44 (11/27/23) KINGDOMS OF GLORY

 44 (11/27/23)  KINGDOMS OF GLORY

This week I have been studying President Oaks talk, ‘Kingdoms of Glory”. This talk is jam packed with doctrine. We don’t hear this kind of talk very often from the pulpit. Often times the talks teach of a particular principle or Christlike attribute.  Here President Oaks lays out so much of the Plan of Salvation, differentiating our beliefs from the world. I would encourage each of you to read it. If you are wanting some really good study material, break this talk down and dive deeper. It is powerful! I love how it goes hand in hand with the prophet’s talk the very next day on “thinking Celestial”.

The parts that stood out to me the most that I wanted to share here is how it highlights our agency in the Plan. Our desires, our choices determine what we will ultimately be comfortable with in eternity.

I also love the thought of progressing to become something, not just walking a path outlined by rules and steps to get us to the end of the rainbow to collect some reward. Our desires lead us to make choices, and our choices allow us to become what is important us as reflected by those choices.

Here are several of the quotes and teachings of President Oaks below:

• We have a loving Heavenly Father who will see that we receive every blessing and every advantage that our own desires and choices allow.

• Final Judgment of the Lord Jesus Christ - our loving Savior “glorifies the Father, and saves all the works of his hands,”3  and “will send all the children of God to one of these kingdoms of glory according to the desires manifested through their choices.

• We know from modern revelation that “all kingdoms have a law given”4 and that the kingdom of glory we receive in the Final Judgment is determined by the laws we choose to follow in our mortal journey. Under that loving plan, there are multiple kingdoms—many mansions—so that all of God’s children will inherit a kingdom of glory whose laws they can comfortably “abide.”

• Speaking of the three kingdoms of glory with his prophetic vision, President Russell M. Nelson recently wrote: “Mortal lifetime is barely a nanosecond compared with eternity. But what a crucial nanosecond it is! Consider carefully how it works: During this mortal life you get to choose which laws you are willing to obey—those of the celestial kingdom, or the terrestrial, or the telestial—and, therefore, in which kingdom of glory you will live forever. What a plan! It is a plan that completely honors your agency.”22

• Those who do not choose “to abide the law of a celestial kingdom”15 will inherit another kingdom of glory, lesser than the celestial but suited to the laws they have chosen and can comfortably “abide.” That word abide, so common in the scriptures, means a secure placement.16 

• The Apostle Paul taught that the Lord’s teachings and commandments were given that we may all attain “the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ.”23 That process requires far more than acquiring knowledge. It is not even enough to be convinced of the gospel; we must act so that we are converted by it. In contrast to other preaching, which teaches us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.

• From such teachings we conclude that the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is based on the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become. We qualify for eternal life through a process of conversion. As used here, this word of many meanings signifies a profound change of nature. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.2

I love you, and hope you all have a great week. Love, dad