From there our teacher gave us quotes regarding our calling and election. One was from Joseph Smith Jr. "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 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" (T. 150; Quoted by Marion G. Romney, CR, April 1977, pp. 61-62)
This quote brought out something new "to receive the other comforter" and for this we turn to Brother Joseph once again "What is this other comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions--Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn." (T. 150-15)
Now for this we turned to 2 Kings 6:17 which states "And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that he may see. And the LORD opened the eyes of the young man; and he saw: and, behold the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire round about Elisha." The spirit world is here, on Earth, so we're always surrounded by angels. Let us all open our eyes.
This reminds me of a song I used to love and I hadn't heard for a couple of years and just remembered today:
Angels Among Us By: Alabama *Spoken Prelude* I was walking home from school on a cold winter's day Took a shortcut through the woods and I lost my way It was getting late and I was scared and alone Then a kind old man took my hand and led me home Mama couldn't see him, but he was standing there But I knew in my heart, he was the answer to my prayers *Chorus* Oh I believe there are angels among us Sent down to us from somewhere up above They come to you and me in our darkest hours To show us how to live To teach us how to give To guide us with a light of love When life dealt troubled times and had me down on my knees There's always been someone there to come along and comfort me A kind word from a stranger to lend a helping hand A phone call from a friend just to say I understand Ain't it kind of funny at the dark end of the road Someone lights the way with just a single ray of hope Oh I believe there are angels among us Sent down to us from somewhere up above They come to you and me in our darkest hours To show us how to live To teach us how to give To guide us with a light of love They wear so many faces Show up in the strangest places Grace us with their mercy In our time of need Oh I believe there are angels among us Sent down to us from somewhere up above They come to you and me in our darkest hours To show us how to live To teach us how to give To guide us with a light of love
Now these angels can be the angels or spirits we think of or they can be a friend, someone sent to bless our lives. This could be someone who is like Johnathan in the Old Testament, a good Samaritan, or someone in passing who just gives us a smile.
But in this same regard there are Satan's demons who want to surround us as well. So we go back to where we started. Never allow this to come into your life "your days of probation are past; ye have procrastinated the day of your salvation until it is everlastingly too late, and your destruction is made sure". Be sure that you live your life in a way that your calling and election may be made sure.
---gabrielle jean murphy
*Quotes take from Brother Anderson's Website*
