March 27, 2022 – John144

Grace

I just finished the book Journey to the Veil II, by John Pontius. I want to post a couple of the great quotes from this book. Grace is not a concept that the LDS understand well. Frankly, I used to get the “creeps” when I heard people talk about it, because it sounded so “protestant”. But, the truth is, once you see that grace is mentioned throughout the Book of Mormon, and come to understand it, grace is really a beautiful principle.

There is a certain mindset among us in the Church that is hostile to our spiritual growth. This is that we must by our own discipline work out our own salvation—and then “after all we can do,” somewhere at the end of our lives, Jesus Christ will get involved and make up for what we were not able to do during our lifetime, and in the end we will be “saved by grace.”

The flaw in this thinking is that it places upon us mere mortals a burden we cannot hope to carry. We feel that we must keep every commandment, do every good thing, raise perfect families, pay our tithing, and fulfill a thousand other laws and rules, all by obedience and self-discipline, as best we can. We toil and toil and wait for the day when it is finally enough, and Jesus Christ at lasts steps in and fills in our blanks. This false belief sets us up for a lifetime of struggle that isn’t going to take us where we are anticipating. The truth of how this works is that we are given choices. We know right and wrong because of the Light of Christ, which we receive throughout our lives by grace. So, it is by grace that we even know what is good and bad. It is by grace that we know what to do. Thus it is by grace that we receive faith, truth, insight, inspiration, direction, guidance, truth, and power from the beginning to the end of our lives. Then, when we make a right choice, such as to say we’re sorry, go to church, or forgive someone who doesn’t seem to deserve it, Christ dispenses more grace and we are changed. We become more like Him by His grace. We receive “grace for grace”—our grace for His grace—and we are changed in our inner man by a small degree every time we obey Christ’s voice.

Thus we live by grace every moment of every day. The falsehood is that we must be perfect, even as God is perfect, in order to be saved in the end and at last be exalted. The truth is that we are not able to self-perfect ourselves for any part of the journey. The real requirement is that we become obedient to Christ’s guiding voice, and then He changes, upgrades, and purifies us until we are like Him—until we become “perfect in Christ.” When we come to the end of our lives, having walked in His grace, having partaken of His upgrading and empowering Atonement, we will be “saved by grace”—not in that moment alone but throughout our entire lives.

Pontius, John; Pontius, Terri. Journey to the Veil II (pp. 150-151). Cedar Fort, Inc.. Kindle Edition.

Revelation in a Group Setting

The following, taken from a book by John Pontius, is a beautiful example of how revelation works in a group setting. This is something you saw in the early days of the Church. I also saw it in the early days of the little church we organized. I believe that in Zion this principle will be fully operative in the councils that govern Zion. Note how the two counselors teach and support the bishop and how they teach him the principle of revelation, while still allowing him his agency. Not how the bishop prayed and asked the Lord to teach him how to receive revelation. But that wasn’t his problem. His problem was how to recognize the revelation he was already receiving.

Not quite ten years ago I was called as a counselor in a bishopric. Prior to that time I had served in many capacities but never in a bishopric. The stake had just created the ward and called our new bishop and his new counselors. I will remember our first bishopric meeting for a long time. We didn’t have a single teacher or Young Men or Young Women leader. We didn’t have Primary people, piano players, quorums, or anything else. We just sat there waiting for our poor new bishop to give us a direction. His opening statement was something like, “Don’t look at me!”

We laughed and talked about many things. Finally, a thought came into my mind. “Call Brother Stevens as the Young Men president.”

I opened my mouth to propose this calling when the bishop said, “What about Brother Stevens as the Young Men’s President?”

I wondered at this, and said, “I feel the rightness of that calling, Bishop.”

Our other counselor agreed, and the bishop assigned himself to make the calling. While he was writing, I had another thought. “Call Sister Wilson as the Young Women president.”

I was just about to propose this name, when the additional thought came to me to keep quiet for a moment. After the bishop was done writing he tapped his pen on the desktop for a moment. “What do you brethren think about Sister Wilson as the Young Women president?”

I nodded and tried to say, “I was just going to propose her name,” but the Spirit put on my lips, “I agree. I think she would be wonderful.”

This process went on in our meetings for about a month, until the ward was fully functioning. It really didn’t seem to matter how big or small the calling was or what the challenge was; I almost always heard the same prompting the bishop heard. Maybe the angels were just talking loudly in the room and I was allowed to eavesdrop.

Not long after the initial organization of the ward, we were talking about a potential calling for a ward member. I had not felt a prompting as before and for that reason doubted it was the right thing to do. My mind suddenly went back to a dozen years prior, when I had sat on a disciplinary council as a high councilor. I said, “I don’t think Brother Black is ready for this calling. A dozen years ago I sat on a disciplinary council for him . . .” and the Spirit told me to shut up. It was an interesting prompting. “Stop! Be quiet!”

I closed my mouth mid-sentence. The bishop looked at me funny. I said, “I shouldn’t have said that. It has no bearing on the present.”

The Bishop frowned. “You know, as you said the word ‘disciplinary council’ I had the thought, ‘He shouldn’t have said that. It has no bearing on the present.’ They were the same words you just used. I think the Holy Ghost just talked to me!” He seemed amazed.

I looked at him with different eyes. I realized that recognizing promptings was not what this brand new bishop had been doing these last few weeks. He had been receiving promptings and attributing them to his own intellect. He thought he was just a good organizer. The whole idea that the Holy Ghost would talk directly to him was astounding to him.

A new, fully developed thought came into my mind. I suddenly knew that teaching our humble new bishop to identify the revelation he already had was one of the reasons I was called to this bishopric. I waited a moment while the Holy Spirit warmed my soul. I said, “These last few weeks, as we organized the ward, just a few seconds before you would propose each new name, I would have the same name pop into my head. I knew it was from the Holy Spirit, and when you came up with the same name, it just confirmed that I had heard it correctly. This has happened consistently.”

The Bishop laid down his pen. “Why didn’t you say something? It would have helped me feel more certain about the callings to have known that.”

I replied, “It wasn’t necessary. The Spirit told me in each case to just concur with my bishop. I was never told to say why.”

The bishop let his chair lean back as he considered this. “I think Heavenly Father has been trying to teach me how to hear the Holy Ghost. I have been having these names come into my head. Is this what the Holy Ghost sounds like, just a thought? I mean, can you trust these ideas that just pop into your head to be from the Holy Ghost?”

Our other counselor said at that moment, “I’ve been having some of the names come into my mind, too, but not all of them. I was wondering what was going on. I thought we were just brainstorming or something. Is that really what revelation feels like?”

They were both looking at me, and I was waiting for the Holy Spirit to put words into my mouth. After a long moment I said, “Revelation almost always feels like our own ideas. The difference is that the ideas are usually sudden, probably something or someone you wouldn’t have thought of yourself, and they are accompanied by a feeling of rightness, or truth. Once you learn to recognize this revelatory process, you can identify it every time—and you can trust it every time. It is never wrong.”

Our newly minted bishop wiped tears from his eyes. “I have been praying all my life to receive revelation and never felt that I could, even though I have had sudden ideas like this my whole life. Ever since I was called as the bishop I have been praying with all my heart, with great urgency, that the Lord would teach me how to receive revelation so I could truly be a good bishop and not just someone sitting in this chair.”

I felt a surge of joy. I wiped tears from my eyes, too. “We have had constant revelation in this bishopric ever since the first meeting we held almost a month ago. Almost every decision we have made, I felt the approval of Heavenly Father.” I looked at the bishop intently. “Whether you knew it or not, you are one of the most inspired bishops I have ever known.”

I continued to receive confirmations as the bishop administered to his ward, but he didn’t need me anymore. I would often just nod, and he would smile because he valued my accord, but he didn’t need it. The Lord’s priesthood mantle had settled upon him, and he was “the bishop.” And in a humble, yet powerful way, he knew it.

Pontius, John; Pontius, Terri. Journey to the Veil II (pp. 170-173). Cedar Fort, Inc.. Kindle Edition. (emphasis mine)

Eternal Life, Eternal Punishment, D&C 19 is not an “oops”

D&C 19 clarifies the term “eternal” as the word has been translated in the scriptures. In English “eternal” means “without ending or beginning”, but in Hebrew, the word is “olam”, and in Greek, the word is “eonian”. Those words mean an age, a period of time, a world, a condition of existence, an estate. And in all these cases, there is definitely a beginning and an end.

Alma was “racked with eternal torment”, but after he repented, he “could remember [his] sins no more. So, “eternal” doesn’t mean what we commonly think it means.

Alma 36:12 But I was racked with eternal torment, for my soul was harrowed up to the greatest degree and racked with all my sins.
Alma 36:13 Yea, I did remember all my sins and iniquities, for which I was tormented with the pains of hell; yea, I saw that I had rebelled against my God, and that I had not kept his holy commandments.
Alma 36:14 Yea, and I had murdered many of his children, or rather led them away unto destruction; yea, and in fine so great had been my iniquities, that the very thought of coming into the presence of my God did rack my soul with inexpressible horror.
Alma 36:15 Oh, thought I, that I could be banished and become extinct both soul and body, that I might not be brought to stand in the presence of my God, to be judged of my deeds.
Alma 36:16 And now, for three days and for three nights was I racked, even with the pains of a damned soul.
Alma 36:17 And it came to pass that as I was thus racked with torment, while I was harrowed up by the memory of my many sins, behold, I remembered also to have heard my father prophesy unto the people concerning the coming of one Jesus Christ, a Son of God, to atone for the sins of the world.
Alma 36:18 Now, as my mind caught hold upon this thought, I cried within my heart: O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.
Alma 36:19 And now, behold, when I thought this, I could remember my pains no more; yea, I was harrowed up by the memory of my sins no more.

I don’t know what Joseph Smith was thinking. He probably had trouble comprehending what the Lord was trying to reveal, but he was really trying to undo centuries of false traditions due to mistranslations of the Bible. Just because you receive revelation doesn’t necessarily you understand what you receive or can easily put it in words. This was probably new to him also.

“Eternal punishment is God’s punishment”, means it’s the kind of punishment ordained by God. And, by the same token “Eternal life is God’s life”, or the kind of life that God lives. We say “eternal life is to know God”, but nobody can truly know God unless he IS God. Then, and only then can you live as God lives.

This is Bruce R. McConkie from A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, page 492:

There is a true doctrine on these points, a doctrine unknown by many and unbelieved by more, a doctrine that is spelled out as specifically and extensively in the revealed word as are any of the other revealed truths. There is no need for uncertainty or misunderstanding. And surely if the Lord reveals a doctrine, we should seek to learn its principles and strive to apply them in our lives. This doctrine is that mortal man, while in the flesh, has it in his power to see the Lord, to stand in His presence, to feel the nail marks in His hands and feet, and to receive from Him such blessings as are reserved for only those who keep all His commandments and who are qualified for that eternal life, which includes being in His presence forever. [Forever means now and always.]

Calling and Election

Brigham Young actually explained the difference between the Second Anointing and the Second Comforter. They are two different things. I have never seen this quote before, but wanted to share it. There are several significant points made here, and I know independently that he is telling the truth.

Priesthood is separate from and independent of the church
The fullness of the Melchizedek Priesthood comes directly from the Lord
The second anointing in the public promise. The second comforter is the private fulfilment of that promise. The first is not complete without the other.
People who come on “Mormon Stories” and complain that they haven’t seen the Savior in the temple, were not taught this doctrine properly. The second anointing comes about as a “reward”, given by man for faithful service in the church, and/or being connected to the “right” families. The second comforter is given by the Lord himself. If we take the Holy Spirit for our guide, seek and receive personal revelation, and act on it, the second comforter is the destination that this path leads to.
Contrary to what Brigham Young says, the second anointing is not a prerequisite for receiving the second comforter.

There are in the Church two Priesthoods, namely, the Melchizedek and the Aaronic, including the Levitical Priesthood (1) & C 107: 1). But there is additonal Priesthood that has never been delegated to the Church. The Lord Himself handles this Priesthood and gives it to whom and when He pleases. Man does not call another man to this order, neither does man secure it by the request or selection of any man on earth. The call comes by messenger from heaven requesting designated individuals into the House of God (and it is known to Latter-day Saints as the second anointing), preparatory to receiving the Second Comforter, which completes their ordination. Sometimes this second Comforter is given while in the Temple. Often it does not come until years after, even just at death. But they who have had their second anointings can see the face of the Lord and live, even though being in the flesh, as one sees and talks to another. A Priesthood Issue, p. 8 (See also: J.D., 9:87)

From the Pamphlet “Son thou Shalt Be Exalted” by Dennis Short https://content.byui.edu/file/76183b70-4348-4e74-bd7d-5b823a415513/1/FileMS166_SonThouShaltBeExalted.pdf

In the early history of the Church it was sometimes possible to tell which of the Apostles had made their ordination complete by a careful observance of the way in which they performed certain ordinances. If an Apostle had enjoyed the ministering of the Savior to him personally, and had the Lord lay His hands upon his head, then this Apostle would say, “Having authority given me of Jesus Christ….” If an Apostle had not made his ordination complete he would perform the ordinance in the conventional manner, i.e.: “Having been commissioned of Jesus Christ, I….”

There are other ways to tell whether a man has the Sealing Power or not, by the way in which he prays. Since this is easily imitated, I would reveal those ways, but if you are attentive, the Lord will reveal them to you.

Here is a really old quote from Bruce R. McConkie. He didn’t talk like this in his later years:

Revelations are not reserved for a limited few or for those called to positions of importance in the Church. It is not position in the Church that confers spiritual gifts. It is not being a bishop, a stake president, or an apostle that makes revelation and salvation available. These are high and holy callings which open the door to the privilege of great service among men. But it is not a call to a special office that opens the windows of revelation to a truth seeker. Rather it is personal righteousness; it is keeping the commandments; it is seeking the Lord while He may be found.
God is no respecter of persons. He will give revelation to me and to you on the same terms and conditions. I can see what Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon saw in the vision of the degrees of glory–and so can you. I can entertain angels and see God, I can receive an out pouring of the gifts of the Spirit–and so can you.
There are goals to gain, summits to climb, revelations to receive. In the eternal scope of things we have scarcely started out on the course to glory and exaltation. The Lord wants His Saints to receive line upon line, precept upon precept, truth upon truth, revelation upon revelation, until we know all things and have become like Him.
Let us press forward in making our callings and elections sure, until, as Joseph Smith said, we shall have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend us, or to appear to us from time to time, and until even He will manifest the Father unto use (See TPJS., p. 151). Improvement Era, December 1969, p. 85