PART 4

This portion of the Restoration lesson is a great part and we could spend so much time on it because we are now at the Savior's Earthly Ministry. The life of our Savior, Jesus Christ is truly magnificent. The living Son of the living God walked and talked, healed and comforted, lead and established, and among all this gave his life for us, and took it up again. When we view the Savior's life there are so many things that we could look at, but in this blog I want to show how he set lead and established his church among the children of men.

"He called twelve men to be His Apostles and laid His hands on their heads to give them priest- hood authority. He organized His Church..."(PMG pg.34)

It was the cry of Jesus to His apostles saying "come follow me" and that is what they did. "Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." (John 15:16) Christ sent His apostles forth to teach His gospel of faith, repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end. In doing this Jesus Christ established His church of those that chose to follow Him. This church was built of a foundation of prophet and apostles with Jesus Christ as the corner stone. (Eph 2:20-21)

The early christian church you might say, was indeed The Church of Jesus Christ because that is whom they followed. This church had the His gospel and His authority and was the only way that one could find salvation in this life to be bale to return to heaven.

So, if there were only one church, and one way, then why today do we see so many different churches, and so many different ways? Where are the prophets, where are the apostles, where is the priesthood (the authority given to act in God's name) at? What happened to The Church of Jesus Christ? 

These are all good questions to think about, and if you can wait the answers will soon be posted. 

More Scripture References:

Matt 10

Matt 16:13-19

Matt 7:13-14

Eph 4:5

Eph 2: 20 -21

Heb 5:4

Amos 3:7

Acts 2:37-38

Part 3

Prophets! Who are they, why are they important, why do we need them, and how do we find out who they are? These are some questions that come to mind when we think of the word "prophet". We might picture in our mind great individuals of the Old and New Testaments that walked in the desert and carried a staff: Noah, Moses, Elijah, and John the Baptist. All of these individuals were called of God and were given His authority or the priesthood. With this authority they were able to administer ordinances of salvation and teach the gospel of Jesus Christ through revelation. After the prophets would receive direction from the Lord they would try and teach it to the Human family and they would record what they learned and what they taught. That is how we got the scriptures. Most of the time, the teachings of the prophets tell us to repent and change our ways and come unto Christ. The people of the world, us, don't seem to like this correction and we choose to reject the words of the prophets. When this takes place, we call it an apostasy, or a turning away from the commandments, teachings, and covenants of our Heavenly Father. As we read through the bible we can find this repetitive cycle over and over. The cycle of prophets and apostasy was even taught by the Savior during His ministry.

"And he began to speak unto them by parables. A certain man planted a vineyard, and set an hedge about it, and digged a place for the winefat, and built a tower, and let it out to husbandmen, and went into a far country. And at the season he sent to the husbandmen a servant, that he might receive from the husbandmen of the fruit of the vineyard. And they caught him, and beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent unto them another servant; and at him they cast stones, and wounded him in the head, and sent him away shamefully handled. And again he sent another; and him they killed, and many others; beating some, and killing some. Having yet therefore one son, his wellbeloved, he sent him also last unto them, saying, They will reverence my son. But those husbandmen said among themselves, This is the heir; come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours. And they took him, and killed him, and cast him out of the vineyard. What shall therefore the lord of the vineyard do? he will come and destroy the husbandmen, and will give the vineyard unto others. And have ye not read this scripture; The stone which the builders rejected is become the head of the corner:This was the Lord’s doing, and it is marvellous in our eyes? And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them: and they left him, and went their way." (Mark 12: 1-12)

I know that God calls prophets, this is how He works. He sends us His prophet to teach us how we can follow the Savior more closely in our lives, there council is timeless and greatly bless our lives when we follow what they teach.

Other scriptures about prophets:
Amos 3:7
Hosea 12:13
Jacob 4:4,6 (Book of Mormon)
2 Nephi 25:26
Hebrews 5:4
Luke 6:13
John 15:16

Part 2

To be able to learn in this life our Heaven Father has placed us in families. This is a place where we, as children, are protected from the harms of the world and can grow up and learn.

"The restored gospel blesses and helps husbands and wives, parents and children as they strive to develop stronger relationships and spiritual strength in their families. These blessings are available now and in eternity. The gospel of Jesus Christ provides help with current concerns and challenges. Because families are ordained of God, they are the most important social unit in time and in eternity. God has established families to bring happiness to His children, allow them to learn correct principles in a loving atmosphere, and prepare them for eternal life. The home is the best place to teach, learn, and apply principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. A home established on gospel principles will be a place of refuge and safety. It will be a place where the Spirit of the Lord can abide, blessing family members with peace, joy, and happiness."(PMG Pg.32)

"Now therefore fear the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the Lord.
And if it seem evil unto you to serve the Lord, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord."(Joshua 24: 14-15)