“Qualifying to make sacred covenants is not a one-time effort but a lifetime pattern. The Lord has said it will take our full heart, might, mind, and strength.
Frequent participation in the ordinances of the temple can create a pattern of devotion to the Lord. When you keep your temple covenants and remember them, you invite the companionship of the Holy Ghost to both strengthen and purify you.” (Henry B Eyring, All Will Be Well Because of Temple Covenants, April 2024)
From these words I am reminded of the peace and joy that can be ours as the Holy Ghost strengthens and purifies us, however this blessing only comes as we build on a lifetime pattern of devotion, giving the Lord our full heart, might, mind and strength.
I testify each day as we strive to live the higher and holier laws, to think Celestial and work and pray to overcome the world, we experience added peace and power from the Lord which prepares us to be able, ready and worthy to qualify for Zion the New Jerusalem and receive the Lord when He comes again.
In 2021 Pres Nelson taught;
“The temple lies at the center of strengthening our faith and spiritual fortitude because the Savior and His doctrine are the very heart of the temple. Everything taught in the temple, through instruction and through the Spirit, increases our understanding of Jesus Christ. His essential ordinances bind us to Him through sacred priesthood covenants. Then, as we keep our covenants, He endows us with His healing, strengthening power. And oh, how we will need His power in the days ahead.” (The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation, Oct 2021, Nelson)
Instruction from Pres Nelson, General Conference leadership mtg April 2024
“Making covenants with God is one of the greatest privileges our Heavenly Father and His Son give to us in this mortal life.
We need to prepare our people much better for the transcendent blessings of the temple by helping them to understand the covenants or promises to God that they make there and the potential blessings associated with those covenants.
The moral and spiritual power that our people need right now and for the days ahead is the power of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. We gain access to Their power by making and keeping covenants with them.” (italics added)
Pres Nelson wants us to be better prepared for the transcendent blessings! What does the word transcendent mean?
“Beyond or above the range of normal or physical human experience” (Oxford Encyclopaedia)
President Boyd K Packer taught;
There is another kind of faith, rare indeed. This is the kind of faith that causes things to happen. It is the kind of faith that is worthy and prepared and unyielding, and it calls forth things that otherwise would not be. It is the kind of faith that moves people. It is the kind of faith that sometimes moves things. … It comes by gradual growth. It is a marvelous, even a transcendent power, a power as real and as invisible as electricity. Directed and channeled, it has great effect. …(“What Is Faith?” in Faith [1983], 42–43, italics added)
Surely the transcendent blessings will come as we exercise the faith to act in transcendent power(Moroni 10:7, Matthew 17:20).
Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin (1917–2008) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught: “Faith exists when absolute confidence in that which we cannot see combines with action that is in absolute conformity to the will of our Heavenly Father. Without all three—
first, absolute confidence;
second, action; and
third, absolute conformity—
without these three, all we have is a counterfeit, a weak and watered-down faith” (in Conference Report, Oct. 2002, 89; or Ensign, Nov. 2002, 83).
In his talk Think Celestial, Pres Nelson illustrates the 5 laws we covenant to obey in the temple including the laws of obedience, sacrifice, the gospel of Jesus Christ, chastity and consecration. He taught,
“As you think celestial, your faith will increase….
Spending more time in the temple builds faith. And your service and worship in the temple will help you to think celestial. The temple is a place of revelation. There you are shown how to progress toward a celestial life. There you are drawn closer to the Savior and given greater access to His power.” (Think Celestial, 2023)
In Matthew we read where Jesus Christ asked His disciples to live in a higher and holier way: “except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:20).
For most Jews there was no such thing as a law higher than the law of Moses, they believed salvation came through that law, but then Jesus taught them a higher and holier way. This new law, the law of Christ, required them not just to take action and care about what they did (outward observances), but how to think and feel about what they were doing (inward observances).
They were taught “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind (Matthew 22:37).”
I can see that Pres Nelson is striving to guide us to do the same, to change our behaviour, our thoughts and feelings. He has been asking us to interact with others in a higher and holier way, to let God prevail, to be peacemakers, to overcome the world and to think celestial.
In his 2023 talk Think Celestial, Pres Nelson taught those that live and obey telestial law, are choosing to be resurrected with a telestial body which follows they will inherit the telestial kingdom. The same applies to Terrestrial law, body and kingdom. I believe too many of us church members are like the Jews in Jesus day, thinking we will receive salvation in the law we're living but not willing to see or put in the work to live Christ's law and thus will not receive exaltation or even salvation. This is exactly why Pres Nelson implores us to Think Celestial!
Spencer W Kimball taught;
“Why will only a few reach exaltation in the celestial kingdom? Not because it was not available to them, not because they did not know of its availability, not because the testimony was not given to them, but because they would not put forth the effort to pattern their lives and make them like the Savior’s life and establish them so well that there would be no deviation until the end.
There are . . . many members of the Church who are lax and careless and who continually procrastinate. They live the gospel casually but not devoutly. They have complied with some requirements but are not valiant. They do no major crime but merely fail to do the things required—things like paying tithing, living the Word of Wisdom, having family prayers, fasting, attend- ing meetings, serving. . . .
“. . . The Lord will not translate one’s good hopes and desires and intentions into works. Each of us must do that for himself. . . .
“Only the valiant will be exalted and receive the highest degree of glory, hence many are called, but few are chosen.” (D&C 121:40.) As the Savior put it, “. . . strait is the gate, and narrow the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.” And conversely, “. . . wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat.” (Matt. 7:13, 14.)
“It is true that many Latter-day Saints, having been baptized and confirmed members of the Church, and some even having received their endowments and having been married and sealed in the holy temple, have felt that they were thus guaranteed the blessings of exaltation and eternal life. But this is not so. There are two basic requirements every soul must fulfill or he cannot attain to the great blessings offered. He must receive the ordinances and he must be faithful, overcoming his weaknesses. Hence, not all who claim to be Latter-day Saints will be exalted.”(Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, p.8-9)
Note Pres Kimball teaches we must overcome our weaknesses. While it is true the Lord treats rebellion with punishment and is merciful in helping us overcome our weaknesses, we still need to strive to overcome them. For it is after ALL we can do we access the Lord's enabling power or grace that our weaknesses can become strengths. (2 Nephi 25:23, Ether 12:27)
Elder Richard G. Scott taught, “The joyful news for anyone who desires to be rid of the consequences of poor choices is that the Lord sees weaknesses differently than He does rebellion. Whereas the Lord warns that unrepented rebellion will bring punishment, when the Lord speaks of weaknesses, it is always with mercy.” (Richard G. Scott, Personal Strength through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, October 2013 General Conference).
Pres Nelson is inviting us to live a higher and holier law just as the Saviour did to his disciples. He is inviting us to understand the conditions to live Celestial law. We must know God, His doctrine and His expectations. We must know Him through personal experience and living His teachings. We do this by feasting daily upon the scriptures and striving to adopt His attributes and character by living His laws. The laws in the temple endowment are requirements to enable celestial law. To be prepared to abide Celestial law, we need to be not just willing to live it but be doing all we can to learn what it entails, ask God what lack we yet (Matthew 19:20) and do what we individually need to do to progress towards it.
Pres Harold B. Lee taught, “One who lives … worthy of a testimony that God lives and that Jesus is the Christ, and who is willing to reach out to Him in constant inquiry to know if his course is approved, is the one who is… preparing for the celestial world, which is to live eternally with his Heavenly Father.”(The Teachings of Harold B Lee p.614)
How do we know if God approves of our current course? We come to know if our course is approved by Him by reaching out in constant inquiry seeking for personal revelation through prayer.
In his very first talk after he was made President of our church, our beloved Prophet taught us how we can receive personal revelation for our daily lives . He said when we pray, we should sit and listen and write down the thoughts which come to us then follow through with the knowledge or direction given. I have been doing this and I testify as we do this the Holy Ghost will not only show us all we can do but we also gain the peace and comfort that what we are doing is in accordance with God. If we follow through with this each day asking what is needed for today, we soon experience the confidence that we qualify for the Lord's blessings
The Lord has given a commandment in our time that applies to each of us. He has said, 'Let virtue [or repentance] garnish thy thoughts unceasingly. ' And with this He has given a promise: 'Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God' (D&C 121:45).
How do we prepare to meet the Lord? … The Lord said, “Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; … and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.” (D&C 88:68.)
Here was the formula that he gave us in a revelation … , “Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who
forsaketh his sins and
cometh unto me, and
calleth on my name, and
obeyeth my voice, and
keepeth my commandments,
shall see my face and know that I am.” [D&C 93:1.]
Pres Benson taught in 1983, “We must be as Lamoni's father in Alma 22:18 who declared, I will give away all my sins to know thee. It is in becoming to know Him that we become like Him.
Each of us must surrender our sins like King Lamoni if we are to really know Christ, “for we do not know Him until we become like Him.”
So we cannot know Him until we become like Him. Joseph Smith taught if we wish to go where God is, we must be like God or possess the principles which God possesses, for if we are not drawing towards God in principle, we are going from Him and drawing towards the devil (Teachings of the Presidents of the Church; Joseph Smith p.72 )
So what can we do to be drawing towards God in principle?
I have found the teaching by President Packer to be true; “the study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behaviour quicker than the study of behaviour will improve behaviour”
How does this work?
I know when I desire to change a behaviour or overcome a particular struggle I am experiencing (in other words to repent), if coupled with prayer, I study the doctrines and principles connected to that struggle then two vital things happen.
First I am accessing the enabling power or grace of Jesus Christ by doing all I can to repent and change and
Second I receive the knowledge required, including personal revelation to guide me via the Holy Ghost.
This quote shared from the Institute Student manual explains the role of the Holy Ghost;
“For it is when we are under the influence of the Holy Ghost where our thoughts become a reflection of how Jesus would think. To the extent which we receive the spirit, we have the mind of the Lord and thus know Him and are becoming like Him.”(Student Institute Manual 1979, 1 Corinthians 2:16)
So to reiterate, as we study the doctrines and principles of the gospel, we are quickened by the Holy Ghost and influenced to think like Jesus. He enlightens and enlivens the inner man or women and it is in this process we eventually become like Jesus(Keith K Holbig of the Seventy, Nov 2007). This is the edification and sanctification power of the Holy Ghost. This is also what Pres Nelson is asking us to do when he says to ‘think Celestial’, it is to “live in the Spirit”(Galations 5:25) and learn to have the mind and will of the Lord. As I have participated in this process, I have experienced true joy and sacred enhancement, then as I attend the temple with clearer understanding and further questions, the Holy Ghost influences and teaches me what more I need to study and do. It's the sincere participation in this whole process which empowers us to draw towards God and receive His favor.
Elder Anderson in 1995 shared these reassuring words; “We may not always succeed as quickly as we would want, but as we make repentance a constant part of our lives, miracles occur. This is what happens as we see that we really can overcome our sins: Our “confidence [waxes] strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). We kneel in humility before our Father. We tell him openly of our progress, and also of our fears and doubts. As we draw near to him, he draws near to us. He gives us peace and encouragement. He heals our souls. As we continue inch by inch to repent, we determine that nothing will hold us back; we will do our part. We come to feel like that great Lamanite king who cried, “Oh God, … wilt thou make thyself known unto me, and I will give away all my sins to know thee” (Alma 22:18). With this commitment to who we can become, the spiritual doors swing open. There is a new freedom to feel and to know, a freedom to become.” (The Joy of Becoming Clean, April 1995)
In 2021 Pres Nelson shared speaking of our Saviour;
“He is the One who wants you to understand with great clarity exactly what you are making covenants to do. He is the One who wants you to experience fully His sacred ordinances. He wants you to comprehend your privileges, promises, and responsibilities. He wants you to have spiritual insights and awakenings you’ve never had before. This He desires for all temple patrons, no matter where they live.(The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation, Oct 2021, Nelson)
It is clear that Pres Nelson’s counsel is the Saviours' counsel. He wants us to understand our privileges, promises and responsibilities. Jesus Christ is the one who wants us to choose to return to Him! Let's have a look at what our responsibilities might be, so we can qualify to receive the Lord's promises, privileges and power.
1. Knowledge
Pres Nelson in 2017 taught;
“We begin by learning about Him. “It is impossible for [us] to be saved in ignorance.” The more we know about the Savior’s ministry and mission—the more we understand His doctrine and what He did for us—the more we know that He can provide the power that we need for our lives….(April 2017, Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into your lives)
Just as Pres Nelson shared the scripture in D&C 131:6 stating that its impossible to be saved in ignorance, Joseph Smith taught,
“Knowledge is necessary to life and godliness. Woe unto you.. who preach that knowledge is not necessary unto life and salvation... Take away knowledge, and you will find yourselves worthy of the damnation of hell. Knowledge is revelation. Hear, all ye brethren, this grand key: knowledge is the power of God unto salvation.”
“… A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will be brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth.”(Teachings of the Presidents of the Church; Joseph Smith p.265)
In 2021 Pres Nelson shared, “The pure doctrine of Christ is powerful. It changes the life of everyone who understands it and seeks to implement it in his or her life.(Pure Truth, Pure Doctrine and Pure Revelation)
How deep is our knowledge of Celestial law, the temple covenants and the potential blessings associated with them?
As we prepare for the physical separation and to be gathered into the New Jerusalem (Article of Faith 10) we might mistakenly think that we can learn of Christ's laws when we get to Zion(D&C 105:5), just as we might learn the laws of the land after we arrive in any given country but “the conditions of God's kingdom are such, that all who are made partakers of that glory are under the necessity of learning something respecting it previous to their entering into it.”(TPJS P.5. Italics added) To exercise faith unto transcendent power we need to learn the law appointed for that blessing and abide by it.
"For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing, and the conditions thereof, as were instituted from before the foundation of the world". (D&C 132:5)
President Nelson shared in 2021,
“And to each of you who has made temple covenants, I plead with you to seek prayerfully and consistently to understand temple covenants and ordinances. Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation. (The Temple and Your Spiritual Foundation)
We must understand that it's vital to our salvation to seek prayerfully and consistently to understand our temple covenants and ordinances. We can see that it is our responsibility to put in the time and effort to study our scriptures and learn the laws, doctrines and principles of the gospel because knowledge = power and power = progression.
2. Obedience
Last Oct Elder Pingree Jnr from the Seventy taught at GC; “God expects us to seek, recognize, and act on truth. Our ability to receive and apply truth is dependent on
the strength of our relationship with the Father and the Son,
our responsiveness to the influence of the Holy Ghost, and
our alignment with latter-day prophets.
We need to remember that Satan works to keep us from truth. He knows that without truth, we cannot gain eternal life. He weaves strands of truth with worldly philosophies to confuse us and distract us from what is communicated by God.”
President Nelson taught in 2017;
“We also increase the Savior’s power in our lives when we make sacred covenants and keep those covenants with precision. Our covenants bind us to Him and give us godly power.
Covenant-keeping men and women seek for ways to keep themselves unspotted from the world so there will be nothing blocking their access to the Savior’s power.” (April 2017, Drawing the Power of Jesus Christ into your lives)
The power we receive comes from keeping our covenants. The more obedient we are or the more we sacrifice our will for the Lord, the greater the blessing. Exact obedience brings us God's power. The army of Helaman are a perfect example of being rewarded for their obedience.
Alma 53:20-21
…they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever thing they were entrusted.
Yea, they were men of truth and soberness, for they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him.
In Alma 56:19 Helaman shares they were favoured of the Lord and verse 56 they fought with the strength of God
Alma 57:20-21
…behold, those two thousand and sixty were firm and undaunted. Yea, and they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them; and I did remember the words which they said unto me that their mothers had taught them.
How do you think their mothers taught them this? Surely they taught them the law of obedience and sacrifice! Pres Nelson taught that all devoted disciples since Adam and Eve have made the same covenants and received the same ordinances as we do in our temples today. (Come Follow Me, April 2019)
If we desire this heavenly power for ourselves and our families, then we too must obey and perform every word of command with exactness and teach our children these laws. We do this by living by every word that proceedeth forth by the mouth of God(D&C 84:44). Surely this includes every pleading and suggestion our beloved Prophets and leaders ask of us.
Last year Pres Nelson mentioned he was criticized by a previous colleague decades ago for having “too much temple in him”.
What did he mean by this?
That he was too righteous?
Can we ever be too righteous?
I testify we can never be too far in but we can be too far out. Jesus Christ is our perfect example of complete obedience to His Father, we must do likewise.
3. Prepare every needful Thing
In D&C 121 we learn that many are called but few are chosen, why are they not chosen, because their hearts are set so much on the things of this world.
I plead with you don't make the mistake I did in the past of prioritising this earthly life, gaining riches and the honours of men over the gospel. As our Prophet has said, we need to overcome this world to find rest, or in other words, we must overcome this world to find Jesus Christ.
In 2022 Pres Nelson taught;
“What does it mean to overcome the world? It means overcoming the temptation to care more about the things of this world than the things of God.”
And
“Overcoming the world means growing to love God and His Beloved Son more than you love anyone or anything else.”
Just last conference Elder Soares emphasised “... if we change our preparation to enter the temple, we will change our experience in the temple, which will transform our lives outside of the temple. “Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.(D&C 121:45)”
In April this year Pres Nelson shared “Priesthood keys restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith make it possible for every covenant-keeping man and woman to enjoy incredible personal spiritual privileges.”
And he invited us to study Doctrine and covenants 109, he said that Joseph Smith’s dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple is a tutorial about how the temple spiritually empowers us and promised us this can be what will happen to those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord.
He said, "That dedicatory prayer, which was received by revelation, teaches that the temple is “a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”
Verse 8 of D&C 109 reads;
Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing, and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God;
How do we organise ourselves and prepare every needful thing?
In 2019 Elder Bednar invited us to prepare every needful thing by making our homes sanctuaries wherein we can “stand in holy places”. He noted that this is essential in these latter days, “for our spiritual strength and protection today, [but] it will be even more vital in the future.”
Then in April 2024, he taught
“Our homes should be the ultimate combination of both sacred time and holy place wherein individuals and families can “be still” and know that God is our Heavenly Father, we are His children, and Jesus Christ is our Savior.”
He further taught that it is the Holy Ghost who can bless us to receive an individual and spiritual stillness of the soul that enables us to know that God is our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ is our Savior.
This stillness surely includes striving to live a higher and holier law, build Zion in our lives and in our homes in preparation to be chosen and called to Zion The New Jerusalem.
Also in 2019 Elder Bednar shared,
“Each member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has an individual responsibility to learn and live the Lord’s teachings and to receive by proper authority the ordinances of salvation and exaltation. We should not expect the Church as an organization to teach or tell us everything we need to know and do to become devoted disciples and endure valiantly to the end. Rather, our personal responsibility is to learn what we should learn, to live as we know we should live, and to become who the Master would have us become. And our homes are the ultimate setting for learning, living, and becoming.”
I have understood from these words from our Prophets that as we make our homes dedicated houses of the Lord, spiritual sanctuaries which are sanctified and consecrated to be holy, the Lord's holy presence may be continually there. Thus we will be standing in holy places, organised according to His laws, and preparing all that is needful to grow up in the Lord and receive the fullness of the Holy Ghost. To receive the fullness of the Holy Ghost is to have the Holy Spirit of Promise or Holy Ghost seal us up unto eternal life or in other words have our calling and election made sure.
Surely this would be termed an incredible personal spiritual privilege or transcendent blessing?
However, whether we are referring to the temple or our own houses these spiritual havens can only be as holy as we are. I testify doing all we can do to repent “daily” as our Prophet has asked us to, includes working out our salvation through sincere prayer and fasting and rigorous study. The Lord loves effort and we will not abide the day if we don't do ALL we can to overcome this world. It's when we hunger and thirst after righteousness that we will be filled with the Holy Ghost (3 Nephi 12:6).
In Apr 2020 Pres Nelson quoted 1 Ne 14:14 and said that we live in the time that the power of the Lamb of God "would descend upon the covenant people of the Lord". Then just three years later in Apr 2023, he quoted the same verse but said that His power "is descending" upon the covenant-keeping people.
This is directly tied to receiving a fullness of the Holy Ghost which Pres Nelson spoke about just this last April at General Conference. He said “Imagine what that promise means in terms of having the heavens open for each earnest seeker of eternal truth.”
And in 2022
“In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen. Between now and the time He returns “with power and great glory,” He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.”(Overcome the World and Find Rest, Oct 2022)
In 2022 Pres Nelson extended this call to us;
“One crucial element of this gathering is preparing a people who are able, ready, and worthy to receive the Lord when He comes again, a people who have already chosen Jesus Christ over this fallen world, a people who rejoice in their agency to live the higher, holier laws of Jesus Christ. I call upon you, my dear brothers and sisters, to become this righteous people. Cherish and honor your covenants above all other commitments. As you let God prevail in your life, I promise you greater peace, confidence, joy, and yes, rest.”(Overcome the World and Find Rest, Oct 2022)
In summary the temple offers us opportunities to participate in the laws and ordinances of Celestial law. However it's what we do with this knowledge and understanding plus our further efforts to foster Zion in our life and home which will enable us to be favoured of God. As we strive to love God with all our might, mind and strength and live the laws with exactness or precision as our Prophet asks of us we receive through the grace of God transcendent blessings of power, peace and privilege.
I know Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ live, they love us and desire us to be chosen, as we choose them each and every day we will receive the heavenly power necessary and thus be prepared in the coming days to participate in the promised prophecy to gather to Zion the New Jerusalem and receive our Saviour. I testify of these things and share them in the name of Jesus Christ amen
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