Our Pre-mortal Existence

In the opening portion of the 13th chapter of Alma are seven verses that I consider the most revelatory in the entire Book of Mormon and the most revelatory on the subject of our pre-mortal existence to be found anywhere in our standard works.  I marvel that this sublime doctrine should have been preached to the rebellious apostates in the city of Ammonihah.  For whatever reason Alma did so, we in this dispensation have Mormon to thank that he included these enlightening verses in his abridgment.  

It is important that the readers of these words comprehend that Alma’s references to the pre-mortal lives of high priests in the Melchizedek Priesthood were made by him with crystal clear intent and full knowledge of whom he was speaking.   It is also important that those who read Alma’s words understand that what Alma said concerning high priests applies, as is appropriate, to elders and sisters as well who labor in the kingdom of God on the earth in our day.  President Spencer W. Kimball confirmed this important point when he wrote: “Before we came here, faithful women were given certain assignments while faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood tasks.  While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to.  You are accountable for those things which long ago were expected of you just as are those we sustain as prophets and apostles!” (“The Role of Righteous Women,”  Ensign, November 1979, 102).

The Prophet Joseph Smith’s teaching on this subject is that “[e]very man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of heaven before this world was” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 365). 

What we may conclude fairly from the writings of these two prophets is that not all of our Heavenly Father’s spirit children come into this world bearing the same expectations and opportunities.  

To prepare us for what we will learn in the 13th chapter of the Book of Alma, we should consider first the Lord’s words in D&C 93:38: “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning; and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God.”  In other words, Christ’s atonement made it possible for us to be born into mortality in an innocent state.  If we “became again” innocent at the time of our mortal birth, then we must have been innocent once before.  Thus we know with assurance what the first phrase of the verse means.  “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning” confirms that we were born as spirit children of God into the pre-mortal world in a state of innocence.  As we matured and gained experience in the pre-mortal world, we lost our innocence through actions that were contrary to God’s law.  The Lord’s atonement has the power to reach beyond this mortal world backward in time and space to pay for the consequences of our mistakes committed during our pre-mortality.

Now take a Book of Mormon to hand and read the first fourteen verses of chapter 13 in the Book of Alma.  Did you notice Alma’s change of course in the opening phrase of verse 3?  Now read the final words of verse 9: “And thus it is.  Amen.”  The seven verses including verses 3 through 9 are a parenthetical discussion on our activities in the pre-mortal world.  Note the initial phrase of verse 10: “Now, as I said concerning the holy order, or this high priesthood, . . .”  These words harp back to the subject Alma began discussing in verses 1 and 2.  Therefore, we see that Alma is carrying on two separate but very much related discussions in the first fourteen verses of this chapter.  He is teaching the people of Ammonihah concerning the calling and works of high priests of the Melchizedek Priesthood from the days of Adam down through the recorded history they possessed on the Plates of Brass and then on down through the subsequent history to their very day and experience.  This portion of his discourse is found in verses 1, 2, and 10 through 14.  His discourse on our pre-mortal existence is found in verses 3 through 9.  And again, we should remember that his words in this latter discourse concern the experiences of high priests specifically.  As appropriate, what we learn here applies to other holders of the Melchizedek Priesthood and righteous sisters in this dispensation as taught by the Prophet Joseph Smith and President Spencer W. Kimball.

In verse 3, we learn that high priests in this dispensation were foreordained and prepared for assignments in the Kingdom of God on this earth as a result of God’s “foreknowledge” of these brethren based on their deeds in the pre-mortal world.  There, God noted “their exceeding faith and good works.”  In that realm, His spirit children could “choose good or evil.”  These high priests of which Alma speaks chose “good, and exercis[ed] exceedingly great faith.”  Does this glimpse of faith’s role in that realm cause us personally to reflect upon our own understanding of faith?  I think it should.  Also please note in verse 3 the confirmation of the role Christ’s “redemption” played in the calling and preparation of these high priests.

We note in verse 4 that those who were not so foreordained or received assignments to labor in the Lord’s vineyard on earth were excluded from these opportunities because they rejected “the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and blindness of their minds.”  If it had not been so, “they might have had as great privilege as their brethren.”  

It is in verse 5 that D&C 93:38 becomes relevant.  “Or in fine, in the first place they were on the same standing with their brethren.”  What Alma is reaffirming here from verse 4 is that those who were not as valiant because they hardened “their hearts” were born into the spirit world innocent just as their brethren had been who did remain valiant.  No child of God was born into pre-mortality with an unequal opportunity to be faithful and obedient to his/her Father’s expectations.  

In verses 6 through 9 we learn that the high priesthood is “without beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from eternity to all eternity, . . .”  This Priesthood existed in the pre-mortal world and high priests for this world were so ordained there.  If by some chance this point is not clear from the reading of the relevant verses, then consider this.  The Priesthood is the same yesterday, today, and tomorrow.  When a brother is ordained to an office in the priesthood either Aaronic or Melchizedek, he must first have the appropriate priesthood conferred upon him.  How could high priests for this world be foreordained for their labors here before they were holders of the Priesthood?  And if this is not sufficient, then consider the words of the Prophet Joseph Smith: “The Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation.  He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, . . . (Teachings, 157).

Again, we have Alma to thank for his enlightening discourse and Mormon to thank for including what he did in his abridgment.  As with the Savior and His use of parables in teaching the Jews of his day, the righteous understood His words and were blessed because of it while the unrighteous did not and were thus spared greater condemnation.  We of this generation who labor in His Kingdom have been granted a “pearl of great price” through the teachings of an ancient prophet that if properly understood and applied in our lives will provide us with a greater understanding of our beginnings and should instill in each of us a greater desire to determine what it is that our Father and our Savior expect of us in mortality.

"The House of the Lord - Holiness to the Lord"

The following pronouncement is to be found on the exterior of each temple constructed and dedicated by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: "The House of the Lord - Holiness to the Lord." The question may be asked, to whom do we have reference when we use the word "Lord" in this instance? Are we referring to God the Father or to His Son, Jesus Christ? The answer is, we have reference to both the Father and the Son. There is no reason to believe that the title Lord used in this context must refer to one or the other exclusively.

While the title Lord as used in our standard works refers much more frequently to Jesus Christ than it does to our Heavenly Father, what is important to keep in mind is that Lord is a proper reference for both. In most cases, the scripture’s context will resolve any question that may exist as to whether Elohim or Jehovah is being referenced. The Psalmist illustrates the case in point when he wrote, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thine enemies thy footstool” (Psalm 110:1). During His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ elaborated on this verse of scripture. “While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, Saying, What think ye of Christ? whose son is he? They say unto him, The Son of David. He saith unto them, How then doth David in spirit call him Lord, saying, The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit thou on my right hand, till I make thine enemies thy footstool? If David then call him Lord, how is he his son? And no man was able to answer him a word, neither durst any man from that day forth ask him any more questions” (Matthew 22:41-46).

In Section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants, we find an interesting reference to the Deity that clearly has reference to both the Father and His Son. After quoting verses from the writings of John the Baptist to the Prophet Joseph Smith, the Lord continued: “I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness” (D&C 93:19). Individually our eventual obtaining of eternal life, according to the Savior, is dependent upon our proper understanding of who we worship and how we are to worship them; Gods plural.

In his recent dedicatory prayer for the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf said, “We thank Thee for the knowledge Thou hast given us of Thee and of Thy Beloved Son, our Lord Jesus Christ. We thank Thee for the Prophet Joseph Smith through whom Thou hast restored Thy Holy Priesthood and eternal gospel principles, practices, and keys that will be exercised in this Thy holy house. We thank Thee for a living prophet in our days, even President Monson; we love him and we pray for him. . . . And now, acting in the authority of the everlasting priesthood, and as Thy commissioned servants, we dedicate to Thee and Thy Beloved Son the Quetzaltenango Guatemala Temple of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints” (Church News, December 17, 2011, p. 5). Here is a clear and unmistakeable reference to a temple being dedicated to both the Father and His Son.

In his November 1980 dedicatory prayer for the Seattle Washington Temple, President Spencer W. Kimball said, “Our Holy Father in Heaven, Thou who hath created our spirits and the heavens and the earth and all things therein, in the worthy name of thy greatly Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, we come to Thee this day in this beautiful edifice to dedicate it unto Thee, our Living God. . . . And now, by the power of the Holy Priesthood Thou hast given us, we dedicate this building and all that pertains to it, together with all its furnishings and contents, to Thee, our Holy Father, and ask Thee to accept it and shower blessings upon it, in the worthy name of Thy Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.” In this prayer quite clearly, the emphasis of dedication was made to the Father in the name of His Son.

Lest this or any other prayer of temple dedication move us to conclude that a “House of the Lord” be intended for only one or the other of the two Gods whom we worship, let us recall the words of the Prophet Malachi: “Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the Lord, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the Lord of hosts” (Malachi 3:1). We popularly accept in this dispensation that the words of Malachi were fulfilled by the Savior’s appearance to His temple on April 3, 1836 to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in Kirtland, Ohio. “Let the hearts of your brethren rejoice, and let the hearts of all my people rejoice, who have, with their might, built this house to my name. For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house” (D&C 110:6-7).

Remembering the counsel of the Lord to the Prophet Joseph Smith as contained in Section 93, we should seek opportunity to better understand how we are to worship and who we worship that we might someday be found worthy of eternal life. What better place to do this than in “The House of the Lord.”

Taking Time For Reflection

This is my one-hundredth post to this blog, and it will be the last regular posting. As future times and circumstances warrant additional writings, they will be forthcoming.

As I began this blog some nineteen months ago, my intent for this enterprise was to establish a written record of my most important thoughts, understanding, and testimony pertaining to the restoration of the Lord’s full gospel and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in this dispensation. This I have accomplished. As a professional historian, I am well aware of the multitude of records that may follow any individual through subsequent history. However, while an historical record detailing the activities and involvements of an individual is certainly of interest and importance, writings that detail the subject’s beliefs, aspirations, and thoughts are for me personally much more satisfying.

Additionally and speaking primarily to my family both living and yet unborn, these writings are in part my legacy to you. It is important to me that you have an opportunity to understand what I both know and what I believe after a long life of gospel study and religious experiences. To the extent that these writings become of benefit to others, so much the better. There have been certainly other periods in my life when I have spent more concentrated weekly hours in gospel study when preparing to instruct Gospel Doctrine and Institute of Religion classes. However, writing this blog has allowed me to focus on a wide spectrum of specific church and gospel topics as well as related issues like never before.

As I look back over a long life of church activity, there is one impression that overshadows all the rest because of its importance. I was reared in Salt Lake City during the middle of the twentieth century. When I graduated from high school, there were twelve operating temples in the entire world. Today, 160 temples are in operation or are under construction or have been announced. In my youth, temples were places one went to be married and later in life were places where the aging Saints could spend productive time when the rigors of rearing families was largely a thing of their past. Regular temple participation was neither spoken of in church meetings per se nor an activity that families were inclined to plan into their monthly routines. How very different the situation is today, and it needs to be this way for the preservation of the Saints in the Lord’s Church and the well being of the world’s people in general. Rampant personal pride, failed integrity in the family, community, and government as well as the proliferation and flaunting of sexual perversions are obvious signs of the intensifying wickedness in this world as are the increasing numbers of wars, rumors of wars, and incidents of civil disobedience. Can we be living in anything other than the last days?

Temples are portals to heaven. Nowhere on the earth may we be closer to heaven on a consistent, uninterrupted basis. There we are instructed on the finer points of that which we must be and do if we hope to someday be found worthy of the blessing of eternal life. It is there that we may seek inspiration concerning decisions that trouble us, answers to nagging questions, and the comforting balm necessary to endure when troubles and challenges weigh heavily upon us. We learn from the dedicatory prayer offered in the Kirtland Temple [D&C 109], that blessings of direction and strength follow those who participate in temple work regularly, and that these blessings flow outwardly to our families and into our communities to reinforce the Light of Christ that is already a constructive force there. How else do we explain the historical results that followed the dedication and diligent use of the Freiberg Temple in the communist German Democratic Republic? The vast, vast majority of the peoples of this world have no concept of the power and role The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints plays in staving off what would otherwise be their destruction resulting from the unbridled and rampant forces of Satan upon the earth. But such is the reality whether they realize it or not.

The writings on this blog have been written prayerfully, and very often, what has been written was the result of inspiration. For what I have learned and experienced these past many months, I am most humbly grateful. I would be remiss if I did not thank Erika, my wife and eternal companion, for her love and support in this endeavor.

The Doctrine of Christ

The “doctrine of Christ” is simply another way of expressing the “gospel of Christ.” This the Prophet Jacob makes clear in his rehearsal of his confrontation with Sherem, the anti-Christ, and the event’s aftermath. “And it came to pass that he came unto me, and on this wise did he speak unto me, saying: Brother Jacob, I have sought much opportunity that I might speak unto you; for I have heard and also know that thou goest about much, preaching that which ye call the gospel, or the doctrine of Christ” (Jacob 7:6). The purpose of this writing is to expand upon the common scriptural declaration of what comprises the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The fourth Article of Faith of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a good starting point: “We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.” That these are the basic elements of the gospel is confirmed by the Lord himself to the Prophet Joseph Smith in October 1830. “Yea, repent and be baptized, every one of you, for a remission of your sins; yea be baptized even by water, and then cometh the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost. Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and remember that they shall have faith in me or they can in nowise be saved” (Doctrine and Covenants 33:11-12). Within two years, the Lord declared what the gospel is from a different standpoint. “And this is the gospel, the glad tidings, which the voice out of the heavens bore record unto us--That he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; That through him all might be saved whom the Father had put into his power and made by him” (D&C 76:40-42).

The additional and necessary element that makes these brief declarations concerning the gospel true is the often unspoken but well understood requirement that each of us must remain faithful to our covenants until death. The importance of this additional element is substantiated in the discourses of the resurrected Savior as well as the Prophet Nephi as they preached on very different and distant occasions to the Lord’s Saints living upon the American continent.

Nephi’s sermon on the doctrine of Christ is the thirty-first chapter of 2 Nephi, and it is beautifully compact yet complete. Concerning this fifth element of the gospel, Nephi testifies, “And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. . . .Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:15 & 20). The words of the Lord delivered himself to the surviving and humbled Saints are no less clear. “And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at the day when I shall stand to judge the world. And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire, from whence they can no more return, because of the justice of the Father. . . . And no unclean thing can enter into his kingdom; therefore nothing entereth into his rest save it be those who have washed their garments in my blood, because of their faith, and the repentance of all their sins, and their faithfulness unto the end” (3 Nephi 27:16-17, 19).

What more need be said?

Gospel Patterns

While vacationing in Hawaii recently, we attended a stake conference to which Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, was the visiting authority. During a portion of his remarks, he addressed the topic of patterns in the gospel. This experience serves as the springboard for this writing.

The Lord taught the Prophet Joseph Smith the importance of understanding gospel patterns a little more than a year after the organization of His Church in these last days. “And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations” (Doctrine and Covenants 52:14). This was an important lesson for not only the Prophet but for our church membership in general. In the early years of the restoration when all of the Saints were new to the true gospel, Satan and his minions had a relatively easy time diverting many from the true practices of their newly acquired religion with often dire consequences. While “drift” from proper practices and patterns will always be a challenge for us, in long-established communities of the Saints, many decades and generations of experience lessen significantly the occurrences of inappropriate practices being adopted in our places of worship.

Possibly, the brief mention of several fundamental gospel patterns would be appropriate here. Under normal circumstances, the Lord will not reveal to us that which is important for our understanding and direction absent our approaching Him for such enlightenment. He expects that we will come to an understanding of our needs as a result of our personal study and contemplation. Once we have formulated a question, concern, or need, we are to prayerfully approach Him in faith. Joseph Smith studied the Bible and determined that the Lord was willing to provide answers to questions and concerns when approached in faith. He contemplatively prepared his question for God before he went into the grove to pray. Oliver Cowdery was chastened by the Lord for thinking that he, Oliver, would be able to translate without first studying the matter out in his own mind and then asking God if his translation was correct (D&C 9:7-9). The Prophet Moroni was very clear on the procedure one must use to prove the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon. “And when ye shall receive these things, [In verse three, Moroni makes clear that to ‘receive’ means to ‘read’ the book.] I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost” (Moroni 10:4).

Another gospel pattern is illustrated in the relationship that exists between covenants and ordinances. Each time we participate in one of the five saving ordinances, we conclude a multi-part covenant with God. When we are baptized and confirmed for example, we promise to “serve God” and “keep his commandments” (Mosiah 18:10). The Melchizedek Priesthood is conferred upon a brother with an “oath and covenant” (D&C 84:33-41). The concluding of covenants with God is an integral part of participating in temple ordinances. The importance of concluding covenants with God was explained simply by Elder John A. Widtsoe: “The covenant made in the temple, or elsewhere, if of the right kind, is merely a promise to give life to knowledge, by making knowledge useful and helpful in man’s daily progress. Temple work, or any other work, would have no meaning unless accompanied with covenants” (See page 17 of the temple preparation manual).

One may see a gospel pattern in the saving ordinances themselves. Here I have reference to the Plan of Salvation or Plan of Happiness. Our demonstration of faith and works in the pre-mortal, mortal, and post-mortal phases of our existence will determine our condition, circumstances, and opportunities for eternity. Even within the celestial kingdom itself there are “three heavens or degrees” (D&C 131:1). The minimal number of ordinances in which we must participate in order to obtain the least of these degrees is two, namely baptism and confirmation. To be worthy to obtain the highest of these degrees requires that an individual participate in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage (D&C 131:2).

Finally for my purposes here, marriage and family illustrate a most important gospel pattern. In 1995, the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints issued a proclamation concerning “The Family.” Making no attempt here to summarize the details of this Proclamation, it suffices me to say that “the family” is a pattern of heaven. There, we will be organized in a patriarchal order that will eventually link the generations of the earth back to our first parents.

As the Lord instructed the Prophet Joseph Smith in 1831, understanding and participating in these gospel patterns will very much work in our favor as we attempt to avoid being deceived by Satan and those around us who support his ends willingly or unknowingly.

Individual Enlightenment

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “. . . And we shall at last have to come to this conclusion, whatever we may think of revelation, that without it we can neither know nor understand anything of God, or the devil; and however unwilling the world may be to acknowledge this principle, it is evident from the multifarious creeds and notions concerning this matter that they understand nothing of this principle, and it is equally as plain that without a divine communication they must remain in ignorance. The world always mistook false prophets for true ones, and those that were sent of God, they considered to be false prophets, and hence they killed, stoned, punished and imprisoned the true prophets, and these had to hide themselves ‘in deserts and dens, and caves of the earth,’ and though the most honorable men of the earth, they banished them from their society as vagabonds, whilst they cherished, honored and supported knaves, vagabonds, hypocrites, impostors, and the basest of men” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 205-206).

In his address at the Church’s April 2011 General Conference, Elder David A. Bednar spoke to this subject. “The spirit of revelation is available to every person who receives by proper priesthood authority the saving ordinances of baptism by immersion for the remission of sins and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost--and who is acting in faith to fulfill the priesthood injunction to ‘receive the Holy Ghost.’ This blessing is not restricted to the presiding authorities of the Church; rather, it belongs to and should be operative in the life of every man, woman, and child who reaches the age of accountability and enters into sacred covenants. Sincere desire and worthiness invite the spirit of revelation into our lives” (“The Spirit of Revelation” was the title of his address).

Addressing Elder Bednar’s thought on the role revelation must play in the Lord’s true Church, I am reminded that between the General Authorities and the Church’s membership there are two levels of administration, stake presidents and bishops, that are critical to the well being of the Kingdom. This past weekend, Sister Linford and I attended a stake conference in the Honolulu Hawaii Stake. The visiting authority was Elder Kevin W. Pearson, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy. He reminded the congregation of the important role bishops play in the Church due much in part to the revelation they receive in support of their members.

In the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon namely, chapters eleven through fourteen of 1 Nephi, Nephi was shown the vision that his father had received earlier which foretold the future circumstances of Lehi’s family as well as major events in the unfolding and entwining history of the House of Israel and the gentiles down through the ages to this very dispensation. While admittedly his experience is an extreme example of personal revelation, in Nephi’s case, it was a necessary one. For upon him rested the responsibility of establishing a pattern of interactions between those of his followers who would remain righteous on the one hand as opposed to the religiously rebellious followers of his brethren on the other. The latter group, the Lord intended to use as a “scourge” upon Nephi’s “seed, to stir them up in remembrance of me; and inasmuch as they will not remember me, and hearken unto my words, they shall scourge them even unto destruction” (2 Nephi 5:25).

No matter how exceptional, Nephi’s example of seeking personal revelation and acting in accordance with the particulars of the resulting inspiration is very much an appropriate example for all Saints. Many particulars concerning our personal course in mortality will be made known to each of us if we sincerely seek such direction in faith. It behooves us then to follow Nephi’s pattern of righteous living through dedicated obedience to our Father’s commandments followed by a humble but specific request to be shown the way we should proceed. “For it came to pass after I had desired to know the things that my father had seen, and believing that the Lord was able to make them known unto me, as I sat pondering in mine heart I was caught away in the Spirit of the Lord, yea, into an exceeding high mountain, which I never had before seen, and upon which I never had before set my foot. And the Spirit said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken? And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father” (1 Nephi 11:1-5).

Personal revelation is a gift from God to those who desiring to obey His commandments have joined His earthly Kingdom through the ordinances of baptism and confirmation. By means of the Holy Ghost, we may not only come to know the mysteries of the kingdom but also the particulars of what we should be about in this life. A desire to know and being worthy of such inspiration are understood prerequisites. Once we seek to use personal revelation as a directional beacon in our lives, the Prophet Joseph Smith has given us the key to its successful use. While John Taylor was serving as the President of the Quorum of the Twelve, the Prophet told him “Elder Taylor, you have been baptized, you have had hands laid upon your head for the reception of the Holy Ghost, and you have been ordained to the holy priesthood. Now, if you will continue to follow the leadings of that spirit, it will always lead you right. Sometimes it might be contrary to your judgment; never mind that, follow its dictates; and if you be true to its whisperings it will in time become in you a principle of revelation so that you will know all things” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church--Joseph Smith, 132-133).

As independent individuals seeking to realize our full eternal potential, we have been given the power to act and not to be acted upon (2 Nephi 2:13). By capitalizing on the opportunities that in part we may open for ourselves through heavenly direction, we improve our chances of staying the course and realizing that end.

Gospel Saints

Some few days ago in a mass conducted before well more than a million followers of the Roman Catholic faith gathered in St. Peter’s Square and connecting streets, Pope Benedict XVI beatified former Pope John Paul II. The act of beatification is the third of four steps necessary in that Church to declaring an individual to be canonized. Canonization is the earthly, institutional recognition that the subject is in heaven and is a saint. Importantly, the process of canonization does not make the individual a saint, it is simply a recognition of the belief that the subject has arrived at that station by means of other, non-earthly processes. It is further assumed that all who make it to heaven are saints, however, the Church does not canonize most of them for what should be obvious reasons. Beatification, additionally, places these deceased individuals in a position of interceding on behalf of mortals who pray to them seeking heavenly intervention in the resolution of their personal challenges. In the Protestant Christian world, the term saint is used more generally. Historically, saints in this context were and are the mortal followers of Jesus Christ. Clearly in the complex Christian world of today, the uses and understandings of the term “saint” are confusing and vary widely.

Within the communities of true believers in Jesus Christ from the days of Father Adam to our own there has been and is no confusion as to the meaning and use of the term “saints.” However, for most interested others, our understanding and practice on this matter provides little assistance. It is not uncommon for members of the LDS Church to be confronted with something other than acceptance when they announce that they are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The use of the term "saint" in reference to the general membership of the church is in fact widely unknown and little accepted in the supposedly Christian world of today. In this writing, several references from our standard works, holy scriptures, illustrating the use of the term “saint” down through the ages will be considered.

Approximately six hundred years before the birth of Christ, the Prophet Nephi explained to his brethren the meaning of an important vision that had been given earlier to their father, Lehi. Speaking of the river that figured prominently in the vision, Nephi said “that it was an awful gulf, which separated the wicked from the tree of life, and also from the saints of God,” those in the vision who were seeking to be faithful to the word of God (1 Nephi 15:28). A short time earlier, Nephi, himself, had been shown a vision narrated by an angel that gave Nephi an understanding of future, major events that would occur spanning from his day to ours. In our generation, he saw that there would be only two churches, the church of God and the church of the devil. Nephi reports: “And it came to pass that I beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I behold that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw” (1 Nephi 14:12). There was no question in Nephi’s mind concerning the name of the members of Christ’s true Church. They were the Lord’s saints.

Other prophets and writers during Old Testament times were not confused either concerning the appropriate use of the term “saints.” In the Fifth Book of Moses, Moses clearly understands the saints to be all of the true followers of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Deuteronomy 33:2-3). The Psalmist, King David, declared, “Gather my saints together unto me; those that have made a covenant with me by sacrifice” (Psalms 50:5). Daniel saw in vision the great priesthood meeting yet to be held at Adam-Ondi-Ahman (verses 9 to 14 of chapter 7) as well as the saints of God receiving His Kingdom: “But the saints of the most High shall take the kingdom, and possess the kingdom for ever, even for ever and ever. . . . Until the Ancient of days came, and judgment was given to the saints of the most High; and the time came that the saints possessed the kingdom. . . . And the kingdom and dominion, and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven, shall be given to the people of the saints of the most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him” (Daniel 7:18, 22, 27).

On the subject of saints, the dialogue between the Lord and Ananias in New Testament times is instructive. Paul, blinded by the vision wherein he became acquainted with the Savior, awaits Ananias’ arrival to restore his vision. “And the Lord said unto him, Arise, and go into the street which is called Straight, and enquire in the house of Judas for one called Saul, of Tarsus: for, behold, he prayeth, And hath seen in a vision a man named Ananias coming in, and putting his hand on him, that he might receive his sight. Then Ananias answered, Lord, I have heard by many of this man, how much evil he hath done to thy saints at Jerusalem: And here he hath authority from the chief priests to bind all that call on thy name. But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel: For I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name’s sake” (Acts 9:11-16). Much later, Paul begins one of his epistles to the Corinthians with these words: “Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ through the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, Unto the church of God which is at Corinth, to them that are sanctified in Christ Jesus, called to be saints, with all that in every place call upon the name of Jesus Christ our Lord, both theirs and ours: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 1:1-3).

In all dispensations from the beginning of this world, the living, faithful followers of Christ were known and are still known as saints. They are they who exhibit faith in Jesus Christ and His gospel, who honestly repent of their sins, who seek forgiveness of their sins and entrance into the Kingdom of God on the earth through the ordinances of baptism by immersion and confirmation by the laying on of hands in order that they may receive the Gift of the Holy Ghost. There is no other way that this may be accomplished other than by and through the authority of the Holy Melchizedek Priesthood.