THE CITY OF ENOCH

 

“One of the most outstanding features of the society which Enoch established was the manner in which the Lord instructed him to combine the religious ideals of the people with certain divinely inspired economic principles. The successful practice of these principles resulted in a golden age of prosperity which continued throughout the earthly existence of this community – a total of three hundred and sixty-five years (Moses 7:68).” (W. Cleon Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years”, p 173)

This golden age of the City of Enoch is the blueprint of New Jerusalem, the modern day Millenial Zion upon the American continent. Enoch’s city had another name: the City of Holiness, even Zion (Moses 7:19). There is only one reason why this city was called the City of Holiness and that’s because ‘the Lord came and dwelt with his people’ and ‘dwelt in the midst of Zion  (Moses 7:16;69). It was He who was the embodiment of holiness and not its people. Much like He will be in New Jerusalem.

When the Saviour comes and resides in New Jerusalem, “the need will disappear for the sun and the moon to give light to God’s covenant people. The Lord Himself will be an everlasting light…and all the city will be lighted up by the glory of His presence….” (Orson Pratt, in “Journal of Discourses”, 14:355-56; see also D&C 133:57-58)

Because the Saviour was there with the people of Enoch, they ‘were of one heart and one mind and dwelt in righteousness and there was no poor among them’ (v 18). This description tells us one thing: because the citizens of Zion were true followers of Christ, they were endowed with His pure love.

Without the pure love of Christ we can never become citizens of Celestial Kingdom. A Zion life-style prepares us for this eventuality. And here is something we need to know. This pure love is unique only to Christ. It is solely His kind of love. We do not possess it and neither are we capable of developing it. His pure love is an endowment on those who love Him and follow Him (Moroni 7:48). That’s the good news.

I am guessing that it took Enoch’s city 365 years of ‘walking with the Saviour’ to reach the state of holiness which ‘lifted them up, even into the bosom of the Father and of the Son of Man’ (Moses 7:24,69). Much like 1,000 Millenial years will prepare us for the same.

When the Saviour returns, those who are spared will be those who are only ‘more’ righteous than those who will not be spared, like the Nephites of old when he appeared to them after His resurrection (3 Nephi 9:13). There will be no perfect people on earth when He comes. Perfection only comes in and through Him. The Saviour will live with His saints upon this earth for a thousand years to perfect them through His grace and endow them with His pure love in preparation for the celestial realm.

When the Saviour returns, Enoch’s city will return with Him to live with Zion, the New Jerusalem (Moses 7:62). This is us. They will meet us there and “we will fall upon their necks, and they shall fall upon our necks, and we will kiss each other” (Moses 7:63)….it will be a meeting of hearts knit together with the pure love of Christ. The Saviour is at the door….the Millennium imminent. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Divine Companion by Yongsung Kim)

THE POWER OF ENOCH

 

In my last post about Enoch, I expounded on the power he was endowed with to overcome the enemies who sought the destruction of the Church of God he established in his day. To recap:

"And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them, and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command, and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him". (Moses 7:13)

 

After I wrote that post, I was reminded of the early pioneers in our dispensation and the persecution and destruction they endured and then I also remembered Nephi’s vision of us in the last days wherein he saw the enemy that will ‘gather together multitudes upon the face of all the earth to fight against the Lamb of God and the saints of the church of the Lamb’ (1 Nephi 14:12-14)…… and I wondered what is yet awaiting us.

 

Now for the good news. There is something very interesting about the power the Lord gave to Enoch. It would seem this power was not only for him but was also to be had by his every  descendant.  The interesting thing being is that every mortal is a descendant of Enoch.  

 

Enoch was the Father of Methuselah who was not translated with his father’s city but who died the year of the flood (Moses 8:3-7). Methuselah was the father of Lamech, who was the father of Noah.  Everybody that has been born on this earth after Noah is Noah's descendant and therefore a descendant of Enoch.  The Lord made an oath with Enoch regarding his power which is found in Joseph Smith Translation:

 

"For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself, that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course; to put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God, to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers, and this by the will of the Son of God which was before the foundation of the world". (JST Appendix in Genesis 14:30, 31)

 

Have you ever read of a power so great? It’s a power which greatness must equal the greatness of the enemy of all righteousness we have to fight in the war we are all engaged in.  And what is this power? It is the power of the priesthood.

 

The scriptures are clear that the saints of God are endowed with this power in the temple (D&C 95:8; 109:22). This is where we make covenants which in turn endow us with the power of the saving ordinances of the priesthood. We cannot stand in the presence of God without the mantle of the priesthood upon us.

 

The oath sworn by God to Enoch and his seed is a promise made to us.  All mortals who embrace the power of the priesthood have been promised that by their faith they can do the very works of Enoch. These works lead us to only one place……Zion.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Restoration by Liz Lemon Swindle)

A YOUNG LAD CALLED ENOCH

 

Enoch is the greatest example of what God can make of us. He should be known more for his process of becoming than for the fact that he and his city were translated, as important as that is.

Enoch was only 25 years old when he was ordained by Adam to the Priesthood, long before his father and grandfather (D&C 107:48). He grew up in the land of Cainan among the people of righteousness and was taught ‘in all the ways of God’ by his father (Moses 6:41).

Not only was he relatively young compared to his predecessors who were well into 3 digits when called to the ministry, he had a serious problem. He pointed out to the Lord that he was very unqualified. He was young, he had a speech impediment and people hated him (Moses 6:31). It was also a perilous time, a time when Satan had great dominion among the people, when wars and bloodshed raged and ‘a man’s hand was against his own brother, in administering death, because of secret works, seeking for power’ (v 15).

 

But God needed something that Enoch had going for him to preach repentance to a failing society. He was righteous and He trusted God. The Lord acknowledged his lack of confidence and gave him some iron clad promises that would ensure his success, namely, that no man will afflict him, that He will give him utterance and will justify all his words and that He will make him so powerful that mountains will flee before him and the rivers will turn from their course (Moses 6:32-34). And then this: “Therefore walk with me” (v 34). Have courage, have no fear, have only trust in me.

 

Enoch did walk with God  (v 39) and because of it he became a brilliant young prophet whose words pierced the hearts of the crowds who came to hear him: “The mobs surrounded the hills and high places from which he spoke and the scripture says “all men were offended because of him” (Moses 6:37)….and his reputation spread like the east wind before him. The people anticipated his arrival in each new locality and messengers brought words that he drew near…(v 38)” (W. Cleon Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years” p 160)

 

And because he walked with God “no man laid hands on him; for fear came on all them that heard him” and “the people trembled, and could not stand in his presence." (Moses 6:39,47).

Unfortunately, not only the converted feared but the proud and the wicked multitudes who had assembled to hear him became highly offended by his preaching and eventually came pouring over the hills and plains to slaughter the people of God. And this is when came the display of incredible power of God through a young prophet called Enoch:

 

"And so great was the faith of Enoch that he led the people of God, and their enemies came to battle against them, and he spake the word of the Lord, and the earth trembled, and the mountains fled, even according to his command, and the rivers of water were turned out of their course; and the roar of the lions was heard out of the wilderness; and all nations feared greatly, so powerful was the word of Enoch, and so great was the power of the language which God had given him". (Moses 7:13)

 

It was an incredible life of an incredible patriarch. He who allowed God to make something great of him to participate in God’s greatest work and His glory, that of ‘bringing to pass immortality and eternal life of man’ (Moses 1:39).

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: My Father's Work by Chris Brazelton)

 

THE ANCIENT OF DAYS

 

There is a place in Daviess county, Missouri, which is called Spring Hill. This place “was named by the mouth of the Lord, Adam-Ondi-Ahman”, literal translation being “Where Adam-having taken-God” (Ahman being the name of God in pure language) (“History of the Church”, 3:34-35). This is the place where one of the most tender events occurred on the American continent, the knowledge of which we owe to modern-day revelation through the modern-day prophet Joseph Smith.

This is where Adam, the Ancient of Days, bestowed his last blessing upon the patriarchs and his righteous posterity three years prior to his death (D&C 107:53-56). When the Saviour appeared to this congregation, Adam’s posterity “rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel”. The Lord then administered comfort unto Adam and said unto him: I have set thee to be at the head; a multitude of nations shall come of thee, and thou art a prince over them forever.” (D&C 107:54-55).

After the Lord administered to him, Adam stood up even though he was ‘bowed down with age, and being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation’ (v 56). When Joseph Smith visited Spring Hill in 1876 he was privileged to see Adam, the Ancient of Days, in a vision of this momentous meeting (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” p 158).

Adam lived 930 years according to Genesis 5:5 and Moses 6:12 but died in the ‘same day’ he partook of the fruit as the promise of death was spoken by God when the earth was still subject to the Lord’s time which was after the time of Kolob (Abraham 5:13). Imagine living and enduring that long…..

There will come a time when Adam will return to Adam-Ondi-Ahman: “He will call his children together and hold a council with them to prepare them for the coming of the Son of Man”…..The Son of Man will stand before him, and there will be given Him glory and dominion. Adam will deliver up his stewardship to Christ, who holds the keys of the universe, but will retain his standing as the head of the human family (“Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith” p 157).

This is the great Council of which neither the Church members nor the world will know about which will take place prior to the Saviour’s Second appearing as a ‘thief in the night’ (D&C 106:4) (Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, “Way to Perfection” pp 290-91; also D&C Student Manual p 288)

There is no greater summation of the Plan of Salvation that is as emotionally touching as this.  Adam, the head of the human family, having fulfilled his role so righteously as the father of all living, delivers his stewardship to the Saviour, the executor of the Plan of Salvation, at the winding up scenes of this earth. Promises kept, mission completed, humanity reared and saved.

Whereas Adam is the prince over us ‘forever’, the Saviour is the King. If not for Him, we would not be. And if not for continuous revelation we would not have glimpses of momentous occasions like this which bring to life the truth of our existence and which light the fire of our testimonies.

Every time I read the Doctrine and Covenants, my testimony of Joseph as the revelator and prophet increases. There is not one verse in that book of scripture that can convince me that Joseph had the intelligence and seership to produce such of himself.

The Saviour lives and guides His Church through living prophets. May our testimonies be such that we will bear witness of this when one day we kneel at Jesus’ feet.

 - CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Joseph Smith at Saviour's Feet by Liz Lemon Swindle)

 

THE PATRIARCHS

 

Between the more prominent patriarchs like Seth, Enoch, Noah and Abraham, there are those which are less prominent but of equal importance because they carried the priesthood line throughout all the generations of time. They are: Enos, Cannan, Mahalel, Jared, Methuselah, Lamech, Shen, Arphaxad, Salah….

Moses tells us that a book of remembrance was kept from the time of Seth, “in which was recorded, in the language of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of inspiration.” (Moses 6:5). I would love to know what these other patriarchs wrote in this book: their views, their sacred experiences, their faith and challenges.

This book is not even mentioned in the Old Testament. The chronology of the patriarchs receives only a mention in Genesis 5. It starts with Adam and within a matter of one chapter arrives at Noah. It basically only states how long these men had lived. Enoch is the only one that gets a longer mention and that of only 4 verses that say how long he lived, that he walked with God and that God took him (v 21-24). We know nothing from the Old Testament about him as a man, his calling, his city, his return to earth in the Millenium.

This brings me to my point….modern-day revelation, namely the Book of Mormon and the Pearl of Great Price. This is what we know further about the Book of Remembrance thanks to these books of scripture: Enoch and his people wrote in it (Moses 6:46); it was brought to America by the Jaredites which is a good indication that it survived the Flood  (Ether 8:9); it was possessed and cherished by Abraham (Abraham 1:31). 

We know that the first five books of the Old Testament were written by Moses. They are collectively called the ‘Pentateuch’. Such vital information was lost from these five books that the Lord in His mercy revealed it to Joseph Smith from June 1830 to February 1831. When I think of all the knowledge and insight I have received about Enoch alone from the Book of Moses, I want to weep with gratitude for the power of revelation and especially for the Prophet Joseph Smith.

From the beginning of time, God has called prophets to cry repentance, to direct the work of God and to lead people to Christ. They have been listened to, followed, rejected, and even stoned and killed (Matthew 23:37).

Generally, when the world looks back on the prophets of old, they do not remember them as humans with flaws and imperfections. They revere them because they were rejected, reviled and killed and because they are canonized in the scriptures……except for Joseph. It would seem that the very jaws of hell opened when he was called to be the prophet of this dispensation but what a witness he became of the burden these men carry that even leads them to death!

I look forward to the day when Joseph will be recognised as much as the prophets of old, when people will have a witness of his divine calling. I will bow in reverence before him that day and my gratitude will know no bounds for giving us a glimpse of heaven through the revelations he was given. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: The Translation Process by LDS Art)

 

 

INDOMITABLE ABRAHAM

 

Imagine being raised in a family where your parents had become entrenched in idolatry and believed in human sacrifice yet in your heart deeply burnt your testimony of the one true and living God. This was the childhood of a young man called Abraham from the land of Ur in the Chaldees (Abraham 1:1), what is now modern-day Iraq.

From the very beginning of his life, Abraham had an acute spiritual sensitivity to the reality of the one true and living God.  Consider these insights from his early life:

"At just three years of age, as one source has it, the boy already 'began to understand the nature of God', so that the next year he resisted when his grandfather tried to teach him to worship idols.  Nor could Abraham's father, despite long and persistent effort, persuade his son to revere the statues." (E. Douglas Clark, The Blessings of Abraham, Becoming A Zion People, p. 40)

"An ancient and widespread legend tells of bold action taken by the young Abraham.  The story is not found in the Bible, but it is the most oft-repeated Abrahamic narrative in the Qur'an, is found in numerous ancient Jewish sources, and was repeated by Brigham Young, John Taylor and Wilford Woodruff.  

“As recounted by Jewish sources, it began when the young Abraham found himself alone in a room full of idols….. The event was a major religious festival called by King Nimrod himself and was centred at Nimrod's pagan temple.  Abraham had been urged to attend by his father but declined to go and was instructed to stay behind to guard the idols.

When Abraham was all alone, he acted boldly and decisively.  Some sources report that 'the Spirit of God came upon him'.  As recounted by the Maaseh Avraham Avinu, 'He took an axe in his hand, and as he saw the idols of the king sitting, he said, 'The Eternal, He is God', and he 'pushed them off their thrones to the ground, and he smote them mightily…..' until 'all of them were broken'.  Then, placing 'the axe in the hand of the largest idol', Abraham left.

When his father and the king returned and discovered the wreckage, they were wroth.  'The king commanded that Abraham be brought before him.  And they brought him.  The king and his ministers said to him, 'Why did you shatter our gods?'  He said to them, 'I didn't break them, no.  Rather, the large one of them smashed them.  Don't you see that the axe is in his hand? And if you won't believe it, ask him and he will tell'.  And as the king heard his words, he became angry to the point of killing him."  (E. Douglas Clark, The Blessings of Abraham, Becoming A Zion People, p. 47)

And so the God of Abraham would not allow Abraham to forget Him and He would not allow him to forget who HE was. He would be with him always through this reminder: “When I organised all the intelligences, I saw there were noble and great ones, and I stood in the midst of them and chose my rulers and Abraham you were one of them. I will whisper it to you every minute of your mortal life so you will never forget me and you will never forget who YOU are.” (see Abraham 2:22,23)

We are likewise noble and great ones possessing the indomitable spirit of our father Abraham, ‘the father of the faithful’. God is whispering and we must never forget…..”The Eternal, He is God”.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Clouds of Glory by Greg Sargent)

 

IN HIS FOOTSTEPS

 

Out of all the patriarchs of old, Abraham is by far my most favourite. Apart from his desire for the blessings of the priesthood, his amazing obedience and righteousness, and his willingness to sacrifice, all of which are highly admirable, there is one thing about him that stands out to me the most.

Through Abraham and his life, I have a witness that we cannot become like the Saviour unless we save at least one person, whether in this life or the next. I will use him here as an introduction to the patriarchs of the Old Testament through this amazing story that illustrates my point:

"....Abraham 'was sitting at the entrance of the tent as the day grew hot' (JPST Gen 18:2).  It was the hottest part of a very hot day, say the rabbis, with the sun beating down mercilessly.  As one writer recounts, 'Abraham sits in his tent door enjoying its grateful shade, and looking out on the plain of Mamre, from which the sun's fiery beams have driven men, birds and panting beasts to such shelter as rocks and trees and tents can afford'.

“Abraham, however, was not focused on himself and his discomfort, compounded by his recent circumcision, but was worrying for travellers who might need assistance on a day like that.  'Notwithstanding the intense heat and his own sickness he still sat there to invite any stray passer-by'.  

“When no one came, he sent his servant to go in search of anyone needing help, even though Abraham had planted trees for the benefit of travellers - rest stops along the way.  When the servant returned without success, Abraham determined to go himself.  It was then, says rabbinic tradition, that Abraham discovered the three travellers.

“Abraham might easily have remained seated, and simply directed a servant or subordinate to attend to these travelers. Or, says one writers, 'he may wait their approach, leaving them to solicit his hospitality.  Not he - Abraham arose and despite the scorching heat, and 'although he was in great pain from his wound, ran forward to meet them' and  'bowed himself towards the ground' (Gen. 18:2)." (E. Douglas Clark, The Blessings of Abraham, p. 172). 

It is then that he received the promise of Isaac, because of his regard for his fellowman.

Wherever Abraham went in his journeys he acquired souls to save. The more I have studied about his life, the more amazed I have become but not surprised that he became ‘the father of the faithful’. Abraham exemplifies all the patriarchs because their one mission in life was the salvation of souls:

“And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good, and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.” (Abraham 3:23)

We might not rise to the status of Abraham or any of the patriarchs. We all have individualized responsibilities and directives in regards to saving others. It is the desire to save that matters the most. In my recent conversation with a friend, he disclosed to me the greatest level of that desire, that I have never even considered, when he told me that he has asked God to lay his inactive son’s sins on his shoulders. You cannot become Christ-like in a holier manner than this. 

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: As I Have Loved You by B. Laura Wilson)

THE RETURN

 

 

I came into the world:

To give peace to the suffering

To give hope to the down-trodden

To strenghten the weak

To lighten your burdens

To lift the downtrodden

To give sight to the blind

To give power to the faint

To give might to the weary

To comfort those who mourn

To bind up the broken-hearted

To show mercy to the penitent

To give you living water

To free the captive

To be a refuge from the storm

And a shadow from the heat

To give you rest from sorrow and fear

To break the bands of bondage

To empower the powerless

To conquer the sting of death

To be a light unto the world

To establish truth

To atone for you

To love you 

To help you

To save you.

 

I will return:

To conquer the enemy

To destroy the wicked

To govern in righteousness

To unite the nations

To gather my people Israel

To establish peace

To take away the sorrow

To make all things known

To flood the earth with truth

To resurrect you

To judge in righteousness

To give mercy to the penitent

To take you to the Father

To give you eternal life

To exalt you.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Jesus Beacon of Hope by Ivan Guaderrama)

THE RECOMPENSE OF GOD

 

Our beginning on this earth through Adam and Eve is an incredible witness that God’s purposes cannot be frustrated and that His success is imminent and without fail.

Something wonderful happened to Adam and Eve after they buried their hopes and dreams and plans for their righteous son Abel. He it was that was groomed by his parents to be the heir of the Priesthood and thus become the presiding high priest over the kingdom of God on earth. He was to succeed his father and become the head of a whole new cultural pattern of righteous living that would take the humanity on a different path than what was up to that time established by Satan among the children of men (Moses 6:15).

Only those parents who have buried their children after an unjust death would understand the deep sorrow experienced by Adam and Eve when they lost Abel. These parents, I believe, will be compensated for their loss, just like our first parents were, sometime, somewhere, somehow.

Adam was 130 years old when Eve had another son. This was the golden boy that replaced Abel. He was tutored and taught the science of righteous living and gave his parents cause to have hope for the future. This was Seth who in every way resembled his father Adam. The Lord in modern revelation said this of him: “Seth was a perfect man, and his likeness was the express likeness of his father….and could not be distinguished from him only by his age.” (D&C 107:43)

This was the compensation, the recompense, the reward for all our first parents suffered because of their children: “Seth lived a total of 912 years (ibid v 46), and during his long ministry he saw the Church of God become a great organized power for good among the children of men………. Seth prophesied and preached repentance for 840 years. As a result, many who would have otherwise grown up in wickedness caught the vision of faith which his daily conduct and sermons portrayed (Moses 6:23). (W. Cleon Skousen, “The First Two Thousand Years” p 132)

Seth, the recompense and the beginning of the patriarchs.

Some years ago I had a memory from my pre-earth life. I was sitting with the Saviour and He was saying to me: “I will save you and make up for everything”. My life to this day does not resemble any ‘make-up’ but I still believe in the promise. If not in this life, then most assuredly in the next, and the next life is what truly matters to me. In the meantime, all glory be to His name for the greatest recompense He has given me…..the close association I now have with Him and our Father….and that to me is the greatest reward I could possibly have.

May you, who are in your sorrow, believe in Him who has the power to say: “I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten……… (Joel 2:25)

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: Acquainted with Grief by Jenedy Paige)

TO KNOW THE ENEMY

 

There is great insight into the adversary, and how he operates, from his interaction with the children of Adam and Eve, and Cain in particular.

Firstly, to draw Cain into his web, Satan observed him closely. When Cain showed openly he was not interested in knowing God and aligned himself with his older brethren who loved Satan more than God, the adversary knew he had the right man (Moses 5:16). He needed someone as arrogant and prideful as himself but who knew the snares of mortality that could defeat God’s plan for humanity. And he was even prepared to sacrifice his position of leadership for such an opportunity. In time Cain became ‘the father of Satan’s lies’ and assumed his name of Perdition (5:24) and this is how it happened.

From his observation of Cain’s relationship with his righteous brother Abel , he knew just how to push the buttons to ignite jealousy and from there to initiate him into secret combinations of gain and murder (Moses 5:18-21). But to bind Cain into his oath, Satan first commanded him to implicate his apostate brothers in the same oath so that they would not reveal the plan to their father (Moses 5:29). Interesting, isn’t it? Why would he worry that Adam would find out?

This is why. Satan knew who Adam was and the coward that he is, he feared him. John the Beloved was shown the war in heaven and he described Satan as the dragon who fought with his angels and the leader who opposed him with his angels and prevailed against him was Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7-10)…… the name by which Adam was known in the pre-mortal life (Guide to the Scriptures, Gospel Library). Satan feared Adam who cast him and his followers down to this earth (v 11.

Secondly, he made Cain swear ‘by the living God’ that he would not reveal the secret oath by which he was bound. This was a plain admission on his part that there is none greater than God, and that he harbours secret respect for the very enemy he tries to deny and whose kingdom he tries to destroy. Not a very smart move for someone with self- aggrandizing bravado.

This is the most important part of this intriguing story: “During the ‘war in heaven’ shown to John the Beloved on the Isle of Patmos, it does not appear that Elohim interfered in any way even though He was greatly concerned with the outcome. The scripture says that when Satan was ultimately cast out it was Michael and his angels who did it. It even describes HOW they did it: ‘by the word of their testimony’ (Rev 12:11).”  (W. Cleon Skousen, “The First 2,000 Years”, p 101)

The adversary knows us from pre-earth life but he has no power here but what we give him. We have the biggest advantage that he will never have, a body. That in and of itself makes us greater than him, and he knows it. The second biggest advantage is our testimony of ‘the blood of the Lamb’, even the same that we defeated him with in pre-mortal life (v 11). The third biggest advantage is our righteousness. He quivers before it. He kneels before it. It is like an open flame that threatens to destroy.

Satan has no power on his best day to destroy you on your worst day…….fear not. You are one of the angels who fought the greatest war in our history and you prevailed against the greatest enemy….and you still have your sword.

- CATHRYNE ALLEN 

(Art: I Am A Warrior of Light by Greg Collins)

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)