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The Lord’s Higher Blessings Series – #4 Second Comforter
Compiled and presented by: Jodi Stoddard
…. from the perspective of a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints
While the primary content of this presentation consist of scriptures and quotes from the Prophets and Apostles, my additional commentary is my own and in no way represents an official position of the Church.
I admonish everyone to pray for the power of discernment in ALL things, including this presentation, and seek to be taught by the Spirit, the Holy Ghost, and/or the Lord.
SLIDE: Welcome to the fourth in The Lord’s Higher Blessings Series. If you haven’t watched the first three, you will want to begin there as the presentations build on each other.
I am Jodi Stoddard. I am an active member in good standing of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I believe Russell M. Nelson is the current prophet for the world, and that he is called by the Lord.
What I share in this video are primarily quotes and scriptures I have gathered on the subject of the Second Comforter. Because of the sacred nature of this subject, I will refrain from inserting personal commentary as much as possible. Please use prayer and the power of discernment in pondering this subject as well as anything I share here, or have shared elsewhere. I am not infallible.
SLIDE: We know the Holy Ghost is the First Comforter.... Who is, or how do we know there is a Second Comforter?
SLIDE: John 14:16-19
And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever;
Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him:but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.
Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
SLIDE: The following is from LDS.org:
The scriptures speak of two Comforters. The first is the Holy Ghost (John 14:26–27; Moro. 8:26; D&C 21:9; 42:17; 90:11). The Second Comforter is the Lord Jesus Christ (John 14:18, 21, 23). When someone obtains the Second Comforter, Jesus Christ will appear to him from time to time, will reveal the Father, and will teach him face to face (D&C 130:3).
SLIDE: D&C 130: 3, John 14:23—
The appearing of the Father and the Son, in that verse, is a personal appearance; and the idea that the Father and the Son dwell in a man’s heart is an old sectarian notion, and is false.
SLIDE: In order to understand how often this subject can actually be found in the scriptures, we must first understand that it is known by other synonyms. Learning what these higher blessings are also known as will open up the scriptures to you with new enlightenment. In previous videos in this series, we discussed the synonyms of Baptism of Fire and Calling & Election. The synonyms of which I am aware for Second Comforter are The Holy Spirit of Promise, Partakers of the Divine Nature, and A More Sure Word of Prophecy.
SLIDE: From the Topical Guide: Jesus Christ, Second Comforter, John 14:21
I will come to you.
SLIDE: D&C 67:10
And again, verily I say unto you that it is your privilege, and a promise I give unto you that have been ordained unto this ministry, that inasmuch as you strip yourselves from jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves before me, for ye are not sufficiently humble, the veil shall be rent and you shall see me and know that I am—not with the carnal neither natural mind, but with the spiritual.
SLIDE: What Lack I yet? In these Higher Blessings of the Lord, there is an order. While it is possible to receive them all at one event, it is more likely that you will receive them line upon line as you are ready and qualify. Qualifying isn’t about jumping through hoops. It isn’t about how many years you have been faithful in your church attendance and callings…. Like the oil in the 5 wise virgins lamps, this certainly adds strength to your testimony and understanding of the gospel… but I believe we qualify as we reach a certain level of faith combined with knowledge received from the First Comforter: The Holy Ghost. This combination of really understanding and exemplifying the gospel through faith takes us to a level like as the brother of Jared, we cannot be held from without the veil. It is also possible to be deceived on this road… so vigilance and caution are necessary. We are told in the Doctrine and Covenants how to know if we are being deceived by a false entity. Also, we should only be interested in achieving this blessing IF AND WHEN we are ready. We need to be patient and wait upon the Lord and HIS timing. Meanwhile we can ask constantly “What lack I yet?” and then be willing and ready to DO what He says – because He WILL show you, and like the rich young man, you need to be willing to do what the Lord says, even if the test is giving up all you own, or going through your own Job trials where you stand to lose everything….. These are not blessings to be trifled with. By the same token, we are admonished to seek after them.
SLIDE: D&C 93:1
SLIDE:If you read 2 Nephi 31, you will find the Doctrine of Christ outlined… Then in the next chapter… 32… we read this:
SLIDE: 2Nephi 32:6-7
Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given until after he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh. And when he shall manifest himself unto you in the flesh, the things which he shall say unto you shall ye observe to do.
And now I, Nephi, cannot say more; the Spirit stoppeth mine utterance, and I am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given unto them in plainness, even as plain as word can be.
SLIDE: D&C 76:117-118
SLIDE: Now what is this other Comforter?
It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself;
133. When any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, (I want you to think about the pattern in the Temple Endowment…. We see this pattern there.) and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions-Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the First Born. [TPJS, pp. 150-51]
SLIDE: D&C 101:38
SLIDE: Exodus 33:11
And the Lord spake unto Moses face to face, as a man speaketh unto his friend.
SLIDE: McConkie in a 1977 General Conference talk titled “The Ten Blessings of the Priesthood”, Blessing ten:
"We have the power —and it is our privilege —so to live, that becoming pure in heart, we shall see the face of God while we yet dwell as mortals in a world of sin and sorrow."
SLIDE: Richard G Scott in a General Conference talk titled “How to Obtain Revelation & Inspiration for Your Personal Life” said the following:
The Lord has declared: “And ye are to be taught from on high. Sanctify yourselves and ye shall be endowed with power, that ye may give even as I have spoken.” (D&C 43:16) The words sanctify yourselves may appear puzzling. President Harold B. Lee once explained that you can replace those words with the phrase “keep my commandments.” Read that way, the counsel may seem clearer.
I want to interject a personal comment here….. I have had a leader tell me that I shouldn’t allow these blessings to become a hobby. One could take that two ways. Obviously we need balance in our lives. If we focus too much on any one thing, we can stall our progress…. But for those who really understand, seeking these higher blessings is all about becoming SANCTIFIED!!! And I don’t believe there is any other activity in our lives that is more vitally important. If we are truly seeking to become sanctified, then it will be evident in all aspects of our lives…. In this sense, seeking one’s Baptism of Fire, Calling & Election, Second Comforter, sanctification and other blessings can in no way be considered a ‘hobby’.
SLIDE: Doctrine and Covenants 88:68
“Therefore, sanctify yourselves that your minds become single to God, and the days will come that you shall see him; for he will unveil his face unto you, and it shall be in his own time, and in his own way, and according to his own will.”
SLIDE: Joseph Smith said:
"God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, Know ye the Lord; for all shall know Him."
SLIDE: JST Psalm 14:1-2
The fool hath said in his heart, there is no man that hath seen God. Because he showeth himself not unto us, therefore there is no God. Behold, they are corrupt; they have done abominable works, and none of them doeth good.
Doctrine and Covenants 93:1
Verily, thus saith the Lord: It shall come to pass that every soul who forsaketh his sins and cometh unto me, and calleth on my name, and obeyeth my voice, and keepeth my commandments, shall see my face and know that I am.
SLIDE: 2Nep 4:23
Behold, he hath heard my cry by day, and he hath given me knowledge by visions in the night-time. (Dreams – Elder Scott spoke often about this way of being taught)
And by day have I waxed bold in mighty prayer before him; yea, my voice have I sent up on high; and angels came down and ministered unto me.
And upon the wings of his Spirit hath my body been carried away upon exceedingly high mountains. And mine eyes have beheld great things, yea, even too great for man; therefore I was bidden that I should not write them.
SLIDE: 3 Nephi 28:15
And whether they were in the body or out of the body, they could not tell; for it did seem unto them like a transfiguration of them, that they were changed from this body of flesh into an immortal state, that they could behold the things of God.
SLIDE: Doctrine and Covenants 38:8
But the day soon cometh that ye shall see me, and know that I am; for the veil of darkness shall soon be rent, and he that is not purified shall not abide the day.
SLIDE: D&C 84:21-27
And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
Now this Moses plainly taught to the children of Israel in the wilderness, and sought diligently to sanctify his people that they might behold the face of God;
But they hardened their hearts and could not endure his presence; therefore, the Lord in his wrath, for his anger was kindled against them, swore that they should not enter into his rest while in the wilderness, which rest is the fullness of his glory.
Therefore, he took Moses out of their midst, and the Holy Priesthood also;
And the lesser priesthood continued, which priesthood holdeth the key of the ministering of angels and the preparatory gospel;
Which gospel is the gospel of repentance and of baptism, and the remission of sins, and the law of carnal commandments,
SLIDE: Our own President Nelson is pleading with us to seek this blessing.
In his General Conference talk from April 2016 “The Price of Priesthood Power” he said: “I urgently plead with each one of us to live up to our privileges as bearers of the priesthood. In a coming day, only those men who have taken their priesthood seriously, by diligently seeking to be taught by the Lord Himself, will be able to bless, guide, protect, strengthen, and heal others. Only a man who has paid the price for priesthood power will be able to bring miracles to those he loves and keep his marriage and family safe, now and throughout eternity.
What is the price to develop such priesthood power? The Savior’s senior Apostle, Peter —that same Peter who with James and John conferred the Melchizedek Priesthood upon Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery—declared qualities we should seek to “be partakers of the divine nature.”
If you click on the (9) in his footnote reference it takes you to:
SLIDE: 2 Peter 1:4
SLIDE: Bednar’s GC Oct 2017 talk – Exceeding Great and Precious Promises….
Go and read this one and the one mentioned above by Pres. Nelson….. See how much more meaningful these talks are now that you have a better understanding of the Lords Higher Blessings.
In this talk the heading says, “Heavenly Father’s great plan of happiness includes the doctrine, the ordinances, the covenants, and the exceeding great and precious promises whereby we can become partakers of the divine nature.”
The ‘doctrine of Christ’ is faith, repentance, baptism by immersion, and the Gift of the Holy Ghost.
See the pattern there? This includes the ordinances and covenants. From there we go on to the temple where we are given more ordinances of the Priesthood and make more covenants…. And what does this lead to according to Elder Bednar? Exceeding great and precious promises and we can become partakers of the divine nature! Those promises are each defined in the 4 parts of this series…. The Mysteries, Baptism of Fire, Calling & Election Made Sure, and Second Comforter experience(s).
And what will these blessings teach us? As I mentioned before, these are not trophies for our gospel mantle… but they are to help us KNOW and be partakers of HIS Divine Nature….. to come to KNOW God and His Son Jesus Christ.
SLIDE: In his talk Bednar goes on to say:
“My message emphasizes the importance of the exceeding great and precious promises described by Peter as true reminders of where we are going in our mortal journey and why.”
SLIDE: He also explains what “Looking beyond the mark” means when he said this: “The gospel is so much more than a routine checklist of discrete tasks to be performed; rather, it is a magnificent tapestry of truth “fitly framed” and woven together, designed to help us become like our Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, even partakers of the divine nature. Truly, we are blinded “by looking beyond the mark” when this overarching spiritual reality is overshadowed by the cares, concerns, and casualness of the world.”
Looking beyond the mark is when the cares of the world, concerns and casualness are more important than seeking to become sanctified. The next time someone accuses you of looking beyond the mark, or making these blessings a ‘hobby’… share this reference or even the entire talk from Elder Bednar with them so that they might catch the vision of where our life-focus really should be.
SLIDE: In closing I want to remind you of the words of our current Prophet – Pres. Nelson…. From his April 2018 talk “Ministering With the Power and Authority of God. “I fear that too many of our brothers and sisters do not grasp the privileges that could be theirs.3”
…. (see that tiny #3 from HIS footnote? Let’s read again what scriptures HE references in that footnote….)
And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.
Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.
And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;
For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.
SLIDE: Doctrine and Covenants 107:18-19
The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church—
To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant.
SLIDE: JST Genesis 14:30-31
For God having sworn unto Enoch and unto his seed with an oath by himself; that every one being ordained after this order and calling should have power, by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course;
To put at defiance the armies of nations, to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God; to do all things according to his will, according to his command, subdue principalities and powers; and this by the will of the Son of God which was from before the foundation of the world.
…. And lest we forget, and leading into the next blessing… what happens when we accomplish this????
SLIDE: JST Genesis 14:32
And men having this faith, coming up unto this order of God, were translated and taken up into heaven.
…which would lead us to Translation as the last in the series – but a video on Translation, the Terrestrial Order and the 144,000 was actually the first one I did… I will renumber it as the fifth and final video in the Lord’s Higher Blessings series….. (the first shall be last and the last shall be first.)
Thanks for following along. I sincerely pray that you have been blessed and enlightened. There will be no more videos in this series… but I have a few ideas mulling around… we will see if the Lord confirms what he might like me to work on next. Until then…
SLIDE: Hurrah for Israel – which we recently learned from our prophet means “Let God prevail!”
SLIDE:
REFERENCES:
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/comforter?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2016/04/the-price-of-priesthood-power?lang=eng
https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/bd/israel?lang=eng