Scripture Blog

This weblog is my personal online scripture journal. I try to read the scriptures each morning as I exercise on my cross-trainer. It has a great impact on my life and my testimony of the Savior and his restored church. The journal is really for my own benefit but I have set it up as a web log in hopes to benefit anyone else that may be interested. "For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost..." 1 Nephi 10:19

Friday, February 20, 2009

D&C 93

We learn by revelation the potential of man as we learn of the more of the progression of the Savior as He explained -

"...I am in the Father, and the Father in me, and the Father and I are one—
4 The Father because he gave me of his fulness, and the Son because I was in the world and made flesh my tabernacle, and dwelt among the sons of men." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:3 - 4)

The gift of "fulness" came from the Father because the Savior did the will of the Father -

"I was in the world and received of my Father, and the works of him were plainly manifest." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:5)

John the Baptist testified -

"...I, John, saw that he received not of the fulness at the first, but received grace for grace;
13 And he received not of the fulness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fulness..." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:12 - 13)

Then John testifies -

"And I, John, bear record that he received a fulness of the glory of the Father;
17 And he received all power, both in heaven and on earth, and the glory of the Father was with him, for he dwelt in him." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:16 - 17)

Then John testifies of man -

"I give unto you these sayings that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name, and in due time receive of his fulness.
20 For if you keep my commandments you shall receive of his fulness, and be glorified in me as I am in the Father; therefore, I say unto you, you shall receive grace for grace." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:19 - 20)

Emphasizing -

"...no man receiveth a fulness unless he keepeth his commandments." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:27)

For if man follows the pattern set by the Savior and -
"...keepeth his commandments receiveth truth and light, until he is glorified in truth and knoweth all things." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:28)

As we begin to understand this, we begin to understand the "plan" or His plan of salvation in that -

"...this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Pearl of Great Price Moses 1:39)

Again, John explains the purpose of this revelation -

"...that you may understand and know how to worship, and know what you worship, that you may come unto the Father in my name..." (Doctrine and Covenants Section 93:19)

In conference, Elder Bruce R. McConkie provided a great outline of what is means to know how to worship -

"To worship the Lord is to follow after him, to seek his face, to believe his doctrine, and to think his thoughts.

It is to walk in his paths, to be baptized as Christ was, to preach that gospel of the kingdom which fell from his lips, and to heal the sick and raise the dead as he did.

To worship the Lord is to put first in our lives the things of his kingdom, to live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God, to center our whole hearts upon Christ and that salvation which comes because of him.

It is to walk in the light as he is in the light, to do the things that he wants done, to do what he would do under similar circumstances, to be as he is.

To worship the Lord is to walk in the Spirit, to rise above carnal things, to bridle our passions, and to overcome the world.

It is to pay our tithes and offerings, to act as wise stewards in caring for those things which have been entrusted to our care, and to use our talents and means for the spreading of truth and the building up of his kingdom.

To worship the Lord is to be married in the temple, to have children, to teach them the gospel, and to bring them up in light and truth.

It is to perfect the family unit, to honor our father and our mother; it is for a man to love his wife with all his heart and to cleave unto her and none else.

To worship the Lord is to visit the fatherless and the widows in their affliction and to keep ourselves unspotted from the world.

It is to work on a welfare project, to administer to the sick, to go on a mission, to go home teaching, and to hold family home evening.

To worship the Lord is to study the gospel, to treasure up light and truth, to ponder in our hearts the things of his kingdom, and to make them part of our lives.

It is to pray with all the energy of our souls, to preach by the power of the Spirit, to sing songs of praise and thanksgiving.

To worship is to work, to be actively engaged in a good cause, to be about our Father’s business, to love and serve our fellowmen.

It is to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to comfort those that mourn, and to hold up the hands that hang down and to strengthen the feeble knees.

To worship the Lord is to stand valiantly in the cause of truth and righteousness, to let our influence for good be felt in civic, cultural, educational, and governmental fields, and to support those laws and principles which further the Lord’s interests on earth.

To worship the Lord is to be of good cheer, to be courageous, to be valiant, to have the courage of our God-given convictions, and to keep the faith.

It is ten thousand times ten thousand things. It is keeping the commandments of God. It is living the whole law of the whole gospel.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1971, pp. 168–69; or Ensign, Dec. 1971, p. 130.)