THE WAYWARD PATH

I have wondered if Adam and Eve ever felt guilty about their transgression in the Garden of Eden. Life in the lone and dreary world was no doubt beyond tough and capable of inducing such guilt. Imagine the relief and joy when they were taught the Gospel and the Plan of Salvation was explained to them, when they understood the role they played in what was meant to be. Their joyful remarks echoes one thing: the excitement of being reunited with God again (Moses 5:10,11)

In eagerness they shared the glad news of the Gospel with their children, and their children, who had multiplied and replenished the earth (Moses 5:2,3). Imagine their dismay when their children and grandchildren didn’t share in their excitement but instead chose to listen to Satan who came among them and told them: “Believe it not” (v 13). And they believed and loved Satan more than God.

When Adam and Eve were blessed with another son their hope revived believing he will not reject God’s words (v 16). He was the son who showed great promise and was even ordained to the Priesthood of Adam (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” p 169). Imagine the blow to his parents when Cain responded to their teachings: “Who is the Lord that I should know him?” (v 16). With such arrogance and pride Cain put himself on the slippery slope to becoming Master Mahan and Lucifer’s partner in instituting the first murder cult in the world (v 31).

Adam and Eve’s sorrow was doubly multiplied when they lost both Cain and his righteous brother Abel. After finally getting a good son who worshipped God and then losing him in such a horrific manner would have been unbearable (Moses 5:32).

I have often wondered about the Proverbs scripture that claims if you “train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). I have a child that I trained up in the right way, a child who showed incredible spiritual promise in childhood but is far from that promise now. I see other friends in the Church with the same dilemma and heartache.

My consolation is that after all I could do, my daughter is now in God’s hands. I am assured by Church leaders that the Lord will reach out to the wandering sheep and call them home. I am also certain that He will on judgment day take into consideration the many obstacles and challenges not known before that our children have had to deal with, rampant mental health being just one of them.

And lastly….If you tend to feel guilty about your wayward children, just remember that our heavenly parents gave birth and raised children that became sons of perdition. They could not have had a more perfect upbringing and tutoring in righteousness. Such is the power of free agency…..but in the end His mercy has prepared kingdoms of glory for most…..through His Beloved Son…..

Will the sinner for whom you suffered,

Who rejected and reviled Thee

Weep in the end for Thy pain and Thy sorrow?

Will his heart understand

When he kneels before Thee

The debt he owes for the existence

Of his merciful tomorrow?

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Rescue by Nathan Greene)

 

A LIFE-LINE

 

I often wonder how Adam and Eve felt when they found themselves totally alone in the world. The consolation was that they were not abandoned by God but were only separated from His physical presence. They were left with a life-line called ‘prayer’ (Moses 5:4,5)

When an angel appeared to Adam and asked him why he was offering sacrifice he taught him something very significant, the hierarchy of the Godhead. He told him that he should ‘repent and call upon God in the name of the Son forevermore’ (v eight). This was followed by the witness of the Holy Ghost which bore record of the Father and the redeeming mission of the Son (v 9).

Sometimes I wonder if our overwhelming focus on Christ and His saving power diverts us from the Father’s supreme role within the Plan of Salvation. The Plan of Salvation is the Father’s plan and the Saviour’s role is to execute it through the power of His redemption.

I learnt recently through a personal experience why the hierarchy of the Godhead needs to be followed, especially in regards to prayer. We are to pray to the Father only, in the name of His Son and this is why:

-          The Saviour does nothing but the will of the Father  (D&C 19:24; Moses 4;2; John 8:29; 10:17,18);

-          The Saviour seeks to glorify the Father through whatever we ask in His name  (John 14:13).

-          When we pray to the Father through the name of the Son, we acknowledge He is the author of the Plan of Salvation and that He is first in authority of the Godhead.  We acknowledge the Father’s supreme sacrifice of His Son. If it wasn’t for the Father, there would have been no submission by the Son. 

There is one unique instance where the disciples offered prayers to the Son instead of the Father and that was during the Saviour’s visit to the Americas. Elder Bruce R. McConkie suggested that this was on a one-time basis, and that they prayed to Him because He was as the symbol of the Father before them. (“The Promised Messiah: The First Coming of Christ” [1978] 560-561. The Saviour himself explained that the people were praying to Him because, as He said, “I am with them” (3 Nephi 19:22); and secondly, they were given by the Holy Ghost the words they should pray (3 Nephi 19:24).

This life-line we call prayer should be our second nature and this is why: “One of the truths taught in Revelation 4 is that exalted beings will continue to worship Heavenly Father in the eternities to come. He will always be our God. (New Testament Student Manual, commentary for Revelation 4:8-11).

The respect, the honour, the worship we should feel towards our Father in Heaven can only be learnt through the example of His Beloved Son: The Lord’s Prayer, His sacrament prayers, His intercessory prayer, His prayers with the Nephites. We should be familiar with all the conversations He had with the Father during His ministry and pray in likewise manner to bring honour and glory to the Father’s name always…..and maybe a little less of “I thank Thee and ask Thee” and a little more of “I praise Thee”…..

 

I knelt before Thy throne today

In praise of words You had to say.

They fell with ease from Your tongue

Coated gently with holy love.

My heart was opened

The heavens wept

Our union, a divine sacrament.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Lord's Prayer by Liz Lemon Swindle) 

 

 

THE GLORY OF YOUR SPIRIT

 

The more I study the Plan of Salvation, the more amazed I am at what a system of precision and intricate planning it took for us to evolve into a peopled planet with a view of eternal destination, the success of which we very much owe to two people.

There were two things in the Garden of Eden that hung in balance and could have arrested the Plan of Salvation and they were in the form of two trees.

Not partaking of the tree of knowledge of good and evil would have been devastating to the Plan as Adam and Eve could not have had children and thus could not bring about the human family. Partaking of that fruit planted seeds of mortality within them and thus it brought about The Fall. That was the right choice we all expected but partaking the fruit of the second tree, the tree of life, would have been such a dangerous act that God the Father positioned a cherubim with a flaming sword to prevent that from happening (Moses 4:28-31).

Had Adam and Eve partaken of the fruit of the second tree, they would have been doomed forever by becoming immortal prematurely. Had this happened this too would have annihilated the whole Plan of Salvation. Had it happened there would have been no repentance, no redemption, no advancement, no probation, no children, no exaltation. They would have become immortal in their fallen state and been forever miserable (Alma 12:26)

And one other very important thing – no death.

And this is why death is important. Death purifies the physical body, which is a temporal mass of atoms, in preparation for the resurrection (President Joseph Fielding Smith, “Answers to Gospel Questions”, 5 vols [1957-66], 4:185).  The spirit, however, is an eternal matter made of light that goes through refinement, improvement and progress which adds to its glory (B. Grant Bishop, M.D., “The LDS Gospel of Light”, p 106). The spirit is the pilot, the body is the vehicle .

“When the spirit leaves the body and passes into the spirit world, it is entering a kingdom specifically organized to prepare each spirit for the resurrection. Alma had a revelation concerning it and said: “now there must needs be a space betwixt the time of death and the time of resurrection” (Alma 40:6).

“This space of time is used for the cleansing, redemption and education of the spirit. The spirit is prepared for as high a degree of glory as it is capable of receiving. How the individual conducted himself during mortality determines, to a very large extent, what that degree of glory shall be.” (Clean Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years” p 70).

Without death there is no resurrection and without resurrection there is no immortality and eternal life. And this is resurrection: “They who are of a celestial SPIRIT shall receive the same body which was a natural body….and YOUR glory (the glory of one’s spirit) shall be the GLORY by which your bodies are quickened.” (D&C 88:28)

A personal view. The most enlightened prayers I have had in my life have been the ones where I had asked for the Holy Ghost to give me the words of my prayer. Some years ago I was given to say that I will “rise to be the glorious being I was before the earth began”. Never before then have I ever entertained the idea that my spirit possessed any glory in any degree. If we could all see ourselves without this body of clay, we would see ourselves in a very different light indeed.

In the end, the real success of our story belongs to only one person, The Saviour Jesus Christ….the Creation, the Redemption, the Resurrection, the Exaltation……all glory be to His holy name!!!

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Soul's Surrender by Greg Collins)

A GIFT OF GOD

 

“Though within the reach of all who diligently strive to gain it, faith is nevertheless a divine gift. As is fitting for so priceless a pearl, it is given to those only who show by their sincerity that they are worthy of it, and who give promise of abiding by its dictates.

“Although faith is called the first principle of the Gospel of Christ, though it be in fact the foundation of religious life, yet even faith is preceded by sincerity of disposition and humility of soul, whereby the word of God may make an impression upon the heart. No compulsion is used in bringing men to a knowledge of God; yet, as fast as we open our hearts to the influences of righteousness, the faith that leads to life eternal will be given us of our Father.”

-          James E. Talmage, “Articles of Faith” p 107

Elder Talmage goes on to say: “Faith is the secret of ambition, the soul of heroism, the motive power of effort” (ibid p 103). Consider these Old Testament heroes who achieved admirable feats through faith that will live in the annals of history forever (Hebrews 11):

By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; (v 5)

By faith Noah, being warned of God, prepared an ark to the saving of his house (v 7)

By faith Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac  (v 17)

Through faith Sara herself received strength to conceive seed and was delivered of a child when she was past age (v 11)

By faith Moses forsook Egypt and passed through the Red Sea as by dry land (v 27,29)

By faith the Brother of Jared led a colony of people from the Tower of Babel to a promised land in the western hemisphere, whose faith revealed the yet unborn Christ to him and to whom he spoke face to face (Ether 1-6: D&C 17:1).

These are not simple, ordinary achievements, these are achievements that required extraordinary faith, divine faith, an endowment of godly faith, the Father’s gift of faith…..

This type of faith can only be gifted through our personal righteousness, as indicated by Elder Talmage. In Saviour’s words: “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him.” (John 14:21). Is there a more glorious promise??? 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus Christ by Biju Mathew)

THE DESCENT

 

“Christ’s Atonement was a descent into the seemingly “bottomless pit” of human agony. He took upon himself the sins of the most wretched of all sinners; he descended beneath the cruelest tortures devised by man. His downward journey encompassed the transgressions of those who ignorantly sinned; it incorporated that quantum of suffering unrelated to spiritual error, but nonetheless viably acute in stinging proportions – the agony of loneliness, the pain of inadequacy, the suffering of infirmities and sickness. In the course of His divine descent He was assaulted with every temptation inflicted on the human race……“He descended below all things” (D&C 88:6).”  (Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement” p 104,5)

If you can find yourself somewhere in that bottomless pit of human agony herein described, don’t despair. There is someone who has met you there and taken upon himself all your suffering. I bear my witness of this truth.

My first major trial lasted 11 years and when it was over I felt shattered and hanging by a thread. This is when I learnt what the Saviour can do through the power of His Atonement. I knew only He could deliver me from the pain I was in and I sought to make the Atonement active in my life. I affirmed my faith in Jesus Christ and asked for its healing power many times during the day. The healing came in such magnitude as I had not expected. It grounded me in my faith of Him as if I was nailed with the spikes of the cross.

During my second major trial, which lasted 20 years, the Atonement of Christ remained active in my life to ensure my survival. Time and time again, He lifted me out of that pit to keep me going. When it was finished, I was given the promise of eternal life. I began to see this earthly life as insignificant in comparison and came to understand what Paul meant when he said if we have faith regarding this life only, we will be of all men most miserable (1 Cor 5:19). My focus on what is yet to come was born.

This time, in my third major trial, I have noticed the power of the Atonement active in my life again differently. I have recognised what it is making of me. Last week, in my extremity, I finally relinquished control and was able to say with heartfelt commitment and all the energy of my soul: “Thy will be done”. No pleading for relief, no pleading for a healing, no pleading for mercy, no battles, just surrender…..just, “Thy will be done”. It was a peace I have never known before.

I prayed in faith

That you would save me

From the river of my tears.

 

You took my soul and rescued me

 And promised I’ll be more than I could be

If I look toward eternity.

 

I look to You in every thought

And surrender all my fears;

Your sacred promise like a flame

Locked in my heart these many years.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Peace to Your Heart by Greg Collins)

A LIFE WITHOUT HOPE

 

“One Sunday morning our teenaged son stood with two other priests to administer the sacrament, as they had done on many prior occasions. They pulled back the white cloth, but to their dismay there was no bread. One of them slipped out to the preparation room in hopes some could be found. There was none.

“Finally, our troubled son made his way to the bishop and shared the concern with him. A wise bishop then stood, explained the situation to the congregation, and asked, “How would it be if the sacrament table were empty today because there was no atonement? I have thought of that often – what would it be like if there were no bread because there had been on crucifixion, no wager because there had been no shedding of blood?

“If there had been no Atonement, what would the consequences be to us? Of course, the question is now moot, but it does put in perspective our total dependence on the Lord. To ask and answer this question only heightens our awareness of, and appreciation for, the Saviour. What might have been, even for the “righteous”, if there had been no atoning sacrifice, stirs the very depths of human emotion.

“First, there would be no resurrection (2 Nephi 9:7); second, our spirits would become subject to the devil and we would become like him (Alma 34:35; 2 Nephi 9:9); third, we would be shut out from the presence of God forever (2 Nephi 9:9); fourth, we would “endure a never-ending torment” (Mosiah 2:39); fifth, we would be without hope, without faith and be of all men most miserable (1 Cor 15:14,19).

-          Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement” p 57,58)

During the strict covid restrictions when we could not go to Church, I sat at my daughter's kitchen table twice as my son-in-law reverently blessed the sacrament. Each time he did so I couldn’t control my tears. As I sat there I pictured the Saviour sitting at just such an ordinary table and blessing the emblems of His sacrifice and I understood what it was He had actually done for me.

For Him there was no chapel with cushy seats, no organ to assist the song, no fluffy white bread to pleasure the tongue. As my son-in-law passed the sacrament to me on the kitchen plate I came to know what it means to 'eat His body' as I have eaten from that kitchen plate before. Never before or since have I felt so close to the Saviour during Sacrament as I have at my daughter's kitchen table.

If you were not,

I would not be,

Silence would have wept at Calvary!

 

If you were not,

I would not be,

As death would claim me eternally.

 

If you were not,

I would not be,

Joyless would be my destiny.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Breaking Bread by B. Laura Wilson)

DIVINE INTEGRITY

 

“Over long eons of time in the premortal realm he [Christ] proved faithful and dependable and honorable in every commitment, every responsibility, and every charge. The scriptures tell us that “from eternity to eternity he is the same” (D&C 76:4). He never deviated from the mark, never slacked in his performance, never shrank from his word.

“He kept every command with exactness; he discharged every duty with precision; he was “not slack concerning his promise” (2 Peter 3:9). His promises were “immutable and unchangeable” (D&C 104:2). As a result, his spiritual credit was rapidly escalating until it was pure gold, even infinite in value. That is why the laws of justice could recognize the benefits of the Atonement BEFORE the purchase price was ever paid, because his promise, his pledge, his credit was “good for it”, and everyone who honored their first estate knew it.

“In the premortal council the Saviour covenanted with the Father to perform the Atonement. John Taylor wrote, “A covenant was entered into between Him and His Father, in which He agreed to atone for the sins of the world,” and hence he became known as “the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:8; see also Moses 7:47). The Gospel of Philip, one of the Nag Hammadi books, suggests similarly:

“It was not only when he appeared that he voluntarily laid down his life, but he voluntarily laid down his life from the very day the world came into being. Then he came forth in order to take it, since it had been given as a pledge.”

“Based on that pledge or covenant we had faith in him. Based on that covenant the Father could promise remission of sins prior to the atoning sacrifice because he “knew” his Son would not fail. The issue was not that he could not break his covenant, but rather, THAT HE WOULD NOT.”

-          Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement, p 80-81

 

When You stood in Heaven’s Council,

Did You know we would not heed?

That we would fail to see

You could meet our every need?

Yes, You knew, and still….

Long before creation be,

You climbed Your way to Calvary.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Divine Redeemer by Simon Dewey)

THREE PILLARS OF ETERNITY: THE ATONEMENT

 

“You shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God (D&C 14:7). It is a pure gift – we have no right to it: we have proved our helplessness to achieve it and our unworthiness to possess it. Jesus Christ bought it for us: He paid the ransom price, He redeemed us when we could not redeem ourselves, and He gave us eternal life as a free gift. He has taught us how to qualify for the gift, but the gift itself we could never earn by our own efforts.” (Hugh Nibley, “Approaching Zion” p 137)

The above quote is the greatest understanding that I have received regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the study of which can be overwhelming.  I don’t think we will ever come to understand how it was executed, in this life or even the next. It’s an experience exclusive to one person and to fully understand someone’s experience one has to be a partaker of it to some degree.

The best we can do is understand the three principal purposes of the Atonement:

1.      To restore all that was lost by the Fall of Adam which brought about physical death (1 Corinthians 15:21-22).

2.      To overcome the first spiritual death by bringing us back into God’s presence to be judged and the second spiritual death for those who will repent (Helaman 14:16-18).

3.      To provide the power necessary to exalt us to the status of a god (D&C 76:69).

Much can be said about all three of these reasons but I would like to expound a little on the third one as I feel that exaltation is the main purpose of the Plan of Salvation. The role of the Atonement of Jesus Christ plus our own efforts of repentance is meant to produce one thing and that is not only to live with God the Father, but to become like Him. God the Father is not only a perfect, resurrected being but an exalted one, meaning He is God, therefore our goal is exaltation:

“To live with God does not assure us we will be like Him. All who live in the celestial kingdom dwell with God, but only those who are exalted become as He is. The objective of the Atonement is not just to cleanse us, but to so transform our lives and our way of thinking and acting that we become like God.” (Tad Callister, “The Infinite Atonement”, p 27)

What is the life of God the Father like? It is one of eternal joy in a marital capacity that never ends, being a co-creator of posterity and worlds without end with someone who loves you with a perfect love, a love that lasts forever and ever. This is the crowning blessing and the perfect state of a God. This is where we hail from and this is where the Atonement of our Saviour Jesus Christ can take us to.

 My heart is full of love for Thee,

As I stand in awe of Thy Godly majesty,

The magnitude of worlds

And the stars of heaven

That roll upon their wings praising Thee.

The creation of man, a crowning glory

To Thy priesthood and Thy throne,

In endless praise of Thy name

In the splendour of Thy celestial home.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Worlds Without Number by Rose Datoc Dall) 

THREE PILLARS OF ETERNITY: THE FALL

 

“He [Adam] stood in the presence of his Maker, conversed with him face to face, and gazed upon his glory, without a dimming veil between. O reader, contemplate for a moment this beautiful creation, with peace and plenty: the earth teeming with harmless animals,….the air swarming with delightful birds whose never-ceasing notes filled the air with varied melody;….while legions of angels encamped round about him and joined their glad voices in grateful songs of praise and shouts of joy.

“Neither sigh nor groan was heard through the vast expanse; neither was there sorrow, fear, pain, weeping, sickness, nor death; neither contentions, wars, nor bloodshed, but peace crowned the seasons as they rolled, and life, joy, and love reigned over all God’s works.”  (Parley P. Pratt, “Key to the Science of Theology and Voice of Warning, ; p 85)

Such was Parley P. Pratt’s vision of the idyllic world of Eden. But as idyllic as it was, a Harvard philosopher, John Fiske, called it rightly a “way-station, not a destination” a fool’s paradise where nothing called ‘character’  could have been produced there” (Fiske, “Studies in Religion”, p 252)

The Garden of Eden, where such tranquility existed, had two positives and two negatives. The positives were: 1. Immortality; 2. The presence of God. This state of existence produced only one thing, “a world of spiritual sterility” (Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement, p 34)

The two negatives of Eden were: 1. No knowledge of good and evil hence no moral agency and no progression; and 2. No procreation. “A continuation of this condition would literally defeat the plan of salvation (ibid, p 35)

There is much that can be written about this subject but this has to be the most important thing we should take away from it. When Adam and Eve partook of the fruit, the seeds of death were planted in their veins and when they were cast out from the Garden of Eden they became ‘spiritually dead’ (D&C 29:41). To be spiritually dead means to be ‘cut off from the presence of the Lord’ (2 Nephi 9:6; see also Helaman 14:16).

“To be cast from the presence of the Holy One is estrangement of the worst kind. It is to take from us that which means most – our sense of belonging to the divine family. It is to strip us of security and self-worth in one fatal blow…It is akin to restricting our communication with a loved one to the telephone; the lines can be clear, the conversation frequent, but the happiness that comes from being in another’s physical presence is missing.” (Tad R. Callister, “The Infinite Atonement, p 41). This is the state Adam and Eve were in after they left Eden. And this is the state of us now. Only the telephone line is there.

This is what we should take notice of…..There is a return from the first spiritual death through the Atonement of Christ but there shall be no return from the final spiritual death that shall be pronounced upon all the wicked on Judgment Day when God shall say: Depart, ye cursed (D&C 29:41).  

This is something we would feel the effects of for eternity: a perpetual sorrow, a wanting, a longing that can never be satisfied. To be cut off from the presence of God is the greatest tragedy there is. Even Cain in his depraved condition considered his banishment from God’s presence more than he could bear (Genesis 4:13,14).

I think the Saviour knew in the beginning what it means to be cut off from Father’s presence forever. This is why He yearned to save us from this devastation, hence so much emphasis on the sheep that are ‘lost’.

 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Creation of Eve by Rose Datoc Dall)

 

THREE PILLARS OF ETERNITY: THE CREATION

 

“The most important events that ever have or will occur in all eternity…are the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement……..the Creation, the Fall, and the Atonement are inseparably woven together to form one plan of salvation….No one of them stands alone, each of them ties into the other two; and without a knowledge of all of them, it is not possible to know the truth about any of them….(Bruce R. McConkie, “Christ and the Creation”, Ensign, June 1982, p 9)

Elder McConkie called these three eternal verities, “Three Pillars of Eternity”. Without them we cannot progress to godhood. Here is the purpose of the Creation of this planet which is the basis and foundation of the other two:

1.      To obtain a temporal body which will one day become immortal.

2.      To obtain a fulness of joy through resurrection and immortality.

3.      The power of procreation, which is the primary blessing of godhood.

4.      For the second stage of testing. During the first stage, in our first estate when we were spirits (Abraham 3:25,26), one third of us chose to forsake the struggle and the tutoring. This alone proves that godhood is not for the faint hearted.

One crucial purpose of this particular planet was for the enactment of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. This planet is home to the worst and the best of us. No other planet created and peopled by God would crucify their God (2 Nephi 10:3; Moses 7:36). Without the Atonement, the Plan of Salvation would have been arrested.

“In the theology of the restored Church of Jesus Christ, the purpose of mortal life is to prepare us to realise our destiny as sons and daughters of God – to become like Him….. The Bible describes mortals as ‘the children of God’ and as ‘heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (Romans 8:16-17)”. (President Dallin H. Oaks, “Apostasy and Restoration”, Ensign May 1995, 86-87)

 

I long to be where I once was,

A child in my eternal home.

I long to see the God of love

And with Him walk the heaven’s floor.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: He Lifts Me by Danny Hahlbohm)

THE ENEMY THAT NEVER SLEEPS

 

There have been evil societies on this earth from day one because the enemy never sleeps. Two of them are worthy of mention: the people in the days of Noah who were so evil that God swept the whole earth clean with a flood (Moses 7:33,34); and the Nephite civilization that allowed wickedness and evil to lead them to destruction in ancient America.

I want to mention the Nephites as the Flood will be covered later in our Come Follow Me studies. I find it hard to fathom the atrocities such as were committed amongst the Nephites of Mormon’s day (Moroni 9:8-10). Mormon described his people as brutal, strong in their perversion and delighting in everything that is not good. He went on to say that ‘tongue could not tell, neither could it be written’ of the suffering among the women and children (Mormon 9:19).

Mormon recorded that ‘a continual scene of wickedness and abominations had been before his eyes ever since he had been sufficient to behold the ways of man’ (Mormon 2:18). In his last epistle to his son, he cried to God to ‘hide their sins, and wickedness and abominations from before His face!” (Moroni 9:15).

Mormon wrote the whole Book of Mormon in such a way that we might come to know the enemy and ‘be more wise than they have been’ (Mormon 9:31). Unfortunately, we don’t learn from history. The adversary is working today in secret ways, in corridors of power and in personal battlefields. He seeks our destruction and when he succeeds, he laughs and he and his angels rejoice (3 Nephi 9:2).

The adversary knows us. He observes our behaviour and our choices and our words. He knows what buttons to push.  He sees those moments when we are at our weakest. He waits for those moments. He lives for those moments.

This is why we need to take notice, now more than ever. We are preparing for the Millenium. When the Saviour comes, there will be destruction of evil at a level which we have never witnessed before: “And the saints also shall hardly escape; nevertheless, I, the Lord, am with them, and will come down in heaven from the presence of my Father and consume the wicked with unquenchable fire D&C 63:34)

Those who have been righteous and accepted Christ as their Redeemer and lived by His commandments will be transfigured to abide His glory and will be caught up to meet Him in the clouds of heaven, together with the righteous dead who will rise from their graves. (Joseph Fielding Smith, “Doctrines of Salvation”, 2:296). Can you imagine a more glorious sight? This is what we want to be a part of.

And the enemy? He will be bound by those who sought to conquer him on their personal battlefields so he will have no power over them for a thousand years (D&C 101:28; 1 Nephi 22:26; Moroni 9:6). Now this is what I am looking forward to……..

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Descending From The Clouds of Heaven by Greg Collins)

THE TEST

 

“You may wonder why we are not sharing the fun here on earth. That’s because we have been quarantined. We’ve been isolated for a special testing situation. Remember, that’s what the Lord told Enoch when he was talking about the world. He had created “worlds without number” and yet he told Enoch, “Among all the workmanship of my hands there has not been so great wickedness as among thy brethren.” (Moses 7:36) 

“So, in worlds without number, this is number one, the worst. This means when you are here, you are getting a real test.”   (Hugh Nibley, Old Testament and Related Studies [Deseret Book Co., Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies], 1986, 146)

He was one of us. He was great and mighty. He was in the bosom of the Father and in authority among us (D&C 76:25). He was also a liar and a murderer from the beginning (John 8:44). And he was full of pride and unrighteous ambition and when he fell the heavens wept over him (D&C 76:26).

He is now cast to this earth, a Thief who comes to steal, kill and destroy (John 10:10). He seeks to steal our spiritual identity, kill our faith in God and destroy our commitment to Christ, the source of our salvation, and this is his method of destruction:

HIS THREE DOCTRINES are: 1. No punishment for sin; 2. Nothing after death; 3. He does not exist.

HIS LIES THROUGH RATIONALISATION: 1. Just once won’t hurt; 2. No one will know; 3. Everybody is doing it.

HIS VALUE SYSTEM: 1. Selfishness; 2. Self-indulgence; 3. Immediate gratification.

HIS SALES TECHNIQUES: 1. Pacifying; 2. Flattering; 3. Lulling (see 2 Nephi 28:21-22)

HIS WORDLY ENTICEMENTS: 1. Power; 2. Popularity; 3. Praise.

I can see all these playing out in our society but there is something the Thief cannot do….he cannot overcome Him who came that we might have life, and that we might have it more abundantly (John 10:10)……the Saviour of all mankind, the Lion of Judah who keeps us in His care.

 

He was the Son of the Morning,

His pride yielded irreversible cost

In the beginning we sorely wept

When his soul was forever lost.

 

Like a thief in the night,

He now seeks to steal, kill and destroy.

He is the collector of ruined lives,

The Master of ravaged souls.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: In God's Care by Greg Collins)

THE ENEMY

 

Imagine this fear. When Joseph was asked by some brethren about the creation of the world and how it was inhabited, he answered:

“I will tell you how it was. You and I were in the spirit world at the grand council….we saw and heard them talk of formation of the world and we were among those when the morning stars sang together and when the sons of God shouted for joy. We were among those who had more courage than others and therefore we came down here and took bodies.

“Some who did not have the courage said, “Father, we have fought Satan face to face here in the spirit world and helped to cast him down there and now to go down and fight him again face to face, we are afraid we shall never return to thy presence and would prefer a lesser degree of glory and go to some other of your creations where we are sure of returning. Yes, you and I had more courage and came down HERE of our own agency and choice.”  (Autobiography of Anson Call, p 19)

Who is this enemy that is so feared? When Moses encountered him and refused to worship him, Satan’s reaction drove exceeding fear into him to the point where he saw the bitterness of hell (Moses 1:20). I am guessing that would be enough to scare any righteous person to lose courage. I fear though that we have become so desensitised to sin in our day and age that we don’t fear him enough and he doesn’t seem real enough.

The adversary has two goals: 1. To make all men miserable like himself (2 Nephi 2:27); and 2. To overthrow Christ who he rebelled against in pre-earth life (D&C 29:36-9). I once asked a friend of mine in Utah who is very well versed in scripture why Satan is called ‘the son of the morning’. Here is what he replied:

“My presumption is that the term ‘morning’ refers to the fact that he was born early on as a spirit offspring of the Father. Perhaps he might have even been second born vs his brother who was firstborn.

“We have so many fascinating stories among the great patriarchs of having two competing sons vying for the firstborn birthright and it almost seems as though these stories are a continuation of that which started in the pre-mortal life with the Saviour and Lucifer. You can even get that sense from a statement in D&C 88:115, about Lucifer having as his goal that of displacing his brother from his throne.” (Larry Keeler, 6 February 2023)

The adversary knows if he gets us, he gets Him….but that will never be….because we are the brave ones…..

There is a desire in my soul

That wants to conquer Goliath

And watch him fall….

This warrior within me never sleeps

And yearns to hear the angels’ call,

A call to battle to make the devil fall.

And when Christ comes in clouds so holy

He will conquer that enemy

And we will confess His glory.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: He Shall Reign by Susan Edwards)

THE SCHOOL OF SPIRITS

 

I love the fact that the scriptures are a bridge across time and testify of the one and only truth in different dispensations. What Abraham was given to know almost 2,000 years B.C. about “the intelligences that were organised before the world was”, President Joseph Fielding Smith was also told in the year 1918 A.D. during his vision of the spirit world where he witnessed the presence of the ‘noble and great intelligences’ who were chosen as leaders in Christ’s Church (Abraham 3:22,23). After seeing the early leaders of this dispensation, his vision was expanded to others:

“I observed that they were also among the noble and great ones who were chosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God. Even before they were born, they, with MANY OTHERS, received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the due time of the Lord to labor in his vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.” (D&C 138:55,56)

It is worthy to notice that the noble and great ones were not only the leaders but ‘many others’ who have been called to labour for the salvation of God’s children, whether in this life or the spirit world. Many of these spirits were faithful daughters of Mother Eve ‘who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God’ (D&C 138:39). This is us.

No doubt our preparation was based on our commitment, our intelligence, our talents and the growth we had already acquired. Of this preparation, President Joseph Fielding Smith taught: “During the ages in which we dwelt in the pre-mortal state, we not only developed our various characteristics and showed our worthiness and ability, or the lack of it, but we were also where such progress could be observed.

“It was natural for our Father to discern and choose those who were most worthy and evaluate the talents of each individual. He knew not only what each of us COULD do, but also what each of us WOULD do when put to the test and when responsibility was given us”. (“The Way to Perfection” [1970], 50-51).

If you ever feel that you have nothing to offer to the Church, your circle of family and friends or even the world, don’t. We are a chain of humanity. Each of us contributes in different ways. Even if it is just to increase light in the world of darkness, by our goodness, our testimony, our service, our love. The Father places each one of His children in time and place where they can be of advantage and where their spirit can shine to be ‘the light of the world’ in whatever capacity is theirs (Matthew 5:14-16).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that “the greatest and most important talent or capacity that any of the spirit children of the Father could gain is the talent of spirituality” (“A New Witness for the Articles of Faith” [1985] p 512). Why is this talent the most important? Because we need it to testify of God the Father and His Son and to labour for the salvation of souls.

If you love God and accept His Beloved Son as your Saviour, you are one of the noble and great ones…..your love for Him will spread throughout the world and touch people you might never even get to know.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Christ by Farid Fadel)