IF YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HOW THE WORLD IS GOING, KEEP IN MIND THAT Jesus Christ is Yeshua Jehovah The Holy Messiah and Savior of the World who will soon come in Power and Great Glory. I personally invite you to join THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS, THE TRUE RESTORED CHURCH OF CHRIST LED BY LIVING PROPHETS AND APOSTLES. IT WILL BE YOUR KEY SOURCE OF PEACE AND JOY AND HAPPINESS IN THIS TROUBLED WORLD. Richard Linford.

I personally invite you to join THE CHURCH OF JESUS CHRIST OF LATTER-DAY SAINTS. To do so you simply need to contact the Church and

  1. Accept the fact that God the Father and His Beloved Son Jesus Christ are two separate exalted glorified perfect persons with resurrected immortal bodies of flesh and bones.
  2. Accept the fact that you are a child of God the Father and that you lived before this very short mortal test which has been designed by God to see if you will do good during your lifetime and accept the fact that you will continue to live after you die.
  3. Accept the fact that Jesus Christ suffered and paid the price in Gethsemane and on the cross for your sins if you accept Christ and repent of your sins.
  4. Accept the fact that Joseph Smith was visited by The Father and The Son and that they commissioned him to be the great prophet of the Restoration of the true Church of Jesus Christ, once more with a foundation of living apostles and prophets who hold the true priesthood keys and who are the conduits for Christ’s true doctrine of eternal life.
  5. Accept the Bible as the word of God and the Book of Mormon as the word of God.
  6. Be baptized by water immersion for the remission of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands – by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who hold Christ’s priesthood authority.
  7. Attend Church, partake of the sacrament, keep Christ’s commandments, including pay tithing and fast offerings.
  8. (P.S. You can contact me if you want to at r.linford@comcast.net and I will answer your questions and help you meet with wonderful missionaries and attend Church and learn about Jesus, The Holy Messiah, Yeshua, who soon will come in Power and Great Glory.

Or you can contact The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by clicking here https://www.comeuntochrist.org/contact-us

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/media/video/2016-03-0002-resurrection-of-the-dead?lang=eng CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO! YOU CAN READ THE BOOK OF MORMON OR BIBLE FOR FREE – AT NO COST – AT THIS WEBSITE http://www.churchofjesuschrist.org

Keep in mind that Christ is your and my Resurrection and Eternal Life.

“And this is life eternal, that they may know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.” (John 17:3)

Contact The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by clicking here https://www.comeuntochrist.org/contact-us

Or CALL 1-240-1000 or

CALL 801-240-3500 or

CALL 1-240-2222

or check your internet or phone directory for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Because of COVID, if you would like, Missionaries can contact you by phone or facetime or zoom or GotoMeeting or the like to share with you the principles of the gospel, to help you repent of any sins, and to schedule your baptism by immersion for the remission of your sins, and the laying on of hands for your confirmation as a member of the Church, and your reception of the Gift of the Holy Ghost,

Contact The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by clicking here https://www.comeuntochrist.org/contact-us to

Attend a Sunday Service

Enter your address to find your local church. You can get in touch with leaders and representatives. Or, better yet, worship Jesus Christ with us by attending services. You’ll meet new neighbors and make some friends! Click here to learn more about what to expect at church.

Contact The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by clicking here https://www.comeuntochrist.org/contact-us to

Find a church near you

For LocationSearch Click Here https://www.comeuntochrist.org/contact-us to Contact The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Find a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints near you.

I know you will gain peace and joy by meeting with two wonderful missionaries in person or online such as by Zoom or GotoMeeting or Facetime to study the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Missionaries would love to meet with you in person or online and answer any of your questions.

And if Missionaries meet with you in person, most of these missionaries are young men and women ages 18 or 19 or close, they come bearing gifts!

If you’d like free copies of the Book of Mormon or the Bible, they’d be happy to bring or send one or both when they come. 

So please take time to Request a Visit ›

Feel like something is missing in your life?

Invite local missionaries to your home to learn about the teachings of Jesus Christ and how you can follow them.

Request a Book of Mormon

›Two missionaries can stop by with a FREE Book of Mormon and teach you about it.

They will be happy to answer your questions.

Request a Bible ›Request a Bible. Missionaries will bring it by and share an uplifting message.

You can keep the Bible and if you like what you hear, they can come back and teach you more.

And if you would like, you can receive an Inspirational message in your inbox

If you so desire, you can also get an uplifting message each week via email. https://www.comeuntochrist.org/contact-us

On the subject of your Resurrection – here are doctrinal scriptures for your consideration.

  • he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up, 1 Sam. 2:6.
  • If a man die, shall he live again, Job 14:14.
  • destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God, Job 19:26 (Moses 5:10).
  • swallow up death in victory, Isa. 25:8.
  • together with my dead body shall they ariseIsa. 26:19.
  • I will open your graves, and cause you to come up, Ezek. 37:12.
  • sleep in the dust of the earth shall awakeDan. 12:2.
  • ransom them from the power of the graveHosea 13:14.
  • then shall all the dead awakeD&C 29:26.
  • he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, D&C 29:43.
  • shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye, D&C 43:32 (101:31).
  • they that knew no law shall have part in the first resurrectionD&C 45:54.
  • rise from the dead and shall not die after, D&C 63:49.
  • have slept in their graves shall come forth, D&C 88:97.
  • spirit and element, inseparably connectedD&C 93:33.
  • Angels, who are resurrected personages, having bodies of flesh and bones, D&C 129:1.
  • intelligence … will rise with us in the resurrectionD&C 130:18.
  • graves of the saints shall be openedD&C 133:56.
  • departed the mortal life, firm in the hope of a glorious resurrectionD&C 138:14.
  • dry bones, which were to be clothed upon with flesh, D&C 138:43.
  • bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man, Moses 1:39.

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Do Good to those who hurt you. Jesus is the Resurrected Living Christ Messiah Yeshua. His resurrection was glorious. All will receive a resurrection. The Father has a glorified, perfect, resurrected body as tangible as man’s. The Son has a glorified, perfect, resurrected body as tangible as man’s. I invite you to contact the missionaries of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints www.churchofjesuschrsit.org and learn the gospel and be baptized.

http://jesus-isthechrist.com/wp-login.php?action=rp&key=CniltmJDinvPPcrLjxCY&login=jesusi6_wp
  1. Jesus is The Resurrected Living Christ Messiah Yeshua. His Resurrection was glorious. All will receive a resurrection.
  2. See also Atone, AtonementBodyDeath, PhysicalImmortal, ImmortalityJesus ChristSpirit
  3. The reuniting of the spirit body with the physical body of flesh and bones after death.
  4. After resurrection, the spirit and body will never again be separated,
  5. and the person will become immortal.
  6. Every person born on earth will be resurrected because Jesus Christ overcame death (1 Cor. 15:20–22).
  7. Jesus Christ was the first person to be resurrected on this earth (Acts 26:23Col. 1:18Rev. 1:5).
  8. The New Testament gives ample evidence that Jesus rose with His physical body:
  9. His tomb was empty,
  10. He ate fish and honey,
  11. He had a body of flesh and bones,
  12. people touched Him,
  13. and the angels said He had risen (Mark 16:1–6Luke 24:1–12, 36–43John 20:1–18).
  14. Latter-day revelation confirms the reality of the Resurrection of Christ
  15. and of all mankind (Alma 11:40–45403 Ne. 11:1–17D&C 76Moses 7:62).
  16. All people will not be resurrected to the same glory (1 Cor. 15:39–42D&C 76:89–98),
  17. nor will all be resurrected at the same time (1 Cor. 15:22–23Alma 40:8D&C 76:64–65, 8588:96–102).
  18. Many Saints were resurrected after Christ’s Resurrection (Matt. 27:52).
  19. The righteous will be resurrected before the wicked
  20. and will come forth in the First Resurrection (1 Thes. 4:16);
  21. the unrepentant sinners will come forth in the last resurrection (Rev. 20:5–13D&C 76:85).
  22. Though this body be destroyed,
  23. yet in my flesh shall I see God, Job 19:26 (Moses 5:10).
  24. I will open your graves, and cause you to come up, Ezek. 37:12.
  25. Graves were opened, and many bodies arose, Matt. 27:52–53 (3 Ne. 23:9).
  26. The Lord is risen, Luke 24:34.
  27. A spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have, Luke 24:39.
  28. I am the resurrection
  29. and the life, John 11:25.
  30. The Twelve Apostles taught that Jesus had risen, Acts 1:21–22 (Acts 2:323:154:33).
  31. In Christ shall all be made alive, 1 Cor. 15:1–22.
  32. The dead in Christ shall rise first, 1 Thes. 4:16.
  33. Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection, Rev. 20:6.
  34. Christ layeth down his life
  35. and taketh it again
  36. that he may bring to pass the resurrection of the dead, 2 Ne. 2:8 (Mosiah 13:3515:20Alma 33:2240:3Hel. 14:15).
  37. Without resurrection,
  38. we would become subject to Satan, 2 Ne. 9:6–9.
  39. Resurrection will pass upon all men, 2 Ne. 9:22.
  40. The Book of Mormon prophet Abinadi taught about the first resurrection, Mosiah 15:21–26.
  41. The wicked remain as though there had been no redemption,
  42. except for the loosing of the bands of death, Alma 11:41–45.
  43. Alma explained the state of souls between death and resurrection, Alma 40:6, 11–24.
  44. At the Lord’s coming,
  45. the dead which died in Christ will come forth, D&C 29:13 (D&C 45:45–4688:97–98133:56).
  46. Weep especially for those who have not hope of a glorious resurrection, D&C 42:45.
  47. They that knew no law shall have part in this first resurrection, D&C 45:54.
  48. They shall rise from the dead and shall not die after, D&C 63:49.
  49. The resurrection from the dead is the redemption of the soul, D&C 88:14–16.
  50. Spirit and element, inseparably connected, receive a fulness of joy, D&C 93:33.
  51. Angels who are resurrected beings have bodies of flesh and bones, D&C 129:1.
  52. Whatsoever intelligence we attain in this life will rise with us in the resurrection, D&C 130:18–19

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So, what is faith in God?

  1. Question. What is faith in God the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Ghost?
  2. Answer. In the Lectures on Faith, it is defined and described as follows.

Faith Defined

LECTURE FIRST

1 Faith being the first principle in revealed religion, and the foundation of all righteousness, necessarily claims the first place in a course of lectures which are designed to unfold to the understanding the doctrine of Jesus Christ.

2 In presenting the subject of faith, we shall observe the following order:

3 First, Faith itself—what it is:

4 Secondly, The object on which it rests; and

5 Thirdly, The effects which flow from it.

6 Agreeably to this order we have first to show what faith is.

7 The author of the epistle to the Hebrews, in the eleventh chapter of that epistle, and first verse, gives the following definition of the word faith:

8 Now faith is the substance [assurance] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

9 From this we learn, that faith is the assurance which men have

of the existence of things

which they have not seen;

and the principle of action

in all intelligent beings.

10 If men were duly to consider themselves,

and turn their thoughts and reflections to the operations of their own minds,

they would readily discover that it is faith,

and faith only,

which is the moving cause of all action, in them;

that without it,

both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity,

and all their exertions would cease,

both physical and mental.

11 Were this class to go back and reflect upon the history of their lives,

from the period of their first recollection,

and ask themselves,

what principle excited them to action,

or what gave them energy and activity,

in all their lawful avocations, callings and pursuits,

what would be the answer?

Would it not be that it was the assurance which we had

of the existence of things

which we had not seen, as yet?

—Was it not the hope which you had,

in consequence of your belief in the existence of unseen things,

which stimulated you to action

and exertion,

in order to obtain them?

Are you not dependent on your faith,

or belief,

for the acquisition of all knowledge,

wisdom

and intelligence?

Would you exert yourselves

to obtain wisdom

and intelligence,

unless you did believe

that you could obtain them?

Would you have ever sown

if you had not believed that you would reap?

Would you have ever planted

if you had not believed that you would gather?

Would you have ever asked

unless you had believed

that you would receive?

Would you have ever sought

unless you had believed

that you would have found?

Or would you have ever knocked

unless you had believed

that it would have been opened unto you?

In a word, is there any thing that you would have done,

either physical

or mental,

if you had not previously believed?

Are not all your exertions,

of every kind,

dependent on your faith?

Or may we not ask,

what have you,

or what do you possess,

which you have not obtained

by reason of your faith?

Your food,

your raiment,

your lodgings,

[your properties,]

[your knowledge,]

[your talents,]

are they not all

by reason of your faith?

Reflect,

and ask yourselves,

if these things are not so.

Turn your thoughts on your own minds,

and see if faith

is not the moving cause

of all action

in yourselves;

and if the moving cause in you,

is it not in all other intelligent beings?

12 And as faith is the moving cause of all action in temporal concerns,

so it is in spiritual;

for the Savior has said,

and that truly,

that he that believeth 

and is baptized,

shall be saved.

(Mark 16:16)

13 As we receive by faith,

all temporal blessings

that we do receive,

so we,

in like manner,

receive by faith

all spiritual blessings,

that we do receive.

But faith is not only the principle of action,

but of power, also,

in all intelligent beings,

whether in heaven,

or on earth.

Thus says the author of the epistle to the Hebrews. (11:3):

14 Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God: so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.

15 By this we understand

that the principle of power,

which existed in the bosom of God,

by which the worlds were framed,

was faith;

and that it is by reason of this principle of power,

existing in the Deity,

that all created things exist

—so that all things

in heaven,

on earth,

or under the earth,

exist by reason of faith,

as it existed in HIM.

16 Had it not been for the principle of faith

the worlds would never have been framed,

neither would man have been formed of the dust

—it is the principle by which Jehovah works,

and through which he exercises power

over all temporal,

as well as eternal things.

Take this principle or attribute,

(for it is an attribute)

from the Deity

and he would cease to exist.

17 Who cannot see,

that if God framed the worlds by faith,

that it is by faith that he exercises power over them,

and that faith is the principle of power?

And that if the principle of power,

it must be so in man

as well as in the Deity?

This is the testimony

of all the sacred writers,

and the lesson which they have been endeavoring to teach to man.

18 The Savior says, (Matthew 17:19-20),

in explaining the reason

why the disciples could not cast out the devil,

that it was because of their unbelief:

“For verily, I say unto you,”

said he,

“if ye have faith

as a grain of mustard-seed,

ye shall say unto this mountain,

Remove hence to yonder place!

and it shall remove:

and nothing shall be impossible unto you.”

19 Moroni,

while abridging and compiling the record of his fathers,

has given us the following account of faith

as the principle of power:

He says, in Ether 12:13,

that it was the faith of Alma and Amulek which caused the walls of the prison to be wrent, as recorded in Alma 14:23-29;

it was the faith of Nephi and Lehi which caused a change to be wrought upon the hearts of the Lamanites, when they were immersed with the Holy Spirit, and with fire, as seen in Helaman 5:37-50;

and that it was by faith that the mountain Zerin was removed, when the brother of Jared spake in the name of the Lord. See also Ether 12:30.

20 In addition to this we are told in Hebrews, 11:32-35,

that Gideon,

Barak,

Samson,

Jephthah,

David,

Samuel,

and the prophets,

through faith

subdued kingdoms,

wrought righteousness,

obtained promises,

stopped the mouths of lions,

quenched the violence of fire,

escaped the edge of the sword,

out of weakness were made strong,

waxed valiant in fight,

turned to flight the armies of the aliens;

and that women received their dead raised to life again, etc.

21 Also, Joshua,

in the sight of all Israel,

bade the sun and moon to stand still,

and it was done. (Joshua 10:12)

22 We here understand,

that the sacred writers say,

that all these things were done by faith

—It was by faith that the worlds were framed

—God spake,

chaos heard,

and worlds came into order,

by reason of the faith there was in HIM.

So with man also

—he spake by faith

in the name of God,

and the sun stood still,

the moon obeyed,

mountains removed,

prisons fell,

lions’ mouths were closed,

the human heart lost its enmity,

fire its violence,

armies their power,

the sword its terror,

and death its dominion;

and all this by reason of the faith which was in them.

23 Had it not been for the faith

which was in man,

they might have spoken to the sun,

the moon,

the mountains,

prisons,

lions,

the human heart,

fire,

armies,

the sword,

or to death

in vain!

24 Faith, then,

is the first great governing principle

which has

power,

dominion,

and authority

over all things:

by it they exist,

by it they are upheld,

by it they are changed,

or by it they remain,

agreeably to the will of God.

Without it,

there is no power,

and without power

there could be no creation, nor existence!


QUESTIONS & ANSWERS ON THE FOREGOING PRINCIPLES

Question 1: What is theology?


It is that revealed science

which treats of the being and attributes of God,

his relations to us,

the dispensations of his providence,

his will with respect to our actions

and his purposes with respect to our end.

(Buck’s Theological Dictionary, page 582)

Question 2: What is the first principle in this revealed science?


Faith. (1:1)

Question 3: Why is faith the first principle in this revealed science?


Because it is the foundation of all righteousness. 

Hebrews 11:6: Without faith it is impossible to please God. 

1 John 3:7: Little children, let no man deceive you: he that doeth righteousness, is righteous, even as he [God] is righteous. (1:1)

Question 4: What arrangement should be followed in presenting the subject of faith?


First, Should be shown what faith is: (1:3)


Secondly, The object upon which it rests; and (1:4)


Thirdly, The effects which flow from it. (1:5)

Question 5: What is faith?


It is the assurance of things hoped for,

the evidence of things not seen: 

Hebrews 11:1. That is, it is the assurance we have of the existence of unseen things.

And being the assurance which we have of the existence of unseen things,

must be the principle of action in all intelligent beings. 

Hebrews 11:3: Through faith we understand the worlds were framed by the word of God. (1:8-9)

Question 6: How do you prove that faith is the principle of action in all intelligent beings?


First,

By duly considering the operations of my own mind;

and secondly,

by the direct declaration of scripture. 

Hebrews 11:7: By faith Noah, being warned of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. 

Hebrews 11:8: By faith Abraham, when he was called to go out into a place which he should after receive for an inheritance, obeyed; and he went out not knowing whither he went. 

Hebrews 11:9: By faith he sojourned in the land of promise, as in a strange country, dwelling in tabernacles with Isaac and Jacob, the heirs with him of the same promise. 

Hebrews 11:27: By faith Moses forsook Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king: for he endured as seeing him who is invisible. (1:10-11)

Question 7: Is not faith the principle of action in spiritual things as well as in temporal?


It is.

Question 8: How do you prove it?


Hebrews 11:6: Without faith it is impossible to please God.

Mark 16:16: He that believeth and is baptized, shall be saved. 

Rom. 4:16: Therefore, it is of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all the seed: not to that only which is of the law, but to that also which is of the faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all. (1:12-13)

Question 9: Is faith any thing else beside the principle of action?


It is.

Question 10: What is it?


It is the principle of power, also (1:13)

Question 11: How do you prove it?


First, It is the principle of power in the Deity, as well as in man. 

Hebrews 11:3: Through faith we understand

that the worlds were framed

by the word of God,

so that things which are seen

were not made of things which do appear. (1:14-16)

Secondly, It is the principle of power in man also.

Book of Mormon, Alma 14:23-29: Alma and Amulek are delivered from prison. 

Helaman 5:37-50: Nephi and Lehi, with the Lamanites, are immersed with the Spirit. 

Ether 12:30: The mountain Zerin, by the faith of the brother of Jared, is removed. 

Joshua 10:12: Then spake Joshua to the Lord in the day when the Lord delivered up the Amorites before the children of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun, stand thou still upon Gibeon, and thou Moon, in the valley of Ajalon. 

Joshua 10:13: And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves of their enemies.

Is not this written in the book of Jasher?

So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day. 

Matthew 17:19: Then came the disciples to Jesus apart, and said, Why could not we cast him out? 

Matthew 17:20: And Jesus said unto them, Because of your unbelief: for verily I say unto you, if ye have faith as a grain of mustard seed, ye shall say unto this mountain, Remove hence to yonder place; and it shall remove; and nothing shall be impossible unto you. 

Hebrews 11:32 and the following verses: And what shall I more say? for the time would fail me to tell of Gideon, and of Barak, and of Samson, and of Jephthah, of David also, and Samuel, and of the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens.

Women received their dead raised to life again,

and other were tortured,

not accepting deliverance;

that they might obtain a better resurrection. (1:16-22)

Question 12: How would you define faith in its most unlimited sense?


It is the first great governing principle,

which has power, dominion, and authority over all things. (1:24)

Question 13: How do you convey to the understanding more clearly, that faith is the first great governing principle, which has

power,

dominion

and authority

over all things?


By it they exist,

by it they are upheld,

by it they are changed,

or by it they remain,

agreeably to the will of God;

and without it there is no power;

and without power

there could be no creation,

nor existence! (1:24)

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So how about Love Your Enemies! Do good to those Enemies who harm you! At the same time, protect yourself and your family from Enemies!

Jesus is the Savior of the World.

  1. Love Your Enemies
  2. By President Dallin H. Oaks (paragraphs 1-105)
  3. First Counselor in the First Presidency
  4. Knowing that we are all children of God gives us a vision of the worth of others and the ability to rise above prejudice.
  5. The Lord’s teachings are for eternity and for all of God’s children.
  6. In this message I will give some examples from the United States, but the principles I teach are applicable everywhere.
  7. We live in a time of anger and hatred in political relationships and policies.
  8. We felt it this summer when some went beyond peaceful protests and engaged in destructive behavior.
  9. We feel it in some current campaigns for public offices.
  10. Unfortunately, some of this has even spilled over into political statements and unkind references in our Church meetings.
  11. In a democratic government we will always have differences over proposed candidates and policies.
  12. However, as followers of Christ we must forgo the anger and hatred with which political choices are debated or denounced in many settings.
  13. The Sermon on the Mount
  14. Here is one of our Savior’s teachings, probably well known but rarely practiced:
  15. “Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
  16. “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43–44).1
  17. For generations, Jews had been taught to hate their enemies, and they were then suffering under the domination and cruelties of Roman occupation.
  18. Yet Jesus taught them, “Love your enemies” and “do good to them that … despitefully use you.”
  19. Bring forth the record
  20. What revolutionary teachings for personal and political relationships!
  21. But that is still what our Savior commands.
  22. In the Book of Mormon we read,
  23. “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” (3 Nephi 11:29).
  24. Loving our enemies and our adversaries is not easy.
  25. “Most of us have not reached that stage of … love and forgiveness,”
  26. President Gordon B. Hinckley observed, adding, “It requires a self-discipline almost greater than we are capable of.”2 
  27. But it must be essential, for it is part of the Savior’s two great commandments to “love the Lord thy God” and to “love thy neighbour as thyself” (Matthew 22:37, 39).
  28. And it must be possible, for He also taught, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find” (Matthew 7:7).3
  29. How do we keep these divine commandments in a world where we are also subject to the laws of man?
  30. Fortunately, we have the Savior’s own example of how to balance His eternal laws with the practicalities of man-made laws.
  31. When adversaries sought to trap Him with a question about whether Jews should pay taxes to Rome, He pointed to the image of Caesar on their coins and declared, “Render therefore unto Caesar the things which be Caesar’s, and unto God the things which be God’s” (Luke 20:25).4
  32. Jesus Christ. Tribute to Caesar
  33. So, we are to follow the laws of men (render unto Caesar) to live peacefully under civil authority, and we follow the laws of God toward our eternal destination.
  34. But how do we do this—especially how do we learn to love our adversaries and our enemies?
  35. The Savior’s teaching not to “contend with anger” is a good first step.
  36. The devil is the father of contention, and it is he who tempts men to contend with anger.
  37. He promotes enmity and hateful relationships among individuals and within groups.
  38. President Thomas S. Monson taught that anger is “Satan’s tool,” for “to be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan.
  39. No one can make us angry. It is our choice.”5 
  40. Anger is the way to division and enmity.
  41. We move toward loving our adversaries when we avoid anger and hostility toward those with whom we disagree.
  42. It also helps if we are even willing to learn from them.
  43. Among other ways to develop the power to love others is the simple method described in a long-ago musical.
  44. When we are trying to understand and relate to people of a different culture, we should try getting to know them.
  45. In countless circumstances, strangers’ suspicion or even hostility give way to friendship or even love when personal contacts produce understanding and mutual respect.6
  46. An even greater help in learning to love our adversaries and our enemies is to seek to understand the power of love.
  47. Here are three of many prophetic teachings about this.
  48. The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “it is a time-honored adage that love begets love. Let us pour forth love—show forth our kindness unto all mankind.”7
  49. President Howard W. Hunter taught: “The world in which we live would benefit greatly if men and women everywhere would exercise the pure love of Christ, which is kind, meek, and lowly.
  50. It is without envy or pride. … It seeks nothing in return. … It has no place for bigotry, hatred, or violence. … It encourages diverse people to live together in Christian love regardless of religious belief, race, nationality, financial standing, education, or culture.”8
  51. And President Russell M. Nelson has urged us to “expand our circle of love to embrace the whole human family.”9
  52. An essential part of loving our enemies is to render unto Caesar by keeping the laws of our various countries.
  53. Though Jesus’s teachings were revolutionary, He did not teach revolution or lawbreaking. He taught a better way.
  54. Modern revelation teaches the same:
  55. “Let no man break the laws of the land, for he that keepeth the laws of God hath no need to break the laws of the land.
  56. “Wherefore, be subject to the powers that be” (Doctrine and Covenants 58:21–22).
  57. And our article of faith, written by the Prophet Joseph Smith after the early Saints had suffered severe persecution from Missouri officials, declares, “We believe in being subject to kings, presidents, rulers, and magistrates, in obeying, honoring, and sustaining the law” (Articles of Faith 1:12).
  58. This does not mean that we agree with all that is done with the force of law.
  59. It means that we obey the current law and use peaceful means to change it.
  60. It also means that we peacefully accept the results of elections.
  61. We will not participate in the violence threatened by those disappointed with the outcome.10
  62.  In a democratic society we always have the opportunity and the duty to persist peacefully until the next election.
  63. The Savior’s teaching to love our enemies is based on the reality that all mortals are beloved children of God.
  64. That eternal principle and some basic principles of law were tested in the recent protests in many American cities.
  65. Protests
  66. At one extreme, some seem to have forgotten that the First Amendment to the United States Constitution guarantees the “right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
  67. That is the authorized way to raise public awareness and to focus on injustices in the content or administration of the laws.
  68. And there have been injustices.
  69. In public actions and in our personal attitudes, we have had racism and related grievances.
  70. In a persuasive personal essay, the Reverend Theresa A. Dear of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) has reminded us that “racism thrives on hatred, oppression, collusion, passivity, indifference and silence.”11 
  71. As citizens and as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we must do better to help root out racism.
  72. Police and Rebels
  73. At the other extreme, a minority of participants and supporters of these protests and the illegal acts that followed them seem to have forgotten that the protests protected by the Constitution are peaceful protests.
  74. Protesters have no right to destroy, deface, or steal property or to undermine the government’s legitimate police powers.
  75. The Constitution and laws contain no invitation to revolution or anarchy.
  76. All of us—police, protesters, supporters, and spectators—should understand the limits of our rights and the importance of our duties to stay within the boundaries of existing law.
  77. Abraham Lincoln was right when he said, “There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.”12 
  78. Redress of grievances by mobs is redress by illegal means.
  79. That is anarchy, a condition that has no effective governance and no formal police, which undermines rather than protects individual rights.
  80. One reason the recent protests in the United States were shocking to so many was that the hostilities and illegalities felt among different ethnicities in other nations should not be felt in the United States.
  81. This country should be better in eliminating racism not only against Black Americans, who were most visible in the recent protests, but also against Latinos, Asians, and other groups. This nation’s history of racism is not a happy one, and we must do better.
  82. Ellis Island
  83. Ellis Island
  84. The United States was founded by immigrants of different nationalities and different ethnicities.
  85. Its unifying purpose was not to establish a particular religion or to perpetuate any of the diverse cultures or tribal loyalties of the old countries.
  86. Our founding generation sought to be unified by a new constitution and laws.
  87. That is not to say that our unifying documents or the then-current understanding of their meanings were perfect.
  88. The history of the first two centuries of the United States showed the need for many refinements, such as voting rights for women and, particularly, the abolition of slavery, including laws to ensure that those who had been enslaved would have all the conditions of freedom.
  89. Two Yale University scholars recently reminded us:
  90. “For all its flaws, the United States is uniquely equipped to unite a diverse and divided society. …
  91. “… Its citizens don’t have to choose between a national identity and multiculturalism.
  92. Americans can have both.
  93. But the key is constitutional patriotism.
  94. We have to remain united by and through the Constitution, regardless of our ideological disagreements.”13
  95. Many years ago, a British foreign secretary gave this great counsel in a debate in the House of Commons: “We have no eternal allies and we have no perpetual enemies. 
  96. Our interests are eternal and perpetual, and these interests it is our duty to follow.”14
  97. That is a good secular reason for following “eternal and perpetual” interests in political matters.
  98. In addition, the doctrine of the Lord’s Church teaches us another eternal interest to guide us: the teachings of our Savior, who inspired the Constitution of the United States and the basic laws of many of our countries.
  99. Loyalty to established law instead of temporary “allies” is the best way to love our adversaries and our enemies as we seek unity in diversity.
  100. Knowing that we are all children of God gives us a divine vision of the worth of all others and the will and ability to rise above prejudice and racism.
  101. As I have lived for many years in different places in this nation, the Lord has taught me that it is possible to obey and seek to improve our nation’s laws and also to love our adversaries and our enemies.
  102. While not easy, it is possible with the help of our Lord, Jesus Christ.
  103. He gave this command to love, and He promises His help as we seek to obey it. I testify that we are loved and will be helped by our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.
  104. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Richard W. Linford, editor, member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

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DO JUSTLY, LOVE MERCY, WALK HUMBLY WITH GOD!

Jesus is the Christ, Yeshua, The Holy Messiah who soon will some so repent and get your house in order, art by Richard W. Linford
  1. Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God
  2. By Elder Dale G. Renlund
  3. Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
  4. To do justly means acting honorably.
  5. We act honorably with God by walking humbly with Him.
  6. We act honorably with others by loving mercy.
  7. As followers of Jesus Christ, and as Latter-day Saints, we strive—and are encouraged to strive—to do better and be better.1 
  8. Perhaps you have wondered, as I have, “Am I doing enough?”
  9. “What else should I be doing?”
  10. or “How can I, as a flawed person, qualify to ‘dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness’?”2
  11. The Old Testament prophet Micah asked the question this way:
  12. “Wherewith shall I come before the Lord,
  13. and bow myself before the high God?”3 
  14. Micah satirically wondered whether even exorbitant offerings might be enough to compensate for sin, saying:
  15. “Will the Lord be pleased with thousands of rams, or with ten [thousand] … rivers of oil?
  16. shall I give my firstborn for … the sin of my soul?”4
  17. The answer is no.
  18. Good deeds are not sufficient.
  19. Salvation is not earned.5 
  20. Not even the vast sacrifices Micah knew were impossible can redeem the smallest sin.
  21. Left to our own devices, the prospect of returning to live in God’s presence is hopeless.6
  22. Without the blessings that come from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we can never do enough or be enough by ourselves.
  23. The good news, though, is that because of and through Jesus Christ we can become enough.7 
  24. All people will be saved from physical death by the grace of God, through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.8 
  25. And if we turn our hearts to God, salvation from spiritual death is available to all “through the Atonement of [Jesus] Christ … by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”9 
  26. We can be redeemed from sin to stand clean and pure before God.
  27. As Micah explained, “[God] hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, and to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?”10
  28. Micah’s direction on turning our hearts to God and qualifying for salvation contains three interconnected elements.
  29. To do justly means acting honorably with God and with other people.
  30. We act honorably with God by walking humbly with Him.
  31. We act honorably with others by loving mercy.
  32. To do justly is therefore a practical application of the first and second great commandments, to “love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind … [and to] love thy neighbour as thyself.”11
  33. To do justly and walk humbly with God is to intentionally withdraw our hand from iniquity, walk in His statutes, and remain authentically faithful.12 
  34. A just person turns away from sin and toward God, makes covenants with Him, and keeps those covenants.
  35. A just person chooses to obey the commandments of God, repents when falling short, and keeps on trying.
  36. When the resurrected Christ visited the Nephites, He explained that the law of Moses had been replaced by a higher law.
  37. He instructed them not to “offer up … sacrifices and … burnt offerings” any longer but to offer “a broken heart and a contrite spirit.”
  38. He also promised, “And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost.”13 
  39. When we receive and use the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism, we can enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost
  40. and be taught all things that we should do,14 
  41. including how to walk humbly with God.
  42. Jesus Christ’s sacrifice for sin and salvation from spiritual death are available to all who have such a broken heart and contrite spirit.15 
  43. A broken heart and contrite spirit prompt us to joyfully repent and try to become more like our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
  44. As we do so, we receive the Savior’s cleansing, healing, and strengthening power.
  45. We not only do justly and walk humbly with God;
  46. we also learn to love mercy the way that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do.
  47. God delights in mercy and does not begrudge its use.
  48. In Micah’s words to Jehovah, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, … will have compassion upon us,” and will “cast all … sins into the depths of the sea.”16 
  49. To love mercy as God does is inseparably connected to dealing justly with others and not mistreating them.
  50. The importance of not mistreating others is highlighted in an anecdote about Hillel the Elder, a Jewish scholar who lived in the first century before Christ.
  51. One of Hillel’s students was exasperated by the complexity of the Torah—the five books of Moses with their 613 commandments and associated rabbinic writings.
  52. The student challenged Hillel to explain the Torah using only the time that Hillel could stand on one foot.
  53. Hillel may not have had great balance but accepted the challenge.
  54. He quoted from Leviticus, saying,
  55. “Thou shalt not avenge,
  56. nor bear any grudge
  57. against the children of thy people,
  58. but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.”17 
  59. Hillel then concluded:
  60. “That which is hateful unto you, do not do to your neighbor.
  61. This is the whole of the Torah; the rest is commentary.
  62. Go forth and study.”18
  63. Always dealing honorably with others is part of loving mercy.
  64. Consider a conversation I overheard decades ago in the emergency department of Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Maryland, in the United States.
  65. A patient, Mr. Jackson, was a courteous, pleasant man who was well known to the hospital staff.
  66. He had previously been hospitalized multiple times for the treatment of alcohol-related diseases.
  67. On this occasion, Mr. Jackson returned to the hospital for symptoms that would be diagnosed as inflammation of the pancreas caused by alcohol consumption.
  68. Toward the end of his shift, Dr. Cohen, a hardworking and admired physician, evaluated Mr. Jackson and determined that hospitalization was warranted.
  69. Dr. Cohen assigned Dr. Jones, the physician next up in rotation, to admit Mr. Jackson and oversee his treatment.
  70. Dr. Jones had attended a prestigious medical school and was just beginning her postgraduate studies.
  71. This grueling training was often associated with sleep deprivation, which likely contributed to Dr. Jones’s negative response.
  72. Confronted with her fifth admission of the night, she complained loudly to Dr. Cohen.
  73. She felt it was unfair that she would have to spend many hours caring for Mr. Jackson, because his predicament was, after all, self-inflicted.
  74. Dr. Cohen’s emphatic response was spoken in almost a whisper.
  75. He said, “Dr. Jones, you became a physician to care for people and work to heal them.
  76. You didn’t become a physician to judge them.
  77. If you don’t understand the difference, you have no right to train at this institution.”
  78. Following this correction, Dr. Jones diligently cared for Mr. Jackson during the hospitalization.
  79. Mr. Jackson has since died.
  80. Both Dr. Jones and Dr. Cohen have had stellar careers.
  81. But at a critical moment in her training, Dr. Jones needed to be reminded to do justly, to love mercy, and to care for Mr. Jackson without being judgmental.19
  82. Over the years, I have benefited from that reminder.
  83. Loving mercy means that we do not just love the mercy God extends to us; we delight that God extends the same mercy to others.
  84. And we follow His example. “All are alike unto God,”20 and we all need spiritual treatment to be helped and healed.
  85. The Lord has said, “Ye shall not esteem one flesh above another,
  86. or one man shall not think himself above another.”21
  87. Jesus Christ exemplified what it means to do justly and to love mercy.
  88. He freely associated with sinners,
  89. treating them honorably
  90. and with respect.
  91. He taught the joy of keeping God’s commandments
  92. and sought to lift
  93. rather than condemn
  94. those who struggled.
  95. He did denounce those who faulted Him for ministering to people they deemed unworthy.22 
  96. Such self-righteousness offended Him and still does.23
  97. To be Christlike, a person does justly, behaving honorably with both God and other people.
  98. A just person is civil in words and action and recognizes that differences in outlook or belief do not preclude genuine kindness and friendship.
  99. Individuals who do justly “will not have a mind to injure one another,
  100. but to live peaceably”24 one with another.
  101. To be Christlike, a person loves mercy.
  102. People who love mercy are not judgmental;
  103. they manifest compassion for others,
  104. especially for those who are less fortunate;
  105. they are gracious,
  106. kind,
  107. and honorable.
  108. These individuals treat everyone
  109. with love
  110. and understanding,
  111. regardless of characteristics such as
  112. race,
  113. gender,
  114. religious affiliation,
  115. sexual orientation,
  116. socioeconomic status,
  117. and tribal,
  118. clan,
  119. or national differences.
  120. These are superseded by Christlike love.
  121. To be Christlike, a person chooses God,25 
  122. walks humbly with Him,
  123. seeks to please Him,
  124. and keeps covenants with Him.
  125. Individuals who walk humbly with God
  126. remember what Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have done for them.
  127. Am I doing enough?
  128. What else should I be doing?
  129. The action we take in response to these questions is central to our happiness in this life and in the eternities.
  130. The Savior does not want us to take salvation for granted.
  131. Even after we have made sacred covenants,
  132. there is a possibility that we may “fall from grace and depart from the living God.”
  133. So we should “take heed and pray always” to avoid falling “into temptation.”26
  134. But at the same time, our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ do not want us to be paralyzed
  135. by continual uncertainty during our mortal journey,
  136. wondering whether we have done enough to be saved and exalted.
  137. They surely do not want us to be tormented
  138. by mistakes from which we have repented,
  139. thinking of them as wounds that never heal,27 
  140. or to be excessively apprehensive that we might stumble again.
  141. We can assess our own progress.
  142. We can know “that the course of life [that we are] pursuing is according to God’s will”28 
  143. when we do justly,
  144. love mercy,
  145. and walk humbly with our God.
  146. We assimilate the attributes of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ into our character,
  147. and we love one another.
  148. When you do these things,
  149. you will follow the covenant path
  150. and qualify to “dwell with God
  151. in a state of never-ending happiness.”29 
  152. Your souls will be infused with the glory of God
  153. and with the light of everlasting life.30 
  154. You will be filled with incomprehensible joy.31 
  155. I testify that God lives
  156. and that Jesus is the Christ,
  157. our Savior
  158. and Redeemer,
  159. and He lovingly
  160. and joyfully
  161. extends His mercy to all.
  162. Don’t you love it?
  163. In the name of Jesus Christ,
  164. amen.

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Is the Second Coming near?

Our Savior Has Repeatedly Said that His Second Coming is near.

THE SECOND COMING OF THE LORD IS NIGH AT HAND. D&C 1:12.

 “For behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, the time is soon at hand that I shall come in a cloud with power and great glory. D&C 34:7.

“And it shall be a great day at the time of my coming, for all nations shall tremble. D&C 34:8.

Therefore, We need to Listen, Pay Attention, Repent, and Be Prepared?

Listen to the voice of the Lord which is unto all men, saying, REPENT lest you are pierced with much sorrow. D&C 1:1-7.

  1. “Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.
  2. “For verily the voice of the Lord is unto all men, and there is none to escape; and there is no eye that shall not see, neither ear that shall not hear, neither heart that shall not be penetrated.
  3. “And the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed.
  4. “And the voice of warning shall be unto all people, by the mouths of my disciples, whom I have chosen in these last days.
  5. “And they shall go forth and none shall stay them, for I the Lord have commanded them.
  6. “Behold, this is mine authority, and the authority of my servants, and my preface unto the book of my commandments, which I have given them to publish unto you, O inhabitants of the earth.
  7. “Wherefore, fear and tremble, O ye people, for what I the Lord have decreed in them shall be fulfilled.

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Do you who live in the Netherlands and Belgium want comfort despite COVID? Do you know the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, the Holy Messiah, the Prince of Peace, the Savior of the World, who will come in power and great glory on a day and in an hour you think not, is near even at the doors? You may want to repent and get ready whether you die suddenly or are alive when he comes. (Just a couple of comforting thoughts from this blog editor, Richard Linford)

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Jesus is the Resurrected Messiah who provides all of us with a Resurrection.

Jesus is the Resurrected Messiah who provides all of us with a Resurrection. Like Heavenly Father, Jesus now has a glorified resurrected body of flesh and bones.

See https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/gospel-topics/resurrection?lang=eng

Resurrection

Overview

Because of the Fall of Adam and Eve, we are subject to physical death, which is the separation of the spirit from the body. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, all people will be resurrected and saved from physical death (see 1 Corinthians 15:22). Resurrection is the reuniting of the spirit with the body in an immortal state, no longer subject to disease or death.

The Savior was the first person on this earth to be resurrected. The New Testament contains several accounts testifying that He rose from the tomb (see Matthew 28:1–8Mark 16:1–14Luke 24:1–48John 20:1–291 Corinthians 15:1–82 Peter 1:16–17).

When the resurrected Lord appeared to His Apostles, He helped them understand that He had a body of flesh and bones. He said, “Behold my hands and my feet, that it is I myself: handle me, and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones, as ye see me have” (Luke 24:39). He also appeared to the Nephites after His Resurrection (see 3 Nephi 11:10–17).

At the time of the resurrection, we will “be judged according to [our] works. … We shall be brought to stand before God, knowing even as we know now, and have a bright recollection of all our guilt” (Alma 11:41, 43). The eternal glory we receive will depend on our faithfulness. Although all people will be resurrected, only those who have come unto Christ and partaken of the fulness of His gospel will inherit exaltation in the celestial kingdom.

An understanding and testimony of the resurrection can give us hope and perspective as we experience the challenges, trials, and triumphs of life. We can find comfort in the assurance that the Savior lives and that through His Atonement, “he breaketh the bands of death, that the grave shall have no victory, and that the sting of death should be swallowed up in the hopes of glory” (Alma 22:14).

Related Topics

Scriptures

Scripture References

Scripture Study Resources

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We need Our Redeemer, Jesus the Christ, the Holy Messiah, who soon will come in power and great glory to destroy the wicked, save the righteous, usher in the millennium and rule and reign.

Jesus Painting - Jesus is the Christ The Holy Messiah who soon will come in glory by Richard W Linford
Jesus is The Christ, The Holy Messiah – painting by Richard Linfordhttps://fineartamerica.com/featured/jesus-is-the-christ-the-holy-messiah-who-soon-will-come-in-glory-richard-w-linford.html

Source: James E. Talmage, Jesus the Christ, Chapter 3, The Need of a Redeemer, verbatim quote.

1.      We have heretofore shown that the entire human race existed as

spirit-beings in the primeval world, and that for the purpose of making

possible to them the experiences of mortality this earth was created.

2.      They were endowed with the powers of agency or choice while yet but

spirits; and the divine plan provided that they be free-born in the

flesh, heirs to the inalienable birthright of liberty to choose and to

act for themselves in mortality.

3.      It is undeniably essential to the eternal progression of God’s children

that they be subjected to the influences of both good and evil,

that they be tried and tested and proved withal,

“to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God

shall command them.”[29] Free agency is an indispensable

element of such a test.

4.      The Eternal Father well understood the diverse natures and varied

capacities of His spirit-offspring; and His infinite foreknowledge made

plain to Him, even in the beginning, that in the school of life some of

His children would succeed and others would fail; some would be

faithful, others false; some would choose the good, others the evil;

some would seek the way of life while others would elect to follow the

road to destruction.

5.      He further foresaw that death would enter the

world, and that the possession of bodies by His children would be of but

brief individual duration.

6.      He saw that His commandments would be

disobeyed and His law violated; and that men, shut out from His presence

and left to themselves, would sink rather than rise, would retrograde

rather than advance, and would be lost to the heavens.

7.      It was necessary

that a means of redemption be provided, whereby erring man might make

amends, and by compliance with established law achieve salvation and

eventual exaltation in the eternal worlds. The power of death was to be

overcome, so that, though men would of necessity die, they would live

anew, their spirits clothed with immortalized bodies over which death

could not again prevail.

8.      Let not ignorance and thoughtlessness lead us into the error of assuming

that the Father’s foreknowledge as to what _would be_, under given

conditions, determined that such _must be_. It was not His design that

the souls of mankind be lost; on the contrary it was and is His work and

glory, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”[30]

9.      Nevertheless He saw the evil into which His children would assuredly

fall; and with infinite love and mercy did He ordain means of averting

the dire effect, provided the transgressor would elect to avail himself

thereof.[31]

10.   The offer of the firstborn Son to establish through His own

ministry among men the gospel of salvation, and to sacrifice Himself,

through labor, humiliation and suffering even unto death, was accepted

and made the foreordained plan of man’s redemption from death, of his

eventual salvation from the effects of sin, and of his possible

exaltation through righteous achievement.

11.   In accordance with the plan adopted in the council of the Gods, man was

created as an embodied spirit; his tabernacle of flesh was composed of

the elements of earth.[32]

12.   He was given commandment and law, and was

free to obey or disobey–with the just and inevitable condition that he

should enjoy or suffer the natural results of his choice.[33]

13.   Adam, the

14.   first man[34] placed upon the earth in pursuance of the established

15.   plan, and Eve who was given unto him as companion and associate,

16.   indispensable to him in the appointed mission of peopling the earth,

17.   disobeyed the express commandment of God and so brought about the “fall

18.   of man”, whereby the mortal state, of which death is an essential

19.   element, was inaugurated.[35]

20.   It is not proposed to consider here at

length the doctrine of the fall; for the present argument it is

sufficient to establish the fact of the momentous occurrence and its

portentous consequences.[36]

21.   The woman was deceived, and in direct

violation of counsel and commandment partook of the food that had been

forbidden, as a result of which act her body became degenerate and

subject to death. Adam realized the disparity that had been brought

between him and his companion, and with some measure of understanding

followed her course, thus becoming her partner in bodily degeneracy.

22.   Note in this matter the words of Paul the apostle: “Adam was not

deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.”[37]

23.   The man and the woman had now become mortal; through indulgence in food

unsuited to their nature and condition and against which they had been

specifically warned, and as the inevitable result of their disobeying

the divine law and commandment, they became liable to the physical

ailments and bodily frailties to which mankind has since been the

natural heir.[38]

24.   Those bodies, which before the fall had been perfect

in form and function, were now subjects for eventual dissolution or

death.

25.   The arch-tempter through whose sophistries, half-truths and

infamous falsehoods, Eve had been beguiled, was none other than Satan,

or Lucifer, that rebellious and fallen “son of the morning”, whose

proposal involving the destruction of man’s liberty had been rejected in

the council of the heavens, and who had been “cast out into the earth”,

he and all his angels as unbodied spirits, never to be tabernacled in

bodies of their own.[39]

26.   As an act of diabolic reprisal following his

rejection in the council, his defeat by Michael and the heavenly hosts,

and his ignominious expulsion from heaven, Satan planned to destroy the

bodies in which the faithful spirits–those who had kept their first

estate–would be born; and his beguilement of Eve was but an early stage

of that infernal scheme.

27.   Death has come to be the universal heritage; it may claim its victim in

infancy or youth, in the period of life’s prime, or its summons may be

deferred until the snows of age have gathered upon the hoary head; it

may befall as the result of accident or disease, by violence, or as we

say, through natural causes; but come it must, as Satan well knows; and

in this knowledge is his present though but temporary triumph.

28.   But the purposes of God, as they ever have been and ever shall be, are

infinitely superior to the deepest designs of men or devils; and the

Satanic machinations to make death inevitable, perpetual and supreme

were provided against even before the first man had been created in the

flesh.

29.   The atonement to be wrought by Jesus the Christ was ordained to

overcome death and to provide a means of ransom from the power of Satan.

30.   As the penalty incident to the fall came upon the race through an

individual act, it would be manifestly unjust, and therefore impossible

as part of the divine purpose, to make all men suffer the results

thereof without provision for deliverance.[40]

31.   Moreover, since by the

transgression of one man sin came into the world and death was entailed

upon all, it is consistent with reason that the atonement thus made

necessary should be wrought by one.[41]

32.   “Wherefore, as by one man sin

entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all

men, for that all have sinned … Therefore as by the offence of one

judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness

of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life.”[42]

33.   So taught the apostle Paul; and, further: “For since by man came death,

by man came also the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die,

even so in Christ shall all be made alive.”[43]

34.   The atonement was plainly to be a vicarious sacrifice, voluntary and

love-inspired on the Savior’s part, universal in its application to

mankind so far as men shall accept the means of deliverance thus placed

within their reach. For such a mission only one who was without sin

could be eligible.

35.   Even the altar victims of ancient Israel offered as a

provisional propitiation for the offenses of the people under the Mosaic

law had to be clean and devoid of spot or blemish; otherwise they were

unacceptable and the attempt to offer them was sacrilege.[44]

36.   Jesus Christ was the only Being suited to the requirements of the great

sacrifice:

37.   1–As the one and only sinless Man;

38.   2–As the Only Begotten of the Father and therefore the only Being born

to earth possessing in their fulness the attributes of both Godhood and

manhood;

39.   3–As the One who had been chosen in the heavens and foreordained to

this service.

40.   What other man has been without sin, and therefore wholly exempt from

the dominion of Satan, and to whom death, the wage of sin, is not

naturally due?

41.   Had Jesus Christ met death as other men have done–the

result of the power that Satan has gained over them through their

sins–His death would have been but an individual experience, expiatory

in no degree of any faults or offenses but His own. Christ’s absolute

sinlessness made Him eligible, His humility and willingness rendered Him

acceptable to the Father, as the atoning sacrifice whereby propitiation

could be made for the sins of all men.

42.   What other man has lived with power to withstand death, over whom death

could not prevail except through his own submission? Yet Jesus Christ

could not be slain until His “hour had come”, and that, the hour in

which He voluntarily surrendered His life, and permitted His own decease

through an act of will.

43.   Born of a mortal mother He inherited the

capacity to die; begotten by an immortal Sire He possessed as a heritage

the power to withstand death indefinitely.

44.   He literally gave up His

life; to this effect is His own affirmation: “Therefore doth my Father

love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again. No man

taketh it from me, but I lay it down of myself.

45.   I have power to lay it

down, and I have power to take it again.”[45]

46.   And further: “For as the

Father hath life in himself; so hath he given to the Son to have life in

himself.”[46]

47.   Only such a One could conquer death; in none but Jesus the

Christ was realized this requisite condition of a Redeemer of the world.

48.   What other man has come to earth with such appointment, clothed with the

authority of such foreordination?

49.   The atoning mission of Jesus Christ

was no self-assumption.

50.   True, He had offered Himself when the call was

made in the heavens; true, He had been accepted, and in due time came to

earth to carry into effect the terms of that acceptance; but He was

chosen by One greater than Himself.

51.   The burden of His confession of

authority was ever to the effect that He operated under the direction of

the Father, as witness these words: “I came down from heaven, not to do

mine own will, but the will of him that sent me.”[47]

52.   “My meat is to do

the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.”[48]

53.   “I can of

mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just;

because I seek not mine own will but the will of the Father which hath

sent me.”[49]

54.   Through the atonement accomplished by Jesus Christ–a redeeming service,

vicariously rendered in behalf of mankind, all of whom have become

estranged from God by the effects of sin both inherited and individually

incurred–the way is opened for a reconciliation whereby man may come

again into communion with God, and be made fit to dwell anew and forever

in the presence of his Eternal Father.

55.   This basal thought is admirably

implied in our English word, “atonement,” which, as its syllables

attest, is _at-one-ment_, “denoting reconciliation, or the bringing into

agreement of those who have been estranged.”[50]

56.   The effect of the atonement may be conveniently considered as twofold:

57.   1–The universal redemption of the human race from death invoked by the

fall of our first parents; and

58.   2–Salvation, whereby means of relief from the results of individual sin

are provided.

59.   The victory over death was made manifest in the resurrection of the

crucified Christ; He was the first to pass from death to immortality and

so is justly known as “the first fruits of them that slept.”[51]

60.   That the resurrection of the dead so inaugurated is to be extended to every

one who has or shall have lived is proved by an abundance of scriptural

evidence.

61.   Following our Lord’s resurrection, others who had slept in the

tomb arose and were seen of many, not as spirit-apparitions but as

resurrected beings possessing immortalized bodies: “And the graves were

opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, and came out of

the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and

appeared unto many.”[52]

62.   Those who thus early came forth are spoken of as “the saints”; and other

scriptures confirm the fact that only the righteous shall be brought

forth in the earlier stages of the resurrection yet to be consummated;

but that all the dead shall in turn resume bodies of flesh and bones is

placed beyond doubt by the revealed word.

63.   The Savior’s direct

affirmation ought to be conclusive: “Verily, verily, I say unto you, The

hour is coming, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the

Son of God: and they that hear shall live…. Marvel not at this: for

the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear

his voice, and shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the

resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the

resurrection of damnation.”[53]

64.   The doctrine of a universal resurrection

was taught by the apostles of old,[54] as also by the Nephite

prophets;[55] and the same is confirmed by revelation incident to the

present dispensation.[56] Even the heathen who have not known God shall

be brought forth from their graves; and, inasmuch as they have lived and

died in ignorance of the saving law, a means of making the plan of

salvation known unto them is provided.

65.   “And then shall the heathen

nations be redeemed, and they that knew no law shall have part in the

first resurrection.”[57]

66.   Jacob, a Nephite prophet, taught the universality of the resurrection,

and set forth the absolute need of a Redeemer, without whom the purposes

of God in the creation of man would be rendered futile.

67.   His words

constitute a concise and forceful summary of revealed truth directly

bearing upon our present subject:

68.   “For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfil the merciful plan of

the great Creator, there must needs be a power of resurrection, and the

resurrection must needs come unto man by reason of the fall; and the

fall came by reason of transgression; and because man became fallen,

they were cut off from the presence of the Lord; wherefore it must needs

be an infinite atonement; save it should be an infinite atonement, this

corruption could not put on incorruption.

69.   “Wherefore, the first judgment

which came upon man, must needs have remained to an endless duration.

70.   And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its

mother earth, to rise no more. O the wisdom of God! his mercy and grace!

71.   For behold, if the flesh should rise no more, our spirits must become

subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the eternal

God, and became the devil, to rise no more.

72.   And our spirits must have

become like unto him, and we become devils, angels to a devil, to be

shut out from the presence of our God, and to remain with the father of

lies, in misery, like unto himself; yea, to that being who beguiled our

first parents; who transformeth himself nigh unto an angel of light, and

stirreth up the children of men unto secret combinations of murder, and

all manner of secret works of darkness.

73.   O how great the goodness of our God, who prepareth a way

for our escape from the grasp of this awful

monster; yea, that monster, death and hell, which I call the death of

the body, and also the death of the spirit.

74.   And because of the way of

deliverance of our God, the Holy One of Israel, this death, of which I

have spoken, which is the temporal, shall deliver up its dead; which

death is the grave.

75.   And this death of which I have spoken, which is the

spiritual death, shall deliver up its dead; which spiritual death is

hell; wherefore, death and hell must deliver up their dead, and hell

must deliver up its captive spirits, and the grave must deliver up its

captive bodies, and the bodies and the spirits of men will be restored

one to the other; and it is by the power of the resurrection of the Holy

One of Israel.

76.   O how great the plan of our God! For on the other hand,

the paradise of God must deliver up the spirits of the righteous, and

the grave deliver up the body of the righteous; and the spirit and the

body is restored to itself again, and all men become incorruptible, and

immortal, and they are living souls, having a perfect knowledge like

unto us in the flesh; save it be that our knowledge shall be

perfect.”[58]

77.   The application of the atonement to individual transgression, whereby

the sinner may obtain absolution through compliance with the laws and

ordinances embodied in the gospel of Jesus Christ, is conclusively

attested by scripture.

78.   Since forgiveness of sins can be secured in none other way,

there being either in heaven or earth no name save that of

Jesus Christ whereby salvation shall come unto the children of men,[59]

every soul stands in need of the Savior’s mediation, since all are

sinners.

79.   “For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God”, said

Paul of old,[60] and John the apostle added his testimony in these

words: “If we say that we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the

truth is not in us.”[61]

80.   Who shall question the justice of God, which denies salvation to all who

will not comply with the prescribed conditions on which alone it is

declared obtainable?

81.   Christ is “the author of eternal salvation unto all

them that obey him”,[62] and God “will render to every man according to

his deeds: to them who by patient continuance in well doing seek for

glory and honor and immortality, eternal life: but unto them that are

contentious, and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness,

indignation and wrath, tribulation and anguish, upon every soul of man

that doeth evil.”[63]

82.   Such then is the need of a Redeemer, for without Him mankind would

forever remain in a fallen state, and as to hope of eternal progression

would be inevitably lost.[64]

83.   The mortal probation is provided as an

opportunity for advancement; but so great are the difficulties and the

dangers, so strong is the influence of evil in the world, and so weak is

man in resistance thereto, that without the aid of a power above that of

humanity no soul would find its way back to God from whom it came.

84.   The need of a Redeemer lies in the inability of man to raise himself from

the temporal to the spiritual plane, from the lower kingdom to the

higher.

85.   In this conception we are not without analogies in the natural

world.

86.   We recognize a fundamental distinction between inanimate and

living matter, between the inorganic and the organic, between the

lifeless mineral on the one hand and the living plant or animal on the

other.

87.   Within the limitations of its order the dead mineral grows by

accretion of substance, and may attain a relatively perfect condition of

structure and form as is seen in the crystal.

88.   But mineral matter, though

acted upon favorably by the forces of nature–light, heat, electric

energy and others–can never become a living organism; nor can the dead

elements, through any process of chemical combination dissociated from

life, enter into the tissues of the plant as essential parts thereof.

89.   But the plant, which is of a higher order, sends its rootlets into the

earth, spreads its leaves in the atmosphere, and through these organs

absorbs the solutions of the soil, inspires the gases of the air, and

from such lifeless materials weaves the tissue of its wondrous

structure.

90.   No mineral particle, no dead chemical substance has ever been

made a constituent of organic tissue except through the agency of life.

91.   We may, perhaps with profit, carry the analogy a step farther.

92.   The plant is unable to advance its own tissue to the animal plane.

93.   Though it be the recognized order of nature that the “animal kingdom” is dependent

upon the “vegetable kingdom” for its sustenance, the substance of the

plant may become part of the animal organism only as the latter reaches

down from its higher plane and by its own vital action incorporates the

vegetable compounds with itself.

94.   In turn, animal matter can never

become, even transitorily, part of a human body, except as the living

man assimilates it, and by the vital processes of his own existence

lifts, for the time being, the substance of the animal that supplied him

food to the higher plane of his own existence.

95.   The comparison herein

employed is admittedly defective if carried beyond reasonable limits of

application; for the raising of mineral matter to the plane of the

plant, vegetable tissue to the level of the animal, and the elevation of

either to the human plane, is but a temporary change; with the

dissolution of the higher tissues the material thereof falls again to

the level of the inanimate and the dead.

96.   But, as a means of illustration the analogy may not be wholly without value.

97.   So, for the advancement of man from his present fallen and relatively

degenerate state to the higher condition of spiritual life, a power

above his own must cooperate.

98.   Through the operation of the laws

obtaining in the higher kingdom man may be reached and lifted; himself

he cannot save by his own unaided effort.[65]

99.   A Redeemer and Savior of

mankind is beyond all question essential to the realization of the plan

of the Eternal Father, “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal

life of man”;[66] and that Redeemer and Savior is Jesus the Christ,

beside whom there is and can be none other.

100.          NOTES TO CHAPTER 3.

101.          …

102.          “Our Heavenly Father has a full knowledge of the nature and disposition of each of His children, a knowledge gained by long observation and experience in the past eternity of our primeval childhood; a knowledge compared with which that gained by earthly parents through mortal experience with their children is infinitesimally small. By reason of that surpassing knowledge, God reads the future of child and children, of men individually and of men collectively as communities and nations; He knows what each will do under given conditions, and sees the end from the beginning. His foreknowledge is based on intelligence and reason. He foresees the future as a state which naturally and surely will be; not as one which must be because He has arbitrarily willed that it shall be.”–From the author’s _Great Apostasy_, pp. 19, 20.

103.          Man Free to Choose for Himself.–“The Father of souls has endowed His children with the divine birthright of free agency; He does not and will not control them by arbitrary force; He impels no man toward sin; He compels none to righteousness. Unto man has been given freedom to act for himself; and, associated with this independence, is the fact of strict responsibility and the assurance of individual accountability. In the judgment with which we shall be judged, all the conditions and circumstances of our lives shall be considered. The inborn tendencies due to heredity, the effect of environment whether conducive to good or evil, the wholesome teachings of youth, or the absence of good instruction–these and all other contributory elements must be taken into account in the rendering of a just verdict as to the soul’s guilt or innocence. Nevertheless, the divine wisdom makes plain what will be the result with given conditions operating on known natures and dispositions of men, while every individual is free to choose good or evil within the limits of the many conditions existing and operative.”–_Great Apostasy_, p. 21; see also _Articles of Faith_, iii:1, 2.

104.          The Fall a Process of Physical Degeneracy.–A modern revelation given to the Church in 1833 (Doc. and Cov. Sec. 89), prescribes rules for right living, particularly as regards the uses of stimulants, narcotics, and foods unsuited to the body. Concerning the physical causes by which the fall was brought about, and the close relation between those causes and current violations of the Word of Wisdom embodied in the revelation referred to above, the following is in point. “This, [the Word of Wisdom] like other revelations that have come in the present dispensation, is not wholly new. It is as old as the human race. The principle of the Word of Wisdom was revealed unto Adam. All the essentials of the Word of Wisdom were made known unto him in his immortal state, before he had taken into his body those things that made of it a thing of earth. He was warned against that very practice. He was not told to treat his body as something to be tortured. He was not told to look upon it as the fakir of India has come to look upon his body, or professes to look upon it, as a thing to be utterly contemned; but he was told that he must not take into that body certain things which were there at hand. He was warned that, if he did, his body would lose the power which it then held of living for ever, and that he would become subject to death. It was pointed out to him, as it has been pointed out to you, that there are many good fruits to be plucked, to be eaten, to be enjoyed. We believe in enjoying good food. We think that these good things are given us of God. We believe in getting all the enjoyment out of eating that we can; and, therefore, we should avoid gluttony, and we should avoid extremes in all our habits of eating; and as was told unto Adam, so is it told unto us: Touch not these things; for in the day that thou doest it thy life shall be shortened and thou shalt die.

105.          “Here let me say that therein consisted the fall–the eating of things unfit, the taking into the body of the things that made of that body a thing of earth: and I take this occasion to raise my voice against the false interpretation of scripture, which has been adopted by certain people, and is current in their minds, and is referred to in a hushed and half-secret way, that the fall of man consisted in some offense against the laws of chastity and of virtue. Such a doctrine is an abomination. What right have we to turn the scriptures from their proper sense and meaning? What right have we to declare that God meant not what He said? The fall was a natural process, resulting through the incorporation into the bodies of our first parents of the things that came from food unfit, through the violation of the command of God regarding what they should eat. Don’t go around whispering that the fall consisted in the mother of the race losing her chastity and her virtue.

106.          It is not true; the human race is not born of fornication. These bodies that are given unto us are given in the way that God has provided. Let it not be said that the patriarch of the race, who stood with the gods before he came here upon the earth, and his equally royal consort, were guilty of any such foul offense. The adoption of that belief has led many to excuse departures from the path of chastity and the path of virtue, by saying that it is the sin of the race, that it is as old as Adam. It was not introduced by Adam. It was not committed by Eve. It was the introduction of the devil and came in order that he might sow the seeds of early death in the bodies of men and women, that the race should degenerate as it has degenerated whenever the laws of virtue and of chastity have been transgressed.

107.          “Our first parents were pure and noble, and when we pass behind the veil we shall perhaps learn something of their high estate, more than we know now. But be it known that they were pure; they were noble. It is true that they disobeyed the law of God, in eating things they were told not to eat; but who amongst you can rise up and condemn?”–From an address by the author at the Eighty-fourth Semiannual Conference of the Church, Oct. 6, 1913; published in the Proceedings of the Conference, pp. 118, 119.

108.          Christ Wrought Redemption from the Fall.–“The Savior thus becomes master of the situation–the debt is paid, the redemption made, the covenant fulfilled, justice satisfied, the will of God done, and all power is now given into the hands of the Son of God–the power of the resurrection, the power of the redemption, the power of salvation, the power to enact laws for the carrying out and accomplishment of this design. Hence life and immortality are brought to light, the gospel is introduced, and He becomes the author of eternal life and exaltation. He is the Redeemer, the Resurrector, the Savior of man and the world; and He has appointed the law of the gospel as the medium which must be complied with in this world or the next, as He complied with His Father’s law; hence ‘he that believeth shall be saved, and he that believeth not shall be damned.’ The plan, the arrangement, the agreement, the covenant was made, entered into and accepted before the foundation of the world; it was prefigured by sacrifices, and was carried out and consummated on the cross. Hence being the mediator between God and man, He becomes by right the dictator and director on earth and in heaven for the living and for the dead, for the past, the present and the future, pertaining to man as associated with this earth or the heavens, in time or eternity, the Captain of our salvation, the Apostle and High-Priest of our profession, the Lord and Giver of life.”–John Taylor, _Mediation and Atonement_, p. 171.

109.          Redemption from the Effect of the Fall.–“‘Mormonism’ accepts the doctrine of the fall, and the account of the transgression in Eden, as set forth in Genesis; but it affirms that none but Adam is or shall be answerable for Adam’s disobedience; that mankind in general are absolutely absolved from responsibility for that ‘original sin,’ and that each shall account for his own transgressions alone; that the fall was foreknown of God, that it was turned to good effect by which the necessary condition of mortality should be inaugurated; and that a Redeemer was provided before the world was; that general salvation, in the sense of redemption from the effects of the fall, comes to all without their seeking it; but that individual salvation or rescue from the effects of personal sins is to be acquired by each for himself by faith and good works through the redemption wrought by Jesus Christ.”–From the author’s _Story and Philosophy of ‘Mormonism,’_ p. 111.

110.          FOOTNOTES:

111.          [29] P. of G.P., Abraham 3:25. For a fuller treatment of man’s Free

112.          Agency, see the author’s “Articles of Faith,” iii:1-10, and the numerous references there given.

113.          [30] P. of G.P., Moses 1:39; compare 6:59. Note 1, end of chapter.

114.          [31] Note 2, end of chapter.

115.          [32] Gen. 1:26, 27; 2:7; compare P. of G.P., Moses 2:26, 27; 3:7; Abraham 4:26-28; 5:7.

116.          [33] Gen. 1:28-31; 2:16, 17; compare P. of G.P., Moses 2:28-31; 3:16, 17; Abraham 4:28-31; 5:12, 13.

117.          [34] Gen. 2:8; compare statement in verse 5–that prior to that time there was “not a man to till the ground”; see also P. of G.P., Moses 3:7; Abraham 1:3; and B. of M., 1 Nephi 5:11.

118.          [35] Gen. chap. 3; compare P. of G.P., Moses chap. 4.

119.          [36] See “Articles of Faith,” iii:21-32.

120.          [37] 1 Tim. 2:14; see also 2 Cor. 11:3.

121.          [38] Note 3, end of chapter.

122.          [39] See page 7.

123.          [40] Note 4, end of chapter.

124.          [41] Note 5, end of chapter.

125.          [42] Rom. 5:12, 18.

126.          [43] 1 Cor. 15:21, 22.

127.          [44] Lev. 22:20; Deut. 15:21; 17:1; Mal. 1:8, 14; compare Heb. 9:14; 1 Peter 1:19.

128.          [45] John 10:17-18

129.          [46] John 5:26

130.          [47] John 6:38

131.          [48] John 4:34

132.          [49] John 5:30; see also verse 19; also Matt. 26:42; compare Doc. and Cov. 19:2; 20:24.

133.          [50] New Standard Dictionary under “propitiation.”

134.          [51] 1 Cor. 15:20; see also Acts 26:23; Col. 1:18; Rev. 1:5.

135.          [52] Matt. 27:52, 53.

136.          [53] John 5:25, 28, 29. A modern scripture attesting the same truth reads: “They who have done good in the resurrection of the just; and they who have done evil in the resurrection of the unjust.”–Doc. and Cov. 76:17.

137.          [54] For instances see Acts 24:15; Rev. 20:12, 13.

138.          [55] For instances see B. of M., 2 Nephi 9:6, 12, 13, 21, 22; Helaman 14:15-17; Mosiah 15:20-24; Alma 40:2-16; Mormon 9:13, 14.

139.          [56] For instances see Doc. and Cov. 18:11, 12; 45:44, 45; 88:95-98.

140.          [57] Doc. and Cov. 45:54.

141.          [58] B. of M., 2 Nephi 9:6-13; read the entire chapter.

142.          [59] P. of G.P., Moses 6:52; compare B. of M., 2 Nephi 25:20; Mosiah 3:17; 5:8; Doc. and Cov. 76:1.

143.          [60] Rom. 3:23; see also verse 9; Gal. 3:22.

144.          [61] 1 John 1:8.

145.          [62] Heb. 5:9.

146.          [63] Rom. 2:6-9.

147.          [64] No special treatment relating to the Fall, the Atonement, or the Resurrection has been either attempted or intended in this chapter. For such the student is referred to doctrinal works dealing with these subjects. See the author’s “Articles of Faith,” lectures iii, iv, and xxi.

148.          [65] A comparison related to that given in the text is treated at length by Henry Drummond in his essay, “Biogenesis,” which the reader may study with profit.

149.          [66] P. of G.P., Moses 1:39.

Hits: 465

Jesus is the Christ, the Holy Messiah, who soon will come. He is ABLE.

Able.

Jesus is the Christ, the Holy Messiah who soon will come!

He is Able.

Christ is “Able … to save [us] to the uttermost [if we] come unto [God the Father] by him, seeing he ever liveth to make intercession for [us].” (Hebrews 7:25)  He is “Able to do all things according to his will, for [us], if it so be that [we] exercise faith in him …”.  (1 Nephi 7:12) “For in that he himself hath suffered being tempted, he is Able to succour [we who] are tempted.” (Hebrews 2:18)

 “Our God [Jehovah] whom we serve is Able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace” and from the lions. (Daniel 3:17; 3; 6) As he has “promised, he [is] Able also to perform.”  (Romans 4:21)

Our “God is Able to make all grace abound toward [us].” (2 Corinthians 9:8) Jesus Christ “is Able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us. Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.”(Ephesians 3:20, 21)

“For our conversation is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is Able even to subdue all things unto himself.” (Philippians 3:20-21)  

He is “the Lord [who] is Able to do all things according to his will, for the children of men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him.  Wherefore, let us be faithful to him.” (1 Nephi 7:12)

For He said: “I am Able to do mine own work.” (2 Nephi 27:20)   Indeed, He “is Able to keep [us] from falling, and to present [us] faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy. To the only wise God our Saviour, be glory and majesty, dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25) Through our repentance, he is Able to lift us up when we fall. 

“Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is Able to save your souls” (James 1:21) both temporally and spiritually.

The Father and The Holy Ghost are also Able.

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