Tuesday, January 21, 2014

THE ENDOWMENT - PROMISES AND PROTECTIONS

My wife and I are studying Section 109 tonight.  Oh, the power of couple study.  Oh, the power of the endowment.  Verses 22 and 23 are the endowment in a nutshell, its purposes and promises.  Most people do not understand the power that they possess through the Priesthood that they bear.

The other verses from the clip below declare the chastisements of the wicked who fight against the wicked and the words of the Lord that they bear.  This is the power that the two servants bear who will stay the heavens during the second 3.5 year period and stay the wicked who have surrounded Jerusalem round about:

 22 And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
 23 And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand, to fulfil that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the prophets, concerning the last days.
 24 We ask thee, Holy Father, to establish the people that shall worship, and honorably hold a name and standing in this thy house, to all generations and for eternity;
 25 That no weapon formed against them shall prosper; that he who diggeth a pit for them shall fall into the same himself;
 26 That no combination of wickedness shall have power to rise up and prevail over thy people upon whom thy name shall be put in this house;
 27 And if any people shall rise against this people, that thine anger be kindled against them;
 28 And if they shall smite this people thou wilt smite them; thou wilt fight for thy people as thou didst in the day of battle, that they may be delivered from the hands of all their enemies.
 29 We ask thee, Holy Father, to confound, and astonish, and to bring to shame and confusion, all those who have spread lying reports abroad, over the world, against thy servant or servants, if they will not repent, when the everlasting gospel shall be proclaimed in their ears;
 30 And that all their works may be brought to naught, and be swept away by the hail, and by the judgments which thou wilt send upon them in thine anger, that there may be an end to lyings and slanders against thy people.
 31 For thou knowest, O Lord, that thy servants have been innocent before thee in bearing record of thy name, for which they have suffered these things.
 32 Therefore we plead before thee for a full and complete deliverance from under this yoke;
 33 Break it off, O Lord; break it off from the necks of thy servants, by thy power, that we may rise up in the midst of this generation and do thy work.
 34 O Jehovah, have mercy upon this people, and as all men sin, forgive the transgressions of thy people, and let them be blotted out forever.
 35 Let the anointing of thy ministers be sealed upon them with power from on high.
 36 Let it be fulfilled upon them, as upon those on the day of Pentecost; let the gift of tongues be poured out upon thy people, even cloven tongues as of fire, and the interpretation thereof.
 37 And let thy house be filled, as with a rushing mighty wind, with thy glory.
 38 Put upon thy servants the testimony of the covenant, that when they go out and proclaim thy word they may seal up the law, and prepare the hearts of thy saints for all those judgments thou art about to send, in thy wrath, upon the inhabitants of the earth, because of their transgressions, that thy people may not faint in the day of trouble.
 39 And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive their testimony, let thy peace and thy salvation be upon that city; that they may gather out of that city the righteous, that they may come forth to Zion, or to her stakes, the places of thine appointment, with songs of everlasting joy;
 40 And until this be accomplished, let not thy judgments fall upon that city.
 41 And whatsoever city thy servants shall enter, and the people of that city receive not the testimony of thy servants, and thy servants warn them to save themselves from this untoward generation, let it be upon that city according to that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of thy prophets.
 42 But deliver thou, O Jehovah, we beseech thee, thy servants from their hands, and cleanse them from their blood.
 43 O Lord, we delight not in the destruction of our fellow men; their souls are precious before thee;
 44 But thy word must be fulfilled. Help thy servants to say, with thy grace assisting them: Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours.
 45 We know that thou hast spoken by the mouth of thy prophets terrible things concerning the wicked, in the last days—that thou wilt pour out thy judgments, without measure;
 46 Therefore, O Lord, deliver thy people from the calamity of the wicked; enable thy servants to seal up the law, and bind up the testimony, that they may be prepared against the day of burning.
 47 We ask thee, Holy Father, to remember those who have been driven by the inhabitants of Jackson county, Missouri, from the lands of their inheritance, and break off, O Lord, this yoke of affliction that has been put upon them.
 As the wickedness begins to close in around us, we need to remember who has sent us forth to witness and declare the truth.  This declaring may be among our own people.  In the previous post, much was said in opposition to Spencer - which I do not understand.  Could it be that we (as an LDS people), are so full of ourselves that we do not see how bad off we truly are (2 Nephi 28-31) and that we think we are incapable of being in chastisement of God - and that, just as the Jews in the days of the Babylonians and the Assyrians and the Romans, that they did boast in their own strength and could not fathom that their great city could be brought low?  When Spencer - and many others - bear witness that destructions are coming to the main body of God's people for having taken His counsels lightly, that they are cast off as dross and their words considered as something of naught just as those who testified of old?  This was the lot of Lehi and many others who operated outside the normalized channels in that city.  Lehi was an obscure man who was given a vision and was wrought upon by the Holy Ghost to warn the people - and not in opposition to the Prophets of the day (capital P), but to back them and then go on to lead his family on an amazing journey (physically and spiritually).


1 comment:

  1. I was reading in !st Nephi recently. The particular verse had to do with Laman trying to stir up trouble again, to the point of telling the sons of Ishmael, let us slay my father. Furthermore, he focused his deceit upon Nephi, because his perspective was tainted by his wickedness, Laman thought Nephi sought to "rule" over them, etc. And then the voice of the Lord personally chastened them. There are parallels to be drawn by this. We have been told a cleansing shall take place, and 'upon my house it shall begin'. I believe that some of the greatest persecution that will exist will be from other members. (as in the case of Spencer, as well.) I wondered, to God, if one of the reasons the church being set up was for those to come forth and show their true colors. I thought I heard a 'Mmaayybee'. ;^) And when it all comes out, then it will be time for the Lord's voice to be heard. I look forward. BTW, I loved Visions of Glory, too. I bought 3 copies and loaned them out to as many people in our ward as would take them. Many benefited from it. A friend of mine did the same. Keep up the good work. I try to pass on many of your posts. You can be like a breath of fresh air where there seems only to be stagnation. Thanks again.

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