Wednesday, April 1, 2009

The Last Great Sacrament Meeting- Doctrine and Covenants Section 27

Yesterday I posted my thoughts about the first part of Section 27, The Purpose of the Sacrament, so today I will continue on with the second part, The Last Great Sacrament Meeting.

Prior to the suffering of the Savior in Gethsemane, and His death upon the cross He met with His twelve disciples to instruct them regarding the ordinance of the Sacrament. In Matthew 26 we read:

JST Matthew 26:26 ¶ And as they were eating, Jesus took bread, band blessed it, and brake it, and gave it to the disciples, and said, Take, eat; this is my body.

27 And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, Drink ye all of it;

28 For this is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many for the remission of sins.

29 But I say unto you, I will not drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall come and drink it new with you in my Father’s kingdom.

In verse 29 the Savior references a future time when He will once again partake of the Sacrament with them, but it will not be until He “shall come and drink it new” in His Father’s kingdom. This reference, though seemingly rather cryptic to those He was with, can be better understood today because of continued revelation.

Look for what is meant by “His Father’s Kingdom.”

D&C 27: 4 Wherefore, you shall partake of none except it is made anew among you; yea, in this my Father’s kingdom which shall be built up on the earth.

5 Behold, this is wisdom in me; wherefore, marvel not, for the hour cometh that I will drink of the fruit of the vine with you on the earth, ...

This “kingdom” Christ refers to is literally that, it is the Kingdom of God, a pure Theocratic form of government which will be upon the earth when Christ returns as “king of kings.” The ordinance of the Sacrament will be shared once again with those who will be a part of this kingdom. I can visualize this last great Sacrament meeting, as a political convention, as well as, a church event. It will be the ultimate combination of “church and state.” It will be one in which Christ will take the helm as both “King and Priest.” This great event will take place at the Valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, which is located in Daviess County, Missouri.

Some back ground on this location can be found in Doctrine and Covenants Section 107:

D&C 107:53 Three years previous to the death of Adam, he called Seth, Enos, Cainan, Mahalaleel, Jared, Enoch, and Methuselah, who were all high priests, with the residue of his posterity who were righteous, into the valley of Adam-ondi-Ahman, and there bestowed upon them his last blessing.

54 And the Lord appeared unto them, and they rose up and blessed Adam, and called him Michael, the prince, the archangel.

55 And the Lord 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.

56 And Adam stood up in the midst of the congregation; and, notwithstanding he was bowed down with age, being full of the Holy Ghost, predicted whatsoever should befall his posterity unto the latest generation.

This event, in which Adam introduced his posterity back into the presence of the Lord, was also one where Adam assigned keys to those who would carry forth the work. One might picture this as a very formal Priesthood Executive Committee meeting, where everyone received their assignment to do the work. The Last Great Sacrament Meeting will be the bookend of this meeting, or the return and report meeting. It is here that all “keyholders” will return their keys to Adam, who will then return them back to Jesus Christ showing their support and allegiance to Him as both their political and religious leader.

Who will be there and why?

  • Moroni- Key holder to the record of the stick of Ephraim
  • Elias- (which this time is Noah or Gabriel)- Keys to the restoration of all things
  • John the Baptist- Keys to the Aaronic Priesthood
  • Elijah- Keys to the sealing power
  • Joseph, Jacob, Isaac, Abraham- Representatives of the Abrahamic Covenant or Patriarchal line
  • Adam- Father of all, Prince of all
  • Peter, James, and John- Apostolic Keys of the Melchizedek Priesthood.

AND

27:14 And also with all those whom my Father hath given me out of the world.

Will you be there?

4 comments:

  1. ok, i seem to keep ruining your posts with some random, non-religious, off the wall comment. forgive me. however, i cannot forget the time you and greg were watching my kids over the weekend (while craig and i attended his brothers "halloween" wedding-remember? so weird), which included taking them to church...well, remember the story of the action figure (forgot which one-possibly He-Man) that kept spewing robotic audible comments while the sacrament was being passed? i told you not to let them bring their toys to church!!! haha fun times, great memories!!

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  2. I believe it was Megatron, or another of his "Megazords". He was the envy of every kid in Sacrament meeting! :)

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  3. Thanks for these very good posts.

    Joseph Smith will also be there. I can think of several others who will. I'm betting the "Three Nephites" will be invited. I'm going to go out on a limb and say there will be a lot of Mary's there. LOL

    I love the last verse of this section, but before that we are told to put on the whole armor of the Lord.
    -truth, righteousness, preparation of the gospel of peace, faith, salvation, the Spirit.

    DC 27:18...and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also. Amen

    OK, I am so looking forward to this! I really, really want to be caught up to meet Christ.

    In D&C 88 it talks more about the Second Coming and we get a better idea of the order of things and what different people can expect.

    DC 88:96 And the saints that are upon the earth, who are alive, shall be quickened and be acaught up to meet him.
    97 And they who have slept in their graves shall acome forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the bpillar of heaven—
    98 They are Christ’s, the afirst fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.

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  4. I feel that this is one of the greatest events in the history of the world.

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