Mormon Direction

“Your not going to see the “blessing” until you have made the sacrifice”

( Ether 12:6 ; 1 Peter 1:7 )

The word “blessing” can be replaced with many other words that apply in the given situation. Such are the words as “worth”, “value”, “purpose”, “direction”, “reason”, and so forth, but the word blessing has a universal meaning that encompasses all of these. It is a statement of a spiritual truth, one of spirit and of life, that only through our trials and tribulations, until we have passed through it, have made the sacrifice, retained the faith (which is what sacrifice is about), we will not see and not receive the blessings.

This applies to everything in life.

A person will not see the worth of something until they have made the effort, the sacrifice of their time and resource. This is exactly what giving of ourselves is about and how it works. A person will not see the value of helping those in need “until” they have made the sacrifice of their time and resource to do so. They may try to sit and make arm chair judgements or interpretations of it, have their beliefs about it, but until they have committed their time, effort and resource to that thing, they will not see the actual and true value until they do.

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The Latter-day Saints are familiar with this doctrine of the baptism for the dead and the nonmembers of the LDS Church deny this doctrine claiming it is not of the Bible, not of God. What if there is a Biblical explanation, with scriptures, to support the doctrine of Baptism for the Dead?

Power of Proxy
When Jesus Christ died on the cross to complete the act of the atonement, being the sacrifice of the pure first born of Heavenly Father, he accomplished a salvation for every person on this earth, both past present and future. When I say of the past, I refer to the exact meaning, all those who have been on this earth and died before Jesus Christ died on the cross. From the time of Adam to the time of the death of Christ on the cross, the atonement was for them also. Then from the time of the cross to all futures on this earth, the atonement applies. Do not ever think that the eternal atonement does not apply to everyone across all time lines, else it cannot be eternal (for all time).

The death of Jesus Christ to establish the atonement is the act of dying in our place. You see, a death was required by God’s eternal justice for the sins committed. Individually, each person on this earth must die for their sins in order that justice be satisfied. For the numbers of earthly residents, that makes over 6 billion requiring death, since the time of Adam to today and to all those into the future. If Christ never was, our deaths for our sins would not suffice justice, since the price must be eternal in nature in order that eternal justice be satisfied. This means, without the atonement, our death would be insufficient and the result for us in spirit means we would still be paying justice for our sins for all eternity.

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Within the LDS Church, there are many men and women who are single and still alone. Bachelors and bachelorette alike are alone in their lives hoping to meet someone to spend their lives with. Dating sites are filled with these seekers, even LDS oriented sites as LDS Singles, LDS Mingle and so on. Many eventually find mates, but many do not and some even end their days having not one marriage in their lives.

Loneliness can be a hard thing to endure. It can lead to discouragement, emptiness and even despair, but is that something worthwhile to accept in your life? I refer to the negative emotions and state of mind. Of course, to hear only the phrase, “be more positive” is not helpful because it gives no direction and certainly no basis for a solution, but to hear “fret not, Heavenly Father is with you” are far better words for a lonely Saint to hear.

To feel Heavenly Father’s love, charity, compassion brings far more joy to our hearts than thoughts of loneliness. Certainly you will still endure the loneliness because it is mortal and human to feel these things, but it is important to remember that Heavenly Father feels your state of heart and mind.

To pray to find a partner in life is a good prayer, but have you considered the prayer asking Heavenly Father to help you overcome this loneliness as a single person?

Circumstances in this mortal life may have dealt you limited options as to finding a life-long partner, but nothing in this world has dealt you anything that takes away Heavenly Father’s love and closeness. I don’t propose ways to remove the loneliness because that is something you need to work-out with Heavenly Father’s help, as loneliness feels the same to everyone, but the underlying elements are personal to each person.

It comes down to the fundamental elements of life and faith. Love God with all your heart, mind and soul and there is no substitute for that first commandment. Even if you find a life long partner, you should never cease to live the first commandment in all things you do. If you do, I am sure, as I feel impressed saying this, Heavenly Father promises to be with you, close to your heart, mind and soul far more than any human can ever be.

Isn’t that something to smile about and feel at least some joy?  :)

Amen.

I have recently come across spiritual testimonies by other Christians who had dream-visions experiencing hell. A dream-vision, or dreaming the dream, is a spiritual vision while asleep. Such events occurred throughout the Bible and Book of Mormon (Matthew 2:12 ; 1 Nephi 2:2 as an example). These spiritual testimonies that I have read related true accounts, but some tried to explain these experiences, in vain, with the scriptures. Even the detractors of these accounts tried to use the Bible to discredit them, also in vain.

When in the spiritual experience of a vision or a spiritual presence, the person is in the spirit of it. They are able, to some extent, perceive spiritually. Once out of the spiritual experience and back into their mortal awareness, they are out of spirit and any spiritual powers of perception also leave them. Any impression left by the experience can promote understanding of that experience, over time, if they handle the experience rightly. Trying to interpret the entire spiritual vision by their own power will fail because it becomes a private interpretation from a mortal perspective, not a spiritual perspective, the latter requiring spiritual development and personal change of the mind and heart.

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An interesting event happened today at Church. During the sacrament session, there was a fellow walking about nervously in the hallway adjacent to the chapel. Periodically he would stand in the doorway, watch the speaker at the front and then retreat into the hallway again. There was a second male with him, but I did not see him until after the event occurred.

When the congregation began to sing the last hymn, this male went at the front of the congregation and started to preach out loud of how we are following a false prophet as he held his large Bible up above his shoulders for us to see. At that moment the Bishop with his counsellors and without hesitation about 15 priesthood holders approached this man and escorted him out the nearest door.

Apparently, the male walked away toward a Baptist church which was about 2 blocks down the road. At that time I saw the second male hover around the chapel door in the hallway. Within moments, other priesthood members approached that male and escorted him out as well. From what I was told, a similar event recently occurred at the local United church.

In the elders quorum session, we spoke about this event and how much danger this posed to the small children running about in the church which proved disconcerting considering that radical thinking people, as was with that male, endangers the safety of children in the Church. Also mentioned in this discussion that this type of event occurs more often in our Churches located in large cities.

This brought to mind our Articles of Faith and how important those articles are to our faith. The one in particular was,

Articles of Faith
11 We claim the privilege of worshiping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege, let them worship how, where, or what they may.

This eleventh article of our faith speaks of free will and choice, the right to worship God as we choose. It is no coincidence that Heavenly Father wanted to restore his Church in North America, the land of the free, with the freedom for religion. Think about that for a few minutes. Freedom of religion did not exist in the middle ages because of the Roman Catholic church (Wikipedia-Religious Intolerance). Would God restore his Church as Jesus organized in the New Testament under the heavy handed rule of the bishops found in the Roman Catholic church, or even when Constantine made Christianity his state church under his rule? (Christian State Church ). The importance to have this freedom of religion, the right to worship as we choose cannot be overstated, but this freedom does not give any person the right to interfere no matter what right he or she self-proclaims.

When this fellow interrupted the worship hymn, to attack our faith and beliefs as he announced his condemnation against our Church as he held his Bible up, is clearly not a man of God. Tolerance was not part of that man’s faith. Elder Russell M. Nelson spoke on religious tolerance,
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To worship Heavenly Father, is to worship Jesus Christ, and the opposite is true. This is what it means to worship the Father in spirit and in truth (John 4:23).

We cannot know Heavenly Father without knowing Jesus Christ and we cannot know Jesus Christ without knowing Heavenly Father. Once we truly know one of them we shall know the other. In saying this, the moment people want to claim they know Jesus Christ, ask them if they know Heavenly Father and if they say No, they have lied about knowing Jesus Christ, even if they do not know it is a lie. The reverse is true, if they claim to know God, the Father in Heaven and they deny Jesus Christ, then they have lied, they know nothing of Heavenly Father.

The basis of to know one we must then know the other is why the first vision with Joseph Smith occurred the way it did. Heavenly Father appearing with his only begotten son, Jesus Christ. Heavenly Father or Jesus Christ abides in the gospel because it gives us the very principles which they both live. The appearance of both the Father and Jesus Christ is because one is not without the other. To know or see one, we must be able to see the other. The event of the First Vision with Joseph Smith is a perfect example. It shows Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as separate personages, not one personage emanating as one or the other. Since God cannot lie or mislead, then it is truth as given to Joseph Smith. The same applies when believing in Jesus Christ. In order to believe in Jesus Christ, the belief must also involve Heavenly Father.

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The faith of a Saint, a disciple of God is to live the faith each day. To live this faith means, to be and do what gospel principles teach. A true Saint of God does not compromise these principles because that would be compromising the faith and faith is the single key to open the door to salvation by which all other spiritual works are manifest. Without faith, everything else fails and salvation into the Kingdom of God is lost.

In every aspect of life, a Saint must be a true Saint as best can be, even with all his or her shortcomings. No one is perfect, but the atonement allows us to correct ourselves and take a higher and better direction. That is learning to be godly, which means to live and practice eternal principles of God in our moral and ethical standards of mortal life.

God knows we cannot be perfect in mortal life, at least not perfect in the eternal perfection sense, but in this life, we work toward it. This is the meaning of “working out our salvation”. This is why we must ensure that we think, choose and do the principles of God in our daily lives, be it privately, in a family and in our work place.

Compromising these principles, these values, both ethical and moral is not an option for a Saint. Unfortunately, I have seen too many good hearted Christians do just that, compromise faith sustaining and generating principles. They have succumbed to greed, selfishness, unethical and even immoral behavior. They end up lying, cheating, causing misdirection, undermining, manipulation of others and even compromise their work ethics, all for the benefits of the world. Did not Jesus say if we save ourselves, we loose? (Mark 8:35)

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For sometime, I had trouble understanding a commandment of God, to honour our father and mother. I wondered how to understand this commandment in the face of abusive parents or parents that caused harm in some way. I pondered this for some time and prayed for understanding because to ponder how things would apply in life, in consideration of as many types of circumstances as possible, is important to me. I pondered because I wanted to be able to explain this to a person who had harmful parents. How would a missionary of God be able to address such questions?

I honestly believed that to honour harmful parents was to accept, condone, support or agree with any evil parents are known to do. How could a person, who carries hurt and pain, be able to understand the commandment of honouring their father and mother while addressing the anger in their hearts at the same time?

I know when in emotional or psychological pain, it is hard to comprehend God’s commandment, which in truth, is a very simple principle, because hurt has the tendency to corrupt a person’s ability to perceive this truth. In my own life, I had hard times talking to people who have hurt me without wanting to lash out with my tongue and a hard time understanding God’s commandment to bless our enemies. I understand from my own experiences how hard it will be for a person whose parents caused hurt, especially because a parent is suppose to be loving and supportive, not harmful.

It took time, it took many experiences and personal changes for God to finally enlightened me. When he did provide his inspiration, I knew it was from him and I felt peace, sureness and a confirmation of how to honour the father and mother without ever accepting the evils apparently done.

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Within the scriptures, God counsels us to be of one faith (Ephesians 4:5 / Mosiah 18:21) and one mind (2 Corinthians 13:11 / Phillip 2:2 / 2 Nephi 1:21). Jesus spoke in the same manner, that he and the Father are one. (John 10:30). Jesus further stated that he can do nothing of himself, but follows the will of the Father (John 5:30). In other words, his power and authority comes from the Father to do the things he did.

When reading the scriptures with the focus of seeking the connection between the authority and power of God and being of one mind and one faith, you will read that a divided house falls (Luke 11:17/ Mark 3:25). We know that with God, all things he does and says are connected, where without one thing the rest will fail or the rest would not be possible (James 2:10). This reveals the importance of “unity” among the principles and truths of God, that one principle or truth cannot operate when others are absent or violated. This is why God is perfect, he operates and lives according to all truths and all principles and all laws perfectly and in unity.

Putting these scriptures together, we begin to see a connection between unity and stability, power and authority.

Jesus Christ made it clear that he had no power in and of himself, but because he was one with the Father in heaven, which is also saying, of one mind and one faith, he had great power and authority because of the principle of unity and his obedience to it. This is why God speaks of the power of faith moving mountains, the living of faith in perfect obedience gives that person the power to do great things. Hence the purity and faith in perfection of Jesus Christ served to solidify his ability to receive and exercise such great power and right from heaven.

No person, not even Jesus Christ can share in the power and authority of God without obedience to this principle of unity. Any degree of division, the power or authority is lost. Hence the strictness of obedience to the principles found in God’s doctrines in the gospel.

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There is a doctrine or belief among Christians (maybe also within the minds of some LDS Saints), that question the need for a Church. A physical entity, a building, organized, etc. The claim they make is “all we need is faith” and there is no need of a church, that the body of Christ are believers who are identified as a group by belief, not by a physical building called a church”. These believers claim to follow the Bible as they promote their doctrine of a “church-less” Christianity.

Does the Bible support this doctrine?

No, the Bible does not support such a false doctrine of men, in fact the Bible supports a Church of God where it is organized and administered by God’s chosen men called Apostles (and prophets).

The Bible shows, especially in the New Testament, that Jesus Christ organized his Church with twelve Apostles, who attended to the many branch locations of the Lord’s Church. This pattern is obvious in the Bible, but do you know the reason to have a Church? The Bible also provided that answer.

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