0:00:00 - 0:00:27 This presentation is entitled, what Latter day Saints should understand about keys. If you're L DS or if you were raised in an L DS background, then this phrase is well known to you. And it probably connotes many things. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself what keys really means? What is the 0:00:27 - 0:00:53 key? Well, in modern life and for quite some time in history, keys have been tools that are used widely for the purpose of unlocking locks. There are many different types of keys, but they all work in the same way, they have teeth that correspond to certain aspects of the lock. Keys are fitted to specific 0:00:52 - 0:01:23 locks and they're fitted in the sense that the teeth correspond to a code that's specific to the lock. You can have many locks that can all be unlocked with one key or you can have a single lock that has many copies of keys that all unlock that lock. You can have many keys and many locks. This is important 0:01:22 - 0:01:49 because what it shows you is that the key idea isn't so much the physical key, but the information that the key encodes the teeth on the key, that specific pattern and the the lock or set of locks that correspond to that pattern. It's a case of cause and effect. If you have the right pattern, you can 0:01:49 - 0:02:11 unlock the lock that corresponds to the pattern. If the pattern has been modified, you will not be able to open the lock. So how do you share a key if you want to uh give someone access to your home, maybe you make a physical key and you give it to them. And because you've given them this key, they can 0:02:10 - 0:02:30 now open the door to your home. But that's actually not required. In fact, if you think about how you would go about getting a copy of a key. Now, they have these key copying machines that are a plate of glass and the machine actually takes a picture of the key and using the teeth pattern. It can make 0:02:30 - 0:02:55 a copy of the key without actually physically touching the key. The old way of doing this was a machine that ground down a blank key to match the tooth pattern of the old key. And it would roll back and forth until the key was copied. But actually all you need to know is what the code on the key is and 0:02:54 - 0:03:21 then you can make a new key according to that exact pattern. So why does this matter? Nothing in the gospel is magical? There's no such thing as this. Nothing in the Gospel. Is arbitrary in many places in the scriptures. The Lord makes very clear that all things are according to his law. We put law into 0:03:21 - 0:03:44 quotes because law means different things to different people in different contexts. But in this context, what it means is the perfect knowledge of God. It means things as they really are. Everything that the Lord does and everything that he teaches us is according to things as they really are. This 0:03:44 - 0:04:14 is important. This is the lock and real keys, open elements of things as they really are. They convey parts of the perfect knowledge of God. They teach us how to interact with reality and how to live the law or live according to the knowledge of God. Joseph Smith understood this. He said, God will not 0:04:14 - 0:04:35 acknowledge that which he has not called ordained and chosen as it says in doctrine and covenants 132 everything happens according to his law. And if something isn't according to his law, then it will be shaken and destroyed. It won't be acknowledged, it won't be effectual to the blessing of the individual 0:04:34 - 0:05:00 . Another quote, the power glory and blessings of the priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination only as their righteousness continued. So there's a real material aspect to exercising the power of God. If you desire the power glory and blessings that the Lord has the only way to 0:05:00 - 0:05:26 exercise them is according to righteousness or how God is or the knowledge of God. He said, what was the power of Melchizedek? Twas not priesthood of Aaron, et cetera, but it was the power of a king and a priest to the most high God. That priesthood was a perfect law of theocracy, holding keys of power 0:05:25 - 0:05:50 and blessings and stood as God to give laws to the people, administering endless lives to the sons and daughters of Adam. And so we see again that keys yield the power and blessings of God. But they come through laws or instruction or knowledge or information. That's what they are. One important aspect 0:05:49 - 0:06:10 of keys is that you don't have to understand cause in order to have effect, you just have to do exactly what is prescribed. We see this in the story of Adam offering sacrifices for a long time without understanding why he was doing it except that the Lord had commanded him. And at the conclusion of that 0:06:09 - 0:06:29 , he was rewarded with a visit from heaven to teach him further light and truth. And that was the blessing predicated upon his offering sacrifices or his obedience to the instructions that he received from God. You don't have to understand what the pattern of a key is to use it, but you do have to have 0:06:28 - 0:06:51 a key that reflects the information necessary to unlock the lock. It corresponds to, if you modify the key, it won't work any more. And with this example of Adam, the next phase of this is to look at Kane. Kane mimicked the sacrifices that Adam offered, but he modified them, making them the fruit of 0:06:51 - 0:07:12 the land instead of the fruit of the flock in doctrine and covenant 64 5 through six. It says the keys of the mysteries of the Kingdom shall not be taken from my servant Joseph Smith Jr through the means I have appointed while he liveth inasmuch as he obey mine ordinances, the keys were subject to his 0:07:12 - 0:07:37 continued obedience to the information he had received. So how do you know whether you have a key or not going back to physical keys and physical locks? If you can't unlock the lock, you don't have the right key. You don't have the key to that lock. This applies to spiritual matters as well. If you don't 0:07:37 - 0:08:02 have the effects promised by the cause, then the cause is either wrong or incomplete. You don't have the key. If you can't unlock the lock. This passage in doctrine and covenants 84 describes the lock of the priesthood. Now this is a long passage, but what I've bolded are the promised blessings. We have 0:08:01 - 0:08:29 the mysteries of the kingdom, the knowledge of God, the power of Godliness, authority, power. Again, seeing the face of God, ministering of angels, repentance, baptism, remission of sins, law of carnal commandments and being filled with the holy ghost of these blessings. How many have you received? Well 0:08:28 - 0:08:52 , if you are like most L DS, you have received baptism and you follow a law of carnal commandments, meaning a prescribed list of commandments that are explicitly defined. This is uh contrary to what would be an unlimited list of commandments that you would receive directly from God Himself through the 0:08:52 - 0:09:15 spirit from time to time as you continue to learn from Him. If your knowledge of God expands, necessarily your commandments from Him will as well. Now, that's two out of many and it's actually the least two or the, the lesser of the two out of this whole list. So what's keeping you from all the rest 0:09:14 - 0:09:37 ? That's a very good question. It says in this very passage that the Israelites only had a subset of these promised blessings because they had hardened their hearts against what the Lord had revealed or what the Lord was trying to reveal to them. Ok. Here's another passage. This is from Joseph Smith 0:09:37 - 0:09:57 translation of Genesis 14, which is an absolutely important passage and I invite you to read it and study it. It says, and Melchizedek lifted up his voice and blessed Abram and having been approved of God, he Melchizedek was ordained a high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with enoch 0:09:57 - 0:10:20 . It being after the order of the Son of God, which order came not by man, nor the will of man, neither by father nor mother, neither by beginning of days, nor end of years, but of God. God having sworn unto enoch and unto His seed with an oath by himself, that every one one being ordained after this 0:10:20 - 0:10:42 order and calling should have power by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course, to put a defiance, the armies of nations to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God, to do all things according to his will according 0:10:42 - 0:11:05 to his command, subdue Principalities and powers. And this by the will of the Son of God, which was from before the foundation of the world and men having this faith coming up unto this order of God were translated and taken up into heaven. And now Melchizedek was a priest of this order. Therefore, he 0:11:05 - 0:11:29 obtained peace in Salem and was called the prince of peace. And his people wrought righteousness and obtained heaven. Now, have you obtained heaven? Have you been translated and taken up into heaven? Have you broken down mountains, divided seas turned waters out of their course, put at defiance. The 0:11:29 - 0:11:55 armies of nations divided the earth. Have you broken every band? Have you stood in the presence of God? Have you had power to do all things according to his will? Because God swore to enoch and his seed that everyone being ordained after the order of enoch or after the order of Melchizedek should have 0:11:55 - 0:12:21 power to do these things. This is the lock. Where is the key? Do you possess this key? If you are like most L Ds, you expect that you have all the keys that God has revealed, that you have all the blessings of the Gospel. In reality, you have very few, you have very few of the ones that God has promised 0:12:20 - 0:12:44 to all the faithful. So this should cause you to beg the question, what keys are you missing and how can you get them? Here are some passages that contain the word keys. I pulled these at random and you could do a scripture search and extend your study to the same effect. This is from doctrine in covenant 0:12:44 - 0:13:04 65 2. And the question is, what does this mean? The keys of the Kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth and from thence, shall the Gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth as a stone which is cut out of the mountain without hand, shall roll forth until it has filled the whole earth. I 0:13:04 - 0:13:26 suspect that this passage does not mean what you think it means. The keys of the Kingdom of God are the information needed to acquire the blessings of God. That information is committed to man on the earth. In other words, it's been revealed, it was revealed through Joseph Smith and you have it in your 0:13:26 - 0:13:47 scriptures. And from that point, this information will go forth to the ends of the earth and it will build the kingdom of God in doctrine and covenants 93 through five, we have another passage. And again, the question is, what does this mean verily, I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never 0:13:47 - 0:14:09 be taken from you while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come. Nevertheless, through you shall the oracles be given to another? Yeah, even unto the church. Now people twist this passage and they say that this means that this concept of God's magic or his, his authority in quotes can be 0:14:08 - 0:14:31 passed or was passed from Joseph Smith to another leader in the L DS church. That is not what this says. The oracles are not the means of receiving revelation. The oracles are the revelation. The oracles are the information and they were given to another. Yeah. Even unto the church, the church is not 0:14:31 - 0:14:53 a person. The church isn't 12 people or 15 people. The church is the body of believers in God continuing the quote and all they who receive the oracles of God or in other words, believe and obey the information that's revealed. Let them be, let them beware how they hold them lest they are counted as 0:14:53 - 0:15:15 a light thing and are brought under condemnation thereby and stumble and fall when the storms descend and the winds blow and the rains descend and beat upon their house. If you have the information, you are held accountable for whether or not, you use it. You have access to every key revealed through 0:15:14 - 0:15:34 Joseph Smith. It's in print and you can read it and you can live according to that information according to the knowledge from God about God. The question is, what are you doing about it? If you're interested in these topics, I highly recommend the book teaching for doctrines and Commandments of Men 0:00:00 - 0:00:27 This presentation is entitled, what Latter day Saints should understand about keys. If you're L DS or if you were raised in an L DS background, then this phrase is well known to you. And it probably connotes many things. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself what keys really means? What is the 0:00:27 - 0:00:53 key? Well, in modern life and for quite some time in history, keys have been tools that are used widely for the purpose of unlocking locks. There are many different types of keys, but they all work in the same way, they have teeth that correspond to certain aspects of the lock. Keys are fitted to specific 0:00:52 - 0:01:23 locks and they're fitted in the sense that the teeth correspond to a code that's specific to the lock. You can have many locks that can all be unlocked with one key or you can have a single lock that has many copies of keys that all unlock that lock. You can have many keys and many locks. This is important 0:01:22 - 0:01:49 because what it shows you is that the key idea isn't so much the physical key, but the information that the key encodes the teeth on the key, that specific pattern and the the lock or set of locks that correspond to that pattern. It's a case of cause and effect. If you have the right pattern, you can 0:01:49 - 0:02:11 unlock the lock that corresponds to the pattern. If the pattern has been modified, you will not be able to open the lock. So how do you share a key if you want to uh give someone access to your home, maybe you make a physical key and you give it to them. And because you've given them this key, they can 0:02:10 - 0:02:30 now open the door to your home. But that's actually not required. In fact, if you think about how you would go about getting a copy of a key. Now, they have these key copying machines that are a plate of glass and the machine actually takes a picture of the key and using the teeth pattern. It can make 0:02:30 - 0:02:55 a copy of the key without actually physically touching the key. The old way of doing this was a machine that ground down a blank key to match the tooth pattern of the old key. And it would roll back and forth until the key was copied. But actually all you need to know is what the code on the key is and 0:02:54 - 0:03:21 then you can make a new key according to that exact pattern. So why does this matter? Nothing in the gospel is magical? There's no such thing as this. Nothing in the Gospel. Is arbitrary in many places in the scriptures. The Lord makes very clear that all things are according to his law. We put law into 0:03:21 - 0:03:44 quotes because law means different things to different people in different contexts. But in this context, what it means is the perfect knowledge of God. It means things as they really are. Everything that the Lord does and everything that he teaches us is according to things as they really are. This 0:03:44 - 0:04:14 is important. This is the lock and real keys, open elements of things as they really are. They convey parts of the perfect knowledge of God. They teach us how to interact with reality and how to live the law or live according to the knowledge of God. Joseph Smith understood this. He said, God will not 0:04:14 - 0:04:35 acknowledge that which he has not called ordained and chosen as it says in doctrine and covenants 132 everything happens according to his law. And if something isn't according to his law, then it will be shaken and destroyed. It won't be acknowledged, it won't be effectual to the blessing of the individual 0:04:34 - 0:05:00 . Another quote, the power glory and blessings of the priesthood could not continue with those who received ordination only as their righteousness continued. So there's a real material aspect to exercising the power of God. If you desire the power glory and blessings that the Lord has the only way to 0:05:00 - 0:05:26 exercise them is according to righteousness or how God is or the knowledge of God. He said, what was the power of Melchizedek? Twas not priesthood of Aaron, et cetera, but it was the power of a king and a priest to the most high God. That priesthood was a perfect law of theocracy, holding keys of power 0:05:25 - 0:05:50 and blessings and stood as God to give laws to the people, administering endless lives to the sons and daughters of Adam. And so we see again that keys yield the power and blessings of God. But they come through laws or instruction or knowledge or information. That's what they are. One important aspect 0:05:49 - 0:06:10 of keys is that you don't have to understand cause in order to have effect, you just have to do exactly what is prescribed. We see this in the story of Adam offering sacrifices for a long time without understanding why he was doing it except that the Lord had commanded him. And at the conclusion of that 0:06:09 - 0:06:29 , he was rewarded with a visit from heaven to teach him further light and truth. And that was the blessing predicated upon his offering sacrifices or his obedience to the instructions that he received from God. You don't have to understand what the pattern of a key is to use it, but you do have to have 0:06:28 - 0:06:51 a key that reflects the information necessary to unlock the lock. It corresponds to, if you modify the key, it won't work any more. And with this example of Adam, the next phase of this is to look at Kane. Kane mimicked the sacrifices that Adam offered, but he modified them, making them the fruit of 0:06:51 - 0:07:12 the land instead of the fruit of the flock in doctrine and covenant 64 5 through six. It says the keys of the mysteries of the Kingdom shall not be taken from my servant Joseph Smith Jr through the means I have appointed while he liveth inasmuch as he obey mine ordinances, the keys were subject to his 0:07:12 - 0:07:37 continued obedience to the information he had received. So how do you know whether you have a key or not going back to physical keys and physical locks? If you can't unlock the lock, you don't have the right key. You don't have the key to that lock. This applies to spiritual matters as well. If you don't 0:07:37 - 0:08:02 have the effects promised by the cause, then the cause is either wrong or incomplete. You don't have the key. If you can't unlock the lock. This passage in doctrine and covenants 84 describes the lock of the priesthood. Now this is a long passage, but what I've bolded are the promised blessings. We have 0:08:01 - 0:08:29 the mysteries of the kingdom, the knowledge of God, the power of Godliness, authority, power. Again, seeing the face of God, ministering of angels, repentance, baptism, remission of sins, law of carnal commandments and being filled with the holy ghost of these blessings. How many have you received? Well 0:08:28 - 0:08:52 , if you are like most L DS, you have received baptism and you follow a law of carnal commandments, meaning a prescribed list of commandments that are explicitly defined. This is uh contrary to what would be an unlimited list of commandments that you would receive directly from God Himself through the 0:08:52 - 0:09:15 spirit from time to time as you continue to learn from Him. If your knowledge of God expands, necessarily your commandments from Him will as well. Now, that's two out of many and it's actually the least two or the, the lesser of the two out of this whole list. So what's keeping you from all the rest 0:09:14 - 0:09:37 ? That's a very good question. It says in this very passage that the Israelites only had a subset of these promised blessings because they had hardened their hearts against what the Lord had revealed or what the Lord was trying to reveal to them. Ok. Here's another passage. This is from Joseph Smith 0:09:37 - 0:09:57 translation of Genesis 14, which is an absolutely important passage and I invite you to read it and study it. It says, and Melchizedek lifted up his voice and blessed Abram and having been approved of God, he Melchizedek was ordained a high priest after the order of the covenant which God made with enoch 0:09:57 - 0:10:20 . It being after the order of the Son of God, which order came not by man, nor the will of man, neither by father nor mother, neither by beginning of days, nor end of years, but of God. God having sworn unto enoch and unto His seed with an oath by himself, that every one one being ordained after this 0:10:20 - 0:10:42 order and calling should have power by faith, to break mountains, to divide the seas, to dry up waters, to turn them out of their course, to put a defiance, the armies of nations to divide the earth, to break every band, to stand in the presence of God, to do all things according to his will according 0:10:42 - 0:11:05 to his command, subdue Principalities and powers. And this by the will of the Son of God, which was from before the foundation of the world and men having this faith coming up unto this order of God were translated and taken up into heaven. And now Melchizedek was a priest of this order. Therefore, he 0:11:05 - 0:11:29 obtained peace in Salem and was called the prince of peace. And his people wrought righteousness and obtained heaven. Now, have you obtained heaven? Have you been translated and taken up into heaven? Have you broken down mountains, divided seas turned waters out of their course, put at defiance. The 0:11:29 - 0:11:55 armies of nations divided the earth. Have you broken every band? Have you stood in the presence of God? Have you had power to do all things according to his will? Because God swore to enoch and his seed that everyone being ordained after the order of enoch or after the order of Melchizedek should have 0:11:55 - 0:12:21 power to do these things. This is the lock. Where is the key? Do you possess this key? If you are like most L Ds, you expect that you have all the keys that God has revealed, that you have all the blessings of the Gospel. In reality, you have very few, you have very few of the ones that God has promised 0:12:20 - 0:12:44 to all the faithful. So this should cause you to beg the question, what keys are you missing and how can you get them? Here are some passages that contain the word keys. I pulled these at random and you could do a scripture search and extend your study to the same effect. This is from doctrine in covenant 0:12:44 - 0:13:04 65 2. And the question is, what does this mean? The keys of the Kingdom of God are committed unto man on the earth and from thence, shall the Gospel roll forth unto the ends of the earth as a stone which is cut out of the mountain without hand, shall roll forth until it has filled the whole earth. I 0:13:04 - 0:13:26 suspect that this passage does not mean what you think it means. The keys of the Kingdom of God are the information needed to acquire the blessings of God. That information is committed to man on the earth. In other words, it's been revealed, it was revealed through Joseph Smith and you have it in your 0:13:26 - 0:13:47 scriptures. And from that point, this information will go forth to the ends of the earth and it will build the kingdom of God in doctrine and covenants 93 through five, we have another passage. And again, the question is, what does this mean verily, I say unto you, the keys of this kingdom shall never 0:13:47 - 0:14:09 be taken from you while thou art in the world, neither in the world to come. Nevertheless, through you shall the oracles be given to another? Yeah, even unto the church. Now people twist this passage and they say that this means that this concept of God's magic or his, his authority in quotes can be 0:14:08 - 0:14:31 passed or was passed from Joseph Smith to another leader in the L DS church. That is not what this says. The oracles are not the means of receiving revelation. The oracles are the revelation. The oracles are the information and they were given to another. Yeah. Even unto the church, the church is not 0:14:31 - 0:14:53 a person. The church isn't 12 people or 15 people. The church is the body of believers in God continuing the quote and all they who receive the oracles of God or in other words, believe and obey the information that's revealed. Let them be, let them beware how they hold them lest they are counted as 0:14:53 - 0:15:15 a light thing and are brought under condemnation thereby and stumble and fall when the storms descend and the winds blow and the rains descend and beat upon their house. If you have the information, you are held accountable for whether or not, you use it. You have access to every key revealed through 0:15:14 - 0:15:34 Joseph Smith. It's in print and you can read it and you can live according to that information according to the knowledge from God about God. The question is, what are you doing about it? If you're interested in these topics, I highly recommend the book teaching for doctrines and Commandments of Men 0:15:34 - 0:15:45 , tradition and modern Mormonism. You can get this on Amazon at print cost or you can get free PDF at the website upward thought.blogspot.com.