“I
read the New Testament. I learned verse after verse and chapter after
chapter. … It taught me the Gospel of life and salvation; it taught me a
Gospel of power before the heavens and on the earth. It taught me that
the organization of the Church consisted of Prophets, Apostles, Pastors
and Teachers. …
“These
are the things which I learned, and they made an impression upon me. I
believed in them; yet I had never heard them taught by any clergyman or
divine upon the earth. … On one occasion I attended one of those great
meetings which were sometimes held in Connecticut, at which forty or
fifty ministers of various denominations were gathered together. … At
this meeting permission was given for anybody to make remarks. I was
quite young then. I arose and stepped into the aisle, and I said to that
body of ministers: ‘My friends, will you tell me why you don’t contend
for the faith once delivered to the Saints? Will you tell me why you
don’t contend for that Gospel that Jesus Christ taught, and that His
Apostles taught? Why do you not contend for that religion that gives
unto you power before God, power to heal the sick, to make the blind to
see, the lame to walk, and that gives you the Holy Ghost and those gifts
and graces that have been manifest from the creation of the world? …’
“The
presiding elder said: ‘My dear young man, you would be a very smart
man, and a very useful man in the earth, if you did not believe all
those foolish things’” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff [2004], 35–36). President Woodruff later joined "the faith" when he heard it preached by one with authority.
From Jude 1:6 and Jeremia 1:5, along with the footnotes, we see that the doctrine referred to by the phrase "first estate" means that Heavenly Father knew us before we came to the Earth. It makes reference to a pre-existence. According to the New testament manual for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, "“estate” refers to a person’s rank or position. Because these spirits
rebelled against the Father, they lost their standing before God and did
not qualify for the privilege of coming to mortality—our second estate.
It appears from the reading that Michael the Archangel contended for the body of Moses. It would seem odd to me for this to occur.But upon further pondering, study and enlightenment, I learned that Moses was translated and Michael was given charge to burry his body properly. Knowing the significance in why Moses was translated is key to understanding why Satan would oppose this. In the New Testament Manual from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, it states: "This was necessary so that Moses could appear on the Mount of
Transfiguration two thousand years later with his physical body and lay
his hands on the heads of Peter, James, and John to give them priesthood
keys (see History of the Church, 3:387)".
In Jude 1:14, we learn that Christ will come with tens of thousands of His saints when He comes again. How exciting! It makes me wonder who will be the "saints" that accompany him?
From studying Jude 1:17, 20-25, I learned that we need to remember the words of Christ spoken by the apostles and listen to the prophet and apostles of our times to keep from being lead astray from false teachers and doctrines in the last days. We must continue to build our faith up relying on the Holy Ghost to guide us and from verse 21, " Keep [our]selves in the love of God..." By doing these things, we can avoid the evils that come from following false teachings.
Well, that about covers this week's lessons on Jude. I hope you find it as interesting and insightful as I have. It has given me renewed strength to "contend for the faith" and stand strong my ground as I listen to the prophet and apostles for counsel from false teachings.
