Covenants

Doctrine and Covenants 132:21-24

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory

22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.

23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also.

24 This is eternal lives--to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.

The Lord tells us that to gain exaltation one must follow specific guidelines.  These guidelines are thus:

Receive the law

Receive the Lord

Know the God (Christ and His Father)

So what is the law?  Baptism, the oath and the covenant of the Priesthood, the New and Everlasting Covenant of Marriage?  Yes, yes and yes.  It is all of these.  We are a covenant people.  We are covenant makers and covenant keepers.  Why does the Lord put so much emphasis on covenants?  Because in the ordinances (sacred rite/ritual during which covenants are entered into) the power of godliness is manifest.  What is that power of godliness?  Is it the power of God or is it the power to become like God.  I submit that it is the second.  In the ordinances we make sacred promises to obey the will of God.  What is the will of God, or His work and glory?  To bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.  How do we do that?  By receiving His law, thereby receiving Him, thereby receiving all that He hath (see D&C 84 & 132).

Because there is a law irrevocably decreed in heaven from before the foundation of the world upon which all blessings are predicated and when we receive any blessing from heaven it is by obedience to that law upon which it was predicated.  This is a governing law of the universe.  For every law, commandment, word of wisdom or instruction given by the Lord there are prescribed blessings associated with obedience to the heavenly guidance.  To lay hold on these blessings, obedience is required.

The laws of the gospel, the covenants the Lord has revealed to us are flawlessly designed to mold us into perfected beings if we will but submit to them.  For the Lord will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver (see Malachi).  He will try us in the furnace of obedience, sacrifice and affliction.  This trial can be culminated into one phrase: obedience to the laws/covenants irrespective and in spite of ALL worldly influences.

By receiving the law (covenants; every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God) we carve a willingness to be directed by Christ in our hearts and minds.  In time and through practice, the will of the Lord is imbedded into our very character.  He becomes our Master.  He becomes our law giver.  At that moment we receive the Lord.  Our will, our desires and wants become His will, and His wants for us.  To become carnal, Adam and Eve had only to disobey one commandment, by putting their own pursuits above the will of God they fell (see D&C 20:15-20 (ish)).

When we have received the Lord, and have decided to allow Him to be our guide and our stay, we come to learn of Him, from Him.  Then in time, we will truly know Him for we will have tuned our lives to His and will have learned to act as He would act, to say what He would say.  We will know Him for we shall be like Him.  We will see as we are seen and know as we are known. 

2 Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is (1 John 3:2)

47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

48 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen.  (Moroni 7:47-48)

94 They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace;

95 And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion.  (D&C 76:94-95)

11 When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

13 And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.   (1 Corinthians 13:11-13)

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What have you been studying?  Discuss the gospel truths mentioned.  See if they coincide with the lesson schedule.  Modify lesson as directed by the Spirit.

"We make covenants with our Heavenly Father when we participate in the ordinances of the gospel. When we make covenants, God sets specific conditions, and He promises to bless us as we obey those conditions. As we better understand our covenants, we will be able to honor them and receive the blessings promised by our Heavenly Father." (Lesson Quote)

What is a covenant?

"During the Lord's postmortal ministry, the higher ordinances of exaltation were revealed. He has provided for these ordinances in His holy temples. . . . Our Master is a God of law and order. His focus on ordinances is a powerful part of His example to us."

—Russell M. Nelson, "The Mission and Ministry of Jesus Christ"

D&C 130:18-21

18 Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection.

19 And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.

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.

How do we enter into covenants? (Ordinances.  Through the Priesthood)

Why do we have covenants?  (To learn to submit to the will of the Father in an effort to become like God)

D&C 84:19-22

19 And this greater priesthood administereth the gospel and holdeth the key of the mysteries of the kingdom, even the key of the knowledge of God.

20 Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest.

21 And without the ordinances thereof, and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto men in the flesh;

22 For without this no man can see the face of God, even the Father, and live.

D&C 84: 33-39

33 For whoso is faithful unto the obtaining these two priesthoods of which I have spoken, and the magnifying their calling, are sanctified by the Spirit unto the renewing of their bodies.

34 They become the sons of Moses and of Aaron and the seed of Abraham, and the church and kingdom, and the elect of God.

35 And also all they who receive this priesthood receive me, saith the Lord;

36 For he that receiveth my servants receiveth me;

37 And he that receiveth me receiveth my Father;

38 And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father’s kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him.

39 And this is according to the oath and covenant which belongeth to the priesthood.

What do we learn from this covenant?

What are the promised blessings?

Pair off, pick a covenant.  7-8 minutes and study it and apply it.  Teach each other.

D&C 132:21-24

21 Verily, verily, I say unto you, except ye abide my law ye cannot attain to this glory (What glory?)

22 For strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me.

23 But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me, and shall receive your exaltation; that where I am ye shall be also.

24 This is eternal lives--to know the only wise and true God, and Jesus Christ, whom he hath sent. I am he. Receive ye, therefore, my law.  (sacrifice, obedience, submission to the will of the Father and the Son)