Be Still and know
that I am
To really understand the importance of this subject, it is
needed to talk about covenants, how they are received, when they are received,
and what happens when one receives the Second Comforter. I hope to do so in
another post.
Be still, meditate, ponder, the way most revelation is
received.
The Promise to All
1 Verily,
thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I
am; (D&C 93:1)
Seeking the Face
of the Lord
1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no man that hath seen God. Because he showeth
himself not unto us, therefore there is no God.Behold, they
are corrupt; they have done abominable works, and none of them doeth
good. (JSTPsalms 1:1)
Section 101 is about the redemption of Zion and how it comes
about. So here is what to do.
And seek the face of the
Lord always, that in patience ye may possess your souls,
and ye shall have eternal life. (D&C 101:38)
What does it mean to possess our souls? How is that
accomplished from seeking the Lord’s face?
14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble
themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn
from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their
sin, and will heal their land. (2 Chronicles 7:14)
Being Sealed
A fanciful and flowery and
heated imagination beware of; because the things of God are of deep import; and
time, and
experience, and careful and ponderous and solemn thoughts can only find them out. Thy
mind, O man! if thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high
as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss,
and the broad expanse of eternity—thou must commune with God. Joseph Fielding Smith (editor), Teachings
of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 137
. . . until the servants of God are sealed in their foreheads, which signifies sealing the
blessing upon their heads, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making their calling
and election sure. When a seal is put upon the father and mother, it secures their
posterity, so that they cannot be lost, but will be saved by virtue of the covenant of their
father and mother. (Teachings 338)
Perfect Knowledge
And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things;
for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain
to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a
resurrection and the world to come? (Jacob 4:12)
Wherefore, having this perfect
knowledge of God, he could not be kept from
within the veil (Ether 3:20)
The Flood:
And it came to pass that Noah continued his preaching unto the
people, saying:
Hearken,
and give heed unto my words; Believe and repent of
your sins and be baptized in the name of
Jesus Christ, the Son of God, even as our fathers, and ye shall receive
the Holy Ghost, that ye may have all things
made manifest; and if ye do not this, the
floods will come in upon you; nevertheless they hearkened not. (Moses 8:23-24)
Promised Land
What blessings did Moses try to restore to the Israelites?
"God cursed the children of Israel because they would not receive the last law from Moses. When God offers a blessing or knowledge to a man, and he refuses to receive it, he will be damned. The Israelites prayed that God would speak to Moses and not to them; in consequence of which he cursed them with a carnal law . . . [But] the law revealed to Moses in Horeb never was revealed to the children of Israel as a nation." (Words of Joseph Smith, pg 244) Or (History of the Church, 5:554-556)
The lord cursed them because they wanted Moses to speak to
them. This is what the scriptures are trying to teach us; to teach us to rely
upon Christ, to seek Him, and receive answers from Him. He wants to talk with
each of us. Not through someone else.
So what was Moses trying to do for them? As
D&C 84:23-24
says:
Now this Moses plainly taught to
the children of Israel in the wilderness, and
sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the
face of God;
But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence;
therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore
that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which
rest is the fulness of his glory.
Enduring His
Presence
Why must we be able to endure his presence?
37 For behold, the day cometh
that shall burn as an oven, and all the proud, yea, and all that do
wickedly shall burn as stubble; for they that come
shall burn them, saith the Lord of Hosts,
that it shall leave them neither root nor branch. (JSH-1:37)
If we cannot endure his presence beore, they that come will
still burn us after they do come.
He comes in
Judgment
Do you have time to repent if he comes in judgement? No so
you must receive the Lord before he comes. You Must enter into his rest. The
law states when you are worthy to endure his presence he will come to you and
make his abode with you. For he is the same today yesterday and forever and
will not deviate from the laws of heaven. If you are not ready now, what will magically change will he comes?
He will judge His people. When
Jesus comes again, He will judge the nations and will divide the
righteous from the wicked (see Matthew25:31–46; see also chapter 46 in this book). John the Revelator wrote about
this judgment: “I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given
unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of
Jesus, and for the word of God, … and they lived and reigned with Christ a
thousand years.” The wicked he saw “lived not again until the thousand years
were finished” (Revelation20:4–5; see also D&C88:95–98). (Gospel Principles, Chapter44, Second Coming of Christ)
The Israelites
Continued
They were cursed to remain in the wilderness, and they
wandered for forty years. The number 40
is a symbol of perfection. They were offered a gift and they rejected it.
"For what doth it profit a man
if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he
rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is
the giver of the gift."
Also, if we reject what God gives us, it turns to our
condemnation rather than our blessing, as taught in
D&C 93:32. But what we
learn is that cursing’s are meant to bring forth the blessings of eternity.
They are meant to elevate us if we learn what is required to remove the
condemnation that is placed before us. That is one of the things we learn about
the Aaronic Priesthood, a preparatory gospel, is meant to point us to something
greater, Christ. That is one of the things the Temple teaches us. It can
elevate us. We learn to re-enter the presence of God in the wilderness, until
we pressforward on the path and enter His holy temple re-entering the presence
of God.
Abide in Me until
Even Tide
Lets read a scripture. What does this verse mean?
John 14:23 – Jesus answered and
said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love
him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with
him.
What does this verse mean? What does it mean when he comes
unto us? To make Their abode with us? Is
this the same thing when he says we should come unto him?
In a modern revelation the Lord told us.
D&C 130:3 – John 14:23—The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that
verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea
that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion,
and is false.
Get the Visions of
Eternity
Sidney Rigdon told us more about what to do.
Some say "I want plenty to
eat, plenty to drink, plenty to wear, and a good house to live in; and, say
they then I will believe. But God will not give it until you have proved
yourselves unto Him.
No wonder, then, that we should be joyful today. If the
people will do as they are told, I will tell you what to do. Get the
visions of heaven, and seek not what you shall eat or what you shall drink, but
seek the will of God. Get into the presence of God, and then you will
have johnny-cake and milk-and-water no more. Would you not be astonished if
even now we should tell the glories and privileges of the Saints of God to you
and to the world? We should be ridiculed; and no wonder we shut it up in
secret. If we were to tell you when Jehovah is looked upon, lo it is beauty, it
is heaven, it is felicity to look upon Jehovah.
(Joseph Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 7
vols., introduction and notes by B. H. Roberts [Salt Lake City: The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932-1951], 6: 292. General Conference
Minutes of the Church, April, 1844.)
He tells us. He tells us the same blessings available to the
Israelites are available to us.
Get into the presence of God. Come unto Christ and converse
with him through the veil of unbelief.
But we are in the promised land not the wilderness! Are we
experiencing the blessings that God requires for those who are in the promised
land? Moses was trying to lead them to the promised land, because it is a land
that knows God, that serves him, that keeps his commandments.
The Early Saints
Lets revisit this quote on Faith.
55 Let us here observe, that after
any portion of the human family are made acquainted with the important fact
that there is a God who has created and does uphold all things, the extent of
their knowledge, respecting his character and glory, will depend upon
their diligence and faithfulness in seeking after him, until like Enoch the
brother of Jared, and Moses, they shall obtain faith in God, and power with him
to. behold him face to face.
Get into the presence of God. Reach your higher plane of
existence. Receive eternal life. Stop focusing on your sins, that is what Satan
wants you to do. Focus on being more Christ like and everything else will take
care of itself.
Joseph said, repenting daily is not pleasing before God.
Stop worrying about how fallen you are as we fall so far short of the Glory of
God there is nothing we can do ourselves to overcome this.
Just turn your will over to God and let
him fix you. Let him take care of you. A broken heart and a contrite
spirit is what he asks of you that you may serve Him with all your heart might
mind and strength that you may stand blameless before God. He is a master
Carpenter after all, I am sure he is good at fixing things why not just Trust
Him that he can do the same with Him? Accept yourself
just how you are now and ask and receive. Knock it shall be opened unto
you. Come as you ARE and he will receive you.
Lets read what some of the early saints received. Notice the
word abide.
Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you who have assembled yourselves
together to receive his will concerning you:
2 Behold,
this is pleasing unto your Lord, and the angels rejoice over you; the alms of
your prayers have come up into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are
recorded in the book of the names of the sanctified, even them of the celestial
world.
3 Wherefore,
I now send upon you another Comforter, even upon you my
friends, that it may abide in
your hearts, even the Holy Spirit of promise; which other Comforter is the same
that I promised unto my disciples, as is recorded in the testimony of
John.
4 This
Comforter is the promise which I give unto you of eternal life, even the glory
of the celestial kingdom; (D&C 88:1-4)
Here we have that phrase again back in john, abide in our
hearts. Not in our hearts, but a personal appearance of the Savior. The promise
of eternal life! This is how we know the savior and come unto him. The Second
Comforter as discussed earlier.
Every Soul…Shall
see me
Still do not believe these things are for you? I have
mentioned D&C 93:1 already. Lets look at some commentary on this verse.
President Joseph Fielding
Smith has written: “There are thousands who believe in the promise of the
Lord, ‘that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth
on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my
face and know that I am’ (Doctrine and Covenants 93:1). And this promise is
unto all men everywhere so that all may know if they will” (Improvement Era
33:726).
Elder
Francis M. Lyman taught: “Every Latter-day Saint
is entitled to this witness and testimony. If we have not received [it] . . . the fault is ours, and not the Lord’s; for every one is entitled to that witness through
faith and repentance, forsaking all sin, baptism
by immersion for the remission of sins, and the
reception of the Holy Ghost through the laying on of
hands. Now, if any of our brethren and sisters have
lived for years without really knowing, being thoroughly
satisfied and thoroughly convinced, just as
positive as of anything in life, that this work is of
God,
if they have lacked that witness and testimony it is
their fault, for it is not possible for a man to do the will of the Father and not know the doctrine.” (In Conference
Report, Apr. 1910, pp. 29–30.)
Mcconkie
“We have the power—and it is our privilege—so to live,
that becoming pure in heart, we shall see the face of God while we yet dwell as mortals in a world of sin and sorrow.
“This
is the crowning blessing of mortality. It
is offered
by that God who is no respecter of persons to all
the faithful in his kingdom.” (In Conference Report,
Oct. 1977, p. 52; or Ensign, Nov. 1977, p. 34.)
President Spencer W. Kimball added:
“I have learned that
where there is a prayerful heart, a hungering
after righteousness, a forsaking of sins, and
obedience to the commandments of God, the Lord
pours out more and more light until there is finally power to pierce the heavenly veil and to know more than man knows. A person of such righteousness
has the priceless promise that one day he
shall see the Lord’s face and know that he
is.” (“Give the Lord Your Loyalty,” Ensign, Mar.1980,
p. 4.)
After
the true saints receive and enjoy the gift of
the Holy Ghost; after they know how to attune themselves to the voice
of the Spirit; after they mature spiritually so
that they see visions, work miracles,
and entertain angels; after
they make their
calling and election sure and
prove themselves worthy
of every trust—after
all this and
more—it becomes their right and privilege to see the Lord and commune with
him face to face. Revelations, visions, angelic visitations, the rending of the heavens, and
appearances among men of the Lord himself—all
these things are
for all of
the faithful. They
are not reserved
for apostles
and prophets only. God is no respecter of persons. They are not reserved for
one age
only, or for a select lineage or people. We are all our Father's children. All
men are welcome.
"And he inviteth them all to come unto him and partake of his goodness;
and he
denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and
female; and he
remembereth the heathen; and all are alike unto God, both Jew and
Gentile." (2 Ne.
26:33.) (McConkie TPM p 575)
What are we
entitled to?
McConkie gave the following talk in General Conference.
“I would like to
touch upon some spiritual realities ... each individual member of the
Church can come to know of the divinity of the work, can have the
whisperings of the Spirit in his heart and soul, and in addition, can
see visions, entertain angels, behold the face of the Lord, and receive all
the knowledge and wisdom that has been poured out upon faithful people in any
age.
“As a people, we are in the habit of saying that we believe in latter-day
revelation. We announce quite boldly that the heavens have been opened, that
God has spoken in our day, that angels have ministered to men, that there have
been visions and revelations, and that no gift or grace possessed by the
ancients has been withheld—it has all been revealed anew in our day.
“But, ordinarily, when we talk in this way, we are thinking of
Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, or Spencer W. Kimball. We are thinking of
apostles and prophets—men who are called, selected, or foreordained to hold
the positions that they hold and to do the ministerial service that is theirs.
...
“But what I desire to point attention to is the fact that revelation is
not restricted to the prophet of God on earth. The visions of eternity are
not reserved for Apostles—they are not reserved for the General Authorities.
... any individual who abides the law that entitles him to get
revelation can know exactly and precisely what President Kimball knows, can
entertain angels just as well as Joseph Smith entertained them, and can be
in tune in full measure with all of the things of the Spirit. ... Now I say
that we are entitled to revelation. I say that every member of the
Church, independent and irrespective of any position that he may hold, is
entitled to get revelation from the Holy Ghost; he is entitled
to entertain angels; he is entitled to view the visions of eternity; and if
we would like to go the full measure, he is entitled to see God the
same way that any prophet in literal and actual reality has seen the face of
Deity.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “Howto Get Personal Revelation” New Era magazine, June 1980;
emphases added.)
Believing in the
testimony of others may not be enough
I won't requote it but in the post on Faith I brought up Lectures on faith, that people should only depend on human testimony until they get manifestations for themselves. Which they must do!
Joseph Smith said:
… I may believe that Enoch walked with God. I may believe
that Abraham communed with God and conversed with angels. I may believe that
Isaac obtained a renewal of the covenant made to Abraham by the direct voice of
the Lord. I may believe that Jacob conversed with holy angels and heard the
word of his Maker, that he wrestled with the angel until he prevailed and
obtained a blessing. I may believe that Elijah was taken to heaven in a chariot
of fire with fiery horses. I may believe that the saints saw the Lord and
conversed with him face to face after his resurrection. I may believe that the
Hebrew church came to Mount Zion and unto the city of the living God, the
heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels. I may believe that
they looked into eternity and saw the Judge of all, and Jesus, the Mediator of
the new covenant.
But will all this purchase an assurance for me, or waft me
to the regions of eternal day with my garments spotless, pure, and white? Or,
must I not rather obtain for myself, by my own faith and diligence in keeping
the commandments of the Lord, an assurance of salvation for myself? And have I
not an equal privilege with the ancient saints? And will not the Lord hear my
prayers and listen to my cries as soon as he ever did to theirs if I come to
him in the manner they did?
(Chapter 10: Prayer and Personal Revelation,” Teachings of
Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007), 125–34)
Even as the
Brother of Jared did
Ether 4:7 says all things will be revealed when they exercise faith in God like the borther of Jared did :
7 And in that day that they shall
exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother
of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in
me, then will I manifest unto them the things
which the brother of Jared saw,
even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son
of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things
that in them are.
Ethers invitation:
Rend the Veil of Unbelief
13 Come unto me, O
ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which
is hid up because of unbelief.
14 Come unto me, O ye house of
Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father
hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come
unto you, because of unbelief.
15 Behold, when ye shall rend that
veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of
wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great
and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world
from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken
heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered
the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel. (Ether 4:13-15)
Remember the book of Mormon are the lesser parts. (
3 Nephi 26:8)
In the Lords Time
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)
I think that is enough even though I have left out many
examples and scriptures.
