Instead, the sisters will be in the Relief Society program and the brothers will have their usual schedule, so I'll be teaching Gospel Doctrine class to the brothers. I am not certain, but I expect the second Gospel Doctrine class will do the same thing.
We will cover two lessons, 45 and 46, tomorrow.
Lesson 45: “If I
Perish, I Perish” and
Lesson 46: “A
Kingdom, Which Shall Never Be Destroyed”
Reading 1 – Daniel
1:1-8
Reading 2 – Daniel
1:10-15,17,20
Reading 3 - Elder
Boyd K. Packer taught: “I have come to know … that a fundamental purpose of the
Word of Wisdom has to do with revelation. From the time you are very little we
teach you to avoid tea, coffee, liquor, tobacco, narcotics, and anything else
that disturbs your health. … If someone ‘under the influence’ can hardly listen
to plain talk, how can they respond to spiritual promptings that touch their
most delicate feelings? As valuable as the Word of Wisdom is as a law of
health, it may be much more valuable to you spiritually than it is physically”
(in Conference Report, Oct. 1979, 28–29; or Ensign, Nov. 1979, 20).
Reading 4 – Daniel
2:1-5
Reading 5 – Daniel
2:16-19
Daniel 2:20-23
Reading 6 – Daniel
2:31-35, 44-45
President Kimball
said:
And
it was in the days of these kings that power would not be given to men, but the
God of heaven would set up a kingdom—the kingdom of God upon the earth, which
should never be destroyed nor left to other people.
The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was restored in 1830 after numerous
revelations from the divine source; and this is the kingdom, set up by the God
of heaven, that would never be destroyed nor superseded, and the stone cut out
of the mountain without hands that would become a great mountain and would fill
the whole earth.
History
unfolded and the world powers came and went after ruling the world for a little
season, but in the early nineteenth century the day had come. The new world of
America had been discovered and colonized and was being settled. Independence
had been gained and a constitution approved and freedom given to men, and
people were now enlightened to permit truth to be established and to reign.
No
king or set of rulers could divine this history; but a young, pure, and worthy
prophet could receive a revelation from God.
. . . .
[after describing
the events in the Sacred Grove and the appearance of additional heavenly
messengers to Joseph Smith, Pres. Kimball continues:]
These
were the beginnings of accomplishment; and the gospel was revealed, line upon
line and precept upon precept, and truths were restored, and power was given
and authority was revealed, and gradually enough light and enough people were
there for the organization of this kingdom of God which Daniel saw two and a
half millennia ago.
The
Church was organized. Small it was, with only six members, compared to the
stone cut out of the mountain without hands which would break in pieces other
nations and which would roll forth and fill the whole earth.
Reading 7 – Esther
3:2-5
Reading 8 – Elder
Neal A. Maxwell has said: Premortality is not a relaxing doctrine. For each of
us, there are choices to be made, incessant and difficult chores to be done,
ironies and adversities to be experienced, time to be well spent, talents and
gifts to be well employed. Just because we were chosen “there and then,” surely
does not mean we can be indifferent “here and now.” Whether foreordination for
men, or foredesignation for women, those called and prepared must also prove
“chosen, and faithful.” (See Rev. 17:14; D&C 121:34-36). In fact, adequacy
in the first estate may merely have ensured a stern, second estate with more
duties and no immunities! Additional tutoring and suffering appears to be the
pattern for the Lord’s most apt pupils. (See Mosiah 3:19; 1 Pet. 4:19). Our
existence, therefore, is a continuum matched by God’s stretching curriculum
(“Premortality, a Glorious Reality,” Ensign, Nov. 1985, 16).
Esther 4:16
Reading 9: Esther
7:3-6
