"What many people call sin is not sin; I do many things to break down superstition, and I will break it down; I referred to the curse of Ham for laughing at Noah, while in his wine, but doing no harm. Noah was a righteous man, and yet he drank wine and became intoxicated; the Lord did not forsake him in consequence thereof, for he retained all the power of his Priesthood, and when he was accused by Canaan, he cursed him by the Priesthood which he held, and the Lord had respect to his word, and the Priesthood which he held, notwithstanding he was drunk, and the curse remains upon the posterity of Canaan until the present day." ~Joseph Smith (November 7, 1841.) DHC 4:445-446.I consistently see that which some believe to be sin is not sin. Joseph wanted to break down superstitions.
There are so many distractions given to us in this world. They are given for a wise purpose by the Lord. I believe they are given to test us and prove us. To prevent those who in their envy and ambition would take the truths that are covered up and hidden within for their own evil designs. For it is the ambition of almost ALL men who get a little authority to use it to get gain and use it for compulsion upon the souls of men. It also prevents the ill prepared to learn those things that they are not ready to heed or willing to pay the price to obtain. It takes great sacrifice to obtains the things of heavens. We must be “one who possessed great knowledge, and [desire] to be a greater follower of righteousness, and to possess a greater knowledge.” WE must first search for the truth. THAT is now our challenge. But we cannot do that when we are in a false sense of security that we have all the truth, or unwilling to pay the sacrifice to obtain it, including our own lives.
I normally don't share my dreams but I feel impressed upon to share one.
What should we Sacrifice?
It does no good to sacrifice things of our own free will if not asked to do so. It will have no eternal reward. The sacrifice must be asked of us by Him (See Lectures on Faith). As in the story of the two men, Luke 18, who prayed to God, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I posses." He was not accepted by the Lord. It was the sinner who observed not the religious practices but offered up a broken heart and a contrite spirit who said "God be merciful to me a sinner." It is not hte level of our observance to "outward ordinances" but rather the heart or as the Lord says behold the kingdom of God is within YOU. Perhaps instead of looking outward we should instead begin to look inward. If we can take care of the inward in due time the outward will take care of itself.
Response to Gods Messengers
Gods messengers do not teach using flattery. They won't tell you are righteous and are in a saved state when we all, equally, fall short of the glory of God. Look at the reaction of the people who heard King Benjamins sermon.
What will God Acknowledge?
It is in this way God prevents those who in their ambition would otherwise use it for their own purposes and they begin to imitate it thinking they can bestow this power upon another. We must be precisely or exactly like Christ, the prototype of the saved man, to receive these greater blessings.
Only they will be called, prepared, and ordained to this higher ministry.
As Helamen 10 shows only if were willing to do His will having first shown we are faithful He will declare this power to us by His voice in the presence of His angels.
Faith By Works.
Alma 13 shows how those who are called to be a high priest after the Order of His Son, having in the first place choosen good works, is to teach others that they also might enter into His rest. That is what the Lords servants do. They teach others what is required to enter into the rest of the Lord while in the flesh. That "ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest." (vs 13). You see these are those who have already entered into the rest of the Lord. They teach that ye may "also enter into that rest."
And what works are we asked to give for without works faith is dead? Joseph defined these works or faith as the following.
Joseph taught,
As to Zion
Just because you have the idea in front of you doesn't mean you have any concept of what will be required to have the angels gather you into that company. It is like the notion that you're going to be "exalted" without any idea that the eternities are completely isolated from the unworthy. No one will or can be "exalted" who is not adequately prepared. Anyone who attains that status will be required first to suffer what is suffered, minister what is required to be ministered, to prove here their fitness. How could a selfish soul ever provide to their ungrateful and abusive offspring everything necessary for them to develop? Exalted beings sacrifice themselves, and endure punishment on behalf of the guilty. They take upon themselves burdens which they do not deserve. They forgive, they succor, they uplift the unworthy. Pride is incompatible, and selfishness utterly disqualifies a soul from "exaltation." The principles which govern there are hardly understood here. Most people imagine they will be able to employ means much like Lucifer's to accomplish their expected outcome. They have no concept of the sacrifices and selflessness required to be trusted by the Lord. He is the prototype of the saved man. He lived His entire existence as a sacrifice. Read 3 Ne. 11: 11 and you will find in His introduction of Himself what a saved man must do. There is no other way. The prideful expectation that someone here is going to attain that status hereafter is based, for the most part, on foolishness and vanity, uninformed by the great things required to become like our Lord. Only those who are exactly like Him will be given that status in the eternities. Zion will be formed from people who are willing to endure His presence. That is no small thing.
What is the "Abrahamic test?"
The Lord adapts the test required to prove a person to their unique circumstances. The test given to Abraham was adapted perfectly to him. To understand how great the sacrifice was, the account needed to inform us of the difficulty encountered by him and Sarah to obtain this child of promise. We needed to know the promised future inheritance of a posterity as numerous as the sand or the stars was tied directly to this son's survival. It was, in the context of Abraham's life and promises from God, the sacrifice of everything. All his hopes, all his promises from God, all his joy with Sarah, all his future descendants were to be laid on the altar and sacrificed. His heart could only be proven through this means. The Abrahamic Test, therefore, will ask the same of you. It will be adapted to what you hope to receive, or have been promised to receive from God. It will end the work of years, and will require you to sacrifice all to God. What one person prizes is never the same as another. What would be easy for one will be nearly impossible for another. The test is adapted to each person. But it will be equally painful, equally difficult and equally proving of the person. Until the heart is tried in this manner we can never know we will submit everything to the Lord. If such a test has not been given you, then it is because the Lord knows you are not prepared to face it. As soon as you are prepared, you will encounter it. For most people they will likely be in their 50's, after having spent many years preparing to overcome themselves. There are notable examples who were much younger, namely Samuel or Joseph Smith. Those are exceptions. Abraham was between 70 and 100, depending on how you reconstruct the chronology. Moses was 80. Those are not atypical examples. Until you know your own heart is purified before God, you cannot bear Him nor have the required faith in Him. This is not an avoidable option, but an essential ingredient in knowing Him. This is why there are years of preparation generally required, and warnings given about continuing forward. The recipient must volunteer. And they must be warned beforehand.
Abraham's great test in sacrificing his son Isaac was all the more difficult when you consider he was nearly sacrificed when he was younger, by his father, on an altar, in a false religious practice. When the true God whom he worshiped asked him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, Abraham was put in the exact position he knew from his own past experience to be evil.
Feb 21, 2013If we wish to gain an eternal reward like those who have gone before we must offer the same sacrifice. For we will all be tried even as Abraham. We must in our patience obtain the reward. We must endure to the end, worlds without end, to gain eternal life. It will be a long while after the promise (or covenant) that the reward is bestowed upon us. We have an opportunity now, in this life, to those who will give heed, to in the "first place" prove ourselves and be "prepared and called" after the Holy Order of the Son. And if we continue faithful, having choosen good and exceedingly great faith, we will be called upon by the Lord in some other place, some other rung of progression, to continue the Lords ministry. Do not sleep away this life. There is so much work to be done. The work required for each of us is the same for the Lord is the prototype of a saved man and we must be precisely like Him.
I remember being outside following a large path/spring. At the end of the path was this main spring of water that I had been following the stream to get to. I appeared or walked back inside a building where I knew people and was waiting for people that I knew to come and spend the night with me. This room happened to be almost at the end of the path. I was making my bed than I remember taking a look outside the window of the room I was in and saw the following.
How can you expect to do in 3 years what it took Isaiah 33 years to do in this lifetime? (the rest of the parable faded my mind) The answer to the parable, Is that if it took Joseph smith to do something in 30 years how can you expect to be able to do it in 3 years? It requires great sacrifice to attain the things of heaven. Will you sacrifice carnal securities (different items were shown before me) in place of things that we need (other items were shown before me in comparison to the previous ones). The more we sacrifice the greater the blessing we are able to have in the heavens. Will you set your things on the items of the carnal mind related to temporally items or buy the items that will last you a lifetime (food, things of spiritual worth). If you expect to receive something in the 3 years it will require that much more sacrifice to be able to achieve all the things Isaiah achieved in his 33 years. That is the meaning of the things shown to me.
Something clearly stated at the end, “as it is written In an apocrypha; Elias ascends to heaven.”
What should we Sacrifice?
It does no good to sacrifice things of our own free will if not asked to do so. It will have no eternal reward. The sacrifice must be asked of us by Him (See Lectures on Faith). As in the story of the two men, Luke 18, who prayed to God, "God, I thank thee, that I am not as other men are, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even as this publican. I fast twice in the week, I give tithes of all that I posses." He was not accepted by the Lord. It was the sinner who observed not the religious practices but offered up a broken heart and a contrite spirit who said "God be merciful to me a sinner." It is not hte level of our observance to "outward ordinances" but rather the heart or as the Lord says behold the kingdom of God is within YOU. Perhaps instead of looking outward we should instead begin to look inward. If we can take care of the inward in due time the outward will take care of itself.
Response to Gods Messengers
Gods messengers do not teach using flattery. They won't tell you are righteous and are in a saved state when we all, equally, fall short of the glory of God. Look at the reaction of the people who heard King Benjamins sermon.
1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had made an end of speaking the words which had been delivered unto him by the angel of the Lord, that he 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.Moroni told us to work out our salvation's with "fear and trembling" (Mormon 9:27). If we are not doing that, if we believe we are "righteous" when there is none good but God than truly we cannot say we have "spiritually been born of God", that "ye received his image in your countenances" and "experienced this mighty change in your hearts." If you are not stripped of this pride or envy ye are not prepared to meet your God. (See Alma 5). Gods gospel causes one to 'fear and tremble' for their salvation. The reaction by these people show how the Holy Ghost, when it manifests truth, can cause you to quake and fall to the earth in fear because YOU realize how wicked, how unrighteous, how impure, how no matter how much you do, you cannot measure up. That it is only by calling upon God that you have any hope in being raised from the grave. In luke 18 one man thought he was righteous due to the ordinances and pristine observance to the practice of his day. The other offered all he could, a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
2 And they had viewed themselves in their own carnal state, even less than the dust of the earth. And they all cried aloud with one voice, saying: O have mercy, and apply the atoning blood of Christ that we may receive forgiveness of our sins, and our hearts may be purified; for we believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who created heaven and earth, and all things; who shall come down among the children of men. (Mosiah 4:1-2)
What will God Acknowledge?
“God will not acknowledge that which He has not called, ordained, and chosen. In the beginning God called Adam by His own voice. “And the Lord called unto Adam and said unto him, where art thou? And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked, and hid myself.” (See Genesis 3:9-10.) Adam received commandments and instructions from God: this was the order from the beginning." -Joseph SmithThis is the order after His son. Those called after this order of priesthood, the patriarchal priesthood or fulness of the priesthood, receive it one way. By Gods voice. As the Oath states "I now confirm upon you who are present this day, by mine own voice out of the heavens" (D&C 84:42) or as Joseph put it "the Keys of this priesthood consisted in obtaining the voice of Jehovah that he talked with him in a familiar and friendly manner." (Joseph Smith Papers, here) No man has these keys until they obtain this voice out of the heavens. Also seen in the Joseph Smith Translation of Genesis 14. "And it was delivered unto men by the calling of his own voice" (JST Genesis 14:29) Notice its His voice not mans. By His calling not mans. No man can bestow this power except God. Thus "All the prophets had the Melchizedek Priesthood and were ordained by God himself." (TPJS, pp. 180-81)
It is in this way God prevents those who in their ambition would otherwise use it for their own purposes and they begin to imitate it thinking they can bestow this power upon another. We must be precisely or exactly like Christ, the prototype of the saved man, to receive these greater blessings.
Only they will be called, prepared, and ordained to this higher ministry.
As Helamen 10 shows only if were willing to do His will having first shown we are faithful He will declare this power to us by His voice in the presence of His angels.
Faith By Works.
Alma 13 shows how those who are called to be a high priest after the Order of His Son, having in the first place choosen good works, is to teach others that they also might enter into His rest. That is what the Lords servants do. They teach others what is required to enter into the rest of the Lord while in the flesh. That "ye should humble yourselves before God, and bring forth fruit meet for repentance, that ye may also enter into that rest." (vs 13). You see these are those who have already entered into the rest of the Lord. They teach that ye may "also enter into that rest."
And what works are we asked to give for without works faith is dead? Joseph defined these works or faith as the following.
3 Let us here offer some explanation in relation to faith that our meaning may be clearly comprehended: We ask, then, what are we to understand by a man's working by faith? We answer: We understand that when a man works by faith he works by mental exertion instead of physical force: it is by words instead of exerting his physical powers, with which every being works when he works by faith-- (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 7)It required mental exertion instead of physical force to exercise faith. Faith by words, for God said, let there be Light and there was Light. Words have power. For He is the Word and it was by the power of Gods word, or the messenger of salvation even Jesus Christ, that the worlds were created. This is why it requires those after the Order of His son to also teach others to enter into His rest. To increase ones faith it requires to hear the word of God by one sent by Him. This is how those called to be "high priests" exercise faith. Or they (we) do as James 1:5 directs, they ask, doubting not, having full confidence before god, without wavering, believing all things, and receive according to their desires. (this is all mental excretion)
Joseph taught,
"The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those that were sent of God, they considered to be false prophets, and hence they killed, stoned, punished and imprisoned the true prophets, and these had to hide themselves ‘in deserts and dens, and caves of the earth’ [see Hebrews 11:38], and though the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds, whilst they cherished, honored and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, impostors, and the basest of men"It requires a great sacrifice to be one of the Lord servants. His servants are willing to sacrifice all things, even their lives, to be His servants. They are strangers and foreigners here. They are living in exile in the wilderness. Because they have come up to a "general assembly of God." (See D&C 76) They have received a new family. They become entirely unwelcome here.
As to Zion
Just because you have the idea in front of you doesn't mean you have any concept of what will be required to have the angels gather you into that company. It is like the notion that you're going to be "exalted" without any idea that the eternities are completely isolated from the unworthy. No one will or can be "exalted" who is not adequately prepared. Anyone who attains that status will be required first to suffer what is suffered, minister what is required to be ministered, to prove here their fitness. How could a selfish soul ever provide to their ungrateful and abusive offspring everything necessary for them to develop? Exalted beings sacrifice themselves, and endure punishment on behalf of the guilty. They take upon themselves burdens which they do not deserve. They forgive, they succor, they uplift the unworthy. Pride is incompatible, and selfishness utterly disqualifies a soul from "exaltation." The principles which govern there are hardly understood here. Most people imagine they will be able to employ means much like Lucifer's to accomplish their expected outcome. They have no concept of the sacrifices and selflessness required to be trusted by the Lord. He is the prototype of the saved man. He lived His entire existence as a sacrifice. Read 3 Ne. 11: 11 and you will find in His introduction of Himself what a saved man must do. There is no other way. The prideful expectation that someone here is going to attain that status hereafter is based, for the most part, on foolishness and vanity, uninformed by the great things required to become like our Lord. Only those who are exactly like Him will be given that status in the eternities. Zion will be formed from people who are willing to endure His presence. That is no small thing.
What is the "Abrahamic test?"
The Lord adapts the test required to prove a person to their unique circumstances. The test given to Abraham was adapted perfectly to him. To understand how great the sacrifice was, the account needed to inform us of the difficulty encountered by him and Sarah to obtain this child of promise. We needed to know the promised future inheritance of a posterity as numerous as the sand or the stars was tied directly to this son's survival. It was, in the context of Abraham's life and promises from God, the sacrifice of everything. All his hopes, all his promises from God, all his joy with Sarah, all his future descendants were to be laid on the altar and sacrificed. His heart could only be proven through this means. The Abrahamic Test, therefore, will ask the same of you. It will be adapted to what you hope to receive, or have been promised to receive from God. It will end the work of years, and will require you to sacrifice all to God. What one person prizes is never the same as another. What would be easy for one will be nearly impossible for another. The test is adapted to each person. But it will be equally painful, equally difficult and equally proving of the person. Until the heart is tried in this manner we can never know we will submit everything to the Lord. If such a test has not been given you, then it is because the Lord knows you are not prepared to face it. As soon as you are prepared, you will encounter it. For most people they will likely be in their 50's, after having spent many years preparing to overcome themselves. There are notable examples who were much younger, namely Samuel or Joseph Smith. Those are exceptions. Abraham was between 70 and 100, depending on how you reconstruct the chronology. Moses was 80. Those are not atypical examples. Until you know your own heart is purified before God, you cannot bear Him nor have the required faith in Him. This is not an avoidable option, but an essential ingredient in knowing Him. This is why there are years of preparation generally required, and warnings given about continuing forward. The recipient must volunteer. And they must be warned beforehand.
Abraham's great test in sacrificing his son Isaac was all the more difficult when you consider he was nearly sacrificed when he was younger, by his father, on an altar, in a false religious practice. When the true God whom he worshiped asked him to sacrifice his beloved son, Isaac, Abraham was put in the exact position he knew from his own past experience to be evil.
Thank you Tyson for this post. I know from my own experience that God truly pulled my very heart strings in my "Abrahamic Sacrifice". I love the hymn "How Firm a Foundation", vrs 5 goes along with this very thing. When you KNOW your standing before God that is an anchor to the Soul. Now I can focus on others and stop worrying about where I stand with the Lord and I can point others to Christ. He is the sure rock. I have not had that "Perfect Day" as mention in D&C 93:1 but look forward to that day. But I have had my complete baptism:water +fire and have done as Peter Mentioned what we should all do/have (2 Peter).
ReplyDeleteI do not share these things to brag or bring attention to myself but rather to testify of God's goodness. Giving hope to others that this (CEMS) can and does happen. God is NO respecter of Persons, I am a living witness to this. In his Holy name-Jesus Christ, Amen!
Thanks for your comment. That is one of the things that I look forward to. That instead of working out my salvation with "fear and trembling" I can receive that anchor and be in His service. I know even than we still must work out our salvations with a great work but having that "hope" surely helps when going through the dark hours as those similar to Joseph in liberty jail.
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