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TODAY'S THEME
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Jesus Christ the Redeemer of the World -by Heinrich Hoffman |
Moses 1: 39 For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.
As I come to understand the word of the Lord I have inserted above, I recognize that there is nothing more important to Him than that which He anciently stated through His Prophet, Moses! Are you able to really let those words soak into your heart and realize that YOU, and the rest of us mortals, including all human beings who have or who ever will live on this earth are more important to Him than anything else!
Today's Theme is centered on that which I've written above! Now I suggest that you consider some very important advice Our Lord Jesus Christ gave to all of Mankind through His Latter-day Prophet, Joseph Smith. It is found in the Doctrine and Covenants of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Remember now, this was intended by the Lord Jesus Christ to help us attain that Eternal Life that He mentioned to Moses.
I just finished reading the book entitled: Joseph Smith Rough Stone Rolling written by Richard Lyman Bushman and Published by: Vintage Books, A Division of Random House, Inc. New York (It was first published in March 2007).Throughout that very captivating book readers are told of many examples of the ups and downs of members of the LDS Church in its early days. It emphasizes what Joseph Smith, Jr. was required by the Lord to go through to bring about His Church on the earth once again and which in our day has nearly fourteen million members world wide.
In that book there are many examples of dedicated members of the Church who must have failed to live up to what the Lord requires of all of us as He explained in Section 84 of the Doctrine and Covenants which I quoted above.
I will only give one example of a member of the Church who figured very heavily in the early period of the Church when Joseph Smith was still the Prophet.
My purpose in doing this is to assist each of us, including myself, to honestly look into the way we are living so as to determine if we are really living the way the Lord wants us to live. I will now emphasize verse 57 of Section 84.
D. and C. 84:57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written— (emphasis added)Please read and reread that verse again and ask yourself if you have done what the Lord wants you to regarding using the Book of Mormon to guide your actions in life!
I believe those of you who are not members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, should take the Lord's words very personally. After all in the scripture from the Book of Moses I quoted first, He stated clearly that
His Work and His Glory is to bring about the Immortality and Eternal Life of Man! (That Means All of us, living and dead and not just Mormons!)Below are the words of a hymn found in the current LDS Church Hymn Book. This hymn was written after the death of Joseph Smith. Earlier, Joseph excommunicated the author of this hymn, William Wines Phelps for having seriously betrayed himself, Joseph, and other leaders and members of the Church to their enemies who were attempting to destroy them and their church. In June 1840, Phelps plead for forgiveness in a letter to Joseph Smith. Joseph replied with an offer of full fellowship, and ended with a famous couplet,
Now I will excerpt from a recent post of mine (Post 40p) in which I told about one early member of the Lord's Church in this time of the world's history who was a very strong believer in the Lord and in His restored Gospel, but because of some characteristics in his personality he never really coped with until perhaps right at the end of his life he finally did! You'll notice in this excerpt that the Lord in a section of the Doctrine and Covenants spelled out that good man's weakness. The Lord knows your and my key weaknesses too, but perhaps after hearing this particular man's challenges, we will feel compelled to do something about ours. Here is the couplet I mentioned above that Joseph offered to Brother W.W. Phelps.
"Come on, dear brother, since the war is past, For friends at first are friends again at last."
William W. Phelps
Hymn: Praise to the Man, Words written by William W. Phelps, (1792-1872) Hymns of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Verse 1: Praise to the man who communed with Jehovah! Jesus anointed that Prophet and Seer, Blessed to open the last dispensation, Kings shall extol him, and nations revere,
Verse 2: Praise to his mem'ry he died as a martyr; Honored and blest be his ever great name! Long shall his blood, which was shed by assassins, Plead unto heav'n while the earth lauds his fame.
Verse 3. Great is his glory and endless his priesthood, Ever and ever the keys he will hold. Faithful and true, he will enter his kingdom, Crowned in the midst of the prophets of old.
Verse 4. Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven, Earth must atone for the blood of that man. Wake up the world for the conflict of justice, Millions shall know "Brother Joseph" again.
Chorus: (Sung after each verse) Hail to the Prophet, ascended to heaven! Traitors and tyrants now fight him in vain, Mingling with Gods, he can plan for his brethren; Death cannot conquer the hero again.
On 11-15-2009 I, Neil Birch am inserting something additional about William W. Phelps and the hymn he wrote which you have just read above.
In June of 1952, at the end of my first mission to Finland I traveled through part of Europe by myself. Later, all solo travel by returning missionaries was not permitted.
One Sunday in that month I arrived in Hamburg, Germany by train. By some miracle, not knowing the German language very well (I had been successful in completing German I and II in my year at Placer College in Auburn, California but had not learned to converse well in that language), I was able to arrive at an LDS Sacrament meeting being held in an LDS Chapel in a nice part of Hamburg.
After entering the building and walking toward the door to the chapel I heard those in attendance at that Sacrament meeting singing: Praise to the Man which I quoted for you above. I was deeply touched. I was handed a German Hymn Book and began singing with them. Tears flowed freely. I was especially touched by the spirit with which those German members were singing. The truthfulness of Joseph Smith's mission was reinforced strongly in my heart and soul by their singing that inspired hymn.
That experience also helped me to develop a love and respect for Brother William Wines Phelps. After finishing my degree at Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah in 1960 and my Master of Social Work degree at California State University in San Jose, CA in 1973, I became a social worker. As such I became very interested in helping people overcome particular problems they have somehow developed that hamper their progress. Therefore, I appreciated reading this revelation received by President Joseph Smith August 1, 1831 which, in part, is about William W. Phelps:
D. and C. 58: 40 And also let my servant William W. Phelps stand in the office to which I have appointed him, and receive his inheritance in the land;
41 And also he hath need to repent, for I, the Lord, am not well pleased with him, for he seeketh to excel, and he is not sufficiently meek before me. (emphasis added)That problem the Lord knew William had, apparently hindered his progress throughout much of his life. I did not mention it above, but Brother Phelps was excommunicated several additional times, each after the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Brother Phelps went to Utah with the Church. One record I recently read on the Internet showed that on a certain day he was excommunicated and then the very next day was re baptized and welcomed back into full fellowship. I believe he died in full fellowship. He must have eventually overcome the pride the Lord implies in the scripture above he had. I'm quite sure that eventually he had humbled himself sufficiently!
I, and many other members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints love you, Brother W.W. Phelps. We hope that we too can overcome our particular weaknesses and enjoy eternal bliss with our families and fellow saints like you.
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Now I will try to tie together what you just read about dear Brother W. W. Phelps with what the Lord taught him and the other Saints in their day through the Prophet Joseph Smith.
I quote again the one verse from Doctrine and Covenants Section 84 which I quoted above. If Brother Phelps and many other early Saints would have heeded this verse more fully they would have had a hard time counting all their blessings!
Now, I will turn right to a key part of the Book of Mormon. It is in 3 Nephi which, in so many ways is the key to and the most sacred part of the Book of Mormon because it conveys to us what the Resurrected and Glorified Jesus Christ told this portion of his sheep (members of the House of Israel.)
D. and C. 84:57 And they shall remain under this condemnation until they repent and remember the new covenant, even the Book of Mormon and the former commandments which I have given them, not only to say, but to do according to that which I have written— (emphasis added)
Here is the introduction to that particular chapter, Chapter 9:
In the darkness the voice of Christ proclaims the destruction of many people and cities for their wickedness—He also proclaims his divinity, announces that the law of Moses is fulfilled, and invites men to come unto him and be saved. About A.D. 34
All of that which the Savior spoke from the darkness above to those Nephites is very important, but I have chosen to excerpt the following verses for the purpose of giving you a key teaching He gave those Nephites that both Brother W.W. Phelps perhaps should have lived by and each of us must learn to live by:
3Nephi 9: 16 I came unto my own, (The Jews) and my own received me not. And the scriptures concerning my coming are fulfilled.
17 And as many as have received me, to them have I given to become the sons of God; and even so will I to as many as shall believe on my name, for behold, by me redemption cometh, and in me is the law of Moses fulfilled.
18 I am the light and the life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end.
19 And ye shall offer up unto me no more the shedding of blood; yea, your sacrifices and your burnt offerings shall be done away, for I will accept none of your sacrifices and your burnt offerings.
20 And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.
21 Behold, I have come unto the world to bring redemption unto the world, to save the world from sin.
22 Therefore, whoso repenteth and cometh unto me as a little child, him will I receive, for of such is the kingdom of God. Behold, for such I have laid down my life, and have taken it up again; therefore repent, and come unto me ye ends of the earth, and be saved. (clarification and emphasis added)
I personally believe that dear Brother W.W. Phelps did have a Broken Heart and a Contrite Spirit, perhaps mostly just not long before his death.
But your and my lives are continuing and we can do as the Dear Lord commands us and bring ourselves to have as He instructed: Broken Hearts and Contrite Spirits. After baptism into His Church and having received the Gift of the Holy Ghost to guide us in our lives, we can have such and can be blessed to have that condition the rest of our lives which will bring us back to live with Him the Eternal Life He promises!
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I will now give you an opportunity to view the latest Mormon Messages Video. You will find it very well done and surely will be applicable to your particular needs.
DISCLAIMER
This website is not owned by or affiliated with the Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (sometimes called the Mormon or LDS Church). The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the position of the Church.
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Joseph Smith, a True Prophet . . . Post 40p
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I deeply appreciate your readership and hope you will find very beneficial, that which was presented to you in this blog post.
If you have any questions about what you have read or viewed in this post or in any previous posts of mine, or if you even have a curiosity about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and or its teachings, please e-mail me. I'm Neil and my e-mail address is: jneilmelva@gmail.com. If you contact me I'll get back to you just as soon as possible.
I invite you to let your friends and relatives know about this blog if you think they would be interested. Please be advised that I also have an additional blog. It is in Spanish: Its content is translated from the English in this blog.
Neil Birch
I feel the truth I shared above is so profound! I hope all of you are able to really feel the truth of that!
