21) Discerning Reality - Its Harder Than You Think!

A baseball leaves a hand and crosses 60 feet, and our brains swear we just watched reality happen. Then we widen the frame: Earth spins, Earth orbits, the sun moves through the Milky Way, the galaxy drifts, and that “simple” throw actually travels in multiple directions at once. That single image becomes our doorway into a bigger question: how often do we confuse our perspective with truth, especially when we talk about God, eternity, and doctrine?

We take that perspective shift into scripture and restoration theology. We talk about “worlds without number” from the Pearl of Great Price, the shock Moses and Enoch express when shown the scope of creation, and why the Atonement of Jesus Christ being infinite and eternal forces a cosmic frame. We also challenge tight assumptions like “the Bible is the only word of God,” and we ask what it means to read eternal language from God’s reference point rather than our mortal one.

From there we wrestle with modern pressure points without letting the conversation turn into chaos: UFO reports as a sign that our paradigm may be too small, questions about Heavenly Mother and why some topics require more groundwork, and the need to expand our model without abandoning order. We get specific about priesthood keys, authorized administration, John the Beloved, and the guardrails of the gospel that protect ordinances of salvation. We also explore the unseen world, the spirit world, temple work for the dead, and hints of heavenly temple realities that most Christians never consider.

If you want a faith-forward framework for pursuing truth, testing claims, and seeking more light without losing your footing, listen through and then share it with someone who loves big questions. Subscribe, leave a review, and tell us what belief you are ready to re-examine next.

Transcript

Welcome And The Truth Problem

SPEAKER_00 0:05

Welcome to the Black Swan Rising Podcast, an L10 production. For transcriptions, show notes, and extras, please visit us at the Black Swan Rising Podcast.com. Now, broadcasting across the world from the heart of the American Bible Belt, here is your host, Michael B. Rush.

The Ball That Moves Everywhere

Eternal Language Through Gods Vantage

Worlds Without Number And Diversity

Moses Enoch And A Cosmic Context

Why Scripture Cannot Be Only

UFO Reports And Expanding Paradigms

Priesthood Keys And John The Beloved

Guardrails For Off World Visitors

The Unseen World And Second Estate

Heavenly Temples And Sacred Ordinances

Kingdoms Of Glory And Long Justice

Apocrypha Discernment And False Certainty

Seeking More Light Within Order

SPEAKER_01 0:26

Hello, friends. Welcome back to the Black Swan Rising Podcast. I'm your host, Michael B. Rush. Today I want to talk about the challenges that we have in not only understanding reality as it really is, but you know, determining truth. Because we project our own version of the truth upon reality. And in doing so, our projections of what we perceive the truth to be in many instances prohibit us from understanding truth as it really is. And I know that this is confusing to wrap your head around. So I want to talk about this from a real life perspective. So to start this off, I want to ask you a question. Is it possible for an object to move north and south and east and west all at the same time? Well, you might think that that would be impossible. But in reality, it is not only possible, it is happening to us right now. Let me explain. Let's imagine that there were two people playing catch, and these two people are standing 60 feet apart and they are located north and south, directly north and south from each other. They take this baseball and they throw it, and it takes one second for it to travel the 60 feet in between them. Okay. If that ball is moving 60 feet in one second, that translates into moving at 41 miles per hour. Okay. To the independent observer who's watching these people, that ball is moving at 41 miles per hour from north to south, and then from south to north, and then from north to south, you know, back and forth. Now that would be our version of reality. We would interpret things from our vantage point as that being where that ball is in space and time, bouncing back and forth between that continuum, between that 60 feet bouncing back and forth at 41 miles per hour. And that's what we would say reality is. But yet, in reality, that is only part of the picture. If you were to take an independent observer that existed independently of those two people playing catch in space and time, you would get a far different answer, an answer that reflects what actual reality is. Because in reality, not only is the ball moving back and forth north to south and south to north as these individuals throw it, but it is also moving with the rotation of the earth as the earth spins on its axis, and it is also moving as the earth orbits around the sun, and it is also moving as the sun orbits the Milky Way galaxy, and it is also moving as the Milky Way galaxy is moving through space in what is called the galactic drift. Now, if you were to take all of these things into consideration, you would get what the actual movement of that ball is during that one second in actual space and time. Because in reality, even though it perceives to us that the earth is always in the same spot, in reality, the earth has never been and never will be in the same space, or it will never occupy the same location in space in time ever again, because it is constantly moving for all of these reasons that I've said. So let's take all five of these different motions into consideration to see what the reality of the movement of this ball is. Okay. So step one, the ball moves from north to south 60 feet. Okay. Step two, the rotation of the earth, the the earth, in addition to that 60 foot movement, it has also moved 1,280 feet due east, because the earth is rotating on its axis at 870 miles per hour. In addition, the earth is orbiting the sun at 67,000 miles per hour. And if you we calculate this as of today, which happens to be the spring equinox, March 20th, based off of where we are around the orbit of the Sun, we are moving in a western direction at 67,000 miles per hour, which means during the same one-second interval, that ball has also moved through space and time 18.6 miles to the west. So it has moved 1,260 miles to the east due to the rotation of the Earth, but it has also moved 18.6 miles to the west due to the movement of the Sun around or the Earth around the Sun, as well as moving 60 feet from south to north. Now, as I mentioned, because the Sun is orbiting the Milky Way galaxy, which it is moving in its orbit at 447,000 miles per hour. And again, with today being the spring equinox, it is doing this in relation to the Earth in a northwesterly direction, actually about 310 degrees. And it in one second, because it's moving 447,000 miles per hour, it has covered a distance of 124 miles in the northwest direction. And then again, because the Milky Way galaxy itself is moving, and it's moving at 1.3 million miles per hour, which is the fastest of all of these movements by far. And based off of where the Earth is in the direction of its orbit around the Sun right now, the Milky Way galaxy is actually moving to the south-southwest. It's about 200 degrees on the compass. And in that one second, it has moved 361 miles. So simultaneously, all these things are happening at the same time. At the exact same time, the ball has moved 60 feet to the north. It has also moved 1,280 feet to the east because of the uh rotation of the Earth on its axis, but it has also moved 18.6 miles to the west because of the Earth's orbit around the Sun. And it has also simultaneously moved 124 miles to the northwest because of the sun's rotation around the Milky Way galaxy, and also simultaneously it has moved 361 miles to the south-southwest, to this independent observer who exists in space and time. And that is the reality of this. The reality, our current actual reality, is that this ball has moved all of these directions at the same time. That should blow your mind. That is the reality of what space and time are doing. The reality is that Earth never occupies the same space twice because it's in a constant state of motion. Over the course of my life, I'm 51 years old, I have travel, I have been hurdled through space over 850 billion miles. The Earth is has traveled 850 billion miles and will never go back to where it has been. That is kind of cool. So if this is the reality of just distance, think about, let's overlay this onto eternal truths for a God that exists independent of space and time. Like we know that our God does exist independent of space and time. What does it mean when he says things such as when he's he talks about hell being eternal damnation? Well, we project our meaning of what that must mean from our vantage point. And just because we're projecting something as being true from this vantage point does not mean that that is what reality actually is. And you know, in reality, God, when he says that someone is going to be suffering eternal damnation, he is not meaning that they are going to be in hell forever and ever and ever and ever. What he is saying is that that individual is going to suffer a godlike punishment because God is eternal. That is what reality is. So reality is defined from the reference point of God and not the reference point of man. So when we are looking at the gospel of Jesus Christ, we need to understand it from a cosmic vantage point. And it is very important for us to understand that not everybody sees things from the same cosmic vantage point. We are all looking, you know, consider that there are literally worlds without number. And that those worlds, those innumerable worlds, are populated with people and with life forms of an incredible diversity. Consider how many races of people live upon this planet. You know, on this planet, we have white people, we have black people, we have yellow people, we have red people, we have brown people, and we have all the kind of spectrums in between. We have people that by genetics are tall. We have people whose genetics, such as pygmies, are short. We have people with all kinds of genetic eye colors and hair colors and skin types, such as you know, uh people with red hair, they can you know get uh freckles and you know, diff the the diversity that exists amongst the human family upon this planet are simply staggering. Now project that across the cosmos. What diversity must exist across all of those worlds? We in our insanity are probably thinking, you know, nope, nope, nope. The ball is only going 41 miles per hour between uh person A and person B. But in reality, it's moving all directions at once. The reality is that life on all of these worlds is diverse, far more diverse than what our mortal perspective enables us to understand. And the gospel, how the gospel works, isn't necessarily the same on every single planet. That may be strange to consider, but yeah, not everything that is going on on this planet is also transpiring on every other planet. For instance, Jesus Christ atoned for the sins of the multiverse on this planet. Jesus Christ was not crucified on every single planet in the cosmos. So Christ's atonement being infinite and eternal applies to every single life form on all worlds without end. So those life forms on all of these different planets, they are dependent upon an event that transpired on our world. So consider, therefore, that they must be aware of this world, even though we are not aware of them, because our salvation is not dependent upon them and the things that have happened on their world. The inverse of that is absolutely not true. The reality of their eternal salvation is completely dependent upon the events that transpired upon this earth. Let that sink in. Their perspective on this cosmic reality is different than ours. In the Pearl of Great Price, when you read in Moses chapter one, Moses is simply astounded when he is shown that the multiverse is filled with populated worlds. He can't believe it. He's stunned by it. And one of the first things that God tells Moses is, Moses, I am not going to talk to you about the realities that exist on those other worlds. I am only going to talk to you about the reality on your own planet. But other worlds, for reasons I have just discussed, must know at least something about reality on this world, because their salvations are completely dependent upon our salvation and upon the atonement which was wrought upon this planet. If you read in section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, you have a very interesting verse wherein Joseph Smith says, This of all the testimonies that have been given, this is the testimony last of all that we give, that he lives, for we saw him even on the right hand of God. And then he goes on to say that by him, meaning by Jesus Christ, the worlds are and were created, and their inhabitants become the begotten sons and daughters unto God. Meaning, in that revelation, we learn that all of the inhabitants of the cosmos become begotten sons and daughters unto God the Father through Jesus Christ and his atonement which was wrought upon this earth. So the cosmic reality hinges upon this event that took place on planet Earth. Now, another very interesting fact regarding planet Earth, also coming from the Pearl of Great Price, when you look and read Moses chapter seven very carefully, you also get another firsthand account from Enoch that the cosmos are filled with innumerable populated worlds. In fact, you know, Enoch talks about this when he sees the Lord weeping at the wickedness of this planet. In fact, the Lord says in this chapter that of all the planets that exist in the cosmos, there is not another world that has as much wickedness upon it as planet Earth has had. And Enoch then, when he sees the Lord weeping, he gives us an incredible reference point when he says, if you were to take the earth and break it down to its particles, and if you could number all of those particles and then do the same thing to a million other earths, it would not be the beginning of the Lord's creations. Now, the uh numerator in this calculation is earth populated worlds. So that is astounding. Now, in Revelation chapter 12, we learn that there was a war in heaven, and that Lucifer and one-third of the hosts of heaven were banished. And where were they banished? They were banished to planet Earth. This is why Earth is the most wicked of all the creations that the Lord has made. It's why Jesus Christ was sent to atone for the sins of the multiverse to this planet. Because Jesus Christ needed to descend below all things so that all things would be subject unto him. So he came to the worst of the worst and atoned for the sins of the entire multiverse in that environment. Now, if you read in Revelation chapter 12, it says that the inhabitants of the heavens, and by that we should read the inhabitants of the multiverse, rejoiced because their enemy, the accuser of their brethren, had been cast down and banished to the earth. So they won't have to deal with him. But you know, earth's inhabitants would have to deal with him. So these are this all is baked into the reality of the multiverse from a pure spiritual perspective. We don't perceive all of these things. This is just how things are for us. And we project it out into the cosmos. But just because we're projecting that out into the cosmos, because it's how we see things from our vantage point, it doesn't mean at all that that's how reality actually is for everyone else on those other planets. You may have a completely different environment on these other worlds than we see here. And I fully expect that there is a wide spectrum of different life circumstances that you know pervades the entire multiverse. It's going to be so incredible that we can't even imagine it. So now when you take the diversity of the cosmos and all of these factors that are not readily observable by us, but that exist, such as you just think about all of the different directions that Earth is moving simultaneously right now. Earth is literally, when you throw a ball to the north, that ball is moving to the north, but it's also moving to the east, and it's also moving to the west, and it's also moving to the south. It is moving in all four directions at the same time. And, you know, whereas on the surface that seems impossible, it is in reality what is happening. So with this in mind, let's just take some commonly held beliefs in Christianity and hold them up against the backdrop of this reality. And hopefully it will help us to see how ludicrous some of these self-imposed limitations are. So let's talk about the general Christian tenet that the Bible is the only word of God in existence. How ridiculous is that assumption when you look out to the vastness of the cosmos to think that the only word that God has ever spoken is encapsulated in the Bible. Particularly when you consider that the last verse in the book of John talks about that if all of the words that Christ has ever spoken had been recorded, that even the earth itself could not contain the books that could be written for volume. How could that be true? Literally, you could write everything that Jesus Christ said during his mortal existence upon this earth, and you wouldn't even fill up a library. But John is saying that the earth itself could not hold everything that Christ has said if it was written down. Clearly, there is more going on in the reality that John is familiar with compared to the reality that Christianity as a whole is projecting. Christianity is looking at things as the third party observer that is seeing the ball bounce back and forth and thinking that it is only going 60 feet, when in reality, it is going all directions simultaneously. Now, this is the complex backdrop for some of the largest. Doctrinal questions that we have. And without this kind of understanding of the complexity of the spiritual reality that surrounds us, if you don't have a basic understanding of that, you cannot understand some of these questions that are very complex, such as talking about Heavenly Mother. There is a reason that the scriptures never talk about venerating Heavenly Mother. And the reason for that goes far beyond the theoretical groundwork that most Christians have. They simply don't have the understanding to be able to comprehend something like that. Now, I'm not just talking about general Christianity. I am talking about members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as well. There are many things that need to be understood before you can really even talk about this question or understand it. And if you try to talk about something as involved as this, without that understanding, well, you're very prone to do the same kinds of stupid things that Israel has always been prone to do throughout its history. It's human nature to ignore anything that falls outside of our belief system, regardless of whether it's true or not. Case in point, this UFO phenomenon, there is clearly something that is going on in our skies. All of these folks that are coming into Congress and testifying that they are seeing these things, yeah, this is real. And it's pointing to a greater reality. And if these things are true, they must be encompassed within the actual gospel paradigm, regardless of whether your understanding of the gospel is broad enough to include such things. Again, are you looking at that ball as if it's just moving 60 feet and that's it from north to south and south to north? Is that all you think reality is? Because the fact that we're seeing these things in our skies and you have so many high-caliber witnesses that are saying that these things are there, you have to expand your paradigm. If you are not expanding your paradigm, then what hope do you have of seeing things for how they truly are? If you think that talking about these things is going down some forbidden path talking about the mysteries, well, you are essentially sticking your head in the sand. And you're making sure that the only thing that you see is what is right in front of your eyes. You can't see anything beyond that. And that is a very, very dangerous perspective. It is a very limiting perspective. It is one of the reasons that so many people, it's why Christ described that broad is one path, but straight and narrow is another path, and that many find the broad path, but few are they that find the narrow path. And why is that? Because people do what comes naturally. Whatever falls within their normal paradigm, that's what they accept. And things that fall outside of that paradigm, they don't accept. Such as you know, an angel descending to a young boy, Joseph Smith, in rural New York and telling him about a record transcribed upon golden plates hidden underneath a rock on a prominent hilltop near Palmyra, New York. That falls outside of most people's concept of reality. And so they will dismiss it out of hand. And frankly, many members of the church honestly are only members because their ancestors accepted these truths and they have inherited those truths from them. But would they have the spiritual wherewithal to be able to accept those kinds of truths today when the vast majority of Christianity says that such things are an impossibility? Never mind the fact that Christianity is based upon reality shattering shattering events just like this. Christ being born from a virgin. That is a reality-shattering event. All of Christianity is based upon reality-shattering events. But we try to normalize things and we try to normalize things very, very quickly by saying, no, no, no, this is it. This is all there is. This is how things are looked at. And anything outside of this way of looking is wrong. And if you look at something outside of this, then you know, you are a fringe wild man. This is what happened to Galileo. Yeah, Galileo wasn't considering fringe things, he was taking observations and trying to reconcile them with the reality of the truth that he knew from Christianity. And he said, Listen, guys, the earth isn't the center of the universe. And Christianity at that point in time believed that that was heresy. And so he was a fringe wild man. The exact same thing could be said for someone like me who is choosing to pick up some of these bizarre topics, such as the UFO phenomenon, and seeking to reconcile that with Christianity. There are so many people that rise up and point their finger at me as some wild man that is doing spiritually dangerous things and you know looks at this as being a life-threatening kind of a thing. And instead, they're choosing to ignore all of this. Which is more dangerous? To ignore the reality of what is happening around us and trying to reconcile that with the gospel, or projecting the gospel as you presently understand that upon the cosmos, and then having something wildly outside of your paradigm happen and you throw out the gospel as a result. I think that that is what is coming down the road. Now, the the fact of the matter is, is that there are certain tenets that are absolutely the reality for us. They are the 60 feet that the ball is going to move from our perspective. And what are some of those things? Well, the priesthood is one of those realities. Now, we do not comprehend how the priesthood works across the cosmos. We will someday understand that, but what do we understand? Well, from our perspective, you know, speaking of the perspective of the ball moving only 60 feet, the priesthood keys are held by Dallin H. Oakes. And he is the only one on the earth to be able to exercise those priesthood keys. Everything that is done upon this planet, if it is to be done in accordance with the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, operates through his keys. Anything that does not operate through his keys is operating outside of the priesthood. However, from a broader perspective, just go and read Doctrine and Covenants section seven. In section seven, we learn that John the Revelator is still alive. John the Revelator is also John the Beloved. John was a member of the original first presidency. He was one of the original twelve apostles. The priesthood keys are exercised by the senior apostle upon the earth at any given point in time. Dallin H. Oaks is the prophet of the church because he is also the senior apostle. Well, John the Beloved, in every possible interpretation, is the senior apostle. He is the original, the only original apostle that is still alive. All of the other twelve apostles have died, except for John, according to uh Doctrine and Covenants, section seven. Therefore, John holds all priesthood keys. Now, when Joseph Smith received the priesthood, he received the Iranic priesthood from who? John the Baptist. And when John the Baptist came to Joseph Smith, he was told that he was doing this under the authority of who? Peter, James, and John. How did Joseph Smith get the Melchizedek priesthood? Well, he received it from Peter, James, and John. John holds all of these keys. When you look at the first general conference of the Church of Jesus Christ for Latter-day Saints, which was held April 6th, 1830. During that conference, Joseph Smith stated that John the Revelator was then preparing the Lost Ten Tribes for their return. That's a very curious thing. Because think about all of the questions that we have on our temple recommend interviews. As part of those questions, we attest. And you know, one of those questions is that we believe that Dallin H. Oaks is the only person on the earth who holds the keys and can exercise all of the keys. However, it is a fundamental doctrine that John the Revelator, John the Beloved, also holds all of these keys. But if Dallin H. Oakes is the only person on the earth to hold these keys, by default, John the Revelator is not on the earth. Meaning the Lost Tribes of Israel, whom he is amongst preparing for their return, are also not on the earth. You know, this is whether or not you accept this as being a reality doesn't matter. It's just like it, whether or not you believe it's possible for a ball to travel in all directions, north, south, east, and west at the same time, whether or not you think that's possible is irrelevant. It's happening right now, whether you believe it's possible or not. You just need to understand these things better. So today, the the whole purpose of this episode today is more than anything just about perspectives. We need to be aware that just because we believe we understand something does not mean that we understand it completely. Just because you believe that the ball is moving 60 feet at 40 miles per hour does not mean that that is all there is to be understood from this. We believe in an ongoing restoration. We believe in all that has been revealed and all that will be revealed. We believe that President Dallin H. Oaks is the only man who holds all of the priesthood keys. I absolutely 100% believe that as far as the affairs of the church upon this earth are concerned, that is 100% true. We also know from the Doctrine and Covenants that Joseph Smith taught that only the inhabitants of this earth, or those who have lived upon this earth, are capable of ministering to it. That is a very interesting truth. What does that mean? It means that, you know, watchers are not authorized to come and preach to us some new doctrine or administer new ordinances to us. And anybody that comes and does these things who has not lived upon this earth in mortality, or who will live upon this earth in mortality, they are teaching false doctrines. That's just, yeah, as weird as that is, or as weird as that sounds, that is how it is. Now, I had one person reach out to me and say, Well, what do you mean? How can how can that be true? You know, you you know, you've you've mentioned that Peter, James, and John, you know, came and uh administered to Joseph Smith. Yeah. Well, Peter, James, and John lived on this earth. So of course they can come and minister to Joseph Smith. Now, the Watchers are not part of mortality on this second estate. It is possible for people to come to this earth from elsewhere for through technologies and reasons that I've expounded other episodes of this podcast. But those people are coming from elsewhere. This is not their world. They are visitors here. So they are not authorized to administer the ordinances of salvation to us. And if they come trying to do that, you can know with absolute certainty that what they're doing is false. You don't have to understand all of the ins and outs of reality to know that. That's this is when I talk about the guardrails of the gospel, this is what I'm talking about. The someone coming from another world to this one and trying to administer ordinances of salvation that falls outside the guardrails of the gospel. Now, what about these people who have said that there are people from other worlds here that are keeping the earth from destroying itself in nuclear holocaust? You know, for example, you have Brigadier General Haim Ashed, who is on the record stating that he knows that during the Cuban Missile Crisis, that nuclear war was adverted through the intervention of off-world races. Well, guess what? That is very different from those off those off-world races keeping us from destroying the earth is not the same thing as administering to us the ordinances of salvation. God will certainly allow people from other worlds, obviously, he allows people from other worlds to come to this one because we're seeing it happen. It's happening in our skies on an ongoing basis. So this does happen. But we shouldn't expect to have missionaries come to this earth from other worlds preaching to us a new gospel. That is something that would involve our salvation. And according to the guardrails of the gospel, that should not happen. And if somebody is doing it, you know, you should be very, very leery of that. So, friends, I know that this episode may be very, very bizarre and hard to wrap your mind around, but you know, that's kind of the point. You know, it's possible for the ball to be moving in all directions at the same time. We don't understand the full nature of the world around us. So let's not be idiots about this. Let's be humble and acknowledge our ignorance rather than boldly projecting our knowledge upon the cosmos, saying this is how it is, when you know, in reality, things are far more complex and involved than we understand. So let's give way, let's make space for the complexities of an infinite multiverse that consists of not just the physical dimension that we see, but also a spiritual dimension. For we know that there is most definitely what the book of Enoch refers to as the unseen world or the invisible world, the spirit world that absolutely exists. And it likely, I'm I'm positive that it exists throughout this entire uh across the entire plane of this universe. How the gospel functions on the other side is probably different than what we understand. We do not understand very much about what takes place on the other side, but we do have some very curious revelations regarding this. I'm thinking of the Doctrine of Covenants, we have an entire section that talks about righteous people who lived in this life, that they continue preaching the gospel in the spirit world. Now, I think that when we talk about spirit world, we should probably understand that far more broadly than this particular world. Because when you look at some of the patriarchal blessings that were given at the hand of Joseph Smith Sr., who was the church's first patriarch, there were numerous blessings where he talked about people as part of their patriarchal blessing administering the gospel to the inhabitants of other worlds. Now, a patriarchal blessing talks about the events that will transpire during the second estate. The first estate was the premortal realm. The second estate transpires during your physical life, but also your spiritual life in the spirit world prior to the resurrection. The second estate encompasses all the time prior to you being a resurrected being. And we have numerous accounts, and in fact, we've had an account where a lady stood up in Nauvoo and was speaking in tongues in a meeting where Joseph Smith was present, and people looked at Joseph Smith and said, What in the heck did she just say? And Joseph Smith said she spoke about the worlds that I would administer the gospel to. Well, Joseph Smith did not do that in mortality, but he most assuredly is doing that still during his second estate, but during his administrations in the spirit world. So we must broaden our understanding of the gospel to be far more comprehensive than perhaps our understanding of what it is in mortality in the spirit world. Another thing that we know is that for some reason there are certain ordinances that must be performed while in the flesh. And that temples are created for the express purpose of enabling people that have moved onto the other side of the veil or moved into what some people would refer to as the astral plane or the spirit world to be able to receive these ordinances. But for some reason, yeah. And that we do not entirely understand yet, but we must assume there is absolutely a reason for this being the case, they must receive those ordinances vicariously done by someone who is in the flesh. If you read the book of Revelation and you read it very carefully, you'll particularly the throne vision where John describes the throne of the Father. He describes the throne of the Father existing in a temple, and that temple exists in heaven. Therefore, that temple is in a celestial realm. And there are in John's vision, and also frankly in the book of Enoch, descriptions of innumerable people surrounding the throne of God, whom John describes as having washed their robes in the blood of the Lamb and having overcome the world, and having been resurrected. They're surrounding the throne of God in a temple with a physical body that is resurrected. And because they are in a temple, you would suspect that they could receive certain ordinances. Now this you know may be going beyond what you know most people have any concept of, but we know that Jesus Christ, he performed a certain ordinance to the apostles during the Last Supper, where he washed their feet. And he told the he told Peter when he washed Peter's feet, uh, he said, Listen, I have to wash your feet. And Peter said, Heck no, you will not wash my feet. You are the son of God, you are my savior, you will not condescend to wash my feet. You should be washing your feet. And Christ told Peter, Listen, unless I wash your feet, you have no place with me. That this is referring to an ordinance for which most people have no concept, but apparently is an ordinance of salvation. And this is an ordinance of salvation that must be done in a holy place. And for some people that ordinance may be done on earth, but for most people, for most people, I suppose, that this is an ordinance that can be performed not while they are in their spirit, but when they are resurrected in the temple of God by Jesus Christ who washes their feet for them so that they can have a part with him, well that otherwise they wouldn't have a part. And in fact, I must assume, presume, that because Christ told that to the twelve apostles, that must be true of anyone who would inherit the Father's kingdom. But there is a heavenly temple wherein that ordinance must be able to be performed. Just like there are certain ordinances that can be per that must be performed for the dead here. I think that the reason that there is a temple in heaven is because there are certain ordinances that can and must be performed in that heavenly temple if they haven't been performed elsewhere. And that ordinance, I believe, is one of those. Although I do not believe that other ordinances, such as baptisms for the dead, can or will be performed in that heavenly temple. I think for some reason that we do not completely comprehend at the present moment that must that ordinance, those types of ordinances, must be performed in mortality during the second estate. We just we don't understand all of these truths, but we must conclude that there are reasons and that these things fit into a greater whole. And simply, you know, because we don't have all of the pieces doesn't mean that there isn't some greater cosmic whole that everything does fit into. And some people they reject the fullness of the gospel because they only see it in part, and because they don't see the entire uh whole, they they reject it. And this is so sad and it's so dangerous, but yet the vast majority of all people will do this. They will reject the fullness of the gospel because they only see it in part, and they they refuse to see it in a whole. Whether that's because the individual pieces that are presented to them fall outside of the boxes and the paradigms that they are prepared or that they have created for themselves. Ultimately doesn't matter the reason they reject it, it only matters that they do. And if you look at, again, going back to section 76, we learn that there are, for all intents and purposes, three kingdoms of glory that pertain to those who graduate from the second estate. Let's not go and presume that these are the only kingdoms of glory that exist. These are the kingdoms of glory that apply to those who opted to participate in the second estate. And those kingdoms of glory are the celestial kingdom, the terrestrial kingdom, and the telestial kingdom. Now, when you look at that revelation, we understand that those who were willing to abide the celestial law will inherit the celestial kingdom. And we are not told in section 76 what the celestial law is, but we are told that those who are valiant in their testimonies of Jesus Christ inherit the celestial kingdom. And elsewhere, we learn that the celestial law is those who fulfill the measure of their creation and they transgress not the law of Christ. And Christ said that all laws can be summarized by loving God and loving his creations as yourself. That could be what the law of Christ is. In other words, you fulfill the measure of your creation and you are filled with Christ-like love. That is the celestial law. People who do that are valiant in their testimony of Jesus Christ. Those who do not do that in mortality, but afterwards do that, meaning they don't do that in the mortal side of the second estate, but they do do it in the spirit realm of the second estate. Section 76 says that those people inherit the terrestrial kingdom of glory. And then that section says that those people that do not do that in either the mortal part of the second estate or the spirit world component of the second estate, they inherit the telestial kingdom of glory, which we are told is a kingdom of glory that exceeds our wildest dreams, but that their ability to progress is limited. Where God the Father is and Jesus Christ are, they cannot come worlds without end. That's what that revelation says. And why is that? Because if you do not accept the atonement of Jesus Christ to atone for your sins, then you must atone for your own sins. And that is a process that, according to the book of Enoch, takes a very, very long time. The Book of Enoch describes that as taking 10,000 years. What the Book of Enoch does not elaborate upon is whether that is 10,000 years according to the timing of Earth or 10,000 years according to the timing of God. But regardless, that is a very, very, very long time. And the end result of that is far less than what God might have created from us if we were willing to let Him work in our lives. So the fundamental operating key here is the agency of man. And our perspective, our understanding of things is limited by how we exercise our agency. Yeah, it may not seem that way at first glance, but if you are looking at the ball moving from person A to person B, and you are seeing that as simply being a movement from south to north of 60 feet at 40 miles per hour, and you hear other people talking about alternate ways, and you say, you know, I'm sticking my head in the sand and I don't care about any of that. Well, you are exercising your agency to see things that way. And to one degree or another, everyone on the entire spectrum of Christianity is exercising their agency for how they are choosing to see and interpret truths through a paradigm of their own choosing. Now, it is important to understand and realize that people can use their agency and do use their agency to believe all kinds of crazy things that are absolutely false. Believing something that is non-traditional doesn't make it true. You know, I have all kinds of people, you know, because I talk about apocryphal writings, people assume that I believe all apocryphal texts. That is absolutely false. I have I've read you know thousands of pages of apocryphal texts over the course of my life. And many of those texts, I don't need to read more than a couple of sentences, and I immediately I know this one's not worth my time. Let me just give you guys a hint. I mentioned earlier that President Down H. Oakes is the only man who has the authority on the earth to exercise all the priesthood keys. If you believe that there are going to be documents associated with the Book of Mormon that are going to come forward by some other bozo on the bus outside of the keys of the priesthood that are held and exercised by the prophet of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you are wrong. Okay. The Lord, his house is a house of order. He is not going to work willy-nilly through any Joe Bob Dicker Harry that gets a wild fur up their beak and says, Hey, guess what? I received a revelation for the church, and here is this ancient record that I have translated by myself. Friends, that is outside of the guardrails of the gospel. I don't need to spend five minutes on documents of that kind of nature. However, assuming that all documents fall in within that kind of a paradigm is ludicrous as well. For example, if you read in Doctrine and Covenants, section 107, verse 57, it clearly states that there that Adam saw many things that would transpire upon the earth in the last days, and that all of those things were written of in the book of Enoch, and that it would be testified of in due time. You also have in Nephi's writings the Lord stating that he has spoken to all nations and that they have written these things. Therefore, there are things that have been written by ancient peoples that exist. And the Dead Sea Scrolls are a testament to that. Those Dead Sea Scroll documents came forth outside of the priesthood keys that are held by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And that's perfectly fine. Because those documents are of ancient date. And they do not relate to other ancient records that have been brought forth through the fullness of the gospel of Jesus Christ, specifically referring to the Book of Mormon and revelations of that nature. So we should not throw out ancient apocryphal writings simply because they are not included in the canonized literature of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And if you go into the Bible dictionary under the Apocrypha, it says as much. You should be able to discern these truths through the Holy Ghost. But it not everyone is very good at being able to discern the promptings of the Holy Ghost. And this is, you know, very plain, unfortunately. I am staggered by how many people think the earth is flat. Yeah. News flash, the earth is not flat, guys. I don't care what evidence you're looking at. It is not flat. Okay? All things point to the fact that it isn't flat. So we people can create all kinds of false things that justify things outside of the guardrails, you know, that sh we should be using to discern truth. So you know, I I think that's whereas it is imperative that all of us take responsibility for our own spiritual education. When we are doing so, we do need to recognize that there are guardwells that these things operate within. And we need to exercise our agency in accordance with that and understand that, you know, there is an order to heaven. And you know, when it comes to ordinances of salvation and priesthood keys and things like that, that is absolutely going to flow through a certain pattern. And President Oakes holds those priesthood keys. And I am absolutely looking forward to general conference and to the guidance that we will receive from President Oakes during general conference and from our other inspired leaders as they are exercising their various mantles of responsibility that they have been given to by the Lord. But, you know, we have all also been given the task to navigate mortality by relying on the guidance of the Holy Ghost. And, you know, it is imperative for us to be able to do these things with in conjunction with the Holy Ghost and to be able to reconcile some of these bizarre, truly bizarre things that are happening that frankly would be inappropriate to talk about in general conference. I do not suspect that you are going to hear President Oakes talking about spaceships from other worlds coming to the earth and being, you know, fighter pilots and commercial pilots and other people seeing these things in the skies. That doesn't mean that they're not happening. It simply means that the onus of understanding some of these things lies on your shoulders and not on the prophets. And you're the one that is going to need to navigate this. And you need to navigate it within the guardrails of the gospel. And the leaders of the church are there to shine those, highlight those guardrails for us. But you know, let's let's not be so closed-minded that we think that the ball is only moving 60 feet and from north to south and south to north, that there can't be more than that, that that is all that there is. Because there is tremendous dimensionality to the gospel of Jesus Christ. And there is a reason that the Lord spoke in parables. And he spoke in parables so that those who wanted to seek further light and knowledge could obtain that through exercising their agency within the guardrails of the gospel. So, friends, I hope that this episode has been helpful for you to contemplate some of these strange and bizarre things in light of the guardrails that we have been given. And realizing that just because the gospel does have guardrails, it does not mean that there is not an astounding, mind-boggling depth to the gospel. And in the days and weeks and months and years to come, we will realize that this dimensionality, it always existed. We just didn't have the eyes to see it. Just like when the Lord on the road to Emmaus speaking to his disciples, he revealed to them the a depth to the scriptures that they did not realize existed, but in reality, it was always there. He just helped them have eyes to see it. That is the purpose of this podcast. The purpose is just to get you to exercise your agency to engage with the gospel. It is, this podcast is not teaching any doctrines of any sort. I'm talking, everything that I talk about, I'm talking about from a theoretical perspective, with an invitation for you to engage with the Lord in a learning process so that you can better understand the reality, the spiritual and physical reality in which you are engaging your second estate in. Because the Lord has told us that all of the knowledge that we gain will be for our benefit, and that the more knowledge that we gain, the better off we will be. And why will we be better off? Because in theory, we would be able to apply the principles of the gospel for our betterment to a greater degree if we understand them to a greater degree. And yeah, that should be obvious. Yeah. If someone understands the formula of E equals MC squared from a book perspective, they understand that, oh, wow, look at that. Energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. That's interesting. But those people that dug much deeper into that. Well, they're creating, you know, nuclear reactors and you know, reactions of such profound power as to boggle the mind, as to tear space and time. Um that same understanding is available in the gospel. If you will engage with it, if you will exercise your agency um with it and go to the Lord and seek an understanding from the Lord, and do so within the guardrails of the gospel. Because they who seek shall find. Until next time, friends.

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You have just finished an episode of the Black Swan Rising Podcast, an L10 production, hosted by Michael B. Rush. For show notes, transcriptions, and extras, please visit www.theblackswan rising podcast.com. If you enjoy This episode, click the share button icon and send it to your friends and family. This will help to ensure the continued publication of future content. Michael thanks you in advance for sharing and looks forward to seeing you next time. Until then, keep seeking, for they that seek shall find.