Understanding Who We Are Is Simply A Memory Away

As I was listening to the Jesus of Nazareth talk tape by Truman Madsen, while walking on my treadmill this morning, I heard a quote by Orson F. Whitney that really stood out to me.

In the talk Truman Madsen expounded about the way he felt that Jesus came to know his mission on this earth as a boy. He pondered on the feelings of familiarity that Christ must have felt as he read the scrolls, which were known as the scriptures, as He came to understand His role through the written word. That same familiarity is exhibited in the instance when Jesus called his apostles to their ministry, as they straight way left their nets and followed. These men must have somehow felt that familiar essence from the presence of their Savior that they would have been acquainted with in the pre-mortal realm, allowing them to follow unconditionally.

Later in the morning I stumbled upon an article in the Meridian Magazine featuring an article written by Truman Madsen as a tribute to the memory of this great man who passed away this past week. The article was called "How We Know What We Know". The article I read contained the same quote by Orson F. Whitney that I had focused on earlier as I walked. It had a familiar ring.

“Why are we drawn toward certain persons and they to us as if we had always known each other? Is it a fact that we always have? Is there something after all in that much abused term affinity? In all events, it is just as logical to look back upon fond associations as it is to look forward to them.

We believe that the ties formed in this life will be continued in the life to come. Then, why not believe that we had similar ties before and that some of them at least have been resumed in this state of existence.

After meeting someone whom I had never met before on earth, I have wondered why that person's face seemed so familiar.

More than once, upon hearing a noble sentiment expressed, though unable to recall that I'd ever heard it until then, I found myself in sympathy with it, was thrilled by it, and felt as if I had always known it.

The same is true of some strains of music, some perhaps heard today. They are like echoes of eternity. I do not assert pre-acquaintance in all such cases but, as one thought suggests another, these queries arise.

When it comes to the Gospel, I feel more positive. Why did the Savior say, "My sheep know my voice?" Did the sheep ever know the voice of a shepherd it had never heard before? They who love the truth, and to whom it most strongly appeals, were they not acquainted with it in a previous life? I think so. I believe we knew the Gospel before we came here, and that is what gives it a familiar sound.” Orson F. Whitney

This familiarity that Elder Whitney expounded on is exhibited as the Savior refers to His elect, for Christ explained, “the elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts.” This familiarity is found as those, who hear the message of the glorious gospel for the first time, claim that it sounds of clarity and is recognizable to their spirit. We lived before we came to this earth as spirit children of a Heavenly Father who taught us all the lessons that a loving Father would teach to His child.

Truman Madsen explained, “Now add the lines from Eliza R. Snow that we sing and feel, ‘Ofttimes a certain something whispers, 'You're a stranger here.'’ A friend of mine calls this ‘celestial homesickness.’ But also, I would add, that there is a feeling that we are here on purpose--that we haven't just wandered ‘from a more exalted sphere’ but are where we ought to be. This sometimes comes through in a sense that we have seen or felt or experienced a thing before. And so I suggest a premise rather unique to our tradition, that recognition, spiritually speaking, is indeed REcognition, that some discovery is REcovery, that recollection is the REcollection of images from before.”

So, when we feel that feeling of familiarity, or have that “déjà vu” type of moment, simply remember that we quite possibly are recalling experiences we have already been through to lead us to this very moment in our life. This is our search for happiness... and it is just a memory away.

Sustaining The Great Plan of Happiness

I believe that one of my favorite scripture passages comes from the Book of Abraham in the Pearl of Great Price. In fact, it is even a Scripture Mastery scripture from the Seminary list of 100 important scriptures to know.

Abraham 3:22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

23 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.

President Spencer W. Kimball expounded more fully on that scripture when he explained, "A passage of scripture familiar to all of you . . . reads as follows: '. . . intelligences that were organized before the world was and among all these were many of the noble and great ones . . . and he said: These I will make my rulers;' These leaders whom Abraham referred to were noble, good and they had been proven, thus God could entrust them with great responsibilities in his Kingdom on this earth. Were you among those who were noble, good, and tested? The Prophet Joseph Smith said, ' Every man who has a call was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of Heaven.' Yes, you were among those rulers . . ."

I do believe that each of us was there among those noble and great ones. We heard the plan presented by the Father and "sustained" it.

So what was the plan for us, His spirit children?

24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

Our Heavenly Father, through His son Jesus Christ, desired to provide us with the experience we needed to show our obedience, by way of proof. This required an experience in which our faith could be tested; therefore an “earth” was created for us to dwell on, to prove our faith and obedience in all that He commanded us. We know that we heartily “sustained” the plan in this “first estate” because of the glory that was added upon our spirit called a body. This body is our very own earth, and it is certainly glorious. Those who did not keep the “first estate” or "opposed" the plan, were never given the glory of their own earth, or in other words, they were not provided with a body in which they could progress.

Now we are living in our “second estate”. By having our body we know we made a righteous decision to sustain our Father in His plan, and therefore are given another opportunity to do it again. Every time we choose to obey and walk by faith, we are in essence raising that sustaining hand, like we do in Sacrament meeting. Conversely, each time we choose to sin we are exercising our right, given to us because of the gift of agency, to “oppose” His plan. In this estate we are constantly reminded of what was told as Adam and Eve in the Garden by the Father, to “choose for ourselves” with the caution of “nevertheless I forbid it” attached. The promised blessing of having been proven in this “second estate” is the “glory added upon our heads forever and ever.” This is the promise of Eternal Life.

Will we mess up at times? You betcha...so Heavenly Father’s plan included a way to repair the mess.

27 And the Lord said: Whom shall I send? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And another answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will send the first.

28 And the second was angry, and kept not his first estate; and, at that day, many followed after him.

By applying the Atonement of Jesus Christ in our lives we can continually become perfectly obedient and faithful in this “second estate”. It is the proof that the Father requires to show we are responsible and worthy of added glory. It is our way to show Him that we “sustain” Him and His plan for our happiness.

Are there any opposed?

Sustain or Oppose

Isn’t it interesting to note, that anytime someone is given a calling in church, it is announced over the pulpit and, as a congregation, we are asked to “sustain” or “oppose” the call. This act, that might seem insignificant to some, is really a great way to “jog our memory” or teach us about the pre-existence.

Despite what is sometimes taught for truth, there really was only one plan when it came to our salvation and progression on this earth. That one plan was presented by God the Father. We were given a choice to either “sustain” or “oppose” that plan.

Daniel H. Ludlow explained:

“In the process of time each of our intelligences was clothed with a spiritual body by heavenly parents, and we became personages of spirit with bodies of eyes and ears and hands and feet. All of us on this earth had the same Father of our spiritual bodies, and because he lives in heaven, we have been rightfully taught to refer to him as “our Father in heaven.”

Our spirit bodies were capable of tremendous accomplishments, but they also had some serious limitations. There were some laws that they could not obey, and therefore there were some blessings not available to them. Thus, our Heavenly Father called us into a grand council in heaven where he proposed a plan that would give us further opportunities of growth and development by giving us further opportunities of choice. There the importance of moral free agency and its four necessary and essential conditions were explained to us: first, we must have the opportunity of choice—that is, the operation of law; second, there must be the possibility of the existence of opposites—good and evil, virtue and vice; these two make possible the third, the freedom of choice—that is, free agency; then finally, a knowledge of the law and its consequences. All four of these conditions are necessary in order to accomplish the progression that would enable us to become as our Father in heaven, which was the main purpose of the new earth plan that he proposed.

When we lived with our Father in heaven, we did not need to exercise a fullness of faith in whether or not he existed. We knew that he lived because we saw him; we walked and talked with him. We knew he existed and were convinced of his existence, but we were not necessarily converted to him and to his great principles because our knowledge of him had come from external sources without virtually any effort on our part. So that we would come to a knowledge of him in and of ourselves, our Heavenly Father proposed that when we came into this earth life a veil of forgetfulness would be placed over our minds so that we would not remember our pre-earthly existence with him. Only then could the choices that we made here upon this earth truly come from within us. Our Father in heaven then promised us that while we were here on earth he (1) would give us law, (2) would provide the possibility of opposites, (3) would give us free agency, and (4) would send angels and prophets to teach us and give us scriptures so we could learn the laws and understand why we should keep them. Thus, he promised us the necessary conditions on this earth so that we could become morally free.

The nature of law was more than likely explained in that pre-earthly council—that each law has consequences, opposite and equal. Whenever a law is kept or obeyed, the consequence is a blessing which results in joy or happiness. Whenever a law is broken or disobeyed, the consequence is a punishment that results in misery or unhappiness. This simple and perhaps over-generalized explanation of the law of justice portrays how order is accomplished, for in the payment of the law of either obedience or disobedience, the law is brought back into a state of balance and thus order prevails. The law of justice, then, always requires a payment.

But another law also operates in the moral realm—the law of mercy, which in no way robs or violates the law of justice but which makes possible the vicarious payment of broken law. For example, the law of mercy permits the disobedience of a person to be atoned for or paid for by the obedience of the Savior, providing that the person who disobeyed the law will cease being disobedient—in other words, providing that the person repents.

The great plan of salvation and exaltation must also have been explained to us including an explanation of why the possibility of opposition must exist upon the earth and how it would occur through the fall of man, how the law of justice would require a payment for the broken law and how the law of mercy would make the Atonement possible.

When this great plan was presented to us, it was soon evident that because of the Atonement and the principle of free agency, this earth life could become a great testing and proving period. If we proved faithful to all the laws given to us by our Heavenly Father, we would become even as he is and share with him his power and glory. Perhaps it was when we realized this that the “sons of God shouted for joy,” as recorded in the book of Job. (Job 38:7.)

There were some, however, in that pre-earthly council who did not shout for joy. They either lacked faith in our Heavenly Father, in the Savior, or in the gospel plan, or they lacked faith in their own ability or willingness to keep the law that would be given to them. Thus, they actively opposed the plan of our Heavenly Father. Their leader was called Lucifer, “the son of the morning”; he is also known as the devil or Satan.

Lucifer not only opposed the plan of our Heavenly Father, but he sought to amend and change the terms of salvation by denying men their free agency and by preempting our Heavenly Father. The exact words of Lucifer’s boast are contained in the book of Moses: “I will redeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely I will do it; wherefore give me thine honor.” (Moses 4:1.)

We do not know all of the details of Lucifer’s amended proposal, but we do know from revelation that he “sought to destroy the agency of man.” (Moses 4:3.) This could be accomplished in many ways, including denying us either the opportunity of choice or the freedom of choice. In either case, not “one soul” would have been lost. It is sin that causes a soul to be lost, but how can a person sin if he does not have the opportunity to sin? That is, how can a person disobey a law if he does not have a law?

Lucifer’s proposed amendment appealed to some, but it did not appeal to any of us in this audience. We saw that under his plan we would lose the challenge of growth and progression. We did not want to live in a world where we would be on the same plane forever. We had enough faith in our Heavenly Father and in his plan, in Jesus Christ, and in ourselves that we wanted to live in a world where there would be opportunities for further development. At the same time I am sure we realized that if we were not faithful to these laws and opportunities we might even be worse off than we had been before.

Thus there was a great war in heaven, and a key issue in that war was whether or not man was to be a morally free agent while upon the earth. A vote was taken. (By the way, that in itself indicates that we had our free agency there; in a sense Lucifer exercised his free agency in an attempt to deny us the right to exercise our free agency.) Two-thirds of those present voted for the plan of our Heavenly Father; one-third voted against the plan and did not participate in it.”

Remember...there was only one plan, and it was presented by our Heavenly Father. Jesus Christ said He would sustain the plan, and Satan opposed the plan, or created opposition to the plan. We had the opportunity to “sustain” or “oppose” that plan just like they did. Because we have a body, we evidently “sustained” the plan set forth at that time. Today we still have the choice and obligation to “sustain” that plan. When we look at disobedience as “opposing” the plan, it puts our actions in a very different light, don’t you think?

The Family: Under Attack

I have decided that the two best ways to learn how to practice the law of consecration are marriage and family experience. Is it any wonder that both are under attack so fiercely?

Today the most watched talk on BYU Broadcasting was the one given by Julie Beck at the BYU Women’s conference, May 1, 2009. Her talk was called “Nourishing and Protecting Home and Family.”

In her talk she emphasized the doctrine of the family as summarized so beautifully in the Proclamation on the Family. She also explained the theology of the family, or as it is more commonly referred to, the great plan of salvation or happiness. The three pillars of this theology are:

1) The Creation- of this beautiful earth for families.

2) The Fall- as a means for families to grow and increase.

3) The Atonement- as an event that will tie families together forever.

Elder Robert D. Hales explained, “In the beginning, Adam and Eve were married for time and all eternity by the Lord. The organization of the family existed in the heavens before the world was formed and was historically started with Adam and Eve on the earth, as recorded in Genesis. The family will exist eternally.”

Both Adam and Eve had leadership roles in their family as given to them in their assignments. They got their responsibilities by virtue of that celestial marriage and sealing.

Ezra Taft Benson taught that this was the order of the priesthood. He said, “This order is otherwise described in modern revelation as an order of family government. When a man and a women enter into a covenant with God, just as did Adam and Eve, to be sealed for eternity, to have posterity, and to do the will and work of God throughout mortality. This order of the priesthood has been on the earth since the beginning and it is the only means by which we can see the face of God and live.”

Sister Beck explained that marriage is an order of the priesthood, which prepares us for the blessing of Eternal life.

Elder David A. Bednar has taught us two important reasons why marriage is essential. “Reason one, is because the natures of male and female spirits complete and perfect each other, and therefore men and women are intended to progress together toward exaltation. And reason two, by divine design, both man and woman are needed to bring children into mortality and to provide the best setting for the rearing and nurturing of children.”

Elder Boyd K, Packer said, “The great plan of happiness, revealed to prophets, is a plan for a happy family. It is the love story between husband and wife, parents and children, that renews itself through the ages. Nothing is more important to the Church, and to civilization, than the family.”

Sister Beck very beautifully explained that families are about “us” and “we”, while the world preaches about “I” and “Me”. It is apparent to me that Satan wishes to dissuade us from living the Celestial law of consecration. “Anti-Christ teachings and principles are always Anti-family and that Anti-family teachings and policies are also Anti-Christ.” I believe that Satan wants us to be unwilling to submit and to be proud and unteachable. Families are the place that we learn how to be consecrated to the Lord, by practice daily, in lessons of unselfish behavior and charity to others. It is no wonder the family is under attack, the importance of the lessons learned in the family are Eternal.

Sister Beck then shared a statement from a talk given in 1980 by Spencer W. Kimball, called “Families Can Be Eternal”.

“There are those who would define the family in such a nontraditional way that they would define it out of existence.

We of all people, brothers and sisters, should not be taken in by the specious arguments that the family unit is somehow tied to a particular phase of development a mortal society is going through. We are free to resist those moves which downplay the significance of the family and which play up the significance of selfish individualism. We know the family to be eternal. We know that when things go wrong in the family, things go wrong in every other institution in society.

Furthermore, many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.”

This was such a testimony for me of how a prophet of God surely saw our day. As a watchman on the tower, he warned us of the attack that would come upon this Eternal unit. Our salvation and exaltation depends on how we view the doctrine of the family.

If you haven’t had a chance to listen to this amazing talk on the doctrine of the family, please take the time to do it.