7/20/2014 Review

July 2014 Lesson Schedule

• July 6: Presidency Lesson
• July 13: Lesson 11&12: Honoring the Priesthood Keys Restored through Joseph Smith & The Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
• July 20: Lesson 13&14: Baptism & The Gift of the Holy Ghost
• July 27: Grateful in Any Circumstances by Pres. Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Click HERE for July Calendar

Lesson Review

Question to ponder:  What do you remember about your own baptism?

Of his own baptism, President Joseph Fielding Smith recalled, “I had a sister who was very kind, as all my sisters were, who impressed upon my mind the need of keeping myself unspotted from the world.  Her teachings to me the day I was baptized have stayed with me all the days of my life.”

President Smith encouraged members of the Church to keep their baptismal covenants – to stay “within [the] spiritual life” they received when they were baptized.  He declared: “There is no more important counsel that can be given to any member of the Church than to keep the commandments after baptism.  The Lord offers us salvation on condition of repentance and faithfulness to his laws.”

Moses 6:58-60:

58 Therefore I give unto you a commandment, to teach these things freely unto your children, saying:

59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the spirit, which I have made, and so became of dust a living soul, even so ye must be born again into the kingdom of heaven, of water, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and enjoy the words of eternal life in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal glory;

60 For by the water ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are justified, and by the blood ye are sanctified;

Baptism is the first ordinance of the gospel.  What do we do after baptism? Endure to the end and keep the commandments.

D&C: 59:5-8:

5 Wherefore, I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him.

6 Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. Thou shalt not steal; neither commit adultery, nor kill, nor do anything like unto it.

7 Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things.

8 Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.

President Smith said, “Who, among Latter-day Saints, is seeking a place in the telestial kingdom? Who, among the Latter-day Saints, is seeking a place in the terrestrial kingdom? With those kingdoms we should want nothing to do; it is not the intention of the man who is baptized into the Church, or ought not to be, to so live that he will not find a place in the celestial kingdom of God; for baptism, itself, is the way into that kingdom. Baptism is of two-fold nature; primarily for the remission of sins, and then, entrance into the kingdom of God, not the telestial kingdom, not into the terrestrial kingdom, but entrance into the celestial kingdom, where God dwells. That is what baptism is for; that is what the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands, is for—to prepare us that we may, through obedience, continue on and on, keeping the commandments of the Lord, until we shall receive the fulness in the celestial kingdom.”

President Smith said, “We may after baptism and confirmation become companions of the Holy Ghost who will teach us the ways of the Lord, quicken our minds and help us to understand the truth.”

He further said, “You cannot get the gift of the Holy Ghost by praying for it, by paying your tithing, by keeping the Word of Wisdom—not even by being baptized in water for the remission of sins. You must complete that baptism with the baptism of the Spirit. The Prophet said on one occasion that you might as well baptize a bag of sand as not confirm a man and give him the gift of the Holy Ghost, by the laying on of hands. You cannot get it any other way.”

Question to ponder:  What experiences have you had with the Holy Ghost prompting you? 

2 Nephi 31: 18: And then are ye in this strait and narrow path which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which witnesses of the Father and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

Moroni 10:5: And by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.

President Smith said, “The Spirit of God speaking to the spirit of man has power to impart truth with greater effect and understanding than the truth can be imparted by personal contact even with heavenly beings.  Through the Holy Ghost the truth is woven into the very fibre and sinews of the body so that it cannot be forgotten.”

President Smith promises us that, “It is the privilege of every member of the Church to know the truth, to speak by the truth, to have the inspiration of the Holy Ghost; it is our privilege, individually, … to receive the light and to walk in the light; and if we continue in God, that is, keep all of His commandments, we shall receive more light until eventually there shall come to us the perfect day of knowledge. [See D&C 50:24.]….We come back into the presence of God our Father, at last, through the guidance of the Holy Ghost.”