THE NATURE OF GOD THE FATHER AND JESUS CHRIST

What Type of Beings are our Heavenly Father and Elder Brother and Savior Jesus Christ?

I will try to explain it from the Scriptures that we have from the prophets anciently and through revelation to prophets in our day and I will comment after each in Red.

1 Nephi 17: 36

36 Behold, the Lord hath created the earth that it should be inhabited; and he hath created his children that they should possess it.

Our Father in Heaven loved us so much that He had His Son, Jehovah, who after He was born on the earth became known as Jesus Christ, to organize an earth for us to come to and to be tested, receive a physical body for our spirit, and gain experience in using our Free Agency.  (See John 1: 1-14) Substitute the word, “Word” for “Jesus Christ”.

He told us what He did in the ancient record above, 1 Nephi, in the Book of Mormon, now, today, in modern revelation, He tells us again:

Doctrine and Covenants 38: 1-3

1 Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I Am, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made;

2 The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes;

3 I am the same which spake, and the world was made, and all things came by me.

Under the direction of God the Father, Jehovah or Jesus Christ, was given control of organizing worlds without number and creating everything in them, and also organizing this earth, and He tells us, with His own voice, that He was the one that spake the word and the world was made.

2 Nephi 9: 6

6 For as death hath passed upon all men, to fulfill 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.

Death is necessary because the body is unclean and no unclean thing can come into the presence of God but the spirit of man is clean.  The spirit has to go before God to be judged according to its works in the body on earth and how he lived.

Now Jesus Christ tells us Why He came and that He gave us His Gospel to live by.  We can read His words here:  (See 3 Nephi 27: 13-22)

During His ministry, he told us to be perfect like His Father in Heaven.

Matthew 5: 48

48 Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect.

After His resurrection He went to the Father and was glorified and perfected, then He appeared in the Americas to His “Other Sheep” and gave them His Gospel also, which is recorded in the Book of Mormon, and told them this:

3 Nephi 12: 48

48 Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect.

He states here that He and the Father are perfect.

Now, He tells us that He and the Father have bodies of Flesh and Bones like us, but Immortal, and that the third member of the Godhead, the Holy Ghost, does not have a physical body, but is a person of Spirit only and why He is a Spirit.

Doctrine and Covenants 130: 22

22 The Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s; the Son also; but the Holy Ghost has not a body of flesh and bones, but is a personage of Spirit. Were it not so, the Holy Ghost could not dwell in us.

We are the spirit children of God the Father.  We can become like Him just like we can become like our earthly father.  This meaning, if we follow the commandments, we also can have spirit children later, create an earth for them to be tested on and gain physical bodies.  God the Father states what His work is:

Moses 1: 39

39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

If we progress on in eternity, this will also be our work.

We are His children and He is close to us, and we are living and here because of Him.  He has given us a way which is prayer, to be in contact with Him at any moment.  He is not a statue, but our living Father who cares for us.  (See Acts 17: 27-29, Roman 8:16 and Hebrews 12: 9).

We must love one another and become born of God.  He that does not love, does not know God.  He loves us because He sent His Son to earth to perform the Atonement for all of us. (See 1 John 4: 7-9)

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THE PROPHET NEPHI SPEAKS TO THE JEWS

The Prophet Nephi, son of the Prophet Lehi, who came out of Jerusalem 600 years before Christ, is speaking to the Jews.

This is from the ancient record of The Book of Mormon.

This is a long one, 30 Verses.  It is printed in black with my comments in RED and in brackets (     ).

This is fairly long but I would recommend that the Jews read this.  If they do they will understand their history in the Last Days and start understanding Isaiah's prophecies. 

I will print the summary of this important chapter then the chapter with comments.  Each verse is important.

SUMMARY:

Nephi glories in plainness—Isaiah’s prophecies will be understood in the last days—The Jews will return from Babylon, crucify the Messiah, and be scattered and scourged—They will be restored when they believe in the Messiah—He will first come six hundred years after Lehi left Jerusalem—The Nephites keep the law of Moses and believe in Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel. About 559–545 B.C.

1 Now I, Nephi, do speak somewhat concerning the words which I have written, which have been spoken by the mouth of Isaiah. For behold, Isaiah spake many things which were hard for many of my people (his people are those with him in the Americas) to understand; for they know not concerning the manner of prophesying among the Jews. 

2 For I, Nephi, have not taught them many things concerning the manner of the Jews; for their works were works of darkness, and their doings were doings of abominations.  (the reason Lehi was told to leave Jerusalem)

 

3 Wherefore, I write unto my people, unto all those that shall receive hereafter (meaning in the last days) these things which I write, that they may know the judgments of God, that they come upon all nations, according to the word which he hath spoken. 

4 Wherefore, hearken, O my people, which are of the house of Israel, and give ear unto my words; for because the words of Isaiah are not plain unto you, nevertheless they are plain unto all those that are filled with the spirit of prophecy. But I give unto you a prophecy, according to the spirit which is in me; wherefore I shall prophesy according to the plainness which hath been with me from the time that I came out from Jerusalem with my father; for behold, my soul delighteth in plainness unto my people, that they may learn.

 

5 Yea, and my soul delighteth in the words of Isaiah, (remember, they had the record of the Jews on brass plates with them when they left) for I came out from Jerusalem, and mine eyes hath beheld the things of the Jews, and I know that the Jews do understand the things of the prophets, and there is none other people that understand the things which were spoken unto the Jews like unto them, save it be that they are taught after the manner of the things of the Jews.

 

6 But behold, I, Nephi, have not taught my children after the manner of the Jews; but behold, I, of myself, have dwelt at Jerusalem, wherefore I know concerning the regions round about; and I have made mention unto my children concerning the judgments of God, which hath come to pass among the Jews, unto my children, according to all that which Isaiah hath spoken, and I do not write them.

 

7 But behold, I proceed with mine own prophecy, according to my plainness; in the which I know that no man can err; nevertheless, in the days that the prophecies of Isaiah shall be fulfilled (meaning these Last Days we are in Now) men shall know of a surety, at the times when they shall come to pass.

 

8 Wherefore, they are of worth unto the children of men, and he that supposeth that they are not, unto them will I speak particularly, and confine the words unto mine own people; for I know that they shall be of great worth unto them in the last days; for in that day shall they understand them; wherefore, for their good have I written them.

 

9 And as one generation hath been destroyed among the Jews because of iniquity, even so have they been destroyed from generation to generation according to their iniquities; and never hath any of them been destroyed save it were foretold them by the prophets of the Lord.

 

10 Wherefore, it hath been told them concerning the destruction which should come upon them, immediately after my father left Jerusalem; (Remember, the Prophet Lehi was a contemporary with Jeremiah, the prophet, and they were warning the people of Jerusalem in 600 B.C.) nevertheless, they hardened their hearts; and according to my prophecy they have been destroyed, save it be those which are carried away captive into Babylon.  (586 B.C.)

 

11 And now this I speak because of the spirit which is in me. And notwithstanding they have been carried away they shall return again, and possess the land of Jerusalem; wherefore, they shall be restored again to the land of their inheritance.

 

12 But, behold, they shall have wars, and rumors of wars; and when the day cometh that the Only Begotten of the Father, yea, even the Father of heaven and of earth, shall manifest himself unto them in the flesh, (Jehovah of the Old Testament, a member of the Godhead, came to earth and was born as Jesus Christ) behold, they will reject him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks.

 

13 Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name.

 

14 And behold it shall come to pass that after the Messiah hath risen from the dead, and hath manifested himself unto his people, unto as many as will believe on his name, behold, Jerusalem shall be destroyed again; (70 A.D.) for wo unto them that fight against God and the people of his church.

 

15 Wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered among all nations; yea, and also Babylon shall be destroyed; wherefore, the Jews shall be scattered by other nations.

 

16 And after they have been scattered, and the Lord God hath scourged them by other nations for the space of many generations, (Has not this been going on from then until now?) yea, even down from generation to generation until they shall be persuaded to believe in Christ, the Son of God, and the atonement, which is infinite for all mankind—and when that day shall come that they shall believe in Christ, and worship the Father in his name, with pure hearts and clean hands, and look not forward any more for another Messiah, then, at that time, the day will come that it must needs be expedient that they should believe these things.

 

17 And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men. (This is why the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints was Restored to the earth with the Restored Gospel, which THIS chapter was taken from, 559–545 B.C. to restore the Lord's people in these Last Days)

 

18 Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them, (which is the Book of Mormon and the Bible together) which words shall judge them at the last day, for they shall be given them for the purpose of convincing them of the true Messiah, who was rejected by them; and unto the convincing of them that they need not look forward any more for a Messiah to come, for there should not any come, save it should be a false Messiah which should deceive the people; for there is save one Messiah spoken of by the prophets, and that Messiah is he who should be rejected of the Jews.  (Talking about Jesus Christ)

 

19 For according to the words of the prophets, the Messiah cometh in six hundred years from the time that my father left Jerusalem; and according to the words of the prophets, and also the word of the angel of God, his name shall be Jesus Christ, the Son of God. (remember this is being prophesied between 559 and 545 years BEFORE Christ)

 

20 And now, my brethren, I have spoken plainly that ye cannot err. And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave unto Moses power that he should heal the nations after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also gave him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby man can be saved.

21 Wherefore, for this cause hath the Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write (the Book of Mormon) shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation, (They were preserved by being buried by the Prophet Moroni, son of the Prophet Mormon, who compiled the plates together) that the promise may be fulfilled unto Joseph, that his seed should never perish as long as the earth should stand.

 

22 Wherefore, these things shall go from generation to generation as long as the earth shall stand; and they shall go according to the will and pleasure of God; and the nations who shall possess them shall be judged of them according to the words which are written.

 

23 For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do. (Many believe we are saved Only by Grace, we are, but we Must Do All We Can before Grace takes over.  Works are very important to prove ourselves to God our determination to follow His commandments, then Grace or Mercy comes in.)

 

24 And, notwithstanding we believe in Christ, we keep the law of Moses, and look forward with steadfastness unto Christ, until the law shall be fulfilled. (The Law of Moses, the sacrifices they performed, was looking forward to the Great sacrifice of Jesus Christ.  Jesus completed it so the Law of Moses is Fulfilled in Him.)

 

25 For, for this end was the law given; wherefore the law hath become dead unto us, and we are made alive in Christ because of our faith; yet we keep the law because of the commandments.

 

26 And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.

 

27 Wherefore, we speak concerning the law that our children may know the deadness of the law; and they, by knowing the deadness of the law, may look forward unto that life which is in Christ, and know for what end the law was given. And after the law is fulfilled in Christ, (He says After the Law IS fulfilled, showing is has NOT been fulfilled at the time he is writing this, but we know Today that it was fulfilled when He died on the Cross and Arose again) that they need not harden their hearts against him when the law ought to be done away.

 

28 And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law.

 

29 And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; (the Holy One of Israel, who is JEHOVAH, come to earth as Jesus Christ) wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out.

30 And, inasmuch as it shall be expedient, ye must keep the performances and ordinances of God until the law shall be fulfilled which was given unto Moses.  (In other words, until Jesus Christ shall come, which He did.)

 

To see chapter and chapters around it, go to:

 

2 NEPHI 25: 1 - 30

 

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ANCIENT PROPHET SEES AMERICA IN LAST DAYS

An Ancient prophet named Jacob, who lived in the Americas between 559 - 544 B.C., talked about this land in prophetic vision.

The Prophet Jacob saw in the last days there would be a righteous branch of the House of Israel on this land, where he was then standing.

JACOB PROPHESIES ABOUT AMERICA, THE LAND HE IS STANDING ON AT THAT MOMENT.

2 Nephi 9: 53

53 And behold how great the covenants of the Lord, and how great his condescensions unto the children of men; and because of his greatness, and his grace and mercy, he has promised unto us that our seed shall not utterly be destroyed, according to the flesh, but that he would preserve them; and in future generations they shall become a righteous branch unto the house of Israel.

Ancient prophets have seen Jesus Christ long before He was born on the earth.  They knew that He was Jehovah of the Old Testament who was to come to the earth to perform the Atonement for all mankind.

2 Nephi 10: 1-5

1 And now I, Jacob, speak unto you again, my beloved brethren, concerning this righteous branch of which I have spoken.  (This was Lehi's descendants who came from Jerusalem 600 B.C.).  (Jacob was a prophet son of Lehi)

 

2 For behold, the promises which we have obtained are promises unto us according to the flesh; wherefore, as it has been shown unto me that many of our children shall perish in the flesh because of unbelief, nevertheless, God will be merciful unto many; and our children shall be restored, that they may come to that which will give them the true knowledge of their Redeemer.

 

3 Wherefore, as I said unto you, it must needs be expedient that Christ—for in the last night the angel spake unto me that this should be his name—should come among the Jews, among those who are the more wicked part of the world; and they shall crucify him—for thus it behooveth our God, and there is none other nation on earth that would crucify their God.

 

4 For should the mighty miracles be wrought among other nations they would repent, and know that he be their God.

 

5 But because of priestcrafts and iniquities, they at Jerusalem will stiffen their necks against him, that he be crucified.

The Lord knew that they would eventually crucify Him when He came to the earth. 

But they had to make the choice on their own, and He allowed it because the Atonement had to be made for all of us. 

Jacob continues his prophesy.

Jacob continues to talk about when his Prophet father Lehi left Jerusalem with him and Nephi and his other family members he mentions that the righteous would be scattered among all nations. 

And, as we know now, Jerusalem was attacked in 586 B.C.

2 Nephi 10: 7-8

7 But behold, thus saith the Lord God:  When the day cometh that they shall believe in me, that I am Christ, then have I covenanted with their fathers (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob), that they shall be restored in the flesh, upon the earth, unto the lands of their inheritance. 

8 And it shall come to pass that they shall be gathered in from their long dispersion, from the isles of the sea, and from the four parts of the earth; and the nations of the Gentiles shall be great in the eyes of me, saith God, in carrying them forth to the lands of their inheritance.

2 NEPHI 10: 10-16

10 But behold, this land, (The Lord talking to Jacob about America), said God, shall be a land of thine inheritance, and the Gentiles shall be blessed upon the land.  (America has been blessed on this land) 

11 And this land shall be a land of liberty unto the Gentiles, and there shall be no kings upon the land, who shall raise up unto the Gentiles. 

12 And I will fortify this land against all other nations.

 

13 And he that fighteth against Zion shall perish, saith God.

 

14 For he that raiseth up a king against me shall perish, for I, the Lord, the king of heaven, will be their king, and I will be a light unto them forever, that hear my words.

 

15 Wherefore, for this cause, that my covenants may be fulfilled which I have made unto the children of men, that I will do unto them while they are in the flesh, I must needs destroy the secret works of darkness, and of murders, and of abominations.

 

16 Wherefore, he that fighteth against Zion, both Jew and Gentile, both bond and free, both male and female, shall perish; for they are they who are the whore of all the earth; for they who are not for me are against me, saith our God.

 

Those who are not of Israel are Gentiles according to the definition.

REMEMBER, all of this is being said by a prophet in the Americas between  559 - 544 B.C.

2 Nephi 10: 18-19 

18 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, thus saith our God: I will afflict thy seed (meaning the American Indians), by the hand of the Gentiles; nevertheless, I will soften the hearts of the Gentiles, that they shall be like unto a father to them; wherefore, the Gentiles shall be blessed and numbered among the house of Israel. 

19 Wherefore, I will consecrate this land unto thy seed, and them who shall be numbered among thy seed, forever, for the land of their inheritance; for it is a choice land, saith God unto me, above all other lands, wherefore I will have all men that dwell thereon that they shall worship me, saith God.

2 Nephi 10: 21-23

21 But great are the promises of the Lord unto them who are upon the isles of the sea; wherefore as it says isles, there must needs be more than this, and they are inhabited also by our brethren. 

22 For behold, the Lord God has led away from time to time from the house of Israel, according to his will and pleasure. And now behold, the Lord remembereth all them who have been broken off, wherefore he remembereth us also.  

23 Therefore, cheer up your hearts, and remember that ye are free to act for yourselves—to choose the way of everlasting death or the way of eternal life.

Man don't have to believe the Lord and may think his hand is mightier than the Lords but they cannot ignore His Words.  All His words will be fulfilled.

Many things can be learned by reading the chapters before and after this chapter. 
 
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IMMORTALITY AND ETERNAL LIFE

Part of the Plan of Salvation for God’s Children.

We all lived in the Spirit World.  At a certain point in our existence as spirits, we were sent to earth to gain a physical body for our spirits.

To progress in the eternities, a physical body is necessary and desired, counter to what some religions say. 

It was so important that Jesus Christ came back and resurrected His body before going to God the Father.

Immortality, what is it?

Adam and Eve and All forms of life were created in immortality.  Death had not come to the world until after the fall. 

When Adam and Eve fell, they became the first mortal flesh on the earth and the consequent death that came from this status of existence passed on to All forms of life.

Original immortality was designed to only be temporary up until the Fall. 

This immortality stopped when mortality started.

The Final Immortality is to live forever in the resurrected state with body and spirit inseparably connected, never to die again. 

Body and Spirit in mortality constitute the Soul of man. 

When they are separated at death, the body is alone and the spirit is alone.  The soul, at that point, does not exist. 

In the resurrection when the body and spirit come together permanently, the immortal soul is constituted again and will remain forever as a soul.

The Lord stated Himself in:

Moses 1: 39

39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

God is going to make all of His children immortal unconditionally. 

This will make it possible for all of His children to stand before Him in their physical bodies at the Judgment Bar. 

Eternal life is not given to man, eternal life must be earned.

Those who believe His Gospel and Obey the Gospel Plan go on to Eternal Life, the Greatest of all the Gifts of God.

Doctrine and Covenants 14: 7

7 And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.

Immortality is not just for man.  Every living thing will come forth in the resurrection with immortality.  So, don't be cruel to your animals!  :)

The Earth itself will be quickened and come forth as an Immortal Celestial Globe. 

So, what is Eternal Life?

Eternal Life and Exaltation.

As it is used in the scriptures, Eternal life is the name given to the kind of life that God the Father lives. 

The word Eternal is one of the formal names of Deity and has been chosen by God Himself as the particular name which identifies the kind of life that He lives.

He being God, the life He lives is God’s life and His name being Eternal, so, the kind of life He lives is eternal life.

Eternal life does not only mean the duration of a future life, immortality took care of that, but only those who will obey the fullness of the Gospel Law will inherit Eternal Life.

Doctrine and Covenants 29: 43-44

43 And thus did I, the Lord God, appoint unto man the days of his probation—that by his natural death he might be raised in immortality unto eternal life, even as many as would believe;

(The days of our Probation is this Earth Life Testing Period we are in now.)

44 And they that believe not unto eternal damnation; for they cannot be redeemed from their spiritual fall, because they repent not.

Eternal Life is the quality of life that God the Father enjoys.

Thus, those who follow and obey the Gospel become the sons of God and joint heirs with Christ and members of the Church of the Firstborn.

To obtain Eternal Life and Exaltation, it is required to be married for Time and for All Eternity, which is only performed in the Temples of God. 

Those who tried and cannot find a spouse while here on earth will have the chance later IF they are obeying the fullness of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

They will overcome all things and have the power and receive the fullness of the father.

Seek after Eternal Life. 

To read the details of the resurrection of the bodies and spirits, read all of this chapter:

2 NEPHI 9

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COVENANTS WITH GOD

What is a Covenant?

In a Gospel sense, a Covenant is a binding and solemn compact, agreement, contract, or mutual promise between God and a single person or a group of chosen persons.

How can a Covenant be made with God?

God has always required His children to make Covenants with Him.  God promises to bless us if we make and follow the Covenant, and we promise to obey Him.

God sets the terms of gospel covenants, which we can accept and obey and this brings blessings in this life and exaltation in the life to come, or we can reject them and reap the consequences.

To keep our covenants, we must give up activities or interests that prevent us from honoring those covenants. 

We should desire and strive to keep them and those Covenants should remind to repent daily each day of our lives.

By serving others and keeping the Commandments we retain a remission of our sins. 

Covenants are made by ordinances like baptism. 

These ordinances are administered by priesthood authority that has been restored again to the earth in 1829.

To make a Covenant with God, His mind and will must be known having to do with the particular contractual relationship involved.

Covenants come only by direct revelation between God and the person making the covenant.

As far as people now living, the only people that can make a Covenant with God, because of having the companionship or Gift of the Holy Ghost, are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

This sounds arrogant but that is the situation of the world at this time.

As we keep our part of the baptismal covenant, God promises the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, a remission of our sins, and being born again. 

The Prophet and the Apostles, who are considered prophets, seers and revelators, are the only spiritual leaders receiving revelation for the church and the World.  

The members, because of the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, receive revelations for their personal lives.

Through sacred ordinances, such as baptism and confirmation, we learn about and experience God’s power (see D&C 84:20).

Jesus taught that we must be baptized by immersion for the remission, or forgiveness, of our sins by someone holding the priesthood authority that has been restored since 1829. 

Priesthood Authority.

If you call yourself a doctor and have not gone to, and graduated from, medical school, you are not a doctor.  You do not have authority from the medical school who Authenticates you to act in the profession as a doctor.

The priesthood is the same.  If you have gone to a religious school and come out with a diploma saying you are a minister, priest or pastor, you have their authority to practice it on the earth, in this life, but what is done is not recognized out of this life and in the eternities by God Himself.

That authority has to come from God Himself, through His appointed servants the same way that Moses ordained Aaron and the Lord ordained His Twelve Apostles, namely, by the Laying on of Hands by those already holding the Authority. 

Then what they do on earth and in the Eternities will be recognized by God here on earth and after this life.

Baptism is an essential ordinance of salvation. No person can enter the kingdom of God without being baptized.

Christ set the example for us by being baptized even though He was perfect and did not need it. 

Baptism by immersion is a symbol of the death, burial, and resurrection of the Savior.

Little children do not need to be baptized and are redeemed through the mercy of Jesus Christ (see Moroni 8:4–24).

They are not to be baptized until they reach the age of accountability, which is eight years of age, being revealed by modern revelation by a latter day prophet.  (See D&C 68:27).

OTHER OFFICIAL ORDINANCES.

The New and Everlasting Covenant is the fullness of the gospel and embraces within its terms and conditions every other covenant that Deity ever has made or ever will make with men. (See D&C 132: 5-7)

The New and Everlasting Covenant is the Covenant of Eternal Marriage, not marriage until death do us part. 

This marriage is recognized by God in the Eternities meaning your family will continue, intact, as a family and you will be able to have children forever.

The provisions of this covenant are that if men will believe, repent, be baptized, receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost and endure in righteousness to the end, they shall have an inheritance in the Celestial World.

Taking the sacrament of the Lord’s Supper each Sunday will renew those baptismal covenants and salvation is assured.

Some of the Covenants God makes with us are:  

1.  Keeping the Sabbath Day Holy.  (Exodus 20: 8-11)

2.  Paying Tithes and Offerings.  (Malachi 3: 7-10)

3.  Keeping the Words of Wisdom.  (Doctrine and Covenants 89)

There are many others.

To remember to keep the Covenants is a standing obligation resting upon the Lord’s people.

Those who keep the Covenants have the Lord’s promise that all things will work together for their good.

In a revelation to the Prophet Joseph Smith on August 6, 1833, the Lord said:

Doctrine and Covenants 98: 3

3 Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name’s glory, saith the Lord.

You are blessed if you keep the commandments and the covenants you have made, and because of this, you will obtain mercy.  (D&C 54: 6)

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Comments are welcome.

BOOK OF MORMON - WHY DID IT COME FORTH NOW.

What is the Book of Mormon?

Most of the Christian world wonders, why is the Book of Mormon here?  What good is it? 

We have a Bible and that is all we need.  After Jesus Christ was crucified and the Apostles were killed, there is not a need for more scriptures because we have all we need.

The Foreknowledge of God.

God knows the end from the beginning. 

He knows each of us and the types of decisions we will make, but He will not destroy our Free Agency.

We can remain good or we can become evil.  It is up to us.

He knows each of us so good that He knows pretty much what each of us will do under certain circumstances, but we need to be proven. 

He knows what experiences each of us needs and presents or allows those experiences to come to us so we can use our Free Agency to choose.

Knowing the end from the beginning He prepares for any problems.

 Directions to His Prophets.

About 600 years before the birth of His son, Jesus Christ, He inspired the Prophet Lehi, who was at that time, along with the Prophet Jeremiah, calling the people of Jerusalem to repentance because of their wicked ways.

The people of Jerusalem rebelled against them. 

Jeremiah went to Egypt with some of the Jews to preserve their lives. 

The Prophet Lehi was warned by the Lord in a dream to take his family and only the necessities they needed and leave into the wilderness and was told that they would be led to a promised land which would become the Americas.

They took a set of Brass Plates which contained a record of the Jews from Adam down to the Reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah, (597 – 586 B.C.).

The Lord inspired the Prophet Lehi’s son, who became the Prophet Nephi, to begin a record of the history and ministries of his people and to pass the record down from prophet to prophet.  (Keep in mind, it was 600 B.C. that Nephi started this record.)

This record covered 1000 years, from 600 B.C., down to the year 421 A.D., and the last Prophet Moroni, (who was the son of the Prophet Mormon, who compiled all the records by inspiration of the Lord, into one set of gold plates, and gave them to his son Moroni), finished the plates of gold.

The Lord told Moroni to bury them and that the record would be brought forth in the Last Days, in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times to a prophet He would raise up to Restore His church and Gospel again on the earth before His Second Coming.

The Bible in the Last Days.

Because of the foreknowledge of the Lord about the condition of the Bible, which would go forth from the Jews to the world in the last days, He had prepared this record, called the Book of Mormon. 

It was to strengthen the Bible and not replace it but to be Another Witness of Jesus Christ and to restore many parts that would have been changed or were missing because of wicked men and because of the many translations by uninspired men, which made it possible for people to not understand it.

The Lord gave the Prophet Nephi a Vision and instructed him to write the vision in the record he was making and why the Book of Mormon was to come forth in this day.

Read the following chapters.

See the whole chapter:  1 Nephi 13.

Then, see the blessings and cursing’s that would fall upon the Gentiles in this chapter:  1 Nephi 14.

The Lord loves His children and wants them to come back to Him and bringing forth the Book of Mormon in the Last Days would help them if they would listen.
For more information, go to www.lds.org

ISRAEL - WHO IS LEHI and WHAT IS THE BOOK OF MORMON

Israel please listen.

Jeremiah:  He was a prophet who was born to a priestly family and prophesied in Jerusalem from 626–586 B.C.

He lived near the time of other great prophets: Lehi, Ezekiel, Hosea, and Daniel.

Lehi:  You may be familiar with these other prophets except for one, Lehi.

Lehi lived in Jerusalem and was a contemporary prophet with Jeremiah.

The people of Jerusalem at that time would not listen to Jeremiah and Lehi preach to them about changing their ways. 

Jeremiah preached from 626 B.C. to 586 B.C. until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

The Lord had called Lehi and Jeremiah to preach to the Jews about repenting from their idolatry and immorality. 
See Jeremiah 3: 1-5 and Jeremiah 7: 8-10

In reading Jeremiah, he told us that the Lord told him that he was ordained to be a prophet in the Spirit World before he was born on earth. 
See Jeremiah 1: 4-5

About 600 B.C., the Prophet Lehi had threats on his life and being warned in a dream, he was told by the Lord to take his family and only the necessary things he needed and leave into the wilderness.  He was told he was going to be led into a promised land.

After three days of traveling in the desert, the Lord commanded Lehi to send his sons back to the house of Laban, who was a keeper of the records of the Jews, and obtain the brass plates and bring them with them. 

This was a record of the Jews from the beginning down to the Reign of Zedekiah, King of Judah. 

The Lord knew that generations would perish if they did not have or know their dealings with Him. 

They obtained the brass plates. 

They found that some of the prophecies of Jeremiah were on them and were very important.  Jeremiah is mentioned two other times in the Book of Mormon because of these records.
See 1 Nephi 7: 14 and Helaman 8: 20

Jeremiah stayed longer, actually until the fall of Jerusalem in 586 B.C. and he went with some of the Jews who escaped into Egypt, but according to tradition they stoned him to death. 

The reason they had stoned him may have been because they continued doing the wicked things that they had been doing in Jerusalem that he and Lehi had been warning them about and he was warning them again.

Eventually, the Lord led Lehi and his family to the sea and instructed Lehi's son Nephi, who also became a prophet of the Lord, to construct a ship. 

When this was done they collected all the things they needed and entered the ship. 

The ship was guided by the Lord to a promised land.

The Prophet Nephi, Lehi's son, began the record of their travels and experiences, spiritual and temporal on plates of gold.  

This metal was more plentiful, and he knew the record would last longer.

Nephi records that Lehi searched the brass plates they had obtained and found that he was a descendant of Joseph who was sold into Egypt and that Laban, who had kept the record was also a descendant of Joseph and his family was the keeper of the records.

Since the Prophet Nephi started this record in 600 B.C. when they left Jerusalem, the records were passed on from prophet to prophet for about 1000 years.

These records were made, not for the people of Nephi's day, but by the knowledge of the Lord, they would be preserved and come forth in the Last Days when He would Restore His church and Gospel to the earth.  

This record was made to come forth to the Jews and Gentiles in these Last Days. 

Here is the Title Page of the Book of Mormon.

This was written by the Prophet Mormon himself and was part of the plates.

The purpose of the Book of Mormon Record is to be Another Testament that Jesus is the Christ and to prove that the Bible is true.

At this time, 600 B.C., the Lord who was speaking to the prophets in the Old Testament and to Lehi and Nephi, was Jehovah. 

He would not become Jesus Christ until He was born in Bethlehem.

For further information see www.lds.org

Questions are welcomed.