Temple: Powers of Heaven: 144,000: Zion

Please read this post: What is the Priesthood: Powers of Heaven. We will go from there.

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. (Mosiah 5:15)

"may seal you his"
Hugh Nibley defines a Seal as the following in his text "Ancient Ordinances" a discussion on the ancient temple.

The sign of recognition with the Lord is to stretch out the hand and receive the sign of the cross in the hand. 

(The final rite of the crowning of the Egyptian kings was an embrace which a priest have the king as a representative of the king’s father through a canvas in a special manner, whispering certain blessings in his ear.)

Three types of greeting coming from Adam’s time:
1) a call
2) a sign in the hand,
3) an embrace. These three signs are seals.

Joseph Said,

This is the spirit of Elijah, that we redeem our dead, and connect ourselves with our fathers which are in heaven, and seal up our dead to come forth in the first resurrection; and here we want the power of Elijah to seal those who dwell on earth to those who dwell in heaven. 

History of the Church, 6:252. (also here)

Friendship: What kind of relationship do you need to do this?

Moses 7:63 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Then shalt thou and all thy a city meet them there, and we will receive them into our bosom, and they shall see us; and we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other;

A connection to the Powers of Heaven? Someone you know, talked with, familiar with? It seems like one form of embrace. 

"that you may be brought to heaven",

I wish to pull one sentence from the LDS endowment. This sentence is almost identical to the published version written by Brigham Young and many published documents in the early church. 

Brethren and sisters, if you are true and faithful, the day will come when you will be chosen, called up, and anointed kings and queens, priests and priestesses, whereas you are now anointed only to become such. 

You see the endowment is conditional, its not the real blessings. Its an ordinance we are asked to receive in this life, that also points us to something higher, just like baptism, and the gift of the holy ghost point us to something greater. Its in a way a witness and testimony of what we have or will do.

Look at the word "called up" or as the Mosiah verse uses the terms "that you may be brought to heaven". Is this what the temple is pointing to? Is this how we receive the real thing? To converse with the Lord through the veil? While in the flesh? Lets look at some more examples.

Not lawful to utter

The scriptures have used this phrase a lot. Lets examine some of them to see how they relate to being "called up' or being "brought to heaven" or our "endowment".

13 And behold, the heavens were opened, and they were caught up into heaven, and saw and heard unspeakable things.
And it was forbidden them that they should utter; neither was it given unto them power that they could utter the things which they saw and heard; (3 Nephi 28:13-14)

Behold, it came to pass on the morrow that the multitude gathered themselves together, and they both saw and heard these children; yea, even babes did open their mouths and utter marvelous things; and the things which they did utter were forbidden that there should not any man write them. (3 Nephi 26:16)

How that he was caught up into paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter. (2 Corinthians 12:4)

Look at Josephs Experience in Section 76 when he was caught up to Heaven. He testifies he has seen Him! This is not what is not lawful to utter. He testifies He saw God the Father. This is not what is not lawful to utter.

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;

These are the mysteries that are not lawful to utter. Go read what he did reveal. Those are mysteries we should testify of.

The revelation ends with these words.

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.

1 THE words of God, which he spake unto Moses at a time when Moses was caught up into an exceedingly high mountain, (Moses 1: 1)

10 And he carried me away in the spirit to a great and high mountain, and shewed me that great city, the holy Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God, (Revelations 21:10)

Lehi:

8 And being thus overcome with the Spirit, he was carried away in a vision, even that he saw the heavens open, and he thought he saw God sitting upon his throne, surrounded with numberless concourses of angels in the attitude of singing and praising their God.
9 And it came to pass that he saw One descending out of the midst of heaven, and he beheld that his luster was above that of the sun at noon-day.
10 And he also saw twelve others following him, and their brightness did exceed that of the stars in the firmament.
11 And they came down and went forth upon the face of the earth; and the first came and stood before my father, and gave unto him a book, and bade him that he should read. (1 Nephi 1:8-11)

The scriptures are full of accounts of people receiving the fulness. They are accounts for us to teach us how to pierce the veil. The what, the why, and the how.

Kings and Priests
Lets look at the visions of John.

5 Therefore, I, John, the faithful witness, bear record of the things which were delivered me of the angel, and from Jesus Christ the first begotten of the dead, and the Prince of the kings of the earth.
6 And unto him who loved us, be glory; who washed us from our sins in his own blood, and hath made us kings and priests unto God, his Father. To him be glory and dominion, forever and ever. Amen. (JST Revelations 1:5-6)

Being washed from the blood and sins of this generation is directly related to those who receive the holy order, or the power in their priesthood, or a fulness of the priesthood. In the post on the Holy Order I quoted this verse in Alma 13 vs 11, "Therefore they were called after this holy order, and were sanctified, and their garments were washed white through the blood of the Lamb.". Remember this verse in D&C 88:68.

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. (D&C 88:68)

"ye may have everlasting salvation and eternal life"
We have NOT repented and come to Christ. Had we done that, we would have been embraced in those opened arms of our Lord. In five points of contact with a loving God, we would have heard unspeakable things and know we escaped the wo's pronounced by Nephi. You need to figure out what it is that is NOT working in your repentance. 

"through the wisdom, and power, and justice, and mercy of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth of him who created all things, in heaven and in earth, who is God above all. Amen"

The 144,000 High priests
Lets talk about the 144,00 High priests. Joseph received the following revelation.

11Q. What are we to understand by sealing the one hundred and forty-four thousand, out of all the tribes of Israel—twelve thousand out of every tribe? 

A. We are to understand that those who are sealed are high priests, ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn. (D&C 77:11)

They are ordained by the angels, sealed up as High Priests to gather as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn. These servants gather others that will come. Two phrases I want to bring up.

"ordained unto the holy order of God"
Where are they ordained from? Is this a church ordination or perhaps its the ordination that I have just talked about to be "ordained by God Himself" as all prophets were (TPJS) and "caught up to heaven".

How about the ordaination by God's voice? JST Gen. 14: 28-30.

"by the angels to whom is given power"Who are these angels? Where do they come from? Will others know about these 144,00 if its angels that ordain them?

These 144,00 are given the terms "power" and "angels". Interesting enough its the same type of association as the "Powers of Heaven". Is it this association that keeps us from being burned when the "hosts" come down out of heaven? (Moses 7).

The Four Angels In Heaven Seal the Servants

Revelations 7:1-3 tells us that the four angels are the ones that seal the servants before the final harvest so they will not be burned.

Priesthood Ordination by God's Voice (Holy Order)

42 And wo unto all those who come not unto this priesthood which ye have received, which I now confirm upon you who are present this day, by mine own voice out of the heavens; and even I have given the heavenly hosts and mine angels charge concerning you. (D&C 84:42)

Put on Thy Strength, O Zion

7 Questions by Elias Higbee: What is meant by the command in Isaiah, 52d chapter, 1st verse, which saith: Put on thy strength, O Zion—and what people had Isaiah reference to?
8 He had reference to those whom God should call in the last days, who should hold the power of priesthood to bring again Zion, and the redemption of Israel; and to put on her strength is to put on the authority of the priesthood, which she, Zion, has a right to by lineage; also to return to that power which she had lost. (D&C 113:7-8)

Awake, Arise
Lets read the version of Isaiah 52:1 in 2 Nephi.

24 Awake, awake, put on thy strength, O Zion; put on thy beautiful garments, O Jerusalem, the holy city; for henceforth there shall no more come into thee the uncircumcised and the unclean.
25 Shake thyself from the dust; arise, sit down, O Jerusalem; loose thyself from the bands of thy neck, O captive daughter of Zion.
 (2 Nephi 8:24)

The reason why Israel cannot build Zion is because they are all asleep, held captive, they won't wake up, and put on "thy strength" or this priesthood. They remain unclean. First step is to Awake. The Next Step is to Arise. The reason why WE cannot build Zion is because WE ARE ASLEEP. "Awake to your awful situation" the scriptures inform us. Awake to your awful state of wickedness. They will not become Sanctified! So that they can be washed from the blood and sins of this generation.

Even though there are some awake, they to must to Arise. While many are asleep, there are a few awake, and even a fewer who do what it takes to Arise. Perhaps a another post I will focus on this more.

Sit Down

And ascended into heaven, to sit down on the right hand of the Father, to reign with almighty power according to the will of the Father; (D&C 20:24)

And land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right hand of God in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob, and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out (Helaman 3:30)

How to Worship 

19 I give unto you these sayings 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 time receive of his fulness. (D&C 93:1)

Search the scriptures to know how, to know what, that you may come unto the Father. The lectures on faith says without a correct idea of his character, pefections, and attributes we cannot lay hold upon eternal life. Their purpose is to teach us the What, the Book of Mormon also does but also shows us HOW.