Gospel Doctrine Commentary
Lesson No. Forty-Six
If We Seek Jesus - We Will Find Him
Introduction – Some of the great doctrines taught in the Book of Mormon come near the end and are taught by Mormon and his son Moroni. Ether 12 includes references to the doctrine of the Second Comforter, and Moroni 7 includes references to the doctrine of calling and election made sure. While these terms are not used, these chapters teach the essence of these doctrines. Furthermore, Moroni charges us to “seek this Jesus of whom the apostles and prophets have written” (Ether 12:39).
Coming to know Jesus is the final result of both receiving the Second Comforter and having our calling and election made sure.
The Second Comforter is the Lord Jesus Christ – The Prophet Joseph Smith gave us a greater understanding of the doctrine concerning the Second Comforter:
“There are two Comforters spoken of. One is the Holy Ghost, the same as given on the day of Pentecost, and that all the Saints receive after faith, repentance, and baptism. This first Comforter of Holy Ghost has no other effect than pure intelligence.
“The other comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation. After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, ‘Son, thou shalt be exalted.’ 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 his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other comforter, which the Lord hath promise the Saints, as it recorded in the testimony of St. John, in the 14th chapter from the 12th to the 27th verses.
“Now what is this other comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself…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…” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.150-151).
Most worthy people will receive the Second Comforter in the next life as they are brought into the presence of the Lord. However, as Moroni taught in Ether 12:19-21, there are “faithful individuals who are blessed with the Second Comforter while remaining in mortality” (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Jesus Christ, Second Comforter, p. 742).
Calling and election made sure is the promise of eternal life – As quoted above, the Prophet Joseph Smith also spoke of having our calling and election made sure. He said that after a person has received the Holy Ghost, and then continues “to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, ‘Son, thou shalt be exalted.’ 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.”
To have one’s calling and election made sure is to have the promise of eternal life, and this “is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (1 Nephi 15:36). This promise comes through the Holy Ghost to those who “are the peaceable followers of Christ, and who have obtained a sufficient hope by which [they] can enter into the rest of the Lord from this time hence forth until [they] shall rest with him in heaven.” (Moroni 7:3).
To enter into the rest of the Lord is the equivalent of having our calling and election made sure. Those who keep their covenants are the peaceable followers of Christ, and they can, in this life, have their calling and election made sure. The peaceable followers of Christ have a quiet confidence that waxes strong in the presence of God. This remarkable confidence brings great peace, regardless of the turmoil of the world, as it distills upon their soul as the dews of heaven. (See D&C 121:45)
If we seek Jesus we will find Him – The Lord “talked with [Moroni] face to face…in plain humility” (Ether 12:39). Moroni then charges us in the last days “to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them may be and abide in you forever” (Ether 12:41).
As faithful people seek Jesus they will find him in this life through the gift of the Holy Ghost. If we endure to the end after we pass through the veil we will see with our eyes the things we first saw with the eye of faith, and we will rejoice. (See Ether 12:19) Our knowledge and memory of our pre-mortal existence will be restored, and we will know and be known by our Father and our Savior.
President Ezra Taft Benson explained what will happen when the faithful pass through the veil: “We once knew well our Elder Brother and His and our Father in Heaven…Now we are here. Our memories are veiled. We are showing God and ourselves what we can do. Nothing is going to startle us more when we pass through the veil to the other side than to realize how well we know our Father and how familiar His face is to us” (Christmas Devotional, December 7, 1986).