Monday, August 6, 2018

Understanding Light and Power


LIGHT


I)      Statements of Principle: General principles on light

A)    The Savior is a being of light, in all things and through all things.
1)      D&C 5:19  And the inhabitants are consumed away and utterly destroyed by the brightness of my coming.
2)      D&C 45:29 But they receive it not; for they perceive not the light, and they turn their hearts from me because of the precepts of men.
3)      D&C 50:24  That which is of God is light; and he that receiveth light, and continueth in God, receiveth more light; and that light groweth brighter and brighter until the perfect day.
4)      D&C 84: 45 For the word of the Lord is truth, and whatsoever is truth is light, and whatsoever is light is Spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ.
5)      D&C 84: 46 And the Spirit giveth light to every man that cometh into the world; and the Spirit enlighteneth every man through the world, that hearkeneth to the voice of the Spirit.
6)      D&C 88:6  He that ascended up on high, as also he descended below all things, in that he comprehended all things, that he might be in all and through all things, the light of truth
7)      D&C 88:7 Which truth shineth.  This is the light of Christ.  As also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made.
8)      D&C 88: 8  As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made;
9)      D&C 88: 9 As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made;
10)  D&C 88: 11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings;
11)  D&C 88: 12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space-

II)                 The Light of Christ
a.       “The Light of Christ in not a personage.  It has no body.  I do not know what it is as far as substance is concerned; but it fills the immensity of space and emanates from God.  It is the light by which the worlds are controlled, by which they are made.  It is the light of the sun and all other bodies.  It is the light which gives life to vegetation.  It quickens the understanding of men, and has these various functions as set forth in these verses.
     “It is: ‘The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed…
     “This is our explanation in regard to the Spirit of Christ, or Light of Truth, which every man receives and is guided by.  Unless a man had the blessings that come from this Spirit , his mind would not be quickened; there would be no vegetation grown; the worlds would not stay in their orbits; because it is through this Spirit of Truth, this Light of Truth, according to this revelation, that all these things are done.
See student manual sec 88 from

Doctrines of Salvation, vol. 1by Joseph Fielding Smith

Marion G. Romney, "The Light of Christ," Ensign, May 1977, 43


Elder Merrill J. Bateman
A receptacle for light.  The physical body is a receptacle for light. Physicists indicate that every physical object can hold light. The brother of Jared must have known this when he exclaimed, “Touch these stones, O Lord, with thy finger, and prepare them . . . that we may have light while we shall cross the sea” (Ether 3:4). The Lord, speaking to the Prophet Joseph Smith, stated, “If your eye be single to my glory, your whole bodies shall be filled with light” (D&C 88:67).
Have you noticed the light in the countenances of those who live the gospel? Four months ago I was in the Accra Ghana Temple. The ordinance workers, dressed in white, were all Ghanaian. The light emanating from their faces was quite visible. As you live the gospel, light is added to your being with the body as the receptacle.

Charles W. Penrose, First Counselor in the First Presidency under President Joseph F. Smith, said: “It is a great puzzle to some people how it can possibly be that a person, an individual, of form and stature, occupying but one place at a time, can hear the prayers of His people or can comprehend them as David said He does: Said he: ‘There is not a thought of my heart but lo! O Lord, thou knowest it altogether. If I ascend up into heaven behold thou art there. If I descend down into hell behold thou art there; and if I take the wings of the morning, and flee to the uttermost parts of the earth there will Thy hand lead me and thy right hand guide me’ [see Psalm 139:4, 8–10 ].

Of course these expressions are somewhat figurative, but there is the great fact that God can be omnipresent by the power of His universally diffused Spirit which proceeds from His presence throughout the immensity of space, and He can see and discern all things by that power, as He told Enoch, and Moses also, as you can read in The Pearl of Great Price. Moses and Enoch were each lifted up so that they could see, measurably, as Deity sees and they beheld the multiplicity of the creations of God; and when Enoch declared that if a man could count the particles of the earth or of a million earths like this, that would not be a beginning to the number of God’s creations, then God told him, ‘Yea, and mine eye can pierce them all’ [see Moses 7:29–36 ]. By the power of that Spirit he sees and comprehends and understands all things, and His watchful care and His mercies are over all His works.” (In Conference Report, Oct. 1915, pp. 37–38.)

Jesus Christ is a celestial being. Since the sun is typical of the glory of the celestial kingdom (see D&C 76:70 ), the imagery of burning and fire that describes the Second Coming could actually be caused by the glory of Christ’s person. Elder Charles W. Penrose, writing of this day, said: “He comes! The earth shakes, and the tall mountains tremble; the mighty deep rolls back to the north as in fear, and the rent skies glow like molten brass. He comes! The dead Saints burst forth from their tombs, and ‘those who are alive and remain’ are ‘caught up’ with them to meet him [see 1 Thessalonians 4:17 ]. The ungodly rush to hide themselves from his presence, and call upon the quivering rocks to cover them. He comes! with all the hosts of the righteous glorified. The breath of his lips strikes death to the wicked. His glory is a consuming fire. The proud and rebellious are as stubble; they are burned and ‘left neither root nor branch’ [see Malachi 4:1 ]. He sweeps the earth ‘as with the besom of destruction.’ [ Isaiah 14:23 ]. He deluges the earth with the fiery floods of his wrath, and the filthiness and abominations of the world are consumed. Satan and his dark hosts are taken and bound—the prince of power of the air has lost his dominion, for He whose right it is to reign has come, and ‘the kingdoms of this world have become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ.’” (“The Second Advent,” in Millennial Star, 10 Sept. 1859, p. 583.) O.T. Student Manual on Isaiah 64

The purpose of prayer, however, is not to appease a vindictive Deity; nor is it to court favors from an indulgent Father. It is to attune oneself with the spirit or light which “proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space.” (D&C 88:12.) In that light is to be found sure answers to all our needs. Prayer is the key which unlocks the door and lets Christ into our lives.

We made the climb, and while on top of the peak we visited a television broadcasting station. A bright young man explained to us in words I had never heard, and using principles I could not and do not understand, how the sounds and scenes of television were broadcast into the valley below.

That night, back in the city of Hobart, my two young sons and I sat before a television set that was tuned to the proper wave band, and we saw and heard and experienced what had been described to us in words.

Now I think this illustrates perfectly what is involved in the receipt of revelation and the seeing of visions. We can read about visions and revelations in the records of the past, we can study the inspired writings of people who had the fullness of the gospel in their day, but we cannot comprehend what is involved until we see and hear and experience for ourselves.

This Tabernacle is now full of words and music. Handel’s Messiah is being sung, and the world’s statesmen are propagandizing their people. But we do not hear any of it.

This Tabernacle is full of scenes from Vietnam and Washington. There is even a picture of men walking on the surface of the moon. But we are not seeing these things. The minute, however, in which we tune a radio to the proper wave band and tune a television receiving set on the proper channel, we begin to hear and see and experience what otherwise remains completely unknown to us.

And so it is with the revelations and visions of eternity. They are around us all the time. This Tabernacle is full of the same things which are recorded in the scriptures and much more. The vision of the degrees of glory is being broadcast before us, but we do not hear or see or experience because we have not tuned our souls to the wave band on which the Holy Ghost is broadcasting.

Joseph Smith said: “The Holy Ghost is a revelator.” And, “No man can receive the Holy Ghost without receiving revelations.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith [Deseret Book Co., 1968], p. 328.)

The Comforter knoweth all things; he is commissioned to bear witness of the Father and the Son, to reveal, to teach, and to testify—and he is broadcasting all the truths of salvation, and all the knowledge and wisdom of God, out into all immensity all of the time.

How this is done we do not know. We cannot comprehend God or the laws by which he governs the universe. But that it does happen we know because here in the valley below, when we attune our souls to the Infinite, we hear and see and experience the things of God.

The laws governing radio and television have existed from the time of Adam to the present moment, but only in modern times have men heard and seen and experienced these miraculous things. And the laws have always existed whereby men can see visions, hear the voice of God, and partake of the things of the Spirit. But millions of people everywhere live and die without tasting the good word of God, because they do not obey the laws which implant the revelations of the Lord in their souls.

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