Ask God. He Will Answer

Today's scripture mastery is probably one of the better known scriptures in our church.  It is James 1:5-6:

 5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally, and upbraideth not; and it shall be given him.

 6 But let him ask in faith, nothing wavering. For he that wavereth is like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed.

This is a very neat promise from God.  Who among us doesn't lack in wisdom?  There is always something that we should know-something that will help us in whatever situation we may be in in life. . .

God is a God of Truth and Wisdom.  He is omniscient (all knowing).  And more than that, he is willing to impart of that knowledge to any who come to him in faith. 

This is not a promise only for certain people, such as Joseph Smith-no, this is a promise to "all men"!  God has promised that if we come to him in faith seeking wisdom, he will "upbraideth not" (The greek word that upbraideth was translated from means reproaches or censures.)  In other words, as you may have heard others say in school or work before: "There are no dumb questions."  God will not belittle us for coming to him with what we may feel are small questions, or hold back his answers.  He only asks that we come to Him in faith, believing that we will receive an answer.


That is what revelation is.  You are entitled to personal revelation, straight from God.  If you have need of knowlege or wisdom from God--just ask!


God really does answer prayers.  He always answers our sincere prayers.  Sometimes the answer doesn't come as quickly as we would hope, and sometimes the answer is "no" when we were hoping for a "yes", but he always does answer.

The Priesthood

Hebrews 5:4 is today's scripture mastery.  In it, Paul teaches about who will receive the priesthood:

4 And no man taketh this honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.

It is not up to us if we receive the priesthood.  We can not just decide one day that we want it, and take it upon ourselves to preach the gospel and baptize.  The priesthood is not something that we can buy the right to.  We learn that from Peter in Acts 8:18-20:

 18 And when Simon saw that through laying on of the apostles’ hands the Holy Ghost was given, he offered them money,

 19 Saying, Give me also this power, that on whomsoever I lay hands, he may receive the Holy Ghost.

 20 But Peter said unto him, Thy money perish with thee, because thou hast thought that the gift of God may be purchased with money.

We must prepare ourselves for receiving the priesthood by living righteously, by keeping the commandments.  We must desire to use it to serve others.  If we are living righteously, we may be blessed with the ordination to the priesthood.  We will receive it by "the laying on of hands by those who are in authority." (Article of Faith #5)

God is a God of order.  He has a very specific way of doing things.  I have heard it explained like this:

Suppose you, an ordinary citizen, saw a person speeding past you on the freeway.  You know that this is against the law, so you accelerate past them, pull them over, and try to give them a ticket.  Would the ticket you gave them be valid?  Would the judge in court honor it?  Of course not.  It is the same with the priesthood.  We must be given the priesthood by one who is authorized to give it to us.  Just as a police officer must receive the authority he has from those that have the authority above him.

Similarly, a police officer should be held to a high standard, and can't take his authority as an opportunity to take advantage of others.  He can not, for example, pull over anybody he wants, pull them out of the car, and beat them--just because he feels like it.  The authority he has must be used within certain bounds.  Similarly, a priesthood holder must not use his priesthood to hold a position of dominion over others.  Doctrine and Covenants 121:36-37 says this:

 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.

 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.

There is a sad story in the scriptures about a man who tried to use the priesthood for his personal gain. This is the story of Gehazi, who was a servant of the prophet Elisha.  Elisha had just healed the man Naaman from his leprosy, and had refused any payment for the service.  Gehazi had thought that he could profit from it, and followed after Naaman's party, and lied saying that Elisha had changed his mind, and wanted something in return.  This is found in 2 Kings 5:20-27.  We read in verse 27 that Gehazi was punished for this by receiving Naaman's leprosy.

The priesthood is given to us to bless the lives of others.  It is not given to prop us up in power over others, or to make us wealthy, or to make us better than others in any way.  Those who hold the priesthood, must follow the example of Jesus.  He never used his priesthood to bring himself glory or riches or honor--He used it freely to help the sick and needy, and to bless the lives of those around Him.

Scripture

Today's scripture mastery verse comes from 2 Timothy 3:16-17:

 16 All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

 17 That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works.

This verse ties in very well to the 8th Article of Faith, which I wrote about here, as well as the 9th Article of Faith, which I wrote about here.  We are unique among the Christian sects in that we don't believe that the scripture cannon is closed. 

This fits in very well with what we learn in Hebrews 13:8, that Jesus is "the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever."  Because He does not change, He still wishes to reveal to us (when we are ready) new things that will be for our benefit.  We learn in 2 Nephi 29:9 that He has promised to give us more scripture:

 9 And I do this that I may prove unto many that I am the same yesterday, today, and forever; and that I speak forth my words according to mine own pleasure. And because that I have spoken one word ye need not suppose that I cannot speak another; for my work is not yet finished; neither shall it be until the end of man, neither from that time henceforth and forever.

We often read in the scriptures that we must ask, and we will receive.  Many important scriptures have been given, because the prophets have followed that council.  They have been pondering a particular problem, and the Lord has then revealed to them additional scripture.  This is how we received the important revelations such as the Word of Wisdom, and that the priesthood can now be held by all worthy male members of the church.

I believe that we will continue to receive additional scripture that will benefit mankind.  God wants us all to come to Him, learn of Him, and be happy.  If we read and ponder the scriptures, we can know those things that will bring us closer to God, and help us avoid those things that will bring misery in our lives.

The state of the world

Paul taught Timothy what the world would be like in the last days.  It sounds an awful lot like the state of the world today. . .  2 Timothy 3:1-5 is today's scripture mastery:

 1 This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come.

 2 For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,

 3 Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good,

 4 Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God;

 5 Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.

These attributes that Paul describes here are not attributes that I would like to be described by. . .

These are, unfortunately, attributes that can be used to describe many in the world today.  Just turn on the TV, or look around on the internet.  It does not take long to find people who these attributes describe very well.

I think the best advice from these verses is this "from such turn away."  In other words--don't "hang out" with, or spend time with those who (i.e. make friends with) those who do these things.  We especially don't wan't to accept their ways!  The reason is very simple--these are all attributes that describe the "natural man."  King Mosiah in the Book of Mormon describes the natural man as an enemy to God (Mosiah 3:19)

 19 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, 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.

Now, this doesn't mean that we should "shun" those that do these things.  Heavenly Father still loves them and wants the best for them that He can give them as well.  We should do all that is in our power to help them see the error of their ways.  We should help them to "put off the natural man" as Mosiah said.  We should continue to show love to them.  In short, we should love the sinner, but not the sin.

The Apostasy and the Restoration

Today's scripture mastery is 2 Thessalonians 2:1-3.  In it Paul teaches that Christ won't come again, until after the church falls in to apostasy:

 1 Now we beseech you, brethren, by the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and by our gathering together unto him,

 2 That ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letter as from us, as that the day of Christ is at hand.

 3 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;

We believe that Christ's original church did fall away in to apostasy.  That is why there are so many different Christian churches, but that all have different beliefs. . .

Now, we believe that the men that attempted to bring the Church back to the way Christ intended were inspired men.  But the time was not yet ready for the restoration.  Wonderful men such as John Calvin,  Martin Luther, and William Tyndale(and many others besides) did some very important things that helped prepare the way for the full restoration of the Gospel.

Just recently we celebrated the 400th anniversary of the translation of the Bible in to English (The work of John Tyndale)  Prior to his work, the common man did not have access to the teachings of Christ in the Bible--other than in Latin, or Hebrew, and then only what the priest wanted to share.  There is a wonderful documentary about the coming forth of the Bible that can be seen here:

The time for the full restoration (not reformation) of Christ's church came in 1820, when Joseph Smith was searching for which church to join.  He had been going to each of the different denominations, trying to figure out which was the "right" church that he should join.  After reading the Bible, and reading in James 1:5 that he should ask God--he did.  That is when he saw God the Father, and His son, Jesus Christ.  They told Joseph that the fullness of the gospel would be restored through him.  To Joseph, the priesthood was restored, additional scripture was given, and the organization of the church as Christ had set up was brought back.

Now, we still don't know when Christ will return in the second coming.  We do know that it is "soon"--though "soon" is in God's time frame, not ours. . .  We can see that the revelations in the scriptures that need to be fulfilled before Christ returns are being fulfilled more and more though.

If you are interested, here is a large list of scriptures that refer to the Apostasy, and the Restoration.

The purpose of the organization of the church

Paul taught about the purpose of the organization of the church in today's scripture mastery.  It is found in Ephesians 4:11-14

 11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;

 12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

 13 Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ:

 14 That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive;

We have the same organization that Christ used to organize his church when he set up his church anciently.  The apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers are in the church to help us learn, and they have the priesthood of God.  One of the biggest reasons for the church organization, is to lift and help the members of the church.  It is a good place to go to receive the word of God.  It is a place to learn of Christ.  It is a place where the members of the church can help and lift one another.  I like this verse in Doctrine and Covenants 50:22:

 22 Wherefore, he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are ^aedified and ^brejoice together.

When we meet each week in church, we are "edified."  Our spirits are lifted, and we gain strength to make it through the next week's challenges.  Each Sunday, we have the opportunity to learn and be edified in many ways.  Each Sunday, we have what we call the "3 hour block" of meetings.  The most important of those meetings each week is the sacrament meeting.  It is here where everybody gathers and partakes of the sacrament and sings hymns and listens to sermons.  The other two hours are for more individualized lessons.  The young children go to primary classes, where they learn about Jesus and sing songs.  The older children go to sunday school.  The adults go to their choice of classes--either "Gospel Essentials" (where the basics of the gospel are taught) or "Gospel Doctrine" (where the scriptures are studied and discussed more in depth).  The third hour is another set of classes.  The young children remain in primary.  They youth go to sunday school.  The women go to "Relief Society", and the men go to "priesthood quorum."  Here each of us learn how we can strengthen ourselves and help one another.  To read about how each group of people is taught and served individually in these classes, look here

Church is more than just a Sunday thing though.  If done properly, it is a lifestyle change.  We have ways in the church to help and support each other throughout the week.  Some of the better known ways are the program of Home Teaching, and Visiting Teaching.  At least once a month, every member is visited in their home by other members of the church.  A short gospel lesson is taught, and if there are other needs the family has, they can be assessed.  Needs such as illness or injury, or if the family needs help with other items (such as being out of work, or a death in the family, moving in or out of the area, etc) can be provided for.  The members visiting the family have an opportunity to serve each family they visit.  If the need of the family is larger than they are able to help with individually, they bring the need to the bishop of the local congregation, who has many other resources at his disposal to help that family.

The youth have the opportunity to learn from the scriptures each school day in a program called seminary.  College age people learn additional scripture from the institute program.

The church does much more than just help it's own members though.  The church helps millions around the world each day, regardless of their religion, or nationality.  It has a very well developed, and respected humanitarian program.  Every natural disaster the church has sent its resources to help those in need.  This includes famine, flood, earthquake, and all other natural disasters around the world.  It also includes programs to bring clean water to areas of the world that don't have it.  They also provide medical resources, such as wheelchairs and immunization programs, and teach local farmers how to better increase food production to feed their communities.  There are many more things that the church is doing to help God's children all around the world. Read more about the humanitarian outreach of the church here.  We are known as a service oriented people.  We have many opportunities to serve and help those around us.  Some of these service opportunities are also open to people who are not members of our church as well.  Take a look here to see what some of those service opportunities are for both members and non members alike.

In summary--the church is here to bless mankind.  It is here to bless the lives of all of God's children, both spiritually, emotionally, and physically.  God loves his children, and wants us to help and serve one another.  Pick a way that you can serve others, and feel the joy of service.  Use Christ as your example as you serve!

What happens after we die?

Today's scripture mastery is 1 Corinthians 15:40-42.  In it, Paul continues his teaching to the Corinthians about the resurrection, and includes these verses:

 40 There are also celestial bodies, and bodies terrestrial: but the glory of the celestial is one, and the glory of the terrestrial is another.

 41 There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differeth from another star in glory.

 42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption:

Here Paul gives a glance at what is to come after the resurrection and final judgement.  These different glories that he compares to the glory of the sun, moon, and stars is a reference to where we may end up depending on how we live our lives.

Joseph Smith received a very detailed revelation about this subject, and it is found in Doctrine and Covenants 76

First, those that are faithful to their covenants, have been baptised, and "overcome by faith" with be given the Celestial Glory: (Doctrine and Covenants 76:70)

  70 These are they whose bodies are celestial, whose glory is that of the sun, even the glory of God, the highest of all, whose glory the sun of the firmament is written of as being typical.

Those who receive the next glory(The Terrestrial) are those who:

 74 Who received not the testimony of Jesus in the flesh, but afterwards received it.

 75 These are they who are honorable men of the earth, who were blinded by the craftiness of men.

and this:

 79 These are they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus; wherefore, they obtain not the crown over the kingdom of our God.

Those who will receive the lowest degree of glory are those who were not good people here on earth, and who did not accept Christ, either here on earth or after they died:

 81 And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament.

 82 These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus.

 83 These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit.

 84 These are they who are thrust down to hell.

 85 These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work.

 Let us be faithful, and repent, so that we can live with God and Christ in the Celestial Glory!