We Already Know Him

In the April 1985 General Conference, Bruce R. McConkie said, "...I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God's almighty Son..."  This last testimony Elder McConkie bore was powerful and it was immortalized in the hearts of those who heard it because of his untimely death two weeks later.

How sweet it would be for each of us if we could leave this world at the apex of our spiritual journey, declaring as we go that we will not know any better when we get there, that Jesus lives.

In order to truly understand the power and triumph of what he said, I think we have to consider a few things.

We already know Jesus personally.  We know God personally too.  We lived with them for a length of time our mortal minds probably can't even comprehend before we came to Earth.  It is only the veil placed over our minds that prevents us from remembering that life and those relationships.

We all sang together with joy when the plan to come to Earth was unveiled (Job 38:7).  But that is not all.  A loving Heavenly Father, whose plan it is to make each of us like himself, instructed Jesus to call his laborers for the period of 6 days in the creation of this world.  In other words, many if not all of us served as apprentices in the creation of this Earth and bringing into fruition the Great Plan of Happiness.  What exactly we learned from that experience would be hard to say but it stands to reason that we came here with enthusiasm and with a vested interest in succeeding, because we were participants in the Plan.

Russel M Ballard stated in the April 2018 general conference, '"...As my Father hath sent me, even so send I you." Notice a twofold action--God sends His Son.  The Son sends His servants--mortal men and women--to accomplish Their work."

This was the case also when "Michael and his angels fought against the dragon..." (Revelation 12:7) Who would those angels be, if not us?  It seems that we had the opportunity to participate in every event leading up to our presence in this world.

During all this eventful time spent in pre-earth events, we would naturally have developed a relationship with those we followed.

Thus, I think the reason, "Every knee will bend and every tongue confesses that Jesus is the Christ" (Romans 14:11) when he returns will be because everyone (even those who don’t believe in Him now) will remember the eons we spent together creating this world and planning our journey to the "second estate."  We will remember Jesus our brother, our friend, and our Savior.

So why don’t remember any of that now?  It seems like it would be helpful.

Bruce R. McConkie never could have made that declaration if he remembered all he had been through in the pre-existence.  We must, without the training wheels of God's presence, come to believe what we know by living here alone.   That is the culmination of all the work that we started in the pre-existence.

Knowledge is a naturally occurring byproduct of action.  That action must be of our own free will without influence from a loving Father in Heaven; otherwise, it would not be our own.  That is why we had to come here and forget all we know so that we can show through our actions, not our lips, that "[we] will do all things whatsoever the Lord [our] God shall command..." (Abraham 3:25).  Our works will justify what we say we know. (James 2:18).

That is why I think phrases like, "Confess Jesus and be saved" will choke in the throats of those who knew the Gospel of Jesus Christ and did little with it while in this "probationary state."  With that confession, we will have traded our birthright for Esau's mess of Pottage.

Just imagine meeting the Savior, our longtime friend, and realizing that we squandered this one-time opportunity that we worked together so hard to bring into fruition; and for what...the mirage of fast cars, fame, or temporary worldly pleasures.

At that moment the scriptures will ring true that say we will want the mountains to cover us and hide us from the eyes of the Lord (Revelations 6: 15-16); not just because we will be ashamed of our evil works, but because of the anguish we will feel realizing that we missed the chance to become like our Father in Heaven.

John Greenleaf Whittier:
For all sad words of tongue and pen, The saddest are these, "It might have been."

Angels In The Outfield

If there really are angels watching us and even at times helping us, as recorded in Church history, why don't we see them?   Wouldn't it be more faith promoting if the pioneers had actually seen heavenly beings pushing their carts when they couldn't make it a step further on their own?  What could be the advantage in angels secretly helping us?

When I was a senior in high school a carload of us were headed up the canyon on the highway to a party.  One of our friends, who had very little experience riding motorcycles, decided to borrow a powerful street bike and ride it up to the party.  He recognized us in the car up ahead of him and so he hunkered down behind the small glass windshield and laid the throttle down hard.  He went past us like we weren't even moving.  We all cheered as he zipped past because it was so cool.  After he passed us, being inexperienced as he was, he sat up to wave at us and the wind took him right off the bike.  Somehow his feet caught the handlebars and we watched in horror as he struggled to get back on the seat while streaking down the highway.  By some miracle, he managed to get upright and stop on the side of the road.  He was so shaken up that he refused to get back on and someone else had to come and take the bike home.  The power of that motorcycle proved too much for his limited experience and maturity to handle.

Most of us have either taught our children to ride a bicycle or remember being taught ourselves.  Imagine if instead of putting you on a bicycle with training wheels, your parents put you on a powerful motorcycle.  It's a ridiculous idea and yet a perfect comparison to an angel appearing to those who are not spiritually prepared.

The Lord teaches us line upon line and precept upon precept in order to protect us from running faster than we have strength.

The ultimate goal in this life is for us to bear as much as we can without any support.  Just as Jesus was ultimately left alone as he hung on the cross crying out, "My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?"

It must be incredibly difficult for a loving Heavenly Father and even our ancestors to watch us struggle through this life and not be able, in most instances, to help because it would be counterproductive and even detrimental to our spiritual growth to intercede with angelic visitations.

Thus, for now, the angels among us do their work quietly and unseen, so as not to disrupt our education.

Orson F Whitney
...premature knowledge--knowing at the wrong time--is fatal both to progress and to happiness.

The Bible vs. Eternal Marriage

How is it that we believe in eternal marriage when the Bible clearly states in Matthew 22:30 that, in the resurrection, we are neither married nor given in marriage?

Here is an idea to consider....When my son Tyler was blessed 18 years ago, my two sisters, Leah and Anna, and a family friend named Karen wrote the words of the blessing for me.  All three scratched out the words in real time as I spoke them; but interestingly, Leah's version fills a whole page, Anna's version is written in shorthand, covering about 3/4 of a page and Karen's is written in paragraph format.  Most of the content is the same.  But each version has unique content that does not appear in the others.

How is it possible if they all heard and wrote the same blessing, to have three differing records of it?  Can it be said that anything Anna didn't write wasn't actually said or that Leah made up any details in her lengthier account?  Of course not.  They were all writing as fast as they could and remembering as much as they could...but they are all human.

We all have this idea that the prophets of old were superhuman, never slept, never ate and never made mistakes.  Yet, the fact that the Lord felt it necessary to have the gospel written four times by four different prophets illustrates the natural shortcomings of even those called of God.

With that in mind it is interesting to note that in Luke's account (Luke 20:35), the Lord said, "...they which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world..."  Implying that there is more than one kingdom and worthiness is a factor for entrance.  Perhaps the Lord chose not to elaborate in that moment on all the possible answers to that question and only one of His apostles picked up on the subtle reference He made to the fact that there are other kingdoms for which the answer may be different.

It makes perfect sense that when being questioned by an enemy, whose purpose was not to obtain an answer, the Savior chose to give a general answer that is actually true of the Telestial Kingdom, the Terrestrial Kingdom and 2 of the 3 degrees of the Celestial Kingdom; but still leaving the door open that there is a more in-depth answer.  A reference that perhaps he wanted the Pharisees to miss as He always gave milk before meat (1 Corinthians 3:2, Hebrews 5:12, D&C 19:22).

It is also telling that the Pharisee who asked the question obviously knew that there was marriage in the next life or he wouldn't have asked which man would have her.

The Bible is true and it is the word of God.  The prophets that recorded it were mortal.  Some doctrines were taught as "milk" because of the audience.

President Boyd K. Packer:
Individual doctrines of the gospel are not fully explained in one place in the scriptures, nor presented in order or sequence.  They must be assembled from pieces here and there. They are sometimes found in large segments, but mostly they are in small bits scattered through the chapters and verses.