READ Moroni 1:1, 4
Why
did Moroni intend to have ended the Book of Mormon with his abridgement of
Ether and Mahonri’s vision?
Ether’s account of the destruction
of the Jaredites must parallel what Moroni saw happening to the Gentiles and
the world so well that he felt it had to be added to Mormon’s account of the
Nephites’ destruction, given his opportunity to add more to the record (see
Mormon 8:1-5; Ether 1:1-2).
The Lord commanded him to abridge
the record of Mahonri and seal it up, unlike the rest of the plates (see Ether
4:4-7).
He didn’t think he’d have that long
to live after the great effort of abridging Mahonri’s vision.
READ Moroni 1:2-3
How
does Moroni know the Lamanites are putting to death all those who will not deny
Christ?
He’s seen it himself and/or he’s
heard it from first-hand witnesses.
He may have also either seen it in
vision or been told through the Spirit.
How
would you describe Moroni’s statement that he will not deny the Christ, even if
captured and compelled to do so or be killed?
He is valiant in the testimony of
Jesus (see D&C 76:51, 79; Alma 53:20).
He has received a promise, via
revelation from God, regarding his standing before God and the blessings he
will receive if he continues faithful to the covenants he’s made (see LoF
6:2-5, 11-12), and he will not deny that he has received these promises and the
God who gave them to him; the prospect of suffering death has been lessened
because of the eternal promises he’s been given.
The Gift of the Holy Ghost
READ Moroni 2:1-3
What
is “mighty” prayer?
Prayer that results in the
visitation and ministry of angels (see 2 Nephi 4:24).
Prayer that results in a visit from
the Lord, through the veil, to forgive, bless and give further light and
knowledge (see Enos 1:4; 3 Nephi 27:1-2).
Intercessory prayer for the souls
of those who do not know God and are in danger of eternal proportions (see Alma
6:6).
A prayer that enables one to
“wrestle” with God for blessings and knowledge (see Alma 8:10; Enos 1:2;
D&C 5:24; Genesis 32:24-31).
What
is implied by the fact that on as many people as they laid their hands on, fell
the Holy Ghost?
They had power to give the Holy
Ghost, not just the authority to invite people to go out and receive it by living
the terms of the covenant themselves (see 3 Nephi 18:36-37).
Why
is mighty prayer required before giving the Gift of the Holy Ghost?
Because they have the power to
actually give the Holy Ghost, they must receive revelation directly from God,
through the veil, for guidance regarding who to lay hands upon.
Otherwise they risked damning them
by giving them the Gift of the Holy Ghost unprepared – as the individual would be unlikely to keep the covenant they’ve
been given but would be sinning against greater light.
Ordination to Offices Within the
Church
READ Moroni 3:1-3
What
is the difference between callings/offices in the church vs in the priesthood?
Church callings and offices codify
roles and responsibilities within the organization of the Church; they are
made/extended by men to administer the activities and achieve the goals or
mission of the Church; people are called by leaders to positions and offices
and then are accepted by the membership of the Church to serve in those
positions via common consent or voting to sustain (i.e. support) them in these
tasks/responsibilities.
There is no “priesthood of deacon”
or priesthood of elder”; these are offices in the Church.
The occupants of these offices are
presumed to hold Aaronic or Melchizedek priesthood to be able to perform the
required duties; although many callings do not require priesthood.
What
is a priesthood?
An association or connection or
fellowship between mankind and those on the other side of the veil (the “Powers
of heaven”) wherein light, truth/knowledge and power which impact the physical,
mortal world (up to and including “sealing” or “making sure” things done in
“time” or on this mortal earth will be honored or will continue into “eternity”
or the life after this) is drawn or extended through the veil from those who
possess it in heaven to those who become worthy to receive and use it here on
earth, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man through
service, sacrifice, persuasion, gentleness, meekness, and love unfeigned.
Priesthood is given to mankind to
enable valid ordinances that will be honored in heaven, to obtain
answers/knowledge and power/blessings from God through the veil, and to rend
the veil and walk back into God’s presence to be redeemed and sealed up as a
Son or Daughter of God (see D&C 84:19-22; Ether 3:13; Psalms 2:7; D&C
88:75; Mosiah 5:15; D&C 132:21-25); all three objectives enable the
immortality and eternal life of man – which is what priesthood enables.
READ Moroni 3:4
How
does the Church ordain people to offices and callings?
In the name of Jesus Christ, as it
is His Church.
Via the laying on of hands.
By those with authority from Christ
to do so – and through common consent of the Church membership.
And by the power of the Holy Ghost,
which was in them.
After having prayed unto the Father.
How
does one obtain a priesthood?
First via ordination by one who
already holds the priesthood they are seeking to obtain (see D&C 107:48-49;
Moses 6:25-36; Abraham 1:2-4 and JST Genesis 14:25, 33; D&C 84:6; D&C
107:52; 2 Nephi 5:26); an ordination is an invitation to receive a blessing (in
this case, priesthood or an association with the Powers of Heaven) from God.
Directly from the mouth of God;
priesthood (particularly the High Priesthood After the Order of the Son of God)
is received only from God alone (see JST Genesis 14:26-32; Abraham 3:12;
D&C 128:21; Moses 1:1-6; Moses 8:19; Jacob 1:17).
The earthly association (between
fellow mortals) is just the beginning – it is a foreshadowing; it should lead
to a heavenly association if one is to receive “power in the priesthood”
through a connection with the “Powers of Heaven” or angels and Gods (see
D&C 121:36, 41-46).
If
priesthood is an association or brotherhood with the powers of heaven through
the veil, why can it not also be a sisterhood or association for women who
attain to the same connection with the powers of heaven – i.e. a “prophetess”?
The Sacrament
READ Moroni 4:1-2
What
is the sacrament?
A renewal and remembrance ceremony
of the covenant made during the ordinance of baptism, to become Christ’s people
(see 3 Nephi 18:11).
It signifies, symbolically, our
acceptance of Jesus’ sacrifice for sin and our commitment to emulate Him in all
things (see 2 Nephi 31:12-13; 1 Nephi 10:9-10; Mosiah 18:8-10).
As Christ remembers His Father at
all times, so must we always remember Christ, and as we do, we retain His name
written always in our hearts (see Mosiah 5:12; Alma 37:36-37) and remember our
nothingness, His goodness and how great things He has done for us (see Mosiah
4:11; Mosiah 27:16).
It symbolizes the great promised
“Wedding Feast” which is to come, where the Lord will celebrate His success in
redeeming the few, poor souls who accepted His invitation and wore His wedding
garment (see Matthew 22:1-14).
Why
do the priests and church members kneel down together at the blessing of the
sacrament?
They are all petitioning God in
humility, that they might remember the covenant they have made.
READ Moroni 4:3
What
is another word we could substitute for “witness”?
Covenant.
What
three things do we witness?
Take upon ourselves the name of
Christ.
Always remember Him.
Keep His commandments.
What
does it mean to take upon ourselves the name of Christ?
Join with Him in a covenant
relationship such that we become His family and bear His family name; we become
His children and He becomes our Father.
How
can we keep His commandments?
To keep His commandments, we must
follow Christ’s example and live perfectly as He did.
We can attempt to live a perfect
minute and then another one.
But “keep His commandments” does
not mean “try really hard to keep His commandments and succeed most or some of
the time”…
So, we cannot yet keep ALL of His
commandments – at least not 100% throughout our whole lives, as Christ did.
What
word makes the covenant doable?
“Willing”.
The covenant is about the deepest
desire of our heart, not our perfect performance – at least not at this point
in our progression (see D&C 93:12-14; LoF 7:9, 15-16; 3 Nephi 12:48; TPJS
390-393).
Isn’t
being “willing” to do these things a “soft grace” cop-out?
It means to be willing with your
whole soul (see Omni 1:26).
It is to offer a broken heart and
contrite spirit (see 3 Nephi 9:19-20).
God can tell if you are truly
sincere or not.
How
can you tell if you are sincere in keeping this covenant?
You can tell in that He will not
bless you with the baptism of Fire and the Holy Ghost unless or until you live
the terms of the covenant by offering the required sacrifice; so if you haven’t
received the baptism of fire, you are not truly sincere in keeping the covenant
or you do not yet fully understand the covenant He has extended to you to keep
– and thus cannot keep it.
The baptism of Fire is the “earnest
money” of our inheritance until the time that we receive a confirmation that
our sacrifice has been fully accepted; at that time, we will receive a more
sure word of prophesy from Christ and the Father themselves (see Ephesians
1:13-14; 2 Corinthians 1:22; 2 Corinthians 5:5; D&C 88:75; 2 Peter 1:19;
D&C 131:5-6).
For
what three reasons does the priest ask the Father to bless and sanctify the
bread?
So that those who eat may do so in
remembrance of Christ’s body.
So that those who eat may become
witnesses of Christ.
So that those who eat may have “His
Spirit” to be with them.
What
is “Christ’s Spirit”?
That which gives light to every
person that comes into the world (see D&C 84:45-46).
It leads the listener back into
God’s presence (see D&C 84:47).
It is light, truth and Christ’s
word (see D&C 84:45).
It proceeds forth from God and is
His power (see D&C 88:12).
It comes to us through Jesus Christ
(see D&C 88:5).
He has a fullness of this Spirit because
He ascended above all and descended below all so that He could comprehend all
things (see D&C 88:6).
It is in and through all things and
fills the immensity of space (see D&C 88:6, 12, 41).
It shines and lights the sun, moon,
stars, and earth (see D&C 88:7-10).
It quickens mankind’s understanding
(see D&C 88:11, 67).
It gives life to all things (see
D&C 88:13, 50).
It is the law by which all things
are governed (see D&C 88:13).
It is His presence and to have it
within you is to have Christ within you; it is to be “one” with Him (see John
14:10-11; 3 Nephi 9:15; 3 Nephi 11:27; D&C 50:43; D&C 93:2-4).
This is
not to have another personage, named the “Holy Ghost” within you, but to have
the Lord’s Spirit within you; but this is how He sanctifies your spirit such
that it becomes holy itself, by having His presence within you and becoming one
with Him – your spirit becomes like Him, otherwise it could not abide in His
presence (or perhaps more appropriately, it grieves His Spirit so that He
departs from you until you repent and you receive His Spirit or light within
you) – your spirit becomes a “holy spirit” or a “holy ghost”, which is a
personage of spirit and dwells in your body because it is you (a transformed
you or a new creature – it is you but it is the version of you after having
been quickened by an infusion of His Spirit); we gain access to the mind of God
ourselves (see LoF 5:2).
What
does it mean to have Christ’s Spirit always with us?
It means to be filled with His
Spirit; to be quickened, animated or enlightened by it.
And by definition, it means to have
no darkness within us (see D&C 88:66-68; 1 John 1:5).
Connecting with His Spirit puts us
in contact with everything else governed by Him.
It means to discern between truth
and error as greater light means clearer perception; it allows you to see what
is dark, and who is dark, and what is light and who is filled with light as
light cleaves to light; you can see others as God sees them as the light or
darkness of a person’s countenance is clear to you (see D&C 88:40).
It is more intimate than touching
His side, hands and feet; this is to have His Spirit within your touch at all
times; you become an extension of Him, properly taking His name upon you.
He will christen or anoint you, not
with the symbol of oil but with the reality of His Spirit.
READ Moroni 5:1-2
What
does it mean to “always remember” our Lord and how can we do it?
When we love Christ, we will always
remember Him; those with whom we have the deepest relationships in this life
fundamentally influence our way of being – we don’t have to “think” about them,
as they are always present in our thoughts, emotions and decisions; it should
be the same for us with Christ as it is for us with these loved ones.
We show we love Him (and by
definition remember Him) when we keep His commandments and serve Him (see
Mosiah 5:12-13).
We think about Him and the time we
have spent with Him – the words He has spoken to us and the things He has shown
us (see Psalms 63:6-8; 2 Nephi 4:16, 20-25, 28-35).
When His Spirit is continually
within us, and we are quickened by it, we will always remember Him because He
is with us.
And we love Christ when we finally
realize all He has done for us, despite being unworthy creatures – when we see
how much He first loved us, perfecting His love for us by offering His body and
blood in sacrifice for us, that it might touch our hearts and give us the
reason to always remember Him and keep His commandments which He has given us
(see John 15:13).
But without being born again
(receiving the baptism of Fire), a strict law of outward performances and
ordinances is required to keep people in remembrance of God (see Mosiah
13:29-30); so the covenant to “always remember Him” supposes that the
individual has actually met the terms of the covenant and has received the
mighty change of heart (see Mosiah 5:2), which has filled them with Christ’s
Spirit; otherwise, always remembering Him will require a great deal of “white
knuckling” and “outward” reminders because the Lord Himself is not “inside” the
individual’s heart.
What
are the differences between the prayer on the bread and the wine and what
accounts for the differences?
In the prayer on the bread we eat
in remembrance of Christ’s body (which was “broken” or pierced on the cross).
In the prayer on the wine we drink
in remembrance of Christ’s blood (which was shed in the Garden of Gethsemane).
In the first prayer, we witness
that we are WILLING to do three things (take upon ourselves Christ’s name,
always remember Him, and keep His commandments).
In the second prayer, we witness
that we DO one thing (always remember Him).
In the first prayer, we partake and
covenant that we may “always” have His Spirit to be with us, if we are truly
willing to do the three things we have covenanted to do.
In the second prayer, we partake
and covenant that we may have His Spirit to be with us but the word “always” is
left out, so the implication is that we will have His Spirit with us as long as
we DO actually remember Him and the blood He spilt for us in the Garden.
Baptism
READ Moroni 6:1-3
What
“fruit” shows that one is worthy of baptism?
Not sinlessness…
Faith in the Lord.
Repentance, which was witnessed of
before the Church.
Coming forth to the Lord with a
broken heart and contrite spirit; implied is that the earthly administrators
could also discern this.
A desire to take upon themselves
the name of Christ; the desire to be cleansed, changed and sanctified.
A determination to serve Christ to
the End (Moses 1:3).
READ Moroni 6:4
Is
it possible to be baptized but not “wrought upon by the Holy Ghost”?
Yes.
If one does not live the terms of
the covenant, it will not be honored by God.
The ordinance is just an invitation
to fulfill the terms and receive the real thing, which in this case is the
baptism by fire and the Holy Ghost.
What
is implied that only those who were wrought upon by the Holy Ghost were
numbered among the Church of Christ?
Either Church membership and the
recording of one’s name was not extended until it could be proved that one had
experienced the baptism of Fire.
Or the “Church of Christ” is not an
earthly institution and the recording of names was done by angels in heaven
(see D&C 76:51-70; Hebrews 12:22-24).
What
different implications exist regarding the activities of the “Church” if the
church was an earthly organization vs. a heavenly one?
If earthly, they took the names so
that they could “nourish” their membership with the “good word of God” taught
from the scriptures and the various spiritual experiences each had received
with angels and gods; to help them “always remember” the Lord such that they
stay in the “right way” through the testimony of others; to encourage them to
keep their personal connection to heaven strong through prayer; to minister to
them but not to insert themselves between each other and their Lord who was the
author and finisher of each individual’s salvation.
If heavenly, angels took the names
so that they could “nourish” their membership with the “good word of God”
taught from the scriptures (“opening” the scriptures to each other – see Luke
24:32, 45; Alma 12:1; JSH 1:74) and through visitations, visions and taking the
individuals up with them to the heavenly temple to be taught; to help them
“always remember” the Lord such that they stay in the “right way” because they
know Him with a surety; to encourage them to engage in regular mighty prayer
such that true messengers would continue to visit with them, as they must be
invited – one must knock, ask, seek (see Ether 2:14); to minister to them and
prepare them to enter the presence of the Lord, who will in turn prepare them
to enter the presence of the Father (see Moroni 7:25, 29-31; 2 Nephi 32:6; Alma
13:24)
The Church of Christ On Earth
READ Moroni 6:5-6, 9
How
were the Nephites’ church meetings different from ours today?
They met together “oft” – was this
more than once a week? We meet together
more than once a week with youth activities and the occasional service project
but not to “fast and pray and speak to each other concerning the welfare of our
souls”
To fast, pray and partake of the
sacrament; again, we partake weekly, did they partake more? Did they partake at every meeting? They use bread and wine while we use bread
and water…
Their meetings were much more
unstructured than ours; they conducted their meetings “after the manner of the
workings of the Spirit” which cannot be controlled by a man’s agenda
As a result, their meetings were
conducted by the power of the Holy Ghost, which led them to do whatever
activities (preach doctrine, exhort to repentance, pray in thanksgiving,
supplicate for blessings or knowledge, worship through song, etc.) were most
pleasing to the Lord on that particular day with those particular people, to
maximize their connection to heaven; it is the rare “good meeting” that our
structured approach enables to be conducted by and filled with the Holy Ghost
and as a result, our meetings are not edifying or spiritually nourishing;
having said that, to the degree that we go to serve and love others, we can
still be about our Father’s business regardless of the rest of the meeting
block.
READ Moroni 6:7-8
Why
did the Nephites deal with iniquity in such a Draconian way?
For the same reason that in a
prayer circle (which is done with the direct intent of parting the veil and communing
directly with God) those with feelings of contention toward others are asked to
withdraw so that the Holy Spirit can operate without constraint.
These instructions must have
predated Moroni, as the “Church” he and Mormon lived among was apostate; they
were probably from records Moroni had from the Nephite Zion period.
Why
did the Nephites offer forgiveness “as oft” as people repented?
Because the Lord commanded it (see
Mosiah 26:30-31; Alma 34:31).
He is a “first watch God” when it
comes to forgiveness (see 3 Nephi 10:6; D&C 10:64-67; D&C 98:40).
He will forgive who He will
forgive, but we must forgive all people (see D&C 64:10).
