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JON - My question has to do with by Patriarchal Blessing. In it, it tells me I am among the Nobel and Great Ones with Abraham whom the Lord spoke to. Not sure what that means, except I might have been a close disciple of Christ and a helper. Maybe some enlightenment on that. But that is only one part. The question I have is. Where does it say God can read our thoughts, and where does it say angels (administering and Guardians) have been to us to help us on our way and give warning.
JOEL -
Abraham 3: 22-23:
22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;
23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good
President Harold B. Lee said:
"Man existed in a spiritual condition before coming here to this earth and that in that pre-existence he had his free agency or right to choose. How could some of those spirits as seen by Abraham have become noble and great except by faithfulness to God's cause?" (DECISIONS FOR SUCCESSFUL LIVING by Harold B. Lee)
Here is something Sheri Dew said about who the noble and great ones are:
"Is it possible that we were among the noble and great? I believe it is more than possible, and that if we could even glimpse our premortal valor we wouldn't find it very difficult to keep the commandments and stay on the straight and narrow path here. The Prophet Joseph taught that "every man who has a calling to minister to the inhabitants of the world was ordained to that very purpose . . . before this world was" (History of the Church, 6:364). And President Spencer W. Kimball gave this additional insight: "Remember, in the world before we came here, faithful women were given certain assignments while faithful men were foreordained to certain priesthood tasks. While we do not now remember the particulars, this does not alter the glorious reality of what we once agreed to" (Ensign, November 1979, 102). I cannot imagine that we who have been called to bear and rear and nurture and teach and lead a chosen generation of children, youth, and women this late in the final dispensation were not among those deemed noble and great." (NO DOUBT ABOUT IT by Sheri Dew)
So it is quite possible that you might have been such a person in the pre-mortal life, but don't let it go to your head :-)
Because God is all powerful and all knowing He can of course know our thoughts and the intentions of our hearts. Here is a list of relevant scriptures:
Alma 12:3
3 Now Zeezrom, seeing that thou hast been taken in thy lying and craftiness, for thou hast not lied unto men only but thou hast lied unto God; for behold, he knows all thy thoughts, and thou seest that thy thoughts are made known unto us by his Spirit;
Luke 5:22
22 But when Jesus perceived their thoughts, he answering said unto them, What reason ye in your hearts?
Luke 24:38
38 And he said unto them, Why are ye troubled? and why do thoughts arise in your hearts?
Luke 11:17
17 But he, knowing their thoughts, said unto them, Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house divided against a house falleth.
Doctrine and Covenants 6:16
16 Yea, I tell thee, that thou mayest know that there is none else save God that knowest thy thoughts and the intents of thy heart.
1 Corinthians 3:20
20 And again, The Lord knoweth the thoughts of the wise, that they are vain.
Luke 6:8
8 But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth.
Psalms 94:11
11 The Lord knoweth the thoughts of man, that they are vanity.
Alma 18:32
32 And Ammon said: Yea, and he looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the thoughts and intents of the heart; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning.
With regards to ministering angels, when the angel visited Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery at Harmony, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1829, and conferred the Aaronic Priesthood upon them, he said in part: "Upon you my fellow servants, in the name of Messiah I confer the Priesthood of Aaron, which holds the keys of the ministering of angels." (D&C 13:1)
The Lord said:
"The power and authority of the lesser, or Aaronic Priesthood, is to hold the keys of the ministering of angels, and to administer in outward ordinances, the letter of the gospel, the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, agreeable to the covenants and commandments." (D&C 107:20.)
Moses records the function of an angel incident to his ancient ministry:
"And the Lord said unto Moses, Depart, and go up hence, thou and the people which thou hast brought up out of the land of Egypt, unto the land which I sware unto Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, saying, Unto thy seed will I give it: And I will send an angel before thee." (Exodus 33:1-2.)
One of their duties is to minister to the children of men, to prepare the way for men to have faith in Christ. Moroni said that angels have not ceased to minister:
"For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness.
And the office of their ministry is to call men unto repentance, and to fulfill and to do the work of the covenants of the Father, which he hath made into the children of men, to prepare the way among the children of men, by declaring the word of Christ unto the chosen vessels of the Lord, that they may bear testimony of him." (Moroni 7:30-31.)
"Have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? . . . Nay; . . . it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain." (Moroni 7:36-37.)
As angels minister to men, they "speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ." (2 Nephi 32:3.)
One manifestation of angelic ministrations may be angels attending a person to comfort, encourage, and enlarge his joy. It was thus that Cornelius sought and enjoyed the ministration of an angel. (Acts 10: 30-31.)
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