The Ordinances Are Unchanging

[Sojourn]

D&C 132: 8 Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.

 9 Will I accept an offering, saith the Lord, that is not made in my name?

 10 Or will I receive at your hands that which I have not appointed?

 11 And will I appoint unto you, saith the Lord, except it be by law, even as I and my Father ordained unto you, before the world was?

 

This scripture lays down that the “offering” that God would accept were “ordained” before the world was.

To allow your mind to expand your view of what “before the world was” means, please forgive a little knowledge from science here.  Some 4.6 billion years ago, about three quarters of the way out on the Orion arm of the Milky Way galaxy there was a nebula of gas, dust and rock in a state of chaos. The scientists say that some perturbation rippled through this nebula that started things clinging together and soon proto-planets began to be formed. The foundation of this earth was laid. Before this perturbation took place however, all the laws, rites, and ordinance of the gospel of Jesus Christ were laid down and agreed upon in a heavenly council; a grand council that included all the sons and daughters of the glorious God; our Father.

 

 The following are from the prophet Joseph Smith:

 

“It was by faith that the worlds were framed.  God spake, chaos heard, and worlds came into order by reason of the faith that was in Him.” (Lectures on Faith pg 9)

 

“…in the winding up scene of the last dispensation should be conducted precisely in accordance with the preceding dispensations.”

“Therefore He set the ordinances to be the same forever and ever, and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to reveal them.” (TPJS pg 168)

 

“It was the design of the councils of heaven before the world was, that the principles and laws of the priesthood should be predicated upon the gathering of the people in every age of the world.”

“Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men [and women], are not to be altered or changed.  All must be saved on the same principles.” (TPJS pg 308)

 

A journal entry recorded by William Clayton in 1845 provides evidence for the Prophet's teachings regarding this doctrine:

 

It has been a doctrine taught by this church that we were in the Grand Council amongst the Gods when the organization of this world was contemplated and that the laws of government were all made and sanctioned by all present and all the ordinances and ceremonies decreed upon. (Words of Joseph Smith, 84 n. 10.)

 

 

 

Here we are some 4.6 billion years later and we see the power of God and his Christ in being faithful in maintaining what was agreed upon in council and decreed by God so long ago.  This bares solemn testimony of Their (God and Jesus Christ’s) great power and determination to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.

 

The Lord asked Job in Job 38:  4 Where wast thou when I laid the foundations of the earth? declare, if thou hast understanding.

 5 Who hath laid the measures thereof, if thou knowest? or who hath stretched the line upon it?

 6 Whereupon are the foundations thereof fastened? or who laid the corner stone thereof;

 7 When the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

 

My personal view point is the answer to the Lord’s question to Job (although Job couldn’t remember) is that he (Job) was there when the foundation of earth was laid, not as a spectator, but as a participant.  It seems to me that God the Father is not about raising spectators to His grand work but more about raising participants to gain the requisite knowledge of how to build earths and more.  Job was one of the morning stars that sang and shouting for joy when he helped lay the foundation along with many others. God is about raising (lower case g) gods to become like Himself with the necessary knowledge to create worlds and the necessary saving ordinances that will lead them along the path of redemption to exaltation.

 

Joseph Smith said “ A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge”

(History of the Church, 4:588; from a discourse given by Joseph Smith on Apr. 10, 1842, in Nauvoo, Illinois; reported by Wilford Woodruff. Also go to LDS.org and search for Chapter 22: Gaining Knowledge of Eternal Truths).

[Guest]

My ears always perk up when someone mentions astronomy. And the aspects of astronomy you've mentioned often cause me to feel humbled. The spiritual views you've written and verses from the Book of Job do that for me, too. Because my knowledge in both areas is limited I find myself relying on faith, particularly since the longer I live the more opportunities I find myself having to experience challenges of the kind Job describes.

[Vort]

My ears always perk up when someone mentions astronomy.

 

Mine, too.

 

[Palerider]

Mine, too.

 

Blue Oyster Cult fan here.

[Guest]

More cowbell! 

[Guest]

... “Therefore He set the ordinances to be the same forever and ever, and set Adam to watch over them, to reveal them from heaven to man, or to send angels to reveal them.” (TPJS pg 168)

...

“Ordinances instituted in the heavens before the foundation of the world, in the priesthood, for the salvation of men [and women], are not to be altered or changed.  All must be saved on the same principles.” (TPJS pg 308)

...

But in terms of the title of this thread, what are we talking about when we say the ordinances are unchanging? And why is it important?