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notes.com okay I want to talk about uh
uh a couple things that I've had some
discussions on lately with different
individuals starting with Bruce Porter
and then a couple of other friends on
exaltation and I've talked about this
I'll put the link to this episode with
Bruce in the description box but uh we
talked about how exaltation is often
times not being talked about especially
at a local level
and that's concerning right that is the
a the distinguisher really between us
and the rest of Christianity it is this
this unbelievably pull pulling this
unbelievable pulling back of the veil
that opens our eyes to who we are what
our purpose really is why we're here the
Plan of Salvation as it is supposed to
be
understood and of course a direction for
us to reach for
and that's very different obviously than
than what you get with the rest of
Christianity and it's interesting to me
you know why is exaltation consistently
lost I had some push back before on this
when I've talked about this and saying
well I don't think that exaltation is
lost I still still hear this all the
time in my ward uh we talk about
exaltation and that's great okay I hope
that that is true uh I'm not saying that
it's everywhere but uh I've been around
a little bit and I can tell you that in
different places that I've been I travel
around and and I have seen and certainly
in comments that I receive and certainly
comments about the gospel and the Plan
of Salvation the doctrine of exaltation
is is being
reduced and I I I think most people if
they thought about that they well maybe
not most I think a lot of people would
agree with that though but that's my
take on things and the question is why
is this happening and and you could go
back
to the scripture you can go back to the
Old Testament and see what was lost
there very early on you can go back to
the Book of Mormon and see what was lost
and and uh go back into the great
apostasy in the New Testament and a
different understanding of the words
that we have in there from the Greek the
Greek manuscripts on the gospels and the
letters of Paul and Etc and practice and
early on they're practicing things that
are very similar to the temple it's
likely Christ came back during those 40
days and instructed the apostles and
their wives on on uh the manner of
prayer the order the true order of
prayer and and on Temple ordinances and
um we see this in art right going all
the way up into the medieval and and
Renaissance periods and it's carried on
in some of the denominations you see
some of this in the Catholic Church you
see some of this in the Church of
England you see some of this in
especially in eastern
Orthodoxy uh that is traceable or or or
the coronation right look at the
coronation that happens throughout
Europe especially with England and the
UK and what happens in in that those
coronation ceremonies it's like whoa
that's that's the temple because it's
the Royal procession the coronation of
of the king or queen or the king and
queen and so it's lost why does it
become lost it's because that is it's
steering us away from a true purpose and
a true
goal and the adversar is very very wise
with this he can reduce it down to a
teddy bear Jesus he can reduce us down
to just be a good person he can reduce
us down to I don't need religion I just
need a good relationship with God or I
just need to believe in Jesus I just
need to accept
him um and and everything is hunky dory
and it's like okay well that's something
that is something and and my concern is
within the membership of the church is
that as we move away from that idea of
exaltation and I don't mean this as a
whole I don't mean this from Salt Lake
that's not what I'm talking about but
culturally right certainly you know
culturally means something very
different in the last 15 20 years than
it used to because so much of that
culture is now
online
and a as we get the messaging from
different organizations and different
individuals that are members of the
church there's a little watering down of
the message of of
exaltation and here's the problem that I
see with this it is it is not just the
obvious of the idea of a covenant path
and reaching for the Celestial Kingdom
and Eternal Marriage and eternal
families right that is the core the core
of the doctrine of Christ because that's
why he sacrificed himself that's what
it's all
about that is what he did this
for not just so you could kind of be a
good
person and but it's
also we are moving into a place as we
reduce the message of
exaltation which means effort and
stretching and sacrifice and Covenant
keeping and an order like the order of
the
family as we reduce that message or
receive that message as a in in in a
reduced form
then we turn to things that are inward
for ourselves
only and we think about ourselves and we
turn into things like a therapy gospel
and I'm not saying therapy is bad not at
all I know people that have done very
very well with therapy and it's really
really good for them that's not what I'm
saying but that's not what the gospel
is that's not what the Gospel of Jesus
Christ is and as we turned to being more
and more of a therapy gospel and it's
all about just our mental health and
it's all about anxiety and depression
and and being made whole right a lot of
the terminology that we get out there
today in books and papers and messages
and articles and uh tweets and
everything else is is is what do I get
out of
it right what's in it for me and and
it's
I need to be made
whole and I am depressed and I have
anxiety and so the atonement of Jesus
Christ is there to make me feel better
and and make me
whole yes that is true but that is only
a part of the
message that's only a part of the
message let me go back to the three
attributes and come follow me we are
we've gone through ether so you will go
into ether 12 and and you get moroni's
message about faith hope and charity
and bringing weaknesses to him and
they'll make them he'll make them
strengths you don't continue In
Perpetual
weakness and the and the message of
faith hope and charity going in from his
father Mormon to Moroni who then gives
it to us that's what the Book of Mormon
basically ends with is spiritual gifts
and and the idea of faith hope and
charity well you can have faith in Jesus
Christ which then gives you the next
sequential attribute of Hope in who you
can be and what kind of state you can be
in which is righteous that is not proud
that is a righteous
desire but if you don't have charity you
are
nothing and charity is wrapped in that
Pure Love Of Christ is wrapped in with
exaltation it is building a family it is
helping those around you and feeling a
love for them and a well-being for them
and for their Eternal salvation and
exaltation and so if you if you don't
have charity then you're nothing Well if
all of your
prayers are about I just need to be made
whole right if all of your prayers are
about I need this I need
that and and and again you're focused
only on yourself you you're like
the the parable of the talents you're
the one with the one talent because you
don't have much because you need to be
made whole and you're burying it within
yourself you are burying that piece of
silver that talent in
yourself and not moving beyond yourself
to
others and to me that totally changes
the
direction of pulling you out of that Ang
anxiety and that
depression right charity pulls you out
of that because you are focused on
others you'll sacrifice for
others you'll love others and it's not
just a matter of loving yourself it's
not just a matter if I need to be at
whole now look I understand some people
go through very traumatic experiences I
am not discounting that people go
through uh horrible
experiences and and they need to be made
whole there is the verse in the book of
morm right where you need to clean the
inner vessel you need that
strength you need to be made whole but
you've got to move beyond that
exaltation is beyond that and there's so
much messaging in the church that is all
about a therapy gospel and a teddy bear
Jesus that it's all comfort for you and
this idea of love which is similar to
Love Is Love is just accept every
and accept yourself as you are and and
and everything is okay and
and exaltation is a direction for you to
move in exaltation is is is moving
through that Covenant
path and it is getting outside of
yourself and the more you're focused on
on yourself and your
problems being made
whole the less of a chance you have of
getting outside of yourself and moving
toward
exaltation and wrapping yourself and
immersing yourself in that Pure Love Of
Christ which is Charity which if you
don't have that you are
nothing which in the way I interpret
that I infer that
as no
exaltation no
exaltation so I think that that's really
important for us to make sure that we
are focused on the idea of exaltation
and what that means and that's not just
a checklist that is who we are becoming
what our desires are and it's faith hope
and
charity right getting Beyond a therapy
gospel the second thing I want to add to
that is the the doctrine of Christ
because exaltation is wrapped in
directly with the doctrine of Christ the
doctrine of Christ is also the great
doctrine that is lost throughout history
in in different dispensations we lose it
in the Old
Testament right the Brazen serpent is is
what an illusion to Christ it's uh you
don't see anything about uh the Divine
Son of God in the Old
Testament not directly
anyway uh and and of course in the Book
of Mormon over and over and over and
over again the dissenters are all losing
Christ that is the difference it's not
just a power grab the nephite dissenters
all go to the lamanites who are
Antichrist that's the story of The Book
of Mormon and that's how Moroni ends it
talking about an being
Antichrist the whole thing is is is
about the doctrine of Christ and so
Christ is at the center of that order of
exaltation his atoning sacrifice is
inextricably
connected to exaltation the two of those
and yet those two get watered
down and if it's not a full loss of the
doctrine of Christ like we have today
because of the records of the
gospels and so we don't completely get
rid of Christ mostly in Christianity we
change him and we change him into a soft
teddy bear and and make him a comfort to
us and a therapy a therapist to
us instead of the one who suffered
immensely so that we could gain
exaltation so that we could grow and
become something like him as well so
those two things are connected
completely and and as we move away from
this right Bruce Porter goes through
something very interesting and it's uh
he goes through these different levels
and at the top you have for exaltation
you have eternal laws and eternal
truths that we start to lose so one of
the main ones maybe the main one is that
no unclean thing can enter the kingdom
of
God right that is a law not God can
cannot change
that that is a
law no unclean thing can enter the
kingdom of
God you cannot be in his presence if
you're
unclean so everything about the Plan of
Salvation everything even the atoning
sacrifice of Jesus Christ is a
means to answer that great problem that
obstacle and the obstacle is the Cherub
in the Garden of Eden standing in front
of the tree of
life you cannot get through that Sword
of Justice
without a
savior so these Eternal truths are at
the top and we don't want to forget
those there is
Judgment there is
judgment and if you move away from these
Eternal laws and truths and Bruce I hope
I get this right you then come down to
something else would be something like
the
doctrine of of of of the church how we
see the doctrine of the church and
there's Commandments that we have that
would be maybe even below that which are
directives of how to become and what how
we should behave and then below
Commandments you end up with principles
and that's a very comfortable place to
be with
principles right kind of like the
Prosperity Gospel and the self-help
gospel and the therapy gospel you get a
bum bunch of
uh bumper sticker
ideas about what the gospel is and who
Jesus Christ
is and and they're principles and
they're true they're true principles but
we're down at that level sometimes often
times at the level of these watered down
area of
principles be good to those around you
don't be mean
obey the
Commandments right these are principles
that you talk that we would talk
about and then down from principles you
would get into like policies of the
church and like losing
exaltation and and losing the doctrine
of Christ we need to keep up here in
looking at what those Eternal laws and
eternal truths
are and everything falls down below
those the gospel is true the church is
true and those Eternal truths and laws
found in the scriptures are
true thanks for listening