Joseph Smith

Praise to the man, (Joseph) who communed with Jehovah!

Born: December 23, 1805
Died: June 27, 1844

  "I am going to inquire after God because I want you all to know God and to be familiar with Him.  If I can get you to know Him, I can bring you to Him" -  Joseph Smith  -  King Follett Discourse, page 4.

I have enjoyed reading these two sermons: "The King Follett Discourse" and "The Sermon in the Grove".  This book is a compilation of witness accounts of two powerful sermons given by Joseph Smith, shortly before his death.  These two sermons are full of doctrine and provide a good understanding of Joseph's message to the world.  I like what Joseph has to say in these sermons, especially his teaching that each one of us should be working towards our personal visit with Jesus.  A visit that takes place while we are still alive, in the flesh.  

"It is knowledge which will save us, and that is the knowledge of God, gained by coming to Him, conversing with Him face-to-face, and receiving the seal upon our heads.  

What is the seal?  We may receive the blessing on our heads of being sealed up to eternal life, meaning the everlasting covenant, thereby making our calling and election sure.  We may commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, (His organization in Heaven) and mingle with righteous spirits and angels.  It is our privilege to pray for and obtain these blessings.  We all have the same privilege, as God desires for each of His children to receive these blessings. 

Joseph Smith  -  King Follett Discourse, pages 65, 70, 80 and 81

I bought the book (King Follett Discourse) from lulu.com and believe the book is also available from amazon.    Compiler: Frederick M. Huchel  

http://www.lulu.com/shop/joseph-smith/the-king-follett-discourse/hardcover/product-23265157.html

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Consideration for Adam and Eve, Miryam and Jesus

Jesus Christ (Jehovah) is the Father of our Heaven and Earth.  He is the "Fountain of Living Waters", the Great, I Am.  All flesh is in His hands and our Father is not supporting all of creation by Himself.  We have a Mother in Heaven!  She is the "Tree of Life" and has also been referred to as Wisdom.  Learning about our loving Mother in Heaven, may seem like a new idea, however, the opposite is actually true.  The original religion of our Fathers, contained this important truth, (that we have a Mother in Heaven, and She reigns along with Her Husband).  Adam and Eve shared this important truth with their children.  Adam and Eve were created before the fall of this Heaven and Earth!  Surely, they shared much light and knowledge with their children.  Much from our first parents was eventually corrupted and forgotten, however remnants of these teachings are woven throughout surviving records and religions.  

Our historical lack of celebration for Adam and Eve is the result of misinformation from the dark side, which successfully clouded our judgement concerning these amazing individuals.  Even though we should be singing songs about them and remembering our first parents with joy and rejoicing, the majority of discussions surrounding Eve and her husband Adam, are too low.  Adam and Eve have incorrectly received responsibility for all the sin, death and chaos that is currently available in our fallen Earth.  

In Romans 5:14-19, Paul confirms this widespread false tradition, also taught in Genesis, that Adam and Eve had something to do with the Fall of this Heaven and Earth.  Our traditional Garden story is lacking a good explanation of what caused our Earth to become a fallen Earth and Heaven.  Our world is an anomaly!  It's hard to visualize creations more glorious than ours, because this beautiful place is all that we have known since our coming here via mortal birth.  In an earlier post from July of 2020, titled "The Fall", the wicked  watchers are discussed.  They were once Angels, (Sons of God) who chose to fall, and their decision to fall, and sin against the greater light they had received, caused our Earth to become the fallen, dark planet that we call home.  

Adam and Eve deserve better!  Which high heaven did they condescend from, in order to become our first parents down here on this Earth?  I've heard they were chosen from the 5th heaven.  I've also heard that Adam and Eve were not considered mortal, as their bodies were created by God.  Adam and Eve were not born to mortal parents, like the rest of us.   

Mary (Miryam, the Migdalah), also known as Mary, the wife of Jesus of Nazareth.

I enjoy learning from the four canonized Gospels, but I have a hard time with folks dismissing Mary, as anything less than Awesome.  There is so much more going on with Jesus and His wife Mary, than has survived in our scriptures.  There is room for prayerful consideration regarding Mary and the role She played while supporting Jesus of Nazareth.  

I have enjoyed learning that Miryam is an active partner with Her Husband, Jehovah.  Mother in Heaven surely has many wonderful names and She is known by faithful believers as Mary.  Regarding Mary, not much is known, and most of what has been written about Mary is not true.  We should be mindful and considerate when speaking of Mary, the beloved spouse of our Savior.  If consideration is given to the original Greek, the idea that Mary was possessed by seven devils, is replaced with the more correct understanding that Mary descended from the seventh Heaven, as did Jesus, to save this fallen Earth.  There are also other "sent ones" from the High Heavens, who chose to support their Heavenly King, by leaving their place of Glory, in order to minister to our fallen Earth.

There are some who believe Mary and Jesus shared children together.  This makes sense, given the teachings of Joseph Smith in the Lectures on Faith, Lecture Seventh, Verse 9, (confirming that Jesus is the prototype of the saved man), in other words, our roadmap towards becoming saved men and women.  It is believed that Mary along with their children, escaped to France shorty after the ascension of Her Husband into heaven.  Mary's name should be spoken with reverence and adoration.

It seems the negative portrayal of Mary Magdalene began after a series of Easter sermons delivered in 591, when Pope Gregory I, conflated Mary Magdalene, who is introduced in Luke 8:2, with Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39) and the unnamed "sinful woman" who anoints Jesus's feet in Luke 7:36-50.  These scripture passages may have been changed prior to Pope Gregory's time by the Deuteronomists as they sought to elevate the "Law" at the expense of Wisdom.  King Josiah and the Deuteronomists are credited for removing the Asherah from the Temple.  The Asherah is a Tree and is symbolic of the Queen of Heaven, the Tree of Life and Wisdom.  This wicked behavior, (removing Heavenly Mother from temple worship) is being described in our present day bible: Deuteronomy 32:5 KJV: "They have corrupted themselves, their spot is not the spot of his children: they are a perverse and crooked generation".   

Prior to the birth of Christ, and also in our day there are religions that worship multiple Gods.  At the time of Christ, Pagans worshipped the old pre-Christian Gods and Goddesses through seasonal festivals and other ceremonies.  Even though some of the original truths had been corrupted, (they worshipped a Mother God and a Father God).  

There is a very insightful article by Margaret Barker in which Margaret explains the time period and actions resulting in the removal of (Mother in Heaven) from Christian worship:

 

From Margaret Barker:  What Did King Josiah Reform?  

{King Josiah changed the religion of Israel in 623 BC. According to the Old Testament account in 2 Kings 23, he removed all manner of idolatrous items from the temple and purified his kingdom of Canaanite practices. Temple vessels made for Baal, Asherah, and the host of heaven were removed, idolatrous priests were deposed, the Asherah itself was taken from the temple and burned, and much more besides. An old law book had been discovered in the temple, and this had prompted the king to bring the religion of his kingdom into line with the requirements of that book (2 Kings 22:8–13; 2 Chronicles 34:14–20). 

There could be only one temple, it stated, and so all other places of sacrificial worship had to be destroyed (Deuteronomy 12:1–5). The law book is easily recognizable as Deuteronomy, and so King Josiah’s purge is usually known as the Deuteronomic reform of the temple. In 598 BC, twenty-five years after the work of Josiah, Jerusalem was attacked by the Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24:10– 16; 25:1–9); eleven years after the first attack, they returned to destroy the city and the temple (586 BC). Refugees fled south to Egypt, and we read in the book of Jeremiah how they would not accept the prophet’s interpretation of the disaster (Jeremiah 44:16–19). Jeremiah insisted that Jerusalem had fallen because of the sins of her people, but the refugees said it had fallen because of Josiah. The king is not mentioned by name, but there can be no doubt what the refugees had in mind. 

Until very recently, they said, they and their ancestors in Judah and Jerusalem had worshipped differently and had prospered, but when they changed their manner of worship, disaster had followed. They had worshipped the Queen of Heaven by offering incense, libations, and special loaves to represent her. Now the Queen of Heaven is not mentioned in the account of Josiah’s purge, but the major item removed from the temple was the Asherah, which was dragged out and burned. Later Jewish texts  described the Asherah as a stylized tree, and Deuteronomy had forbidden any such tree of any pillar to be placed beside an altar for the Lord (Deuteronomy 16:21)... Margaret Barker } 

There are records, which mention Mary and suggest that She is the wife of Jesus.  Mary is mentioned in the following records: the Pistis Sophia, the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Mary.

From the Gospel of Philip: "And the companion of the Savior was Mary Magdalene. Christ loved Mary more than all the disciples, and used to kiss her often on the mouth. The rest of the disciples were offended by it and expressed disapproval. They said to him, "Why do you love her more than all of us?" The Savior answered and said to them, "Why do I not love you like her? When a blind man and one who sees are both together in darkness, they are no different from one another. When the light comes, then he who sees will see the light, and he who is blind will remain in darkness."

There is a wonderful book titled "The Gospel of the Beloved Companion", the literal translation of "the Beloved Companion" from Alexandrian Greek, means: "the Companion beloved of Yeshua".  I'll write more about this very important Gospel witness in a future post.  Glory to God!  I'm thankful to be learning these important truths.

Available via Amazon:

The Gospel of the Beloved Companion: The Complete Gospel of Mary Magdalene
by Author Jehanne de Quillan 

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