Bonus Scripture D&C 130:20-21

Bonus Scripture D&C 130:20-21

20 There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—
 21 And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.

Sonnet 832 D&C 130:20-21

The blessings cannot ever be in doubt
Their promise is decreed by heaven's law
It's not so hard to find the process out
The outcomes are delivered without flaw.

The mystery is why we go so wrong
With clear instructions kindly all around
And guidance for the sinner all along
No blessing should be forfeit or unfound.

And do we have examples of the fate
Of those who flaunt the laws of consequence?
Of course we do, and yet we still debate
Devoid, it seems of simple common sense.

Obey the law! That's what you have to do
And heaven's consequence will come to you.

JS-H 1:15-20 #5

Sonnet 831 JS-H 1:15-20 #5

Oh mysteries of earth and fire and rock
You nevermore will be to us the same
The very dust now quickened to unlock
The truth which sets an honest heart aflame.

The trees that saw the boy step humbly in
And stood in wonder as they must have felt
At least a part of what would now begin
When just a boy in prayer so faithful knelt.

In shadows were his boyish features caught
His mission one to overcome a doubt
Then light in pillar blazoned overwrought
A boy steps in. A prophet's coming out!

So Joseph's face returned to morning light
Out of the grove. And now!  The end of night!

JS-H 1:15-20 #4

Sonnet 830 JS-H 1:15-20 #4

The parsing and the picking of the nits
In any sort of testament of fact
Becomes a battle of contestants' wits
Until the truth is lost in the abstract.

You cannot hope to know it by these means
The fabric of the past is far too torn
And shadows cast upon competing scenes
Obscure our vision of the story sworn.

So how you gonna know if this is true
If Joseph's testimony can't prevail
If argument and evidence won't do
What will expose the truth of such a tale.

When you receive these things you have to pray
And get the same instruction, the same way.

JS-H 1:15-20 #3

Sonnet 829 JS-H 1:15-20 #3

Young Joseph found his sacred grove nearby
No pilgrimage or quest or search was done
No gilded trappings but the morning sky
No other witness than the springtime sun.

And simple faith, and simple study too
That's all that was required to prepare
A simple boy for what the Lord would do
In answer to his simple humble prayer.

And this is but a pattern for us each
A shape of how to gain the Father's voice
The proof of heaven's willingness to teach
The outcome governed by the simplest choice.

So if you have some faith and real desire
Just pick some quiet place and then enquire.

JS-H 1:15-20 #2

Sonnet 828 JS-H 1:15-20 #2

Of course the devil made his fruitless ploy
His shadow giving to the coming light
A backdrop meant, the vision, to destroy
Yet only made the outcome shine more bright.

An unseen actual being fully felt
An enemy, a force, a frantic move
Against a child who dared in faith, and knelt
Unknowing of what wonder this would prove.

And then! A pillared light. The darkness done
Two persons in the air. He hears his name
Then Father introducing Christ the Son
And nothing, nothing, nothing is the same.

This boy, delivered now from dark despair
Was ready for the answer to his prayer.

JS-H 1:15-20

JS-H 1:15-20
15 After I had retired to the place where I had previously designed to go, having looked around me, and finding myself alone, I kneeled down and began to offer up the desires of my heart to God. I had scarcely done so, when immediately I was seized upon by some power which entirely overcame me, and had such an astonishing influence over me as to bind my tongue so that I could not speak. Thick darkness gathered around me, and it seemed to me for a time as if I were doomed to sudden destruction.
 16 But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me, and at the very moment when I was ready to sink into despair and abandon myself to destruction—not to an imaginary ruin, but to the power of some actual being from the unseen world, who had such marvellous power as I had never before felt in any being—just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me.
 17 It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description,standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!
 18 My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join. No sooner, therefore, did I get possession of myself, so as to be able to speak, than I asked the Personages who stood above me in the light, which of all the sects was right (for at this time it had never entered into my heart that all were wrong)—and which I should join.
 19 I was answered that I must join none of them, for they were all wrong; and the Personage who addressed me said that all their creeds were an abomination in his sight; that those professors were all corrupt; that: “they draw near to me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me, they teach for doctrines the commandments of men, having a form of godliness, but they deny the power thereof.”
 20 He again forbade me to join with any of them; and many other things did he say unto me, which I cannot write at this time. When I came to myself again, I found myself lying on my back, looking up into heaven. When the light had departed, I had no strength; but soon recovering in some degree, I went home. And as I leaned up to the fireplace, mother inquired what the matter was. I replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” I then said to my mother, “I have learned for myself that Presbyterianism is not true.” It seems as though the adversary was aware, at a very early period of my life, that I was destined to prove a disturber and an annoyer of his kingdom; else why should the powers of darkness combine against me? Why the opposition and persecution that arose against me, almost in my infancy?

Sonnet 828 JS-H 1:15-20

Exposed to any story such as this
A listener may wonder if it's true
If this is something safely to dismiss
Or should it be a thing to look into?

All sorts of folks have heard this tale by now
Have listened and considered and resolved
And many, in the millions, do avow
The truth of all assertions here involved.

And this should give you pause enough to test
If learning for yourself is easy done
And if you could be thusly also blessed
With knowledge of the Father and the Son.

Go find a sacred closet of your own
It's there the truth of heaven will be shown.

D&C 131:1-4 #2

Sonnet 827 D&C 131:1-4 #2

And here again the irony is strong
Rewarding up in heaven by this plan
To do the thing that best makes life a song
And come together as a wife and man.

You might expect some test that's arduous
To earn you “top of class” in heaven's place
But no, the thing that works is marvellous
A marriage made in covenants of grace.

And is it not this way with all commands?
We're told to do just what we should desire
The wise man learns and fully understands
That righteousness will always lift us higher.

Amazing that we prove ourselves in this
By taking on the joys of wedded bliss.