36h - Jesus Christ prophesys that Elijah will Appear to His Church in Our Day - Book of Mormon Prophecies are Fulfilled in Our Day

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TODAY'S THEME



The Prophet Elijah Appearing in the Kirtland, Ohio LDS Temple April 3, 1836 -by Dan Lewis

15 To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the children to the fathers, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse—

16 Therefore, the keys of this dispensation are committed into your hands; and by this ye may know that the great and dreadful day of the Lord is near, even at the doors. (emphasis added)

In the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ, we read the following report about something our Resurrected Savior Jesus Christ commanded the Nephites living in Meso-America to write: (AD 34)

D. and C. 110: 13 After this vision had closed, another great and glorious vision burst upon us; for Elijah the prophet, who was taken to heaven without tasting death, stood before us, and said:

14 Behold, the time has fully come, which was spoken of by the mouth of Malachi—testifying that he [Elijah] should be sent, before the great and dreadful day of the Lord come—

3Nephi Chapter 24:1 AND it came to pass that he commanded them that they should write the words which the Father had given unto Malachi, which he should tell unto them. And it came to pass that after they were written he expounded them. . . (emphasis added)

The Nephites, of course, did not have the prophecies of Malachi because he was born and served his ministry after Father Lehi had left Jerusalem in 600 BC. Malachi's prophecies therefore could not have been recorded on the Plates of Brass which their ancestor, Lehi, brought with him when he journeyed to the Western Hemisphere.

In my next post I will deal with some of that which Malachi taught that is recorded in 3 Nephi 24. For now we will deal with what is recorded in the following chapter of 3 Nephi:

Book of Mormon, 3 Nephi Chapter 25 Chapter Heading: At the Second Coming the proud and wicked shall be burned as stubble—Elijah shall return before that great and dreadful day—(Compare Malachi 4. About A.D. 34)

1 FOR behold, the day cometh that shall burn as an oven; and all the proud, yea, and all that do wickedly, shall be stubble; and the day that cometh shall burn them up, saith the Lord of Hosts, that it shall leave them neither root nor branch.

2 But unto you that fear my name, shall the Son of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth and grow up as calves in the stall.

3 And ye shall tread down the wicked; for they shall be ashes under the soles of your feet in the day that I shall do this, saith the Lord of Hosts.

4 Remember ye the law of Moses, my servant, which I commanded unto him in Horeb for all Israel, with the statutes and judgments.

5 Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord;

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse. (emphasis added)

The key words of that scripture above, which from my point of view, fit TODAY'S THEME, I have marked in red.

President Joseph F. Smith of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in 1918 revealed this about what the Lord Jesus Christ accomplished in his spirit body in the world of spirits between His death and resurrection.

You may want to use the Listen feature of this scripture: D. and  C. 138:

There are things I desire to comment on about which you have just read. The prophet Joseph F. Smith who received that revelation from the Lord Jesus Christ, was a nephew to Joseph Smith, Jr. the first prophet of the Restoration of the Gospel of Jesus Christ in what can be referred to as the "Latter-days."

What was taught in that scripture can give all of us bright hope which could remove our concern about family members we feel died without being qualified to be raised in the resurrection of the righteous about which Alma, the Nephite Prophet, taught us in my just previous post. That which you have just read in D. and C. 138 is surely calculated to turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers.

That concern mentioned in the previous paragraph may possibly be extended to yourselves and your living family members. All of you can still be taught the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ and become members of His authorized church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then seek to have the priesthood ordinances (such as baptism and granting the Gift of the Holy Ghost) done for your deceased ancestors.

The following inspired words taken from the scriptural link you have just read, can help you to relieve your concerns about your deceased ancestors not having had the opportunity to be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ and its ordinances during their lifetimes.

As we just learned from this revelation, your deceased family members and all your ancestors can be taught the Gospel of Jesus Christ by His representatives on the other side of the veil.

If you have personally received all the necessary Gospel ordinances (such as baptism by immersion) yourselves, you can do your deceased loved ones' ordinances for them on their behalf, or you can allow Temple worthy LDS members you may or may not know personally, do these ordinances on their behalf. We call these: vicarious temple ordinances.There most likely is an LDS Temple (often referred to as The House of the Lord) available not too far from where you live. There are according to my count, 146 temples throughout the earth, including those presently under construction and those which are in the planning stages. Here is a map which will assist you knowing where in the worlds they are each located: directory map



Oquirrh Mountain Utah LDS Temple - South Jordan, Utah

 The revelation (D. and C. 138) you read today significantly adds directly to the pertinent information given by the Book of Mormon prophet, Alma the Younger regarding the resurrection of the dead which we studied in my just previous post.I will next tell you about an experience related to the above scripture, my wife and I enjoyed the day before this post was published.

My wife and I along with one of my wife's sons and his wife and three school-aged children, attended an open house of the LDS Church's newest temple, which is shown in the official LDS Temple photo above.

Melva and I have attended other temple open houses and have both witnessed something at this Temple Open House that we also had witnessed at each of the other temple open houses we have attended: There were a good number of parents with children of all ages there, some were LDS members but others were not. The guides did not ask for reverence there. It just seemed to come automatically.

Even the youngest children appeared to sense somehow the special spirit in that holy place. There was no acting out, no rudeness to one another, actually, no crying by any of them.

The guides were very kind and very willingly answered our questions and helped us with things we needed, like finding an elevator or a restroom. If you had been there with us I'm certain you would have made the same observations as we did. It wasn't the beautiful new temple or the helpful guides that kept everyone peaceful, including young children and babies, it was the spirit that could be actually felt that is a part of that building in some wonderful way.

I have heard others, including non-LDS friends, say the very same thing about the childrens' demeanor, as well of that of the adults, at these open houses. We were being led through the entire structure which took about an hour and a half. This included viewing a video in which LDS leaders explained temple matters.

This video will expand upon what I have telling you thus far in this post: