Sunday, December 11, 2011

Mysteries of God

Doctrine and Covenants 6:10-11
10 Behold thou hast a gift, and blessed art thou because of thy gift. Remember it is sacred and cometh from above—
11 And if thou wilt inquire, thou shalt know mysteries which are great and marvelous; therefore thou shalt exercise thy gift, that thou mayest find out mysteries, that thou mayest bring many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, convince them of the error of their ways.


Mosiah 2:9
9 And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.



Harold B. Lee, "Ye are the Light of the World", 1974, 211
"...a mystery may be defined as a truth which cannot be known except by revelation."


My Commentary
We can hear a doctrine, but to know and understand it comes by revelation.

Homosexuality

Elder Dallin H Oaks, Followers of Christ, General Conference April 2013
“Jesus taught that God created male and female and that a man should leave his parents and cleave to his wife (see Mark 10:6–8).”

President Boyd K Packer, “How to Survive in Enemy Territory”,Seminary Centennial Broadcast 
“A few of you may have felt or been told that you were born with troubling feelings and that you are not guilty if you act on those temptations. Doctrinally we know that if that were true your agency would have been erased, and that cannot happen. You always have a choice to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost and live a morally pure and chaste life, one filled with virtue.”

1 Corinthians 11:11
 11Nevertheless neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord.

 18Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave unto his wife, and they shall be one flesh.

Being One


John 17:20-21
 20Neither apray I for these alone, but for them also which shall bbelieve on me through their word;
 21That they all may be aone; as thou, bFatherart in me, and I in thee, that they also may be cone in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

Behavior in the Chapel

“Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground!”

Stewardship


Elder Dallin H Oaks - Apostle, Protect the Children, General Conference October 2012
"I speak from the perspective of the gospel of Jesus Christ, including His plan of salvation. That is my calling. Local Church leaders have responsibility for a single jurisdiction, like a ward or stake, but an Apostle is responsible to witness to the entire world. In every nation, of every race and creed, all children are children of God."


Luke 22:32
 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art convertedstrengthen thy brethren.

Friday, December 2, 2011

Divine Nature

2 Peter 1:3-4
 3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
 4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

Wednesday, November 23, 2011

Spirit Bodies

Quoted by William Clayton, reporting an undated discourse given by Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois; in L. John Nuttall, “Extracts from William Clayton’s Private Book,” pp. 7–8, Journals of L. John Nuttall, 1857–1904, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; copy in Church Archives
“We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine, showing that he would prefer a swine’s body to having none. All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not.”

Devil

Quoted by William Clayton, reporting an undated discourse given by Joseph Smith in Nauvoo, Illinois; in L. John Nuttall, “Extracts from William Clayton’s Private Book,” pp. 7–8, Journals of L. John Nuttall, 1857–1904, L. Tom Perry Special Collections, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah; copy in Church Archives
“We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into the herd of swine, showing that he would prefer a swine’s body to having none. All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not.”

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Run, and Not Be Weary

Isaiah 40:31
  31 But they that await upon the Lord shall brenew their cstrength; they shall mount up with wings as deagles; they shall erun, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.




Doctrine and Covenants 89:18-21

  18 And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, ashall receive bhealth in their navel and marrow to their bones;
  19 And shall afind bwisdom and great ctreasures of dknowledge, even hidden treasures;
  20 And shall arun and not be bweary, and shall walk and not faint.
  21 And I, the Lord, give unto them a promise, that the adestroying angel shall bpass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them. Amen.





Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Concern for the One", General Conference April 2008
Draw near to Him, and He will draw near to you, for He has promised that “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint. 8 [ Isaiah 40:31]

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Rod of Iron

Mosiah 1:5
5 I say unto you, my sons, were it not for these things, which have been kept and preserved by the hand of God, that we might read and understand of his mysteries, and have his commandments always before our eyes, that even our fathers would have dwindled in unbelief, and we should have been like unto our brethren, the Lamanites, who know nothing concerning these things, or even do not believe them when they are taught them, because of the traditions of their fathers, which are not correct.



Revelation 12:5
5 And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Revelation 19:15
15 And out of his mouth goeth a sharp sword, that with it he should smite the nations: and he shall rule them with a rod of iron: and he treadeth the winepress of the fierceness and wrath of Almighty God.
1 Nephi 8:19 - 24
19 And I beheld a rod of iron, and it extended along the bank of the river, and led to the tree by which I stood.
20 And I also beheld a strait and narrow path, which came along by the rod of iron, even to the tree by which I stood; and it also led by the head of the fountain, unto a large and spacious field, as if it had been a world.
21 And I saw numberless concourses of people, many of whom were pressing forward, that they might obtain the path which led unto the tree by which I stood.
22 And it came to pass that they did come forth, and commence in the path which led to the tree.
23 And it came to pass that there arose a mist of darkness; yea, even an exceedingly great mist of darkness, insomuch that they who had commenced in the path did lose their way, that they wandered off and were lost.
24 And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mist of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree.
1 Nephi 11:25
25 And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God, which led to the fountain of living waters, or to the tree of life; which waters are a representation of the love of God; and I also beheld that the tree of life was a representation of the love of God.

Friday, November 18, 2011

Perfect the Saints



 32 But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art convertedstrengthen thy brethren.

Tuesday, November 15, 2011

Satan's Plan

Elder Cornish J. Devn Cornish, Am I Good Enough? Will I Make It?, October 2016 General Conference
“...we must stop comparing ourselves to others. We torture ourselves needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our self-worth by the things we do or don’t have and by the opinions of others. If we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past to how we are today—and even to how we want to be in the future. The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly Father thinks of us. Please sincerely ask Him what He thinks of you. He will love and correct but never discourage us; that is Satan’s trick.”

Richard G Scott, Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority, October 2014 General Conference
The more we develop these habits [of prayer, scripture study, family home evening, and temple attendance], the more anxious is Satan to harm us but the less is his ability to do so.

Adrián Ochoa, Aaronic Priesthood: Arise and Use the Power of God, April 2012 General Conference “Yes, Aaronic Priesthood holders, we are at war. And in this war, the best way to defend against evil is to actively promote righteousness. You cannot listen to foul words and pretend you don’t hear. You cannot watch, alone or with others, images you know are filthy and pretend you don’t see. You cannot touch any unclean thing and pretend it’s no big deal. You cannot be passive when Satan seeks to destroy that which is wholesome and pure.”

Elder L. Tom Perry, The Sabbath and the Sacrament

"Brothers and sisters, in the latter days the adversary succeeds when we relax our commitment to the Savior, ignore His teachings in the New Testament and other scripture, and cease to follow Him."

3 Nephi 11:29

 29 For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.

Reputation

Matthew 15:11,18
 11 Not that which goeth into the mouth defileth a man; but that which cometh out of the mouth, this defileth a man.
 18 But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the he
art; and they defile the man.

Ephesians 4:29
 29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Friday, November 11, 2011

Saints

The word saint has become to mean some sort of canonization, exalted status, or perfection.  In the scriptures it simply means those who have covenanted to follow the Lord.

Elder D Todd Christofferson, The Joy of the Saints, October 2019 General Conference
"Saints are those who have entered into the gospel covenant through baptism and are striving to follow Christ as His disciples."


Ephesians 1:1
 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:

Ephesians 2:1919 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints, and of the household of God;


1 Corinthians 1:2
Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours:

2 Corinthians 1:1
 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia:

Philippians 1:1
 Paul and Timotheus, the servants of Jesus Christ, to all the saints in Christ Jesus which are at Philippi, with the bishops and deacons:

Colossians 1:2
 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.

Romans 1:7
 To all that be in Rome, beloved of God, called to be saints: Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 14:33
 33 For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all churches of the saints.

Hebrews 13:24
 24 Salute all them that have the rule over you, and all the saints. They of Italy salute you.

Revelation 13:7
 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.

Revelation 15:3
 And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.

Revelation 16:6
 For they have shed the blood of saints and prophets, and thou hast given them blood to drink; for they are worthy.

Revelation 17:6
 And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration.

Revelation 18:24
 24 And in her was found the blood of prophets, and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.

Revelation 20:9
 And they went up on the breadth of the earth, and compassed the camp of the saints about, and the beloved city: and fire came down from God out of heaven, and devoured them.

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

13th Article of Faith


Articles of Faith 1:13
13 We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.


Moroni 10:30
 30And again I would exhort you that ye would acome unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good bgift, and ctouch not the evil gift, nor the dunclean thing.


New Era, January 2011, Articles of Faith 1:13
This New Era article breaks down the 13th Article of Faith.


President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008), “Fear Not to Do Good”, Ensign,Jan. 2000, 2

“That article of our faith is one of the basic declarations of our theology. We ought to reflect on it again and again. Then, whenever we might be tempted to do anything shoddy or dishonest or immoral, there would come into our minds with some force this great, all-encompassing statement of the ethics of our behavior.”
Terrance D. Olson, “Truths of Moral Purity,” Ensign, Oct. 1998, 43.
“Human sexuality is more than a physical matter. Chastity and fidelity begin in the spirit, not in the body. They are an expression of the condition of our spirit. When our spirit is in tune with godly thinking and gospel truths, we want to live high standards, and our actions reflect that desire. Thus, chastity and fidelity are more than sexual abstinence before marriage and sexual fidelity after marriage. They express the quality of our spiritual life.”

Philippians 4:8
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Entitlement


President Thomas S Monson, Peace, Be Still, General Conference October 2002 "We must learn to separate need from greed."




Doctrine and Covenants 68:31
 31 Now, I, the Lord, am not well pleased with the inhabitants of Zion, for there are idlers among them; and their children are also growing up in wickedness; they also seek not earnestly the riches of eternity, but their eyes are full of greediness.