Edspringer

Ok

Ok, it`s your opinion and I respect that.

Rob, please read D&C 76 and you will know what I am talking about. Check this out: 81 And again, we saw the glory of the telestial, which glory is that of the lesser, even as the glory of the stars differs from that of the glory of the moon in the firmament. 82 These are they who received not the gospel of Christ, neither the testimony of Jesus. 83 These are they who deny not the Holy Spirit. 84 These are they who are thrust down to hell. 85 These are they who shall not be redeemed from the devil until the last resurrection, until the Lord, even Christ the Lamb, shall have finished his work. 86 These are they who receive not of his fulness in the eternal world, but of the Holy Spirit through the ministration of the terrestrial; 87 And the terrestrial through the ministration of the celestial. 88 And also the telestial receive it of the administering of angels who are appointed to minister for them, or who are appointed to be ministering spirits for them; for they shall be heirs of salvation. 99 For these are they who are of Paul, and of Apollos, and of Cephas. 100 These are they who say they are some of one and some of another—some of Christ and some of John, and some of Moses, and some of Elias, and some of Esaias, and some of Isaiah, and some of Enoch; 101 But received not the gospel, neither the testimony of Jesus, neither the prophets, neither the everlasting covenant. 102 Last of all, these all are they who will not be gathered with the saints, to be caught up unto the church of the Firstborn, and received into the cloud. 103 These are they who are liars, and sorcerers, and adulterers, and whoremongers, and whosoever loves and makes a lie. 104 These are they who suffer the wrath of God on earth. 105 These are they who suffer the vengeance of eternal fire. 106 These are they who are cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God, until the fulness of times, when Christ shall have subdued all enemies under his feet, and shall have perfected his work; So, as we could see, the heirs of the telestial kingdom will experiment hell, the eternal fire, torment and suffering and will only be resurrected in the last resurrection (the fullness of times). They will abide in a kingdom of glory, the telestial world. The heirs of the outter darkness will come immediately after and will be cast out forever.

I see you point. But before inhereting the telestial kingdom, their imhabitants will suffer as the Savior did, because they didnt repent (D&C 19:11-17), thefore they will have to pay their debt (Mathew 5:26; 3 Nephi 12:26). These people will be emprisoned during the millenium and will only resurrect in the very last resurrection. Thanx

The Reading of Mosiah 5 needs to be very careful. Those who comply with the laws of the gospel and accept Jesus Christ as their Savior and Master are born from Him and become His children, which means that they will receive the blessings of the atonement forever and ultimately inherit the highest degree in the celestial kingdom. Those who do otherwise will be condemned, or, won`t receive salvation. Of course, we`re are dealing with words with two meanings here. For example, salvation means to inherit the highest degree in the celestial kingdom or inherit any degree of glory. Condemnation means to suffer for personal sins and then receive a kingdom of glory or to be banished to the outter darkness with Satan and his angels. So, considering these two meanings for each word, it becomes easier to understand the whole scheme of things. Please read carefully D&C 76 and note who will inherit each kingdom.

No, definitely not. Let me tell you why. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the kingdom of God on Earth. So, I would be accurate to say that it is the Church of the Firstborn on Earth, so to speak. Through baptism and confirmation, we become a member of this Church, of the kingdom, on Earth. Through the ordinances of the temple and endurance to the end, we qualify ourselves for a membership in the Church of the Firstborn in Heaven, which is the highest degree in the celestial kingdom of God, where we will be kings and queens, priests and priestesses. A place where we will be gods for all eternity. But what about those who will inherit the lower kingdoms of glory? Well, they will be under the government of the Church of the Firstborn, but won`t be part of it. Why is it so? The Church of the Firstborn is only for those who qualify for it. Terrestrial and telestial kingdoms will yet be awesome places to live in, but the kind of glory there will be much lower if compared to the celestial kingdom. They residents of these lower kingdoms won`t belong to the Church of the Firstborn because they didn`t live in accordance to the laws of the celestial kingdom. As for God everything is spiritual, it is right to say that they will belong to the church of Christ, but not to the Church of the Firstborn. To be a member of the Church of the Firstborn one must earn the right to be a firstborn, but not because he/she was born first, but because he/she was granted the privilege to be a king/queen in the kingdom of God. Please read Hebrews 12:23 and see that Paul is talking not about the Church of the Firstborn, but about the Church of the Firstborns, meaning that this Church will have Christ as its head and His joint-heirs, His firstborns. Please also read D&C 76, Revelations 3:21 and Mosiah 5:6-7 to understand a bit more about how we become firstborns.

Hi there Well, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Church of Christ on Earth, that is, the church of the Firstborn on Earth. Whoever becomes a member of this church and make covenants with God, walk in the path of righteousness and endure to the end will eventually become a member of the Church of the Firstborn. Paul refers to this as the Church of the Firstborns, meaning that the right of the Firstborn will be extended to all who deserve it. Now, not all members of the church of Jesus Christ on Earth will inherit the Celestial kingdom, but that doesn`t mean that they will belong to the church of the devil. The celestial, terrestrial and telestial kingdoms belong to God and His Christ, which means that they (these kingdoms) will be ruled by God, Jehovah and all those who will be worthy to be rulers in Heaven (kings and queens) to rule over the house of Israel forever (priests and priestesses). The only kingdom where the church of the devil will be is the outter darkness. There, Satan and his followers will live forever and ever.

Satan denied the plan of the Father and, therefore, was cast out of Heaven along with his associates (those who thought the same way he did). They became sons of perdition and Satan was called Perdition. So, once a person associates with Satan, he seals him/her as his and this person becomes a son of perdition. Of course, such association occurs freely, not compulsively and after the person had been influenced by the power of the Holy Ghost and received clear knowledge of God and Christ. That means that Christ will seal His children as His, as we learned in the scriptures, and Satan will do the same, since he imitates Christ in whatever He does.

The bishop is the one who holds the keys to assign specific duties to a counselor. It`s all up to him.

Thanx, @JohnsonJones. I agree that distance could be an issue in John 21. What are your impressions on the other episodes?

Hi, @Just_A_Guy. Thanx for replying Well, you're right, but in John 21 we read about Simon Peter and some of his fellow apostles going fishing again after the Lord's resurrection. You might remember that they were in their boat with no fish in it and saw the Savior on the beach and didn't recognize Him at first. Probably John had done so, and I suppose because he was very close to the Master.

Hi, everyone I was studying the New Testament the other day and was curious to understand why some people so closely related to the Savior couldn't recognize Him after His resurrection. Would it be because they were so distracted by the moment that they couldn’t focus? Is the body and other personal traits of a resurrected person totally different? Couldn’t those people recognize the Lord at first until the Spirit had confirm that it was Him into their hearts? I’d love to get your impressions on the matter!

God's commandments on marriage are eternal and not only for this life. It's hard to figure out how other groups of people will see the Church hence forth. What we are actually doing is to help and strenght our members who, somehow, may be having struggles regarding same sex attraction. A person can feel sexual attraction for another person of the same sex and still have a temple recommend.

Please read and ponder: 2 Nephi 32:8-9 D&C 8:2-3 D&C 112:10 Mathew 7:7-11

Hi, there You have a very good question. First: do what the Lord commends you NOW. Don't worry about what's next (see 3 Nephi 13: 25-27) Second: I've learned through my own experiences what the straight and narrow path really means: MARRIAGE. I personally believe that God didn't institute marriege in this life for procriational matters only. I trully believe that in marriage we are led to live in the same pattern that we are led to live with God. I mean, as we have to love God above all else, we should also love our spouses above everyone else, including ourselves. So, we are admonished to cleave unto God as He cleaves unto us and we should, in the same way, cleave unto our spouses. So, this is what I think that makes sense for marriage in this life. What lies beyond death, I do not know for now, but it doesn't matter much because God is in charge. He knows everything. Trust that!

Hi, everybody. It's been a while!! I pretty much like this topic. I will refer to what president Russell M Nelson (then president of the Quorum of the Twelve) said in a devotional for young people in 2017: " Laws are laws. God's truth is really true. What God says is right IS RIGHT. And What He says is wrong IS WRONG. That's why it is imperative that you know God's laws. They control this universe and multitudes of others" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxs8HMub654)

Hello, folks! I've been away for a while, but here I am. I'd like to add my opinion about the subject of Adam and Eve and evolution, though: First, I believe God created (organized) all things. He holds all power and all wisdom. Second, science is another witness of God's existance and power. I have no doubt about that. The law of witnesses was established by God so we could have not only one, but multiple witnesses of the same truth. In this perspective, religion is a witness and science is another witness of the creation. Then, creationism and evolutionism walk in the same direction. Now I should say something about Adam and Eve. Again, this is my opinion, based on personal beliefs and serious research and pondering, and it doesn't mean I'm totally right or can't change my mind on the matter. I believe that there were life and death before the Fall and that There were beings of all kinds walking on the face of the Earth, as suggests science. The "days" referred in the scriptural accounts of the Creation aren't actually days, as we already know. They were periods of time, maybe thousands or millions of years. I am ok with that. Life came from God. They way He decided to ignitiate it can be known only by revelation. He, however, decided to give us a simple account of the beggining of life on this planet. There's truth in the accounts of Adam and Eve. Now, here's what I want to highlight: pre-Adamites may have existed. Why not? Evolution is another term for progress. Pre-Adamites may have been less concerned about laws and, therefore, not capable of spiritual progress. As time passed by, the Lord may have laid before his creations His laws and some acted and other were acted upon. The pre-Adamites may have taken a long journey before they actually got to the point that the Lord could finally say: We have formed man into our own likeness and image, meaning that now man could progress spiritually. That's what I believe: that the Lord formed man 'til man was able to recieve the law and act according to it, not by compulsion or instinct, but by agency and knowledge. Now some may ask: what about life and death before the Fall? Pre-Adamites may not have had the understanding of life and death,as all the other animais and life forms do. The concept of life and death and the concept of time only came to be after the Fall od Adam and Eve. The Eden was a specific place on Earth and the Garden of Eden was inside of it. When Adam and Eve were taken into the Garden, there they experienced life in abundance, for they were in the presence of their Creator, their life giver. When a choice was given to them, to stay or to leave the Garden, Adam and Eve were intelligent enough to decide for themselves and learn from their own experience the difference between good and evil. Then and only then life and death made some sense to them, but not before. Let us remember that Adam is accountable only for his own transgression and sins. Death before and after the Fall won't be of his doing. The power of redemption from death is in Christ even before the creation of all things and is free for all forms of life, the smallests and the greatests. Ed

I pretty much enjoyed this Sunday school class yesterday and I was taken to ponder a lot on a bunch of issues: 1) The Holy Ghost is our primary source for truth and light. He can truly guide us. Everything we do in the Church leads us to have the companionship of the HG. I recently got to the conclusion that many members of the Church who had been given the gift of the HG by the laying on of hands have never enjoyed His company, or in other words, have never actually received the HG, as stated in the confirmation prayer. So this thought meets the truths outlined in D&C 46:8 andin D&C 45:27 which advises us to seek earnestly the best gifts. The gift of the HG is the best gift ever; 2) There are a lot of distractions in the world today, a lot of loud voices. People seem to let God’s things in second plan in their lives. I like to illustrate this truth using a cellphone as a good example. A Church member who has a smartphone will surely have the Gospel Library app. But how many other non-lds apps will there be in this person’s mobile phone as well? The competition isn’t fair (LOL). Well, the same thing happens in our daily lives: there’s so much to do and so much to see that we postpone scripture studying and even prayer. Satan uses good things to deviate our attention of the things that really matter in terms of salvation. It meets the truths in D&C 52:14; 3) We sometimes call good that which is bad and call bad that which is good. There seems to be a lot of confusion these days. Truth, as President Nelson well stated in his message to the young adults of the Church last January, has been taken as “only a subjective experience”. The philosophies of men have been preached as truth while God’s truth has been neglected or even rejected when it comes to morality and happiness. The Enemy is very cunning in his ways and will always teach his doctrine mingled with scriptures. As person0 has stated, love is being taken as lust. I recently watched “Wonder woman” with my wife at a local movie theater and when the movie finished I could clearly see that the doctrine of love stated in the movie was not the doctrine of love God has instituted. When I asked my wife if she had noticed the same, she said she didn’t notice it. D&C 43:6 refers to commandments and revelations that do not come from God. God is love, but not the type of love the world preaches. 4) I mentioned two set of verses in our class. They are the following: “For I say unto you that whatsoever is good cometh from God, and whatsoever is evil cometh from the devil.” (Alma 5:40); “Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually. But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God. Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil. For behold, my brethren, it is given unto you to judge, that ye may know good from evil; and the way to judge is as plain, that ye may know with a perfect knowledge, as the daylight is from the dark night. For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of God. But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil, and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no, not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him. And now, my brethren, seeing that ye know the light by which ye may judge, which light is the light of Christ, see that ye do not judge wrongfully; for with that same judgment which ye judge ye shall also be judged. Wherefore, I beseech of you, brethren, that ye should search diligently in the light of Christ that ye may know good from evil; and if ye will lay hold upon every good thing, and condemn it not, ye certainly will be a child of Christ” (Moroni 7:12-19). 5) I strongly believe that we quite often take the Lord’s things for granted. We neglect basic things like family home evening, personal and family scripture reading and prayer, and so forth. I believe that the day of truth will come to each of us, a day when our beliefs and testimony of the gospel will be really put to the test, and they are not far from now. Hope I have contributed for the discussion.

Good Question! As years go by, I become more and more aware of the following things: 1) The Prophet Joseph Smith once said that he taught good principles to his people and let them act by themselves. This has been a core principle for me when it comes to assign or delegate something to someone in the Church. It will often include an assignment the person will be able to do, regardless of any difficulty he may have. It’s like the parable of the talents. The three men mentioned in the parable received a certain number of talents according to their capacity, so we should do the same. 2) I see leaders getting frustrated quite often because they don’t give precise or enough instructions on how people should perform their duty, so such leaders end up expecting too much from people. Training and ministering are fundamental, in my view. I believe that any effort is worth it and acceptable. We must understand that those who labor in the Lord’s vineyard are acting by themselves, freely. So we should be glad with any results they produce. Now, when it comes to correction, I can’t think of anything else but the scripture in D&C 121:41-43, which says: “No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; by kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile— reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy”. So, I would say that before correcting someone, it is always good to check the reasons first. As I said, sometimes we expect too much from people, when their capacity to do what we think they should do is limited. As an Elders’ quorum president, for example, I never tried to correct a brother because he didn’t visit all his assigned families that month. Rather, I would often say: “Thank you for your service to the Lord”. Then the next month I would help that brother to fulfill his assignment by training him and giving him precise instructions on his duties, offering him support.

We have symbolic and literal elements going on here: The fig tree represents fertility, reason why they were fig leaves. When they ate the forbidden fruit, Adam and Eve became fertile. The coat of skin was given to Adam and Eve to cover not only their physical nakedness but their spiritual nakedness as well. I strongly believe that a lamb (symbol of Christ) or two had been slained to provide the coats to our first parents.

Oh, sorry!!

Elias, here, was Noah http://emp.byui.edu/MarrottR/301Folder/4-11MissingJFeSEliasNoah.htm

Interesting. Thanx for sharing your thoughts

That's a way to see it and I appreciate your line of thinking. "pass by the angels and the gods which are set there..." sounds to me like they are guardians of some sort, or even lower beings (lower than the exalted beings) who were assign to be there to receive the ones who will be exalted in the highest degree of the CK. Just a thought.

Just chill out!!