FOREVER IN OUR HEARTS

There are few worth while shows currently airing on the television but there is one that is bound to touch the hearts of all those who view it. This show is called "Who Do You Think You Are?" I have watched this show twice now and each time have wept together with the celebrities who are assisted to trace their family lines and to discover great truths about their ancestors. The second show I watched featured Kelly Clarkson, a very famous and successful singer. She was tracing her three times great grandfather, Isaiah Rose, who as a youngster survived the horrors of the American Civil War and its' infamous Andersonville Prison in Georgia and who later became a Republican Senator for Ohio and the champion of the 'temperance movement', introducing ultimately successful legislation allowing individual counties to enact local legislation banning the sale of liquor. The most interesting part of Kelly Clarkson's family history journey is that she considered this experience the best thing she has ever done. Considering the enormous successful career she has had in the music industry, this statement spoke volumes about a very well known scripture that came to my mind as she spoke: "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord: And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers...." (Malachi 4:5,6)

On the evening of 21 September 1823, angel Moroni appeared to Joseph Smith and informed him of important events soon to transpire on the earth. He also told him that Elijah would come. He spoke of 'promises made to the fathers' (JS-H 1:39) in ancient times which would assist in turning the hearts of the children to their fathers. Elijah did come, he came to the Kirtland Temple on 3 April 1836 and brought with him the priesthood keys which were the sealing powers of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the means whereby that which is bound and sealed on earth is also bound and sealed in heavens (D&C 110:13-16).

It is very interesting to me that the scripture which speaks of Elijah's return and mission in Malachi concludes the Old Testament and that this lesson falls to be taught in Church at Christmas time, the time of year when our hearts are turned to our families. We think of Christmas as 'family time' and go to great lengths to get together with our families, some travelling great distances to do so. It seems we make every effort to reach out to each other at this time of the year, to eat together, to play together, to renew our bonds, to rejoice. I wonder how many of us, however, have sent our thoughts to family members that have come and gone, that are very little known to us, if at all, family members that are languishing in the spirit world awaiting deliverance made possible only by us, who have the keys and the priesthood power to open the doors of their prison, to bring them salvation, to offer them hope of redemption and eternal life. How many of them feel forgotten and uninvited, if only in spirit, to our tables bulging with Christmas fare, not feeling a part of our family togetherness? How many are waiting with bated breath for our next temple visit or our next 15 minutes of glancing at our family history? How many are hoping against all hope that we will retrieve from the deep recesses of our minds the promises we have made to one another before this world began, that we will not forget each other, that we will do all that is in our power to bring each other back home?

At this Christmas time, should we not make a promise to come to know those who have paved the path before us, who have made us what we are and brought us to this mortal journey? Should we not commit to come to know them and to liberate them from their prisons of longing to belong to the throng of God? Should we not work our hardest to bring us together as families and ultimately unite us as the human family and children of God? This is God's work and this is His glory, this is the plan of salvation.  The Saviour has made all this possible.  He has not left us subject to the sting of death but has redeemed us both body and soul through one amazing selfless act. Will we honour Him and His birth as we remember our loved ones who are yet to enfold us into their embrace for making available to them the greatest gift of all, the gift of eternal life.

KING OF KINGS

We can find in the Gospel of Matthew the detailed father-to-son genealogy linking Joseph to King David. As Joseph was a cousin to his espoused wife Mary, Joseph's genealogy is basically Mary's genealogy too. Jesus, Mary's son, therefore, inherited from his mother royal blood and the right to David's throne. Had the tribe of Judah that Jesus was born into been a free and independent nation at the time of His birth, Jesus would have been born the King of the Jews. Instead Jesus was born of the lowliest birth  into the most humble of circumstances, his divinity heralded by angels to only a group of shepherds, announcing a less than majestic birth of a true Shepherd and the King of Kings. When Jesus was brought before Pilate accused of proclaiming Himself to be the King of the Jews, His response to Pilate was: "My kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). During his mortal life, Jesus was not interested in an earthly kingdom. His interests were not political aspirations or desire to gain power. What He was interested in was establishing a kingdom of loyal subjects who would take upon themselves His name and proclaim him their God and the King of their salvation.

When Daniel found himself in Babylon serving King Nebuchadnezzar,  he interpreted the King's disturbing dream through revelation from God. This dream had to do with earthly kingdoms who have come and gone and had no power of endurance. By the time Christ was born, Egyptians had been conquered by Assyrians, Assyrians by Babylonians, Babylonians by Persians, Persians by Greeks and Macedons and Greeks and Macedons by Romans. In Nebuchadnezzar's dream the kingdoms were portrayed by an image of a man signifying man made kingdoms of this earth. Each part of the image represented a different kingdom, the last being feet and toes that stood for 10 modern governments born from the Roman Empire. We know these kingdoms today as the 'crowned heads of Europe'. In his dream, Nebuchadnezzar saw the image of the kingdoms broken into pieces by a stone cut out without hands (Daniel 2:34) meaning not a man made stone but divinely crafted by God representing a kingdom that the God of heaven shall set up, that shall never be destroyed, that would consume all other kingdoms and that shall stand forever (Daniel 2:44). This dream and prophecy was fulfilled in 1820 through the restoration of the Gospel.

The enduring nature of the kingdom begun in 1820 is intended to cover the whole earth and prepare it for the Millennial reign when Jesus will return and be at last crowned King of Kings bringing with Him peace and prosperity to his loyal subjects. Why the title King of Kings? Because no other kingdom that has ever existed will equal His in scope and perfection. Christ's kingdom will end political mayhem and oppression doing away with human foibles and man's wisdom. It will end crime, poverty, sickness, sorrow, death, killing, calamities, natural disasters and all evil. No other king has ever had the power to affect change of such proportion. We live in a troubled world: politically, religiously and morally. Governments are failing to safeguard our economies, law and order and the moral fibre of our society. Our judicial system, comprised of imperfect men who are exercising earthly wisdom are failing to protect the innocent in our society. We have witnessed this truth only this week as a madman was allowed to walk our streets free and inflict terror on the citizens of our city. The world is deep in sin and ripening for destruction. We are guilty of gross moral and ethic transgressions: human trafficking, sexual exploitation, abuse of children, thieving, murder, rape, greed, abuse of power, bondage and many atrocities that I couldn't even name. It always fascinates me when I sit in Church lessons where the coming of the Saviour is portrayed as something we should dread. Why are we anticipating the Saviour's return with trapidation? How long have we waited for Him? Long enough to warrant scorn from non-believers. Should we not look forward to His return with eagerness and joy? Instead of discussing in class how Daniel saved the day by interpreting Nebuchadnezzar's dream should we not focus on the hope of the Millennial day, what that dream was really about? I feel that if we familiarised ourselves with the condition of the Millennial reign we would desperately await His coming with eagerness and joy.

It is true that when He comes, the Saviour will exercise judgment on the wicked but for the loyal subjects of His Kingdom, He will bring love, mercy, peace and joy because that's who He is. He will be eager to see us and press us to his bosom. Should we not be longing for this? Recently I sat in the Gospel Doctrine class where a question was asked: "If you knew that the Saviour was coming tomorrow what would you change in your life?" Of course, there were many answers indicating much needed personal change. The answer to this question should be: nothing! There is nothing you could do in one day to change your life in a drastic way. One of the answers was - doing more missionary work. How much missionary work could you do in one day that would make up for years of not doing it??? If the Saviour was coming tomorrow, there is nothing you could change, it would be too late. Should we not instead put on a party to welcome Him back, to let Him know that He is wanted and needed to fix this sad telestial world we find ourselves in, to take away our sorrows and dry our tears, to fix the broken hearted, to give us much needed peace?

Who is this King of Kings that will come to reign in righteousness for a thousand years? He is known by many names because He is a God of  many perfect attributes but mostly He is a God of love and mercy and justice. He will come to claim His own and when He does every knee shall bow and every tongue confess that He is the Christ. And when He comes we will hail Him as our God and our King, the King of Kings, known by majestic names such as these:

Jehovah

Jesus Christ

The Lord

The Son of God

The Son of the Eternal Father

The Lamb

The Shepherd

Redeemer

Almighty God

The God of Israel

The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob

The Lord of Hosts

The Holy one of Israel

The Redeemer of Israel

King Immanuel

The Eternal God

The Redeemer of the World

Holy One

The Saviour

The Mighty One of Jacob

The Mighty One of Israel

Messiah

The Lord God

The God of Hosts

The Prince of Life

The Lord of Glory

Eternal King

Lord God Almighty

The Son of Righteousness

The Lord of Hosts

Alpha and Omega

The Great I Am

The Stone of Israel

Holy Messiah

I Am

The Great Mediator

Son Ahman

Firstborn

King of Glory

The Lord God of Hosts

The Father of Heaven and Earth

The Creator of All Things

Wonderful

Counselor

The Mighty God

The Everlasting Father

The Prince of Peace

TRAILING CLOUDS OF GLORY

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,

Hath had elsewhere its setting,

And cometh from afar:

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home.

- William Wordsworth

There is presently showing a Ridley Scott movie entitled "Exodus, Gods and Kings". I was excited to see this movie as it has been many years since the last depiction of Moses' story which was "The Ten Commandments". Even though "Exodus, Gods and Kings" was a very well made movie I felt it was very much lacking in spirit. I do not know if Ridley Scott is a religious man or what his motivation was for making this movie which was dedicated to his late brother. The insight I gleaned from my observation of this movie is not in line with criticism of his work. My insight has to do with the depiction of Moses and his non-existent relationship with God. This Moses was portrayed as someone who knew not God and as a result doubted Him at every turn. As I contemplated this, I reflected upon Moses' encounter with God, the account of which we have in The Pearl of Great Price. This account offers us a much clearer picture of Moses' experience as opposed to the Bible. The Book of Moses in The Pearl of Great Price records that God who introduced Himself to Moses as 'the Lord God Almighty' (Moses 1:3) addressed Moses as 'my son' and proceeded to do so more than once inferring a paternal relationship. He then gave Moses the vision of all the worlds He has created, the purpose of this earth and the origin of man. This is followed by the most powerful statement God has ever made: "For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man" (Moses 1:39). With all His power and all His might, able to create planets and galaxies without number, God proclaimed that His greatest work is His ability and intent to exalt His children who were created by Him and came from Him. The majestic I Am who created the earth that Moses stood on considered Moses and all who dwell on this earth His sons and His daughters, His greatest creations. To Him "man is the underlying and overriding purpose of all His work, man's success constitutes His glory, to Him man is everything" (Ted Gibbons, OT Lesson 1 "This Is My Work and My Glory").

I wondered if Ridley Scott's Moses would have been different in "Exodus, Gods and Kings" if he had read The Pearl of Great Price. As I pondered more about this, a familiar scripture came into my mind: "And because my words shall hiss forth - many of the Gentiles shall say: A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible" (2 Nephi 29:3). Would we know better of Moses and the origin of man if we despised revelation and rejected further words of God? Are we grateful for additional scripture that sits on our bookshelves? Are we studying with real intent the words of eternal life that are at our disposal? God said something else very significant to Moses: "And in a day when the children of men shall esteem my words as naught and take many of them from the book which thou shalt write, behold, I will raise up another like unto thee; and they shall be had again among the children of men - among as many as shall believe" (Moses 1:41). 'Another like unto thee' is of course Joseph Smith (2 Nephi 3:7-9) who gave us the Book of Moses as a result of revelation whilst translating the Bible in June 1830. And are we not 'as many as shall believe', his disciples who have taken upon us His Name and who have been blessed with the fullness of the gospel in this dispensation?

The Book of Moses is the most crucial book in all the scriptures because it tells us of our relationship to God, where we came from and why we are here. The whole purpose of humanity is contained within its words. How much the adversary had to gain by having this book lost from the Bible! And yet God's might and power are greater than anything he can do to thwart the work of God and in His mercy He had raised another prophet and seer to bring the lost words back so that we His children would know ourselves, who we are and the glory that lies dormant within us until such time that He, the Almighty God, the great I am, can exalt us on high and make us truly His own. Should we not rejoice at such a time as this? Should we not revere Him who has bought us with a price? Should we not exclaim 'all honour and glory be Thine for ever and ever'.