The Priesthood

The priesthood is the power of God given to men on earth to act in God's name.
It is not man's power or will or something to be used seperately.
It is passed on from person to person by the laying on of hands.
Named for Melchizedek, prince of Salem
Given to Moses by his father-in-law, Jethro
The line of authority can be traced back to Christ.
"I confer upon you the aaronic priesthood and ordain you to the office of a deacon/teacher/priest/elder/high priest/[70]/apostle"

Melchizedek
1. Administer the Gospel
2. Keys of mysteries of the kingdom
3. Key of knowledge of God

The apostasy - no one to administer the keys, although they may have had the authority.
To have eternal life is to know God.
It is the priesthood holder's job to sanctify his wife through Ephesians 5:25-28

In Ephesians 5:20, woman = church, man = Christ
Woman submit selves to man as church submits to it's leader. Husband sacrifice for his wife, and love her, sanctify her, obtains the priesthood, magnifies his calling (by exercising it, respecting it by keeping commandments, and helping others), be sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies. D&C 84:33
"You can't sanctify anyone without first being sanctified."
Unless you repent, "whoso breaketh this covenant after he hath received it, and altogether turneth therefore, shall not have forgiveness of sins in this world nor in the world to come." (D&C 84:41).
A person not magnifying his calling, not sanctified, not honoring the priesthood, feels miserable, makes bad choices, because it's all about him having fun now.
How can I help a man magnify his priesthood?
-have high expectations
-keep high standards
-be anxiously engaged in a good cause
-be modest
-pray for them
-impress the Lord, be on the right path

The Principle of the Fall

2 Nephi 9:20 "O how great the holiness of our God! For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it."

Adam and Eve were given two commandments:
1) Multiply and replenish the earth
2) Don't eat the fruit of the tree of life

transgression- doing something without a knowledge of right or wrong
sin- knowingly disobeying God

2 Nephi 2 "Adam fell that men might be, and men are that they might have joy."
-We don't know how long they were in the garden

Consequences of the Fall:
-sorrow
-conception
-work
-joy in redemption
-open eyes
-posterity
-prosperity
-mortality
-temptation
-agency
-knowledge of good and evil
-knowledge of joy and misery
-curse on the earth, had to learn to till the ground

If there is no law, there is no sin. If there is no sin, there is no righteousness nor happiness nor sorrow nor punishment nor God nor earth nor us.

The Key to Selflessness

D&C 82
What do I need to do to put others' lives ahead of my own?
*I need to become humble and obtain a perspective that lets me see everyone as God's creations, as His spirit children.
*To be humble, I need to acknowledge the things the Lord has blessed me with, and continues to bless me with.
*Say my prayers of gratitude
*Give at every opportunity
*Always be anxiously engaged in a good cause
*Release a grudge
*Be thoughtful
*Consider myself a servant to others (Whatever you do for others is the same as doing it for the Lord)
*Everyone should have the opportunity to feel the happiness, peace, and joy that comes from experiencing the truthfulness of the Gospel.

-Mosiah 2:20-21 "I say unto you, my brethren, that if you should render all the thanks and praise which your whole soul has power to possess, to that God who has created you, and has kept and preseved you, and has caused that ye should rejoice, and has granted that ye should live in peace one with another -- I say unto you that if ye should serve him who has created you from the beginning, and is preserving you from day to day, by l ending you breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will, and even supporting you from one moment to another -- I say, if ye should serve him with all your whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants."

Absolute Forgiveness

The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 18:18-20)
The Sermon on the Mount (Matt. 5:38-44)

"Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them who despitefully use you and persecute you."

Story of Victoria Ribalo and the reckless teenager who threw a turkey into her windshield. In court, she did not hold angry feelings toward the boy, but embraced him and said "It's okay, I just want you to make your life the best it can be."

The Atonement of Jesus Christ

*Jesus Christ took upon him the sins of every soul in the world. Do you ever wonder what's the purpose of this life? Don't you think there's more to being that inhabiting a body, going to school just to go to work and make money, raising a family, and dying when you get old? The trials and tests we must endure are but the refiner's fire. It's to help us grow and strengthen and get us back worthily to our heavenly home. But since no unclean thing can dwell in the presence of God, and we all fall significantly short of perfection, there must needs be an atonement.

Bible Dictionary "Atonement - The word describes the setting "at one" of those who have been estranged, and devotes the reconciliation of man to God.

"Sin is the cause of estrangement, and therefore the purpose of atonement is to correct or overcome the consequences of sin. From the time of Adam to the death of Jesus Christ, true believers were instructed to offer animal sacrifices to the Lord. These sacrifices were symbolic of the forthcoming death of Jesus Christ, and were done by faith in him. Jesus Christ, as the Only Begotten Son of God and the only sinless person to live on this earth, was the only one capable of making an atonement for mankind. By his selection and foreordination in the Grand Counsel before the world was formed, his divine Sonship, his sinless life, the shedding of his blood in the garden of Gethsemane, his death on the cross and subsequent bodily resurrection from the grave, he made a perfect atonement for all mankind. All are covered unconditionally as pertaining to the fall of Adam. Hence, all shall rise from the dead with immortal bodies, because of Jesus' atonement. 'For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive' (1 Corinth. 15:22), and all little children are innocent at birth.

I Am God's Child

What would life without a knowledge of God be like?
-People who don't know their purpose are likely to turn to some material thing to give their life meaning (e.g. drugs, alcohol, wealth, sex).
-Knowledge of God is an anti-depressant.

The world is so full of angry, revengful people, but we should follow Christ's example and lift others up, and realize their full potential for true happiness.

It took Moses four times to say "Get thee hence" to Satan before Satan actually left. This is also likened to Christ's experience with Satan.

We have the tendencies to stick with the traditions of what we are raised with. We see the idols that men worship in these days. That which is valuable to society becomes valuable to the individual. Each of us should seek to put Christ in the center of our lives. Internalizing this can change us, and make us stand out as lighthouses above the crowd of our lost brothers and sisters.

Overcoming Temptation

We are given weaknesses in order to humble us.
"There is no sin or addiction stronger than the Gospel of Jesus Christ."

Mosiah 5:2 "And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually."
5:7 "And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters."

Goal: to have "no more disposition to do evil"
"Have ye been spiritually reborn of God?"
*We can change anything about ourselves. Everyone has the potential to change.