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Anointing and Blessing with Consecrated Oil

In the Epistle of James, we read: “Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord” (James 5:14). In The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we use pure olive oil to anoint and bless the sick. This function is performed by males who hold the Melchizedek Priesthood.

The oil that is used in the anointing must have been consecrated at some point prior to the time of the blessing. To consecrate means “to declare sacred.”  The LDS Church website (www.lds.org) gives the following instructions for consecrating oil:

One or more Melchizedek Priesthood holders may consecrate pure olive oil and set it apart for the purpose of anointing the sick. No other oil may be used.

To consecrate oil, a priesthood bearer:

  1. Holds an open container of olive oil.
  2. Addresses our Heavenly Father.
  3. States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  4. Consecrates the oil for the blessing and anointing of the sick.
  5. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

After oil is consecrated, it can be used at any point in the future for the anointing and blessing of the sick.  Administering to the sick is also performed by Melchizedek Priesthood holders. Usually two bearers of the Melchizedek priesthood perform the ordinance. One will anoint the head of the sick person with the consecrated oil. The other will then seal the anointing and give a blessing. Again, the LDS Church website contains instructions on how this is done.

Anointing:

  1. Puts a small amount of oil on the person’s head.
  2. Places his hands on the person’s head and calls the person by name.
  3. States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  4. States that he is anointing with consecrated oil.
  5. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

Sealing the Anointing:

  1. Calls the sick person by name.
  2. States that the ordinance is performed by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood.
  3. Seals the anointing.
  4. Pronounces a priesthood blessing as the Spirit directs.
  5. Closes in the name of Jesus Christ.

Source: http://www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,13-1-1-7,00.html

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Father’s Day Move

There is a woman in our ward whose husband died a few months ago, leaving behind his wife and two young daughters. The family had additional changes in circumstances after the death of the father that necessitated a move to another state. Unfortunately, the only day on which they could move was a Sunday and not just any Sunday, but Father’s Day.

I will always remember the first counselor in our bishopric standing up in priesthood meeting and saying that there was nothing better we could be doing on Father’s Day than helping a family who has just lost their father. These inspired words touched the hearts of the men in our ward. The evening of Father’s Day found 21 of us at the home of this dear family who were still grieving for their father. There were so many of us that we formed an assembly line and routed boxes and furniture out of the house and into the truck, filling the moving truck in less than a half hour.

Isaiah 1:17 -> “Learn to do well; seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, plead for the widow.”

I pray that the Lord will bless and comfort this family.

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Why was Elijah translated?

Elijah was the last prophet to hold the sealing power of the Melchizedek Priesthood, the power to bind in heaven ordinances performed on earth, before the time of Jesus Christ.  Elijah came to the Mount of Transfiguration to confer the sealing power upon Peter, James, and John.  In order to do so, he needed his physical body, since spirits cannot lay hands on mortal beings (See Doctrine and Covenants 129:8).

It’s interesting to note that Elijah also came to earth to confer this same sealing power to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery on April 3, 1836 (See Doctrine and Covenants 110:13-16). At this time, however, he came as a resurrected being, since he was with Christ in his resurrection (See Doctrine and Covenants 133:55).

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What is the difference between a sin and a transgression?

To sin is to do something contrary to the will of the Lord. It is to be willfully disobedient.  Transgression, on the other hand, is the violation of a law or rule that may or may not be against the will of the Lord. Thus, all sins are transgressions but not all transgressions are sins.

Sin is breaking a law with knowledge that a law is being broken. Adam didn’t have knowledge of good and evil before partaking of the forbidden fruit, so his act was a transgression of the law, not a sin against the law.

The Bible clearly notes a difference between sin and transgression

–          Psalms 25:7 -> “Remember not the sins of my youth, nor my transgressions: according to thy mercy remember thou me for thy goodness’ sake, O Lord.”

–          Joshua 24:19 -> “And Joshua said unto the people, Ye cannot serve the Lord: for he is an holy God; he is a jealous God; he will not forgive your transgressions nor your sins.”

The first mention of sin in the Bible is in regards to Cain.

Genesis 4:6-7 -> “And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him.”

Adam and Eve’s partaking of the forbidden fruit is referred to as transgression.

Romans 5:14 -> “Nevertheless death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over them that had not sinned after the similitude of Adam’s transgression, who is the figure of him that was to come.”

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The New and Everlasting Covenant

What is the New and Everlasting Covenant?

The new and everlasting covenant is the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

The covenant is everlasting because it is always the same. God’s plan does not change.

The covenant is new because it has been revealed many times following periods of apostasy on the earth. Each time it is revealed it is, in effect, newly on the earth again.

All covenants between God and man are part of the new and everlasting covenant.  Many people in the LDS church mistakenly think that marriage is the new and everlasting covenant when, in reality, it is a new and an everlasting covenant. (See Doctrine and Covenants 132:4.) Covenants made at baptism, when taking the sacrament, and in the temple are also examples of individual covenants.

In a revelation received by Joseph Smith in 1831, God declared that the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ is the new and everlasting covenant.

–          Doctrine and Covenants 66:2 -> “Verily I say unto you, blessed are you for receiving mine everlasting covenant, even the fulness of my gospel, sent forth unto the children of men, that they might have life and be made partakers of the glories which are to be revealed in the last days, as it was written by the prophets and apostles in days of old.”

The breaking of the everlasting covenant is apostasy.  In a revelation given to Joseph Smith in 1831, the Lord said that those who do not follow the prophet in the last days will be cut off from the Lord’s presence. “For they have strayed from mine ordinances, and have broken mine everlasting covenant.” (See Doctrine and Covenants 1:15.) In an earlier time, Isaiah prophesied that the apostasy after the death of Christ and his apostles would be because the people on the earth had “transgressed the laws, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson commented on the new and everlasting covenant in the April 2009 General Conference: “The scriptures speak of the new and everlasting covenant. The new and everlasting covenant is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrines and commandments of the gospel constitute the substance of an everlasting covenant between God and man that is newly restored in each dispensation. If we were to state the new and everlasting covenant in one sentence it would be this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”

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LDS First and Second Resurrection

A few times each year my wife asks me: “When Christ died, was everyone who had died up to that point resurrected?” My answer always has been: “I don’t know, but we should find out.”  I finally did some research and discovered the following:

    • When Christ died, all the righteous dead who had lived and died up to that point were resurrected.
      • Matthew 27:52-53 -> “And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose.  And came out of the graves after his resurrection, and went into the holy city, and appeared unto many.”
      • D & C 133:55 -> “And from Moses to Elijah, and from Elijah to John, who were with Christ in his resurrection, and the holy apostles, with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, shall be in the presence of the Lamb.”
    • At the beginning of the millennium, all righteous people who have lived since Christ was resurrected will be resurrected. This is the morning of the first resurrection.
      • Revelation 20:6  -> “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”
      • Luke 14:14 -> “And thou shalt be blessed; for they cannot recompense thee: for thou shalt be recompensed at the resurrection of the just.”
      • 1st Thessalonians 4:16-17 -> “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”
      • D & C 88:97-98 -> “And they who have slept in their graves shall come forth, for their graves shall be opened; and they also shall be caught up to meet him in the midst of the pillar of heaven—  They are Christ’s, the first fruits, they who shall descend with him first, and they who are on the earth and in their graves, who are first caught up to meet him; and all this by the voice of the sounding of the trump of the angel of God.”
    • The afternoon of the first resurrection is when all people who were good but not worthy enough to receive a full inheritance in the kingdom of God will be resurrected.
      • D & C 88:99 -> “And after this another angel shall sound, which is the second trump; and then cometh the redemption of those who are Christ’s at his coming; who have received their part in that prison which is prepared for them, that they might receive the gospel, and be judged according to men in the flesh.”
    • The second resurrection is when the wicked will be resurrected. This happens at the end of the millennium.
      • Revelation 20:5 -> “But the rest of the dead lived not again until the thousand years were finished. “
      • D & C 88:100-101 -> “And again, another trump shall sound, which is the third trump; and then come the spirits of men who are to be judged, and are found under condemnation;  And these are the rest of the dead; and they live not again until the thousound years are ended, neither again, until the end of the earth.”
    • The resurrection of damnation is the resurrection of those who gained a perfect knowledge of Jesus Christ through the Holy Ghost and then denied it, chose Satan, and came out in rebellion against Christ.
      • John 5:29 -> “And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.”
      • D & C 100:102 -> “And another trump shall sound, which is the fourth trump, saying: There are found among those who are to remain until that great and last day, even the end, who shall remain filthy still.”