Eternal Marriage

Today's scripture mastery comes from Doctrine and Covenants 131:1-4:

 1 In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees;

 2 And in order to obtain the highest, a man must enter into this order of the priesthood [meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage];

 3 And if he does not, he cannot obtain it.

 4 He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.

These verses tell us one of the requirements to obtain the highest blessings we can obtain from God--that of returning to His presence, and being with our family eternally.  (For a description of the other "heavens" or degrees of glory that exist, and who will be in each, see Doctrine and Covenants 76 verses 50-113)

What exactly is the new and everlasting covenant of marriage?  In short, it means that we must be married by the proper authority (by one who holds the priesthood of God, and the sealing power of Elijah).  Also, it must be done where God has said--meaning in one of his Holy Temples. 

A temple is a Holy place.  It is literally the house of God.  And because we must be as clean and pure as possible before entering His presence, there are certain requirements that everybody who wants to enter a temple must meet before entering a temple.  There are many who think that we do "secret" things inside, and keep people out of the temples to keep those things secret.  The truth is, that we would love to have everybody be able to enter the temple.  The requirements that must be met to enter a temple are well known.  First, you must be committed to keep the commandments of God--to show that you are, you must be a member of the church "in good standing" (i.e. meaning that you are keeping the commandments of God) for at least a year.  Then you must obtain a temple recommend from your local bishop and stake president.  They give you one of these temple recommends after a brief interview with them, where they ask you some basic questions.  The questions relate to your belief in Christ and in the church that He has established.  They also ask if you are living the commandments that you have promised to live when you were baptized.  The last question they ask is a simple one "Do you believe that you are worthy to enter the temple?"  Anybody who meets those requirements can enter the temple of God.  (If you want to find out more about what a temple is, where they can be found, and what the purpose of a temple is, you can go to http://www.lds.org/church/temples)

So--with all that background, if you and your spouse wish to obtain the highest blessings that God has for you and your family, you now know what you must do to obtain them--You must be worthy to enter a Temple of God, and be sealed together with your spouse by the power of the priesthood in the temple.

That is not the end though--The sealing in the temple of a man and wife is conditional upon both of them "enduring to the end," meaning that they both promise to continue to keep the commandments of God and keep the promises they have made to each other, and to the Lord all through their lives.

What that means is that the blessings that God promises us are not obtained by meeting the requirements of a simple checklist.  We can't simply say "I accept Christ" and be saved.  Nor can we say "I have been baptized, so I am now saved"  (and then go back to the way our lives were prior to our baptism--we must continue to keep the commandments of God afterwards and through our entire life)  The same thing is true with the new and everlasting covenant of marriage--just because we were once able to enter the temple with our spouse and be sealed in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage, does not mean that we automatically receive all the blessings from God that are promised--unless we continue to live our lives in the way that qualified us to enter the temple with our spouse in the first place. 

Easter Thoughts

I haven't posted in quite a while.  I figured that today would be a good time to add some thoughts. 

Easter Sunday is probably on of the most significant and important holidays there are.  In my opinion, it is more important than Christmas.  Why do I say that?  After all, Christmas is celebrated to remember and think about the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Christ was born to give hope and salvation to all that will believe in Him.  Christmas is a time of hope.  Easter, I think gives even more hope, as it is when we celebrate the fulfillment of Christ's work.  After all, if Christ hadn't been resurrected on that first Easter--than we probably wouldn't even celebrate Christmas.  Easter is when we celebrate and remember and give thanks to Christ.   His overcoming of both sin and death, through the marvelous atonement and the resurrection is the reason that I say that Easter is so important.

This Easter Sunday as we remember and celebrate Christ's resurrection, we remember and are thankful for all that Christ has done for us.  All we have comes from Him.  He is the creator.  He has given us life.  He has given us our free will.  With that will, we all make mistakes.  We all sin, as we are not perfect like Christ is.  Sin is one of the things that prevents us from returning to live in God's presence once more--however, if we follow Christ, and do our best to keep His commandments.  If we repent when we sin (in my case, I need to repent frequently!), we can all be forgiven our our sins--That is a gift freely given to all who will accept Christ, and keep His commandments.  The other thing that prevents us from living with our Father in Heaven once more is that we don't have a perfect body as he does. . .yet.  Through the miracle of the resurrection, we will all receive a perfect, eternal body.  The gift of the resurrection is one that Christ has given to ALL people without price.  Because Christ was resurrected, we too shall live again! 

President Thomas S. Monson, the current prophet on the earth today gives a powerful testimony of the truth of Christ's atonement and resurrection.  I would like to copy here some of the things he has said about Christ (these quotes are found in this month's church magazine, called the Ensign):

“He Is Risen”

“The clarion call of Christendom,” President Thomas S. Monson has declared, is that Jesus of Nazareth rose from the dead. “The reality of the Resurrection provides to one and all the peace that surpasses understanding” (see Philippians 4:7).¹

In the following excerpts, President Monson shares his testimony of and gratitude for the Savior’s Resurrection and declares that because the Son conquered death, all of the Father’s children who come to earth will live again.

Life beyond Mortality

“I believe that none of us can conceive the full import of what Christ did for us in Gethsemane, but I am grateful every day of my life for His atoning sacrifice in our behalf.

“At the last moment, He could have turned back. But He did not. He passed beneath all things that He might save all things. In doing so, He gave us life beyond this mortal existence. He reclaimed us from the Fall of Adam.

“To the depths of my very soul, I am grateful to Him. He taught us how to live. He taught us how to die. He secured our salvation.”²

Dispelling the Darkness of Death

“In certain situations, as in great suffering and illness, death comes as an angel of mercy. But for the most part, we think of it as the enemy of human happiness.

“The darkness of death can ever be dispelled by the light of revealed truth. ‘I am the resurrection, and the life,’ spoke the Master. ‘He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.’

“This reassurance—yes, even holy confirmation—of life beyond the grave could well provide the peace promised by the Savior when He assured His disciples: ‘Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.’”³

He Is Not Here

“Our Savior lived again. The most glorious, comforting, and reassuring of all events of human history had taken place—the victory over death. The pain and agony of Gethsemane and Calvary had been wiped away. The salvation of mankind had been secured. The Fall of Adam had been reclaimed.

“The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job’s question, ‘If a man die, shall he live again?’ To all within the sound of my voice, I declare, If a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth. …

“My beloved brothers and sisters, in our hour of deepest sorrow, we can receive profound peace from the words of the angel that first Easter morning: ‘He is not here: for he is risen.’”⁴

All Will Live Again

“We laugh, we cry, we work, we play, we love, we live. And then we die. …

“And dead we would remain but for one Man and His mission, even Jesus of Nazareth. …

“With all my heart and the fervency of my soul, I lift up my voice in testimony as a special witness and declare that God does live. Jesus is His Son, the Only Begotten of the Father in the flesh. He is our Redeemer; He is our Mediator with the Father. He it was who died on the cross to atone for our sins. He became the firstfruits of the Resurrection. Because He died, all shall live again.”⁵

A Personal Witness

“I declare my personal witness that death has been conquered, victory over the tomb has been won. May the words made sacred by Him who fulfilled them become actual knowledge to all. Remember them. Cherish them. Honor them. He is risen.”⁶

The reality of God, Christ, and the Holy Ghost

There are a lot of scripture mastery verses found in Doctrine and Covenants section 130.  Today's verses also come from there.  Verses 22 and 23 are today's scripture mastery.  They teach us more about the relationship between God, his Son, Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost:

22 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. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

23 A man may receive the Holy Ghost, and it may descend upon him and not tarry with him.

I have discussed this topic in a few previous posts.  For example: "We are created in God's image," and "Moses saw God face to face," and "Steven sees Christ standing on the right hand of the Father."
  God is real.  So is His Son, Jesus Christ.  They each have physical bodies, just as we do--though theirs are perfect and glorified, while ours have not been.  We are subject to disease and death, while the bodies that they have are not.  The Holy Ghost is also a member of the Godhead (What other Christian faiths often refer to as the Holy Trinity.)  The Holy Ghost does not have a physical body, though he does have a spirit body.  God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost--they are all part of this Godhead, or Trinity.  They are separate beings, though they are completely unified in purpose and in their love for us.  In fact, of all the creations of God, we are the most important to Him.  He has said "This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39)

What did verse 23 mean?  Why would the Holy Ghost "descend upon" somebody and not "tarry with" them?  I understand that to mean that anybody can receive the promptings and teachings of the Holy Ghost--irrespective of what religion they belong to.  The Holy Ghost has as one of His primary objectives to teach us right and wrong.  Some call His influence our conscience.  We all have a conscience.  It has also been called the "Light of Christ."  That innate knowledge that we all have that tells us the difference between right and wrong is the Holy Ghost.  That can be lost.  If we continually ignore the promptings of our conscience (the Holy Ghost)  He eventually stops prompting us. . .

Wouldn't it be great to always have the presence of the Holy Ghost?  To always have a member of the Godhead to be with us to teach us and guide us?  We can!  When baptized in to the Church with the proper authority (the Priesthood power of God) we are given a wonderful gift.  It is called the gift of the Holy Ghost.  What that means is that if we are righteous, we can have the presence of the Holy Ghost to be with us always--not just in fleeting moments.  To be worthy of that gift, we must listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and obey the commandments of God.  If we do, we can have the constant presence and guidance of the Holy Ghost in our life.

How to obtain a blessing from God

Today's scripture mastery tells us how we can obtain the blessings from God that we desire.  Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 is the scripture mastery for today:

 20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

I don't have a lot to say about this one, as it is a very simple statement.  If you want the blessings from God--keep his commandments.  It is that simple.  Each commandment has a different blessing promised to go along with it.  For example, read through the 10 commandments given to Moses, and you will note that many of them have the blessings specified right along with the commandment.  For example, he says this as part of the 10 commandments:

6 And shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments.

or this:

  12 Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.

You want mercy from the Lord?  Love Him, and keep his commandments.  You want to live longer?  Honor your parents.

You want "Health in your navel and marrow in your bones" (i.e. good health)?  Keep the word of widsom.

You want more blessings than you have room to receive?  Pay your tithing.

The vast majority of the commandments that God has given us have specific blessings that have been promised to us if we keep them.  And those that we don't know the specific reason for(there are those as well. . .)  I believe that verse 6 that I quoted above from Exodus 20 applies to those.  If we keep those as well, He will show us mercy.  Who doesn't need mercy?  I know that I sure need it!

Keep the commandments of God, and be blessed!  Don't believe it?  Try it, and see.  God ALWAYS keeps his promises.   You can always count on the Lord keeping His word.

The importance of learning

God wants us to always improve ourselves.  He wants us to learn new things.  That is part of what we learn from today's scripture mastery: Doctrine and Covenants 130:18-19

 18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

 19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

God wants us to learn from any of the many fields of study that there are:  Science/Humanities/Arts/Technical--all these and more have been given to us by God to help us improve ourselves--not only while here on earth, but as verse 19 above states--for the world to come.

In one of the revelations that God gave to Joseph Smith, he said this (Doctrine and Covenants 88:118)

 118 And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; yea, seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith.

All truth comes from God.  Not only the truth that is taught in religion (the sort of truth that takes faith to come to know) but also the truth of science--the truth that is taught in school.  That also comes from God:  Here are two verses that teach us about truth:
Doctrine and Covenants 93:24:

 24 And truth is knowledge of things as they are, and as they were, and as they are to come;

and

Doctrine and Covenants 93:36:

 36 The glory of God is intelligence, or, in other words, light and truth.

Let us seek truth wherever it may be found.  (Don't forget to study the scriptures, and the words of the living prophets in your search for truth though)   Seek it out in whatever field of knowledge you have an interest in.  When you learn something, whether it by by the scientific method, or from the promptings of the Holy Ghost--ask the Lord if what you have learned is true, and He will let you know if it is true or not (Moroni 10:4)

Priesthood Power

Doctrine and Covenants 121:34-36 is today's scripture mastery.  It teaches us a little more about the priesthood power of God:

 34 Behold, there are many called, but few are chosen. And why are they not chosen?

 35 Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world, and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson—

 36 That the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.

In short, any man who holds the priesthood cannot exercise the priesthood if he is not righteous.  Verses 37-40 give us much more detail on that:

 37 That they may be conferred upon us, it is true; but when we undertake to cover our sins, or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold, the heavens withdraw themselves; the Spirit of the Lord is grieved; and when it is withdrawn, Amen to the priesthood or the authority of that man.

 38 Behold, ere he is aware, he is left unto himself, to kick against the pricks, to persecute the saints, and to fight against God.

 39 We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion.

 40 Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

The rest of the chapter tells us the only way to use the priesthood effectively (verses 41-46), as well as the blessings we have been promised if we do it the right way:

 41 No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned;

 42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile—

 43 Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy;

 44 That he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death.

 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.

Basically, if we want to use the Lord's priesthood--we must emulate Him.  We must not use the priesthood to make us think we are better than or more deserving than others in any way.  Instead, we must do as Christ did through His whole earthly ministry--we must do the Father's will.  We must put aside our own will, and use the priesthood to bless the lives of those around us.  We must bless those in need, and help and bless the sick and the afflicted.  The priesthood is given to us that we can learn to serve as Christ served.  It is given so that we can help those in need (and we all know that there are many in need all around us. . .)

The blessings of the word of wisdom

Today's scripture mastery is the promises we are given if we obey the word of wisdom found in section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants.  The blessings are specified in verses 18-21:

 18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones;

 19 And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures;

 20 And shall run and not be weary, and shall walk and not faint.

 21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the destroying angel shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.

Those are some powerful blessings given to us if we keep the word of wisdom.  What is the word of wisdom you ask?  Well, it is the revelation that tells us that we should not take into our bodies harmful substances, and that we should eat good foods (such as plenty of grains and fruits and vegetables, and also meat in moderation)

The harmful substances referred to are things that can be addictive, such as Alcohol and Tobacco.  Also included are "hot drinks" which have been defined as Tea and Coffee by the prophets.  This council also includes illegal drugs--and even over the counter medication that is used improperly.

I think that you can boil the word of wisdom down to "use moderation, and avoid addictive substances and behaviors"

It is interesting that this past week, I have heard on the news items related to the word of wisdom--specifically that the recommendation has come out recently about eating red meat.  The study that has been talked about in the news says to eat red meat in moderation.  (That agrees 100% with the council in the word of wisdom)  Moderation in this study means to eat only 1/2 a serving of red meat a day (or 1 small serving 3 times a week--rather than every day).  The study shows that eating red meat more often than that drastically increases the risk of cancer.  Here is a link to that study: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/archinternmed.2011.2287  And here is a quote taken from the results summary of the report:

We estimated that substitutions of 1 serving per day of other foods (including fish, poultry, nuts, legumes, low-fat dairy, and whole grains) for 1 serving per day of red meat were associated with a 7% to 19% lower mortality risk. We also estimated that 9.3% of deaths in men and 7.6% in women in these cohorts could be prevented at the end of follow-up if all the individuals consumed fewer than 0.5 servings per day (approximately 42 g/d) of red meat.

It is very interesting to me that science continues to validate the revelations of God (The word of wisdom was given to us in 1833. . .)  For your info, here is the verse in the word of wisdom that talks about meat (verse 12)

12 Yea, flesh also of beasts and of the fowls of the air, I, the Lord, have ordained for the use of man with thanksgiving; nevertheless they are to be used sparingly;

We are more than compensated for "missing out" if we do obey the word of wisdom.  We may miss out on some of the "instant gratification" that these substances (Alcohol, Tea, Coffee, Illegal Drugs, etc) can give.  But the long term benefits of health, and increased knowledge and wisdom more than offset the instant gratification we may think we will receive.

Obey the word of wisdom, and be happy.