What is Baptism?

There are three (3) distinct parts to baptism, but with only the bible as a reference this third part is often ignored since it appears to the common student of the Bible to only exist in two fleeting references and often taken to be referring to two the same thing by two names. Let look at what the King James version says about the three (3) forms of Baptism.

Matthew 3

11 I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

Luke 3

16 John answered, saying unto them all, I indeed baptize you with water; but one mightier than I cometh, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to unloose: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire:

According to these two verses John the Baptist baptized by water alone but Christ would baptize with the Holy Ghost and with fire. That is where the trail ends. Scriptures around these do allude to fire in reference to judgment and many ascertain that the Pentecost is the fulfillment of both these baptisms that Christ was to bring.

Fortunately, for members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we have a lot more that speaks to these three forms of baptism, but even then, it is still misunderstood by most including myself. Recently it has been impressed upon me to study the three forms of baptism by way of the Gift of the Holy Ghost. I have studied this off and on since I was a missionary and have never felt I had a spiritual confirmation of what I was looking for. I have spent many nights recently under instruction and am sure there is still much more to learn as time goes on.

First let’s look what Mark and John of the other two Gospels have to say about this doctrine. As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints we are fortunate to have the Joseph Smith Translation (JST) of the Bible commonly known as the Inspired version.

JST Mark 1

6 I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall not only baptize you with water, but with fire, and the Holy Ghost.

JST John 1

28 He it is of whom I bear record. He is that prophet, even Elias, who, coming after me, is preferred before me, whose shoe’s latchet I am not worthy to unloose, or whose place I am not able to fill; for he shall baptize, not only with water, but with fire, and with the Holy Ghost.

Note that the JST versions used for Mark and John give significantly more information then what has been preserved in the current King James version. Joseph Smith has also reversed the order to water, fire, and Holy Ghost.

Through Joseph Smith we also have a collection of writings now found in the book of the Peral of Great Price that adds extensively to the writings of Moses. Since the beginning of time starting with Adam, the Lord has revealed to us that there are three that testify on Earth.

Moses 6

55 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are conceived in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, sin conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the bitter, that they may know to prize the good.

56 And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are agents unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.

57 Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence; for, in the language of Adam, Man of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the Son of Man, even Jesus Christ, a righteous Judge, who shall come in the meridian of time.

58 Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying:

59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;

60 For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;

61 Therefore it is given to abide in you; the record of heaven; the Comforter; the peaceable things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all power according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.

62 And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the plan of salvation unto all men, through the blood of mine Only Begotten, who shall come in the meridian of time.

63 And behold, all things have their likeness, and all things are created and made to bear record of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.

64 And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water.

65 And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man.

66 And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with fire, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the record of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;

Here we have the first baptism on the Earth with Adam being baptized by water, fire, and the Holy Ghost as declared by Heavenly Father himself. Christ has explained, that we have come into this world being born of water, blood, and spirit. And that we need to be born again by water, Spirit, and blood. This all sounds very similar to the doctrine of Christ which is best taught in the Book of Mormon another Testament of Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of Christ is laid out by Christ in his Pre-mortal state to Nephi, the son of Lehi, along with the aid of Heavenly Father:

2 Nephi 31

11 And the Father said: Repent ye, repent ye, and be baptized in the name of my Beloved Son.

12 And also, the voice of the Son came unto me, saying: He that is baptized in my name, to him will the Father give the Holy Ghost, like unto me; wherefore, follow me, and do the things which ye have seen me do.

14 But, behold, my beloved brethren, thus came the voice of the Son unto me, saying: After ye have repented of your sins, and witnessed unto the Father that ye are willing to keep my commandments, by the baptism of water, and have received the baptism of fire and of the Holy Ghost, and can speak with a new tongue, yea, even with the tongue of angels, and after this should deny me, it would have been better for you that ye had not known me.

15 And I heard a voice from the Father, saying: Yea, the words of my Beloved are true and faithful. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.

I love this passage since it is one of the few times we have the Father and the Son speaking together. Note that the premortal Christ is here speaking of the baptism in the order of water, fire, Holy Ghost.

Nephi makes an interesting statement in the next chapter which is clearly and extension of what he wrote in 31

2 Nephi 32

6 Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.

The doctrine of Christ was laid out by Christ himself in his Post-mortal state to Nephi, the son of Nephi:

3 Nephi 11

31 Behold, verily, verily, I say unto you, I will declare unto you my doctrine.

32 And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

33 And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

35 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

37 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

40 And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.

This would suggest that becoming a little child is synonymous with being baptized. which really ties the Lord’s comments to Adam together with his baptism

How does this all fit together? Water, Fire/blood, Holy Ghost/Spirit, becoming as a little child/being born again? I think we need to look back at what Christ said to

John 3

1 There was a man of the Pharisees, named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews:

2 The same came to Jesus by night, and said unto him, Rabbi, we know that thou art a teacher come from God: for no man can do these miracles that thou doest, except God be with him.

3 Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.

4 Nicodemus saith unto him, How can a man be born when he is old? can he enter the second time into his mother’s womb, and be born?

5 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.

6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

8 The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

9 Nicodemus answered and said unto him, How can these things be?

10 Jesus answered and said unto him, Art thou a master of Israel, and knowest not these things?

11 Verily, verily, I say unto thee, We speak that we do know, and testify that we have seen; and ye receive not our witness.

12 If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

13 And no man hath ascended up to heaven, but he that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.

I reflected on the Article of Faith

4 We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the Gospel are: first, Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, Repentance; third, Baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, Laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Is the gift of the Holy Ghost synonymous with the Baptism of Spirit? Baptism is by immersion, regardless if it is by water, blood/fire, or Spirit.

A key element of the doctrine of Christ that is often neglected might be important to our discussion.

3 Nephi 11

32 And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

35 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

36 And thus will the Father bear record of me, and the Holy Ghost will bear record unto him of the Father and me; for the Father, and I, and the Holy Ghost are one.

He says it three times, and repeats that it is his doctrine and to sum it up he ends everything with

3 Nephi 11

40 And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.

Why do we skip this, our Missionaries skip this, gospel principles skips this, but it must be very important? As I focus on this I think of Jesus’s words to his apostles in the New testament after his resurrection.

Matthew 28

19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

What we are baptized by Water it seems most like the work that the Father has done for us. He has created a Spirit Body for us and a Physical Body, and allowed us to have blood course through our veins that we might experience mortality. All with the goal that we might someday be with him again and this time be like him as well. Even the first part of the sacramental prayer focuses on this:

Doctrine and Covenants 20

77 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread to the souls of all those who partake of it, that they may eat in remembrance of the body of thy Son, and witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given them; that they may always have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

When we are baptized by Blood/Fire it seems most like the work that the Son has done for us. One of the effects of the Adam and Eve partaking of the fruit of the tree of Knowledge was that they were given and everyone born into this world was given the light of Christ. Which is often referred to as the spirit of God, much like the Holy Ghost. The other tree of import in the garden was the tree of Life, which because of the fall the way to the tree of Life was guarded by Cherubim and a Flaming sword. Christ is often referred to as the way.

John 14

6 Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.

7 If ye had known me, ye should have known my Father also: and from henceforth ye know him, and have seen him.

It is also only because of the atonement and resurrection that we even have a path, a means , a way back into the presence of out Heavenly Father.

Romans 6

3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?

4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.

5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:

6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.

7 For he that is dead is freed from sin.

8 Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with him:

9 Knowing that Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more; death hath no more dominion over him.

10 For in that he died, he died unto sin once: but in that he liveth, he liveth unto God.

11 Likewise reckon ye also yourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus Christ our Lord.

The second part of the Sacramental prayer seams to focus on Christ, granted both parts do. Often since we use water in our services instead of red wine the symbolism my seam week or even confusing:

Doctrine and Covenants 20

79 O God, the Eternal Father, we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this wine to the souls of all those who drink of it, that they may do it in remembrance of the blood of thy Son, which was shed for them; that they may witness unto thee, O God, the Eternal Father, that they do always remember him, that they may have his Spirit to be with them. Amen.

It seams to me that when we are being baptized in water we are testifying to the Father, Son and Holy Ghost, and when we are baptized by Fire we are receiving the testimony of the Father, and the Son, and Holy Ghost. This is possible because of the blood of the Son. That we might receive the Holy Ghost not so much to testify to us of the Father and the son, which the Holy Ghost will do, but that we might with the tongue of angles testify of the Father and the Son to the world. Which is truly a Lifelong pursuit, to be immersed in the Testimony of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost.

I think to have received Baptism in full we could reference back to what Jesus Christ said in his great intercessory prayer.

John 17

21 That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be one in us: that the world may believe that thou hast sent me.

22 And the glory which thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one:

23 I in them, and thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; and that the world may know that thou hast sent me, and hast loved them, as thou hast loved me.

24 Father, I will that they also, whom thou hast given me, be with me where I am; that they may behold my glory, which thou hast given me: for thou lovedst me before the foundation of the world.

25 O righteous Father, the world hath not known thee: but I have known thee, and these have known that thou hast sent me.

26 And I have declared unto them thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith thou hast loved me may be in them, and I in them.

My Church

Yesterday I read the transcript of an interview given by Terryl Given on faithmater.org with Elder Marlin K Jensen former Church Historian where Terryl said:

“Two ideas have really, really shaped my spiritual practice, I guess I would say. One is Section 10 of the Doctrine and Covenants, beginning with about verse 52 where the Lord — and this is given in 1829, of course — speaks to Joseph Smith about His church. He’s referring to a church already in existence, so we have to ask “What Church is this?,” because he’s talking about the Restoration. He’s saying, “I’m not doing this to do away with my church and I don’t want my church to be panicked by what’s about to happen.” That’s the moment at which you become aware that Joseph really understood this idea of an invisible church that transcends any particular denominational category.”

This had never been brought to my attention before, and going back and reading over D&C 10 I really don’t come to the same conclusion Terryl is here, but that is an aside. This morning I was reading in Mosiah 26, and an interesting connection was made. In verse 17 Christ tells Alma:

17 And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people. (italics added)

Then in verse 21 Christ says:

22 For behold, this is my church ; whosoever is baptized shall be baptized unto repentance. And whomsoever ye receive shall believe in my name; and him will I freely forgive.

23 For it is I that taketh upon me the sins of the world; for it is I that hath created them; and it is I that granteth unto him that believeth unto the end a place at my right hand.

24 For behold, in my name are they called; and if they know me  they shall come forth, and shall have a place eternally at my right hand. (italics added)

It is interesting that Chirst seems to be presenting a similar idea to that of Terryl, that Christ has a church, that is not a set organizational of physical structure, and that he has accepted the members of the Church Alma, and by extension in modern times Joseph Smith, established. That perhaps the statement about being the only true Church on the Face of the earth is more in reference to Christ’s church that our church membership has been accepted into along with possibly others?

It is interesting that in D&C 10 there is another interesting statement:

50 And thus they (The prophets and people of the Book of Mormon) did leave a blessing upon this land in their prayers, that whosoever should believe in this gospel in this land might have eternal life; (italics added)

So in other words because of those Christ accepted into His Church in ancient times and their prayers for us the inhabitants of America if we follow the doctrine found in the Book of Mormon; Christ has granted that we will have Eternal Life. Sounds Like a nice Guarantee.

I have read from many detractors of the church that it is very likely that the events on the restoration of the Priesthood with John the Baptist and Peter, James, and John may have occurred after Joseph formed the church and their argument is that Joseph had no priesthood to create the church when he did.

To this I say look at the Church Alma formed, He was a wicked Priest of King Noah. In Mosiah 11 it reads:

5 For he put down all the priests that had been consecrated by his father, and consecrated new ones in their stead, such as were lifted up in the pride of their hearts.

6 Yea, and thus they were supported in their laziness, and in their idolatry, and in their whoredoms, by the taxes which king Noah had put upon his people; thus did the people labor exceedingly to support iniquity.

7 Yea, and they also became idolatrous, because they were deceived by the vain and flattering words of the king and priests; for they did speak flattering things unto them.

In Mosiah 18:

17 And they were called the church of God, or the church of Christ, from that time forward. And it came to pass that whosoever was baptized by the power and authority of God was added to his church.

18 And it came to pass that Alma, having authority from God, ordained priests; even one priest to every fifty of their number did he ordain to preach unto them, and to teach them concerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.

The question here is from where and when did Alma gain this authority of God?

In Mosiah 25 we read:

18 Therefore, Alma did go forth into the water and did baptize them; yea, he did baptize them after the manner he did his brethren in the waters of Mormon; yea, and as many as he did baptize did belong to the church of God; and this because of their belief on the words of Alma.

19 And it came to pass that king Mosiah granted unto Alma that he might establish churches throughout all the land of Zarahemla; and gave him power to ordain priests and teachers over every church.

It would seam that here Alma is receiving power from Mosiah the King of the land to ordain and establish his church.

Yet, in Mosiah 26 after the church has been operating for some time and problems start occurring, Alma tries to go to king Mosiah to get resolution on what should be done and he basically says, that’s not my problem. I have no authority.

10 Now there had not any such thing happened before in the church; therefore Alma was troubled in his spirit, and he caused that they should be brought before the king.

11 And he said unto the king: Behold, here are many whom we have brought before thee, who are accused of their brethren; yea, and they have been taken in divers iniquities. And they do not repent of their iniquities; therefore we have brought them before thee, that thou mayest judge them according to their crimes.

12 But king Mosiah said unto Alma: Behold, I judge them not; therefore I deliver them into thy hands to be judged.

With nowhere else to go Alma finally faces the reality that he need help from God who he professes the church is devoted to. Because he goes to Christ he is blessed:

19 And because thou hast inquired of me concerning the transgressor, thou art blessed.

 then Christ basically accepts Alma and all those in his church whole sale as if he had Authority the whole time.

15 Blessed art thou, Alma, and blessed are they who were baptized in the waters of Mormon. Thou art blessed because of thy exceeding faith in the words alone of my servant Abinadi.

16 And blessed are they because of their exceeding faith in the words alone which thou hast spoken unto them.

17 And blessed art thou because thou hast established a church among this people; and they shall be established, and they shall be my people.

18 Yea, blessed is this people who are willing to bear my name; for in my name shall they be called; and they are mine.

Why is Christ telling Alma this? Alma like many of us work with our best intentions not knowing if they are good enough. Christ is a Non-linear being and what he does affects the past present and future simultaneously. So accepting Alma and his efforts and the church and its members back dates that acceptance even though he is just now hearing about from the lord himself;

Even Alma’s son Alma, known as Alma the younger, is told by an angle of the Lord in Mosiah 27:

13 Nevertheless he cried again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: This is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall overthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.

This evet changed Alma the youngers course in life and eventually indicates he was ordained of his father in Alma 4.

4 And they began to establish the church more fully; yea, and many were baptized in the waters of Sidon and were joined to the church of God; yea, they were baptized by the hand of Alma, who had been consecrated the high priest over the people of the church, by the hand of his father Alma.

If and I do say if the argument about the timing of those events to restore the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods did occur after the formation of the church it would make no difference in my mind, but I can understand why out of the weakness of men that Joseph an imperfect man that he was would have altered the timing to remove a stumbling block for his fellow men.

This term “My Church” is not found in the scriptures often. In the bible, it is found only once in Matthew 18:

18 And I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.

It is used three times in the Book of Mosiah in regard to Alma and his church, once in Mormon when the lord seeks to build up again his church and Five times during Christ’s personal ministry in the Americas.

That the sacrament will be administered in his church.

3 Nephi 18:5 And when the multitude had eaten and were filled, he said unto the disciples: Behold there shall one be ordained among you, and to him will I give power that he shall break bread and bless it and give it unto the people of my church, unto all those who shall believe and be baptized in my name.

That they will prey as teaches taught.

3 Nephi 18:16 And as I have prayed among you even so shall ye pray in my church, among my people who do repent and are baptized in my name. Behold I am the light; I have set an example for you.

Christ teaches that if a church is called in his name and built on his gospel then it is his church.

3 Nephi 27:8 And how be it my church save it be called in my name? For if a church be called in Moses’ name then it be Moses’ church; or if it be called in the name of a man then it be the church of a man; but if it be called in my name then it is my church, if it so be that they are built upon my gospel.

That those in his church will do what Christ did.

3 Nephi 27:21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, this is my gospel; and ye know the things that ye must do in my church; for the works which ye have seen me do that shall ye also do; for that which ye have seen me do even that shall ye do;

This last one is really the clencher. And really a topic that I need to study more about.

The Spirit - Listening and Understanding

For the last couple of years I’ve been trying to understand what the lord taught Adam. In an attempt to do this I felt guided to start a garden. I put this off for many years after many promptings because we did not own a home. I gave myself an excuse for why I couldn’t follow that prompting. The year we did, the season was already late, but I put great effort into starting a garden that year. It was small compared to my garden today but it was huge compared to my experience.

Growing plants eventually appears to have been just the beginning, over a few short years Bees, worms, and chickens have been added. Each with a feeling from the spirit that I needed to do them and some foot dragging on my part of why that moment in time was not ideal, but in the end I still did as the spirit had directed, often to my own horror of the financial cost involved.

We have a rooster this year and we are approaching the season where we often loss part of our flock to critters, and that being true we normally get chicks to replace the flock. Since we have a Rooster I know that we can do it ourselves since our eggs are fertilized. Recently a family moved into the ward and there little girls were so charming and we gave them eggs, for which we had an overabundance at the time, and the oldest of the little girls would not let her family eat them because she wanted them to hatch.

After some coaching, she finally relented and allowed her family to enjoy the gift of fresh, now less so, eggs they had received. Throughout these interactions the Spirit kept bringing chicks into my mind, so I set about researching incubators. With all of life going on, our finances have been tight, and I just couldn’t justify the expense. I felt at peace with that, but I still felt the spirit prompting the word chicks.

During this time we have had one hen that will not lay eggs with the other girls. She constantly breaks out of there enclosure, normally flying over the fence, to lay here eggs somewhere else. We have found several of her nest and once we have pilfered them several times she changes location. Well just as this all began she went missing. We had no idea where she was, but about once a week she would make an appearance and then she would be gone again. We were not worried because we had more than enough birds and we have dealt with our share of feral slaughters, and we have come to expect them.

Then one morning the prompting for chicks grew to a climax I couldn’t take anymore. I had to do something. One of our Hens had been showing sure signs of being broody, so I took her and a selection of fresh eggs and put them in out spare coop. She seemed more than happy to keep the eggs company. I felt pretty good about my following the spirit at this point.

That same day our lost hen had come home, but unlike the story of the prodigal son, she was the one bearing gifts. Five beautiful little chicks.

I felt very humbled and the spirit filled my whole self. The Lord was not asking me do anything. The whole time, it was telling me of the blessings God was preparing for me. As I looked back, those first promptings were right around the time our lost hen would have added the last egg to her clutch and set to the work hatching her eggs. Trust GOD. It is his work not mine.

God has given our family many opportunities to serve recently, even though our resources have been few, but sufficient. I haven’t felt the angst of worry about the future, which my wife can tell you I often do. I have also been focusing on understand how God sees and reasons in one eternal round, with the  past, present, and future all as one. The out pourings of the spirit have been glorious to behold and I can truly say that if I can receive the spirit daily in my life, which recently I have, I’m sure our Leaders can have that and more.

Who is 'Him'

In my reading this week I was finishing up 3 Nephi and came across a 'Him' that I was a bit unclear of. It occurs in verse 32 of Chapter 27.

32 But behold, it sorroweth me because of the fourth generation from this generation, for they are led away captive by him even as was the son of perdition; for they will sell me for silver and for gold, and for that which moth doth corrupt and which thieves can break through and steal. And in that day will I visit them, even in turning their works upon their own heads.

Just a casual reading of this would suggest that 'him' is talking about Satan, but a more closely reading indicates that 'him' is the one that made captive Lucifer and cause Lucifer to become Satan or the son of Perdition. 

I can think of two things that might be relating to this 'him' for which this scripture speaks. The first would be Glory, Power, Wealth since it indicates they who follow him will "sell" Christ for wealth, (silver and gold). Which Lucifer did try and take Christ's place for the Glory of God. 

The second option is more fundamental and goes back to what I have mentioned before about how Satan was not needed for the plan to succeed because there already existed an implement of opposition to god's plan, the Natural Man. If this is the case it would require me to rethink what the Natural man is in some respects.

I have heard it taught on several occasions that the Natural man is apart of this mortal experience, because this is the first time our Intelligence has had to govern over lesser intelligence that govern the structure of the crude mater that makes up our mortal bodies. For example govern the functions of an atom. 

If the 'him' for which this scripture speaks is the Natural Man; then it existed with us before mortality and has been Gods enemy for all eternity. It in fact has little if nothing to do with governance over lesser intelligence by our intelligence, but of the general undeveloped state of intelligence in general to look out for self interest and power and glory irregardless of the effects on others. Oddly enough it might be this Natural Man in each intelligence that drew us to God in the first place. The real purpose of the plan in few words would be ,'to overcome the Natural Man'. That is God's overarching plan for us intelligence and the plan of salvation is simply a component of the plan to make that grand plan possible. 

So it does matter what 'him' is in this case.

What do you think?

Pre Pre-existence

This morning it seemed pressed upon me that I need to contemplate more on the one state of existence that has never really been expounded upon. Our state as intelligences. This is the state we existed in prior to receiving spiritual bodies.  We really don’t know much of this state or how we made the transition from intelligences to having spirit bodies.

It brought to my mind how it is that we become spiritually reborn as children of Christ. Was our spiritual birth that took us from being intelligences to spirit children a similar process.  I think we often relate our birth as spirits to our physical birth but that might just not be comparable. I simply don't know.

If we look at what we know of the pre-existence and what we know of our spiritual rebirth and our progression to move into the next estate I think we can see patterns that might directly relate to this pre pre-existence.

We know in the pre-existence we received lessons, and were given blessings and ordinations that were contingent on our worthiness during mortality. We also experience the same process of blessings and ordinations in the temple in preparation for the ‘finial’ estate that are contingent on our worthiness.

In the Temple there is a difference between Men and Women regarding washing ones garment clean of the blood and sins of this generation. Men receive it on condition, yet women receive it without condition.

This makes me wonder if in the pre-existence women had a special role or mandate that washed their garments clean of the spirit and transgressions of our spirit generation. Perhaps it was in bringing intelligences into spirit bodies. Think of the symmetry and hidden equality that would imply, if true.

Intelligences depended on the efforts of women to gain spirit bodies and the importance of men was marginalized and then together spirit children grew together to come into this life where it was the role of men that would transition from this state of mortality to a state of eternal life. The role men play is in the grand schema basically administrative and perhaps the same was true for women who aided in the transition to spirit children. There might well be a female Christ figure that took the real weight of the burden I don’t really know. Perhaps the female Christ figure’s burden is spread around much more evenly in this mortal state, or something else I’ve just never complicated. It has never been revealed as doctrine but it has been suggested or eluded to.