The Kingdom of Heaven is Within: Part V

 

Baptism of the Holy Ghost by Rebecca Borgan

The Kingdom of Heaven is Within: Part I

The Kingdom of Heaven is Within: Part II

The Kingdom of Heaven is Within: Part III

The Kingdom of Heaven is Within: Part IV

In previous posts as part of the commentary on Come Follow Me I've discussed in depth the ordinance of the baptism of fire to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Since this post series (The Kingdom of Heaven is Within) is focused on how we are to take personal responsibility over our lives to receive heaven, I would be remiss not to discuss a central component of this responsibility, which is to be born again.  However, since I've discussed this topic (perhaps ad nauseam for some) this post is aimed to be a concise, succinct, and cogent discussion about the important, but often overlooked ordinance. 

I. True Conversion 

As we take individual responsibility for our salvation by turning to the Lord and submitting to his instruction, our lives will begin to change in radical and fundamental ways.  This will be because, through Christ, our hearts will begin to change and through that inner change, outward change will occur causing us to become different people, bearing the light of our creator.  

By turning to Christ, he begins to address the underlying causes of our afflictions (rather than the symptoms).  The addressing of the causes promotes real and substantive change in our lives leading to true conversion.  This conversion is referred to in the scriptures as being born again. 

Those who follow Christ by becoming personally responsible for their lives will be made into new creatures.  Their sinful nature is purged and they are spiritually reborn.  Although they will inhabit the same body, their spirit will be infused with the Holy Spirit.  It is this infusion of their spirit with the Holy Spirit that leads to a fundamental change in their nature, changing their hearts which changes their desires.  In the scriptures this infusion (of the Holy Spirit) is referred to as the gift of the Holy Ghost. 

And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was caught away by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the water, and was brought forth out of the water. And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was born of the Spirit, and became quickened in the inner man (Moses 6: 64-65)

We receive the gift of the Holy Ghost through the baptism fire. 

Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins (3 Nephi 12: 2) 

Unlike the baptism of water, which is merely symbolic and does not produce a regenerative effect on its own, the baptism of fire occurs when we have reconciled our selves to God's will.  Baptism of water symbolizes the rebirth that comes from receiving the baptism of fire. 

Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life (Romans 6: 4)

We receive the baptism of fire by reconciling ourselves to God's will.  And we reconcile ourselves to God's will by offering a sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit. 

And behold, I have given you the law and the commandments of my Father, that ye shall believe in me, and that ye shall repent of your sins, and come unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. Behold, ye have the commandments before you, and the law is fulfilled (3 Nephi 12:19). 

7 Behold, he offereth himself a sacrifice for sin, to answer the ends of the law, unto all those who have a broken heart and a contrite spirit; and unto none else can the ends of the law be answered (2 Nephi 2:7). 

In order for Christ to infuse the Holy Spirit within us, we must be proper recipients of it.  After all, the Spirit of God doesn't dwell in unholy temples.  Our bodies are the temple of God  (see 1 Corinthians 3: 16-17) 

II. Offering Up Ourselves

Under the law of Moses, the sanctuary (tabernacle and temple) was cleansed from sin through the sacrifice of animals.  Likewise we cleanse our "temple" through sacrifice.  However, instead of offering up animals, we offer up of ourselves.  We are the animal that is consumed upon the altar. 

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1).

And now, my beloved brethren, I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption. Yea, come unto him, and offer your whole souls as an offering unto him, and continue in fasting and praying, and endure to the end; and as the Lord liveth ye will be saved (Omni 1: 26).  

We present ourselves as a "living sacrifice" by forsaking all that the Lord requires of us. 

...whosoever he be of you that forsaketh not all that he hath, he cannot be my disciple (Luke 14: 33) 

By forsaking what the Lord requires, we offer up a broken and contrite heart --i.e., a heart acceptable to God; a heart that truly loves him.  After all, our love for something is shown by what we are willing to give up for it.  And we are to love God with our whole might, mind, and strength. 

And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out (2 Nephi 25: 29)

The act of offering a sacrifice of a broken heart and contrite spirit is an act of faith.  Faith requires action (works) or it is of no use (see James 2:17).  Faith, therefore, is the vehicle by which we offer up a broken heart and contrite spirit. 

Fatih often operates when the outcome is not clear or when the path seems too difficult.  To receive of God's spirit will undoubtedly be trying.  Alma had to repent nigh unto death and Enos wrestled with God throughout the entire night.  Nevertheless, our faith is exercised when we press forward to receive a remission of sins.  And this requires a sacrifice, as does any blessing we seek from God. 

As we press forward in faith, trusting that the Lord's grace is sufficient to renew our Spirit, we, by nature, become humble, meek, and submissive to the Lord in greater degrees until we are sufficiently broken and contrite to be born again.  

Broken means to be "parted by violence; rent asunder; infirm; made bankrupt".  There is no doubt that journey to rebirth will break us.  It requires faith to endure.  It will leave us contrite -- "literally, worn or bruised."  After all, fire is a purifier, testing the integrity of its object.  We must be tried and tested, then the Lord will heal us by gifting us with the Holy Ghost. 

Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice—yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command—they are accepted of me (Doctrine and Covenants 97: 8).

Although it may sound intimidating that to be reborn necessitates us being tested and proved -- letting the fire of the Lord purify us --, the fact of the matter is that we will be tested and proved no matter what.  The question is whether we're willing to procrastinate that day.

Now if any man build upon this foundation gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, stubble; Every man’s work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man’s work of what sort it is. If any man’s work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man’s work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire (1 Corinthians 13: 12-15).  

Those who fail to be born again are "cast out."  These are they who have failed either to receive or retain a remission of their sins.  They are cast out because they are not part of God's family.  They are not his sons, but are strangers.  They might call Jesus Christ their Lord, but they know not the master whom they profess to serve.  And they don't know Christ because they have not put on his Spirit.  Instead, they have preferred the works of the flesh.  Because their natures are so opposite from Christ's, they are not his and can't be redeemed. 

For they that are after the flesh do mind the things of the flesh; but they that are after the Spirit the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death.. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be. So then they that are in the flesh cannot please God...Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his (Romans 8: 6-9).

The ax is laid at the root of the trees; and every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be hewn down and cast into the fire. I, the Lord, have spoken it. (Doctrine and Covenants 97: 7) 

III. Members of God's Family 

The primary result of being born again (i.e., receive the gift of the Holy Ghost) is that we are reborn, or "adopted", into God's family.  The scriptures refer to this as being "begotten" through God or "born of God."  Paul refers to this as "walking in the Spirit" or "putting upon Christ."  But regardless of the term used, the meaning is that through the baptism of fire our spirts are infused with God's spirit (the Holy Ghost) and through that infusion, we become transformed.  Our hearts are changed and we longer desire evil or sin. 

And it came to pass that when Ammon arose he also administered unto them, and also did all the servants of Lamoni; and they did all declare unto the people the selfsame thing—that their hearts had been changed; that they had no more desire to do evil. And behold, many did declare unto the people that they had seen angels and had conversed with them; and thus they had told them things of God, and of his righteousness (Alma 19: 33-34) (Lamoni's conversion). 

Moreover, having God's spirit we are adopted into his family. And as members of his family, we are united through the everlasting covenant and we are joint-heirs with Christ. 

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 (Mosiah 5:7)

For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye through the Spirit do mortify the deeds of the body, ye shall live. For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together (Romans 8: 13-17). 

As members of his family, we can approach the Father with boldness because our conscience is clean 

This is the covenant that I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord, I will put my laws into their hearts, and in their minds will I write them; And their sins and iniquities will I remember no more. Now where remission of these is, there is no more offering for sin. Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus...Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. (Hebrews 10: 16 - 22). 

This is the staring point for all who seek heaven.  It is the gate that leads to eternal life.  When we have entered through this gate, we are on the path to the Tree of Life. 

Wherefore, do the things which I have told you I have seen that your Lord and your Redeemer should do; for, for this cause have they been shown unto me, that ye might know the gate by which ye should enter. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost. 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 (2 Nephi 31: 17-18). 

IV. The Responsibility of All Men and Women 

Upon taking responsibility and upon the effort to start changing our lives staring from within, it's imperative that we direct our aim towards being born again.  Though it may be formidable and try us, we must endure and receive. 

And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters; And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God. (Mosiah 27: 25 - 26). 

For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father (Mosiah 3:19)

Sacrament Talk

 

Below is a copy of a talk I gave in sacrament meeting a while back, which was based off the Kingdom of Heaven is Within Series.  This talk draws from that discussion as well as presenting novel information.  

Sacrament Talk -- Serving As A Light Unto the World 

When Christ inaugurated his earthly ministry, he did so in a time of immense suffering and oppression.  Although the Jews were living in their ancestral land, they were not free.  The Roman government exerted strong control over their lives.  This was especially true when it came to taxes, which became a burden for many, pushing many into poverty.  And although Rome was tolerant of the Jewish religion, they weren't partial to it.  For a Jew living around the time of Christ, it would not be uncommon for him to see pagan temples dotted around Palestine. For many practicing Jews, this would have been an offense and desecration of their holy land. The Jews, then, were not free and they sought deliverance.  In seeking for this deliverance, they envisioned a warrior-like messiah who would  literally go to battle for them and deliver them from the oppression  

But instead of receiving a lion, they were given a lamb.  And instead of physically extricating them from their physical and temporal oppression, our Lord declared that the kingdom of God comes from within.  This statement, although simple, is radically profound.  Here, amidst the suffering and arguably systemic oppression by a pagan government, Christ focused on the individual, teaching that changing the world is first actualized from within. 

The Gospel accounts show that Christ was predominantly concerned with transforming the individual.  For instance, the opening statements of the Sermon on the Mount, known as the beatitudes, directs blessings to the individuals who have changed their character to become like God's.  Moreover, in verse 41 he instructs his followers “whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain.”  

To understand the significance of this verse, we have to understand the context.  During Roman occupation it was common for Romans soldiers to randomly select Jewish men from off the street to carry their equipment.  Jews were forced to comply.  Thus in verse 41 Jesus tells the predominant Jewish audience that when a Roman soldier compels any one of them to carry his gear and armor, they should not only comply, but go above and beyond.  Thus despite the unjust oppression by Rome against the Jews, Jesus places a high demand and expectation on how the Jews (as individuals) were to respond to the oppressive nature of their society.  In fact, as you read and study the Sermon on the Mount, you will find that Christ places the onus exclusively on the individual.

And even in the parable of the sower of the seed, which seems to be highlighting external causes that cause people to reject the word, the Lord provides the interpretation, explaining that the grounds upon which the seeds fell are metaphors for the condition within the inner person.  

1. The seeds that fell on the pathway/wayside are those who hear the message of the gospel, but don't understand it. 

2. The seeds that fell in the stony places are those who hear the word, receive it with joy, but later are "offended" by the word due to persecution and tribulation. 

3. The seeds that fell among the thorns are those who hear the word, but disregard it because they are more concerned with the world than the kingdom of God. 

4. The seeds that were planted in the good ground are those who hear the word and understand it and are fruitful in it.

This fact runs counter to the growing portrayal of Christ as a social justice warrior; a God who is preoccupied with fighting for the oppressed by eliminating oppressive systemic structures of society, and less concerned with the individual behavior of the person.  True, Christ desires to liberate his people from oppression -- whether physical or spiritual --, but the liberation first begins with and within the individual.  And this is because sin is a greater threat to the individual than physical bondage or structural oppression. 

Cain is warned by the Lord that because of his actions, sin “crouches at the door.”  The imagery is unmistakable: sin is the predatory animal lying in wait to devour him.  Furthermore,  sin in the scriptures is often portrayed as a burden that enslaves us.  It was the sin of king Noah and his people which led to the Nephites' captivity and it was the sins of Israel and Judah which led to theirs.  Not surprisingly, Paul describes sin as a power that is the force behind the person's actions, bringing one into captivity. 

Sin is the result of an impure and hard heart.  It is the corruption of the inner person.  It is the result when someone has chosen to act contrary to the light of Christ -- which is their conscience.  This fact adds clarity to the Lord’s statement when he declares that it’s not what goes into the man that defiles him, but what comes out, “for out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, [and] blasphemies….”  (Matthew 15)

In the scriptures, the “heart” refers to the inner core of the person.  In modern parlance, the heart refers to one’s character.  Once the heart is purified, then the Lord can begin to work through the person to bless him and others.  Observe Ezekiel’s prophecy that concerns the restoration of Israel in the latter days.  The Lord speaking declares:  

26 A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. (36: 26-31)

It is by removing the wayward Israel’s “stony heart” and replacing it with a “heart of flesh” that the Lord is then able to put his spirit in them, causing them to obey his commands.  Ultimately, it is when the Lord transforms the individual lives of Israel they are then able to “dwell in the promised land and be the Lord’s people, causing the Lord to “multiply the fruit of the tree and the increase of the field.”  

In fact, the Exodus account shows what happens to a people who are delivered from their physically oppressive environment without first having changed their hearts. The Israelites plead for deliverance and although they were delivered from their oppression, they did not leave their sins and weak character in Egypt, but instead, carried them into the wilderness.  In the words of Stephen, their “hearts [had] turned back to Egypt”.  Their corrupted hearts caused them to be expelled from God’s presence and to become vagabonds in the wilderness for 40 years.  The Israelites were only able to enter the promised land once the wicked generation died off and the rising generation had God’s name written on their hearts. 

Again, the early church's effort through Joseph Smith to establish Zion shares the same lesson.  No matter how much the saints external conditions changed thru the economic system of the law of consecration, Zion was unable to be established because, in the Lord’s words, the “people did not forsake their sins, their wicked ways, the pride of their hearts, and their covetousness, and all their detestable things, and observe the words of wisdom and eternal life which [he] gave unto them.” 

The purpose of the gospel is to provide us the mechanism that leads to the required inner transformation, which leads to justification and sanctification, and in turn empowers us to help and save others.   It is why the sons of Mosiah strove to convert the Lamanites, because they knew it would decrease the animosity and warfare among the Nephites and Lamanites, which it did.  It is also why the preaching of the word among the Lamanites by Nephi and Lehi led to the Lamanites' conversion and subsequent yielding of the Nephite’s lands.  

This mechanism is the reception of the Holy Ghost.  To receive it requires complete consecration.  Amaleki’s exhortation in the book of Omni describes the type of sacrifice required,  which is to “come unto Christ… and offer [our] whole souls unto him as an offering…”  Under the sacrifices of the Mosaic law, purification offerings, which consisted of sin and guilt offerings, were required to be completely consumed by the fire; none of the animal was to remain.  So it is with us.  In order for God to give us the Holy Ghost, we must completely give ourselves to him.  His will becomes our will, causing our pride to be broken. 

We tend to believe that after we were baptized of water and had hands laid upon our heads that we’ve received the gift of the Holy Ghost.  But according to Elder Bednar, this is not necessarily the case.  In explaining the process of receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost he remarks that the words 

‘Receive the Holy Ghost’...are not a passive pronouncement... The Holy Ghost does not become operative in our lives merely because hands are placed upon our heads and those four important words are spoken.  As we receive this ordinance, each of us accepts a sacred and ongoing responsibility to desire, to seek, to work, and so live that we indeed “receive the Holy Ghost” and its attendant spiritual gifts.

Noteworthy in Bednar’s statement is that the reception of the Holy Ghost is attended by spiritual gifts.  As recorded in D&C 84, those who receive the Holy Ghost are able to: 

Do many wonderful works

Cast out devils 

Heal the sick 

Open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the death 

Additionally, in 1 Corinthians 12, Paul provides a non-exhaustive list of gifts available to believers.  These gifts include: the gifts of wisdom, knowledge, faith, prophecy, discernment of spirits, tongues, and interpretations thereof.  Elder Callister explained that these spiritual gifts “which come from the Holy Ghost are attributes of godliness..[and] each time we acquire a gift of the Spirit, we become more like God.”  

In sum, the Holy Ghost not only purifies us, but through the gifts it imparts to us, enables us to manifest the presence of God in our fallen and lost world.  When exercised by us, the gifts are a testament to the world of the glory and majesty of God.  And by doing so, we become a light unto it.  When Christ enjoined his disciples (which include us) to be a light unto the world, he meant it. 

Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it [to] you. (John 15: 16) 

The implication, then, is that in order to be efficacious in saving the souls of men, we ought to possess these gifts, each according to what the Spirit imparts.  Observing that the church was drifting into sin, and thus ineffectual in its mission, Christ instructed them  “to purify their hearts before him” and then they shall preach the gospel “unto every creature who has not received it…”  (D&C 112)  To ensure that we are indeed purified, we ought to take the attitude of the Psalmist and plead for the Lord to “try and examine our hearts”.  We ought to ask him whether we have received the Holy Ghost or have lost it by falling into unrepentant sin, and then act according to the answer the Lord gives us, devoting our attention to acquiring or re-acquiring it. 

Today the hearts of men are growing cold because they are ripe in iniquity, seeking to take refuge in lies, being puffed up in their pride and lifted up in their vain imaginations.  This will eventually cascade, leading to greater problems and suffering in society.  It will lead to the events prophesied in the scripture.  It is during that period where the “hearts of many will fail” and they will “want to curse God and die.”  It is during this period of darkness, which is approaching, that men will need light -- especially as the darkness intensifies.  Through the power of the Holy Ghost, we can and are to be that light.  Paul instructed the Philippians to “work out” their “salvation with fear and trembling” so that they may be “blameless and harmless...without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation”, serving as “lights unto the world.” Again, notice the pattern.  The Philippians were to first purify themselves before they could be lights unto the world. 

How we are to be a light unto the world will largely be determined by our circumstances.  But here are some potential scenarios: One could use the gift of healing to heal someone who is severely afflicted with a disease, but there are no hospitals around to treat it.  Or through possessing the gift of mercy, one could forgive someone who ransacked her house looking for food due to massive food shortages.  Or through the gift of wisdom one could provide instruction to another for how to survive the winter without electricity or power.  Or one who has the gift of charity, caring more about the welfare of his neighbor over himself, gives his remaining food to someone else so that the person might not perish from hunger.  

It is during these aforementioned instances that the afflicted or wayward individual sees a spark of the divine, an ember of light piercing through the darkness, which gives him, amidst the godless and violent world, a reason to believe in something better -- a reason to change his life; a reason to repent and come unto God.  After all, it was David’s extended mercy to Saul, after Saul tried to kill him 14 times, that finally convinced Saul to see the errors of his ways.  Perhaps this is why the Lord said that David was a man after his own heart. 

Let us, therefore, take the time the Lord has given, while it is still day, to prepare ourselves to be an instrument in the hand of the Lord to be a light amidst the darkness. 

We get to this level by focusing on purifying ourselves, the marker of this being the gift of the Holy Ghost.  Afterwards we follow the exhortation of Paul and zealously seek after the gifts of the spirit so that we are empowered by God and we properly represent him.  Then we go out and serve in whatever way we are directed by the Lord.  When Christ called the Israelites out of bondage, he desired that they would be a kingdom of priests -- and light to the pagan nations.  They failed.  Let’s not make the same mistake. 

In closing, I’d like turn to CS Lewis, who perhaps summed up what is at stake: 

It may be possible for each to think too much of his own potential glory hereafter; it is hardly possible for him to think too often or too deeply about that of his neighbor. The load, or weight, or burden of my neighbor’s glory should be laid on my back, a load so heavy that only humility can carry it, and the backs of the proud will be broken. It is a serious thing to live in a society of possible gods and goddesses, ….There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilizations—these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit.  (C. S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory, 39)