Coming unto Christ

[marc]

Without expounding too much, I will share some key scriptures, which I have felt impressed upon me, not all at once, but the last few times that I finished the Book of Mormon this year. I've had some serious soul searching to do in the last year and I have been humbled to the dust because of things that have happened in my life.

Moroni, who abridges the book of Ether, is talking to you and me:

Ether 4

1 And the Lord commanded the brother of Jared to go down out of the mount from the presence of the Lord, and write the things which he had seen; and they were forbidden to come unto the children of men until after that he should be lifted up upon the cross; and for this cause did king Mosiah keep them, that they should not come unto the world until after Christ should show himself unto his people.

2 And after Christ truly had showed himself unto his people he commanded that they should be made manifest.

3 And now, after that, they have all dwindled in unbelief; and there is none save it be the Lamanites, and they have rejected the gospel of Christ; therefore I am commanded that I should hide them up again in the earth.

4 Behold, I have written upon these plates the very things which the brother of Jared saw; and there never were greater things made manifest than those which were made manifest unto the brother of Jared.

5 Wherefore the Lord hath commanded me to write them; and I have written them. And he commanded me that I should seal them up; and he also hath commanded that I should seal up the interpretation thereof; wherefore I have sealed up the interpreters, according to the commandment of the Lord.

6 For the Lord said unto me: They shall not go forth unto the Gentiles until the day that they shall repent of their iniquity, and become clean before the Lord.

7 And in that day that they shall exercise faith in me, saith the Lord, even as the brother of Jared did, that they may become sanctified in me, then will I manifest unto them the things which the brother of Jared saw, even to the unfolding unto them all my revelations, saith Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Father of the heavens and of the earth, and all things that in them are.


Furthermore in Ether 4 we read:

11 But he that believeth these things which I have spoken, him will I visit with the manifestations of my Spirit, and he shall know and bear record. For because of my Spirit he shall know that these things are true; for it persuadeth men to do good...

13 Come unto me, O ye Gentiles, and I will show unto you the greater things, the knowledge which is hid up because of unbelief.

14 Come unto me, O ye house of Israel, and it shall be made manifest unto you how great things the Father hath laid up for you, from the foundation of the world; and it hath not come unto you, because of unbelief.

15 Behold,when ye shall rend that veil of unbelief which doth cause you to remain in your awful state of wickedness, and hardness of heart, and blindness of mind, then shall the great and marvelous things which have been hid up from the foundation of the world from you—yea, when ye shall call upon the Father in my name, with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then shall ye know that the Father hath remembered the covenant which he made unto your fathers, O house of Israel.

16 And then shall my revelations which I have caused to be written by my servant John be unfolded in the eyes of all the people. Remember, when ye see these things, ye shall know that the time is at hand that they shall be made manifest in very deed.

Moroni continues to expound things to us in his own Book of Moroni:

Moroni 7

3 Wherefore, I would speak unto you that are of the church, that are the peaceable followers of Christ, and that have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can enter into the rest of the Lord, from this time henceforth until ye shall rest with him in heaven...

9 And likewise also is it counted evil unto a man, if he shall pray and not with real intent of heart; yea, and it profiteth him nothing, for God receiveth none such.

10 Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.


Right here Moroni is telling us how to pray. He is telling us to have fullness of purpose and fullness of heart. Remember King Lamoni and his father?? They both gave up their kingdoms and all their sins to know God. Their people were the most righteous in all the land after their conversion! This is what God wants and what He requires, naturally. Why should He give us heavenly gifts that we will not take seriously? The entire chapter of 7, Moroni is preparing us to receive the Book of Mormon and what kind of heart we need to have to receive it. But we must believe! After all, the spirit of revelation is the testimony of Jesus Christ!


27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?

28 For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.

29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.

30 For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.



If we aren't experiencing miracles in our lives, it is because we aren't offering up our hearts. And I hope everyone is experiencing miracles in their lives today. I know that I am. And if you've received your patriarchal blessings, I hope you've experienced many that are promised to you.


35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?

36 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?

37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain...

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.


Don't just pray once in a while. The brother of Jared had some repenting to do because he stopped praying. And yet he saw great things, greater than any man has ever seen. Do we have a testimony of the Book of Mormon? Do we pray like Enos did? The way Alma prayed and fasted? People like Nephi and Enos, Alma, etc, they prayed and fasted for days at a time. And they understood the law of sacrifice, of having a broken heart and contrite spirit. They had absolutely no care for Babylon. If they were alive today, they would not be wasting time on Facebook or watching garbage on television. They would not go shopping or to football games or doing anything in Babylon that distracted them from "the work." What work? The Lord's work in His vineyard. "When thou are converted, strengthen thy brethren. They would be feeding strangers on the street, doing their hometeaching, attending all their meetings, paying full tithes and giving everything in church offerings. This is why they had access to heavenly things.

3 Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.

4 And when ye shall receive these things, I would exhort you that ye would ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Christ, if these things are not true; and if ye shall ask with a sincere heart, with real intent, having faith in Christ, he will manifest the truth of it unto you, by the power of the Holy Ghost.

5 And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things...

8 And again, I exhort you, my brethren, that ye deny not the gifts of God, for they are many; and they come from the same God. And there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.


Moroni tries fervently in the last chapters, even the last few pages of this great record to get us to comprehend our great potential. It's almost as if he's trying to pull us into his mind, his heart, his visions and manifestations. He wants us to experience what he experienced so badly. We can have power in our lives when we read in the Book of Mormon. I have no doubt about it. I am learning new things every day and I can feel the Spirit working in me. I cannot wait until my next visit to the temple.

I truly believe that everyone has the potential to have the mysteries of God unfolded to them, but only if we are not lukewarm and only if we serve one master only: the Lord. But if He is not our one master and He comes in second to other distractions in our lives, we will not progress like He has promised us. And this, in my opinion, is sin enough.

[Vision]

very few, just look at how many members in the US support Mitt Romney

[marc]

In summary, per Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. I am breaking it up into paragraphs (One big paragraph is too cumbersome).

Section One 1830-34, p.12

Every man lives for himself. Adam was made to open the way of the world, and for dressing the garden. Noah was born to save seed of everything, when the earth was washed of its wickedness by the flood; and the Son of God came into the world to redeem it from the fall. But except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. This eternal truth settles the question of all men's religion. A man may be saved, after the judgment, in the terrestrial kingdom, or in the telestial kingdom, but he can never see the celestial kingdom of God, without being born of water and the Spirit. He may receive a glory like unto the moon, [i.e., of which the light of the moon is typical], or a star, [i.e., of which the light of the stars is typical], but he can never come unto Mount Zion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect, and to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, unless he becomes as a little child, and is taught by the Spirit of God.

Wherefore, we again say, search the revelations of God; study the prophecies, and rejoice that God grants unto the world Seers and Prophets. They are they who saw the mysteries of godliness; they saw the flood before it came; they saw angels ascending and descending upon a ladder that reached from earth to heaven; they saw the stone cut out of the mountain, which filled the whole earth; they saw the Son of God come from the regions of bliss and dwell with men on earth; they saw the deliverer come out of Zion, and turn away ungodliness from Jacob; they saw the glory of the Lord when he showed the transfiguration of the earth on the mount; they saw every mountain laid low and every valley exalted when the Lord was taking vengeance upon the wicked; they saw truth spring out of the earth, and righteousness look down from heaven in the last days, before the Lord came the second time to gather his elect; they saw the end of wickedness on earth, and the Sabbath of creation crowned with peace; they saw the end of the glorious thousand years, when Satan was loosed for a little season; they saw the day of judgment when all men received according to their works, and they saw the heaven and the earth flee away to make room for the city of God, when the righteous receive an inheritance in eternity.

And, fellow sojourners upon earth, it is your privilege to purify yourselves and come up to the same glory, and see for yourselves, and know for yourselves. Ask, and it shall be given you; seek and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.--E&MS August, 1832. DHC 1:282-284.

Do YOU believe that YOU can see what the Brother of Jared saw? What Nephi saw? What John the revelator saw? What Joseph Smith saw? It's a simple question.

[tmac]

very few, just look at how many members in the US support Mitt Romney

I just posted on the long-standing "awakened" thread over in the Last Days / Signs of the Times category, but I think there are several different forms of "awakening" and political and spiritual awakening are not necessarily one and the same -- even though they may have similar roots.

My own conclusion is that very few LDS have been awakened in any form or fashion. As few as have been awakened to our awful situation politically, I think even fewer have been spiritually awakened to our awful situation spiritually. Although the two seem to go somewhat hand-in-hand, they are not one and the same.

For me, I find much meaning in the King Benjamin sermon/experience, and particularly in Mosiah Chapter 4. It is not until we truly humble ourselves and see ourselves for who and what we are -- lower than the dust of the earth -- that we can be truly awakened spiritually. Unfortunately, I don't think many have had that experience.

[marc]

You are correct. They are not one and the same, BUT if you are one, you are the other because you have seen ALL from beginning to end. We have been shown how. We just need to DO.

[tmac]

You are correct. They are not one and the same, BUT if you are one, you are the other because you have seen ALL from beginning to end.

I'm not so sure about the overlap between the two. I definitely think that those who have been completely awakened spiritually will also be inclined to be awake politically, but they may also be much more resigned to the reality of the situation. On the other hand, I think there are plenty of people who demonstrate a fair amount of political awakening, but much less spiritual awakening, and many of them also seem to think that political solutions/salvation are possible, whereas those who have been awakened spiritually know that isn't possible, and the two may actually be at odds with each other -- a political/economic collapse, and resulting humbling, may be the best thing to help trigger more spiritual awakening.

[marc]

You do make a good point, although this isn't at all about politics and (@ Vision) nothing to do with Mitt Romney.

The brother of Jared witnessed everything from beginning to end. If you reread all the highlighted text from my first two posts, and then read both posts again, I think you will understand. Perhaps in retrospect, using the term "spiritually awake" wasn't the way to word it. I simply used this term to contrast the other "How many LDS are awake" thread. This is entirely different. This is about a journey to be brought back into Christ's presence.

Ether 3

13 And when he had said these words, behold, the Lord showed himself unto him, and said: Because thou knowest these things ye are redeemed from the fall; therefore ye are brought back into my presence; therefore I show myself unto you.

But not only the brother of Jared, but many others from Nephi to Moroni...

[Squally]

By their fruits I think it becomes evident. I am currently myself trying to become truly spiritually awakened (part of this is just the recognition of how far I am from the Lord). Being lukewarm is being comfortable without seeking more while keeping all the church commandments and outward stuff. It is trusting in the arm of flesh, while ignoring the mysteries that we are to be seeking directly from the Lord. Being spritually awakened is being baptized by fire and having the Holy Ghost sanctify us, being able to speak with the tongue of angels.

I am just recently begining to understand our/my awful situation spiritually; even while reading the the scriptures (Book of Mormon) and still being blind, not really believing what the Lord is teaching. Awakening is understanding the doctrine of Christ, i.e. seeking Him to recieve further light and knowledge..
Thanks for the comments on this thread.

[marc]

One very important thing, which I've only touched on, but critical to this journey is becoming pure in heart, meaning sacrificing a broken heart and a contrite spirit. This might mean something different to different people but there can be no mistake of what it truly means and how important it is to be clean. Essentially, it is important to understand, that as no unclean thing can inherit the kingdom of God (Celestial Kingdom), no unclean thing can be brought back into Christ's presence, as many in the Bible, Book of Mormon and even some today have experienced.

The Book of Mormon has so many examples of people(s) truly repenting and forsaking their sins forever. You either have an unwavering desire to "come unto" Christ or you will allow sin and distractions to fill your heart. No man can serve two masters. I have absolutely no desire to sin or do anything that robs me of the Spirit of the Lord or to detract me from this current journey. I am continually praying and being conscious of any sin or transgression that would hinder me from having the sanctifying presence of the Lord's Spirit, particularly and especially every Sunday when I renew my covenants by partaking the sacrament. I hope more and more people become conscious and begin to have a desire to experience this. This is the whole point of the gospel of Jesus Christ and His doctrine.

[marc]

I changed the title of this thread from How many LDS are *spiritually* awakened? to Coming unto Christ. It is now more aptly name for we are all in different places in our journey, though it is possible we are all awake. I hope it sheds new light for anyone who feels like they are stuck on their path. A few keys that I have found essential to this path, in this order are:

1. Desire (to put away ALL worldliness behind you)
2. Faith
3. Repentance (having a truly broken heart and contrite spirit)
4. Baptism
5. Gift of Holy Ghost
6. Ponder and pray always (many countless hours)
7. Fasting often

The last two are powerful when done together.

[marc]

Worth bumping back up in light of recent posts/debates and the tendency to criticize the testimony of others when they light a candle and put it on a candlestick to give light unto all that are in the house, rather than put it under a bushel. May more people be inclined to open their hearts to heavenly gifts.

[marc]

D&C 93
1 Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who [1]forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and [2]calleth on my name, and [3]obeyeth my voice, and [4]keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am;

It looks like John Pontius has already expounded on this very scripture. I hope everyone reads it if they haven't yet. You can download the pdf:

Seek the Face of the Lord