This is a review of the slides we used while discussing... Eternal Progression (D&C )

The Heavenly Order of Eternity D&C

While [Joseph] was still in the East... [h]e also spent several days with Elder Parley P. Pratt who was in Philadelphia arranging for the publication of several books. Parley P. Pratt remembered: ‘During these interviews he taught me many great and glorious principles concerning God and the heavenly order of eternity. It was at this time that I received from him the first idea of eternal family organization.... It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity’ (Church History in the Fulness of Times, p. 221).

If a man learns nothing more than to eat, drink and sleep, and does not comprehend any of the designs of God, the beast comprehends the same things. It eats, drinks, sleeps, and knows nothing more about God; yet it knows as much as we, unless we are able to comprehend by the inspiration of Almighty God. If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not comprehend themselves. I want to go back to the beginning, and so lift your minds into more lofty spheres and a more exalted understanding than what the human mind generally aspires to (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 343).

Becoming A Disciple: Worship & Redeeming Zion D&C

3 Main Themes: 1) “Plant & Establish” = 2) “Watchmen” = 3) “Tower” =

3 Main Themes: 1) “Plant & Establish” = Discipleship 2) “Watchmen” = Prophets & Apostles 3) “Tower” = Temple

Plant - Establish

The Symbol of the Olive Tree “With careful pruning and cultivating the [olive] tree will begin to produce its fruits in about seven years, but it will not become fully productive or nearly fifteen years” (Book of Mormon Student Manual, 47) The Symbol of the Olive Tree “With careful pruning and cultivating the [olive] tree will begin to produce its fruits in about seven years, but it will not become fully productive or nearly fifteen years” (Book of Mormon Student Manual, 47)

PruneDungDig A Process

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on: you knew those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of—throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were going to be made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace” (C. S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, p. 160).

“We must be careful, as we seek to become more and more god-like, that we do not become discouraged and lose hope. Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible” (Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p.72).

“Spirituality is not acquired suddenly. It is the consequence of a succession of right choices. It is the harvest of a righteous life” (Dallin H. Oaks, Pure in Heart, p. 144).

The plan of salvation was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements of the law of God (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 49). The plan of salvation was calculated to save all who were willing to obey the requirements of the law of God (Joseph Smith, The Words of Joseph Smith, p. 49).

Obedience is the first law of heaven, the cornerstone upon which all righteousness and progression rest. It consists in compliance with divine law, in conformity to the mind and will of Deity, in complete subjection to God and his commands. To obey gospel law is to yield obedience to the Lord, to execute the commands of and be ruled by him whose we are (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 539). Obedience is the first law of heaven, the cornerstone upon which all righteousness and progression rest. It consists in compliance with divine law, in conformity to the mind and will of Deity, in complete subjection to God and his commands. To obey gospel law is to yield obedience to the Lord, to execute the commands of and be ruled by him whose we are (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 539).

Obedience is the first law of heaven, the cornerstone upon which all righteousness and progression rest. …Obedience is possible because of two things: 1. Laws were ordained by Deity so that his spirit children by conformity to them might progress and become like him; and 2. The children of God were endowed with agency, the power and ability to either obey or disobey the divine will. Obedience and disobedience thus had their beginnings in pre- existence, the obedient spirits being the ones who kept their first estate and the disobedient the ones who were cast out with Lucifer and his hosts (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 539). Obedience is the first law of heaven, the cornerstone upon which all righteousness and progression rest. …Obedience is possible because of two things: 1. Laws were ordained by Deity so that his spirit children by conformity to them might progress and become like him; and 2. The children of God were endowed with agency, the power and ability to either obey or disobey the divine will. Obedience and disobedience thus had their beginnings in pre- existence, the obedient spirits being the ones who kept their first estate and the disobedient the ones who were cast out with Lucifer and his hosts (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 539).

Obedience-that which God will never take by force-He will accept when freely given. And He will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of-the freedom to feel and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be, at least a thousandfold more than we offer Him. Strangely enough, the key to freedom is obedience (Boyd K. Packer, Speeches of the Year [Provo, 7 Dec. 1971]).

I would expose you this morning to some tender, innermost feelings on this matter of agency. Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment, came when finally I had the confidence in God that I would... yield my agency to Him-without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege. In a sense, speaking figuratively, to take one's agency, that precious gift which the scriptures make plain is essential to life itself, and say, ‘I will do as thou directs,’ is afterward to learn that in so doing you possess it all the more (Boyd K. Packer, Speeches of the Year [Provo, 7 Dec. 1971]).

The perfect formula for obedience was stated by our Lord in the pre-existent council when he volunteered to follow the Father's plan and be the Redeemer of the world: ‘Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever’ (Moses 4:2.) (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 539). The perfect formula for obedience was stated by our Lord in the pre-existent council when he volunteered to follow the Father's plan and be the Redeemer of the world: ‘Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever’ (Moses 4:2.) (Bruce R. McConkie, Mormon Doctrine, p. 539).

Tried as Abraham D&C 101:2-4 [see D&C ]

Trials -- ‘If thou endure it well...’ D&C

Why do bad things happen to good people?

The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:46). The nearer a person approaches the Lord, a greater power will be manifested by the adversary to prevent the accomplishment of His purposes (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 3:46).

Men have to suffer that they may come upon Mount Zion and be exalted above the heavens (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:556). Men have to suffer that they may come upon Mount Zion and be exalted above the heavens (Joseph Smith, History of the Church, 5:556).

Instead of the Lord requiring a person’s animal or grain, now the Lord wants us to give up all that is ungodly. This is a higher practice of the law of sacrifice; it reaches into the inner soul of a person. Elder Neal A. Maxwell described it this way: ‘Real, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed!’ (M. Russell Ballard, CES New Testament Symposium, 13 Aug. 1996, 5).

Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery (Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1972], p. 98).

No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education... and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven [Orson F. Whitney as quoted in Faith Precedes the Miracle, p. 98] (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Nov. 1987, 60).

I walked a mile with Pleasure. She chattered all the way, But left me none the wiser For all she had to say. I walked a mile with Sorrow, And ne’er a word said she; But oh, the things I learned from her When Sorrow walked with me! (Robert Browning Hamilton, “Along the Road,” as quoted in Howard W. Hunter, “The Opening and Closing of Doors,” Ensign, Nov. 1987, 60)

President Romney then said: “This does not mean that we crave suffering. We avoid all we can. However, we now know, and we all knew when we elected to come into mortality, that we would here be proved in the crucible of adversity and affliction.... [Furthermore,] the Father’s plan for proving [and refining] his children did not exempt the Savior himself. The suffering he undertook to endure, and which he did endure, equaled the combined suffering of all men [and women everywhere. Trembling and bleeding and wishing to shrink from the cup, he said,] ‘I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.’ (D&C 19:18–19.)” (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Nov. 1987, 59).

Out of tribulation comes knowledge...

“A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 217). “A man is saved no faster than he gets knowledge, for if he does not get knowledge, he will brought into captivity by some evil power in the other world, as evil spirits will have more knowledge, and consequently more power than many men who are on the earth. Hence it needs revelation to assist us, and give us knowledge of the things of God” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 217).

The Ultimate Outcome! D&C 123:11-17

Never be discouraged. If I were sunk in the lowest pit of Nova Scotia, with the Rocky Mountains piled on me, I would hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage, and I would come out on top (Joseph Smith to his cousin George A. Smith).

The wounds in [the Lord's] hands, feet, and side are signs that in mortality painful things happen even to the pure and the perfect, signs that tribulation is not evidence that God does not love us. It is a significant and hopeful fact that it is the wounded Christ who comes to our rescue. He who bears the scars of sacrifice, the lessons of love, the emblems of pain in mortality is undoubtedly intended to give courage to others who are also hurt and wounded by life, perhaps even in the house of their friends (Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant: The Messianic Message of the Book of Mormon [1997], 259).

Celestial Marriage D&C

While [Joseph] was still in the East... [h]e also spent several days with Elder Parley P. Pratt who was in Philadelphia arranging for the publication of several books. Parley P. Pratt remembered: ‘During these interviews he taught me many great and glorious principles concerning God and the heavenly order of eternity. It was at this time that I received from him the first idea of eternal family organization.... It was from him that I learned that the wife of my bosom might be secured to me for time and all eternity’ (Church History in the Fulness of Times, p. 221).

“Let us plan for and teach and plead with our children to marry in the house of the Lord. Let us reaffirm more vigorously than we ever have in the past that it does matter where you marry and by what authority you are pronounced man and wife.... the temple ordinances are absolutely crucial; we cannot return to God’s presence without them” (Howard W. Hunter, Ensign, Nov. 1994, 88).

Someone has said that happy is the man who has found his worship, his wife, and his work, and loves all three. Do you realize that during your comparatively young years, you will probably be making three of the most momentous decisions of your life? You will be deciding on the role of the Church or worship in your life, selecting a wife or husband, and--particularly for you men--choosing your life's work (Ezra Taft Benson was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when this fireside address was given at Brigham Young University on 4 March 1979).

The End…