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JON - we were discussing calling and election. The question after reading this:
The other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation. After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted.
When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord hath promised the Saints, as is recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter, from the 12th to the 27th verses.
Can only LDS covenant keeping people get their calling and election or see Christ? Or can any disciple of Christ, even out of the LDS Faith, can see Christ and get their Calling and Election? I sort of have another question. Can anyone have the opportunity to just see Christ and not have their calling and election. But to just seem him to be comfortable.? He belongs to all God Children doesn't he? I hope I am on the straight and narrow asking these questions.
JOEL -
If this Church is the only fully true and restored Church of Jesus Christ and a person lives his life in a way that serves God and His church, then it is he who can have the privilege of having his calling and election made sure. As you said above, this person must be baptized, receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, and live by every word of God. Baptisms authorized by God and "every word of God" can only be found in His church, therefore, it makes sense that only faithful members of His Kingdom can have their calling and election made sure.
I would say that any member who has the opportunity of having Jesus appear to them can safely assume that they have reached that point of guaranteed exaltation.
As far as seeing Jesus is concerned, Joseph Smith was of course not a member of His church when He appeared to Him. But latter day revelation and our prophets tell us that in our day, besides someone receiving the second comforter, priesthood is required and that Jesus would only appear to His prophets if He has some important message for the world.
In the D&C God told us that without the ordinances and authority of the priesthood no man can see the face of God and live (D & C 84:21, 22)
The Lord made it a requirement, at the time he gave this revelation, that a man must hold the priesthood and have received its ordinances in order to see God. The Lord said: "this revelation...is in force from this very hour upon all the world..."(D&C 84:75). This would mean that prior to this revelation, neither the priesthood nor its ordinances were necessary for a man to see the face of God and live. When Joseph Smith went into the grove to pray, he had not been ordained to the priesthood by someone on the earth, neither had he received any of the ordinances. When the two personages appeared they forgave him of his sins and the Holy Ghost was upon him, making it possible for Joseph to see the face of God and live at that particular moment.
In 1966 Joseph Fielding Smith had this to say:
"If you will look at the date of this revelation (D&C 84), you will discover that it was given in September 1832, which was two years after the organization of the Church and several years after the appearance of the Father and the Son to the Prophet Joseph Smith. Therefore, permit me to emphasize this fact: There is no law or commandment which declares that the Father could not appear to a man in person when the Holy Priesthood was not among men on the earth. In this day when the divine authority is here and men are appointed to officiate in its ordinances, there is no occasion for the Father to come to any man who has no divine authority. At a time when the priesthood is conferred, and there are authorized servants who bear divine authority, there could hardly arise a time when the Father and the Son should have occasion to appear to any man who was without that authority." (Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1966) Vol. 5., pp. 84-85.)
There are also other scriptural passages which indicate a person must have qualities other than the priesthood to see God. The Doctrine & Covenants states: "No man hath seen God at any time in the flesh, except quickened by the Spirit of God" (D&C 67: 11).
Of course Jesus, being God, can do anything He wants, so I don't think it would be impossible for Him to appear to anyone that He wants to, although that person would have to be "quickened by the Spirit of God" and the vision would be only for the benefit of the person He visits. However, I personally don't know anyone who was not a member of the Church who has actually had a visitation from Jesus.
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