man learn his duty, and
to act in the office in which he is appointed, in all diligence." (D&C
107:99.) An elder who has been called to an office of presidency should respect
the callings of those over whom he presides. He should let, indeed help, them
do that which they are called to do without usurping their responsibilities.
In turn,
holders of the priesthood should avoid going around their file leader to a
higher authority supposing that they will receive better counsel, more wisdom,
spirituality, or authority. It is better to respect the callings of those over
whom we preside and of those who preside over us.
The Name of the Lord
Rather than using "Mormon Church," we should call the
Church by its name--The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, "for
thus," the Lord told us in a revelation, "shall my church be called
in the last days." (D&C 115:3-4.)
When we
officiate in the priesthood, we always do it in the name of the Lord. (See 3
Ne. 27:1-10.) When we act according to the proper order of things, we act for
the Lord and it is as though He were there insofar as the validity of the
ordinance is concerned. The Lord said to one man who was being set apart to
preach the gospel:
"I
will lay my hand upon you by the hand of my servant Sidney Rigdon, and you
shall receive my Spirit, the Holy Ghost, even the Comforter, which shall teach
you the peaceable things of the kingdom." (D&C 36:2; emphasis added.)
Exceptions
Sometimes there must be exceptions to the rules and principles by
which the priesthood is governed. Care must be taken to see that everything
having to do with ordinations and settings apart are done in proper order.
Generally, exceptions are approved by the First Presidency of the Church.
Recording Ordinations and Settings Apart
Proper records are always made of ordinations and settings apart
in the Church. (See D&C 20:63-64; D&C 85:1-2; D&C 127:9.) For
"behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a
house of confusion." (D&C 132:8; see also D&C 88:119; D&C
109:8.)
Ordinances
The Melchizedek Priesthood "administereth the gospel and
holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge
of God.
"Therefore,
in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
"And
without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power
of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
"For
without this no man can see the face of God … and live." (D&C
84:19-22.)
The
priesthood, which is always associated with God's work, "continueth in the
"For
whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have
spoken, and the magnifying their callings, are sanctified by the Spirit unto
the renewing of their bodies.
"They
become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church
and kingdom, and the elect of God.
"And
also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;
"For
he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;
"And
he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;
"And
he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that
my Father hath shall be given unto him." (D&C 84:33-38.)
(Doctrine
and Covenants 107:22-34.) – Keys go with callings; you are never released from
offices in the priesthood. Prophet holds
all of the keys of the kingdom to direct the work here on earth.
22 Of the
Melchizedek Priesthood, three Presiding High Priests, chosen by the body,
appointed and ordained to that office, and upheld by the confidence, faith, and
prayer of the church, form a quorum of the Presidency of the Church.
23 The
twelve traveling councilors are called to be the Twelve Apostles, or special
witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world—thus differing from other
officers in the church in the duties of their calling.
24 And they
form a quorum, equal in authority and power to the three presidents previously
mentioned.
25 The
Seventy are also called to preach the gospel, and to be especial witnesses unto
the Gentiles and in all the world—thus differing from other officers in the
church in the duties of their calling.
26 And they
form a quorum, equal in authority to that of the Twelve special witnesses or
Apostles just named.
27 And
every decision made by either of these quorums must be by the unanimous voice
of the same; that is, every member in each quorum must be agreed to its
decisions, in order to make their decisions of the same power or validity one
with the other—
28 A
majority may form a quorum when circumstances render it impossible to be
otherwise—
29 Unless
this is the case, their decisions are not entitled to the same blessings which
the decisions of a quorum of three presidents were anciently, who were ordained
after the order of Melchizedek, and were righteous and holy men.
30 The
decisions of these quorums, or either of them, are to be made in all
righteousness, in holiness, and lowliness of heart, meekness and long
suffering, and in faith, and virtue, and knowledge, temperance, patience,
godliness, brotherly kindness and charity;
31 Because
the promise is, if these things abound in them they shall not be unfruitful in
the knowledge of the Lord.
32 And in
case that any decision of these quorums is made in unrighteousness, it may be
brought before a general assembly of the several quorums, which constitute the
spiritual authorities of the church; otherwise there can be no appeal from
their decision.
33 The
Twelve are a Traveling Presiding High Council, to officiate in the name of the
Lord, under the direction of the Presidency of the Church, agreeable to the
institution of heaven; to build up the church, and regulate all the affairs of
the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and secondly unto the Jews.
34 The
Seventy are to act in the name of the Lord, under the direction of the Twelve
or the traveling high council, in building up the church and regulating all the
affairs of the same in all nations, first unto the Gentiles and then to the
Jews;
Article of Faith #7
Spiritual Gifts
March 15, 2007
ARTICLE 7—We believe
in the gift of tongues, prophecy, revelation, visions, healing, interpretation
of tongues, etc.
Review
of Articles of Faith 1-6. We are
children of Heavenly Parents with the potential to become like them, but there
is nothing in the Articles of Faith about premortality, which is fundamental in
our teachings.
A
of F 2 does not concern itself with Adam’s fall, but with our personal fall and
our accountability for ourselves.
We
receive salvation through the Atonement of Christ, we gain access through the
ordinances (which are not all mentioned), first by faith in the Atonement of
Christ, second by repentance of sin, and third by receiving the gift of the
Holy Ghost. We can receive the
forgiveness of sin but not all will receive a remission of sins, this only
comes by the gift if the Holy Ghost. In
the Sacred Grove Joseph received a forgiveness of sin, but since he hadn’t yet
received baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost, he did not receive a remission
of his sins. The scriptures do not
define what a remission of sins means, yet it is part of what the Holy Ghost
does.
Baptized by Fire
Joseph Smith, the
choice seer, taught us that our Heavenly Father is an exalted Man, a Man of
Holiness (Moses 6:57). He is a corporeal being; he has a body of flesh and
bones astangible as man's (D&C 130:22). He also is a divine being; he is
filled with light and truth and power and intelligence. Fire is often used to
typify the glory and power of our God. The Prophet explained that God dwells in
eternal fire, an expression that symbolizes glory (Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith, 326, 367). Brother Joseph saw in vision "the
transcendent beauty of the gate through which the heirs of [the celestial]
kingdom will enter, which was like unto circling flames of fire; also the
blazing throne of God, whereon was seated the Father and the Son" (D&C
137:2-3).
"If we could see
our heavenly Father," President Brigham Young observed, "we should
see a being similar to our earthly parent, with this difference, our Father in
heaven is exalted and glorified. . . . While He was in the flesh, as we are, He
was as we are. But it is now written of Him that our God is as a consuming
fire, that He dwells in everlasting burnings, and this is why sin cannot be
where He is." President Young said further: "There are principles
that will endure through all eternity, and no fire can obliterate them from
existence. They are those principles that are pure, and fire is made typical
use of to show the glory and purity of the gods, and of all perfect
beings" (in Journal of Discourses, 4:54).
John the Baptist came
as an Elias, a forerunner, sent of God to prepare the way for the Son of Man.
"The same came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all men
through him might believe. He was not that Light but was sent to bear witness
of that Light" (John 1:7-8). "I indeed baptize you with water, upon
your repentance," John said, "and when he of whom I bear record
cometh, who is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear (or whose
place I am not able to fill), as I said, I indeed baptize you before he cometh,
that when he cometh he may baptize you with the Holy Ghost and fire" (JST,
Matthew 3:38). John made it perfectly clear that his baptism of water was not
sufficient for salvation; he baptized many persons in the meridian of time, but
the rite he performed was the first of a two-part ordinance.
Joseph Smith explained that "baptism is a sign to
God, to angels, and to heaven that we do the will of God, and there is no other
way beneath the heavens whereby God hath ordained for man to come to Him to be
saved, and enter into the Kingdom of God, except faith in Jesus Christ,
repentance, and baptism for the remission of sins, and any other course is in
vain; then you have the promise of the gift of the Holy Ghost" (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 198). We often speak of being baptized to wash
away our sins. That symbolism is helpful, and there is something to be gained
from understanding water baptism as a cleansing. But the more powerful symbol
is baptism as the death and burial of the old man of sin and the rise to
newness of life (Romans 6:3-5). The truth is, our sins are not really remitted
in the baptism of water. In setting forth the doctrine of Christ, Nephi called
upon his readers to "do the things which I have told you I have seen that
your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown
unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by
which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a
remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost" (2 Nephi 31:17;
emphasis added). Truly, after people are received unto baptism, they are
"wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost" (
The Holy Ghost is a sanctifier. After baptism we are
"sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost" (3 Nephi 27:20). If
we were to be immersed in water and then never be confirmed a member of the
Church and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we would still be in our sins.
"You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man," Joseph Smith
pointed out, "if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of
the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing
without the other half—that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost" (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 314; see also 360).
Or, as Elder Bruce R. McConkie has written: "Sins
are remitted not in the waters of baptism, as we say in speaking figuratively,
but when we receive the Holy Ghost. It is the Holy Spirit of God that erases
carnality and brings us into a state of righteousness. We become clean when we
actually receive the fellowship and companionship of the Holy Ghost. It is then
that sin and dross and evil are burned out of our souls as though by fire. The
baptism of the Holy Ghost is the baptism of fire. There have been miraculous
occasions when visible flames enveloped penitent persons, but ordinarily the
cleansing power of the Spirit simply dwells, unseen and unheralded, in the
hearts of those who have made the Lord their friend. And the Spirit will not
dwell in an unclean tabernacle" (New Witness, 290; see also 239).
Elder B. H. Roberts
taught that the forgiven soul may still continue to "feel the force of
sinful habits bearing heavily upon him. He who has been guilty of habitual
untruthfulness, will at times find himself inclined, perhaps, to yield to that
habit. He who has stolen may be sorely tempted, when opportunity arises, to
steal again. While he who has indulged in licentious practices may again find
himself disposed to give way to the seductive influence of the siren. So with
drunkenness, malice, envy, covetousness, hatred, anger, and in short all the
evil dispositions that flesh is heir to.
"There is an
absolute necesity for some additional sanctifying grace that will strengthen
the poor human nature, not only to enable it to resist temptation, but also to
root out from the heart concupiscence—the blind tendency or inclination to
evil. The heart must be purified, every passion, every propensity made
submissive to the will, and the will of man brought into subjection to the will
of God.
"Man's natural
powers are unequal to this task; so, I believe, all will testify who have made
the experiment. Mankind stand in some need of a strength superior to any they
possess of themselves, to accomplish this work of rendering pure our fallen
nature. Such strength, such power, such a sanctifying grace is conferred on man
in being born of the Spirit—in receiving the Holy Ghost. Such, in the main, is
its office, its work" (Gospel and Man's Relationship to Deity,
169-70).
As Elder McConkie
suggested, much of the time the Holy Ghost works quietly and imperceptibly upon
the hearts and minds of the children of God, rubbing off a corner here and
refining an edge there.
Some believe that the
baptism by fire must be an extraordinary and unusual outpouring of the Holy
Ghost, such as the experience at Pentecost or the event recorded in Helaman 5
in the Book of Mormon, in which Nephi and Lehi, sons of Helaman, preached the
gospel with such power that fire came down from heaven, angels ministered, and
the voice of God was heard. There is no question but that on some occasions the
Spirit is sent and the manifestations are enjoyed in dramatically miraculous
fashion. Those, however, are the exception. So far as I can discern, the
scriptures do not distinguish between the gift of the Holy Ghost and the
baptism of fire (3 Nephi 12:1-2; Mormon 7:10; D&C 19:31; 20:41; 33:11;
39:6). The baptism of fire is simply the cleansing of the human heart, the
purging of the soul, the renovation of the mind—all by the power of the Spirit.
It is every bit as miraculous for a man or a woman to be forgiven of sin and
made alive to goodness as it is to behold visions or to enjoy the ministry of
angels.
The Prophet Joseph
Smith wrote: "It is not to be wondered at that men should be ignorant, in
a great measure, of the principles of salvation, and more especially of the
nature, office, power, influence, gifts, and blessings of the gift of the Holy
Ghost; when we consider that the human family have been enveloped in gross
darkness and ignorance for many centuries past, without revelation, or any just
criterion [by which] to arrive at a knowledge of the things of God, which can
only be known by the Spirit of God. Hence it not infrequently occurs, that when
the Elders of this Church preach to the inhabitants of the world, that if they
obey the Gospel they shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, that the people
expect to see some wonderful manifestation, some great display of power, or
some extraordinary miracle performed. . . .
"We believe that
the Holy Ghost is imparted by the laying on of hands of those in authority, and
that the gift of tongues, and also the gift of prophecy are gifts of the
Spirit, and are obtained through that medium; but then to say that men always
prophesied and spoke in tongues when they had the imposition of hands, would be
to state that which is untrue, contrary to the practice of the Apostles, and at
variance with holy writ; . . . sometimes they spake in tongues and prophesied
in the Apostles' days, and sometimes they did not. The same is the case with us
also in our administrations, while more frequently there is no manifestation
at all, that is visible to the surrounding multitude. . . .
"The Lord cannot
always be known by the thunder of His voice, by the display of His glory or by
the manifestation of His power, and those that are the most anxious to see
these things, are the least prepared to meet them, and were the Lord to
manifest his power as he did to the children of Israel, such characters would
be the first to say, 'Let not the Lord speak any more, lest we His people die.'
"We would say to
the brethren, seek to know God in your closets, call upon him in the fields.
Follow the directions of the Book of Mormon, and pray over, and for your
families, your cattle, your flocks, your herds, your corn, and all things that
you possess; ask the blessing of God upon all your labors, and everything that
you engage in. Be virtuous and pure; be men of integrity and truth; keep the
commandments of God; and then you will be able more perfectly to understand the
difference between right and wrong—between the things of God and the things of
men; and your path will be like that of the just, which shineth brighter, and
brighter, unto the perfect day.
". . . The gifts
of God are all useful in their place, but when they are applied to that which
God does not intend, they prove an injury, a snare and a curse instead of a
blessing" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 242-48; emphasis
added).
After baptism we
strive with all our might to live in such a way as to merit the companionship
of the Holy Ghost. But the Spirit is not something that may be programmed,
plotted out, manufactured, or elicited. The influences of the Holy Ghost
certainly cannot be demanded or coerced. We cannot force spiritual things, nor
can we cavalierly announce that the congregation is "about to have a
spiritual experience." Jesus said to Nicodemus: "Marvel not that I
said unto thee, Ye must be born again. The wind bloweth where it listeth, and
thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and
whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit" (John
3:7-8). The Prophet Joseph Smith likewise taught that "a man may receive
the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him"
(D&C 130:23).
We know that the Spirit
will not dwell with those who are unclean and thus unworthy of its
companionship (1 Corinthians 3:16-17; 6:19; compare 1 Nephi 10:21; 15:34; Alma
7:21; 3 Nephi 27:19). In addition, we cannot always tell when we will be filled
with the Spirit and when we will not. Worthiness is only one variable. We may
end the day on fire with the power of the Spirit, rejoicing in our blessings,
grateful for the closeness we have felt to the Lord. When we arise a few short
hours later, it may not be uncommon to feel as if we had lost something, to
feel that the distance between us and Deity had increased dramatically. We ask
ourselves searchingly: "What happened? Did we sin during the night? Did we
do something to change what we were feeling only a short time ago?" President
Joseph F. Smith taught that "every elder of the Church who has received
the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, by one having authority, has power to
confer that gift upon another; it does not follow that a man who has received
the presentation or gift of the Holy Ghost shall always receive the recognition
and witness and presence of the Holy Ghost himself, or he may receive all
these, and yet the Holy Ghost not tarry with him, but visit him from time to
time." President Smith also observed that "the Holy Ghost, may be
conferred upon men, and he may dwell with them for a while, or he may continue
to dwell with them in accordance with their worthiness, and he may depart from
them at his will" (Gospel Doctrine, 61, 466).
Our inability always
to recognize the workings of the Spirit in our lives is no guarantee that the
Spirit is not with us. In looking back over the past thirty years of my life,
it seems as though I have had a variety of experiences with the Spirit and with
receiving answers to prayer. Many prayers have been answered so directly, so
clearly, so unambiguously there could be no doubt about the course I should
follow. On the other hand, there have been many other times when I have gone
before the Lord in deep sincerity, hungering and thirsting for insight and
direction. So far as I could tell, I was not guilty of serious sin. I pondered
and prayed and pleaded and wrestled and waited upon the Lord, and yet a clear
answer was not forthcoming. President Brigham Young declared: "If I do not
know the will of my Father, and what He requires of me in a certain
transaction, if I ask Him to give me wisdom concerning any requirement in life,
or in regard to my own course, or that of my friends, my family, my children,
or those that I preside over, and get no answer from Him, and then do the very
best that my judgment will teach me, He is bound to own and honor that
transaction, and He will do so to all intents and purposes" (in Journal
of Discourses, 3:205).
I believe there is
more to President Young's counsel than meets the eye. It is certainly true that
we should pray with all our hearts for direction and then make the wisest
decisions we can. It is my conviction, however, that even on those occasions
when we feel so very alone—when we wonder if God is listening—if we are
striving to be found worthy, the Lord is in fact directing our paths, for he
has so promised us. No doubt there are seasons of our life in which we are
called upon to proceed without clearly recognizing the Spirit. That does not
mean that we are in fact alone. I believe that one day, when we are allowed to
review the scenes of mortality from a grander perspective, we will be astounded
at how closely the Lord directed our paths, orchestrated the events of life,
and, in general, led us by that kindly light we know as the Holy Ghost.
Perhaps it is the case
that over the years the Spirit of the Lord works in a quiet, consistent manner
to educate our consciences, enhance our perspective, and polish our wisdom and
judgment. After all, the Prophet Joseph explained that an important assignment
of the Holy Ghost is to convey pure intelligence through expanding the mind,
enlightening the understanding, and storing the intellect with knowledge (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 149). It may be that one day we will look back
on what we perceived at the time to be seasons wherein we believed we were
required to make decisions on our own, only to discover that the Lord had been,
through the honing and refining processes in our souls, leading us along paths
of his choosing. That is, maybe we will learn that our own wisdom and judgment
were not really our own (D&C 61:22; 62:8).
Finally, it is worth
noting that we may well have an experience with the Spirit, a genuine and true
experience, and yet not know exactly what has taken place. Over the years it
has been my privilege to work with many Latter-day Saints who were struggling
to repent of their sins and become clean before God. It has been a joy of
Church service to witness the light growing in the countenance, the heart being
softened, and the consciousness of right and wrong returning. Never, however,
in all my years has a member of the Church said to me, "I have been
justified of the Spirit" or "I have entered the rest of God" or
"I am redeemed of the Lord" or "I am born of the Spirit."
Those who have had their sins remitted and have renewed their covenant with
Christ could have used any of those doctrinal phrases to describe their
standing, but generally they say such things as "I feel good all over"
or "I feel clean and pure" or "I am at peace."
During the period of
darkness before his visit to the
We cannot come unto
Christ unclean; we must be baptized. We must be immersed and sanctified. That
is the good news, the glad tidings—that Christ came to sanctify the world and
cleanse it from unrighteousness (D&C 76:40-41). "And verily, verily, I
say unto you, he that receiveth my gospel receiveth me; and he that receiveth
not my gospel receiveth not me. And this is my gospel—repentance and baptism by
water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, even the
Comforter, which showeth all things, and teacheth the peaceable things of the
kingdom" (D&C 39:5-6). "And if it so be that ye believe in
Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost,
following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded
us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment" (Mormon 7:10).
(Robert
L. Millet, Alive in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth [Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Co., 1997], 100.)
Authority
to bring about a remission of sins, and an organization which administers the
gospel (A of F 5-6)
The
gift of the Holy Ghost is the ordinance where we gain access to the
Atonement. The Holy Ghost is the power
whereby the Atonement becomes effective in our lives.
Apply the Atonement = Gift of the Holy Ghost
in the church many don’t understand the role the Holy Ghost plays in the
Atonement. He helps us in our spiritual
birth and development; he ministers the power of God.
The Holy Ghost is
associated with the Father and the Son in the Godhead. In the light of
revelation, we are instructed as to the distinct personality of the Holy Ghost.
He is a being endowed with the attributes and powers of Deity, and not a mere
force, or essence. The term Holy Ghost and its common synonyms, Spirit of God,
fn Spirit of the Lord, or simply, Spirit, fn Comforter, fn and Spirit of Truth,
fn occur in the scriptures with plainly different meanings, referring in some
cases to the person of God the Holy Ghost, and in other instances to the power
or authority of this great Personage, or to the agencies through which He
ministers.
Much of the confusion
existing in human conceptions concerning the nature of the Holy Ghost arises
from the common failure to segregate His person and powers. Plainly, such
expressions as being filled with the Holy Ghost, fn and His falling upon
persons, having reference to the powers and influences that emanate from God,
and which are characteristic of Him; for the Holy Ghost may in this way operate
simultaneously upon many persons even though they be widely separated, whereas
the actual person of the Holy Ghost cannot be in more than one place at a time.
Yet we read that through the power of the Spirit, the Father and the Son
operate in their creative acts and in their general dealings with the human
family. fn The Holy Ghost may be regarded as the minister of the Godhead,
carrying into effect the decision of the Supreme Council.
(James E. Talmage, Articles
of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 145.)
(Abraham
4:1-2.) – The Holy Ghost was brooding upon the waters, like a mother hen. The Holy Ghost brings into effect the
decisions of the heavenly council.
Without that power the earth would not be created. They tell him what to do, and he does it.
1 And then
the Lord said: Let us go down. And they went down at the beginning, and they,
that is the Gods, organized and formed the heavens and the earth.
2 And the
earth, after it was formed, was empty and desolate, because they had not formed
anything but the earth; and darkness reigned upon the face of the deep, and the
Spirit of the Gods was brooding upon the face of the waters.
We undersell Him very
much in our understanding of his role.
The power company has a President and a Vice President, he is the
Electrical Technician. If I need a
remission of sins or to be like God, the Holy Ghost is the one to make that
effective.
He uses the light of
Christ and is in charge of that power and uses it for his purposes to aid us.
The 3 phases of the
Light of Christ, 1 leads to 2 and 2 leads to 3
Light of Christ
>>>>> the Gift of the Holy Ghost >>>>> Second
Comforter Calling and Election
Spiritual Gifts
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Of the Quorum of the Twelve
Ensign, Sept. 1986, pp. 68-72
This is an edited version of a talk delivered
at a
Faith is a
spiritual gift. So is personal revelation. So is a testimony of Jesus Christ.
And there are other spiritual gifts. We know too little about spiritual gifts.
This is evident in our communications, and it is also evident in our failure to
seek after and use spiritual gifts.
It is
important to understand the relationship between spiritual gifts and the Spirit
of Christ, manifestations of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
While the
Spirit of Christ is the means by which spiritual gifts are transmitted to men
and women, such gifts come by the power of the Holy Ghost, as I will explain
later.
The Holy
Ghost testifies of Jesus Christ (see John 15:26; 1 Cor. 12:3; 1 Ne. 31:18) and
leads us into all truth (see John 16:13; Moro. 10:4-5; D&C 45:57). We need
to distinguish between a manifestation of the Holy Ghost and the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
As men and
women desire to believe, they develop faith in God. (See
Ammon
preached to the wicked King Lamoni. When the king believed and cried to the
Lord for mercy, he fell to the earth as if he were dead. (See
When King
Lamoni arose, he blessed the name of God and prophesied that the Redeemer would
be born of a woman and would redeem all mankind who believed on His name.
Afterwards, he and the queen and Ammon sank down, overpowered by the Spirit.
After the people had assembled, the queen arose first. She "cried with a
loud voice, saying: O blessed Jesus, who has saved me from an awful hell! O blessed
God, have mercy on this people!" Ammon baptized King Lamoni, the queen and
many of their people. (See
Here we
see the power and witness of the Holy Ghost poured out upon a woman and a man
who had not yet been baptized. After they and their followers were converted by
this witness, they were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Then,
as the scripture records, "they became a righteous people" and
"the Lord did begin to pour out his Spirit upon them." (
In
summary, the Spirit of Christ is given to all men and women that they may know
good from evil, and manifestations of the Holy Ghost are given to lead earnest
seekers to repentance and baptism. These are preparatory gifts. What we term
spiritual gifts come next.
Spiritual
gifts come to those who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost. As the
Prophet Joseph Smith taught, the gifts of the Spirit "are obtained through
that medium" [the Holy Ghost] and "cannot be enjoyed without the gift
of the Holy Ghost. … The world in general can know nothing about them." (Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, comp. Joseph Fielding Smith, Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1938, pp. 243, 245; see also Elder Marion G. Romney in
Conference Report, Apr. 1956, p. 72.)
The gift
of the Holy Ghost is conferred on both men and women. So are spiritual gifts.
As Elder Bruce R. McConkie declared in Nauvoo at the dedication of the Monument
to Women: "Where spiritual things are concerned, as pertaining to all of
the gifts of the Spirit, with reference to the receipt of revelation, the
gaining of testimonies, and the seeing of visions, in all matters that pertain
to godliness and holiness and which are brought to pass as a result of personal
righteousness in all these things men and women stand in a position of absolute
equality before the Lord. He is no respecter of persons nor of sexes, and he
blesses those men and those women who seek him and serve him and keep his
commandments." (Ensign, Jan. 1979, p. 61.)
Spiritual
gifts do not come visibly, automatically, and immediately to all who have
received the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that most
such gifts are "not visible to the natural vision, or understanding of
man," and that it "require[s] time and circumstances to call these
gifts into operation." (Teachings, pp. 244, 246.)
The
scriptures tell us that we should desire and zealously seek spiritual gifts.
(See D&C 46:8; 1 Cor. 12:31; 1 Cor. 14:1, 11.) We are also told that some
will receive one gift and some will receive another. (See D&C 46:11; 1 Cor.
12; Moro. 10:8-18.) In every case, the receipt of spiritual gifts is predicated
upon faith, obedience, and personal righteousness. (See Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985, p. 367.)
Spiritual
gifts are evidently among the "signs [that] shall follow them that
believe." (Mark 16:17; see also McConkie, p. 366.)
We are
commanded not to seek for signs to develop our faith (see Matt. 12:39; D&C
63:12), for "faith cometh not by signs" (D&C 63:9). But when we
have faith, repent, and are born of water and the Spirit, and when we love and
serve God with all our hearts, we are eligible to receive spiritual gifts. We
may then, as Paul taught, "covet earnestly [which means fervently desire]
the best gifts." (1 Cor. 12:31; see also D&C 46:8.)
When we
believe and seek spiritual gifts to benefit others "and not for a
sign" (D&C 46:9), we are told that signs will follow. "Behold, …
signs follow those that believe. Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of
men, nor as they please, but by the will of God. Yea, signs come by faith, unto
mighty works." (D&C 63:9-11.) The Holy Ghost "maketh manifest
unto the children of men, according to their faith." (Jarom 1:4.)
Let us
consider some of these spiritual gifts.
Faith is a
gift of the Spirit. (See Moro. 10:11; 1 Cor. 12:9.) As
Another
familiar spiritual gift is the gift of testimony. "To some it is given by
the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, and that He was
crucified for the sins of the world." (D&C 46:13; see also Moro. 10:7;
1 Cor. 12:3.) Many Latter-day Saints have this gift.
Others
have a related gift, as shown by these two verses in section 46 of the Doctrine
and Covenants: "To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus
Christ is the Son of God. … To others it is given to believe on their words,
that they also might have eternal life if they continue faithful."
(D&C 46:13-14.)
Where it
is given to some to know and to others to believe on their words, those who
know must be responsible for sharing their testimonies. Only in this way can
they give those who have the gift of believing on their words something to lean
upon as they, too, move toward eternal life.
The
relationship between these gifts illustrates the purpose for which all
spiritual gifts are given: "And all these gifts come from God, for the
benefit of the children of God." (D&C 46:26) Spiritual gifts are given
to members of the Church "that all may be profited thereby." (D&C
46:12; see also D&C 46:9; Moro. 10:8.) The same principle is evident in
Paul's teachings in 1 Corinthians 12. Here spiritual gifts are likened to the
various parts of the body, each performing its own function and each serving
the entire "body of Christ." (1 Cor. 12:27.)
We must
take care never to misuse spiritual gifts. As the Prophet Joseph Smith taught,
when spiritual gifts "are applied to that which God does not intend, they
prove an injury, a snare and a curse instead of a blessing." (Teachings,
p. 248.)
Another
spiritual gift is the gift of "teach[ing] the word of knowledge by the
same Spirit." (Moro. 10:10; see also
The
spiritual gift referred to as the "word of wisdom" (see D&C
46:17; Moro. 10:9; 1 Cor 12:8) has been explained as the wise application of
knowledge. I would call this judgment. This is a precious gift for any field of
knowledge, but judgment in applying spiritual knowledge is a quality of eternal
worth.
To others
are given the gifts of speaking with tongues or interpreting tongues. (See
D&C 46:24-25; Moro. 10:15-16; 1 Cor. 12:10.) These two gifts should always
be manifest together because the purpose of spiritual gifts having to do with
communication is to edify the people of God. (See Marion G. Romney in Conference
Report, Apr. 1956, p. 71.) If a person spoke in tongues without someone to
interpret, there would be no edification. This is why the Prophet Joseph Smith
taught that members should not "speak in tongues except there be an
interpreter present." (Teachings, p. 247; see also 1 Cor. 14:28.)
To others
is given the gift of [page 70] "faith to be healed." (D&C 46:19.)
Most of us know persons who have been healed miraculously. Many of these
healings are attributable, at least in part, to their gift of faith to be
healed.
Another
spiritual gift is "faith to heal." (D&C 46:20; see also Moro.
10:11; 1 Cor. 12:9; Teachings, p. 224-25.) This gift has an obvious
relationship to priesthood administration to the sick. It has additional
significance as well, since both men and women can pray for and exercise faith
that a loved one will be healed. The Apostle James taught the early Saints:
"Pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer
of a righteous man availeth much." (James 5:16.)
The Bible
tells us that if there are any sick among us we should "call for the
elders of the Church" who should pray over them, anointing them with oil
in the name of the Lord, "and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and
the Lord shall raise him up." (James 5:14-15.) Similarly, the Doctrine and
Covenants states that the elders shall be called to "pray for and lay
their hands upon [the sick" in the name of the Lord, and "he that
hath faith … to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be
healed." (D&C 42:44, 48.) These scriptures obviously refer to
administrations to the sick by those who hold the priesthood, but they also
stress the importance of faith in the performance and receipt of that
priesthood function.
The
mingling of priesthood powers and spiritual gifts is also evident in another
spiritual gift. "And again, to some is given the working of
miracles." (D&C 46:21; see also Moro. 10:12; 1 Cor. 12:10.)
Miracles
are obviously worked through the power of the priesthood, but the prayer of
faith is also at work. The great sermon on faith in the twelfth chapter of
Ether states: "For if there be no faith among the children of men God can
do no miracle among them." (Ether 12:12.) The working of miracles is
described as a spiritual gift.
Since
spiritual gifts come by the power of the Holy Ghost, and the gift of the Holy
Ghost comes by the laying on of hands by those holding the priesthood, the
priesthood is always a factor in spiritual gifts. But spiritual gifts obviously
bless the lives of those who do not themselves hold the priesthood.
A more
familiar gift of the Spirit is personal revelation.
There is a
choice example of personal revelation in the twenty-fifth chapter of Genesis.
When Rebekah was carrying the twins Jacob and Esau, "the children
struggled together within her." The scripture says she was troubled at
this and so "she went to enquire of the Lord." (Gen. 25:22.) Here we
see a major principle of revelation. It usually comes in response to earnest
prayer. "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock,
and it shall be opened unto you." (Matt. 7:7.)
In this
instance the Lord spoke to Rebekah, saying: "Two nations are in thy womb,
and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and one people
shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the
younger." (Gen. 25:23.) Though she was the wife of a prophet and
patriarch, Rebekah inquired of the Lord and the Lord instructed her directly on
a matter of great personal concern to her, to the children she would bear, and
to generations unborn. After recounting this incident, Elder Bruce R. McConkie
concluded: "The Lord gives revelation to women who pray to him in
faith." (New Era, May 1978, p. 36.)
Another
spiritual gift is the gift of prophecy. "And to others it is given to
prophesy." (D&C 46:22; see also Moro. 10:13; 1 Cor. 12:10, 1 Cor.
14:1.)
The Bible
has many references to women who had or will have the gift of prophecy. One of
the clearest of these is from the sermon Peter preached on the Day of
Pentecost. Relying on a prophecy from the Old Testament (see Joel 2:28-29), he
declared:
"And
it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit
upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young
men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:
"And
on my servants and on my handmaidens I will pour out in [page 71] those days of
my Spirit; and they shall prophesy." (Acts 2:17-18.)
The Book
of Acts states that four daughters of Phillip were blessed with the gift of
prophecy. (See Acts 21:8-9.) One of the two mortal witnesses of the divinity of
the infant Jesus was the aged woman, Anna. She was a holy woman who
"departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers
night and day." (Luke 2:37.) When Anna saw the infant Jesus in the temple,
she gave thanks to the Lord and "spake of him to all them that looked for
redemption in
The
Inspired Translation of the Old Testament contains a prophetic utterance by our
first mother, Eve. (See JST Gen. 4:11; Moses 5:11; see also references to
prophecy by other women in Num. 12:2; Judg. 4:4.)
How can a
woman have the gift of prophecy when she does not hold the priesthood? That
question has confused some, because the nouns prophecy and prophet and their
variations, such as the adjective prophetic and the verb prophesy, are used in
several different senses.
When we
hear the word prophet in our day, we are accustomed to thinking of the prophet.
These words signify him who holds the prophetic office and is sustained as the
prophet, seer, and revelator. The priesthood offices and powers exercised by
the President of the Church are unique. As we learn in the Doctrine and
Covenants, it is given to him to have "all the gifts of God which he
bestows upon the head of the church." (D&C 107:92; see also D&C
46:29; D&C 50:26-28.)
The
spiritual gift of prophecy is quite different. As we read in the Book of
Revelation, "The testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Rev.
19:10.) The Prophet Joseph Smith relied on this scripture in teaching that
"every other man who has the testimony of Jesus" is a prophet. (Teachings,
p. 119.) Similarly, the Apostle Paul states that "he that prophesieth
speaketh unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." (1 Cor.
14:3.) Thus, in the sense used in speaking of spiritual gifts, a prophet is one
who testifies of Jesus Christ, teaches God's word, and exhorts God's people. In
its scriptural sense, to prophesy means much more than to predict the future.
The
scriptures often use the word prophet and its derivatives in the broad sense of
one who teaches and testifies of God. When the prophet Moses was asked to
forbid two men who "prophesied in the camp," he refused, expressing
the wish "that all the Lord's people were prophets." (Num. 11:26,
29.) The Apostle Paul taught that Christians should "desire spiritual
gifts, but rather that ye may prophesy." (1 Cor. 14:1.) The Book of Mormon
describes various times in which there were many prophets. (See 1 Ne. 1:4; W of
M 1:16-18.) In our day, Elder Joseph Fielding Smith declared that "all
members of the Church should seek for the gift of prophecy, for their own
guidance, which is the spirit by which the word of the Lord is understood and
his purpose made known." (Church History and Modern Revelation, 3
vols., Salt Lake City, Deseret Book Co., 1953, 1:201.)
It is
important for us to understand the distinction between a prophet, who has the
spiritual gift of prophecy, and the prophet, who has the prophetic office.
Some who
have had the gift of prophecy have forgotten this distinction. Miriam, who is
referred to as a prophetess (see Num. 12:2), and Aaron, who was a priest,
disagreed with one of the decisions of the prophet, Moses. The Bible describes
how they "spake against Moses." (Num. 12:1.) Moses, who the scriptures
say was "meek, above all the men which were upon the face of the
earth" (Num. 12: 3), may not have been able to hold his own in a debate
with this rebellious priest and prophetess. But the Lord was aware of the
circumstance and came into the controversy on the side of his prophet. The
Bible tells us how the Lord "came down in the pillar of the cloud, and
stood in the door of the tabernacle." (Num. 12:5.) He rebuked and punished
Miriam and Aaron for speaking against his prophet.
It is
vital for us to honor the distinction between the prophetic gift and the
prophetic office, between a prophet and the prophet.
Other
gifts of the Spirit are associated with the exercise of the keys or power of
the priesthood.
First, the
Doctrine and Covenants says, "unto some it may be given to have all those
gifts, that there may be a head, in order that every member may be profited
thereby." (D&C 46:29.)
Second, we
read in this same source: "And unto the bishop of the church, and unto
such as God shall appoint and ordain to watch over the church and to be elders
unto the church, are to have it given unto them to discern all those gifts lest
there shall be any among you professing and yet be not of God." (D&C
46:27; see also 1 Cor. 12:10.)
This power
of discernment is essential if we are to distinguish between genuine spiritual
gifts and the counterfeits Satan seeks to use to deceive men and women and
thwart the work of God. The Prophet Joseph Smith said, "Nothing is a
greater injury to the children of men than to be under the influence of a false
spirit when they think they have the spirit of God." (Teachings, p.
205.) He also taught that "no man nor sect of men without the regular
constituted authorities, the Priesthood and discerning of spirits, can tell
true from false spirits." (Teachings, p. 213.)
Satan-inspired
and man-made counterfeits of spiritual gifts have been present throughout our
religious history. This is evident from the enchantments wrought by Pharoah's
sorcerers and magicians (see Ex. 7:11, 22; Ex. 8:7), and from Isaiah's warnings
against "wizards that peep, and that mutter" and "them that have
familiar spirits" [page 72] (Isa. 8:19). The Savior warned against false
Christs and false prophets who "shall show great signs and wonders,
insomuch, that, if possible, they shall deceive the very elect … according to
the covenant." (JS--H 1:22.) The Apostle John said, "Try the spirits
whether they are of God: because many false prophets are gone out into the
world." (1 Jn. 4:1.)
Just a few
months after the Church was organized, Hiram Page, one of the earliest members,
was receiving revelations through a seer stone. The Lord told the Prophet
Joseph Smith to tell Hiram Page privately that "those things which he has
written from that stone are not of me and that Satan deceiveth him."
(D&C 28:11.) The receipt of revelation had not been "appointed
unto" Hiram Page, the Lord explained, "neither shall anything by
appointed unto any of this church contrary to the church covenants. For all
things must be done in order, and by common consent in the church, by the
prayer of faith." (D&C 28:12-13.)
Here we
learn that Satan gives revelations to deceive the children of men and that our
protection is in following the order of the Church on who should receive
revelation for what subject. In this, both men and women have equal
responsibility to follow the duly ordained leaders of the church who have the
obligation to lead and, on occasion, to correct.
Early in
the second year of the Church, the Lord revealed that "there are many spirits
which are false spirits, which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the
world." (D&C 50:2.) The revelation on spiritual gifts tells the elders
who were going forth on missions to be righteous and prayerful "that ye
may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of devils, or the commandments
of men; for some are of men, and others of devils." (D&C 46:7.)
Other
revelations give instructions that help priesthood leaders discern the spirits
and avoid being deceived. Thus, in section 52 of the Doctrine and Covenants we
read that "he that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is
meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances."
(D&C 52:16.) In contrast, "he that is overcome and bringeth not forth
fruits, even according to this pattern, is not of me." (D&C 52:18.)
The
Prophet's instruction that a person should not speak in tongues unless there
was someone to interpret is an application of this principle. As the Lord said:
"That which doth not edify is not of God, and is darkness." (D&C
50:23; see also D&C 50:30-35; Teachings, pp. 203-4.)
I have
spoken of many different spiritual gifts. I have pointed out that these gifts
come by the power of the Holy Ghost and that they are available to every member
of the Church, male and female.
We should
seek after spiritual gifts. They can lead us to God. They can shield us from
the power of the adversary. They can compensate for our inadequacies and repair
our imperfections. Almost a century ago
President George Q. Cannon of the First Presidency taught the Saints:
"If any of us are imperfect, it is our
duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. … No man ought to say,
'Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.' He is not justified in it, for the
reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to
give gifts that will eradicate them. If a man lacks wisdom, it is his duty to
ask God for wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God
concerning His Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For
this purpose He gives these gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after
them, in order that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the
earth." (Millennial Star, Apr. 1894, p. 260.)
I saw that
principle in action in the home in which I was raised. Having lost her husband,
my widowed mother was incomplete. How she prayed for what she needed to fulfill
her responsibility to raise her three small children! She was seeking, she was
worthy, and she was blessed! Her prayers were answered in many ways, including
the receipt of spiritual gifts. She had many, but the ones that stand out in my
memory are the gifts of faith, testimony, and wisdom. She was a mighty woman in
I testify
to the truth of what I have taught. I testify of Jesus Christ, our Savior,
whose blood has atoned for repented sins and whose resurrection has broken the
bands of death for all. The gospel was restored through the Prophet Joseph
Smith, whose successor, President Ezra Taft Benson, is God's prophet today.
1 Corinthians 12-14,
Elder McConkie wrote: "These gifts are infinite in
number and endless in their manifestations because God himself is infinite and
endless, and because the needs of those who receive them are as numerous,
varied, and different as there are people in the kingdom" (A New
Witness for the Articles of Faith, 270).
Atonement – the
essence of what the Holy Ghost is trying to accomplish for all who come unto
Christ, to give each of us the full effect of the Atonement (power)
How do I have this
power in my life? A simple answer: When
you focus on building the kingdom you now get access to the gift of the Holy
Ghost.
Nature of Spiritual
Gifts—The
gifts here spoken of are essentially endowments of power and authority, through
which the purposes of God are accomplished, sometimes with accompanying
conditions that may appear to be supernatural. By such the sick are healed,
malignant influences overcome, spirits of darkness subdued; the saints, humble
and weak, proclaim their testimonies and otherwise utter praises unto God in
new and strange tongues while others interpret their words; human intellect is
invigorated by the heavenly touch of spiritual vision and dreams to see and
comprehend things ordinarily withheld from mortal senses; direct communication
with the fountain of all wisdom is established, and the revelations of the
divine are obtained.
These gifts have been promised of the Lord unto those who
believe in His name, fn and are to follow obedience to the requirements of the
Gospel. Among believers they are to serve for encouragement, and as incentives
to higher communion with the Spirit. fn They are not given as signs to gratify
carnal curiosity; nor to satisfy a morbid craving for the spectacular.
(James E. Talmage, Articles
of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 198.)
Endowments
of Power = Spiritual Gifts I can’t buy
them or demand them, they are GIFTS that I am to seek earnestly.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 46:8-9.) – Gifts are given to benefit us so we can benefit
others. Focus on building up the kingdom
8
Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived seek ye
earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are given;
9 For
verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and
keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be
benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a sign that they
may consume it upon their lusts.
President George Q.
Cannon likewise offered this counsel and plea: "We find, even among those
who have embraced the Gospel, hearts of unbelief. How many of you, my brethren
and sisters, are seeking for these gifts that God has promised to bestow? How many of you, when you bow before your
Heavenly Father in your family circle or in your secret places, contend for
these gifts to be bestowed upon you? How many of you ask the Father, in the
name of Jesus, to manifest Himself to you through these powers and these gifts?
Or do you go along day by day like a door turning on its hinges, without having
any feeling on the subject, without exercising any faith whatever; content to
be baptized and be members of the Church, and to rest there, thinking that your
salvation is secure because you have done this? I say to you, in the name of
the Lord, as one of His servants, that you have need to repent of this. You
have need to repent of your hardness of heart, of your indifference, and of
your carelessness. There is not that diligence, there is not that faith,
there is not that seeking for the power of God that there should be among a
people who have received the precious promises we have. . . . I say to you that
it is our duty to avail ourselves of the privileges which God has placed within
our reach. . . .
"I feel to bear
testimony to you, my brethren and sisters . . . that God is the same to day as
He was yesterday; that God is willing to bestow these gifts upon His children.
. . . If any of us are imperfect, it is
our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections?
I am full of them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that
will correct these imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to
pray for charity, which suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is
my duty to seek for charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the
Gospel. They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to say, 'Oh, I cannot
help this; it is my nature.' He is not justified in it, for the reason that God
has promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that
will eradicate them. If a man lack wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for
wisdom. The same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His
Church. He wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He
gives these gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order
that they may be a perfect people upon the face of the earth, notwithstanding
their many weaknesses, because God has promised to give the gifts that are
necessary for their perfection" (Millennial Star 56 [1894]:
260-61).
(Robert L. Millet, Alive
in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book
Co., 1997], 199.)
Merciful The Lord Hath Been
Bruce Satterfield
Department of
[This paper was originally published in The
Book of Mormon: Fourth Nephi Through
President
Ezra Taft Benson declared, "The Book of Mormon brings men to Christ."
["The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants," Ensign
(May 1987), 83] In this declaration, he reaffirmed the fundamental importance
of the Book of Mormon in the salvation of men. From its beginning to its
conclusion, the Book of Mormon bears witness of Christ and teaches of his
atonement that makes possible "the plan of mercy" (Alma 42:15,23).
Through this plan men can be delivered from the power of Satan and their own
imperfection. Throughout the Book of Mormon, the prophets urge all men to come
unto Christ (see 1 Nephi 6:4; 13:40; 2 Nephi 9:45,51; 26:33; Jacob 1:7; 6:5;
Omni 1:26;
In the
final chapter of the Book of Mormon before he sealed up the plates from which
it was translated, Moroni invited "all the ends of the earth . . . [to]
come unto Christ, and be perfected in him" (Moroni 10:24,32). This is
found in the last chapter of the Book of Mormon,
Rarely, if
ever, should a block of scripture be examined without first considering its
original context. Therefore, before considering
In the
letter, Mormon described in awful terms the degenerated condition of the
Nephites. They had sunk to such extreme depths of brutality and perversion that
rape, murder, and cannibalism were done for "a token of bravery"
(9:10). Mormon lamented this condition saying:
O the
depravity of my people! They are without order and without mercy. . . And they
have become strong in their perversion; and they are alike brutal, sparing
none, neither old nor young; and they delight in everything save that which is
good; and the suffering of our women and our children upon all the face of this
land doth exceed everything; yea, tongue cannot tell, neither can it be
written. (9:19-20)
Because of
their wickedness, Mormon told his son that "I cannot recommend them unto
God lest he should smite me" (9:21).
The letter
shocks the reader. Yet, that may well have been
Come Unto Christ Through the Book of Mormon
Though the
first six exhortations are directed to the Lamanites, the message found therein
can be applied to all. From the first three exhortations (10:3-7), we learn
that the Book of Mormon is a powerful instrument that brings men unto Christ.
Within these verses two steps are discussed that, if followed, will lead the
readers to a testimony of the reality of Christ and the power of his mercy.
Gaining a testimony of Christ is an essential ingredient in the process of
coming unto him. Both steps, therefore, will be briefly discussed.
The Lord's
Mercy from Adam Down
The first
step is to read the Book of Mormon; however, merely reading is not enough.
Moroni exhorts us that "when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom
in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord
hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until
the time that ye should receive these things" (Moroni 10:3). The Book of
Mormon is filled with a host of stories that demonstrate God's willingness to
deliver his people from physical and spiritual destruction because of his
mercy.
An
understanding that God is merciful is essential in coming unto Christ. The
Prophet Joseph Smith taught that in order for "any rational and
intelligent being" to "exercise faith in God unto life and
salvation" he must have "a correct idea of [God's] character,
perfections, and attributes" (Lectures on Faith 3:2). The Prophet
listed mercy as one of the characteristics mankind must comprehend about God.
He stated that unless man understood that God is
merciful
and gracious, slow to anger, long-suffering and full of goodness, such is the
weakness of human nature, and so great the frailties and imperfections of men,
that unless they believed that these excellencies existed in the divine
character, the faith necessary to salvation could not exist; for doubt would
take the place of faith, and those who know their weakness and liability to sin
would be in constant doubt of salvation if it were not for the idea which they
have of the excellency of the character of God, that he is slow to anger and
long-suffering, and of a forgiving disposition, and does forgive iniquity,
transgression, and sin. An idea of these facts does away doubt, and makes faith
exceedingly strong. (Lectures on Faith 3:20)
The
scriptures are the primary source for obtaining knowledge concerning God's
mercy. This is especially true of the Bible and the Book of Mormon. Lehi quoted
Joseph of Egypt to teach that these two books would "grow together"
in the last days bringing latter-day Israel "to the knowledge of their
fathers" (2 Nephi 3:12), i.e., a history of God's dealings with mankind
from the creation of man until the coming of Christ and the establishment of
his church in the old and new worlds. Found within this history is examples
after examples of how God's mercy was extended to those who had exercised faith
in him, even to their temporal and spiritual salvation. It is precisely this
pattern that Moroni encouraged the reader of the Book of Mormon to ponder, for
it generates hope and inspires the reader to exercise faith in God.
Of all the
events recorded in the the Book of Mormon, the single most important act of
mercy referred to is the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ. It was this act
alone that made possible the extension of God's mercy to mankind (see
The
atonement is the most transcendent event that ever has occurred or ever will
occur from creation's morn through all the endless ages of eternity. It is the
occasion on which a God paid the ransom to reclaim fallen man, and all created
things, from the effects of Adam's fall. In it, Jesus Christ, who became the
first immortal flesh, paid the penalty for the transgression of the First Adam,
who was the first mortal flesh. In it, the Only Begotten made amends for a broken
law, satisfied the demands of justice, and took upon himself the sins of all
men on conditions of repentance. Through it, all men are raised in immortality
while those who believe and obey are raised also unto eternal life in the
kingdom of the Father. The atonement makes possible a reconciliation between
God and man; it provides a Savior and a Redeemer for mortals; it gives man an
advocate and an intercessor in the court above. The atonement is the great and
eternal plan of redemption. (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith,
107)
Manifest
Truth by the Power of the Holy Ghost
The second
step is to receive a witness of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. To
achieve this,
When we
receive a testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon we have
essentially received a testimony of the reality of Jesus Christ. "And
whatsoever thing is good is just and true; wherefore, nothing that is good
denieth the Christ, but acknowledgeth that he is" (Moroni 10:6). The Book
of Mormon, then, brings us to believe in Jesus Christ. However, we must have
more than just belief in Christ, we must know that he is.
Spiritual
Gifts
The next three exhortations focus on
spiritual gifts which are extended to those who, as a result of receiving a
testimony of Christ, have come unto him through baptism and have received the
gift of the Holy Ghost. As has been shown, the knowledge that the Book of Mormon
is true and that Jesus is the Christ comes through the manifestation of the
Holy Ghost. However, as Elder Dallin H. Oaks has said: "We need to
distinguish between a manifestation of the Holy Ghost and the gift
of the Holy Ghost. As men and women desire to believe, they develop faith in
God. (See
All those who have been led by the
preparatory gifts of the Spirit to come unto Christ through baptism are
promised the gift of the Holy Ghost. "Spiritual gifts come to those who
have received the gift of the Holy Ghost" [Dallin H. Oaks, "Spiritual
Gifts," Ensign (Sep 1986), 68]. These gifts play an important role
in the perfecting of the saints of God.
Moroni then lists various spiritual gifts
including teaching of the word of wisdom, teaching the word of knowledge,
faith, healing, working of mighty miracles, prophesy, ministering of angels,
tongues, and interpretation of tongues (Moroni 10:9-16). However,
Taken at random, let me mention a few gifts
that are not always evident or noteworthy but that are very important. . . .
the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a
still, small voice; the gift of being able to weep; the gift of avoiding
contention; the gift of being agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition;
the gift of seeking that which is righteous; the gift of not passing judgment;
the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of being a disciple; the gift
of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift of offering
prayer; the gift of bearing a mighty testimony; and the gift of receiving the
Holy Ghost.
["There are Many Gifts," Ensign (Nov 1987),23]
Concerning spiritual gifts, Elder Oaks has
remarked: "Spiritual gifts do not come visibly, automatically, and
immediately to all who have received the gift of the Holy Ghost"
["Spiritual Gifts," Ensign (Sep 1986), 69]. The Prophet Joseph
Smith taught that it "require[s] time and circumstances to call these
gifts into operation" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 246).
Therefore, the command of the Lord is to "seek ye earnestly the best gifts,
always remembering for what they are given; for verily I say unto you, they are
given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and
him that seeketh so to do" (D&C 46:9).
Spiritual gifts unlock the divine potential
found within the recipient and in so doing, eventually bring about perfection.
Elder George Q. Cannon said:
If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to
pray for the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of
them. What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct
these imperfections. . . They are intended for this purpose. No man ought to
say, `Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.' He is not justified in it, for
the reason that God has promised to give strength to correct these things and
to give gifts that will eradicate them. . . . That is the design of God
concerning His children. . . . Every defect in the human character can be
corrected through the exercise of faith and pleading with the Lord for the
gifts that He has said He will give unto those who believe and obey His
commandments. (Gospel
Truth, 1:196)
Elder Oaks taught that "We should seek
after spiritual gifts. They can lead us to God. They can shield us from the
power of the adversary. They can compensate for our inadequacies and repair our
imperfections" ["Spiritual Gifts," Ensign (Sep 1986),72].
Spiritual gifts are an important aspect of
the atonement of Christ and come to men because of his mercy. Alma taught that
Christ would "take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be
filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the
flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities" (Alma
7:12). Webster's New World Dictionary defines infirmity as a
physical or moral defect or weakness; a frailty or ailment. In
Our duty then, is to do all in our own power
to seek after these gifts. On one occasion, Elder Cannon taught:
How many of you are seeking for these gifts
that God has promised to bestow? How many of you, when you bow before you
Heavenly Father in you family circle or in you secret places, contend for these
gifts to be bestowed upon you? How many of you ask the Father in the name of
Jesus to manifest Himself to you through these powers and these gifts? Or do you
go along day by day like a door turning on its hinges, without having any
feeling upon the subject, without exercising any faith whatever, content to be
baptized and be members of the Church and to rest there, thinking that your
salvation is secure because you have done this? (Gospel Truth, 1:195-196)
Elder McConkie wrote:
Is it proper to seek for spiritual gifts? . .
. . If spiritual gifts are interwoven with and form part of the very gospel of
salvation itself, can we enjoy the fulness of that gospel without possessing
the gifts that are part of it? . . . And if we are to seek the gospel, if we
are to hunger and thirst after righteousness, if our whole souls must cry out
for the goodness of God and his everlasting association, how can we exempt
ourselves from seeking the gifts of the Spirit that come from and prepare us
for his presence? (A New
Witness for the Articles of Faith, 369)
The reception of spiritual gifts depend upon
our asking, seeking, and motive. The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith that
spiritual gifts are given "that all may be benefitted that seek or ask of
me, that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts"
(D&C 46:9).
Good Gifts
Versus Evil Gifts
However, the phrase "good gift"
implies that there are evil gifts. Mormon taught:
Wherefore, all things which are good cometh
of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy
unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to
sin, and to do that which is evil continually. But behold, that which is of God
inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which
inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is
inspired of God. (
Elder McConkie has written concerning good
and evil gifts in these terms: "Life itself depends upon the existence of
opposites. . . Thus, if there are good gifts that come from God, there are also
evil gifts that spring forth from Satan." He then contrasted several
gifts. If "there is a gift of preaching by the power of the Holy
Ghost", he said, "there is a gift of intellectual persuasion, a gift
of sophistry and delusion". Again, "If there is a gift of charity, of
enjoying and possessing the pure love of Christ", then Satan offers
"a gift of selfishness, of putting one's own interests first in all
things". Further, "gifts of purity, of chastity, of clean thoughts,
of upright living, all of which cleanse and perfect the souls of men and
prepare them to be at ease in the fellowship of angels and holy beings"
are opposed by "gifts of lust, of lewdness, of profane and evil speaking,
of filling one's mind with carnal and evil thoughts, all of which lead to
vulgar and immoral acts that prepare men for the continuing association of evil
spirits in the realms ahead" (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith,
376-377).
The intent of Satan's evil gifts are to lead
man away from Christ and the gifts offered by him, especially the gift of
eternal life. Evil gifts cause men to lose faith and abandon the path that
leads to "liberty and eternal life". Those in this situation are
bound by "the captivity and power of the devil". This is Satan's plan
for "he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself" (2
Nephi 2:27). This is precisely the condition of the Nephites in
Disbelief Does Away With Spiritual Gifts
Moroni's sixth exhortation comes as a warning:
"remember that [God] is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that
all these gifts of which I have spoken, which are spiritual, never will be done
away, even as long as the world shall stand, only according to the unbelief of
the children of men" (Moroni 10:19). It should be remembered that earlier
in chapter ten,
Having said this,
Moroni knew that after several years of
apostasy, the Book of Mormon would come forth as a witness to all the world
that Jesus is the Christ. He also knew that, for the most part, the world would
reject the message of the Book of Mormon. To those who reject the Book of
Mormon,
Come unto
Christ and Be Perfected In Him
From the
time that the Book of Mormon came forth, marking the restoration of the gospel
of Jesus Christ including spiritual gifts, Satan has opposed the growth of the
kingdom of God through the great and abominable church with its array of evil
gifts (see 1 Nephi 14:10-17). Knowing this would happen, Moroni entreats his
readers in these words: "I would exhort you that ye would come unto
Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the
unclean thing" (Moroni 10:30). Further, Moroni, paraphrasing the prophet
Isaiah (see Isaiah 52), admonishes the saints of God in the latter days to
"awake, and arise from the dust, O Jerusalem; yea, and put on thy beautiful
garments, O daughter of Zion; and strengthen thy stakes and enlarge thy borders
forever, that thou mayest no more be confounded, that the covenants of the
Eternal Father which he hath made unto thee, O house of Israel, may be
fulfilled (Moroni 10:31).
The phrase
"awake, and arise from the dust" was first used by Lehi in the
context of awaking from a spiritual sleep (see 2 Nephi 1:13-14, 21-23).
Commenting
on this verse, President Harold B. Lee said:
Zion, as
used here, undoubtedly had reference to the Church. . . . To be worthy of such
a sacred designation as Zion, the Church must think of itself as a bride
adorned for her husband, as John the Revelator recorded when he saw in vision
the Holy City where the righteous dwelled, adorned as a bride for the Lamb of
God as her husband. Here is portrayed the relationship the Lord desires in his
people in order to be acceptable to our Lord and Master even as a wife would
adorn herself in beautiful garments for her husband.
The rule
by which the people of God must live order to be worthy of acceptance in the
sight of God is indicated by the text to which I have made reference. This
people must increase in beauty before the world; have an inward loveliness
which may be observed by mankind as a reflection in holiness and in those
inherent qualities of sanctity. The borders of
How can
Yea, come
unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness;
and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness and love God with all your
might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his
grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in
Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. And again, if ye by the grace
of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in
Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which
is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye
become holy, without spot. (
Summary
A dominant
theme that permeates the Book of Mormon is that man is "free to choose
liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose
captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (2
Nephi 2:27). This theme is illustrated over and over again throughout the Book
of Mormon.
_______________________________________________________________
Bibliography
Ashton,
Marvin J. "There are Many Gifts." Ensign (Nov 1987) 17:20-23.
Benson,
Ezra Taft. "The Book of Mormon and the Doctrine and Covenants." Ensign
(May 1987) 10:83-85.
______
"This is a Day of Sacrifice." Ensign (May 1979) 9:32-34.
Gospel
Truth: Discourse and Writings of President George Q. Cannon. Vol. 1.
Ed. Jerreld L. Newquist.
The
Lectures on Faith in Historical Perspective. Eds. Larry E. Dahl and
Charles D. Tate, Jr.
Lee,
Harold B. "Strengthen the Stakes of
McConkie,
Bruce R. A New Witness for the Articles of Faith.
Oaks,
Dallin H. "Spiritual Gifts." Ensign (Sep 1986) 9:68-72.
Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Comp. Joseph Fielding Smith.
Wood,
Lowell, D. "Come Unto Christ," Ensign (May 1993) 23:88-89.
"That's Just the
Way I Am"
Almost a century ago,
in an address on spiritual gifts, President
George Q. Cannon said the following:
No man ought to say, "Oh, I cannot help this; it is
my nature." He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has
promised to give strength to correct these things, and to give gifts that will
eradicate them. If a man lack wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom. The
same with everything else. That is the design of God concerning His Church. He
wants His Saints to be perfected in the truth. For this purpose He gives these
gifts, and bestows them upon those who seek after them, in order that they may
be a perfect people upon the face of the earth, notwithstanding their many
weaknesses, because God has promised to give the gifts that are necessary for
their perfection.
In this memorable address, President Cannon also said:
You have need to repent of your hardness of heart, of
your indifference and of your carelessness. There is not that diligence, there
is not that faith, there is not that seeking for the power of God that there
should be among a people who have received the precious promises we have.
Instead of the sick being healed, why, it is as much as you can do to get faith
to believe that the administration of an elder will be attended with effect.
There is not that seeking for the gift of healing and for the gift to be healed
that there ought to be among the Saints. And so with other gifts and graces
that God has placed in His Church for His people. I say to you that it is our
duty to avail ourselves of the privileges which God has placed within our
reach. If we have done wrong, repent of our wrong and feel after God, and not
be satisfied till we have found Him, and He hears and answers us, and He speaks
by His divine power in our hearts, bearing testimony to us in such a manner as
cannot be doubted that He hears us, that He is near to us, and that He is
watching over us and ready to bestow upon us all the blessings that are
necessary for our happiness here and hereafter.
If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for
the gift that will make us perfect. Have I imperfections? I am full of them.
What is my duty? To pray to God to give me the gifts that will correct these
imperfections. If I am an angry man, it is my duty to pray for charity, which
suffereth long and is kind. Am I an envious man? It is my duty to seek for
charity, which envieth not. So with all the gifts of the Gospel. They are
intended for this purpose. (November 26, 1893, reported in Deseret Weekly
48:33-34.)
This profound counsel
comes from a man of great wisdom, and it is something that we today could
beneficially accept as a standard. In today's world it would probably be spoken
by some of us who are seeking to be comfortable with habits and shortcomings
and would declare, "That's just the way I am." In some circles we
would probably refer to this as a cop-out or a justification for not having the
will or desire to improve ourselves by and through the gifts available to us
through the truth found in the gospel of Jesus Christ.
I am disheartened and
disturbed when I hear people avoiding the blessings and challenges of life by
indicating to themselves, their associates, and their family, "I'm sorry,
but that's just the way I am." This is an attitude that brings not only
complacency but also a lack of progress. It is a prime cause of unhappiness.
How impressive it was in
past years to hear President J. Reuben Clark, Jr., pray at a very advanced age
for the Lord's assistance in helping him to continue and remain true and
faithful to the end. Yes, to finish life's race with victory, and not resign
himself to saying, "I'm in my nineties, and that's just the way I
am."
How often we hear someone say, "I am just not cut
out to be a leader in the Church. It's not my strength. It's not my way. I will
attend and go as I feel impressed, but don't expect me to take positions of responsibility
and leadership, because I am just not that way." With the gifts that are
available from God, every one of us has the opportunity to be the beneficiary
of gifts that will make our progress more meaningful and perfect.
It is dangerous for anyone to be lulled into lack of
progress because "I just wasn't cut out to be a teacher," or "I
wasn't cut out to be a good housekeeper," or "It's all right for
other people to do these things, but it's impossible for me because it's just
not my nature or strength."
No one has to be
content with status quo. I've heard some of my friends who were having
difficulty with drugs and alcohol say, "I guess I'm just supposed to be
this way. My father was an alcoholic, and it comes natural for me to be the
same." There are no reasons for
failure and no traits of continuing downgrading just because an associate or
family member has taken these routes in the course of life. We need to make up
our minds we are going to take ourselves the way we are and, with God's help, add
to our gifts and abilities.
It is unfair for us to label ourselves as saddled with
this or that because we have failed to realize our potential and the spiritual
gifts that are available as we pursue life's trails. It is true that everyone
is given a gift. The gifts that are available to us for the benefit of all
mankind are for self-improvement, self-development, and self-success so that we
may be of value to our associates and those who need our strengths so badly.
I recall visiting at
the Utah State Prison years ago during the summer time. As the warden and I
visited in the outside recreational and exercise areas, I noticed that some of
the men were not wearing shirts and were sweating in the heat. One prisoner who
was shirtless had tattooed on his chest the words "A born loser." As
I observed this, I thought that it was not too unusual to find someone with
this kind of an attitude in prison. Perhaps he had convinced himself that
prison was where he belonged, saying to himself, "That's just the way I am."
He was conducting himself in such a manner that his stay in the prison would
probably be lengthy because he had so identified himself.
Some of the strongest
individuals I have met in life have been those who have partaken of spiritual
gifts and have improved themselves, lifted themselves up, and become great
despite environmental situations that might make it convenient to be
comfortable in mediocrity or less.
The Master referred to
spiritual gifts as "fruit" or "fruits." He said: "I am
the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same
bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing. . . . Ye have not
chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring
forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of
the Father in my name, he may give it you." (John 15:5, 16.)
In his memorable and
powerful speech, President Cannon said: "How many of you, when you bow
before your Heavenly Father in your family circle or in your secret places,
contend for these gifts to be bestowed upon you? How many of you ask the
Father, in the name of Jesus, to manifest Himself to you through these powers
and these gifts? Or do you go along day by day like a door turning on its
hinges, without having any feeling upon the subject, without exercising any
faith whatever; content to be baptized and be members of the Church, and to
rest there, thinking that your salvation is secure because you have done this?
I say to you, in the name of the Lord, as one of His servants, that you have
need to repent of this." (Ibid.)
How pleasing it is to
witness unusual performance and to achieve outstanding levels of performance
when conditions seem to have made it necessary for us to be average or losers
because of surroundings, circumstances, or competition. We need to know how to
motivate ourselves and others. I think of one of the greatest football coaches
of all time. He wouldn't tolerate a losing attitude. He could often make his
associates perform above and beyond their normal capacities. He had the gift of
leadership. He wouldn't allow his team members to be down. Defeat was never
part of the game plan.
I am impressed with
the fact that God has made himself and others available to share these many
gifts for our improvement and the benefit of the children of God. We are living
in a day and a period of enlightenment when there is no time, reason, or
occasion for anyone to justify labeling himself or herself with "I'm
sorry—I'm doing the best I can under the circumstances." Often the
limitations we place on ourselves are unfair, unreasonable, and unnecessary.
Too often we hear people say, "Today is not my day," or "I'm one
who is constantly unlucky." Too frequently we hear people excuse or
justify their present situations with, "I just can't resist rich
foods," "I know I find fault or criticize others constantly, but it's
just part of my make-up," "It's difficult for me to keep a
commitment. I don't seem to have the courage to stand firm when it really
counts," "Being punctual is just impossible for me," or
"I'm just not inclined to be friendly with others."
These are just a few
examples of what we hear from those who would fault God for their lack of
progress instead of loving him for his gifts that will help them to progress
and attain happiness.
Miraculous powers are
promised to those who will seek the gifts that are available from God, who
humbly approach his throne continually for strength and powers above and beyond
those that are natural to them. Those who approach their Heavenly Father with
their needs will reap the benefits of spiritual gifts that can make the
difference in their lives and the well-being of their associates.
We learn from section
46 of the Doctrine and Covenants some of the gifts available to give us
guidance, strength, and the power for self-improvement on a daily basis. Think
of the gift of being wise and having knowledge; the faith to be healed; the
faith to heal; the spirit of discernment; the spirit to prophesy and to speak
with tongues; the interpretation of tongues. What a glorious promise is in this
section: "And it shall come to pass that he that asketh in Spirit shall
receive in Spirit." (D&C 46:28.)
All of these spiritual
opportunities are available to us according to our needs and according to those
things which are for our best good. How wonderful it is to contemplate that
through the gift of the Holy Ghost we may declare in firmness and truth that
Jesus is our Savior, our Lord, and our Messiah. When we testify by the Spirit,
we not only grow individually, but we can also touch the lives of others who
will recognize the source of testimony and confirming powers.
President Harold B.
Lee once explained: "The Lord, by revelation, brings thought into our
minds as though a voice were speaking. May I bear humble testimony to that
fact? I was once in a situation where I needed help. The Lord knew I needed
help, as I was on an important mission. I was awakened in the wee hours of the
morning and was straightened out on something that I had planned to do in a
contrary way, and the way was clearly mapped out before me as I lay there that
morning, just as surely as though someone had sat on the edge of my bed and
told me what to do. Yes, the voice of the Lord comes into our minds and we can
be directed thereby." (Stand Ye in Holy Places, Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book, 1974, p. 140.)
Consider also what President Joseph F. Smith said:
"I believe that every individual in the Church has just as much right to
enjoy the spirit of revelation and the understanding from God which that spirit
of revelation gives him, for his own good, as the bishop has to enable him to
preside over his ward." (Gospel Doctrine, Classics in Mormon
Literature Series, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1986, pp. 34-35.)
One of my favorite
examples of someone who lifted himself by the spiritual gifts and strengths
that were available is Joseph Smith, who said, "I am like a huge, rough
stone rolling down from a high mountain; and the only polishing I get is when
some corner gets rubbed off by coming in contact with something else, striking
with accelerated force against religious bigotry, editors, suborned judges and
jurors, and the authority of perjured executives, backed by mobs, blasphemers,
licentious and corrupt men and women—all hell knocking off a corner here and a
corner there. Thus I will become a smooth and polished shaft in the quiver of
the Almighty." (History of the Church 5:401.)
Parley P. Pratt's
report of the Prophet's conduct on a challenging night has always been one of
my favorite examples of greatness and rising above circumstances:
In one of those
tedious nights we had lain as if in sleep till the hour of midnight had passed,
and our ears and hearts had been pained, while we had listened for hours to the
obscene jests, the horrid oaths, the dreadful blasphemies and filthy language
of our guards, . . . as they recounted to each other their deeds of rapine,
murder, robbery, etc., which they had committed among the "Mormons"
while at Far West and vicinity. They even boasted of defiling by force wives,
daughters and virgins, and of shooting or dashing out the brains of men, women
and children.
I had listened till I
became so disgusted, shocked, horrified, and so filled with the spirit of
indignant justice that I could scarcely refrain from rising upon my feet and
rebuking the guards; but had said nothing to Joseph, or any one else, although
I lay next to him and knew he was awake. On a sudden he arose to his feet, and
spoke in a voice of thunder, or as the roaring lion, uttering, as near as I can
recollect, the following words:
"SILENCE, ye
fiends of the infernal pit! In the name of Jesus Christ I rebuke you, and
command you to be still; I will not live another minute and hear such language.
Cease such talk, or you or I die THIS INSTANT!"
He ceased to speak. He
stood erect in terrible majesty. Chained, and without a weapon; calm, unruffled
and dignified as an angel, he looked down upon his quailing guards, whose
weapons were lowered or dropped to the ground; whose knees smote together, and
who, shrinking into a corner, or crouching at his feet, begged his pardon, and
remained quiet until an exchange of guards.
I have seen ministers
of justice, clothed in ministerial robes, and criminals arraigned before them,
while life was suspended on a breath, in the Courts of England; I have
witnessed a Congress in solemn session to give laws to nations; I have tried to
conceive of kings, of royal courts, of thrones and crowns; and of emperors
assembled to decide the fate of kingdoms; but dignity and majesty have I seen
but once, as it stood in chains, at midnight, in a dungeon in an obscure
village of Missouri. (Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, Classics in
Mormon Literature Series, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1985, pp. 179-80.)
A great leader of
young women, a person who spent a majority of her lifetime encouraging youth
and youth leaders worldwide to constantly better themselves, was LaRue C.
Longden, a former member of the Young Women's general presidency. Ponder her
words: "For almost too many years to count, it has been my beautiful
privilege to tell our precious young folks and their leaders that 'It is smart
to be a Latter-day Saint.' As my parting shot, may I again reiterate, it is
smart to be a Latter-day Saint, for to be one we are privileged to be baptized
and confirmed by proper authority which brings us into our Father's kingdom.
Then, through our young men, we women share in our Father's greatest gift to
his children, his priesthood, through which our worthy men may act in his
behalf. In a day of turmoil, false prophets, worry, supposed lack of security
and decision, I want to say once more with a voice loud and clear, 'I am humbly
grateful to be a Latter-day Saint, for I know it is truly smart to be a
Latter-day Saint!' “(It's Smart to Be a Latter-day Saint, Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book, 1967, p. 112.)
Sister Longden
conveyed the message that in some parts of our society today it is considered
smart to do many things that detract from a person's spirituality. Immodest
fashions, sexual freedoms, use of drugs and narcotics, selfish mediocrity, and
rebellion against sacred things seem to be typical of the times. During a
lifetime of active service she found that smartness truly comes through
espousing the standards of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and
carrying on regardless of peer pressure or conditions of the time.
Let us resolve this
day that the phrase "that's just the way I am" will not be used as a
crutch or excuse for lack of progress. Rather, let us use God's gifts and the
example and strengths of others to live better today and hold on to principles
that are eternal.
(Marvin
J. Ashton, The Measure of Our Hearts [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1991], 24.)
Another
Conference talk by Elder Ashton: “There
are Many Gifts” Ensign November 1987
Faith
>>>> Repentance >>>> Covenant
Do
you really believe God has that power to save me? Yes!
It is a privilege to qualify ourselves to receive God’s power. People may say the Atonement isn’t for me.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 46:11-12.) –Everybody has at least one gift, examine ourselves
and build upon the gifts that are given
11 For all
have not every gift given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man
is given a gift by the Spirit of God.
12 To some
is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.
God
as all of the gifts and is perfect in all of his characteristics and
attributes, I on the other hand am imperfect and right now have a few gifts and
use them imperfectly, yet I by my celestial nature can tap into His power
through the gift of the Holy Ghost and perfect that same character and
attribute within me.
A
gift unperfected is a failure, I need to use the gift to help build up the
kingdom. If I am called as a teacher I
have the right to call for help to perfect me in that particular calling, but
remember it comes as it always does, line upon line, eventually until it is
perfected.
Seek
for the best gifts, which are determined by God, since He is the giver of the
gift, I must be attuned to the Spirit to know what to ask for.
Spiritual Gifts
Spiritual Gifts Come
by Faith
Those gifts of God
that come to faithful people by the power of the Holy Ghost are called
spiritual gifts or gifts of the Spirit. They come from God, they are
administered by the Holy Ghost, and they are transmitted to men by the Spirit
of Christ, which is the light of Christ, which is the agency of God's power.
Their receipt is predicated upon faith, obedience, and personal righteousness;
hence they are reserved for the saints of God, for those who believe in his
name and live his laws. They are the signs and miracles that follow those who
believe, and their receipt, in one degree or another, is essential to
salvation. No one can be saved in the celestial kingdom unless he receives some
or many of the gifts of the Spirit.
Why do signs and
miracles cease in certain ages? Why are they not found at all times and among
all peoples? Were those of old entitled to greater blessings than those of us
who now dwell on the same earth that once was theirs?
It is men who have
changed, not God; he is the same everlastingly. All men who have the same faith
and live the same law will reap the same blessings. "Whoso believeth in
Christ, doubting nothing," saith
Then, after setting
forth many of the spiritual gifts by name, Moroni exhorts us to remember that
God "is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and that all these gifts,
. . . which are spiritual, never will be done away, even as long as the world
shall stand, only according to the unbelief of the children of men." And
as his custom was, he again anchored his words to those of his Master. "And
Christ truly said unto our fathers: If ye have faith ye can do all things which
are expedient unto me." Knowing this and being guided by the Spirit,
Sad to say, the gifts
of God were done away in the
Seek Spiritual Gifts
Is it proper to seek
for spiritual gifts? Should we plead with the Lord for the gift of prophecy, or
of revelation, or of tongues? Is it fitting and right to pray for the
soul-sanctifying privilege of seeing the face of the Lord Jesus while we yet
dwell as mortals in a sin-filled world? Does the Lord expect us to desire and
seek for spiritual experiences, or do the divine proprieties call for us simply
to love the Lord and keep his commandments, knowing that if and when he deems
it proper he will grant special gifts and privileges to us?
By way of answer, it
almost suffices to ask such questions as these: Are we not expected to seek
salvation, the greatest of all the gifts of God? Why, then, should we not
prepare ourselves for this greatest of all boons by seeking the enjoyment of
the lesser ones? If we are to see his face in that eternal realm where the same
sociality that exists among us here, then coupled with eternal glory, shall
endure everlastingly, can we go amiss by seeking to establish that sociality
here and now? Are we not commanded: Ask and ye shall receive; seek and ye shall
find; knock and it shall be opened? Why, then, should we smother a desire to
heal the sick or raise the dead or commune with friends beyond the veil?
Also by way of answer
to the queries at hand, we might with propriety reason along this line: If
spiritual gifts are interwoven with and form part of the very gospel of
salvation itself can we enjoy the fulness of that gospel without possessing the
gifts that are part of it? If gifts and miracles shall—inevitably, always, and
everlastingly—follow those who believe, how can we be true believers without
them? And if we are to seek the gospel, if we are to hunger and thirst after
righteousness, if our whole souls must cry out for the goodness of God and his
everlasting association how can we exempt ourselves from seeking the gifts of
the Spirit that come from and prepare us for his presence?
If such be our
thoughts, we are in harmony with the counsel given in the divine word. Paul
says: "Covet earnestly the best gifts" (1 Corinthians 12:31),
"desire spiritual gifts," and be "zealous of spiritual
gifts," seeking "that ye may excel to the edifying of the
church" (1 Corinthians 14:1, 12).
"Ye are commanded
in all things to ask of God, who giveth liberally," the holy word
acclaims. Note the Lord's language: We are commanded to seek the gifts of the
Spirit; if we do not do so, we are not walking in that course which is pleasing
to Him whose gifts they are. "And that which the Spirit testifies unto you
even so I would that ye should do in all holiness of heart, walking uprightly
before me, considering the end of your salvation, doing all things with prayer
and thanksgiving." These are the words of the Lord; they summarize the
course he desires us to pursue. Why should we ask, and seek, and obey? He
answers: "That ye may not be seduced by evil spirits, or doctrines of
devils, or the commandments of men; for some are of men, and others of
devils." If we do not receive gifts and guidance and doctrine and
commandments from on high, we shall of necessity receive them from some other
source. Others have guidance to offer, doctrine to teach, and commandments to
give. We must choose what to believe and elect how we shall live.
"Wherefore, beware lest ye are deceived; and that ye may not be deceived
seek ye earnestly the best gifts, always remembering for what they are
given."
Why, for what purpose,
and to whom are the gifts given? "Verily I say unto you, they are given
for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that
seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that
ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts." It is
inherent in the whole plan of righteousness that those who seek the gifts of
the Spirit do so for their own salvation and for the glory of God, and not for
lustful and selfish and worldly reasons.
"And again, verily
I say unto you, I would that ye should always remember, and always retain in
your minds what those gifts are, that are given unto the church." (D&C
46:7-10.) Truly all of the Lord's saints should seek him, should seek his
Spirit, should seek his gifts. Where these gifts are, there is the true and
saving gospel, and where they are not, there is no hope of salvation.
Gifts Given the Saints
There are three
scriptural accounts which name a limited few of the gifts of the Spirit that
are reserved for the saints. They come from the pens of Paul and
1. Faith Precedes the Miracle
The gifts of the Spirit
come to those who receive the Spirit. Men must receive the gift of the Holy
Ghost before that member of the Godhead will take up his abode with them and
begin the supernal process of distributing his gifts to them. The gift of the
Holy Ghost is the right to the constant companionship of that member of the
Godhead, based on faithfulness. It is given at baptism. Those saints who keep
the commandments and walk in paths of truth and righteousness after baptism
actually receive the promised companionship—not at all times, but from time to
time, for no man is perfect; none in mortality walk eternally and unceasingly
in the blazing light of heaven. Thus the gifts of the Spirit are for believing,
faithful, righteous people; they are reserved for the saints of God. They come
from God in heaven to man on earth in a miraculous manner. Their receipt is a
miracle, and faith precedes the miracle.
2. Gifts Without Number
Spiritual gifts are
endless in number and infinite in variety. Those listed in the revealed word
are simply illustrations of the boundless outpouring of divine grace that a
gracious God gives those who love and serve him. "All have not every gift
given unto them; for there are many gifts, and to every man [who is true and
faithful] is given a gift by the Spirit of God. To some is given one, and to
some is given another, that all may be profited thereby." (D&C
46:11-12.) "And there are different ways that these gifts are
administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given
by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them." (
3. The Gift of Testimony
Testimony is the first
and greatest of all the gifts given of God to mortals. It is the rock
foundation upon which men build their houses of faith and righteousness and
salvation. It is the beginning of all righteousness, and because of it,
faithful men endure all things as though they constantly saw the face of
"the invisible God" in whose image Christ came. (Colossians 11:4-15.)
A testimony is to know the doctrine of the divine Sonship by personal
revelation from the Holy Ghost. It comes when Spirit speaks to spirit, when the
Holy Spirit of God speaks to the spirit within us, giving knowledge with
absolute certainty. "To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that
Jesus Christ is the Son of God and that he was crucified for the sins of the
world." (D&C 46:13.) "And ye may know that he is, by the power of
the Holy Ghost." (
4. Believing the Lord's Witnesses
Prophets and apostles
and the elders of
individuals who have
not yet advanced in spiritual things to the point of gaining for themselves
personal and direct revelation from the Holy Ghost may yet have power to
believe what others, speaking by the power of the Spirit, both teach and
testify. They have power to recognize the truth of the words of others who do
speak by the power of the Spirit, even though they cannot attune themselves to
the Infinite so as to receive the divine word direct from heaven and without
the helps of others to teach them. Thus it is written: "To others [the
hearers of whom we speak] it is given to believe on their words [that is, on
the words of those who have the message direct from God in heaven], that they
also might have eternal life if they continue faithful." (D&C 46:14.)
Thus, men can obey and be saved even though they do not see the Lord, or
entertain angels, or receive, independent of any other persons, the heaven-sent
word of salvation.
5. The Gifts of Administration and Discernment
These gifts, given to
those who administer the church and who are appointed to discern between true
and false spirits, are considered in Chapter 31, "The Holy Ghost—The
Lord's Minister."
6. Wisdom and Knowledge
Worldly wisdom and
knowledge gained by intellectual talents are available to all men. But the
knowledge of God and his eternal laws—gospel knowledge, saving knowledge, the
hidden wisdom that comes from on high, the wisdom of those to whom the wonders
of eternity are an open book, divine wisdom—all these are gifts of the Spirit.
"The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of God." (1
Corinthians 2:11.)
Among the true saints
are those endowed with divine knowledge and heavenly wisdom "that all may
be taught to be wise and to have knowledge." (D&C 46:17-18. See also
7. The Gift of Faith
Faith itself—faith in
all its glory, wonders, and power—is a gift of God. Some have it; some do not.
Among those so endowed are those who have faith to heal, or to be healed, or to
work miracles, or to do all things according to the will of Him in whom they
trust. (D&C 46: 19-20;
8. The Working of Miracles
Healing and being
healed and raising the dead are only the beginning of miracles. Properly gifted
persons control the elements, move mountains, turn rivers out of their course,
walk on water, quench the violence of fire, are carried by the power of the
Spirit from one congregation to another, are translated and taken up into
heaven, or—and this above all—gain for themselves an eternal inheritance in the
presence of Him who is Eternal. Miracles are now, have always been, and always
will be part and portion of the true gospel of that God who is a God of
miracles. They are gifts of the Spirit. (D&C 46:21;
9. The Gift of Prophecy
The gift of prophecy
is an extension and an enlargement of the gift of testimony. "The
testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy." (Revelation 19:10.) A
person who gains personal revelation from the Holy Spirit that Jesus is Lord of
all, being thus attuned to the Infinite, "may prophesy concerning all
things." (
10. Beholding Angels and Discerning Spirits
Gifts of the Spirit/If
a man has power to part the veil and converse with angels and with the
ministering spirits who dwell in the realms of light, surely this is a gift of
the Spirit. Also, how can anyone discern between the spirits sent of God and
the evil spirits that do the devil's bidding except by revelation? Among us,
there are those so endowed.
11. The Gift of Tongues and Their Interpretation
These are of two
kinds: (1) learning to speak foreign tongues, to understand the words spoken by
aliens, and to translate what is written in other languages; and (2) speaking
or understanding alien and unknown languages without premeditation. The first
kind is by far the more important and more commonly conferred; the second type
is more dramatic and may involve languages spoken by others now living or dead
languages long unknown among men. Some have spoken, for instance, in the pure
Adamic language.
Both the gift of
tongues and the gift of interpretation of tongues are given primarily for the
preaching of the gospel. Missionaries learn the languages of those among whom
they labor, and sometimes they are given power, for a short time, to preach and
understand without the labor of study and the struggle for understanding.
Tongues and their
interpretation are the most dangerous and most easily imitated of all the gifts
of God. Men can speak and interpret by intellectual power and thus use their
abilities to teach lies and foster heresies. Lucifer can cause his disciples to
give forth nonsensical gibberish in tongues known to devils. In a long
discourse about tongues and their proper usage, Paul counsels the saints to
restrict them in their dramatic form. Interpreters, he says, must always be
present. And, having in mind their proper purpose, he says of himself: "I
had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might
teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." (1
Corinthians 14:19.)
12. Revelation and Visions
Revelation and
prophecy and testimony and visions—these are the foundation upon which the Lord
builds his earthly church. As gifts of the Spirit, they are poured out upon the
saints. Revelation is the making known of divine truths by communication from
heaven; it is God speaking to man in numerous available ways; it is the giving
of saving truths to unsaved mortals. One means is by rending the heavens and
permitting fallen man to entertain angels and see within the veil; in vision
the faithful are thus permitted to see the wonders of eternity and to come to
know their Maker. When revelation dips into the future beyond what mortal eyes
can see, it becomes prophecy. The earthly kingdom is governed and guided and
sustained by the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation. Testimony is
the beginning of personal revelation in the life of a believing soul. And
"upon this rock"—the rock of testimony and personal
revelation—"I will build my church," saith the Lord, "and the
gates of hell shall not prevail against it." (Matthew 16:18.)
Visions and revelation
are always found in the true church. They always abound among the saints of
God, and without them there would be no divine kingdom on earth. Without them
there is no true religion, no salvation, no hope of eternal glory, no way in
which man can be as his Maker. They are as much a part of true religion as
sunshine and rain are part of mortal existence. Unless the sun shines and the
rains fall, men could not live on earth; and when visions and revelations
cease, men die spiritually. Is it any wonder, then, that the divine word
intones, "Deny not the spirit of revelation, nor the spirit of prophecy, for
wo unto him that denieth these things"? (D&C 11:25.)
(Bruce
R. McConkie, A New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book Co., 1985], 367.)
Time
and Circumstances to call a gift into operation, Joseph Smith
Not All Gifts Can Be Observed
There are several
gifts mentioned here, yet which of them all could be known by an observer at
the imposition of hands? The word of wisdom, and the word of knowledge, are as
much gifts as any other, yet if a person possessed both of these gifts, or
received them by the imposition of hands, who would know it? Another might
receive the gift of faith, and they would be as ignorant of it. Or suppose a
man had the gift of healing or power to work miracles, that would not then be known; it would require time and circumstances
to call these gifts into operation. Suppose a man had the discerning of
spirits, who would be the wiser for it? Or if he had the interpretation of
tongues, unless someone spoke in an unknown tongue, he of course would have to
be silent; there are only two gifts that could be made visible—the gift of
tongues and the gift of prophecy. These are things that are the most talked
about, and yet if a person spoke in an unknown tongue, according to Paul's
testimony, he would be a barbarian to those present. They would say that it was
gibberish; and if he prophesied they would call it nonsense. The gift of
tongues is the smallest gift perhaps of the whole, and yet it is one that is
the most sought after. (HC 5:28-30.)
(Joseph Smith, Discourses of the Prophet Joseph Smith, compiled by Alma P. Burton [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1977], 109.)
Character
defects can inhibit us in serving in the kingdom. I can pray for help to overcome that
particular weakness to help build up the kingdom. Humility is needed to ask to the help needed
to overcome, having the desire to improve is also critical, don’t quit, Ether
12:27. The Lord is bound to help if we
are worthy for the blessing, He is anxious to help.
One of the best gifts
to have is this:
Teachings Concerning
The Gift of Discernment
James E.
Talmage
Oh, that
we all had such power of discernment. That is a gift of the Spirit, to which we
are entitled and we will have it as we live for it. With that gift we shall be
free, to a great extent, from the deception that otherwise might lead us
astray.
As the
Lord gives revelations, so does Satan, each in his way. As the Lord has
revelators upon the earth, so has Satan, and he is operating upon those men by
his power, and they are receiving revelations, manifestations, that are just as
truly of the devil as was his manifestation to Moses, to which I have referred.
We need
the power of discernment. We need the inspiration of the Lord, that we may know
the spirits with whom we have to deal, and recognize those who are speaking and
acting under the influence of heaven, and those who are the emissaries of hell.
(Conference Report, April 1931, p.28)
Delbert L.
Stapley
Possessing,
as we do, the endowment of the Holy Ghost, if worthy, we are entitled to the
gift of discernment to guide and help us avoid the pitfalls of scheming and
designing men to trap and ensnare us into the meshes of worldly lusts,
influences, and pleasures. (Conference Report, October 1961, p.21)
The Holy
Ghost is a revelator of truth and has the related power of discernment, which
interprets the mind and motives of men; therefore it has the function of
preventing confusion and deception to the possessor of this gift. (D&C
50:23-24.) [Conference Report, October 1966, p.112]
Stephen L.
Richards
First, I
mention the gift of discernment, embodying the power to discriminate, which has
been spoken of in our hearing before particularly as between right and wrong. I
believe that this gift when highly developed arises largely out of an acute
sensitivity to impressions -- spiritual impressions, if you
will -- to read under the surface as it were, to detect hidden evil,
and more importantly to find the good that may be concealed. The
highest type of discernment is that which perceives in others and uncovers for
them their better natures, the good inherent within them. It's the gift
every missionary needs when he takes the gospel to the people of the world. He
must make an appraisal of every personality whom he meets. He must be able to
discern the hidden spark that may be lighted for truth. The gift of discernment
will save him from mistakes and embarrassment, and it will never fail to
inspire confidence in the one who is rightly appraised.
The gift
of discernment is essential to the leadership of the Church. I never ordain a
bishop or set apart a president of a stake without invoking upon him this
divine blessing, that he may read the lives and hearts of his people and call
forth the best within them. The gift and power of discernment in this
world of contention between the forces of good and the power of evil is
essential equipment for every son and daughter of God. There could be no
such mass dissensions as endanger the security of the world, if its populations
possessed this great gift in larger degree. People are generally so
gullible one is sometimes led to wonder whether the great Lincoln was
right, after all, in the conclusion of his memorable statement, "You can't
fool all the people all the time." One does feel at times, however, a sense
of pity and sympathy for some of the peoples of the world whose education,
information, and exposure to higher ideals and exalted concepts have been so
arbitrarily and ruthlessly restricted.
There is a
class of people now grown sizable in the world who should possess this great
gift in large degree. They know how the gift is attained. They have been
educated in its spiritual foundations. They have been blessed with the counsels
which foster it. They know how to order their lives to procure it. You know who
they are, my brethren and sisters. Every member in the restored
George Q.
Cannon
One of the
gifts of the Gospel which the Lord has promised to those who enter into
covenant with Him is the gift of discerning of spirits--a gift which is not
much thought of by many and probably seldom prayed for; yet it is a gift
that is of exceeding value and one that should be enjoyed by every Latter-day
Saint…. No Latter-day Saint should be without this gift,
because there is such a variety of spirits in the world which seek to deceive
and lead astray. In a revelation to the Church upon the spirits which have gone
abroad in the earth the Lord says:
"Behold,
verily I say unto you, that there are many spirits which are false spirits,
which have gone forth in the earth, deceiving the world."[D&C 50:2]
The Lord
warns the Saints and says: "Beware lest ye are deceived."[D&C
46:8] And that they may not be deceived, He commands them to seek earnestly the
best gifts.
The
Apostle John says:
"Behold,
believe not every spirit, but try the spirits whether they are of God: because
many false prophets are gone out into the world." [John 4:1]
This
counsel of the beloved Apostle applies as much to us in these latter days as it
did to the Saints of his age. All manner of spirits have gone forth to deceive,
to lead astray and to obtain possession of the children of men; and many people
yield to them because they are invisible and cannot, perhaps, think that they
can be possessed by invisible influences. Anger, backbiting, slander, falsehood
and various passions are manifested by people under the influence of false and
deceptive spirits….
Now, the
gift of discerning of spirits not only gives men and women who have it the
power to discern the spirit with which others may be possessed or influenced,
but it gives them the power to discern the spirit which influences themselves.
They are able to detect a false spirit and also to know when the Spirit of God
reigns within them. In private life this gift is of great importance to the
Latter-day Saints. Possessing and exercising this gift they will not allow any
evil influence to enter into their hearts or to prompt them in their thoughts,
their words or their acts. They will repel it; and if perchance such a spirit
should get possession of them, as soon as they witness its effects they will
expel it or, in other words, refuse to be led or prompted by it.
The gift
of discerning of spirits, also, is one that is of great importance to the
Elders who are laboring in the ministry. We have known Elders become so filled
with zeal and so desirous to do good, or what they supposed to be good, that
they exposed themselves to the influence of the adversary. They would be filled
with a species of what has been called "wildfire," and, carried away
by zeal, they would go too far; they would say and do imprudent things and yet,
being prompted by the purest and best motives, would feel entirely justified in
their course. In the history of the Church there have been many illustrations
of this. Elders can work themselves up beyond that which is proper and wise and
be led to say and do many imprudent things and overstep the line of propriety.
Now, the gift of discerning of spirits is necessary to keep these kind of
feelings in check.
The gift
of discerning spirits is not only necessary for this purpose, but it is
necessary in the branches of the Church. Newly baptized members, anxious to
obtain the gifts, are liable sometimes to be taken advantage of by the
adversary and to imbibe or yield to a wrong spirit. A newly organized branch of
the Church, where the gifts are manifested, especially the gift of tongues, has
to be watched with great care. The Elders laboring in the branch or presiding
in the conference must be in a position to discern between the Spirit of the
Lord and other spirits that may seek to steal in….
In all the
situations in life, therefore, in which Latter-day Saints can be placed there
is great need for them to possess the gift of discerning of spirits. Fathers
and mothers need it for their own benefit. They need it in their families, in
the training of their children. All Saints need it to enable them to escape
from the many evil influences that are abroad. The Elders need it for their own
sakes; they need it also in the government of the branches, of the conferences,
of the wards, of the stakes and, indeed, the entire Church. It is a great and
blessed gift, and it should be sought for by all. (Gospel Truth,
1:198-200)
There are
now many things existing, and which our people are brought into contact with,
that are calculated to deceive. Especially is this the case in the early lives
of both sexes, who are apt to be deceived by appearances--by judging men by
their outward appearance, expressions and sometimes by their dress and demeanor.
There is a gift in the
David O.
McKay
From birth
to death men differ. They vary as much as do flowers in a garden. In intellect,
in temperament, in energy, and in training some rise to one level and some to
another.
The
successful teacher is one who, with a spirit of discernment, can detect to a
degree at least, the mentality and capability of the members of his class. He
should be able to read the facial expressions and be responsive to the mental
and spiritual attitudes of those whom he is teaching. The great Teacher had
this power of discernment in perfection as is well illustrated in his conversation
with the woman of
It is
written that "he who governs well leads the blind, but he that teaches
gives them eyes." -- CR, April 1914, p. 86. (Gospel Ideals, p.439)
Joseph Fielding
Smith
To
understand spiritual things, a man must have spiritual discernment, that is,
guidance by the Holy Ghost. For this reason we are confirmed and receive the
gift of the Holy Ghost.
The Lord
expects us to use our faculties and has given us reason as a measuring rod to
measure truth under certain conditions.Primarily in the search after gospel
truth, there must be the teaching of the Spirit -- Spirit speaking to
spirit -- and this comes only through obedience to gospel law.
The man
who will not "do his will" may search forever, but in vain; but
cannot find it! It is not to be found in psychology, in biology, or sociology,
no matter what other truth may be found therein. When we hearken to the
Spirit who guides into all truth, we will see that the truth revealed is
reasonable and consistent with all other truth.
Only by
the aid of the Holy Ghost, and through obedience to the principles of the
gospel, will a man eventually attain to the knowledge of all truth. In other
words, those who will not make their lives conform in every particular to the
Divine Life; who will not adjust their lives through faith and repentance and
obedience to all divine law, will never be in a position to comprehend truth in
its fulness. Therefore, only in the celestial kingdom will the fulness of the
truth be attained.
All who
will not place their lives "at-one" with the Father and the Son
cannot comprehend the things of God. They are foolishness unto them. For this
reason so many of the learned men in the world fail to comprehend the gospel
and teach theories and philosophies at variance with revealed truth which they
cannot understand. We are in that day when the people are "ever learning,
and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth." (Doctrines of
Salvation, 1:298)
Bruce R.
McConkie
In its
most important aspect, discernment is used to distinguish between good and evil
(Moro. 7:12-18), between the righteous and the wicked (D. & C. 101:95; Mal.
3:18; 3 Ne. 24:18), between the false or evil spirits and those spirits who
truly manifest the things of God. (D. & C. 46:23; 1 Cor. 12:10.) In its
fullest manifestation the gift of the discerning of spirits is poured out upon
presiding officials in God's kingdom; they have it given to them to discern all
gifts and all spirits, lest any come among the saints and practice deception.
(D. & C. 46:27.)
There is
no perfect operation of the power of discernment without revelation. Thereby
even "the thoughts and intents of the heart" are made known. (D.
& C. 33:1; Heb. 4:12.) Where the Saints are concerned --
since they have received the right to the constant companionship of the Holy
Ghost -- the Lord expects them to discern, not only between the
righteous and the wicked, but between false and true philosophies, educational
theories, sciences, political concepts, and social schemes. Unfortunately,
in many instances, even good men hearken to "the tradition of their
fathers" (D. & C. 93:39) and rely on the learning of the world rather
than the revelations of the Lord, so that they do not enjoy the full play of
the spirit of discernment. (Mormon Doctrine, p.197)
James E.
Faust
Satan has
had great success with this gullible generation. As a consequence, literally
hosts of people have been victimized by him and his angels. There is, however,
an ample shield against the power of Lucifer and his hosts. This protection
lies in the spirit of discernment through the gift of the Holy Ghost. This gift
comes undeviatingly by personal revelation to those who strive to obey the
commandments of the Lord and to follow the counsel of the living prophets.
This
personal revelation will surely come to all whose eyes are single to the glory
of God, for it is promised that their bodies will be "filled with light,
and there shall be no darkness" in them. 27 Satan's efforts can be
thwarted by all who come unto Christ by obedience to the covenants and
ordinances of the gospel. The humble followers of the divine Master need not be
deceived by the devil. Satan does not sustain and uplift and bless. He leaves
those he has grasped in shame and misery. The spirit of God is a sustaining and
uplifting influence. ("Serving the Lord and Resisting the Devil," Ensign,
Sept. 1995, p. 6-7)
Ezra Taft
Benson
The Book
of Mormon was written for our day. Mormon, who compiled it, saw us in vision
and was directed to put into the book those things God felt we would especially
need in our time. We therefore should know the Book of Mormon better than any
other book. Not only should we know what history and faith-promoting stories it
contains, but we should understand its teachings. If we really do our homework
and approach the Book of Mormon doctrinally, we can expose the errors and find
the truths to combat many of the current false theories and philosophies of
men.
I have noted
within the Church a difference in discernment, insight, conviction, and spirit
between those who know and love the Book of Mormon and those who do not. That book
is a great sifter. ("Jesus Christ--Gifts and Expectations," Ensign,
Dec. 1988, 4)
We seek and covet the best gifts.
It shows God our seriousness in our efforts to increase our faith. Our motives are pure our actions and
direction to duty show our true intent.
Then He is bound to bless us according to our desires.
Satan
cannot overcome God’s miracles; he can match it but cannot stop or overcome
one, he is smart but not intelligent, he is limited in his power and abilities. We need to understand what is coming from God
and what comes from Satan. The gift of
discernment, we live in an extremely deceptive world
(Doctrine
and Covenants 29:34.) – There is nothing finite or temporal in the Lord’s
kingdom, all is spiritual and eternal.
34
Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not
at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man,
nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created.
Music is eternal,
talents are eternal, art is eternal, etc. If
you don’t have the gift of housecleaning the other partner better use the gift
of the still small voice. There isn’t
gender in our gifts!
Helaman
15:7
7 And behold, ye do know of yourselves, for ye
have witnessed it, that as many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the
truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers,
and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy
prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto
repentance, which faith and repentance bringeth a change of heart unto them--
Faith coupled with
repentance shows I am willing to conform my will to God’s will, it is an
ongoing process. Faith is a gift from
God, we prove ourselves to God by our actions and devotion to duty even if I
don’t like or understand what I’m doing.
Pure motives, I AM DOING EVERYTHING I CAN, THEN HE COMES IN AND
CAPACITATES ME FURTHER.
The Prince of Peace
was sent to "bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the
captives, and the opening of the prison to them that are bound" (Isaiah
61:1). The Lord Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ, is the Great Physician, the One
sent of the Father to heal our wounds, to dry our tears, to settle our souls. We live in a fallen world, a world of pain
and trauma and tragedy, a world where bad things happen to good people. We live
in a world where our goodwill is spurned, our noble desires are questioned, our
benevolent deeds are rebutted by the malevolent. Life hurts. A lot. My heart
goes out especially to those who know not the Lord, who are unaware of Christ's
capacity to lift and lighten and liberate, who feel they must face life's
challenges alone. I hurt for the hurting, particularly for those who try so
hard to find fulfillment in this world's goods and services, for those who
cannot hear or understand the Savior's instruction: "Wherefore, fear not
even unto death; for in this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is
full" (D&C 101:36).
(Robert L. Millet, Alive
in Christ: The Miracle of Spiritual Rebirth [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book
Co., 1997], 27.)
Look how far we have
come in the last 500 years, the kingdom is here and we help build it up.
Article of Faith #9
Revelation, Past, Present, and Future
March 22, 2007
ARTICLE 9—We believe
all that God has revealed, all that He does now reveal, and we believe that He
will yet reveal many great and important things pertaining to the
We skipped over
Article of Faith #8, study that on our own.
The topic of
revelation is critical to us, not just the Prophet and Apostles. Here is how we know what to do! Our Heavenly Father actually wants to talk
with us; He actually has something to benefit all of us.
Revelation Yet Future—In view of the
demonstrated facts that revelation between God and man has ever been and is a
characteristic of the Church of Jesus Christ, it is reasonable to await with
confident expectation the coming of other messages from heaven, even until the
end of man's probation on earth. The Church is, and shall continue to be, as
truly founded on the rock of revelation as it was in the day of Christ's
prophetic blessing upon Peter, who through this gift of God was able to testify
of his Lord's divinity. fn Current revelation is equally plain with that of
former days in predicting the yet future manifestations of God through this appointed
channel. fn The canon of scripture is still open; many lines, many precepts,
are yet to be added; revelation, surpassing in importance and glorious fulness
any that has been recorded, is yet to be given to the Church and declared to
the world.
Revelation/What
justification or pretense of consistency can man claim for denying the power
and purposes of God to reveal Himself and His will in these days as He
assuredly did in former times? In every department of human knowledge and
activity, in everything for which man arrogates glory to himself, he prides
himself in the possibilities of enlargement and growth; yet in the divine
science of theology he holds that progress is impossible and advancement
forbidden. Against such heresy and blasphemous denial of divine prerogatives
and power, God has proclaimed His edict in words of piercing import: "Wo
be unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no
more of the word of God, for we have enough!" fn "Deny not the spirit
of revelation, nor the spirit of prophecy, for wo unto him that denieth these
things." fn
(James E. Talmage, Articles
of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981], 281.)
There are people who
don’t want revelation to say God no longer speaks to man, like someone who
turns to the end of Malachi which states “The End of the Prophets”, forgetting
Christ’s words in the next page, the New Testament, it takes a special
ingenuity to come up with this.
(Revelation
22:18-19.) – There wasn’t a New Testament yet!
This verse has no reference to the Bible.
18 For I
testify unto every man that heareth the words of the prophecy of this book, If
any man shall add unto these things, God shall add unto him the plagues that
are written in this book:
19 And if
any man shall take away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God shall
take away his part out of the book of life, and out of the holy city, and from
the things which are written in this book.
When I receive
revelation it forces me to change my views Revelation has always existed and
will always exist, it’s simply a part of His kingdom.
I should never
receive revelation contrary to the revelation received by my priesthood
leaders, if I do it should be ignored, God does not speak out of both sides of
His mouth
Whenever a Prophet or
Apostle or any church leader speaks by the Spirit I am supposed to ask for a
confirmation of those teachings or a confirmation of a calling that has been
extended so I may have a testimony of it (Law of Witnesses), we receive it
through that still small voice, I must ask if it is from God, it is a wise
course of action. I receive that 2nd
witness, a confirmation that it is from Him, get that testimony, it gives me
strength to keep going, I’m not following blindly, I now know I have the confirmation,
a witness, it is a sign of faith to ask!
Get on your knees and ask! 2
Nephi 32:4
God – He is
consistent with all revelation given
Witnesses, Law of
The scriptural law of
witnesses requires that in the mouth of two or three individuals shall every
word be established (Deut. 19:15; 2 Cor. 13:1; 1 Tim. 5:19). This law applies
in divine as well as human relations, for members of the Godhead bear witness
of one another (John 5:31-37; 3 Ne. 11:32), and books of holy writ give
multiple witness to the work of God in the earth (2 Ne. 29:8-13). The law of
witnesses is prominent in the history and practice of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints.
A witness gives
personal verification of, or attests to the reality of, an event. To
"witness" in the scriptural sense is much the same as in the legal
sense: to give personal testimony based on firsthand evidence or experience. To
bear false witness is a very serious offense (Deut. 5:20; 19:16-21). When
prophets have an experience with the Lord, often he commands them to "bear
record" of him and of the truths that have been revealed (1 Ne. 10:10;
11:7; D&C 58:59; 112:4; 138:60). In legal affairs, testimony is usually
related to what a person knows by the physical senses. In spiritual matters
there is additional knowledge or information received through the Holy Spirit.
The Bible illustrates
that God often works with mankind through two or more witnesses (Num. 35:30;
Deut. 17:6; 19:15; Matt. 18:15-16). Likewise, latter-day scripture teaches the
need for witnesses (D&C 6:28; 42:80-81; 128:3). One person's word alone,
even though it may be true, may not be sufficient to establish and bind the
hearer to the truth. Witnesses provide the means of establishing faith in the
minds of people, for faith comes by hearing the word of God through the power
of human testimony accompanied by the Holy Ghost (Rom. 10:17; TPJS, p.
148; Lectures on Faith, 2). In the Book of Mormon, the prophet Nephi 1
combined his brother Jacob's testimony with Isaiah's testimony to reinforce and
verify his own witness of the divine sonship of the Redeemer (2 Ne. 11:2-3).
Likewise, Alma 2 called upon the words of Zenos, Zenock, and Moses to
corroborate his own testimony of the Son of God (Alma 33:2-23).
When the keys of the
priesthood were restored to the Prophet Joseph Smith and often when visions
were received, the Prophet was accompanied by a witness. This is the case Hith
the restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood, the Melchizedek Priesthood, the keys
given in the Kirtland Temple (Ohio), and the vision of the degrees of glory
(D&C 13; 76; 110). Subsequent to the translation of the Book of Mormon and
prior to its publication, three men on one occasion, and eight men on a
separate occasion, in addition to Joseph Smith, became witnesses of the Book of
Mormon plates (see Book of Mormon Witnesses). The Prophet Joseph was likewise
accompanied in his martyr's death by his brother Hyrum, a second martyr or
witness, making their testimony valid forever (D&C 135:3; 136:39). The
meaning of the Greek word martyr is "witness."
The scriptures also
indicate other ways in which the law of witnesses applies:
THE DIVINITY OF JESUS
CHRIST.
John the Baptist testified of the divinity of Jesus (John 1:15; 3:26; 5:32-39),
the Father testified of Christ (Matt. 3:17; 17:5; John 8:18), and Christ
himself bore record of his own divinity as the Son of God (Matt. 26:63-64; John
11:4; 13:31). The theme of John 5- 8 illustrates the principle of witnesses.
When Jesus spoke in his own behalf, some Jews, referring to the law of
witnesses, said, "Thou bearest record of thyself; thy record is not
true" (John 8:13). Jesus had earlier explained that both John the Baptist
and the Father in Heaven had borne record of him (John 5:31-39; 8:18) and his
testimony was therefore valid and binding. He declared that his works testified
that he was the Son of God (John 5:31-38). Peter also bore testimony that Jesus
was the Son of God, a fact he had learned by revelation (Matt. 16:16).
JESUS' RESURRECTION
FROM THE DEAD.
Witnesses to the resurrection of Christ included groups of women, two disciples
on the road to Emmaus, and the apostles (Matt. 28; Luke 24; Acts 4:33; 5:32).
Paul records that there were in Galilee over 500 witnesses to Jesus'
resurrected body (1 Cor. 15:6). The Book of Mormon reports that about 2,500
people in America witnessed the resurrected body of Jesus Christ by seeing and
touching it, and did "bear record" of it (3 Ne. 11:14-16; 17:25).
AUTHENTICATION OF
RITES AND CEREMONIES.
In the Church, witnesses are officially present for all baptisms and marriages.
Witnesses also confirm proxy baptisms, endowments, marriages, and sealings in
the temples on behalf of the dead (D&C 127:6). Missionaries travel in pairs
as witnesses for one another (Mark 6:7; Luke 10:1; D&C 42:6; 52:10; 61:35;
62:5).
ON JUDGMENT DAY. In the final judgment
that God will render to all mankind, the fact of the gospel having been taught
on the earth by multiple witnesses will be important. Nephi 1 has written,
"Wherefore, by the words of three, God hath said, I will establish my
word. Nevertheless, God sendeth more witnesses, and he proveth all his
words" (2 Ne. 11:3; cf. 27:14).
In a very fundamental
way, the Bible and the Book of Mormon are witnesses to each other. Each record
establishes the truth found in the other, and the Doctrine and Covenants
establishes the truth of them both (1 Ne. 13:20-40; 2 Ne. 3:12; 29:8-14; Morm.
7:8-9; D&C 17:6; 20:11-12; 42:12). The written testimony of two nations,
the Jews and the Nephites, is a witness to the world that there is a God (2 Ne.
29:8).
Bibliography
McConkie, Bruce R. A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pp. 446-47. Salt Lake City, 1985.
Trites, Allison A. The
New Testament Concept of Witness. Cambridge, 1977.
Van Orden, Bruce A.
"The Law of Witnesses in 2 Nephi." In The Book of Mormon: Second
Nephi, The Doctrinal Structure, ed. M. Nyman and C. Tate, pp. 307-321.
Provo, Utah, 1989.
ROBERT L. MARROTT
(Encyclopedia of
Mormonism, 1-4 vols., edited by Daniel H. Ludlow (New York: Macmillan,
1992), 1569.)
I. General
Revelation
a. Priesthood Leaders – Receive revelation
for their sphere of responsibility.
President Hinckley receives revelation for the church; it is part of his
stewardship.
Angels are the ministers who teach us the
gospel, they work in a general and in a personal manner.
II. Personal Revelation – What I am being taught by the
Brethren, if I follow I won’t fall away.
I have a right to receive a sign if what is said is from God or not. This type of revelation is for me, as a
father I can receive revelation for my wife and children; of course, they can
receive revelation for themselves, and can apply it to themselves.
a.
Testimony
(Sign) – (Law of Witnesses) Gideon asking if he was called of God, King Ahaz
was told to ask for a sign by Isaiah, he refused to ask Someone may say: But I already believe,
frankly that’s not good enough, you must receive that witness for yourself then
you have strength and power to act in accordance to God’s will.
b.
Comprehension
– I have a right to understand what I’m being taught, by the Holy Ghost, by
personal revelation.
c.
Application
– How do I apply what has been taught into my circumstances.
Prayer – Study –
Scripture – Modern Prophets = I will always stay on the strait and narrow.
(Genesis
25:21-22.) – Rebekah had the right to receive personal revelation for her
circumstance
21 And
Isaac intreated the LORD for his wife, because she was barren: and the
LORD was intreated of him, and Rebekah his wife conceived.
22 And the
children struggled together within her; and she said, If it be so, why am
I thus? And she went to enquire of the LORD.
Revelation can come
by the Light of Christ but it is more powerful when revelation comes by the
Holy Ghost. Any member can have
revelation. It is much more effective through the gift of the Holy Ghost; this
is the way to fully comprehend the doctrine.
3 Nephi 17-19 – They
did not comprehend and were not prepared to understand the Savior’s teachings. Here is method of preparation.
In gospel doctrine
class or priesthood meeting I should have
the Spirit so I can be taught by the Spirit, it doesn’t matter how the
teacher performs for me to learn by the Spirit, I must come prepared, if not
then I am telling the Spirit I don’t need Him to learn! I must be active in the learning
experience. This goes for the Nephites
as well.
(3 Nephi
17:1-3.) – They needed to be prepared to be taught. They were lost in what Jesus was trying to
teach
1 Behold,
now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he looked round
about again on the multitude, and he said unto them: Behold, my time is at
hand.
2 I
perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am
commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.
3 Therefore, go ye unto your homes, and ponder
upon the things which I have said, and ask of the Father, in my name, that ye
may understand, and prepare your minds for the morrow, and I come unto you
again.
They gathered a lot
more then 2500 for the next day. He
wasn’t going to do a repeat performance of yesterday’s teachings, soothe large
group were divided into 12 bodies and were taught by the newly called disciples
(3 Nephi
19:5-15.) – Ready to be taught by the Holy Ghost and they were taught by angels. I covenant to obey whatever is being taught, and
then I will learn, I trust God and His system, I will then have the gift of the
Holy Ghost.
5 And
behold, the multitude was so great that they did cause that they should be
separated into twelve bodies.
6 And the
twelve did teach the multitude; and behold, they did cause that the multitude
should kneel down upon the face of the earth, and should pray unto the Father
in the name of Jesus.
7 And the
disciples did pray unto the Father also in the name of Jesus. And it came to
pass that they arose and ministered unto the people.
8 And when
they had ministered those same words which Jesus had spoken—nothing varying
from the words which Jesus had spoken—behold, they knelt again and prayed to
the Father in the name of Jesus.
9 And they did pray for that which they most
desired; and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them.
10 And when
they had thus prayed they went down unto the water's edge, and the multitude
followed them.
11 And it
came to pass that Nephi went down into the water and was baptized.
12 And he
came up out of the water and began to baptize. And he baptized all those whom
Jesus had chosen.
13 And it
came to pass when they were all baptized and had come up out of the water, the
Holy Ghost did fall upon them, and they were filled with the Holy Ghost and
with fire.
14 And behold, they were encircled about as if
it were by fire; and it came down from heaven, and the multitude did witness
it, and did bear record; and angels did come down out of heaven and did
minister unto them.
15 And it
came to pass that while the angels were ministering unto the disciples, behold,
Jesus came and stood in the midst and ministered unto them.
The teachers come in
verse 14! The angels come to minister
(teach), they teach under the direction of the Holy Ghost. 2 Nephi 32:1-3 they come to help the people
comprehend what Christ taught the day before.
(2 Nephi
32:1-4.) – I must apply what has been taught, feasting requires personal
revelation.
1 And now,
behold, my beloved brethren, I suppose that ye ponder somewhat in your hearts
concerning that which ye should do after ye have entered in by the way. But,
behold, why do ye ponder these things in your hearts?
2 Do ye not
remember that I said unto you that after ye had received the Holy Ghost ye
could speak with the tongue of angels? And now, how could ye speak with the
tongue of angels save it were by the Holy Ghost?
3 Angels
speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of
Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold,
the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
4 Wherefore, now after I have spoken these
words, if ye cannot understand them it will be because ye ask not, neither do
ye knock; wherefore, ye are not brought into the light, but must perish in the
dark.
(2 Nephi
33:1.)
1 And now
I, Nephi, cannot write all the things which were taught among my people;
neither am I mighty in writing, like unto speaking; for when a man speaketh by
the power of the Holy Ghost the power of the Holy Ghost carrieth it unto the
hearts of the children of men.
Dean
Jarman, “Q&A: Questions and Answers,” New Era, Sept. 1983, 49–50
This
question suggests three sub-questions which, if answered, will give some
solutions to the main question. These are: (1) What kinds of beings are angels?
(2) Can angels serve a guardian function in their ministry? and (3) Is there a
guardian angel assigned to each individual?
Angels are
personages who minister for the Lord in carrying out his work. Joseph Smith
taught that all angels who minister to the earth are “those who belong to it or
have belonged to it.” The scriptures suggest there are at least five different
kinds of persons who function as angels. There are the spirits of those who
have not yet come to the earth, as was the situation when an angel taught Adam
the principle of sacrifice (see Moses 5:6–8).
Angels are also the spirits of those who have lived righteously on earth, have
died, and are awaiting their resurrection. These individuals are referred to as
“just men made perfect” (D&C 129:3). The visit of Gabriel to Zacharais and
to Mary illustrates this kind of being.
Translated
beings function as angels, as was the case with the appearance of Moses and
Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration (see Matt.
17:1–3). The Apostle John was translated and became “a ministering angel;
he shall minister for those who shall be heirs of salvation who dwell on the
earth” (D&C
7:6). Resurrected beings are a fourth kind of being to serve as angels. The
appearances of
Once we
realize that many kinds of individuals function as angels, we now ask if one of
their functions is protective or guardian in nature. The scriptures suggest
that angels do protect, warn, and strengthen mortals. Angels were used to warn
Joseph to flee to Egypt (see Matt. 2:13); to bring food to Elijah (see 1 Kgs.
19:5–8); to make it possible for Peter to escape from prison (see Acts 12:17);
to protect Daniel from the lions (see Dan. 6:22);
to protect Nephi from his brothers (see 1 Ne.
3:29–31); and to loose the bands from Abraham when he was to be sacrificed
(see Abr.
1:15).
Elder
John A. Widtsoe mentioned that there have been many in this dispensation whose
lives have been blessed through the ministry of angels. He said, “Undoubtedly
angels often guard us from accidents and harm, from temptation and sin. They
may be spoken of as guardian angels. Many people have borne and may bear
testimony to the guidance and protection that they have received from sources
beyond their natural vision” (G. Homer Durham, comp., Evidences and Reconciliations, 3
vols., Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960, pp. 402–3).
Some have
taught that righteous family members who die may continue to be an influence in
the lives of their loved ones. President Joseph F. Smith said, “Our fathers and
mothers, brothers, sisters, and friends who have passed away from this earth,
having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have
a mission given them to visit their friends and relatives upon the earth again,
bringing from the divine presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof or
instruction, to those whom they have learned to love in the flesh” (Gospel Doctrine, Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book Co., 1959, p. 436).
It seems
apparent that individuals or groups may be the recipients of the ministry of
angels without being aware of their presence. Brigham Young taught on one
occasion, “There is much in my presence besides those who sit here, if we had
eyes to see the heavenly beings that are in our presence” (John A. Widtsoe,
ed., Discourses of Brigham
Young, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1951, p. 42).
Angels
do serve a protective or guardian role. Their presence may or may not be seen
or known. Loved ones who have died may also serve in the capacity of angels to
comfort or warn.
The question
can now be asked if there is a specific guardian angel assigned to each
individual? There is nothing in the scriptures that suggests this to be the
case. The writings of the General Authorities also state the answer to be no.
Elder John A. Widtsoe said “The common
belief that to every person born into the world is assigned a guardian angel to
be with that person constantly is not supported by available evidence. … In
fact the constant presence of the Holy Ghost would seem to make such a
constant, angelic companionship unnecessary” (Durham. p. 403).
Elder Bruce
R. McConkie wrote that “to suppose that either all men or all righteous men
have heavenly beings acting as guardians for them runs counter to the basic
revealed facts relative to the manner in which the Lord exercises his
benevolent watchfulness over his mortal men” (Mormon Doctrine,
Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1960, p. 341).
In summary,
there is no evidence of a guardian angel assigned to every person; but angels
have served a guardian role as they warn, protect, and strengthen those they
have ministered to on earth.
The Aaronic Priesthood and the Sacrament
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Ensign, Nov. 1998, pp. 37-40
My beloved
brethren, I appreciate the opportunity to speak to you this evening. I address
my remarks to the young men who hold the Aaronic Priesthood and to the bishops
and counselors who preside over them. I will speak about the sacred activities
of Aaronic Priesthood holders in preparing, administering, and passing the
sacrament of the Lord's Supper to the members of the Church.
I.
On May 15,
1829, John the Baptist restored the Aaronic Priesthood to the earth. He did so
by laying his hands upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery and speaking these
words: "Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the
Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels, and of
the gospel of repentance, and of baptism by immersion for the remission of
sins; and this shall never be taken again from the earth, until the sons of
Levi do offer again an offering unto the Lord in righteousness" (D&C
13:1).
Later, the
Lord revealed these further truths: "The lesser priesthood … holdeth the
key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;
"Which
gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of
sins" (D&C 84:26-27).
What does
it mean that the Aaronic Priesthood holds "the key of the ministering of
angels" and of the "gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the
remission of sins"? The meaning is found in the ordinance of baptism and
in the sacrament. Baptism is for the remission of sins, and the sacrament is a
renewal of the covenants and blessings of baptism. Both should be preceded by
repentance. When we keep the covenants made in these ordinances, we are
promised that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. The ministering of
angels is one of the manifestations of that Spirit.
II.
We begin
with the doctrine as taught by the Lord. During His ministry, Jesus taught that
baptism is necessary for salvation. "Except a man be born of water and of
the Spirit, he cannot enter into the
At the
conclusion of His ministry, Jesus introduced the sacrament of the Lord's
Supper. He broke bread and blessed it and gave it to His disciples, saying,
"Take, eat; this is my body" (Matt. 26:26). "This do in
remembrance of me" (Luke 22:19). He took the cup and gave thanks and gave
it to them, saying, "This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed
for many for the remission of sins" (Matt. 26:28).
When He
introduced the sacrament, the Savior also gave teachings and promises about the
Holy Ghost. On that sacred occasion known as the Last Supper, Jesus explained
the mission of the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost. The Comforter would
testify of Him and reveal other truths. Jesus also explained that He had to
leave His disciples in order for the Comforter to come to them. When I depart,
He told them, "I will send him unto you" (John 16:7). After His
Resurrection, He told His Apostles to tarry in
Similarly,
when the Savior introduced the sacrament in the
The close
relationship between partaking of the sacrament and the companionship of the
Holy Ghost is explained in the revealed prayer on the sacrament. In partaking
of the bread, we witness that we are willing to take upon us the name of Jesus
Christ and always remember Him and keep His commandments. When we do so, we
have the promise that we will always have His Spirit to be with us (see D&C
20:77).
To have
the continuous companionship of the Holy Ghost is the most precious possession
we can have in mortality. The gift of the Holy Ghost was conferred upon us by
the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood after our baptism. But to realize
the blessings of that gift, we must keep ourselves free from sin. When we
commit sin, we become unclean and the Spirit of the Lord withdraws from us. The
Spirit of the Lord does not dwell in "unholy temples" (see Mosiah
2:36-37;
A few
weeks ago I used a chain saw to cut down a tree in my backyard. It was a dirty
job, and when I was done I was splattered with a filthy mixture of sawdust and
oil. In that condition I did not want anyone to see me. I just wanted to be
cleansed in water so I would again feel comfortable in the presence of other
people.
Not one of you young men and not one of your
leaders has lived without sin since his baptism. Without some provision for
further cleansing after our baptism, each of us is lost to things spiritual. We
cannot have the companionship of the Holy Ghost, and at the final judgment we
would be bound to be "cast off forever" (1 Ne. 10:21). How grateful
we are that the Lord has provided a process for each baptized member of His
Church to be periodically cleansed from the soil of sin. The sacrament is an
essential part of that process.
We are commanded to repent of our sins and to
come to the Lord with a broken heart and a contrite spirit and partake of the
sacrament in compliance with its covenants. When we renew our baptismal
covenants in this way, the Lord renews the cleansing effect of our baptism. In
this way we are made clean and can always have His Spirit to be with us. The
importance of this is evident in the Lord's commandment that we partake of the
sacrament each week (see D&C 59:8-9).
We cannot
overstate the importance of the Aaronic Priesthood in this. All of these vital
steps pertaining to the remission of sins are performed through the saving
ordinance of baptism and the renewing ordinance of the sacrament. Both of these
ordinances are officiated by holders of the Aaronic Priesthood under the
direction of the bishopric, who exercise the keys of the gospel of repentance
and of baptism and the remission of sins.
III.
In a closely related way, these ordinances of
the Aaronic Priesthood are also vital to the ministering of angels.
"The word 'angel' is used in the
scriptures for any heavenly being bearing God's message" (George Q.
Cannon, Gospel Truth, sel. Jerreld L. Newquist [1987], 54). The
scriptures recite numerous instances where an angel appeared personally.
Angelic appearances to Zacharias and Mary (see Luke 1) and to King Benjamin and
Nephi, the grandson of Helaman (see Mosiah 3:2; 3 Ne. 7:17-18) are only a few
examples. When I was young, I thought such personal appearances were the only
meaning of the ministering of angels. As a young holder of the Aaronic
Priesthood, I did not think I would see an angel, and I wondered what such
appearances had to do with the Aaronic Priesthood.
But the ministering of angels can also be
unseen. Angelic messages can be delivered by a voice or merely by thoughts or
feelings communicated to the mind. President John Taylor described "the
action of the angels, or messengers of God, upon our minds, so that the heart
can conceive … revelations from the eternal world" (Gospel Kingdom,
sel. G. Homer Durham [1987], 31).
Nephi described three manifestations of the
ministering of angels when he reminded his rebellious brothers that (1) they
had "seen an angel," (2) they had "heard his voice from time to
time," and (3) also that an angel had "spoken unto [them] in a still
small voice" though they were "past feeling" and "could not
feel his words" (1 Ne. 17:45). The scriptures contain many other
statements that angels are sent to teach the gospel and bring men to Christ
(see Heb. 1:14;
How does the Aaronic Priesthood hold the key
to the ministering of angels? The answer is the same as for the Spirit of the
Lord.
In general, the blessings of spiritual
companionship and communication are only available to those who are clean. As
explained earlier, through the Aaronic Priesthood ordinances of baptism and the
sacrament, we are cleansed of our sins and promised that if we keep our
covenants we will always have His Spirit to be with us. I believe that promise
not only refers to the Holy Ghost but also to the ministering of angels, for
"angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the
words of Christ" (2 Ne. 32:3). So it is that those who hold the Aaronic
Priesthood open the door for all Church members who worthily partake of the
sacrament to enjoy the companionship of the Spirit of the Lord and the
ministering of angels.
IV.
The
doctrines I have just discussed are contained in the scriptures. From the
scriptures we also know that those who officiate in the priesthood act in
behalf of the Lord (see D&C 1:38; D&C 36:2). I will now suggest how
teachers and priests and deacons should carry out their sacred responsibilities
to act in behalf of the Lord in preparing, administering, and passing the
sacrament. I will not suggest detailed rules, since the circumstances in
various wards and branches in our worldwide Church are so different that a
specific rule that seems required in one setting may be inappropriate in
another. Rather, I will suggest a principle based on the doctrines. If all
understand this principle and act in harmony with it, there should be little
need for rules. If rules or counseling are needed in individual cases, local
leaders can provide them, consistent with the doctrines and their related
principles.
The
principle I suggest to govern those officiating in the sacrament--whether
preparing, administering, or passing--is that they should not do anything that
would distract any member from his or her worship and renewal of covenants.
This principle of non-distraction suggests some companion principles.
Deacons,
teachers, and priests should always be clean in appearance and reverent in the
manner in which they perform their solemn and sacred responsibilities.
Teachers' special assignments in preparing the sacrament are the least visible
but should still be done with dignity, quietly and reverently. Teachers should
always remember that the emblems they are preparing represent the body and
blood of our Lord.
To avoid
distracting from the sacred occasion, priests should speak the sacrament
prayers clearly and distinctly. Prayers that are rattled off swiftly or mumbled
inaudibly will not do. All present should be helped to understand an ordinance
and covenants so important that the Lord prescribed the exact words to be
uttered. All should be helped to focus on those sacred words as they renew
their covenants by partaking.
On this
subject I feel to share a painful experience from my youth. As a 16-year-old
priest, I was just beginning a part-time job as a radio announcer at a local
station. After I offered a prayer at the sacrament table in our ward, a girl
who was present told me I sounded like I was reading a commercial. Can you
imagine the shame I felt? After 50 years that rebuke still stings. Brethren,
remember the significance of those sacred prayers. You are praying as a servant
of the Lord in behalf of the entire congregation. Speak to be heard and
understood, and say it like you mean it.
Deacons
should pass the sacrament in a reverent and orderly manner, with no needless
motions or expressions that call attention to themselves. In all their actions
they should avoid distracting any member of the congregation from worship and
covenant making.
All who
officiate in the sacrament--in preparing, administering, or passing--should be
well groomed and modestly dressed, with nothing about their personal appearance
that calls special attention to themselves. In appearance as well as actions,
they should avoid distracting anyone present from full attention to the worship
and covenant making that is the purpose of this sacred ordinance.
This
principle of non-distraction applies to things unseen as well as seen. If
someone officiating in this sacred ordinance is unworthy to participate, and
this is known to anyone present, their participation is a serious distraction
to that person. Young men, if any of you is unworthy, talk to your bishop
without delay. Obtain his direction on what you should do to qualify yourself
to participate in your priesthood duties worthily and appropriately.
I have a
final suggestion. With the single exception of those priests occupied breaking
the bread, all who hold the Aaronic Priesthood should join in singing the
sacrament hymn by which we worship and prepare to partake. No one needs that
spiritual preparation more than the priesthood holders who will officiate in
it. My young brethren, it is important that you sing the sacrament hymn. Please
do so.
The
Aaronic Priesthood holds the keys of the "gospel of repentance and of
baptism, and the remission of sins" (D&C 84:27). The cleansing power
of our Savior's Atonement is renewed for us as we partake of the sacrament. The
promise that we "may always have his Spirit to be with [us]" (D&C
20:77) is essential to our spirituality. The ordinances of the Aaronic
Priesthood are vital to all of this. I testify that this is true, and I pray
that our brethren of the Aaronic Priesthood will understand the importance of
their sacred responsibilities and act worthily in them, in the name of Jesus
Christ, amen.
“A Standard unto My People” (This was a portion of his talk)
Elder
Jeffrey R. Holland
Of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
CES
Symposium on the Book of Mormon • 9 August 1994 •
The Ministering of Angels
Let me suggest another matter on this
whole subject of early, powerful, doctrinal declarations of Christ. I am
intrigued that more than four-fifths of the Book of Mormon—86 percent by
actual page count—comes out of a period before
Christ’s personal appearance to the Nephites in his resurrected state.
I am deeply moved by that simple little
statistic. I am profoundly touched by it. What faith! And what a way to teach
us faith. You and I are expected to have faith in a Christ who has already come
and lived and walked and talked and been crucified and resurrected. And we have
witnesses, believers and non-believers, who saw him and heard him, who touched
the hem of his garment on one day and felt the wounds in his hands and feet and
side on another.
But
these early Book of Mormon people? This keystone record of ours? It deals in
remarkable faith of a very special kind, greater, it seems to me, than you and
I are asked to exert. They had (at least 458 pages worth of them had) not
a Christ who had come in the flesh but only the trust and consummate hope that
such a Christ would
come—far in the future and after most of them were dead. What godly, believing,
stalwart people. I am moved to the center of my soul. And I feel ashamed for
our post-advent generations who have so many witnesses and so much evidence but
still do not wish to believe.
How did God work out a fairness
doctrine with those who lived before Christ came? What did he do for their CES
men and women who, on their summer professional development leave, had no
shepherd’s field, or upper room, or Sea of Galilee, or steps at St. Peter in
Gallicantu to visit? What should be done for those who could only trust that
there would be a garden tomb just outside of Damascus Gate, as opposed to all
of you who have visited and prayed and wept there?
The answer to such a question is yet
another contribution made clearly and powerfully by the Book of Mormon, more
clearly and more powerfully than in any other book—sacred or secular—upon the
face of the earth. Yet sometimes we let this great doctrinal principle pass by
unnoticed—or maybe only unacknowledged—by our students. Follow along with me
for a moment.
Alma, some three-quarters of a century
before Christ was born, posed to his son Corianton this very issue we are
raising. In teaching this transgressing boy something about justice, mercy,
repentance, the Atonement, and the Resurrection, he says:
“Behold, you marvel why these things
should be known so
long beforehand. Behold, I say unto you, is not a soul at this time
as precious unto God as a soul will be at the time of his coming?
“Is it not as necessary that the plan
of redemption should be made known unto this people as well as unto their
children?
“Is it not as easy at this time for the Lord to send his angel to
declare these glad tidings unto us as unto our children, or as after the time
of his coming?” (Alma 39:17–19;
emphasis added).
In that little passage of encouragement
to a wayward son,
That same doctrine—the answer to
“And now I come to that faith, of which
I said I would speak; and I will tell you the way whereby you may lay hold on
every good thing.
“For behold, God knowing all things, being from everlasting to
everlasting, behold, he
sent angels to minister unto the children of men, to make manifest concerning
the coming of Christ. . . .
“Wherefore, by
the ministering of angels, and by every word which proceedeth forth
out of the mouth of God, men began to exercise faith in Christ” (Moroni
7:21–22, 25; emphasis added).
I am convinced that one of the profound
themes of the Book of Mormon, one which may not yet have been developed enough
in our teaching of young people, is the role and prevalence and central
participation of angels in the everlasting gospel story. Especially to those
who lived in trust before Christ came.
The other morning I was listening to
the news while I was shaving—a very risky habit, I acknowledge, because you can
lose an ear over any given news report. On one of the news shows an author who
had just written a book about belief in God was being interviewed. He was being
questioned about whether he personally believed in God.
The
author answered with something like this. (This is very close to a direct
quote.) He said, “If I knew whether or not I believed in God, I wouldn’t have
had to write this book. I have no idea whether there is a God, but I do know
that religion has gotten a bad name from people who do things like worship
cactus and believe in angels.” That was it. That was his whole response. He
didn’t know whether he believed in God or not, but believing in angels was
clearly equal to worshipping cactus.
May I suggest to you that one of the
things we need to teach our students, and one of the things which will become
more important in their lives the longer they live, is the reality of angels,
their work, and their ministry. Obviously I speak here not alone of the angel
Recently I thumbed through the Book of
Mormon almost literally at random to note these passages in various parts of
that record. (No, I did not
use my computer. I am actually still reading entire chapters of the Book of
Mormon, even marking a verse or two with a pencil. I know that seems
prehistoric, but forgive me!) Now, back to angels. While reading the Book of
Mormon, setting aside the stories we all remember, like the angel who appears
to rebuke Laman and Lemuel (we set that aside because it’s in 1 Nephi and
everybody’s read 1 Nephi, even some of your students), let’s go to
absolutely foreign territory—let’s go to 2 Nephi, where Jacob begins to
teach.
In the sixth chapter of that book, Jacob says that the Lord
has shown him that
“And after they have hardened their hearts and stiffened their necks
against the Holy One of
“Wherefore, after they are driven to and fro, for thus saith the
angel, many shall be afflicted in the flesh, and shall not be
suffered to perish, because of the prayers of the faithful” (2 Nephi
6:9–11; emphasis added).
A remarkable vision, a message, a
communication from the Lord, and how did it come? Like so many came—by an angel.
That same revelation goes on with increasingly powerful messianic prophecy.
Consider this one a little bit later.
As a prelude to Mosiah 3, that remarkable material I have
already alluded to containing some of the most beautiful and poignant passages
we have in the Book of Mormon about Christ, who will suffer “even more than man
can suffer” (Mosiah 3:7), King Benjamin says:
“And the things which I shall tell you [these things, about Christ]
are made known unto me by
an angel from God. And he said unto me: Awake; and I awoke, and
behold he stood before me.
“And he said unto me: Awake, and hear the words which I shall tell
thee” (Mosiah
3:2–3; emphasis added).
Perhaps more of us, including our
students, could literally, or at least figuratively, behold the angels around
us if we would but awaken from our stupor and hear the voice of the Spirit as
those angels try to speak.
In Alma 12, another excellent explication of the
plan of redemption, the Resurrection, and the remission of sins,
“And after God had appointed that these things should come unto
man, behold, then he saw that it was expedient that man should know concerning
the things whereof he had appointed unto them;
“Therefore
he sent angels to converse with them, who caused men to behold of
his glory.
“And they began from that time forth to call on his name; therefore
God conversed with men” (Alma 12:28–30; emphasis added).
In
light of Jacob’s experience earlier, I think there are at least two ways to
read that last phrase from
There are, of course, literally dozens
and dozens, scores of references to angels in the Book of Mormon, but one or
two more will suffice and we will leave the subject for tonight. In Helaman 13 we find Samuel the Lamanite facing great rejection
in Zarahemla and about to return to his land. “But behold, the voice of the
Lord came unto him, that he should return again, and prophesy unto the people
whatsoever things should come into his heart” (v. 3).
What he then prophesies—what he says
that the Lord “put into his heart”—was that the “sword of justice [hangs] over
this people; and four hundred years pass not away save the sword of justice
[falls] upon this people. . . .
“. . . And nothing can save this people save it be
repentance and faith on the Lord Jesus Christ, who surely shall come into the
world, and shall suffer many things and shall be slain for his people.
“And behold, an
angel of the Lord hath declared it unto me, and he did bring glad tidings to my
soul. And behold, I was sent unto you to declare it unto you also,
that ye might have glad tidings; but behold you would not receive me” (Helaman 13:4–7;
emphasis added).
Samuel—the emissary of the angel;
Samuel—the missionary with the angelic mission; Samuel—who knows what he knows
in such power because an angel told him so. (That is, by the way, exactly the
same missionary experience
Lastly,
on this note, it is not insignificant to me that when Sherem, the first great
anti-Christ we meet in the Book of Mormon, receives his
only-too-eagerly-sought-for “sign,” he admits before death his dishonesty,
confessing to the three great truths he had denied. The three great testifiers
Sherem then openly acknowledges are, and I quote, “Christ, . . . the Holy Ghost, and
the ministering of angels” (Jacob 7:17). An interesting threesome.
No
wonder we speak of our missionaries, your sons and daughters, as the angels
that they are. “Now when Ammon and his brethren saw this work of destruction
among those whom they so dearly beloved, and among those who had so dearly
beloved them—for
they were treated as though they were angels sent from God to save them from
everlasting destruction—therefore, when Ammon and his brethren saw
this great work of destruction, they were moved with compassion” (Alma 27:4; emphasis added).
I
believe we need to speak of and believe in and bear testimony to the ministry
of angels more than we sometimes do. They constitute one of God’s great methods
of witnessing through the veil, and no document in all this world teaches that
principle so clearly and so powerfully and so often as does the Book of Mormon.
Lehi’s
family seemed to have an angel follow them in their journey, 1 Nephi 11-14, the
angel explained Lehi’s dream to Nephi.
(1 Nephi
17:45.) – Past feeling to the touch of the Spirit
45
Ye are swift to do iniquity but slow to remember the Lord your God. Ye have
seen an angel, and he spake unto you; yea, ye have heard his voice from time to
time; and he hath spoken unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past
feeling, that ye could not feel his words; wherefore, he has spoken unto you
like unto the voice of thunder, which did cause the earth to shake as if it
were to divide asunder.
The Savior can now
continue His discourse to the people, now they have the Holy Ghost and were
taught by angels.
(3 Nephi 20:9-12.)
9 Now, when
the multitude had all eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the
Spirit; and they did cry out with one voice, and gave glory to Jesus, whom they
both saw and heard.
10 And it
came to pass that when they had all given glory unto Jesus, he said unto them:
Behold now I finish the commandment which the Father hath commanded me
concerning this people, who are a remnant of the house of
11 Ye
remember that I spake unto you, and said that when the words of Isaiah should
be fulfilled—behold they are written, ye have them before you, therefore search
them—
12 And
verily, verily, I say unto you, that when they shall be fulfilled then is the
fulfilling of the covenant which the Father hath made unto his people, O house
of
Get a Book of Mormon
and mark the verses concerning angels, it’s mentioned much more then we
realize. Feast upon the words of Christ,
you will get help from the other side of the veil.
Personal Revelation
Elder L. Lionel Kendrick
Of the Seventy
Ensign, Sept. 1999, pp. 7-13
From an address given on 20 May 1997 at
It is a
tender experience to petition our Heavenly Father in sincere, heartfelt prayer
and look
to Him for personal guidance.
[Original footnotes are included within the text.]
I would
like to focus on some of the sacred principles that apply to receiving personal
revelation. I will rely heavily on the scriptures and the words of the
prophets, seers, and revelators.
After we
experienced our spiritual birth, Heavenly Father counseled and corrected us,
and we were instructed, enlightened, and edified in His holy presence. Now that
we have experienced our physical birth in mortality, He desires to continue to
communicate with us and to give us counsel and direction. He does this through
personal revelation, which involves preparation, prayer, and promptings.
Personal revelation is one of the greatest gifts and blessings we can receive.
PREPARATION
Receiving
personal revelation is not a passive process. As we seek such revelations, we
must prepare for these sacred experiences. President Spencer W. Kimball told us
that "God reveals himself to [people] who are prepared for such
manifestations" (In Conference Report, Apr. 1964, 97).
The Savior
spoke of this principle of preparing to receive personal revelation. He shed
light on the things that we must do to properly prepare: "It shall come to
pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins [repents] and cometh unto me, and
calleth on my name [prays], and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments
[obeys], shall see my face and know that I am" (D&C 93:1).
To
properly prepare to receive personal revelation, we must repent, ask through
prayer, be obedient, search the scriptures, fast, think pure thoughts, and
develop a spirit of reverence.
Repent. Mormon
explained the fruits of repentance in receiving revelation: "And the
remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of
meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost"
(Moro. 8:26).
Ask
through prayer. The Savior promised, "And if ye are purified and cleansed
from all sin, ye shall ask whatsoever you will in the name of Jesus and it
shall be done" (D&C 50:29).
Be
obedient. Obedience is essential in preparing to receive personal
revelation. The Savior gave this counsel: "When we obtain any blessing
from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated"
(D&C 130:21). He promised, "But unto him that keepeth my commandments
I will give the mysteries of my kingdom" (D&C 63:23).
Search the
scriptures. We must make scripture study a part of our daily schedule. We
must not just read but must search diligently as did the sons of Mosiah (see
Fast. At times
we need to fast so that we can receive personal revelation.
"Behold,
I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I
have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And
now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them
manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which
is in me" (Alma 5:46).
The sons
of Mosiah prepared themselves by the same means: "They had given
themselves to much prayer, and fasting; therefore they had the … spirit of
revelation" (
Think pure
thoughts. If we are to have the channels of communication open, we must
clear our minds of worldly and impure thoughts. We must follow this counsel of
the Savior: "Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men, and
to the household of faith, [page 8] and let virtue garnish thy thoughts
unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and
the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from
heaven" (D&C 121:45).
Develop a
spirit of reverence. To receive revelation, we must develop a spirit of reverence.
Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles counseled,
"Inspiration comes more easily in peaceful settings" ("Reverence
Invites Revelation," Ensign, Nov. 1991, 21). He added,
"Irreverence suits the purposes of the adversary by obstructing the
delicate channels of revelation in both mind and spirit," and
"Reverence invites revelation" (Ensign, Nov. 1991, 22).
Irreverence
not only shows disrespect to Deity but also makes it hard for the Spirit to
teach us the things we need to know. The Savior said, "And your minds in
times past have been darkened because … you have treated lightly the things you
have received" (D&C 84:54). He counseled, "Trifle not with sacred
things" (D&C 6:12). The process of receiving revelation is sacred. It
is a divine discussion with Deity and must be reverenced if it is to work.
PRAYER
To pray is
to have a conversation with Deity. This sacred and supernal communication with
Heavenly Father is a divine and delicate process. This crucial communication
should be conducted with great care and in compliance with sacred counsel.
Pray often. To
receive personal revelation requires a constant, concentrated effort in which
we continue to petition Heavenly Father about our concerns. We cannot become
casual in our communications with Him. To do so is to ignore the counsel to
"trifle not with sacred things" (D&C 6:12). We must follow the
counsel to "pray unto him continually by day, and give thanks unto his
holy name by night" (2 Ne. 9:52). It is not the duration of our prayers
but the depth of our desire that results in revelation.
Ponder
before you pray. The Savior counseled, "Study it out in your mind; then you
must ask me if it be right" (D&C 9:8). The Prophet Joseph Smith was
pondering the meaning of John 5:29, concerning the Resurrection. He said,
"And while we meditated upon these things, the Lord touched the eyes of
our understandings and they were opened" (D&C 76:19).
We must
ponder before we pray. We must study, meditate, and seek for enlightenment
concerning the matters for which we seek personal revelation.
Ask for
the right things. We must be careful that we ask for that which is right. The
Savior counsels that we should "not ask for that which you ought not"
(D&C 8:10). He warns, "And if ye ask anything that is not expedient
for you, it shall turn unto your condemnation" (D&C 88:65).
Avoid vain
repetitions. The Savior has counseled that "when ye pray, use not vain
repetitions" (3 Ne. 13:7; see also 3 Ne. 19:24). Our individual prayers
should not be rote recitations; they should be personal in nature and not
preset presentations. We should express our thoughts and feelings in a
heartfelt way. President Harold B. Lee counseled: "The most important
thing you can do is to learn to talk to God. Talk to Him as you would talk to
your father, for He is your Father, and He wants you to talk to Him. He wants
you to cultivate ears to listen, when He gives you the impressions of the
Spirit to tell you what to do" ("Pres. Lee Gives Solemn
Witness," Church News, 3 Mar. 1973, 3).
Ask in
faith. Prayers of faith are heard and answered. The Savior gave a
powerful promise concerning the power of faith in our prayers: "And
whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, which is right, believing that
ye shall receive, behold it shall be given unto you" (3 Ne. 18:20).
Ask in humility. Our
communications with Heavenly Father must be done with great humility. This is a
form of reverence and respect for Deity. It is submitting our will to His will.
The Savior said, "Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by
the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers" (D&C 112:10).
Praying
with great humility is essential if our prayers are to be heard and answered.
The Savior has given a warning to all who forget the importance of the
principle of humility: "For although a man may have many revelations, and
have power to do many mighty works, yet if he boasts in his own strength, and
sets at naught the counsels of God, and follows after the dictates of his own
will and carnal desires, he must fall and incur the vengeance of a just God
upon him" (D&C 3:4).
Ask in
sincerity. If we are to receive personal revelation, we must petition
Heavenly Father with the sincerity of our soul. If we are not serious about the
things we ask, He will not bless us with answers to our prayers. Mormon cautioned,
"And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not
with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth
none such" (Moro. 7:9).
Ask with
intensity. Enos is a great example of one who prayed with great intensity.
He wanted more than anything else to be forgiven of his sins. He described his
desire and the level of intensity of his [page 9] prayer: "And my soul
hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty
prayer and supplication for mine own soul" (Enos 1:4).
Mormon
counseled, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all
the energy of heart" (Moro. 7:48).
To pray
intently and with energy of heart involves focusing with faith on your
conversation with Heavenly Father. It also involves closing out the world as if
only you and He are present during this divine discussion.
Wait for
answers. In a world of instant communication, we are prone to become
impatient and want instant answers to our prayers. God always answers prayers,
but He does it in His own way and in His own time. Perhaps it is wise to
remember this counsel: "Be still and know that I am God" (D&C
101:16).
PROMPTINGS
One of the
most crucial parts of our communications with Heavenly Father is the ability to
recognize the means by which He speaks to us through the promptings of the
Spirit. If we have properly prepared, we will become sensitive to these
promptings.
Nature of
promptings. Revelation is spiritual in nature rather than physical. We can
only understand the things of the Spirit by communication with our spirit. The
Prophet Joseph Smith explained: "All things whatsoever God in his infinite
wisdom has seen fit and proper to reveal to us, while we are dwelling in
mortality … are revealed to our spirits precisely as though we had no bodies at
all; and those revelations which will save our spirits will save our
bodies" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph
Fielding Smith [1976], 355).
Capacity
to communicate. Our spirits carry with them a capacity to comprehend and to
receive the things of the Spirit. This was given to us with our spiritual birth
in premortal life. Elder Marion G. [page 10] Romney (1897-1988), then of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, spoke of this capacity: "I believe that,
notwithstanding the fact the spirits of men, as an incident to mortality, are
deprived of memory and cast out of the presence of God, there still persists in
the spirit of every human soul a residuum from his pre-existent spiritual life
which instinctively responds to the voice of the Spirit until and unless it is
inhibited by the free agency of the individual" (Revelation [address to
seminary and institute faculty, Brigham Young University, 8 July 1960], 6-7).
The Spirit
cannot be compelled. The Spirit is sensitive and cannot be subjected to constraint,
control, and compulsion. It is independent and responds only to invitations and
not to impositions. Elder Packer explained, "While we may invite this
communication, it can never be forced! If we try to force it, we may be
deceived" (Ensign, Nov. 1991, 21; emphasis in original). Elder John
A. Widtsoe (1872-1952), a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,
counseled, "Revelation always comes; it is not imposed upon a person; it
must be drawn to us by faith, seeking and working" ("Temple
Worship," The Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Apr. 1921,
63).
"Line
upon line." The Lord gave great insight into the nature of receiving
revelation: "I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept
upon precept, here a little and there a little" (2 Ne. 28:30; see also
D&C 98:12).
This
pattern for receiving promptings follows the principle by which the Savior was
taught and tutored during the meridian of time. John bore witness that "he
received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until
he received a fulness" (D&C 93:13). The Prophet Joseph Smith
counseled, "It is not wisdom that we should have all knowledge at once
presented before us; but that we should have a little at a time" (Teachings,
297).
Frequency
of revelation. It is a misconception to believe that we should consult Heavenly
Father on every matter in life. He expects us to solve a portion of our
problems without petitioning Him for potential solutions. It is through this
process that we grow, develop, and become more perfect. He is not always
concerned about mundane matters unless they are not in keeping with sacred
principles. We should daily petition for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. With
this presence of the Spirit, we will feel the promptings without petitioning
Heavenly Father on every personal matter.
Elder
Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explained this principle:
"We are often left to work out problems, without the dictation or specific
direction of the Spirit. That is part of the experience we must have in
mortality. Fortunately, we are never out of our Savior's sight, and if our
judgment leads us to actions beyond the limits of what is permissible and if we
are listening to the still small voice, the Lord will restrain us by the
promptings of His Spirit" (Teaching by the Spirit [address delivered at
new mission presidents' seminar, 22 June 1994], 8).
We have
the initial responsibility to seek solutions for our own problems. This will
always involve effort on our part. Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915-85) of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles expressed it this way: "We are to solve our
own problems and then to counsel with the Lord in prayer and receive a spiritual
confirmation that our decisions are correct" ("Why the Lord Ordained
Prayer," Ensign, Jan. 1976, 11).
RECEIVING
REVELATION
In the
economy of heaven the Lord never uses a floodlight when a flashlight is
sufficient--and so it is in receiving personal revelation. This principle is
true even with revelation that comes to prophets.
President
Kimball once said: "The great volume of revelation … come[s] to today's
prophets in the less spectacular way--that of deep impressions, but without
spectacle or glamour or dramatic events accompanying.
"Expecting
the spectacular, one may not be fully alerted to the constant flow of revealed
communication" ("To His Servants the Prophets," Instructor,
Aug. 1960, 257).
Personal
revelation comes with different forms of answers. Elder Richard G. Scott of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles explains these different answers:
"When
He answers yes, it is to give us confidence.
"When
He answers no, it is to prevent error.
"When
He withholds an answer, it is to have us grow through faith in Him,
obedience to His commandments, and a willingness to act on truth"
("Learning to Recognize Answers to Prayer," Ensign, Nov. 1989,
32; emphasis in original).
The Lord
gave instruction to Oliver Cowdery concerning the means by which He reveals His
will to man by the manifestations of the Holy Spirit: "Yea, behold, I will
tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come
upon you and which shall dwell in your heart. Now behold, this is the spirit of
revelation" (D&C 8:2-3).
Personal
revelations are received in both the mind and in the heart. These impressions
come to the mind as thoughts and to the heart as feelings. Elder Packer
explained, "This guidance comes as thoughts, as feelings, through
impressions and promptings" ("Revelation in a Changing World," Ensign,
Nov. 1989, 14). At times the Spirit will impress both the mind and the heart at
the same time. Usually when your head and your heart are receiving the same
impression, you know that you are receiving a personal revelation. The Savior
instructed Hyrum Smith, "I will impart unto you of my Spirit, which shall
enlighten your [page 11] mind, which shall fill your soul with joy"
(D&C 11:13).
On other
occasions the impressions will come only to the mind or to the heart
independent of the other. President Harold B. Lee once counseled, "When
your heart begins to tell you things that your mind does not, then you are
getting the Spirit of the Lord" ("When Your Heart Tells You Things
Your Mind Does Not Know," New Era, Feb. 1971, 3).
The means
by which the Spirit speaks to both the mind and the heart is through the still,
small voice spoken of in the scriptures. This voice is often called the
"voice of the Spirit" (1 Ne. 4:18). Sometimes that voice is heard
within, but more often it is felt. It may prompt us with both a thought and a
feeling concerning a matter.
Elder
Packer described the still, small voice with these words: "These delicate,
refined spiritual communications are not seen with our eyes nor heard with our ears.
And even though it is described as a voice, it is a voice that one feels more
than one hears" ("That All May Be Edified" [1982], 335).
He added:
"The Spirit does not get our attention by shouting or shaking us with a
heavy hand. Rather it whispers. It caresses so gently that if we are
preoccupied we may not feel it at all. …
"Occasionally
it will press just firmly enough for us to pay heed. But most of the time, if
we do not heed the gentle feeling, the Spirit will withdraw and wait until we
come seeking and listening" ("That All May Be Edified," 336-37).
In
addition, there are specific ways in which the mind and the heart are touched
as we receive personal revelation.
PROMPTINGS
TO THE MIND
The
scriptures indicate that manifestations of the Spirit come to the mind in a
variety of ways. They come as an enlightenment, just as scriptures seem to be
illuminated with understanding. They may come in the form of instant recall of
things or as a clear, audible voice. Sometimes they come by way of counsel from
leaders. [page 12] They come in dreams, visions, and visitations.
Enlightenment. This
enlightenment comes as an increase in light, knowledge, and understanding. The
Savior instructed Oliver Cowdery, "I did enlighten thy mind; and now I
tell thee these things that thou mayest know that thou hast been enlightened by
the Spirit of truth" (D&C 6:15).
Light and
understanding. Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon spoke of the vision given to them
with these words: "By the power of the Spirit our eyes were opened and our
understandings were enlightened, so as to see and understand the things of
God" (D&C 76:12). "And while we meditated upon these things, the
Lord touched the eyes of our understandings and they were opened" (D&C
76:19).
Prophets,
seers, and revelators have described this process of receiving personal
revelation through the enlightenment of the mind:
"When
you feel pure intelligence flowing into you," said the Prophet Joseph
Smith, "it may give you sudden strokes of ideas, so that by noticing it,
you may find it fulfilled the same day or soon; (i.e.) those things that were
presented unto your minds by the Spirit of God, will come to pass; and thus by
learning the Spirit of God and understanding it, you may grow into the
principle of revelation, until you become perfect in Christ Jesus" (Teachings,
151).
Elder
Marion G. Romney said, "This is a very common means of revelation. It
comes into one's mind speaking words and sentences" (Revelation,
10).
President
Harold B. Lee further taught, "When there come to you things that your
mind does not know, when you have a sudden thought that comes to your mind, if
you will learn to give heed to these things that come from the Lord, you will
learn to walk by the spirit of revelation" (In Conference Report of the
First Mexico and Central America Area General Conference, 1972, 49).
Role of
scriptures. There are times while searching, studying, and pondering the
scriptures that we receive personal revelation. Joseph Smith had this
experience as he pondered James 1:5. He said: "Never did any passage of
scripture come with more power to the heart of man than this did at this time
to mine. It seemed to enter with great force into every feeling of my
heart" (JS--H 1:12).
In our
scriptural search certain passages of scripture may impact us. They may appear
almost in illumination as we read them. Answers to our prayers may come as the
Lord speaks to us in the scriptures. Once again, as Nephi promised, "Feast
upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all
things what ye should do" (2 Ne. 32:3).
Instant
recall. Personal revelation may come in the form of an instant recall of
things the Spirit once taught us that may apply to our present situation. The
Savior counseled, "The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father
will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to
your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you" (John 14:26).
Audible
voice. Although not a common means of communication, it is possible to
receive a revelation by means of a clear, audible voice. A revelation was given
to Nephi and Lehi and those who had imprisoned them: "And it came to pass
when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder,
neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still
voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even
to the very soul" (Hel. 5:30).
Leaders'
counsel. The Lord speaks to us through His chosen leaders. The Savior
taught this principle when He said, "What I the Lord have spoken, I have
spoken … whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the
same" (D&C 1:38).
Dreams or
visions. The Lord has given personal revelations in dreams or visions.
Lehi explained, "Behold, I have dreamed a dream; or, in other words, I
have seen a vision" (1 Ne. 8:2).
Visitations.
An angel
was sent to reprove Laman and Lemuel (see 1 Ne. 3:29). It was an angel who showed
Nephi a vision (see 1 Ne. 11:14). An angel made known to King Benjamin the
things he was to say to the people in his sermon from the tower (see Mosiah
3:2). Angels [page 13] appeared to
PROMPTINGS
TO THE HEART
The Spirit
reveals the will of the Lord through the feelings of the heart. We must be in
tune with the Spirit and in touch with these feelings. Nephi spoke of the need
to have a receptive heart to receive revelations. When he spoke to Laman and
Lemuel, he reminded them that an angel had spoken to them: "He hath spoken
unto you in a still small voice, but ye were past feeling, that ye could not
feel his words" (1 Ne. 17:45).
These
feelings may be characterized as peaceful, warm, compelling, or dark or
confusing in nature. They will always come in response to sincere, heartfelt
prayer if we are prepared to receive them.
Peaceful
feelings. The most frequent confirmation of the Spirit comes to us as
peaceful feelings. The Spirit indeed "showeth all things, and teacheth the
peaceable things of the kingdom" (D&C 39:6; see also D&C 36:2;
D&C 42:61; D&C 111:8).
President
Brigham Young quoted these words of the Prophet Joseph Smith: "They can
tell the Spirit of the Lord from all other spirits--it will whisper peace and
joy to their souls" ("History of the Church," Juvenile
Instructor, 19 July 1873, 114).
Feelings
of peace are promptings and proof that the Spirit is bearing witness to us in
response to our petitions. The Lord said to Oliver Cowdery through the Prophet
Joseph Smith: "Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter?
What greater witness can you have than from God?" (D&C 6:23).
Warm,
spiritual feelings. The Lord has given us specific instruction that if you ask if
something is right and it is right, He will "cause that your bosom shall
burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right" (D&C
9:8).
Mormon
described this feeling that came to the Nephites when a small voice spoke to
them. He said, "It did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their
hearts to burn" (3 Ne. 11:3).
Compelling
feeling. A compelling feeling is a pressing feeling. It is characterized
by a sense of urgency, a sense of restlessness, and a sense of surety. It was
the feeling that Nephi experienced when he was commanded to slay Laban (see 1
Ne. 4:10).
The
Prophet Joseph Smith described this feeling when he spoke concerning the
principle of baptism for the dead: "That subject seems to occupy my mind,
and press itself upon my feelings the strongest" (D&C 128:1).
Dark and
confused feeling. When we petition Heavenly Father in prayer, there are times in
which He answers us with the distinct impression that we have not identified
the proper course. The answer will come not as one of peace but as a feeling of
darkness. He has counseled that when you ask about something, "If it be
not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of
thought that shall cause you to forget the thing which is wrong" (D&C
9:9).
PROMISES
The Lord
has given us powerful promises concerning personal revelation. These promises
are given based upon certain conditions: "If thou shalt ask, thou shalt
receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge upon knowledge, that thou mayest
know the mysteries and peaceable things" (D&C 42:61; see also 1 Ne.
10:19; Enos 1:15; Morm. 9:21; Moro. 7:26; D&C 29:6; D&C 88:64; Matt.
21:22).
It is a
tender experience to petition our Heavenly Father in sincere, heartfelt prayer
and know that He will respond with personal revelation. His promises are sure,
but we must properly prepare to be receptive to the promptings of the Spirit in
receiving this guidance.
The
Prophet's Remarks on the Demise of James Adams
October 9, 1843
History of the Church, 6:50-52
All men
know that they must die. And it is important that we should understand the
reasons and causes of our exposure to the vicissitudes of life and of death,
and the designs and purposes of God in our coming into the world, our
sufferings here, and our departure hence. What is the object of our coming into
existence, then dying and falling away, to be here no more? It is but
reasonable to suppose that God would reveal something in reference to the
matter, and it is a subject we ought to study more than any other. We ought to
study it day and night, for the world is ignorant in reference to their true
condition and relation. If we have any claim on our Heavenly Father for
anything, it is for knowledge on this important subject. Could we read and
comprehend all that has been written from the days of Adam, on the relation of
man to God and angels in a future state, we should know very little about it.
Reading the experience of others, or the revelation given to them, can never
give us a comprehensive view of our condition and true relation to God.
Knowledge of these things can only be obtained by experience through the
ordinances of God set forth for that purpose. Could you gaze into heaven five
minutes, you would know more than you would by reading all that ever was
written on the subject.
We are
only capable of comprehending that certain things exist, which we may acquire
by certain fixed principles. If men would acquire salvation, they have got to
be subject, before they leave this world, to certain rules and principles, which
were fixed by an unalterable decree before the world was.
The
disappointment of hopes and expectations at the resurrection would be
indescribably dreadful.
The
organization of the spiritual and heavenly worlds, and of spiritual and
heavenly beings, was agreeable to the most perfect order and harmony: their
limits and bounds were fixed irrevocably, and voluntarily subscribed to in
their heavenly estate by themselves, and were by our first parents subscribed
to upon the earth. Hence the importance of embracing and subscribing to
principles of eternal truth by all men upon the earth that expect eternal life.
I assure
the Saints that truth, in reference to these matters, can and may be known
through the revelations of God in the way of His ordinances, and in answer to
prayer. The
Spirits
can only be revealed in flaming fire or glory. Angels have advanced further,
their light and glory being tabernacled; and hence they appear in bodily shape.
The spirits of just men are made ministering servants to those who are sealed
unto life eternal, and it is through them that the sealing power comes down.
Patriarch
Concerning
Brother James Adams, it should appear strange that so good and so great a man
was hated. The deceased ought never to have had an enemy. But so it was.
Wherever light shone, it stirred up darkness. Truth and error, good and evil
cannot be reconciled. Judge Adams had some enemies, but such a man ought not to
have had one.
I saw him
first at
Flesh and
blood cannot go there; but flesh and bones, quickened by the Spirit of God,
can.
If we
would be sober and watch in fasting and prayer, God would turn away sickness
from our midst.
Hasten the
work in the
Such is a
faint outline of the discourse of President Joseph Smith, which was delivered
with his usual feeling and pathos, and was listened to with the most profound
and eager attention by the multitude, who hung upon his instructions, anxious
to learn and pursue the path of eternal life.
(3 Nephi 26:1-11.) – Come to know the Book of Mormon by personal revelation;
don’t use it as a quote book!
1 And now
it came to pass that when Jesus had told these things he expounded them unto
the multitude; and he did expound all things unto them, both great and small.
2 And he
saith: These scriptures, which ye had not with you, the Father commanded that I
should give unto you; for it was wisdom in him that they should be given unto
future generations.
3 And he
did expound all things, even from the beginning until the time that he should
come in his glory—yea, even all things which should come upon the face of the
earth, even until the elements should melt with fervent heat, and the earth
should be wrapt together as a scroll, and the heavens and the earth should pass
away;
4 And even
unto the great and last day, when all people, and all kindreds, and all nations
and tongues shall stand before God, to be judged of their works, whether they
be good or whether they be evil—
5 If they
be good, to the resurrection of everlasting life; and if they be evil, to the
resurrection of damnation; being on a parallel, the one on the one hand and the
other on the other hand, according to the mercy, and the justice, and the
holiness which is in Christ, who was before the world began.
6 And now
there cannot be written in this book even a hundredth part of the things which
Jesus did truly teach unto the people;
7 But
behold the plates of Nephi do contain the more part of the things which he
taught the people.
8 And these
things have I written, which are a lesser part of the things which he taught
the people; and I have written them to the intent that they may be brought
again unto this people, from the Gentiles, according to the words which Jesus
hath spoken.
9 And when they shall have received this,
which is expedient that they should have first, to try their faith, and if it
shall so be that they shall believe these things then shall the greater things
be made manifest unto them.
10 And if it so be that they will not believe
these things, then shall the greater things be withheld from them, unto their
condemnation.
11 Behold,
I was about to write them, all which were engraven upon the plates of Nephi,
but the Lord forbade it, saying: I will try the faith of my people.
(2 Nephi
28:21-31.) – Speaking to members of the church who have one hand on the rod of
iron and the other hand on the doorknob of the great and spacious building. More revelation is coming!
21 And
others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, that they will
say: All is well in
22 And
behold, others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and he
saith unto them: I am no devil, for there is none—and thus he whispereth in
their ears, until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no
deliverance.
23 Yea,
they are grasped with death, and hell; and death, and hell, and the devil, and
all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God, and be
judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place
prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.
24
Therefore, wo be unto him that is at ease in
25 Wo be
unto him that crieth: All is well!
26 Yea, wo
be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men, and denieth the power of
God, and the gift of the Holy Ghost!
27 Yea, wo
be unto him that saith: We have received, and we need no more!
28 And in
fine, wo unto all those who tremble, and are angry because of the truth of God!
For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness; and he
that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth lest he shall fall.
29 Wo be
unto him that shall say: We have received the word of God, and we need no more
of the word of God, for we have enough!
30 For behold, thus saith the Lord God: I will
give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a
little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts,
and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that
receiveth I will give more; and from them that shall say, We have enough, from
them shall be taken away even that which they have.
31 Cursed
is he that putteth his trust in man, or maketh flesh his arm, or shall hearken
unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of
the Holy Ghost.
All we have to do is
keep our covenants, pray for the gift of the Holy Ghost and we will receive
what we need according to the Lord’s will .
(1 Nephi
10:17-19.) – Nephi wanted to comprehend what Lehi saw, he wanted to see for
himself. He asked and it came!
17 And it
came to pass after I, Nephi, having heard all the words of my father,
concerning the things which he saw in a vision, and also the things which he
spake by the power of the Holy Ghost, which power he received by faith on the
Son of God—and the Son of God was the Messiah who should come—I, Nephi, was
desirous also that I might see, and hear, and know of these things, by the
power of the Holy Ghost, which is the gift of God unto all those who diligently
seek him, as well in times of old as in the time that he should manifest
himself unto the children of men.
18 For he
is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever; and the way is prepared for all men
from the foundation of the world, if it so be that they repent and come unto
him.
19 For he
that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded
unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times
of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course
of the Lord is one eternal round.
(1 Nephi
15:7-11.) – They cut themselves off from revelation. No faith, no revelation!
7 And they
said: Behold, we cannot understand the words which our father hath spoken
concerning the natural branches of the olive-tree, and also concerning the
Gentiles.
8 And I
said unto them: Have ye inquired of the Lord?
9 And they
said unto me: We have not; for the Lord maketh no such thing known unto us.
10 Behold,
I said unto them: How is it that ye do not keep the commandments of the Lord?
How is it that ye will perish, because of the hardness of your hearts?
11 Do ye
not remember the things which the Lord hath said?—If ye will not harden your
hearts, and ask me in faith, believing that ye shall receive, with diligence in
keeping my commandments, surely these things shall be made known unto you.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 76:5-10.) – Anybody can receive these things. Then the Lord shows the visions.
5 For thus
saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me,
and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the
end.
6 Great
shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.
7 And to
them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom
from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good
pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.
8 Yea, even
the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them,
even the things of many generations.
9 And their
wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven; and before them
the wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall
come to naught.
10 For by
my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them
the secrets of my will—yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear
heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 76:113-118.) – We can come to learn these things. One must keep quiet of what the Lord wants to
reveal to you. Keep your mouth shut!
113 This is
the end of the vision which we saw, which we were commanded to write while we
were yet in the Spirit.
114 But
great and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom
which he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in
might, and in dominion;
115 Which
he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the Spirit, and are
not lawful for man to utter;
116 Neither
is man capable to make them known, for they are only to be seen and understood
by the power of the Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and
purify themselves before him;
117 To whom
he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for themselves;
118 That
through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in the flesh, they may
be able to bear his presence in the world of glory.
D&C 131 –
Instructions about the levels in the Celestial kingdom which were not written
down in D&C 76. Continuing revelation,
don’t go beyond the Brethren or the saints will end up in apostasy.
The Crowning
Revelation of Life
What greater personal
revelation could anyone receive than to see the face of his Maker? Is not this
the crowning blessing of life? Can all the wealth of the earth, all of the
powers of the world, and all of the honors of men compare with it? And is it an
unseemly or unrighteous desire on man's part to hope and live and pray, all in
such a way as to qualify for so great a manifestation?
There is a true
doctrine on these points, a doctrine unknown to many and unbelieved by more, a
doctrine that is spelled out as specifically and extensively in the revealed
word as are any of the other great revealed truths. There is no need for
uncertainty or misunderstanding; and surely, if the Lord reveals a doctrine, we
should seek to learn its principles and strive to apply them in our lives. This
doctrine is that mortal man, while in the flesh, has it in his power to see the
Lord, to stand in his presence, to feel the nail marks in his hands and feet,
and to receive from him such blessings as are reserved for those only who keep
all his commandments and who are qualified for that eternal life which includes
being in his presence forever. Let us at least sample the holy word and see
what the Lord has promised as to seeing his face and being in his presence
while we are yet pilgrims far removed from our heavenly home.
1. The pure in heart shall see God.
Our text for the whole
presentation relative to seeing the Lord comes from the very Sermon on the
Mount itself; the matter is just that basic. "Blessed are all the pure in
heart, for they shall see God." (3 Nephi 12:8; Matthew 5:8.) And who are
those to whom such a glorious promise is made? They are those among the saints
who in full measure are free from sin. Purity of heart is a figure for purity
of soul. They are the ones who received a remission of their sins in the waters
of baptism; who, after baptism, have so lived as to retain a remission of sins;
who have had their sins burned out of their souls as though by fire by the
power of the Holy Ghost. They are God-fearing and righteous souls; and being
pure, they qualify to see and associate with other pure beings, the chief of
whom is the Lord of Purity who dwells in the heavens, but on occasion visits
his pure saints here on earth.
2. The saints shall see the Lord.
How sweet, how tender,
how loving and gracious are these kind words spoken by the Lord of Heaven to his
saints on earth: "Behold, ye are little children and ye cannot bear all
things now." You have just begun to grow in gospel grace and wondrous
wisdom. "Ye must grow in grace and in the knowledge of the truth."
You must learn my word and believe my doctrine. "Fear not, little
children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them
that my Father hath given me; and none of them that my Father hath given me
shall be lost." Such is the ancient promise; such is the promise to those
who believe in this day. "The Father and I are one. I am in the Father and
the Father in me; and inasmuch as ye have received me, ye are in me and I in
you." The Lord and his saints are one because the saints have the mind of
Christ. "Wherefore, I am in your midst, and I am the good shepherd, and
the stone of
3. We should seek his face.
Does it seem unseemly
to seek such a spiritual reward as seeing the face of the Lord? Is it
presumptuous, improper, beyond the bounds of propriety? Hear this divine
counsel to the saints: "Care for the soul, and for the life of the soul.
And seek the face of the Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your
souls, and ye shall have eternal life." (D&C 101:37-38.) We seek eternal
life, which is life in the Divine Presence. To receive this greatest of all the
gifts of God, we must be worthy to dwell in that Celestial Presence. Ought we
not—nay, must we not—then become worthy, here and now, and thus qualify for the
divine association that we hope to enjoy forever in the realms ahead?
4. Those who believe and obey shall see him.
There is scarcely a
more profound and glorious promise in all holy writ than is contained in these
words of the Lord to his great latter-day prophet: "It shall come to pass
that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my
name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and
know that I am." (D&C 93:1.) Come unto Christ; forsake your sins; pray
mightily; keep the commandments; live as becometh a true saint—all this in full
measure—and the Lord will unveil his face to you as he has done in days past to
others who pursued the same course in their day.
5. Those who are sanctified shall see the Father.
Without "the
power of godliness," meaning without righteousness, "no man can see
the face of God, even the Father, and live." The unrighteous would be
consumed in his presence. "Now this Moses plainly taught to the children
of
6. Those who see God are quickened and transfigured.
Moses "saw God
face to face, and he talked with him, and the glory of God was upon Moses;
therefore Moses could endure his presence." Speaking of this personal
visitation of the Almighty, Moses said: "Mine own eyes have beheld God;
but not my natural, but my spiritual eyes, for my natural eyes could not have
beheld; for I should have withered and died in his presence; but his glory was
upon me; and I beheld his face, for I was transfigured before him." (Moses
1:2, 11.) Again the message is one of personal righteousness, for which there
is no substitute.
7. No sinful man can see the Lord.
On one occasion
"the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his
friend." On another the Lord said to the great lawgiver of
8. The righteous see him while in the flesh.
We must not wrest the
scriptures and suppose that the promises of seeing the Lord refer to some
future day, either a Millennial or a celestial day, days in which, as we all
know, the Lord will be present. The promises apply to this mortal sphere in
which we now live. This is clearly set forth in the Vision of the Degrees of
Glory. After Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon had seen the Father and the Son,
concourses of angels, and the wonders of each kingdom of glory, and after they
had written the account thereof, their continuing language says: "Great
and marvelous are the works of the Lord, and the mysteries of his kingdom which
he showed unto us, which surpass all understanding in glory, and in might, and
in dominion; which he commanded us we should not write while we were yet in the
Spirit, and are not lawful for man to utter; neither is man capable to make
them known, for they are only to be seen and understood by the power of the
Holy Spirit, which God bestows on those who love him, and purify themselves
before him; to whom he grants this privilege of seeing and knowing for
themselves; that through the power and manifestation of the Spirit, while in
the flesh, they may be able to bear his presence in the world of glory."
(D&C 76:114-118.) While in the flesh! For those who "purify themselves
before him," this is the time and the day and the hour when they have
power to see their God!
9. The Melchizedek Priesthood prepares men to see the
Lord.
Everything connected
with the Melchizedek Priesthood is designed to prepare men for eternal life in
the presence of God. That preparation goes on in this life. Hence, as the
revealed word attests, those who hold this holy order "have the privilege
of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened
unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the firstborn,
and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the
mediator of the new covenant." (D&C 107:19.) This priesthood prepares
men to see both the Father and the Son. "This greater priesthood
administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom,
even the key of the knowledge of God." And it was because ancient
10. The elders of
To all who hold the
Melchizedek Priesthood, the Lord gives this promise: "It is your
privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this
ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and
humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall
be rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither
natural mind, but with the spiritual. For no man has seen God at any time in
the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God. Neither can any natural man
abide the presence of God, neither after the carnal mind. Ye are not able to
abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of angels; wherefore,
continue in patience until ye are perfected. Let not your minds turn back; and
when ye are worthy, in mine own due time, ye shall see and know that which was
conferred upon you by the hands of my servant Joseph Smith, Jun." (D&C
67:10-14.) If seventy of the elders of
Thus saith the Lord:
"Sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days
will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it
shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.
Remember the great and last promise which I have made unto you; cast away your
idle thoughts and your excess of laughter far from you. . . . Sanctify
yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet
before me, that I may make you clean." Whoso hath ears to hear, let him
hear; those with understanding will envision what the Lord is here saying. And
all of it has this end in mind: "That I may testify unto your Father, and
your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked
generation; that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last promise [this
promise of seeing my face], which I have made unto you, when I will."
(D&C 88:68-75.)
12. The Lord may be seen in the temple.
A temple is a house of
the Lord; it has been given to him as a place where he may lay his head, as it
were; it is his earthly abode. What is more natural, when he visits an area of
the earth, than to come to his house in that area? This is his practice; so he
said with reference to one of his temples, and it applies in principle to them
all: "Inasmuch as my people build a house unto me in the name of the Lord,
and do not suffer any unclean thing to come into it, that it be not defiled, my
glory shall rest upon it; yea, and my presence shall be there, for I will come
into it, and all the pure in heart that shall come into it shall see God. But
if it be defiled I will not come into it, and my glory shall not be there; for
I will not come into unholy temples." (D&C 97:15-17.)
13. Faith and knowledge prepare us to see the Lord.
Scriptural accounts of
the appearances of the Lord to prophets and righteous men of old are patterns
for us. They let us know that if we obey the same laws obeyed by those of old,
we shall receive and inherit in our day as they did in theirs. Thus, in
commenting upon the appearance of the Lord Jesus to Jared's brother
(Moriancumer), Moroni says: "Because of the knowledge of this man he could
not be kept from beholding within the veil; and he saw the finger of Jesus,
which, when he saw, he fell with fear; for he knew that it was the finger of
the Lord; and he had faith no longer, for he knew, nothing doubting. Wherefore,
having this perfect knowledge of God, he could not be kept from within the
veil; therefore he saw Jesus; and he did minister unto him." (Ether
3:19-20.) If there is a message to us, perhaps it may be couched in these
words: "Go, and do thou likewise."
14. The Son will reveal the Father to men.
Jesus said: "All
things are delivered unto me of my Father: and no man knoweth the Son, but the
Father; neither knoweth any man the Father, save the Son, and he to whomsoever
the Son will reveal him." (Matthew 11:27.) The Son reveals the Father to
men! And in like manner the Father testifies to men of the Son. "And no
man hath seen God at any time, except he hath borne record of the Son; for
except it is through him no man can be saved." (JST, John 1:19.)
15. Both the Father and the Son may be seen by men.
In his great discourse
on the Second Comforter—perhaps as deep and wondrous a sermon as he ever
delivered—the Lord Jesus promised: "I will not leave you comfortless: I
will come to you. . . . He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it
is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I
will love him, and will manifest myself to him. . . . If a man love me, he will
keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make
our abode with him." (John 14:18-23.) The concluding sentence in this
quotation is John 14:23, of which the revealed word, given in our day, says:
"The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal
appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man's heart is
an old sectarian notion, and is false." (D&C 130:3.)
16. Those whose calling and election has been made
sure may see the Lord.
When a man has
"his calling and election made sure, then it will be his privilege to
receive the other Comforter," the Second Comforter, the Prophet Joseph
Smith tells us. Then he asks: "Now what is this other Comforter?" His
answer: "It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and
this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains
this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him,
or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto
him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens
will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may
have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is
the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious
visions—Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three
heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and
Church of the Firstborn." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
pp. 150-51.)
17. The sons of God shall see the Lord at the Second
Coming.
Those who believe and
obey the gospel in its eternal fulness become, by adoption, the sons of God;
they are sons and daughters of Jesus Christ, as King Benjamin taught. Those
among them who are living at the Second Coming shall see their Lord. As John
said: "Now are we the sons of God," and "we know that, when he
shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every
man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure." (1
John 3:2-3.)
18. Our eternal association is with the Lord.
We saw him in the
premortal life; we were the children of the Father, and the Lord Jesus was our
Elder Brother; our association then was with them. He has sent us forth, for
the moment, as pilgrims in a fallen world, and he has given all of us the power
and privilege to return to his celestial presence and there take up our eternal
abode. In the not distant future the Lord Jesus, who dwelt once as a mortal
among men, will return in glorious immortality to live and reign on earth for
the space of a thousand years, during which time all of earth's inhabitants
shall see him. Why should it be thought a thing unseemly, or beyond reasonable
probability, for us to seek his face during our travels here on earth?
19. Who has seen the Lord?
There is no way of
knowing this. In all of the scriptures, ancient and modern, there are accounts
of his visits to prophets, seers, apostles, and others. He dwelt with his
people in the city of
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 492.)
Article of Faith #10
Scattering of
March 29, 2007
ARTICLE 10—We believe
in the literal gathering of
This article is chuck
full of doctrine, these are fundamental beliefs, yet not very well understood
in the church.
The Abrahamic
Covenant and the scattering of
Elder McConkie has
done a wonderful job getting the church back to the scriptures in understanding
this doctrine. There is a bit of Mormon
myth around these doctrines
The
Abrahamic—Israelitish Covenant
The Abrahamic Covenant
Israelite history
begins not with father Jacob, who is
There are many great
patriarchal fathers to whom all the faithful look. Chief among them are Adam,
Noah, and Abraham. Adam is the first man, the first mortal flesh upon the
earth, the Presiding High Priest over all the earth, the head of the mortal and
immortal patriarchal chains. He stands next to Christ in the eternal hierarchy.
All men on earth are Adam's seed as mortals. Those who gain exaltation and live
in the family unit in celestial glory shall live and reign as his immortal
children, being thus subject to him forever. Noah is in the same position. He
stands next to Adam in priestly power and authority; he is the father of all
mortals and will stand preeminent above all who have lived since his day and
who gain exaltation. His position in the patriarchal chain of exalted beings
will be above that of all who have lived since the flood.
Abraham stands in the
same position as Noah for all who have lived since his day, as far as eternal
blessings are concerned. Even those who are not his literal seed shall receive
their eternal blessings through him and the covenant God made with him. The
Lord made repeated promises to Abraham that he would become a great nation and
also that in him should "all families of the earth be blessed."
(Genesis 12:2-3.) He was promised the
And yet again the Lord
said to Abraham: "As for me, behold, my covenant is with thee and thou
shalt be a father of many nations. . . . And I will make thee exceeding
fruitful, and I will make nations of thee, and kings shall come out of thee.
And I will establish my covenant between me and thee and thy seed after thee in
their generations for an everlasting covenant, to be a God unto thee, and to
thy seed after thee. And I will give unto thee, and to thy seed after thee, the
land wherein thou art a stranger, all the
In its purest and best
form as far as the ancient word is concerned, the Abrahamic covenant is thus
set forth: "I will make of thee a great nation," saith Jehovah,
"and I will bless thee above measure, and make thy name great among all
nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed after thee, that in their
hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations." We,
as the seed of Abraham today, are doing this very thing; we are offering to the
faithful in all nations all of the blessings of the covenant that God made with
Abraham of old.
"And I will bless
them [those in all nations and of every lineage] through thy name; for as many
as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted
thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee as their father." Those of
alien or Gentile lineage who believe the gospel and live its laws are adopted
into Abraham's family and shall inherit the blessings of the covenant as fully
and completely as though they had been born in the chosen lineage. "And I
will bless them that bless thee and curse them that curse thee; and in thee
(that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I
give unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy
seed after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body)
shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the
Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal."
(Abraham 2:9-11.)
What, then, is the
Abrahamic covenant? It is that Abraham and his seed (including those adopted
into his family) shall have all of the blessings of the gospel, of the priesthood,
and of eternal life. The gate to eternal life is celestial marriage, which holy
order of matrimony enables the family unit to continue in eternity, so that the
participating parties may have posterity as numerous as the sands upon the
seashore or the stars in heaven. The Abrahamic covenant enables men to create
for themselves eternal family units that are patterned after the family of God
our Heavenly Father. A lesser part of the covenant is that the seed of Abraham
have the Millennial destiny of inheriting as an everlasting possession the very
The Descent of the Abrahamic Covenant
The Lord did not
covenant with Abraham for himself alone; it is not the divine intent that only
one man and his immediate family should be saved. Salvation is for all, and all
may be saved on the same terms and conditions. The Abrahamic covenant was for
him and for his seed, with the express understanding that any and all of his
seed who were worthy to reap its blessings must live the same law that Abraham
their father lived.
This brings us to the
descent of the Abrahamic covenant from his day to ours. Isaac, a child of
divine promise, was the first to inherit the blessings of the covenant, all
pursuant to the word of Jehovah to Abraham: "In Isaac shall thy seed be
called." (Genesis 21:12.) That is, the blessings of the covenant were to
go to Isaac and to his seed after him. But first, on
After Isaac comes
Jacob. To him the Lord said: "I am the Lord God of Abraham thy father, and
the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I give it, and to
thy seed; and thy seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread
abroad to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south: and in
thee and in thy seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed."
(Genesis 28:13-14.)
And after Jacob came
his twelve sons, the tribal heads, and their sons, and their sons' sons, to all
generations. The Lord did not appear to each of them, as he had to their
fathers, but whenever they were worthy, they possessed the holy priesthood, the
glorious gospel, and that never-ending order of eternal marriage with its
consequent hope of eternal life. After the day of Moses, the ruling, governing,
theocratic power in
During all their long
history, the Nephite peoples had the gospel and the priesthood and the
blessings of the Abrahamic Covenant. When the Risen Lord appeared to them
toward the end of that memorable thirty-fourth year, during which he had been
crucified and then rose from the dead, he said: "Behold ye are the
children of the prophets; and ye are of the house of Israel; and ye are of the
covenant which the Father made with your fathers, saying unto Abraham: And in
thy seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. The Father raised me
up unto you first, and sent me to bless you in turning away every one of you
from his iniquities; and this because ye are the children of the
covenant." (3 Nephi 20:25-26.) As yet, the record of the Lord's
resurrected ministry among the lost tribes of
And as with Nephite
And then come the
words that show that the promises are not restricted to the ancients.
"This promise is yours also." Why? "Because ye are of Abraham,
and the promise was made unto Abraham"—that is, it was given to Abraham
for himself and for his righteous seed. "And by this law is the
continuation of the works of my Father, wherein he glorifieth himself." It
is the Lord's glory as well as his work to bring to pass the immortality and
eternal life of man. And whenever any man gains eternal life, which is
exaltation, which is the continuation of the family unit in eternity, this adds
to the kingdoms and therefore to the glory of the Father. And then comes the
exhortation: "Go ye, therefore, and do the works of Abraham; enter ye into
my law and ye shall be saved. But if ye enter not into my law ye cannot receive
the promise of my Father, which he made unto Abraham." (D&C 132:30-33.)
When he is married in
the temple for time and for all eternity, each worthy member of the Church
enters personally into the same covenant the Lord made with Abraham. This is
the occasion when the promises of eternal increase are made, and it is then
specified that those who keep the covenants made there shall be inheritors of
all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. All of this is made possible
because of the ministry of two holy beings from dispensations past—Elijah and
Elias.
Elijah brought back
the sealing power so that marriages and other ordinances that are bound on
earth shall be eternally sealed in the heavens. Those married by this authority
are husband and wife in this life, and they so remain in the life to come, if
they are true and faithful in all things. When Elias appeared to Joseph Smith
and Oliver Cowdery on that third day of April in 1836 in the
One of the grandest
concepts in the whole plan of salvation is that these same blessings, given to
worthy mortals whenever the fulness of the gospel is on earth, are also
available to all those who have died without a knowledge of the gospel but who
would have received it with all their hearts had it been offered to them while
they dwelt in the flesh. This is what is involved in the promise that the Lord
would reveal unto us "the Priesthood, by the hand of Elijah the prophet,
before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord." By restoring
the sealing keys, Elijah revealed the greatest use to which the priesthood may
be put by mortals on earth. "And he [Elijah] shall plant in the hearts of
the children the promises made to the fathers, and the hearts of the children
shall turn to their fathers." (D&C 2:1-2.)
The fathers are
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The promises are the provisions of the Abrahamic
covenant whereby the seed of the ancient patriarchs are entitled to receive the
priesthood, the gospel, and eternal life (including celestial marriage). We are
the children, and after we receive these blessings for ourselves, our attention
turns almost by instinct to the well-being of our ancestors who died without a
knowledge of the gospel. We are Abraham's seed, and they were Abraham's
seed—through Isaac, through Jacob, and through the house of
And as we shall now
see, backsliding
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 503.)
(Abraham
2:6-11.) – The covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Mortal blessings coupled with eternal
blessings,
Land
>>>>> Posterity >>>>> Gospel/Priesthood
6 But I,
Abraham, and Lot, my brother's son, prayed unto the Lord, and the Lord appeared
unto me, and said unto me: Arise, and take Lot with thee; for I have purposed
to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a minister to bear my name
in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed after thee for an everlasting
possession, when they hearken to my voice.
7 For I am
the Lord thy God; I dwell in heaven; the earth is my footstool; I stretch my
hand over the sea, and it obeys my voice; I cause the wind and the fire to be
my chariot; I say to the mountains—Depart hence—and behold, they are taken away
by a whirlwind, in an instant, suddenly.
8 My name
is Jehovah, and I know the end from the beginning; therefore my hand shall be
over thee.
9 And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee above measure, and make
thy name great among all nations, and thou shalt be a blessing unto thy seed
after thee, that in their hands they shall bear this ministry and Priesthood
unto all nations;
10 And I
will bless them through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be
called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and
bless thee, as their father;
11 And I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse them that curse thee; and in thee (that
is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed (that is, thy Priesthood), for I give
unto thee a promise that this right shall continue in thee, and in thy seed
after thee (that is to say, the literal seed, or the seed of the body) shall
all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the
Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.
Genesis 1-11 – Covers
2000 years of history, there is more written about Abraham then all of the
other early prophets. The covenant was
made with Abraham. The other prophets
before Abraham received the fulness of the gospel, but because of apostasy the
seed was destroyed. Melchizedek and his
people were translated, so who was left to become Christ’s seed? Abraham!
It’s what he prayed for to receive the covenant, to be as the ancients.
(Mosiah
15:10-13.) – The definition of Christ’s seed described by Abinadi.
10 And now
I say unto you, who shall declare his generation? Behold, I say unto you, that
when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed. And now
what say ye? And who shall be his seed?
11 Behold I
say unto you, that whosoever has heard the words of the prophets, yea, all the
holy prophets who have prophesied concerning the coming of the Lord—I say unto
you, that all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed that the
Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day for a
remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they are
the heirs of the kingdom of God.
12 For
these are they whose sins he has borne; these are they for whom he has died, to
redeem them from their transgressions. And now, are they not his seed?
13 Yea, and
are not the prophets, every one that has opened his mouth to prophesy, that has
not fallen into transgression, I mean all the holy prophets ever since the
world began? I say unto you that they are his seed.
These promises are
given to every man and woman when they are married. Only Abraham’s seed receive these blessings,
by our obedience we receive all that God can offer. We also need to understand
this in order to understand the Book of Mormon, it’s from the same time period
as the Old Testament, and they lived this covenant!
The message of the Book of Mormon is that
Abraham was commanded
to go to
The Holy Land is the
covenant land and the tribes of
(Exodus
2:23-25.) – God does not forget the covenant, He will intervene in their lives
because of the obedience of Abraham, and He is bound by their obedience. Parents are given the same promises toward
their own wayward children. He is
legally bound to help because of our obedience.
23 ¶ And it
came to pass in process of time, that the king of
24 And God
heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac,
and with Jacob.
25 And God
looked upon the children of
There isn’t a free
lunch, the children still have to repent, yet God is actively trying to recover
those that are lost. That’s what the
scattering of Israel is about, they wouldn’t listen to His way of coming to
Him, so they were scattered through the entire world to mingle with the
Gentiles, spread the gospel and be called back when the light of the gospel
shined upon them, they will be recovered if they so desire.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 82:10.)
10 I, the
Lord, am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no
promise.
Securing the
Children through the Covenant
There is power,
consummate power, in the new and everlasting covenant. That power transcends
our finite capacity to fully understand the infinite willingness of God—and his
eternal plan—to save all of those who will be saved. We know so little. In a
world that presses for fairness, we too often close our eyes to the tender mercies
of a loving Savior. The Master demonstrates his infinite mercy, for example, by
refusing to condemn those who were ignorant of the gospel message and its
requirements (see 2 Nephi 9:25-26; Mosiah 3:11; Moroni 8:22; D&C 137:7-9),
including little children who died before the age of accountability (see Mosiah
3:16; 15:25; Moroni 8:8-12, 22; D&C 29:46-47; 74:7; 137:10). He offers the
sublime gift—eternal life—to those laborers who join the work in the vineyard
in the eleventh hour, the same gift he offers to those who have labored the
entire day (see Matthew 20:1-16).
Expanding Our Vision and Our Hope
The Prophet Joseph Smith called upon us to
repent of littleness of soul and broaden our horizons. "It is the
constitutional disposition of mankind to set up stakes and set bounds to the
works and ways of the Almighty." And further, by way of warning, "I
say to all those who are disposed to set up stakes for the Almighty, You will
come short of the glory of God."1 Earlier he had said: "Our heavenly
Father is more liberal in His views, and boundless in His mercies and
blessings, than we are ready to believe or receive."2 He added that
"inasmuch as the Lord Almighty has preserved me until today, He will
continue to preserve me, by the united faith and prayers of the Saints, until I
have fully accomplished my mission in this life, and so firmly established the
dispensation of the fulness of the priesthood in the last days, that all
the powers of earth and hell can never prevail against it."3
In speaking at a
funeral for Judge Elias Higbee on 13 August 1843, the Prophet stated: "Had
I inspiration, revelation, and lungs to communicate what my soul has
contemplated in times past, there is not a soul in this congregation but would
go to their homes and shut their mouths in everlasting silence on religion till
they had learned something. Why be so certain that you comprehend the things of
God, when all things with you are so uncertain. You are welcome to all the
knowledge and intelligence I can impart to you." After thus preparing us
for what was to come, he continued: "That which hath been hid from before
the foundation of the world is revealed to babes and sucklings in the last
days. The world is reserved unto burning in the last days. He shall send
Elijah the prophet, and he shall reveal the covenants of the fathers in
relation to the children, and the covenants of the children in relation to the
fathers." He then referred to the four angels mentioned in Revelation
7, described in modern revelation as "four angels sent forth from God, to
whom is given power over the four parts of the earth, to save life and to
destroy; these are they who have the everlasting gospel to commit to every
nation, kindred, tongue, and people; having power to shut up the heavens, to
seal up unto life, or to cast down to the regions of darkness"
(D&C 77:8; emphasis added). The Prophet then mentioned "four
destroying angels holding power over the four quarters of the earth until the
servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, which signifies sealing the
blessing upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making
their calling and election sure. When a seal is put upon the father and
mother, it secures their posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be
saved by virtue of the covenant of their father and mother."4
Howard and Martha
Coray recorded that same sermon as follows: "God shall send unto them
Elijah the prophet and he shall reveal unto them the covenants of the fathers
with relation to the children and the covenants of the children in relation to
the Fathers, that they may have the privilege of entering into the same in
order to effect their mutual salvation."5 Franklin D. Richards
recorded the Prophet's words in the following manner: "Judge Higbee would
say that covenants either there or here must be made in view of eternity.The
covenant sealed on the foreheads of the parents secured the children from
falling [and] that they shall all sit upon thrones as one with the godhead,
joint heirs of God with Jesus Christ."6
What does this mean? To what degree can
righteous parents, fathers and mothers who have entered into and kept sacred
covenants, affect and effect the salvation of their posterity? President
Brigham Young taught: "Let the father and mother, who are members of this
Church and kingdom, take a righteous course, and strive with all their might
never to do a wrong, but to do good all their lives; if they have one child or
one hundred children, if they conduct themselves towards them as they
should, binding them to the Lord by their faith and prayers, I care not where
those children go, they are bound up to their parents by an everlasting tie,
and no power on earth or hell can separate them from their parents in eternity;
they will return again to the fountain from whence they sprang."7 We think
of the sufferings and pleadings of Alma the elder and his wife and remember the
words of the angel to the wandering son: "Behold, the Lord hath heard the
prayers of his people, and also the prayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy
father; for he has prayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be
brought to the knowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come
to convince thee of the power and authority of God, that the prayers of his
servants might be answered according to their faith" (Mosiah 27:14).
William Clayton's
account of a funeral address by the Prophet Joseph contains the following:
"When speaking of the passage 'I will send Elijah the prophet etc.,' he
said it should read: 'And he shall turn the hearts of the children to the
covenant made with their fathers.'"8 We believe that those who are
faithful in their first estate come to the earth with certain predispositions
to receive and embrace the truth. The Prophet himself declared that those of
the house of Israel who come into the Church do so with quiet receptivity to
the Spirit of the Lord and an openness to pure intelligence.9 Similarly, we
have no difficulty speaking of the "spirit of Elijah" that reaches
out, touches, directs, and impels individuals to search out their dead and
perform the saving ordinances. Why should we have difficulty, then, in
accepting the fact that the power of the covenant will reach out, touch,
redirect, and impel the wandering sheep? Could it be that that power is indeed
the same spirit of Elijah, the spirit that turns the hearts of the children to
the covenant made with their fathers?
Elder Orson F.
Whitney offered the following powerful commentary on Joseph Smith's words:
"The Prophet Joseph Smith declared—and he never taught more comforting
doctrine—that the eternal sealing’s of faithful parents and the divine
promises made to them for valiant service in the cause of truth, would save not
only themselves but likewise their posterity. Though some of the sheep may
wander, the eye of the shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will
feel the tentacles of divine providence reaching out after them and drawing
them back to the fold. Either in this life or in the life to come, they will
return. They will have to pay their debt to justice; they will suffer for
their sins; and may tread a thorny path; but if it leads them at last, like the
penitent prodigal, to a loving and forgiving father's heart and home, the
painful experience will not have been in vain. Pray for your careless and
disobedient children; hold on to them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till
you see the salvation of God. . . .
"You parents of the wilful and the wayward: Don't
give them up. Don't cast them off. They are not utterly lost. The shepherd
will find his sheep. They were his before they were yours—long before he
entrusted them to your care; and you cannot begin to love them as he loves
them. They have but strayed in ignorance from the Path of Right, and God is
merciful to ignorance. Only the fulness of knowledge brings the fulness of
accountability. Our Heavenly Father is far more merciful, infinitely more
charitable, than even the best of his servants, and the Everlasting Gospel is
mightier in power to save than our narrow finite minds can comprehend."10
In our own day, Elder Boyd K. Packer has provided a
comforting context and reaffirmation for the promise to faithful parents. In
discussing the "moral pollution" of the last days, he said: "It
is a great challenge to raise a family in the darkening mists of our moral
environment. We emphasize that the greatest work you will do will be within the
walls of your home,11 and that 'no other success can compensate for failure in
the home.'12The measure of our success as parents, however, will not rest
solely on how our children turn out. That judgment would be just only if we
could raise our families in a perfectly moral environment, and that now is not
possible.
"It is not uncommon for responsible parents to lose
one of their children, for a time, to influences over which they have no
control. They agonize over rebellious sons and daughters. They are puzzled over
why they are so helpless when they have tried so hard to do what they should.
It is my conviction that those wicked influences one day will be overruled. . .
.
"We cannot overemphasize the value of temple
marriage, the binding ties of the sealing ordinance, and the standards of
worthiness required of them. When parents keep the covenants they have made
at the altar of the temple, their children will be forever bound to them."13
Some Questions and Answers
This marvelous doctrine can and should provide
hope—a measure of peace and rest and assurance—to all who mourn over their
wandering sheep. It is a revealed answer to some of the soul's longings for
understanding. And yet there are additional questions that beckon for response.
Let's consider some of these questions:
1. Will the power of the covenant coerce straying
individuals into obedience? We all know that even a merciful God will
not violate an individual's moral agency, that he will force no man to heaven.
Exaltation in the celestial kingdom is reserved for those who chose to go
there, not those who were coerced or manipulated into appropriate behavior. We
know that the laws of the everlasting covenant cannot violate the principles of
justice or the canons of right and wrong. And yet there seems to be, in the
sermons and writings of the prophets, the quiet but soul-satisfying message
that the alms of the prayers of the righteous do come up into the ears of the
Lord of Sabaoth; that righteous parents' loyalty to their covenants will not be
overlooked; that no amount of suffering of the faithful in behalf of their
posterity will be for naught; and that there is power, remarkable power in the
covenant to save those who will be saved. President Joseph Fielding Smith
taught: "Those born under the covenant, throughout all eternity, are the
children of their parents. Nothing except the unpardonable sin, or sin unto
death, can break this tie. If children do not sin as John says [1 John
5:16-17], 'unto death,' the parents may still feel after them and eventually
bring them back to them again."14 As Elder Packer suggested, it may be
that the oppressive power of evil in these last days is such that it chokes or
restrains the proper exercise of agency. One day that will change.
2. Isn't the power or spirit of Elijah that which
turns our hearts to our deceased loved ones? The spirit of Elijah
does indeed point our minds to those who went before, those who laid the
foundation for so much of what we now enjoy. Because Elijah came, we feel
prompted and impelled to make available the sweet privileges of the gospel
covenant to those who were not so blessed. At the same time, Elijah's power and
blessings pertain to the living. President Harold B. Lee explained that
Elijah's mission "applies just as much on this side of the veil as it does
to the other side of the veil. . . . So, the hearts of you fathers and mothers
must be turned to your children right now, if you have the true spirit of
Elijah, and not think that it applies merely to those who are beyond the
veil."15
3. Isn't it possible that one can stray so far as to
forfeit blessings hereafter? Yes, there are limits, not necessarily to
God's mercy but the extent to which mercy can temper justice. In speaking of
very serious sins, President Joseph F. Smith explained that a person can and
will be forgiven if he repents; "the blood of Christ will make him free,
and will wash him clean, though his sins be as scarlet; but all this will not
return to him any loss sustained, nor place him on an equal footing with his
neighbor who has kept the commandments of the better law. Nor will it place him
in a position where he would have been, had he not committed wrong."16
President Joseph Fielding Smith declared that "children born under the
covenant, who drift away, are still the children of their parents; and the
parents have a claim upon them; and if the children have not sinned away
all their rights, the parents may be able to bring them through
repentance, into the celestial kingdom, but not to receive the
exaltation."17 This is why we teach that prevention is far, far better
than redemption. Though we rejoice in the cleansing powers of the blood of our
Redeemer, we must, as President Harold B. Lee observed, impress the members of
the Church "with the awfulness of sin rather than to content ourselves
with merely teaching the way of repentance."18
4. Doesn't the Prophet Joseph Smith's statement
regarding the sealing of righteous parents seem to indicate that the parents'
calling and election must be made sure? Reference is in fact made to calling
and election in the statement quoted earlier in this chapter. We must, however,
keep some things in mind. Latter-day Saints who have received the ordinances of
salvation—including the blessings of the temple endowment and eternal
marriage—may thus press forward in the work of the Lord and with quiet dignity
and patient maturity seek to be worthy of gaining the certain assurance of
salvation before the end of their mortal lives. But should we not formally
receive the more sure word of prophecy in this life, we have the scriptural
promise that faithfully enduring to the end—keeping the covenants and
commandments from baptism to the end of our mortal life (see Mosiah
18:8-9)—eventuates in the promise of eternal life, whether that promise be
received here or hereafter (see D&C 14:7; 53:7; 2 Nephi 31:20; Mosiah
5:15). "But blessed are they who are faithful and endure, whether in life
or in death, for they shall inherit eternal life" (D&C 50:5).
Bruce R. McConkie
expressed the following sentiments at the funeral of Elder S. Dilworth Young:
"If we die in the faith, that is the same thing as saying that our
calling and election has been made sure and that we will go on to eternal
reward hereafter. As far as faithful members of the Church are concerned,
they have charted a course leading to eternal life. This life is the time that
is appointed as a probationary estate for men to prepare to meet God, and as
far as faithful people are concerned, if they are in the line of their duty, if
they are doing what they ought to do, although they may not have been perfect
in this sphere, their probation is ended. Now there will be some probation for
some other people hereafter. But for the faithful saints of God, now is the
time and the day, and their probation is ended with their death."19
5. Don't we
believe that if a person rejects the gospel in this life they will reject it in
the world to come? Isn't it true that if one wanders from the fold here they
are not likely to return hereafter? Many years ago while working as a counselor,
I encountered a single mother who was struggling to rear three teenagers. We
had met for several sessions and she seemed to be making some progress in
communicating more love and concern to her children. She came in one afternoon
particularly pensive. I sensed that something of substance was weighing on her
mind and asked if she wanted to talk about it. She said: "I have a big
decision to make." She then reminded me that her husband had been killed
in an automobile accident exactly one year ago. "What's the dilemma?"
I asked. "I need to decide whether to do his temple work," she responded.
"Why is that even a problem for you? Didn't you love him?"
"Yes," she said. "I adored him. He was a remarkable human
being—a terrific father, a loving husband, a Scouter in the community, a little
league baseball coach, an all-around great guy." She paused a moment and
then added: "But he was not a member of the Church. He was very supportive
of me and the children, was a moral and upright man, and didn't smoke or drink,
but he never took the restored gospel very seriously."
I asked again:
"Well, what's the problem? Why don't you do his work?" She then told
me that one of her institute teachers had discouraged her from doing so. As I
recall, his words went something like this: "Look, he didn't accept the
gospel here, and so he won't accept it hereafter. To go to the temple in his behalf
would be a total waste of time." I was stunned but attempted to hold my
composure, especially because the teacher she quoted was well known in the
community, and his word was highly regarded. She then asked what I thought. I
said: "Oh, I'd probably take a slightly different approach."
"What's that?" she asked. "I would go to the temple and see that
his work is done for him this afternoon if I could," I said. I explained
that we are simply not in a position to judge, to know what's in a person's
heart—what they feel, what they believe, what they know. We do not really
understand what constitutes a valid opportunity to hear the gospel, when the
witness of the Spirit has been felt, or whether the message of the Restoration
was even presented in a manner that was intelligible or truly inspirational. As
I recall, she saw to it that her husband's temple work was done for him a short
time later.
Amulek did teach that the same spirit or
disposition we have in this life will be with us in the world to come (see
So many things can
weigh upon the mind and heart of an individual, pressures and challenges and
crosses that only God can see and comprehend. Why does a person reject the
gospel? Why does a child wander? Can we see the whole picture? Are we in a
position to pass appropriate judgment and close the doors to future recovery
and reconciliation? I have a conviction that when a person passes through the
veil of death all of those impediments and challenges and crosses to bear that
were beyond his or her power to control—abuse, neglect, immoral environment,
weighty traditions, etc.—will be torn away like a film. Then perhaps they
shall, as President Woodruff suggested, see and feel things that they could not
see and feel before.
6. Isn't this
risky?
Won't these kinds of teachings motivate some young people to neglect their duty
and "sow their wild oats?" I suppose there will always be those
who choose to take license in gospel liberty or who show contempt for the
saving grace of our Lord by knowingly violating the laws of God. There is
always a risk on that end of the spectrum. There is, however, what I perceive
to be a greater risk—that well-meaning, hardworking, and diligent mothers and
fathers with straying children may draw false conclusions about themselves and
maybe even "throw in the towel" in despair. To such persons, the
prophetic word concerning the consummate power of the covenant is like manna to
the soul, like living water to parched lips. It may also be the case that such
doctrine is often more effectively delivered and applied in more intimate
settings. Bruce Hafen has written: "I was surprised on one occasion to
hear a senior General Authority tell me something in a private conversation
that allowed for greater flexibility on a particular issue than I had expected
to hear. I told him how valuable I thought it would be if more members of the
Church could hear his counsel, because what is said across the desk can so
nicely clarify what is said over the pulpit. He replied that private counsel
can be adapted to the attitudes and understanding of the person being
counseled. If that same counsel were given publicly to an audience that
included individuals of insufficient background or commitment, it might appear
to give license to those whose needs require not more flexibility, but
less."21
7. Is all of this really fair to those parents who
have been successful in rearing their family or to those children who have kept
themselves from serious sin? This may be the most difficult question of
all. In this case I think it appropriate to be direct and to the point. Stated
bluntly, all of us are guilty of sin. All of us are in need of pardoning mercy.
All of us fall short of the divine standard. During a long day of debate with
his opponents, Jesus delivered the following parable: "A certain man had
two sons; and he came to the first, and said, Son, go work to day in the
vineyard. He [the son] answered and said, I will not: but afterward he
repented, and went. And he came to the second, and said likewise. And he [the
second son] answered and said, I go sir: and went not. Whether of them twain
did the will of his father?" (Matthew 21:28-31). One "may wonder why
this story does not include a third son who said, 'I will,' and kept his word.
Perhaps it is because this story characterizes humanity, and we all fall short
(Romans 3:23). Thus Jesus could describe only two kinds of religious people:
those who pretend to be obedient but are actually rebels, and those who begin
as rebels but repent."22
Obviously there are
all types and varieties of sin, and some are certainly more serious than
others. At the same time, there should be no doubt in any of our hearts that
each one of us receives far more of the goodness and grace of heaven than is
just. On one occasion I was in conversation with a colleague. We were chatting
about life here and the kinds of rewards that can come to us hereafter. I made
some offhand and rather flippant comment to this effect: "I just want to
get what I deserve." I was startled but instructed by my friend's
response: "You had better pray to God that you don't get what you
deserve!" Every one of us is and will forevermore be eternal debtors.
Indeed, as King Benjamin taught, if we "should serve him who has created
you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by lending you
breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even
supporting you from one moment to another—I say, if ye should serve him with
all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants" (Mosiah 2:21).
Inasmuch as each of us is a recipient of
unending and unmerited grace, how can we, in the spirit of Christian charity—or
in the attitude of sane discourse—speak of the Lord's pardoning mercy toward
wayward children as unfair? Of course it's unfair! It's all
unfair! That a pure and innocent man should suffer and agonize over others'
transgressions is not fair. That he who had never taken a backward step should
tread the winepress alone, "even the wine-press of the fierceness of the wrath
of Almighty God" (D&C 76:107; 88:106) and thereby descend below all
things (see D&C 88:6), is nor fair. That the lowly Nazarene should be
subjected to the ignominy and unspeakable torture of crucifixion is definitely
unfair. But the plan of the Father is not a plan of fairness, at least as we
judge fairness from our limited perspective; it is a plan of mercy. The Father
and the Son love us in ways that we cannot comprehend. They will do all that is
within the bounds of propriety to save as many of the posterity of Adam and Eve
as will be saved. President J. Reuben Clark Jr. spoke of the goodness of our
God: "I feel that [the Lord] will give that punishment which is the very
least that our transgression will justify. . . . I believe that when it comes to
making the rewards for our good conduct, he will give the maximum that is
possible to give."23
Conclusion
There is power in
righteousness, power that activates God's covenant with his people, power that
binds and seals here and hereafter, power that links the children of Abraham,
the children of the covenant, together in love and unity. Righteous parents
thereby have great positive impact on generations to come. "Ye are the
children of the prophets," the risen Lord declared to the Nephites; "and
ye are of the house of
The pull of the
covenant toward righteousness may come from both sides of the veil. The counsel
of Elisha the prophet is still timely: "Fear not: for they that be with us
are more than they that be with them" (2 Kings 6:16). My friend and
colleague Joseph McConkie told me that his grandfather, Oscar McConkie Sr.,
said to the family just before his death: "I am going to die. When I die,
I shall not cease to love you. I shall not cease to pray for you. I shall not
cease to labor in your behalf." President Joseph F. Smith, in a general
conference address in April 1916 entitled "In the Presence of the
Divine," made the following impressive and instructive remarks:
"Sometimes the Lord expands our vision
from this point of view and this side of the veil, so that we feel and seem to
realize that we can look beyond the thin veil which separates us from that
other sphere. If we can see, by the enlightening influence of the Spirit of God
and through the words that have been spoken by the holy prophets of God, beyond
the veil that separates us from the spirit world, surely those who have
passed beyond, can see more clearly through the veil back here to us than it is
possible for us to see to them from our sphere of action. I believe we move and
have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings.
We are not separate from them. We begin to realize, more and more fully, as
we become acquainted with the principles of the gospel, as they have been
revealed anew in this dispensation, that we are closely related to our
kindred, to our ancestors, to our friends and associates and co-laborers who
have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not
cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory. . . . How
much more certain it is and reasonable and consistent to believe that those who
have been faithful, who have gone beyond and are still engaged in the work for
the salvation of the souls of men, . . . can see us better than we can see
them; that they know us better than we know them. They have advanced; we
are advancing; we are growing as they have grown; we are reaching the goal that
they have attained unto; and therefore, I claim that we live in their
presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now
more than ever. For now they see the dangers that beset us; they can
comprehend, better than ever before, the weaknesses that are liable to mislead
us into dark and forbidden paths. They see the temptations and the evils
that beset us in life and the proneness of mortal beings to yield to temptation
and to wrong doing; hence their solicitude for us, and their love for us, and
their desire for our well being, must be greater than that which we feel for
ourselves."24
"Rewards for
obedience to the commandments," Elder Russell M. Nelson explained,
"are almost beyond mortal comprehension. Here, children of the covenant
become a strain of sin-resistant souls. And hereafter, . . . children of the
covenant, and 'each generation [will] be linked to the one which went on before
. . . [in] the divine family of God.' Great comfort comes from the knowledge
that our loved ones are secured to us through the covenants."25
In summary, the Holy
One of Israel, who is the Mediator of the Covenant, has extended the promise
that when a seal is placed upon a father and mother—a seal that comes through
faithfulness to their eternal covenants—their children will be bound to them
forever. Even if the children stray for a season, the tentacles of the
everlasting covenant will feel after them and they shall, either here or
hereafter, return to the fold. We do not fully understand all of the
implications of this marvelous promise, but we feel to trust in the ransoming
and redeeming power of our Lord who is also our Savior.
"God has fulfilled his promises to
us," President Lorenzo Snow explained, "and our prospects are grand
and glorious. Yes, in the next life we will have our wives, and our sons and
daughters. If we do not get them all at once, we will have them some time, for
every knee shall bow and every tongue shall confess that Jesus is the Christ. You
that are mourning about your children straying away will have your sons and
your daughters. If you succeed in passing through these trials and afflictions
and receive a resurrection, you will, by the power of the Priesthood, work and
labor, as the Son of God has, until you get all your sons and daughters in the
path of exaltation and glory. This is just as sure as that the sun rose this
morning over yonder mountains. Therefore, mourn not because all your sons
and daughters do not follow in the path that you have marked out to them, or
give heed to your counsels. Inasmuch as we succeed in securing eternal
glory, and stand as saviors, and as kings and priests to our God, we will save
our posterity. . . . God will have His own way in His own time, and He will
accomplish His purposes in the salvation of His sons and daughters. . . . God
bless you, brethren and sisters. Do not be discouraged is the word I
wish to pass to you; but remember that righteousness and joy in the Holy Ghost
is what you and I have the privilege of possessing at all times."26
As a personal aside,
several years ago my wife and I were struggling with how best to build faith in
all of our children and how to entice wandering souls back into Church
activity. A caring colleague, sensing the weight of my burdens, happened into my
office one day and simply asked this question: "Do you think our Heavenly
Parents wander throughout the heavens in morose agony over their straying
children?" Startled a bit by the question, I thought for a moment and
said: "No, I don't think so. I know they feel pain, but I honestly can't
picture them living in eternal misery." Then my friend responded:
"Ask yourself why they do not do so and it will make a difference in your
life." I didn't get much work done the rest of the day because I spent
many hours pondering the question. When I arrived home that evening, I asked
Shauna to sit down and reflect on the same question. She answered as I did, and
then the two of us set about a prayerful quest for the next several days to
understand how it is that our Eternal Father and Mother deal with their pain.
In time it began to dawn on us that the Lord
knows the end from the beginning, and that, as Joseph the Prophet declared, all
things—past, present, and future—are and were with Him "one eternal
now."27 Perspective. Perspective. That was the answer. God deals
with pain through and by virtue of his infinite and perfect perspective. He not
only knows what we have done and what we are doing, but he also knows what we
will do in the future. If in fact, as the prophets have taught, many who are
heirs to the blessings of the covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob will
either in time or eternity be reconciled to and reunited with the covenant
family, then all we need to do for the time being is to seek, through fasting
and prayer, to gain at least a portion of our God's perspective—his omniloving
patience, his long-suffering, his ever-open arms—to gain, in other words, even
a glimpse of the big picture as God sees it. Such a perspective will not only
serve us well in the midst of our sufferings; it will also empower our souls
and fashion us into the image of our Master, who is the personification and
embodiment of charity or pure love (see
And so, because we are
mortal, because we are human, because we cannot see the end from the beginning,
when a child wanders we fret and ache and sometimes despair. But there is hope
smiling brightly before us, hope that springs forth from the elevated
perspective provided by the power of the gospel covenant. President Gordon B.
Hinckley, in addressing the Saints in
"There is never a
time," the Prophet Joseph Smith observed, "when the spirit is too old
to approach God. All are within the reach of pardoning mercy, who have not
committed the unpardonable sin."29 And so we pray, we fast, we plead,
and we implore. And perhaps most important, we love those who wander, and we
never, never give up hope. I testify that there is a God in heaven who is our
Eternal Father and that he lives in the family unit; that our Heavenly Father
knows us one and all by name and knows, perfectly well, of our sorrows and our
soul's deepest longings; that Jesus, as the Good Shepherd, will go in search of
the lost sheep; that the gospel covenant is as broad and deep and penetrating
as eternity; and that there are righteous forces at work that are beyond our
capacity to perceive or comprehend. I know, with all my heart, that "the
effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man [or woman] availeth much"
(James 5:16), and that both in time and in eternity our God shall wipe away all
tears (see Isaiah 25:8; Revelation 7:17; 21:4).
We trust in the power of Christ, the Mediator
of the covenant, to forgive, to repair, to renew, and to rekindle the gospel
light within the hearts of those who stray for a season. And we take comfort in
the Master's promise: "Be faithful and diligent in keeping the
commandments of God, and I will encircle thee in the arms of my love" (D&C
6:20).
Notes
From an address to
Brigham Young University Religious Education faculty,
1. Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, 320-21.
2. Ibid., 257.
3. Ibid., 258;
emphasis added.
4. Ibid., 320-21;
emphasis added.
5. Words of Joseph
Smith, 240; spelling corrected and emphasis added.
6. Ibid., 241;
punctuation corrected and emphasis added.
7. Brigham Young, in Journal
of Discourses, 11:215; emphasis added.
8. Words of Joseph
Smith, 241-42; punctuation corrected.
9. Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, 149-50.
10. Orson F. Whitney,
in Conference Report, April 1929, 110; emphasis added.
11. See Harold B. Lee,
in Conference Report, April 1973, 130.
12. See David O.
McKay, in Conference Report, April 1935, 116.
13. Boyd K. Packer, in
Conference Report, April 1992, 94-95; emphasis added.
14. Doctrines of
Salvation, 2:90; emphasis added.
15. Harold B. Lee,
Ninth Annual Priesthood Genealogy Seminar-Syllabus 1974, Devotional Addresses
1973 (Provo,Utah: Brigham Young University Press,1974), 530.
16. Gospel
Doctrine, 374; see also Spencer W. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness
(Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969), 310-11.
17. Doctrines of
Salvation, 2:91; emphasis in original.
18. Harold B. Lee, Decisions
for Successful Living (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1973), 88.
19. Bruce R. McConkie,
address given at funeral service for S. Dilworth Young, Salt Lake City, Utah,13
July 1981, typescript, 5; emphasis added.
20. Wilford Woodruff,
as quoted in Boyd K. Packer, The Holy Temple (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft,
1980), 206; emphasis added.
21. Bruce C. Hafen, The
Broken Heart (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1989), 4-5.
22. John F. MacArthur,
The Gospel According to Jesus (Grand Rapids, Mich.: Zondervan, 1988),
167.
23. J. Reuben Clark
Jr., "As Ye Sow . . . ," address delivered at
24. Joseph F. Smith,
"In the Presence of the Divine," as quoted in Messages of the
First Presidency, 5:6-7; emphasis added.
25. Russell M. Nelson,
"Children of the Covenant,"Ensign, May 1995, 33-34; citing
Joseph Fielding Smith, in Conference Report, October 1950, 13-14.
26. Lorenzo Snow,
General Conference address given 6 October 1893, as quoted in Collected
Discourses, 4 vols., comp. Brian H. Stuy (Sandy, Ut.: BHS Publishing,
1987), 3:364-65; emphasis added.
27. Teachings of
the Prophet Joseph Smith, 220.
28. Gordon B.
Hinckley, fireside address in Crawley, England, as quoted in Church News,
2 September 1995, 4; emphasis added.
29. Teachings of
the Prophet Joseph Smith, 191; emphasis added.
(Robert L. Millet, Selected
Writings of Robert L. Millet: Gospel Scholars Series [
Abraham’s children
will be a blessing to the entire world, it wasn’t as they planned, they were
disobedient and then scattered.
From Abraham to Malachi:
An Old Testament Overview
Bruce Satterfield
Department of Religious Education
Brigham Young University-Idaho
ABRAHAM
AND THE COVENANT
Elder
Bruce R. McConkie has noted that "Israelite history begins not with father
Jacob, who is
The Major
Promises of the Abrahamic Covenant
The
majority of book of Genesis centers on the lives of the great patriarchs
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Chapters 12-25 tell of the life of Abraham beginning
with a brief recitation of the promises God made to Abraham. However, in the
Book of Abraham found in the Pearl of Great Price, we learn of the early life
of Abraham. Further, the most complete rendition of the promises made to
Abraham are recorded in the Book of Abraham.
Abraham
was born and raised in
While in
PROMISES TO ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB
Category Mortal Promises
Eternal Promises
|
1. Posterity |
Abraham was promised a large posterity that would become a great
nation. |
Abraham was promised that he would have eternal increase. |
|
2. Land |
Abraham was promised that his posterity would have a special land
to live in (a promised land) - a land where his posterity are free to worship
God the way He intends. |
Abraham was promised that he would have an eternal promised land
known as the celestial kingdom. |
|
3. Gospel\Priesthood |
1. Abraham was promised that his posterity would have all the
blessings of the gospel and priesthood. 2.
Abraham was promised that through his posterity all nations would be blessed
with the opportunity to have the gospel. |
Abraham was promised that he would have eternal life or
exaltation in the celestial kingdom (which is the ultimate blessing of the
gospel and priesthood). |
This
covenant is known both as the Abrahamic Covenant and the marriage covenant for
time and all eternity for when a man and woman are married in the temple they
receive all the blessings promised to Abraham. The key to receiving the eternal
blessings is the mortal blessing. Note the following:
Often, LDS scholars emphasize the promises of posterity and
gospel. Nevertheless, the land is of major importance in understanding
the history of
The
Abrahamic Covenant and the Atonement
There is a
principle associated with the Abrahamic covenant that is essential in
understanding God's dealings with his children. Because the Lord promised
Abraham that his posterity would have gospel/priesthood rights, the Abrahamic
covenant insures that if Abraham's posterity ever strayed from the gospel
covenant, the Lord would do all in his power to bring them back into the
covenant. This is only possible if the law of justice, which would condemn
Abraham's posterity because of their disobedience, could be satisfied. Thus,
the role of Jesus Christ was to satisfy the law of justice making it possible
for Abraham's posterity (and any gentile who unites himself with Abraham's
posterity by covenant) to return to God's covenant and receive the same
blessings promised to Abraham.
This
concept is important in understanding scriptural history. For example, this principle
lies behind the purpose of the Book of Mormon. Moroni stated that the Book of
Mormon was written "to show unto the remnant of the House of Israel what
great things the Lord hath done for their fathers; and that they may know the
covenants of the Lord, that they are not cast off forever-- And also to the
convincing of the Jew and Gentile that JESUS is the CHRIST" (Title Page,
Book of Mormon). Essentially, then, the scriptures are an historical account of
the Abrahamic covenant, including prophecies of its fulfillment.
Abraham
Enters into the Covenant
The
incident of Abraham 2:6-11 seems only to be preparatory to Abraham's actually
entering into the covenant. The rest of the Abraham's story is recorded in
Genesis 12-25. After leaving
Sometime
later, the Lord said to Abraham, "I am the Lord that brought thee out of
Covenant
rituals in the ancient world most often involved cutting and blood. In some
cases animals were cut in half. Then after reciting the terms of the covenant,
the parties making the covenant would pass between the severed parts of the
animal (thus identifying themselves with the animal) suggesting that if they
did not keep their part of the covenant then what was done to the animal would
be done to them: i.e., they would be killed. In fact, the proper way to say in
Hebrew, "he made a covenant" is "he cut a covenant".
(For another Old Testament example, see Jeremiah 34:18-19.)
After the
animals were cut in half, the Lord stated the terms of the covenant: Abraham's
posterity would become enslaved in another land for four generations (a
generation was one hundred years). At the end of that period the Lord would
bring them out of bondage and give them the
In Genesis
15, only the Lord entered in the covenant. Genesis 17 records the occasion
relative to Abraham's entering into the covenant. The ritual which initiated
the covenant on Abraham's part also involved cutting and blood. The ordinance
was that of circumcision. Circumcision became the token of the covenant
throughout Old Testament history. The one entering into the covenant cut off
his foreskin symbolizing that if he did not keep his part of the covenant that
he and his posterity would be cut off from the presence of the Lord even as he
had cut off the foreskin.
The
Abrahamic Covenant is "Made Sure"
In Genesis
17:1, Abraham was told what his part of the covenant was in these terms:
"walk before me, and be thou perfect" (Gen. 17:1). To walk before the
Lord is to be obedient to all that God requires. When one is obedient to all
that God commands, he then is assured by God that the blessings promised him
for his obedience will be given to him (D&C 82:10; 130:20-21).
The
Prophet Joseph Smith taught that the Lord will thoroughly prove those who come
unto him and when he finds that they are "determined to serve Him at all
hazards, then [they] will find [their] calling and [their] election made
sure" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 150). Abraham was
fully tested by the Lord and was found obedient in all things (D&C 132:37).
The
testing of Abraham forms the basis of the Abraham story found in Genesis 12-22.
In these chapters, it can be seen that the testing of Abraham followed a
pattern: he was asked to give up something earthly for a higher or Godly cause.
In the end, Abraham never really gave up anything for he was always blessed
with something better. For example, he was asked by the Lord to give up his
homeland and inheritance only to be given an eternal land and inheritance by
the Lord (Gen. 12:1-3). Again, when strife arose between his herdsman and the
herdsman of his nephew, Lot, Abraham gave
The
ultimate test of Abraham's obedience to God came when God asked Abraham to
offer Isaac as a sacrifice to him (Gen. 22:1-2). This struck against everything
God had taught Abraham about the wickedness of human sacrifice. Moreover, by
offering Isaac as a sacrifice, Abraham would lose his heir, the child through
whom the promises of the Abrahamic covenant would come (Heb. 11:18-19).
Nevertheless, Abraham was obedient to the command of God and would have
sacrificed Isaac had the Lord not intervened and stopped Abraham at the very
moment he was about to slay his son (Gen. 22:10-12). This test of Abraham's
obedience proved that Abraham was "determined to serve God at all
hazards." Therefore the Lord assured Abraham that the covenant he had made
with him was now in full force (Gen. 22:15-18). This is confirmed in modern
revelation (see D&C 132:29-37).
Abrahamic
Covenant Extended to Isaac and Jacob
The
covenant made with Abraham was also made with Abraham's son, Isaac (Gen.
26:1-5). Further, the covenant was made with Isaac's son, Jacob (Gen. 28:10-22;
35:1-15). As part of the covenant, Jacob's name was change to
To
emphasize the importance of this covenant, God is often referred to as the God
of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (for example see, Exodus 3:6, 15,16; 1 Kings
18:36; 2 Chronicles 30:6; Acts 3:13; 1 Nephi 6:4; 19:10; Alma 36:2; Helaman
3:30; D&C 136:21).
MOSES AND THE EXODUS
How the
Twelve Tribes of
In Genesis
37 and 39-50, the story of Joseph, the eleventh son of Jacob, is recounted. In
this story, Joseph, who was favored by Jacob, was despised by his older
brothers. They sold Joseph as a slave to a band of Ishmaelites who in turn sold
him to Potiphar, an Egyptian official. Through a process of events, Joseph rose
from slavery to become second in command of all of
Before he
died, Joseph prophesied concerning the tribes of
The Twelve
Tribes are Brought into Bondage
The Book
of Exodus tells of
During
this period of time, the Israelites gradually began to believe in and worship
the Egyptian gods. Like most peoples of the ancient Near East, the Egyptians
were polytheistic; that is, they believed in many gods. To the Egyptians, these
gods controlled all the elements that allow men to live. They believed that by
performing various rituals the gods would look kindly upon them and control the
elements in such a way that mankind could survive and be happy. These rituals
often involved immoral acts performed during the ritual action in the presence
of the idols of the various gods located in temples or sanctuaries. As the
Israelites began to follow Egyptian religious practices, they lost the
knowledge of the gospel, the religion of the God their fathers, Abraham, Isaac,
and Jacob.
However,
the Lord was not going to allow this situation to continue. According to the
promise that he had made with Abraham (that he would bless Abraham's posterity
with the gospel), the Lord now set his hand to restore
Moses, the
First Gatherer of
Sometime
around 1300 B.C., the man ordained of God to restore the gospel to
While
Moses was in the Sinai, "the king of
The
calling of Moses came forty years after Moses fled
The Exodus
of
Moses
returned from Sinai to the court of Pharaoh in
The
plagues were intended to accomplish two things: (1) to show to both Egypt and
Israel that the gods of Egypt were false, and thus (2) to soften Pharaoh's
heart so that he would follow the only true and living God and allow the
children of Israel leave Egypt. Each plague was designed to accomplish this by
showing that the God of the Hebrews had power over the various elements that
the Egyptians believed were controlled by their false gods. For example, the
Egyptians believed that the
The
plagues should have softened Pharaoh's heart. However, instead of softening his
heart, Pharaoh hardened his heart (JST Ex. 9:12; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10). The Lord
then sent a tenth plague upon all
The
scriptural account tells us that God did not lead the Israelites out of Egypt
by way of the nearest or quickest route which was "through the way of the
land of the Philistines," but instead "God led the people about,
through the way of the wilderness of the Red sea" (Ex. 13:17-18). After
releasing
Once
through the Red Sea, Moses and the children of
The Exodus
Story is a Type of the Plan of Redemption
The Exodus
story has become a type and shadow of what man must do to escape the bondage of
this world that comes because of sin so that he might enter into the promised
land of the celestial kingdom. Just as the first step of
(In 1 Cor.
10:1-2, Paul tells us that the crossing of the
As
ISRAEL AT MT. SINAI
In the
third month of their journey from
The
Preparatory and Higher Gospel
In order
to be prepared to enter into the presence of God and receive all the blessings
he had in store for them,
Once on
the strait and narrow path, one must enter into the ordinances of the higher
gospel before being qualified to come into the presence of God and live. The
higher gospel is variously called the "the everlasting covenant of the
holy priesthood" (JST Deut. 10:2) or the "holy order, and the
ordinances thereof" (JST Ex. 34:1; see also Alma 13 and Moses 6:67). The
holy order consists of the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood. President
Ezra Taft Benson stated: "To enter into the order of the Son of God is the
equivalent today of entering into the fulness of the Melchizedek Priesthood,
which is only received in the house of the Lord" (Ensign, Aug.
1985, p. 43). It is only by active participation in these ordinances that men
and women can prepare themselves to enter into God's presence (see D&C
84:19-22).
The first
step in becoming "an holy nation" (or
Exodus 24
records the ritual the Israelites participated in when they entered into the
covenant where they promised to obey the 10 commandments. After putting the
covenant into writing, Moses built an altar at the base of the mountain and
placed twelve stones representing the twelve tribes of
Moses
Receives the Higher Law
After
entering by covenant into the preparatory gospel, the next step for
While on
the mount, Moses not only received the tables of stone upon which the fullness
of the gospel was written but he also received detailed instructions concerning
the building of a portable temple commonly called the Tabernacle wherein the
ordinances of both the preparatory gospel and the higher law could be performed
(Ex. 25-31). The Hebrew name of the Tabernacle is ohel mo'ed, which is
best translated "tent of meeting." This is an appropriate name for
this structure because the Tabernacle was the place where the Israelites were
to prepare to meet God and live in his presence.
The
Tabernacle consisted of a large rectangular courtyard within which was placed
the sanctuary. Entrance into the courtyard was through a single gate which
located on the eastern side. The sanctuary was found on the western end.
Between the gate and the sanctuary there was an altar for sacrifice and a laver
(a large metal bowl full of water) for ritual washings. This is where the
ordinances associated with the preparatory gospel (or Aaronic Priesthood) would
be performed. Beyond the laver was the sanctuary or temple. The sanctuary was
divided into two rooms. The foreroom was called the holy place while the back
room was known as the most holy place or the holy of holies. In the holy place
there was a seven-branched candelabra, a table with twelve loaves of bread
placed thereon, and an altar of incense. The altar of incense was placed
immediately before a veil which separated the holy place from the most holy
place. The furnishings of the holy place were associated with the ordinances of
the higher gospel (or Melchizedek Priesthood). In the most holy place was
placed an ark known as the ark of the covenant. The ark represented the throne
of God.
It appears
from D&C 84:19-24, that the Lord initially intended that the children of
Israel would pass through the ordinances of both the preparatory gospel
(performed in the courtyard) and higher gospel (performed in the holy place)
thus qualifying them to come into his presence symbolized by the passing
through the veil into the most holy place (where God's presence was represented
by the ark). However, as we shall now see,
During the
40 days Moses was on the mount, the children of
When Moses
came off the mount he found the children of
Law of
Moses Given in Place of the Higher Law
Moses
returned to the mount once again for another forty days and forty nights (Ex.
34:28) where he received divine assurance that the Lord would once again own
his people and bring them to the promised land (Ex. 32:31-33:23). The Lord then
commanded Moses to "hew two other tables of stone" whereon the terms
and conditions of a new covenant was written. This included everything that was
written on the first set of tables "save the words of the everlasting
covenant of the holy priesthood" or the higher ordinances of the temple
(JST Deut. 10:2; see also JST Ex. 34:1-2 and D&C 84:23-27). In other words,
the higher gospel or Melchizedek Priesthood order was removed thus denying the
children of
In place
of the higher gospel, Moses received what became known as the "law of
Moses" (much of which is found in the Books of Leviticus, Numbers,
and Deuteronomy). The prophet Abinadi said that the law of Moses was
"a law of performances and ordinances, a law which they [Israel] were to
observe strictly from day to day, to keep them in remembrance of God and their
duty towards him" (Mosiah 13:30). The Apostle Paul taught that it was
intended to be a "schoolmaster" that would "bring [
After
returning from the mount with the new set of stone tablets, Moses explained the
new law and covenant to the children of
The
Construction of the Tabernacle
Though the
higher ordinances of the Melchizedek priesthood (those which would have been
performed in the sanctuary or temple) were excluded from the law of Moses, thus
essentially cutting the people off from the sanctuary or presence of the Lord,
the building of the portable temple or Tabernacle was nevertheless necessary. The
reason being that the altar of sacrifice and laver located in the outer
courtyard which were essential in ordinances associated with the preparatory
gospel would naturally play an essential part in the performances and
ordinances of the law of Moses. Further, the fact that the common Israelite was
cut off from the sanctuary would have been a constant reminder that there were
higher laws and ordinances necessary in order for man to come back into the
presence of God and that the law of Moses did not provide those ordinances and
laws. These must come at a future time.
How much
of this the children of
Consequently,
after the children of
Having
entered into a covenant with the Lord and built a portable temple,
The Forty
Year Wandering
The Book
of Numbers recounts
The Book
of Numbers records
Moses'
mission was now complete. He departed from the children of
At the end
of the forty years of wandering, a generation had been raised who were willing
to follow the Lord's new leader into the promised land. That leader was Joshua.
The Book of Joshua (c. 1230-1200 B.C.?) records the events of
Joshua
brought the children of Israel into the promised land by passing through the
Jordan River which was miraculously parted similar to the dividing of the Red
Sea (Josh. 4:1-24). After coming into the land, the children of
The
The first
Canaanite cities the Israelites conquered were the strategic sites of
An
Important Covenant is Made at Shechem
After the
conquering of Jericho and Ai and before proceeding to conquer more of the land,
Joshua led the children of Israel to Shechem (Ex. 8:30-35) where God had first
told Abraham that the land of Canaan was the land promised to his posterity
(Gen. 12:6-7). There Joshua fulfilled a command given by Moses in his final
discourse (Deut. 27-28). Moses wanted
Shechem
was situated between two mountains,
As part of
the covenant renewal, the six tribes on
The other
six tribes would then pronounce the curses (see Deut. 28:15-68) that would
result if they were disobedient to the covenant including the loss of their
cities, fields, crops and rain. When their enemies would attack, the Lord would
not fight their battles. The ultimate curse
The
significance of this sacred setting is enhanced when the proper orientation of
the ancient Hebrew map is understood. Instead of north being the primary
direction for orientation as in western societies, east was the primary
direction. Therefore, south is on the right hand of the map while north is on
the left. (This orientation can be seen in the famous sixth-century A.D. floor
mosaic map of ancient
In light
of this it is interesting to note that eventually, as we shall see,
The
covenant renewal at Shechem is comparable to the "cutting" of the
covenant between God and Abraham recorded in Genesis 15 where God promised
Abraham that his posterity would inherit the land after they were enslaved for
four hundred years. It should be remembered that in that covenant ceremony,
animals were cut in half and laid side by side. Then God passed through the
severed animals upon making his covenant with Abraham. There is no record of
animals being cut in half and passed between in the covenant ritual at Shechem.
However it appears that the
Joshua
fulfilled the command of Moses and led the children of
The Period
of the Judges
After the
death of Joshua, the Israelite tribes were left without a strong leader. The
tribes of
The Book
of Judges (roughly between 1200 - 1000 B.C.) records the events of this
time period. The first half of the book (chapters 1-11) tells the stories of
several judges (Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Tola, Jair, and Jephthah) who, by
placing their trust in God, led the Israelites in victorious battles against
their enemies. The second half of Judges (12-21), highlighted by the story of
Samson, shows the tribes of Israel rapidly declining, trusting less and less in
God.
The
Philistine Threat
About the
same time that
Failing to
conquer
Archaeology
has shown that early Philistine culture was
As the
Philistines continued their expansion, they became one of the major enemies of
THE UNITING, DIVIDING, AND SCATTERING OF
The books
of 1 and 2 Samuel and 1 and 2 Kings tell the story of
Samuel,
the Last Judge of
The last
of the judges was Samuel (c. 1060-1020 B.C.). He was more than a judge, he was
also a prophet, priest, and a leader of
During
Samuel's early days while he lived in the Tabernacle, Eli's sons became corrupt
and perverted the rituals of the law of Moses mixing them with Canaanite
fertility rituals (1 Sam. 2:22). Eventually, the Philistines made war against
The loss
to the Philistines had bumbled
The
Saul,
First King of
When
Samuel was old, the children of
The first
man to be chosen king of
David,
Second King of
The
kingdom David inherited was fractured by internal strife. Further, the worship
of Jehovah and the law of Moses among the Israelites was almost non-existent as
evidenced by the fact that the ark of the covenant was not even in an
established sanctuary. David desired to unite the twelve tribes of
David
desired to build a temple to the Lord but this was not his divine mission.
David was to subdue
After
establishing peace, he invited all
With the
ark in place in the new Tabernacle, David offered burnt offerings and peace
offerings in behalf of
Through
these actions David brought
Sadly,
even David violate the covenant with God: he fell to the lusts of the flesh and
committed adultery and even murder (2 Sam. 11). However, David exhibited true
contrition as was forgiven except for the sin of murder (Psalms 51; D&C
132:39). Further, though he committed personal sin, David always encouraged
Solomon,
Last King of United
David's
son, Solomon (c. 975-953 B.C.), became the last king of united
During his
reign, Solomon entered into several political marriages contrary to the law of
Moses. Towards the end of his life, his foreign "wives turned away his
heart after others gods" (1 Kings 11:4). The Lord was angry with Solomon
and told him that the
The Divided Kingdom
Reforms of
Hezekiah and Josiah
The
downfall of the southern kingdom was more gradual than that of the northern
kingdom. Though
Despite
Josiah’s reforms, the reversal of Hezekiah’s reforms by Manasseh proved
disastrous for
The Exile
of
In the
latter part of the 7th century B.C., the Assyrian empire began to
crumble. At that time,
In 605
B.C., the Babylonians defeated the Assyrian/Egyptian coalition in a major
battle in northern
In 601
B.C., the Egyptians fought the Babylonians to a stand off on the Egyptian
border and the Babylonians retreated back to
When
Zedekiah was placed on the throne, there were many prophets who prophesied of
During the
next ten years, the loyalties of Zedekiah and the Jews were turned back to
The
Scattering a Blessing to the Gentiles
The
scattering of
THE RETURN OF THE JEWS AND THE END OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
In 539
B.C., the Babylonians were conquered by the Persians. Cyrus, king of
The Jews
taken captive by
The return
to the homeland was not forced. Those who wished to stay in
The Return
of the Jews to
Two
important accomplishments were realized by the returning exiles. First
the temple was rebuilt. Second, the law of Moses became the center of
Jewish life. This happened in the following way. Shortly after
Cyrus’ edict, a group of Jews led by Sheshbazaar, of the Davidic line,
returned to
With the
rebuilding of the temple came the reestablishment of the old hierarchical
social structure which had come to dominate Jewish (and Israelite) society
before the exile. It has already been shown that this kind of social
structure is often oppressive, especially to the peasantry that makes up the
majority of the population. The oppressive nature of this stratified
social structure was felt in the days of Nehemiah (Neh. 5:1-5) who enacted various
reforms in an attempt to reduce the burden of dept created by the
structure. But these reforms were only temporary.
Sometime
after the temple was rebuilt (the date is very much disputed), a second group
of exiles returned to
During the
Persian Period (c. 515-332 B.C.), the Jewish community was localized within a
twenty-mile radius of
Malachi
and the End of the Old Testament
Either
before or after Ezra came the ministry of the last prophet of the Old
Testament, Malachi. He spoke out against the priesthood which had become
lax and careless in their duties. Moreover, the same priesthood had
“departed out of the way” and caused “many to stumble at the law” having
“corrupted the covenant” (Mal. 2:8). He prophesied that “the sons of
Levi” would be purified as gold and silver “that they may offer unto the Lord
an offering in righteousness” (Mal. 3:3).
He ended
his prophecy, and thus the Old Testament, with a most significant prophecy: the
Lord would send Elijah “before the coming of the great and dreadful day
of the Lord” to “turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart
of the children to their fathers” (Mal. 4:5-6). When
This
is where the Old Testament ends. The inter-testamental period is the
subject of the next paper!
EPILOGUE
What began
in the Old Testament is not completed in the New Testament. These two together
form the first half of the "scriptural movie." The conclusion is not
seen until the latter days and is shown forth in the Doctrine and Covenants and
in church history. In this epilogue, a brief attempt will be made to show how
the movie ends so that the reader might see the whole picture.
The
Universal Apostasy
After the
death of Christ around 33 A.D., the Apostles continued to spread the
The Book
of Mormon reveals that in an attempt to save apostate
Eventually
these remnants of
The
Restoration
In 1820,
Joseph was visited in the Sacred Grove by God the father and his son, Jesus
Christ. Joseph asked which church he should join. He was told that the truth
was not on the earth. With the gospel no where to be found on the earth, a
complete restoration of the gospel including the ordinances associated with the
Abrahamic covenant (which are performed in the temple) had to be enacted. On
September 22, 1823,
As part of
the restoration, a land of promise was announced. On Jan. 2, 1831, the Lord
stated to the church in language similar to the Old Testament: "I hold
forth and deign to give unto you greater riches, even a land of promise, a land
flowing with milk and honey, upon which there shall be no curse when the Lord
cometh. And I will give it unto you for the land of your inheritance, if you
seek it with all your hearts. And this shall be my covenant with you, ye shall
have it for the land of your inheritance, and for the inheritance of your
children forever, while the earth shall stand, and ye shall possess it again in
eternity, no more to pass away" (D&C 38:18-20).
On July
20, 1831, the place of the new land of promise was revealed. The
On Aug. 2,
1831, the History of the Church records a significant event. On that
day, twelve men representing the twelve tribes of
In 1833,
the saints in
Keys for
Though
Joseph Smith the Church was organized,
First,
Moses committed "the keys for the gathering of
"Two
things are involved in this commission. First,
Following
Moses, Elias restored the keys of the "dispensation of the gospel of
Abraham" -- the Abrahamic covenant or the temple marriage covenant. Then
Elijah restored the sealing powers to the prophet Joseph Smith so that the
covenant made in marriage is bound on earth and in eternity.
Through
the instrumentality of these keys given to the prophet, he could begin to turn
scattered
The
Gathering of
With the
temple ordinances restored, the gathering of
We are currently living in Phase II. Phase I and II deal with
President
Kimball on the Gathering
Concerning
the law of the gathering, President Spencer W. Kimball taught, "Now, the
gathering of
Concerning
Phase II of the gathering, President Kimball said, "The Saints are no
longer to come to a single place. In 1955, Sister Kimball and I went to
He also
stated, "Early in the history of this world there was the great scattering
of
Finally,
he said, "Many people have been holding their breath waiting to see the
gathering of
The
Gathering of Ten Tribes and Judah
Though the
gathering of Israel is first, spiritual (to the Church and temple and stakes of
Zion), and second, temporal (to the land that God promised Abraham), it is also
apparent that there is a general gathering of the ten tribes and a general
gathering of Judah and that these gatherings are generally separate from
one another before the millennium. It is also evident that
The Return
of the Ten Tribes
In Joseph
Smith - Matthew (in the Pearl of Great Price) we are informed that once the
gospel has gone to all the world then the end of the world will come (vs. 31).
The end of the world is directly preceded by the war that has become known as
the battle of Armageddon (vs. 32). Zechariah prophesied that as part of this
war
At a point
in the war when the Jews have lost most of the "land" of
Doctrine
and Covenants 45 continues the story. As the Jews pass "between the
pieces" of the
James
E. Faust, “The Key of the Knowledge of God,” Ensign, Nov 2004, 52
The
key of the knowledge of God, administered by those who keep the oath and
covenant of the Melchizedek Priesthood, will enable us to come off as the sons
of God.
|
|
Brethren of
the priesthood of God, I am again seated as I deliver my message this evening.
As you are aware, I am working through a temporary back problem. Those of you
who have had back trouble will understand. Those of you who haven’t—just wait a
while! Any other explanation of what ails me is not true!
I humbly
speak to you tonight with a prayer in my heart that you may understand me by
the power of the Spirit. It is hard to imagine anything more important for us
as priesthood holders to learn than the key of the knowledge of God. This
evening I would like to speak concerning that key.
The greater
priesthood administers the gospel and holds “the key of the mysteries of the
kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.”
1 What is the key of the knowledge of God, and can anyone obtain it?
Without the priesthood there can be no fulness of the knowledge of God. The
Prophet Joseph Smith said that the “Melchizedek Priesthood … is the channel
through which all knowledge, doctrine, the plan of salvation and every
important matter is revealed from heaven.”
2 President Joseph F. Smith stated: “One who can truly affirm that Joseph
Smith was a prophet of God, and Jesus is the Savior, has in his possession a
prize beyond computation. When we know this we know God, and we have a key to
all knowledge.”
3
Father Abraham recognized the value of this
grand key as he recounted his experience: “I sought for the blessings of the
fathers, and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same;
having been myself a follower of righteousness, desiring also to be one who
possessed great knowledge, and to be a greater follower of righteousness, and
to possess a greater knowledge, … and desiring to receive instructions, and to
keep the commandments of God, I became a rightful heir, a High Priest, holding
the right belonging to the fathers.”
4
Anyone who is righteous and desires to
possess greater knowledge and to become “a greater follower of righteousness”
can, under the authority of the priesthood, obtain a greater knowledge of God.
The Lord tells us one clear way to do so, as given in the Doctrine and
Covenants: “If thou shalt ask, thou shalt receive revelation upon revelation,
knowledge upon knowledge, … that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life
eternal.”
5
One might ask, “How do I become a greater follower
of righteousness?” A righteous person is one who makes and keeps gospel
covenants. These are holy contracts,
6 usually between individuals and the Lord. Sometimes they include other
persons, such as spouses. They involve most sacred promises and commitments,
such as baptism, the conferral of the priesthood, temple blessings, marriage,
and parenthood. Many of the blessings of Father Abraham come as the Holy Ghost
is poured out upon all people.
7 Any worthy man or woman who receives the Holy Ghost can actually become
“a new creation.”
8
To obtain the full portion of these supernal
blessings and come to a full knowledge of God, a man must enter into and keep
the oath and covenant of the priesthood.
9 President Marion G. Romney insightfully pointed out:
“The only way a man can make the maximum
progress towards eternal life, for which mortality is designed, is to obtain
and magnify the Melchizedek Priesthood. … It is of utmost importance that we
keep clearly in mind what the magnifying of our callings in the priesthood
requires of us. … It requires at least the following three things:
“1. That we obtain a knowledge of the gospel.
“2. That we comply in our personal living
with the standards of the gospel.
“3. That we give dedicated service.”
10
Two covenants are to be made by each
priesthood holder. The first is to be faithful unto the obtaining of the
Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods.
11 The Aaronic Priesthood trains and prepares the priesthood holder for the
greater duties of the Melchizedek Priesthood and prepares him to receive the
blessings of the oath and covenant of the priesthood. Holding both the Aaronic
and Melchizedek Priesthoods is essential to receive the full blessings that the
Lord has for His faithful sons. The second covenant as His agent in this holy
authority is to be faithful in magnifying one’s calling with total faith in
God.
12
As part of the oath and covenant of the
priesthood, the Lord makes several promises to His faithful sons “which he
cannot break.”
13 First, the priesthood holders “are sanctified by the Spirit unto the
renewing of their bodies.”
14 I think President Hinckley is a great example of this. He has been
renewed in body, mind, and spirit in a most remarkable manner. Second, “they
become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham.”
15 Third, they become “the elect of God.”
16 As His agents, they carry forth this holy work in our time on the earth.
Fourth, “all they who receive this priesthood receive [the Lord].”
17 Fifth, those who receive the Lord’s servants receive Him.
18 Sixth, those who receive the Savior receive God the Father.
19 Seventh, they also receive the Father’s kingdom.
20 Eighth, they also shall be given all that the Father hath.
21 Those who receive all that the Father hath can receive nothing more.
You young men
of the Aaronic Priesthood have been given great authority and responsibilities.
Under the direction of the bishop, the Aaronic Priesthood functions in at least
two ordinances that are directly related to the Atonement. One is the
sacrament, which is in remembrance of the Savior’s blood shed for our sins and
His body which He gave as a ransom for us.
22 The second is baptism. Priests have authority to perform baptisms for
the remission of sins. The Aaronic Priesthood is a very real power. One young
man wrote this of his experience in exercising this power:
“At one time
I attended a ward which had almost no Melchizedek Priesthood holders in it. But
it was not in any way dulled in spirituality. On the contrary, many of its
members witnessed the greatest display of priesthood power they had ever known.
“The
power was centered in the priests. For the first time in their lives they were
called upon to perform all the duties of the priests and administer to the
needs of their fellow ward members. They were seriously called to home
teach—not just to be a yawning appendage to an elder making a social call but
to bless their brothers and sisters.
“Previous
to this time I had been with four of these priests in a different situation. …
They drove away every seminary teacher after two or three months. They spread
havoc over the countryside on Scouting trips. But when they were needed—when they were trusted with a
vital mission—they were among those who shone the most brilliantly in
priesthood service.
“The
secret was that the bishop called upon his Aaronic Priesthood to rise to the
stature of men to whom angels might well appear; and they rose to that stature,
administering relief to those who might be in want and strengthening those who
needed strengthening. Not only were the other ward members built up but so were
the members of the quorum themselves. A great unity spread throughout the ward
and every member began to have a taste of what it is for a people to be of one
mind and one heart. There was nothing inexplicable in all of this; it was just
the proper exercise of the Aaronic Priesthood.”
23
President
Gordon B. Hinckley recently told the Aaronic Priesthood that those of you who
live worthy lives can be blessed by the “protection of ministering angels” and
that you “have something magnificent to live up to.”
24
What does it mean to
be the seed of Abraham? Scripturally it has a deeper meaning than being his literal
descendants. The Lord made a covenant with Abraham, the great patriarch, that
all nations would be blessed through him.
25 Any man or woman can claim the blessings of Abraham. They become his
seed and heirs to the promised blessings by accepting the gospel, being
baptized, entering into temple marriage, being faithful in keeping their
covenants, and helping to carry the gospel to all the nations of the earth.
To be empowered to
“bear this ministry and Priesthood unto all nations,”
26 a man must receive the Melchizedek Priesthood with its blessings. Then
through faithfulness he becomes an heir to the fulness of eternal life. For as
Paul said, “And if ye be Christ’s, then are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs
according to the promise.”
27
As the seed of
Abraham, we have some obligations. We are commanded to come to Christ by doing
“the works of Abraham.”
28 These works include obeying God, receiving and keeping priesthood and
temple ordinances and covenants, preaching the gospel, building a family unit
and teaching our children, and being faithful to the end.
It is interesting that
the Lord used the word seed
in His promise to Abraham. It has a fuller meaning than posterity because it
means to multiply the blessings of the covenant of Abraham “unto all nations.”
29 The Lord promised Abraham a posterity “as innumerable as the stars” or
“the sand upon the seashore.”
30
Abraham’s righteous posterity
is also privileged to be adopted into the eternal family of Jesus Christ. This
includes the right to receive eternal covenants in the temple by which, if they
are worthy, they will be organized and exalted in the eternal family of Christ.
31 It also includes “the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal.”
32
The patriarchal order
runs from Abraham to Isaac and to Jacob. Through the line of the priesthood it
continues in our own day and time. Through the ages, blessings and promises
were given from the fathers to their faithful sons. A modern example of
this is taken from the life of Elder John B. Dickson of the Seventy. He
recalls:
“When
it was time for me to go on a mission, I was very excited to serve the Lord.
Just before I was to leave, however, I found out that I had bone cancer. The
chance of living long enough to serve a mission wasn’t very high. I had faith
that the Lord would provide a way if He wanted me to go. My father gave me a
blessing in which I was told that I would serve my mission in
“Some
would think that losing an arm would be a terrible burden, but it has been one
of the greatest blessings in my life. I learned that it is very important to
have challenges and to face up to them.”
Elder
Dickson had always been right-handed, and now he had to learn to do everything
left-handed. One struggle was learning how to tie his ties. He said: “One Sunday
morning when I was in my bedroom with my tie in my hand, I thought, How am I going to tie this?
I thought about getting a clip-on tie. I thought about asking Mom to help me.
But I couldn’t take her with me on my mission just to tie my ties. So I decided
I had to learn how to do it myself. I finally figured it out by using my teeth.
I still do it that way, even after having tied it thousands of times.”
33
We
don’t know in detail all that is going to be required of humanity, of the
Saints of God in the uncertain days ahead. Everyday righteous living will be
increasingly difficult. In addition, holders of the priesthood may well have to
meet some extra challenges in safeguarding and providing for their families. As
one world leader recently pointed out, there will be “dangers common to us all.
Today’s deadly threats come from rogue powers and stateless networks of
extremists who have nothing but contempt for the sanctity of human life and for
the principles civilized nations hold dear.”
34
We
can all expect to face trials. But great eternal promises are extended to those
who persist in righteousness. The Lord has given His word that “any man that
shall … fail not to continue faithful in all things, shall not be weary in
mind, neither darkened, neither in body, limb, nor joint. … And they shall not
go hungry, neither athirst.”
35 I am optimistic about what the future holds for the Lord’s Church and
its members, but we will have to persist in righteousness and be “faithful in
all things.”
36 The key of the knowledge of God, administered by those who keep the oath
and covenant of the Melchizedek Priesthood, will enable us to come off as the
sons of God. That we will do so, I pray humbly in the name of Jesus Christ,
amen.
1. D&C 84:19.
2. Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (1976),
166–67.
3. In Brian H. Stuy, comp., Collected Discourses Delivered by
President Wilford Woodruff, His Two Counselors, the Twelve Apostles, and
Others, 5 vols. (1987–92), 2:355–56.
4. Abr. 1:2.
5. D&C 42:61.
6. See Carlos E. Asay, “The Oath and Covenant
of the Priesthood,” Ensign,
Nov. 1985, 43–45.
7. See 3 Ne.
20:25–29.
8. See Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 149–50.
9. See D&C
84:33–42.
10. “The Oath and Covenant Which Belongeth to
the Priesthood,” Improvement
Era, June 1962, 416.
11. See D&C 84:33.
12. See D&C 84:33.
13. D&C 84:40.
14. D&C 84:33.
15. D&C 84:34.
16. D&C 84:34.
17. D&C 84:35.
18. See D&C 84:36.
19. See D&C 84:37.
20. See D&C 84:38.
21. See D&C 84:38.
22. See Matt.
26:26–28; Joseph Smith Translation, Matt. 26:22–24.
23. Quoted in Victor L. Brown, “The Vision of
the Aaronic Priesthood,” Ensign,
Nov. 1975, 68.
24. Quoted in Jason Swensen, “Priesthood
Restored Directly from Heaven,” Church
News, 22 May 2004, 3.
25. See Gen. 18:18;
Gal. 3:8;
3 Ne.
20:25, 29.
26. Abr. 2:9.
27. Gal. 3:29.
28. John 8:39;
see also John 8:32–50.
29. Abr. 2:9.
30. D&C
132:30.
31. See Gal. 3:29.
32. Abr. 2:11.
33. “Friend to Friend,” Liahona, June 1996, F6–F7;
Friend, Sept.
1995, 6–7.
34. Colin Powell, “Of Memory and Our
Democracy,” USA Weekend,
2 May 2004, Internet, http://www.usaweekend.com.
35. D&C 84:80.
36. D&C 84:80.
Bruce gave a history
lesson on Abraham and the House of Israel, and the events at Shechem,
Deuteronomy 28:1-14 (blessings), 15-68 (cursing) and the tribes are divided and
are camped on Mts. Ebal (North) and Gerezim (South). Remember Abraham came into this same land and
was promised the land for his future seed.
(Deuteronomy
27:6-14.) –
6 Thou
shalt build the altar of the LORD thy God of whole stones: and thou shalt offer
burnt offerings thereon unto the LORD thy God:
7 And thou
shalt offer peace offerings, and shalt eat there, and rejoice before the LORD
thy God.
8 And thou
shalt write upon the stones all the words of this law very plainly.
9 ¶ And
Moses and the priests the Levites spake unto all
10 Thou
shalt therefore obey the voice of the LORD thy God, and do his commandments and
his statutes, which I command thee this day.
11 ¶ And
Moses charged the people the same day, saying,
12 These
shall stand upon
13 And
these shall stand upon
14 ¶ And
the Levites shall speak, and say unto all the men of
(Deuteronomy
28:63-68.) – The ultimate curse was to be scattered, they forgot, it
happened! I will bless all of Abraham’s
seed by scattering them, and then they will hear the gospel. Jacob 5, the allegory of the olive tree the
whole vineyard was corrupt. The
scattering is still happening, they are lost, and they don’t know who they
are. So missionaries must knock on every
door to find them.
63 And it
shall come to pass, that as the LORD rejoiced over you to do you good,
and to multiply you; so the LORD will rejoice over you to destroy you, and to
bring you to nought; and ye shall be plucked from off the land whither thou
goest to possess it.
64 And the LORD shall scatter thee among all
people, from the one end of the earth even unto the other; and there
thou shalt serve other gods, which neither thou nor thy fathers have known, even
wood and stone.
65 And
among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall the sole of thy foot
have rest: but the LORD shall give thee there a trembling heart, and failing of
eyes, and sorrow of mind:
66 And thy
life shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and
shalt have none assurance of thy life:
67 In the
morning thou shalt say, Would God it were even! and at even thou shalt say,
Would God it were morning! for the fear of thine heart wherewith thou shalt
fear, and for the sight of thine eyes which thou shalt see.
68 And the
LORD shall bring thee into
How these covenants
came about. Teach them the gospel, bring
them to the temple to receive eternal covenants and restore them to the land
which they lost, Article of Faith #10.
(Genesis
12:1-7.) – The Abrahamic covenant
1 Now the
LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred,
and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:
2 And I
will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name
great; and thou shalt be a blessing:
3 And I
will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee
shall all families of the earth be blessed.
4 So Abram
departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was
seventy and five years old when he departed out of
5 And Abram
took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that
they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in
6 ¶ And
Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of
Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.
7 And the
LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and
there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.
(Genesis
15:7-10.) – Abraham making (cutting) the covenant with God. God was on one side of the divided animal and
Abraham (us) are on the other side, if we do not keep our covenants, violating
them, may the same event (dividing
cutting in half) happen to us, the law of obedience. This is what Abraham wanted, a covenant
ritual. In Hebrew making a covenant
meant to cut the covenant, then we walk between the animal thus putting the
covenant into effect.
7 And he
said unto him, I am the LORD that brought thee out of
8 And he
said, Lord GOD, whereby shall I know that I shall inherit it?
9 And he
said unto him, Take me an heifer of three years old, and a she goat of three
years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
10 And he
took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one
against another: but the birds divided he not.
(Genesis
15:13-16.) – You won’t have this land for 400 years, the Lord did everything He
could to bring the Canaanites back, but they refused, yet He gave them plenty
of time.
13 And he
said unto Abram, Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that
is not theirs, and shall serve them; and they shall afflict them four
hundred years;
14 And also
that nation, whom they shall serve, will I judge: and afterward shall they come
out with great substance.
15 And thou
shalt go to thy fathers in peace; thou shalt be buried in a good old age.
16 But in
the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the
Amorites is not yet full.
Circumcision was
Abraham’s part of making the covenant, the shedding of blood, the part where
the seed came from.
(Genesis 17:9-14.)
9 ¶ And God
said unto Abraham, Thou shalt keep my covenant therefore, thou, and thy seed
after thee in their generations.
10 This is
my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee;
Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
11 And ye
shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the
covenant betwixt me and you.
12 And he
that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your
generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any
stranger, which is not of thy seed.
13 He that
is born in thy house, and he that is bought with thy money, must needs be
circumcised: and my covenant shall be in your flesh for an everlasting
covenant.
14 And the
uncircumcised man child whose flesh of his foreskin is not circumcised, that
soul shall be cut off from his people; he hath broken my covenant.
We keep covenants we
make with God regardless of where they may lead, He knows what He will ask of
us, how obedient will we be of the unknown?
All Must Be Tested As Abraham
D&C
98:12-15
12 For he will give unto the faithful line upon line, precept upon precept; and
I will try you and prove you herewith.
13
And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name's sake, shall find it
again, even life eternal.
14
Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith
the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant,
even unto death, that you may be found worthy.
15
For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me.
D&C 101:4-5
4 Therefore, they must needs be chastened and tried, even as Abraham, who was
commanded to offer up his only son.
5
For all those who will not endure chastening, but deny me, cannot be
sanctified.
Spencer
W. Kimball
Joseph
Smith
After
a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the
remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of
hands),which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself
before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every
word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be
exalted. When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is
determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and
his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other
Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the
testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the 27th verses. [History
of the Church, 3:379-381; emphasis added]
<>
Ezra Taft Benson
Brigham Young
All
intelligent beings who are crowned with crowns of glory, immortality, and
eternal lives must pass through every ordeal appointed for intelligent beings
to pass through, to gain their glory and exaltation. Every calamity that can
come upon mortal beings will be suffered to come upon the few, to prepare them
to enjoy the presence of the Lord. If we obtain the glory that Abraham
obtained, we must do so by the same means that he did. If we are ever
prepared to enjoy the society of Enoch, Noah, Melchizedek, Abraham, Isaac, and
Jacob, or of their faithful children, and of the faithful Prophets and
Apostles, we must pass through the same experience, and gain the knowledge,
intelligence, and endowments that will prepare us to enter into the celestial
John Taylor
George Q. Cannon
(Genesis 22:15-18.) – The covenant is now in effect.
15 ¶ And
the angel of the LORD called unto Abraham out of heaven the second time,
16 And
said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this
thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only son:
17 That in
blessing I will bless thee, and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the
stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore; and
thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies;
18 And in
thy seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed; because thou hast
obeyed my voice.
Isaac
and Jacob had to marry right in order to receive the same blessings as Abraham,
they did it.
(Genesis
28:10-18.) – Jacob’s temple experience, the covenant is now made with him.
10 ¶ And
Jacob went out from Beer-sheba, and went toward
11 And he
lighted upon a certain place, and tarried there all night, because the sun was
set; and he took of the stones of that place, and put them for his
pillows, and lay down in that place to sleep.
12 And he
dreamed, and behold a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven: and behold the angels of God ascending and descending on it.
13 And,
behold, the LORD stood above it, and said, I am the LORD God of Abraham
thy father, and the God of Isaac: the land whereon thou liest, to thee will I
give it, and to thy seed;
14 And thy
seed shall be as the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west,
and to the east, and to the north, and to the south: and in thee and in thy
seed shall all the families of the earth be blessed.
15 And,
behold, I am with thee, and will keep thee in all places whither
thou goest, and will bring thee again into this land; for I will not leave
thee, until I have done that which I have spoken to thee of.
16 ¶ And
Jacob awaked out of his sleep, and he said, Surely the LORD is in this place;
and I knew it not.
17 And he
was afraid, and said, How dreadful is this place! this is none
other but the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.
18 And
Jacob rose up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for
his pillows, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil upon the top of
it.
(Genesis
35:1-4.) – Sealing of the family, but 1st you must be clean before
Me. Interesting story
1 And God
said unto Jacob, Arise, go up to Beth-el, and dwell there: and make there an
altar unto God, that appeared unto thee when thou fleddest from the face of
Esau thy brother.
2 Then
Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away
the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your
garments:
3 And let
us arise, and go up to Beth-el; and I will make there an altar unto God, who
answered me in the day of my distress, and was with me in the way which I went.
4 And they
gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their hand, and all
their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under
the oak which was by Shechem.
Moses brought them
out of the land of bondage and 1st brought them to
The 2 tribes of
There are 2 parts to
the House of Israel
We have the same
problem today, there are Canaanites in the land, and we want to be like Abraham
in the land, a blessing to the people.
Like the Jews in
Joseph Fielding McConkie (This is a portion of his
lecture)
A Scriptural Search
for the Ten Tribes and Other Things We Lost
(BYU, Annual Religious Education Faculty
Summer Lecture, June 1987.)
Mormon Legends and Traditions About the Return of
Prophecies, like
fertile fields, produce good weeds, and none more so among Latter-day Saints
than the field of prophecy dealing with the gathering of
The Star Theory. One of our all-time
favorites is the idea that the ten tribes were taken away from this earth in a
manner similar to that of the city of
Thou, Earth, was once
a glorious sphere
Of noble magnitude,
And didst with majesty appear
Among the worlds of God.
But thy dimensions
have been torn
Asunder, piece by piece,
And each dismember'd fragment borne
Abroad to distant space.
When Enoch could no
longer stay
Amid corruption here,
Part of thyself was borne away
To form another sphere.
That portion where his
city stood
He gain'd by right approv'd;
And nearer to the throne of God
His planet upward moved.
And when the Lord saw
fit to hide
The "ten lost tribes" away,
Thou, Earth, wast sever'd to provide
The orb on which they stay.
And thus, from time to
time, thy size
Has been diminish'd still
Thou seemest the law of sacrifice
Created to fulfil.
It is argued that
since Eliza was married to Joseph Smith [Eliza Roxey Snow (1804-87) was
baptized in 1835 and was sealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith on June 29, 1842.]
she certainly got the doctrine from him. It is held that this is a doctrine
that Joseph taught to his wives and his closest friends. [R. Clayton Brough, The
Lost Tribes (Horizon Publishers, 1979), 47.] There is also a supporting
statement attributed to the grandson of a man with whom the Prophet once
stayed. In response to his grandfather's question as to where the ten tribes
were, Joseph Smith reportedly took him outside and pointed to a star twenty
feet (from their position) to the right and below the North Star. [_Ibid.,
47-48.] Eliza R. Snow also purportedly told his grandfather that she got her
information on this matter from the Prophet. [Robert W. Smith, The Last Days
(SLC: Pyramid Press, 1947), 225-27.] In addition, we are told by a son of
Anson Call, a particular friend of the Prophet, that Joseph told him in company
with others on a number of occasions that the ten tribes were on a portion of
the earth that had been taken away. [Ibid., 215. See also Parley P.
Pratt, Millennial Star, Vol. 1, 258 (Question 7), and Writings of
Parley P. Pratt (Parker Pratt Robinson: SLC, 1952), 306-307.]
The Hollow Earth
Theory.
Another of our traditions holds that the ten tribes are hidden in a hollow of
the earth somewhere. Sources include Benjamin F. Johnson, personal friend of
Joseph Smith, who records the following conversation: "I asked where the
nine and a half tribes of
Another published
version of the hollow earth theory takes us to Mexico, where there is a large
cave opening on the side of a cliff which David O. McKay is said to have said
"led to the center of the earth, and that it was the access to the outer
world for the ten tribes." The cliff is, of course, too high to scale from
the bottom and is protected from the top by a large overhanging ledge. No one
has ever been able to enter it. [Susan Peterson, "The Great and Dreadful
Day: Mormon Folklore of the Apocalypse,"
Knob on the Earth
Theory. We
learn from a son of Philo Dibble that Joseph Smith drew a picture for his
father to show him where the ten tribes were. The picture consisted of a circle
with a smaller circle on each side, something like a round face with round
ears. The Prophet explained that one of these lobes (the one above the north
pole) represented the orb upon which the ten tribes resided. Presumably the other
lobe, beneath the south pole, was for the city of
The North Pole Theory. The argument in this
instance is that the ten tribes live in a mysteriously camouflaged area somewhere
near the North Pole. Among is strong advocates have been W. W. Phelps [W. W.
Phelps, "A Letter to Oliver Cowdery," Messenger and Advocate 2:194
(October 1835).], who we are reminded acted as scribe at times for the Prophet
Joseph, Orson Pratt, and George Reynolds. Elder Pratt expounded on the
often-quoted text from 2 Esdras (an apocryphal work, which we must consider),
which speaks of the ten tribes escaping from their Assyrian captors, crossing
the Euphrates, and marching into the north to dwell in a land never before
inhabited. He reconstructs the route they followed, giving distances and travel
times, detailing little-known facts concerning the "comparatively
pleasant" climate that would greet them and speaks of the grain and other
vegetables they would raise. [Orson Pratt, "Where are the Ten Tribes of
Israel?" Millennial Star 29:200-4.] George Reynolds, following
Elder Pratt's lead, wrote of the feelings of awe these vagabonds of
At this point some
observations ought to be made about these theories: though rich in imagination,
all are without scriptural support. With the possible exception of the North
Pole theory, each claims what amounts to a private audience with Joseph Smith
as its source. This same Joseph Smith once said: "I have taught all the
strong doctrines publicly, and always teach stronger doctrines in public than
in private." [Joseph Fielding Smith, comp., Teachings of the Prophet
Joseph Smith (SLC: Deseret Book Co., 1961), 370.] Further, each theory is
in conflict with the others. Thus we must conclude that Joseph Smith (1) freely
speculated on the matter, (2) was terribly confused on the issue, or (3) that
such methods of tracing statements to him are not reliable for the
establishment of the doctrines of the kingdom.
Have the Tribes Retained Their Identity as a Body?
Another commonality
among explanations as to where the ten tribes are is the assumption that the
tribes would remain together as a body. Those who support this idea do so
primarily on the strength of quotations from past authorities [Brough, 75-92.
In his treatment of the various theories relative to the gathering of
Arguments that the ten
tribes retained their identity as a body can be traced to three sources: a
quotation from the book of 2 Esdras, the verses in Doctrine & Covenants
Section 133 which speak of the ten tribes returning with their prophets at
their head, and the statement in 3 Nephi that Christ would visit the lost
tribes. Let us examine each.
Arguing from the Apocrypha
2 Esdras, or 4 Ezra as
it is sometimes known, may well be the most often quoted apocryphal text in
Mormon literature. It has been quoted approvingly in the Times and Seasons [1
July 1841 (Vol. 2, No. 17), 465], Millennial Star [20 March 1867 (Vol.
29), p. 200], Juvenile Instructor [1883; 18:27-28], Improvement Era [October
1910, 1087-88; January 1924, 258; January 1939, 6], a Deseret Sunday School
manual ["Birthright Blessings: Genealogical Training Class" (Sunday
School Lessons--for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, The
Deseret Sunday School Union Board, 50 North Main Street, SLC, Utah, 1942), 63],
the book Articles of Faith [James E. Talmage, Articles of Faith, (SLC:
Published by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1975) 325], and
the book Mormon Doctrine [Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, 2nd
ed. (SLC: Bookcraft, 1966), 455-56], as well as in a host of lesser-known
sources. People are quoting each other here, with no one taking the time to
check the reliability of the source. This is the stuff of which traditions are
made. May I suggest that an examination of the Esdras text is in order.
Second Esdras is one
of the intertestamental apocryphal books. In its present form it is believed to
be a Christian writing, though the core of the work is a Jewish apocalypse
commonly known as 4 Ezra. It is generally believed that its first two chapters
are of Christian authorship, having been written in the second century AD;
chapters 3-13, or the Apocalypse [Apocalyptic literature undertakes to reveal
the future (the Greek word apocalypsis means 'a revealing'). Rather than
doing so in a straightforward manner, however, it uses a rather elaborate
system of symbols--"wild beasts with several heads and many horns,
composite creatures made up of the head of one kind of animal and the body of
another, the falling of stars and gigantic hailstones upon the earth, the
turning of the sea into blood," and so forth. Classic illustrations in the
Bible would be Ezekiel and the Book of Revelation. None of the other
intertestamental books are apocalyptic.] of Ezra, are believed to have been
written toward the end of the first century AD, and the two concluding chapters
to have been written by a third century Christian writer. [The Jerome
Biblical Commentary (Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice- Hall, Inc., 1968),
542; George W. E. Nickelsburg, Jewish Literature Between the Bible and the
Mishnah (Philadelphia: Fortress Press, 1981), 278; H. F. D. Sparks, ed., The
Apocryphal Old Testament (Oxford: Claredon Press, 1984), 927; Bruce M.
Metzger, ed., The Apocrypha (NY:Oxford University Press, 1973), 23.]
The apocalypse is set
in
The text referring to
the lost tribes comes in an explanation of a night dream in which Ezra sees the
figure of a man coming forth out the heart of a storm-tossed sea. The man then
flies with the clouds of heaven; all that he looks upon trembles, and when he
speaks all that hear his voice are consumed with fire. From the four quarters
of the earth a multitude of men gather to wage war against him. He then carves
for himself a great mountain and flies upon it. From his mountain he
annihilates the hostile host with a stream of fire and tempest which proceed
from his mouth. The man then descends the mountain and summons to his side all
who have not attempted to oppose him. (4 Ezra 13:1-13.)
The interpretation of
the dream says that the man from the sea is the Messiah, his enemies are the
nations of the world, and the graven rock is the heavenly
These are the ten
tribes which were led away from their own land into captivity in the days of
King Hoshea, whom Shalmaneser the king of the Assyrians led captive; he took
them across the river, and they were taken unto another land. But they formed
this plan for themselves, that they would leave the multitude of the nations
and go to a more distant region, where mankind had never lived, and there at
least they might keep their statutes which they had not kept in their own land.
And they went in by the narrow passages of the
Then they dwelt there
until the last times; and now, when they are about to come again, the Most High
will stop the channels of the river again, so that they may be able to pass
over. Therefore you saw the multitude gathered together in peace. But those who
are left of your people, who are found within my holy borders, shall be saved.
Therefore when he destroys the multitude of the nations that are gathered
together, he will defend the people who remain. And then he will show them very
many wonders. (4 Ezra 13:40-49.)
There are, for the
Latter-day Saint, some serious theological difficulties with the account of the
millennial era as described in the book of Ezra. Chief among them is the
announcement that the Messiah, having ruled for four hundred years, will then
die (7:28-29). Another is the announcement that those who are gathered in the
last days will be those to whom the Lord will have shown no signs and who
"have seen no prophets" (1:36-37). Yet signs of the time are given,
including "menstruous women" who "shall bring forth
monsters" (5:8), "women with child" who "shall give birth
to premature children at three or four months, and these shall live and
dance" (6:21-22). We are also told that children born of older women will
not grow to the same stature as those born of younger women, and that those of
the last days will not be as large as those of earlier ages (5:53-55).
Other matters which
should at least raise an eyebrow include the declaration that our sovereign
Lord created the earth "without help" (3:4), that Adam was a man
"burdened with an evil heart" (3:21), that "it would have been
better if the earth had not produced Adam, or else, when it had produced him,
had restrained him from sinning" (7:116-117), and that God does "not
grieve over the multitude of those who perish ... for they are set on fire and
burn hotly, and are extinguished" (7:61).
This is a sampling of
the doctrines taught in this book; I submit that it is not a good source. It could
be argued that the passage referring to the ten tribes is good while the rest
of the book is bad, and perhaps this is so. If we are to maintain that the ten
tribes passage is as a pearl found in a coal pit, it stands sorely in need of
verification from a source known to be genuine, but what it cannot be is the
foundation upon which the rest of our reasoning is based.
Indeed, we have no
scriptural text that tells us that the ten tribes are located somewhere as a
body. While it is true that Christ visited them in a group or groups in the
meridian of time (see 3 Ne 17:4), it takes a two thousand year leap to suppose
that they have remained so today. The Nephites were also in a group with
prophets at their head, but no one would argue that they have retained their
identity to this day. Doctrine & Covenants Section 133 speaks of a future
day when the tribes of
It should also be
noted that in spite of the tact that it has been a popular part of Mormon
tradition to argue that the ten tribes are off somewhere together, the idea
presents critical theological difficulties and raises a number of serious
questions. How could the apostasy have been universal and not affect those of
the lost tribes? And if there was no apostasy among them, why the need for a
restoration? Why restore priesthood and keys that have not been lost? Why give
Joseph Smith the presidency and responsibility for events over which he has no
control? And what is wrong with the priesthood authority of these prophets and
their tribes that they have never sought to share its blessings with others? Is
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints the "only true and living
Church upon the earth," as the Lord declared (D&C 1:30), or are there
other true but hidden churches?
The Scriptures and the Story of the Gathering
Well, you might ask,
if you are going to be so fussy about what the scriptures don't say,
then, pray tell, what do they say? They say a good deal, they say it
repetitiously, and they say it with consider-able plainness. Let us proceed in
a question and answer form.
Question: What is the covenant that God made with
Abraham?
God said to Abraham,
"I have purposed to take thee away out of Haran, and to make of thee a
minister to bear my name in a strange land which I will give unto thy seed
after thee for an everlasting possession, when they hearken to my voice"
(Abr 2:6). The covenant, then, was that Abraham would be a missionary that he
would go into the
Further, God promised
Abraham that he would make of him a great nation, that he would bless him above
measure, that his name would be great among all nations, and that he would be a
blessing unto his seed. Of Abraham's seed the Lord said, "They shall bear
this ministry." They, like Abraham, must be missionaries, bearing the name
of the Lord Jehovah in strange lands. Abraham was promised that they would bear
the Priesthood among all nations; at the hands of his seed all families of the
earth were to be blessed "with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the
blessings of salvation, even of life eternal." (Abr 2:10, 11.)
It was a spiritual
covenant that God made with Abraham, a covenant centering in obedience,
missionary work, the gospel of salvation, and the promise of eternal life. The
great issue was not where Abraham lived, but how he lived. A land of
inheritance is simply an earthly token, a reminder of the eternal rewards
awaiting those who honor their covenants. It is appropriate that if Abraham or
his seed break those covenants, the token--the land promised them--would be taken
from them. When they return to the living of those covenants, then and only
then should they be returned to that land that symbolizes their obedience.
That this principle
might be written upon the hearts of Abraham's seed, God commanded that the day
Question: Why was
There can be no
understanding of the gathering without an understanding of the scattering. If
we suppose that the tribes of
Question: Now that
Clues, no. Plain
statements, yes. On this matter we have the united testimony of the Standard
Works. Enoch in the prophetic description of the last days spoke of
"righteousness and truth" sweeping the four quarters of the earth
"as with a flood," to gather out the "elect" and bring them
to the New Jerusalem (Moses 7:62). In the biblical statements we begin with
Moses, the first prophet to prophesy to the nation of
Describing this day of
restoration, Isaiah said that the Lord would "assemble the outcasts of
Mormon, in like
manner, taught: "I write unto all the ends of the earth; yea, unto you,
twelve tribes of
Yea, and surely shall
he again bring a remnant of the seed of Joseph to the knowledge of the
Lord their God.
And as surely as the
Lord liveth, will he gather in from the four quarters of the earth all the
remnant of the seed of Jacob, who are scattered abroad upon all the face of the
earth.
And as he hath
covenanted with all the house of Jacob, even so shall the covenant wherewith he
hath covenanted with the house of Jacob be fulfilled in his own due time, unto the
restoring all the house of Jacob unto the knowledge of the covenant that he
hath covenanted with them.
And then shall they
know their Redeemer, who is Jesus Christ, the Son of God; and then shall they be
gathered in from the four quarters of the earth unto their own lands, from
whence they have been dispersed; yea, as the Lord liveth so shall it be.
Amen. (3 Nephi 5:23-26, emphasis added.)
Indeed, we are told
that the very purpose of the coming forth of the Book of Mormon was to
"gather in, from their long dispersion" the "house of
The Lord told Joseph
Smith that the Church had been organized that He might gather the "elect
from the four quarters of the earth, even as many as will believe in [him], and
hearken unto [his] voice" (D&C 33:5-6). Joseph Smith was also told
that the sealing of the one hundred and forty-four thousand, twelve thousand
out of each tribe, would be high priests, ordained "out of every nation,
kindred, tongue, and people" upon the earth (D&C 77:11). As Joseph
Smith dedicated the first temple of our dispensation, he prayed that "all
the scattered remnants of
Question: Does Doctrine and Covenants 133 tell us that
when the ten tribes return they will have their scriptural records with them?
No. There is no
reference to either the ten tribes or their scriptural records in the Doctrine
and Covenants. The text in question appears to have reference to the return of
all the tribes of
As he prophetically
described the latter-day gathering of
In the revelation
known to us as the Law of the Church, the Lord said: "I will consecrate
the riches of those who embrace my gospel among the Gentiles unto the poor of
my people who are of the house of
Question: Are there scriptural keys that help in
interpreting the description of the returning tribes of Israel from the north
countries in D&C 133, specifically, of such things as their smiting the
rocks, the ice flowing down at their presence, a highway being cast up in the
midst of the great deep, the barren deserts bringing forth pools of living
water, and the parched ground becoming a thirsty land? (D&C 133:26-27, 29.)
Section 133 weaves
together scores and scores of phrases from the Old Testament prophecies. In
some instances it announces their fulfillment; in others it provides additional
prophecy that will surround their eventual fulfillment. The language in
question here comes primarily from Isaiah chapter 35. In fact, these verses
from the Doctrine & Covenants and the Isaiah chapter need to be studied
together because they clarify each other. For instance, Isaiah tells us that
the highway that is to be cast up is the "way of holiness," that the
"unclean shall not pass over it," but that the "redeemed,"
or the "ransomed of the Lord," shall walk there (Isa 35:8-10). It
ought also be noted that whereas the King James Bible records Isaiah saying
"an highway shall be there, and a way," the Joseph Smith Translation
[JST] reads, "an highway shall be there, a way shall be cast up"
(v 8). As to the quenching of the thirsty land and the springs of water that
are to come forth, the Doctrine & Covenants tells us that the water that
breaks forth is "living water," or as the Savior said, "a well
of water springing up into everlasting life" (Jn 4:14).
The major theme of
both ancient and modern scripture is that no power or force can stay these
events. As it was with ancient
The announcement that
ice shall flow down at the presence of the returning tribes of
Question: How then are we to understand the statement in
D&C 133 that prophets among the returning tribes will lead them?
Certainly when the
time comes that the tribes of
Question: What about Joseph Smith's statement that John
the Revelator was with the ten tribes preparing them for their return? Doesn't
this indicate that they are together in a body?
In the minutes of a
conference of the Church held in June 1831, John Whitmer recorded as follows:
"The Spirit of the Lord fell upon Joseph in an unusual manner, and he
prophesied that John the Revelator was then among the Ten Tribes of Israel who
had bene led away by Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, to prepare them for their
return from their long dispersion, to again possess the land of their
fathers." [History of the Church 1:176.] Far from saying they were
in a body the Prophet spoke of "their long dispersion." Again if we
are going to be true to the scriptures it can be no other way. Be it
remembered, and it is recorded in the book of Revelation, that the Lord told
John that he "must prophesy again before many peoples, and nations, and
tongues, and kings" (Rev 10:11). In a revealed explanation of this
prophesy the Lord told Joseph Smith "that it was a mission, and an
ordinance for [John] to gather the tribes of
Question: Why is it that our revelations speak of the
gathering of
Moses conferred upon
the heads of Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery "the keys of the gathering of
The gathering comes in
response to the scattering. We can quite properly consider the scattering as
consisting of two parts: the leading of the ten tribes into the north countries
and the dispersing of the twelve tribes among all the nations of the earth.
Thus, as the scattering can be divided into two major parts, so it must be with
the gathering. If there is to be a restoration of all things, the gathering of
the twelve tribes must be as literal as their scattering; the ten tribes must return
from the north countries. Thus, after the remnants of the ten tribes have been
gathered through the waters of baptism some representative number of them will
return to their ancient lands of inheritance.
Again, nothing short
of this answers the promise of a restoration of all things. Of singular
importance here is the fact that both events are to take place under the
direction of the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Question: If we were to capsulize the message of the Book
of Mormon relative to the gathering of
The message of the Book of Mormon is that
Question: Does this mean that any gathering that does not
center in the acceptance of Christ as he is testified of in the Book of Mormon
does not fulfill the prophecies relative to the gathering of
Yes. Events undoubtedly
have and will take place that are preparatory, as the Reformation was to the
Restoration. But as what took place in the Reformation did not fulfill the
prophecies relative to the Restoration, so any gathering or attempted
restoration of
Question: Is the gathering of
The coming forth of
the Book of Mormon is given as a prophetic sign to identify the time when the
gathering of
In Ether 13 we are
told that after the remnant of Joseph commence the building up of a holy city
like unto the Jerusalem of old there shall be a new heaven and a new earth; and
they shall be like unto the old save the old have passed away, and all things
have become new. And then cometh the New Jerusalem; and blessed are they who
dwell therein, for it is they whose garments are white through the blood of the
Lamb; and they are they who are numbered among the remnant of the seed of
Joseph, who were of the house of Israel. And then also cometh the Jerusalem of
old; and the inhabitants thereof, blessed are they for they have been washed in
the blood of the Lamb; and they are they who were scattered and gathered in
from the four quarters of the earth, and from the north countries, and are
partakers of the fulfilling of the covenant which God made with their father,
Abraham. (Ether 13:8-12.)
In short, the
gathering is primarily a millennial event. That is not to say that great
numbers will not embrace the gospel of Abraham before that glorious day, but
rather that the extent to which Israel will be gathered in the millennial era
will so far surpass what will have taken place before that day that in
comparison the pre-millennial gathering will hardly be considered a beginning.
Question: Do the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine &
Covenants give Latter-day Saints a different perspective of the gathering than
that held by the Bible-believing world?
The perspective is as
different as the infant child is from the fully mature adult it will yet
become. For instance, were it not for the Book of Mormon and the revelations of
Joseph Smith we would not know:
1. That the
resurrected Christ visited the lost tribes (3 Nephi 16:1- 3).
2. That the lost
tribes kept scriptural records of their own which someday we will be privileged
to read (2 Nephi 29:12-14).
3. That Isaiah's
prophecy relative to Zion putting on her strength and her beautiful garments
referred to the restoration of the priesthood and his prophecy of her loosing
the bands off her neck referred to the receiving of revelation in the great day
of restoration (D&C 113:7-10).
4. That is was
necessary for Moses to return and restore "the keys of the gathering of
5. That both John the
Revelator and the Three Nephites would join us as translated beings in our
efforts to gather
6. That there are
"lands" of promise, including the
7. That the
8. That the fulness of
the gospel as restored through Joseph Smith is "the covenant" which
God "sent forth to recover [his] people, which are of the house of
Israel" (D&C 39:11; 3 Nephi 6:11).
9. That the gathering
centers, as Jacob said, in scattered
10. That the gathering
centers in accepting Christ as the Book of Mormon bears witness of him (3 Nephi
21:1-11).
These are but illustrations
and the list could go on; the point, however, is that we have an entirely
different view of what is and of what must take place than do those who do not
have living prophets and modern revelation. It is also significant that the
events prophesied in the Book of Mormon and the Doctrine & Covenants
conform perfectly with the promises or covenant God made with Abraham, promises
that centered in his seed having the priesthood and the gospel of salvation.
Concluding Observations
In conclusion I return
to the story with which we began. About two years after our classroom exchange,
Chaplain Martin and I were base-camped near each other in
Such is the effect of
the traditions of the fathers, the "iron yoke," the "strong
band," the "handcuffs, and chains, and shackles, and fetters of
hell," as the Prophet Joseph called them (D&C 123:7-8). It is from
such traditions both in and out of the Church that we must free ourselves. If
we are to be true to our testimony of the Restoration we must be true to the
scriptures of the restoration. We must come to know them and learn to measure
our doctrines against them.
It is not tradition,
but rather the spirit of revelation, that governs this Church. To Jeremiah's
question, "Shall a man make gods unto himself?" and his response,
"and they are no gods," we would be add the query, "Shall a man
make traditions unto himself," to which we must respond, "are they
are not doctrines." Our faith must embrace all that God has revealed, all
that he does now reveal, and the assurance that he will yet reveal many great
and important things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (Article of Faith #9).
Such is our hope, such is our prayer.
Article of Faith #10
Christ’s Reign on Earth and the Establishment of
April 5, 2007
ARTICLE 10—We believe
* * * that
The Personal Reign
Ushering In the
Personal Reign
As to the signs of the
times—those ominous and portentous yet wondrous events that shall precede the
Second Coming of the Lord Jesus—most of them are passed; some are now being
shown forth; and a few others have yet to rear their ugly and hateful heads
before the eyes of all men. Our views and understanding of the glorious events
immediately preceding and concurrent with the Second Coming will come into
sharp focus if we give attention to the signs now blazing forth like mighty
comets in the firmament of heaven, and also if we name and identify the decreed
desolations, wars, and portents that lie just around the corner. These include
the following:
1. The generation of the Lord's return.
No man knows the day
nor the hour when the Lord Jesus—resplendent in glory, omnipotent in might,
amid legions of holy angels—shall come again to rule among the sons of men. Nor
do the very angels of God in heaven possess this knowledge, for they too, as
part of their decreed destiny, are awaiting the day when their salvation will
be perfected. But they and we know the generation, the age, the general period
of time when earth's rightful King shall return to rule on the throne of David.
They and we are the children of light, and so we know the generation or age of
the Second Coming. That generation is now; we live in it, and it is rolling
speedily along toward that consummation for which the saints so devoutly pray
when they plead, "Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in
heaven." (Matthew 6:10.)
2. Will he come in our lifetimes?
Or will it be while
our children, or grandchildren, are still laboring through their probationary
estates? This we do not know. We do know that in the Lord's perspective, his
coming is near, even at the door. And we do have some rather pointed, though
general, designations that indicate the approximate time of his return. Shortly
before his martyrdom, the Prophet Joseph Smith said, as given utterance by the
Spirit, "There are those of the rising generation who shall not taste
death till Christ comes." (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith,
p. 286.) There will be many of that rising generation who will be living when
the twenty-first century is ushered in. Our revelations state categorically
that the Lord will come "in the beginning of the seventh thousand
years" of this earth's temporal continuance. They speak of events destined
to occur "in the beginning of the seventh thousand years," which
events will be "the preparing of the way before the time of his
coming." (D&C 77:12.) This revealed word can only mean that the Lord
will come sometime after the beginning of the named time, but whether that
coming will be ten or a hundred years thereafter, we are left to wonder.
3. Prophets shall again be martyred in
Just before the Lord
comes, two witnesses—mighty prophets of the restoration—shall be slain in
4. Pouring out of the seven last plagues.
In those days, which
shall be in the beginning of the seventh thousand years, as explained in The
Millennial Messiah, the Lord will pour out the seven last plagues. These
are: (1) a noisome and grievous sore; (2) the seas become blood and their life
dies; (3) all water turns to blood and is diseased; (4) the sun scorches men
and the earth; (5) darkness, pain, and sores in the kingdoms of the world; (6)
false miracles as the world prepares for Armageddon; and (7) war, upheavals of
nature, and the fall of Babylon.
5. The promised signs and wonders appear.
Near to and almost
concurrent with the Second Coming, there will be certain promised signs and
wonders that exceed and excel any like events of the past. These may
appropriately be collated under the following headings: (1) Manifestations of
blood, and fire, and vapors of smoke. (2) The sun shall be darkened and the
moon turned into blood. (3) The stars shall hurl themselves from heaven. (4)
The rainbow shall cease to appear in the mists and rains of heaven. (5) The
sign of the Son of Man shall make its appearance. (6) A mighty earthquake,
beyond anything of the past, shall shake the very foundations of the earth. As
with other matters pertaining to the Second Coming, these are considered at
length in The Millennial Messiah.
6. Armageddon—the greatest battle of the ages.
When the Lord Jesus
comes again, it will be not as the Prince of Peace, not as the Suffering
Servant, not as one who descends below all things, but as the Man of War and
the God of Battles who will wage war and overthrow kingdoms and spread
destruction as he did when Joshua and Gideon and David led his people
anciently. The Millennial era will not be ushered in by the righteousness of
the people. Christ will come in the midst of war such as has never been known
before in the whole history of the world. All the nations of the earth will be
engaged. Those who oppose freedom and liberty and Christianity and the Jews
will attack
7. Armageddon—the abomination of desolation.
As it was in the days
of Titus, so shall it be in the day of the coming of the Son of Man. Titus and
his legions destroyed the
8. The Jewish conversion and cleansing.
Out of Armageddon will
come the conversion and cleansing of those Jews who are not destroyed by the
brightness of His coming. They are the ones who will ask: "What are these
wounds in thine hands and in thy feet?" They are the ones to whom their
returning Lord will say: "These wounds are the wounds with which I was
wounded in the house of my friends. I am he who was lifted up. I am Jesus that
was crucified. I am the Son of God." (D&C 45:51-52.) Then they and
those in all nations who have not accepted Christ, as he has been revealed by
his prophets, shall weep and lament for their unbelief and iniquities. "In
that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the
inhabitants of
9. Armageddon—Gog and Magog.
Holy writ describes
the battle of Armageddon as the war of Gog and Magog. These accounts relative
to Gog and Magog add to the Armageddon concept the fact that this final war
will be religious in nature. Nations bearing the pseudonyms Gog and Magog will
attack the Lord's covenant people. These evil forces will be destroyed by fire;
the Lord will rain fire and brimstone upon them. That is, they will be burned
at his coming. Their destruction will include the overthrow of the political
kingdom on earth of Lucifer and the fall of the great and abominable church.
The final triumph in this war of wars will bring to pass the triumph of
10. The fall of
The destruction of Gog
and Magog constitutes the fall of
11. The great and dreadful day of the Lord.
Our Lord's return is
called the great and dreadful day of the Lord, having particular reference to
the dread and sorrow to be poured out upon the wicked and ungodly. It will be a
day of burning, as we shall note particularly in considering the new heaven and
the new earth. As pertaining to the wicked, it will be a day of vengeance; as
pertaining to the righteous, it will usher in the year of the Lord's redeemed.
12. The day of judgment.
That great day when
our Lord returns will be a day of judgment. Christ himself shall be the judge
of all the earth. All men shall be judged by his law—the law of the gospel. One
of the chief purposes of his coming will be to execute judgment upon all and to
render to every man according to his deeds. In that day there will be an entire
separation of the righteous and the wicked; only those who are worthy shall
abide the day.
13. He cometh in glory.
When all things are in
readiness; when the conditions precedent are fulfilled; when every jot and
tittle of the Messianic word has come to pass; when the day and hour, before
prepared and known to the Father from the beginning, has arrived; when all is
as it is destined to be—and not before—then the Lord will come. "Our God
shall come, and shall not keep silence: a fire shall devour before him, and it
shall be very tempestuous round about him." (Psalm 50:3.) Then he shall
reign personally upon the earth in great power and glory, which reign we shall
now consider.
The Lord Reigns
We believe . . . that
Christ will reign personally upon the earth" (Article of Faith 10),
meaning, as the Prophet tells us, that he will "visit it," from time
to time, "when it is necessary to govern it." (Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 268.) The personal reign of the Lord Jesus Christ!
What wonders yet lie in store for this fallen earth!
Mary's son—he who was
foretold by the prophets; conceived by the Father; introduced by Gabriel; born in
a stable; cradled in a manger; welcomed by angelic choirs; circumcised when
eight days old; worshipped by wise men from the east; exiled to Egypt;
disciplined in Nazareth; trained in carpentry in Galilee; matured and grown in
grace in the Holy Land; baptized at Bethabara; tested in the wilderness; a Holy
Man who ministered in Judea and Galilee and Samaria and beyond the borders of
Israel; preached and wrought miracles throughout all the land; cast out devils;
healed lepers; cured the lame; opened blind eyes; walked on the Sea of Galilee;
fed thousands with a few loaves and fishes; raised the dead in Capernaum and
Nain and Bethany; proclaimed his own divine Sonship; the Son who was
transfigured on the mount; atoned in Gethsemane; tried before Annas and Caiaphas
and Herod and Pilate; crucified on Calvary; resurrected in the Garden; and
ascended from Olivet—Mary's son, once a mortal, who "made himself of no
reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the
likeness of men" (Philippians 2:7), shall come again, as the Immortal
King, to rule and reign over Israel and all the earth for a thousand years! Let
us now speak of the personal reign of our Pattern, Savior, Friend, and King.
1. He cometh to Adam-ondi-Ahman.
Before the Son of Man
comes to reign personally upon the earth; before he descends in flaming fire
with ten thousands of his saints to execute judgment upon the ungodly; before
he comes in the clouds of heaven, in all the glory of his Father's kingdom;
before he sets his feet once again upon the Mount of Olives, which is before
Jerusalem; before he stands with 144,000 high priests on Mount Zion in
Missouri; before he suddenly comes to his temple; before he utters his voice
from the land of Zion and from Old Jerusalem; before all flesh shall see him
together; before all of the appearances that, taken together, comprise the
Second Coming—before all these, he will come in private to Adam-ondi-Ahman. Why
and for what reason? To receive back from his servants of all ages the keys
they have used to govern his earthly kingdom. Then and then only will he deign
to reign personally. Now the voice of his servants is his voice, and they act
pursuant to the divine commission he has given them. Then the keys will vest
again in their rightful owner, and his voice and his power will be manifest to
all men.
2. The Kingdom shall be restored to
The kingdom is to be
restored to
Our ancient apostolic
colleagues asked the same Master whom we serve, just before his ascension into
heaven, "Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to
Jesus replied:
"It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath
put in his own power." (Acts 1:6-7.) The setting up of the promised
kingdom was Millennial, not meridian. They were counseled, rather, to do the
work assigned them and to leave the great work of establishing the
3. The Ten Tribes shall return.
In the coming
Millennial day, Israel—which, since the death of Solomon, had been divided into
two divisive, warring, rebellious kingdoms: the Kingdom of Israel, with its Ten
Tribes, and the Kingdom of Judah, with the residue; two kingdoms long since
destroyed and taken captive, with their municipals scattered in all the
earth—Israel shall again become one nation, upon the mountains of Israel, in
the Palestinian home of their fathers. Ephraim and Manasseh, with occasional
scattered remnants of other tribes, are now gathering into stakes of
4. The Son of David reigneth.
Prophecies by the
hundreds—there is scarcely anything about which the ancient prophets were more
prolific—tell of the personal reign of the Lord on the earth in the last days.
As the Son of David, he shall have dominion over all
5. Mortal man after the Second Coming.
Life during the
Millennium—how wondrous and great, how marvelous it will be when contrasted
with that benighted state of affairs that now is! As the coming day of life and
righteousness dawns, our present day of death and wickedness shall cease. All
of the proud and they who do wickedly; all who are carnal, sensual, and
devilish; all who are evil and corrupt; all who live after the manner of the
world—all these shall be burned at His coming. Every corruptible thing—man and
beast, fowl and fish—shall be consumed. Death as we know it shall cease; life
as we know it shall change. Man shall live to be a hundred years old, when he
will be changed from Millennial mortality to eternal immortality. Procreation will
continue among mortals and all forms of life, and children will grow up without
sin unto salvation. The comparatively few who survive the Millennial fires will
multiply without measure, and it is not unreasonable to suppose that more
people will live on earth during the Millennium than in all prior ages combined
many times over. It will be a day of peace and plenty and pure worship, and the
Lord alone shall be exalted.
6. Millennial worship.
How and in what manner
will men worship their God during the Millennium? In answer, we can only call
attention to the pure and perfect worship ordained to be in that blessed age.
We cannot find language—nor does such exist—that will define and describe the
spiritual feelings or make known the holy peace that will then fill the hearts
of worshipping saints. This we know: the Millennium is designed to save souls;
Satan will be bound, and sin as we know it will cease; all false religions and
every rite and practice that is not of God will go the way of all the earth; and
true worship, untainted, unalloyed, unabridged, will fill the hearts of all
men. The gospel in its fulness and perfection will fill every heart; all people
will be baptized; all shall glory in the gift of the Holy Ghost; all men will
hold the priesthood and magnify their callings; and there will be no marriage
but eternal marriage. It will be a day of personal revelation, a day when the
knowledge of God will cover the earth as the waters cover the sea, a day when
no man need say to his neighbor, "Know the Lord," for all shall know
him from the greatest to the least. In that day the blessings of the Second
Comforter will be poured out upon the saints, and every man will be his own
king and his own priest, and the will of God shall be done on earth as it is in
heaven. What more need we say?
(Bruce R. McConkie, A
New Witness for the Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co.,
1985], 635.)
The
The
following sermon was given by Elder McConkie on 27 February 1977 in
|
|
We are in the midst of a period of change and
realignment where one of the basic doctrines of the Restoration is concerned.
We were directed in the day of Joseph Smith
to do one thing with reference to the gathering of
It is somewhat with us as it was with the
disciples in the meridian of time—Jesus first commanded them to preach the
gospel to the lost sheep of the house of
As the New Testament account shows, there was
a period of a quarter of a century or so in which the early saints—Peter, Paul,
James, the Twelve, and all the leading Brethren included—struggled to envision
the new decree, the decree that revealed to them that others besides the chosen
people of Israel were entitled to the blessings of the gospel and that the
gentiles were equal candidates for salvation with them.
Something akin to this is going on in the
Church today. Since the coming of Moses to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, on
the third day of April, 1836, in the Kirtland Temple, since the conferral upon
mortal men, by that holy prophet, of the keys of the gathering of Israel and of
the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north, we have been using
our talents and means and strength to recover the remnant of that once favored
nation.
Some considerable success has attended our
labors; we have built the Lord’s holy house in the tops of the mountains; and
all nations have begun to flow unto it. Swift messengers have gone to nation
after nation seeking the lost sheep of Israel and inviting them to come “to the
mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob,” so they might be
taught in his ways, and walk in his paths, preparatory to the great day when
“out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.”
(Isa. 2:3.)
Many of the house of Ephraim have been gathered and in due course those of the
other tribes will come to receive their blessings, “and be crowned with glory,
even in
Now, if those of us who have been gathered
again into the sheepfold of Israel are to play the part assigned us in the
Lord’s eternal drama concerning his people, we must know that some things
relative to the gathering of Israel are past, some are present, and yet others
are future. We ought not to struggle through a quarter of a century or so
trying to determine, as did the New Testament saints in an analogous situation,
what part we should play in the building up of Zion.
The gathering of
The three phases of this great latter-day
work are as follows:
Phase I—From the First Vision, the setting up
of the kingdom on April 6, 1830, and the coming of Moses on April 3, 1836, to
the secure establishment of the Church in the United States and Canada, a
period of about 125 years.
Phase II—From the creation of stakes of
Phase III—From our Lord’s second coming until
the kingdom is perfected and the knowledge of God covers the earth as the
waters cover the sea, and from then until the end of the Millennium, a period
of 1,000 years.
We live in
the age of restoration. Peter calls it “the times of restitution,” meaning the
period or time in the earth’s history when that which once was shall be
restored in all its original glory and perfection. He says the things to be
restored include “all things, which God hath spoken by the mouth of all his
holy prophets since the world began.” (Acts 3:21.)
And there are few things of which
Many things
have already been restored, and many things are yet to be restored.
In view of
these principles, and so that members of the Church who live outside the United
States and Canada would know why they are now counseled to remain in their own
nations and not gather to an American Zion, I gave the following talk in the
Lima Peru Area Conference:
We are
grateful beyond any measure of expression for the very excellent work being
done in the Church here in
I shall speak
of the gathering of
This
gathering of
By the mouth
of an ancient prophet, and from the lips of one who lived 3,000 years ago, the
Lord sent a message to us. The holy man of old who spake as he was moved upon
by the Holy Ghost said these words: “This shall be written for the generation
to come”; it is sent to “the people which shall be created,” to a people who
“shall praise the Lord.” (Ps. 102:18.)
We are that
people, a people who once again receive revelation, a people to whom God has
given anew the fulness of his everlasting gospel, in consequence of which we
praise his holy name forever.
The message
which has come to us is that the Lord will “have mercy upon
Now, if I may
be properly guided by the power of the Spirit—a thing which I devoutly desire—I
shall speak of the manner in which the Lord will build up Zion, the manner in
which the Lord is having mercy upon Zion, and the part we are expected to play
in the building of Zion.
As is clear
from the inspired account,
But in the
meantime, and as of now, the Lord has laid upon us the responsibility to lay
the foundation for that which is to be. We have been commissioned to prepare a
people for the second coming of the Son of Man. We have been called to preach
the gospel to every nation and kindred and tongue and people. We have been commanded
to lay the foundations of
Now, what is
Truly the scripture
saith, “The Lord loveth the gates of
Our first
scriptural account relative to
Enoch,
however, was faithful. He “saw the Lord,” and talked with him “face to face” as
one man speaks with another. (Moses 7:4.) The Lord sent him to cry repentance to the
world, and commissioned him to “baptize in the name of the Father and of the
Son, which is full of grace and truth, and of the Holy Ghost, which beareth
record of the Father and the Son.” (Moses 7:11.)
Enoch made converts and assembled a congregation of true believers, all of whom
became so faithful that “the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they
dwelt in righteousness,” and were blessed from on high. “And the Lord called
his people
Please note:
After
the Lord called his people Zion, the scripture says that Enoch “built a city
that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion”;
that Zion “was taken up into heaven” where “God received it up into his own
bosom”; and that “from thence went forth the saying, Zion is fled.” (Moses
7:19, 21, 69.)
After the
Lord’s people were translated—for it was people who were caught up into heaven,
not brick and mortar and stone, for there are better homes already in heaven
than men can build on earth—after these righteous saints went to dwell beyond
the veil, others, being converted and desiring righteousness, looked for a city
which hath foundation, whose builder and maker is God, and they too “were
caught up by the powers of heaven into Zion.” (Moses 7:27.)
This same
That many of
these truths about
As is well
known, ancient
Two things
are accomplished by the gathering of Israel: First, those who have thus chosen
Christ as their Shepherd; those who have taken upon themselves his name in the
waters of baptism; those who are seeking to enjoy his Spirit here and now and
to be inheritors of eternal life hereafter—such people need to be gathered
together to strengthen each other and to help one another perfect their lives.
And second,
those who are seeking the highest rewards in eternity need to be where they can
receive the blessings of the house of the Lord, both for themselves and for
their ancestors in
Manifestly in
the early days of this dispensation, this meant gathering to the mountain of
the Lord’s house in the tops of the mountains of
However, in
the providences of Him who knoweth all things, in the providences of Him who
scattered
As the Book
of Mormon says, in the last days, “the saints of God” shall be found “upon all
the face of the earth.” Also: “The saints of the church of the Lamb and … the
covenant people of the Lord”—scattered as they are “upon all the face of the
earth”—shall be “armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great
glory.” (1 Ne. 14:12, 14.)
We are living
in a new day. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is fast becoming
a worldwide church. Congregations of Saints are now, or soon will be, strong
enough to support and sustain their members no matter where they reside.
Stakes of
The gathering
place for Peruvians is in the stakes of
Isaiah
prophesied that the Lord “shall cause them that come of Jacob to take root;
That is to
say—
This then is
the counsel of the Brethren: Build up
And know
this: God will bless that nation which so orders its affairs as to further his
work.
His work
includes the building up of
Our tenth
Article of Faith says, “We believe in the literal gathering of
Our Article
of Faith says that “We believe … in the restoration of the Ten Tribes.” This is
in the future. It will occur when the Lord brings again
Our Article
of Faith says “that
Our Article
of Faith says “that Christ will reign personally upon the earth; and, that the
earth will be renewed and receive its paradisiacal glory.” This also is future,
a day which we devoutly desire and seek. (A of F
1:10)
Each one of
us can build up
These things
of which we speak are part of a great plan and program of the Lord. He has
known the end from the beginning. He has ordained and established the system
which is now in operation. He has scattered his chosen people in all the
nations of the earth. And now through his goodness and grace in this, our day,
by the opening of the heavens, by the ministry of holy angels sent from his
presence, by his own voice speaking from heaven, by the pouring out of the Holy
Ghost—by all these means—he has once again restored the fulness of his
everlasting gospel. He has called us out of darkness into the marvelous light
of Christ. He has commanded us to build up
This is a
work of great magnitude and importance. There is no work like it in all the
world. The gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ is the greatest thing in heaven or
on earth. We rejoice in the glorious truths of heaven we have received. We
praise the Lord for his goodness and grace. And we know within ourselves of the
truth and divinity of these things.
By the
revelations of the Holy Spirit to my soul, I know this work in which we are
engaged is true. I know the Lord’s hand is in it. I know that success will
attend our labors. The day will come when the knowledge of God covers the earth
as the waters cover the sea. We are the most blessed and favored people on earth.
God grant us the wisdom, God grant us the fervor and devotion, God grant us the
zeal and good sense to go forth on his errand living the gospel ourselves and
saving our own souls, and offering these glorious principles of salvation to
his other children. This is the Lord’s work. It is true, and I so testify in
the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
Phase 3 is
the millennial phase and is directly related to the temple it doesn’t make any
sense without the temple; there we come to know God and Christ. We are gathering back to God and His Son.
Church
universities are here to teach the students God’s way, that they may have great
experiences seeing how the church works then go out into the world to
strengthen the stakes of
(Moses
7:13-19.) – What is Zion - the 3 parts of Zion?
The Lord dwells in His temple among the people (vs. 16). This chapter is a type and shadow of
13 And so
great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies
came to battle against them; and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth
trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command; and the rivers
of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard
out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word
of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him.
14 There
also came up a land out of the depth of the sea, and so great was the fear of
the enemies of the people of God, that they fled and stood afar off and went
upon the land which came up out of the depth of the sea.
15 And the
giants of the land, also, stood afar off; and there went forth a curse upon all
people that fought against God;
16 And from
that time forth there were wars and bloodshed among them; but the Lord came and dwelt with his people, and they dwelt in
righteousness.
17 The fear
of the Lord was upon all nations, so great was the glory of the Lord, which was
upon his people. And the Lord blessed the land, and they were blessed upon the
mountains, and upon the high places, and did flourish.
18 And the Lord called his people
19 And
Enoch continued his preaching in righteousness unto the people of God. And it
came to pass in his days, that he built a city that was called the City of
Enoch is
teaching and gathering people to his city of
1. One heart and mind 1. God
is 1st in our heart and in our mind, doctrinal unity, taught by priesthood keys. Think in God’s way. Exercise Faith
2. Dwelt in Righteousness 2. Conforming to divine law, living God’s will,
they make and
keep covenants. Spiritual Rebirth
3. There were no poor among them 3.
Self Reliance, Free to act so we can accomplish 1 & 2. There
is complete unity in all things. Law of Consecration
There
has to be unity between the heart and the mind, you serve who you love. Doctrinal knowledge is the key; it is part of
the rebirth process. This is
demonstrated in the life of a person as they make and keep covenants. There
is doctrinal unity in the community, they think and love together. One heart and one mind with God.
(Doctrine
and Covenants 20:61-62.) – 4 Conferences a year, we are taught by priesthood
keys how to be a
61 The several
elders composing this church of Christ are to meet in conference once in three
months, or from time to time as said conferences shall direct or appoint;
62 And said
conferences are to do whatever church business is necessary to be done at the
time.
PEF
is setup to free those who could not receive an education an opportunity to be
self reliant and serve in
Heavenly
Father is purely self reliant, and is free to act and serve.
We
have additions to our community of
We
do not need to adopt the standards, the mores, and the morals of
|
|
Last summer,
my wife and I had the opportunity to travel to San Diego, California, and there
see Shakespeare’s Macbeth
at the Old Globe Theatre. We saw two performances, because our daughter Carolyn
was playing the part of one of the three witches in that play. Of course, we
were delighted to see her in the play and even more delighted when, at a
dramatic moment, she said those famous lines: “By the pricking of my thumbs, /
Something wicked this way comes” (act 4, scene 1, lines 40–41).
When I heard
that, I thought how useful it would be to have an early-warning system which
would tell us about the approach of evil and allow us to be prepared for it.
Evil is coming toward us, whether or not we have an early-warning system.
On a later
occasion, my wife and I were driving cross-country one night and were
approaching a great city. As we came over the hills and saw the bright lights
on the horizon, I nudged my wife awake and said, “Behold the city of
Of course,
there is no particular city today which personifies
However, that
sensuality, corruption, and decadence, and the worshipping of false gods are to
be seen in many cities, great and small, scattered across the globe. As the
Lord has said: “They seek not the Lord to establish his righteousness, but every
man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god, whose image is
in the likeness of the world” (D&C 1:16).
Too many of
the people of the world have come to resemble the
One of the
greatest challenges we will face is to be able to live in that world but
somehow not be of that world. We have to create
“
And with the
encroachment of
During the
days of ancient
How could
What an
insidious thing is this culture amidst which we live. It permeates our
environment, and we think we are being reasonable and logical when, all too
often, we have been molded by the ethos, what the Germans call the zeitgeist,
or the culture of our place and time.
Because my
wife and I have had the opportunity to live in 10 different countries, we have
seen the effect of the ethos on behavior. Customs which are perfectly
acceptable in one culture are viewed as unacceptable in another; language which
is polite in some places is viewed as abhorrent in others. People in every
culture move within a cocoon of self-satisfied self-deception, fully convinced
that the way they see things is the way things really are.
Our culture
tends to determine what foods we like, how we dress, what constitutes polite
behavior, what sports we should follow, what our taste in music should be, the
importance of education, and our attitudes toward honesty. It also influences
men as to the importance of recreation or religion, influences women about the
priority of career or childbearing, and has a powerful effect on how we
approach procreation and moral issues. All too often, we are like puppets on a
string, as our culture determines what is “cool.”
There is, of
course, a zeitgeist to which we should pay attention, and that is the ethos of
the Lord, the culture of the people of God. As Peter states it, “But ye are a
chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that
ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness
into his marvellous light” (1 Pet. 2:9).
It is the
ethos of those who keep the Lord’s commandments, walk in His ways, and “live by
every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” (D&C 84:44).
If that makes us peculiar, so be it.
My
involvement with the building of the
The answer
was in the construction of the temple. The temple was built within the walls of
an existing building, and the inner walls of the temple were connected to the
outer walls at only a very few junction points. That is how the temple (
There may be
a lesson here for us. We can create the real
When, about
600 years b.c., Nebuchadnezzar came from
Among them
were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They were to be the favored ones
among the young people brought to
Let us
clearly understand the pressures that the four young men were under. They had
been carried away as captives by a conquering power and were in the household
of a king who held the power of life or death over them. And yet Daniel and his
brothers refused to do that which they believed to be wrong, however much the
Babylonian culture believed it to be right. And for that fidelity and courage,
the Lord blessed them and “gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and
wisdom” (Dan.
1:17).
Seduced by
our culture, we often hardly recognize our idolatry, as our strings are pulled
by that which is popular in the Babylonian world. Indeed, as the poet
Wordsworth said: “The world is too much with us” (“The World Is Too Much with
Us; Late and Soon,” in The
Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth [1924], 353). In his
first epistle, John writes:
“I have
written unto you … because ye are strong, and the word of God abideth in you,
and ye have overcome the wicked one.
“Love not the
world, neither the things that are in the world” (1 Jn.
2:14–15).
We do not
need to adopt the standards, the mores, and the morals of
We can live
as a
We have
always been entranced by tales of courage of those who faced fearsome odds and
overcame. Courage is the basis and foundation for all of our other virtues; the
lack of courage diminishes every other virtue that we have. If we are to have
Have you ever
imagined that, when it came to the test, you would perform some act of bravery?
I know I did, as a boy. I imagined that someone was in peril and that, at the
risk of my own life, I saved him. Or in some dangerous confrontation with a
fearsome opponent, I had the courage to overcome. Such are our youthful
imaginations!
Almost 70
years of life have taught me that those heroic opportunities are few and far
between, if they come at all.
But the
opportunities to stand for that which is right—when the pressures are subtle
and when even our friends are encouraging us to give in to the idolatry of the
times—those come along far more frequently. No photographer is there to record
the heroism, no journalist will splash it across the newspaper’s front page.
Just in the quiet contemplation of our conscience, we will know that we faced
the test of courage:
Make no
mistake about it: much of
If
Wherever we
are, whatever city we may live in, we can build our own
We do not
need to become as puppets in the hands of the culture of the place and time. We
can be courageous and can walk in the Lord’s paths and follow His footsteps.
And if we do, we will be called
I pray that
we will be strengthened to resist the onslaught of
We seek
In the name
of Jesus Christ, amen.
Virtuous
is different then chaste – More then moral virtue, it means manliness, being
mature as a man or woman. Greek word
aręte – manliness (the best within us, to stand up and do what is right)
Joseph
in
A
of F 13 – Is the practical or ethical side of what we now do as we learn A of F
1-12 (doctrinal side).
If
we just live A of F 13 then we don’t have the doctrinal understanding of why
I’m doing what I’m doing, it’s just going through the motions, the dos and
don’ts without the whys. We may not
understand what we are doing but that’s part of the quest. My practice in the church is based on
holiness versus habit.
Difference
between belief and knowledge, belief is a start but is ultimately insufficient,
God knows His gospel and so must we if we want to go where He is. If I simply believe then I have failed.
(JST 2
Peter 1:1-9) – The Greek translation is important to understand what Peter is
teaching. Gnosis, knowledge
1 Simon
Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained
like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Savior
Jesus Christ;
2 Grace and
peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our
Lord,
3 According
as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and
godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and
virtue;
4 Whereby
are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises; that by these ye might
be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust.
5 And
besides this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue,
knowledge;
6 And to
knowledge, temperance; and to temperance, patience; and to patience, godliness;
7 And to
godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, charity.
8 For if
these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be
barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he
that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten
that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore
the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure;
for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall;
Testimony
of the Spirit moves us from belief to knowledge; it moves us to a higher
realm.
Verse
5-7 - Add manliness to what are right then knowledge of God’s ways plus self
control which leads to do what’s right, then consistently do what is right,
then you have a general love for everyone (Philadelphia).
Holiness
– Consecrated
Knowledge
– Making your calling and election sure
THE SUBLIME EPISTLES
OF PETER
(1, 2 Peter)
MONTE S. NYMAN
The Second Epistle of
Peter
Peter's second epistle
is addressed to a more select audience than the first: to members of the church
who had attained the same faith in God and Jesus Christ as had Peter and the
apostles. The main theme of the letter is that through the grace of God and of
Jesus their Lord, many great and precious promises had been extended to these
members, and by attaining these promises, they could be "partakers of the
divine nature" and escape the corruption of the world. This theme was also
a theme of President David O. McKay. In general conference in October 1960,
after quoting 2 Peter 1:4, President McKay said: "I have a deep admiration
in my heart for Simon Peter, President of the Twelve Apostles, . . . who was
only two and a half years—a little more—in the personal presence of his Lord.
Before that he did not care much for the Church, but before this writing he had
a testimony of the divinity of the Sonship of Jesus Christ. More than that, he
had experienced that communion of the spirit with his Resurrected Lord, and
speaks here of being a partaker of the divine nature." fn On another
occasion, President McKay declared: "Peter was quite a doubtful man as he grew
to manhood before he knew Christ, but long afterwards he was praying and said
that we have been made partakers of the divine nature. He knew it, and you will
know it some day if you will do the will, be true to self." fn To be a
partaker of the divine nature is to know the power of God and to experience the
Holy Ghost in one's life. (D&C 76:31, 35.)
In the rest of chapter
1, Peter gives instructions on what a member of the church should do after
having been a partaker of the divine nature. He explains that, having escaped
the corruption of the world, the saints should give all diligence to "add
to [their] faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance;
and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness
brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity." (2 Pet. 1:5-7.)
In commenting on these
verses, Joseph Smith said: "It is not wisdom that we should have all
knowledge at once presented before us; but that we should have a little at a
time; then we can comprehend it. . . . The principle of knowledge is the
principle of salvation. This principle can be comprehended by the faithful and
diligent; and every one that does not obtain knowledge sufficient to be saved
will be condemned. The principle of salvation is given us through the knowledge
of Jesus Christ." fn
The Prophet
acknowledged the depth and complexity of this chapter of Peter's epistle,
declaring: "There are three grand secrets lying in this chapter which no
man can dig out, unless by the light of revelation, and which unlocks the whole
chapter as the things that are written are only hints of things which existed
in the prophet's mind, which are not written concerning eternal glory. I am
going to take up this subject by virtue of the knowledge of God in me, which I
have received from heaven. The opinions of men, so far as I am concerned, are
to me as the crackling of thorns under the pot, or the whistling of the
wind." fn
He then summarized the
grand secrets or keys to unlocking Peter's writings. The first, "knowledge
is the power of salvation," is the essence of the statement just quoted.
The second key is based on 2 Peter 1:10, making one's calling and election
sure. The Prophet explained this principle:
Notwithstanding the
apostle exhorts [the saints] to add to their faith, virtue, knowledge,
temperance, etc., yet he exhorts them to make their calling and election sure.
And though they had heard an audible voice from heaven bearing testimony that
Jesus was the Son of God, yet he says we have a more sure word of prophecy,
whereunto ye do well that ye take heed as unto a light shining in a dark place.
Now, wherein could they have a more sure word of prophecy than to hear the
voice of God saying, This is my beloved Son.
Now for the secret and
grand key. Though they might hear the voice of God and know that Jesus was the
Son of God, this would be no evidence that their election and calling was made
sure, that they had part with Christ, and were joint heirs with Him. They then
would want that more sure word of prophecy, that they were sealed in the
heavens and had the promise of eternal life in the
The experience of
hearing an audible voice, to which Peter refers (as does Joseph Smith), is
undoubtedly that of the Savior taking Peter, James, and John up on the mountain
where he was transfigured before them. (Matt. 17:1-9.) From the Prophet's
explanation, it seems that the three apostles did not have their calling and
election made sure on that occasion. If not, this experience pointed their
souls to that third key of Peter's writings given by the Prophet: "It is
one thing to be on the mount and hear the excellent voice, etc., and another to
hear the voice declare to you, You have a part and lot in that kingdom."
fn The Joseph Smith Translation does not settle the issue but does give a
further consideration: "We have therefore a more sure knowledge
of the word of prophecy, to which word of prophecy ye do well that
ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place until the day dawn,
and the day star arise in your hearts: Knowing this first, that no prophecy of
the scriptures is given of any private will of man." (JST, 2
Pet. 1:19-20; italics indicate changes in JST.) The disciples' more sure
knowledge was the voice declaring their assured part and portion of the
kingdom. The record does not say when this happened, but Peter reminds his
readers that this does not come through the private or personal desires of man,
but through the revelation of the Holy Ghost (v. 21), or the Holy Spirit of
Promise, which is the Holy Ghost's stamp of approval upon an ordinance or
experience (D&C 132:26; Eph. 1:13-14). Fn
7. Conference
Report, October 1960, pp. 115-16.
8. Conference
Report, April 1963, p. 95.
9. Teachings of the
Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 297.
10. Ibid., p. 304.
11. Ibid., p. 298.
12. Ibid., p. 306.
13. Ibid., p. 149.
14. Ibid. For a
detailed treatment of this subject, see Bruce R. McConkie, Doctrinal New
Testament Commentary, 3 vols. (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1965-73),
3:325-55.
(Robert
L. Millet, ed., Studies in Scripture, Vol. 6: Acts to Revelation [Salt
Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1987], 230.)
(Doctrine
and Covenants 131:6.) – Don’t ignore gospel knowledge, it is critical, we are
not saved faster then we gain knowledge.
6 It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance.
Love
of our fellow man, we should be working for greater benevolence, not just to
get the job done (like Home Teaching).
Benevolence—Benevolence is founded
on love for fellow men; it embraces, though it far exceeds charity, in the
ordinary sense in which the latter word is used. By the Christ it was placed as
second only to love for God. On one occasion certain Pharisees came to Christ,
tempting Him with questions on doctrine in the hope that they could entangle
Him and so make Him an offender against the law. Their spokesman was a lawyer;
note his question and the Savior's answer: "Master, which is the great
commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God
with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the
first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love
thy neighbor as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the
prophets." fn The two commandments, here spoken of as first and second,
are so closely related as to be virtually one, and that one: "Thou shalt
love." He who abideth one of the two will abide both; for without love for
our fellows, it is impossible to please God. Hence wrote John, the Apostle of
Love, "Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one
that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not
God; for God is love. * * * If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother,
he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he
love God whom he hath not seen? And this commandment have we from him, That he
who loveth God love his brother also." Fn
(James
E. Talmage, Articles of Faith [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1981],
391.)
We
should glean good data from any source we can, in the church and outside it
(C.S. Lewis). Learn what the Holy Ghost
wants to teach us; don’t block Him in His work to lift us.
President
Hinckley – “Bring your good and we will add to it”
A
habit going Mormon is bound by tradition and the truth will not make them free.