"And Jesus again showed himself unto them, for they were praying unto the Father in his name; and Jesus came and stood in the midst of them, and said unto them: What will ye that I shall give unto you?"
An they said unto him: Lord, we will that thou wouldst tell us the name whereby we shall call this church: for there are disputations among the people concerning this matter.
Have they not read the scriptures, which say ye must take upon you the name of Christ, which is my name: For by this name shall ye be called at the last day;"
Several things I love here. One is the disciples were praying and Jesus appeared to them. It makes me think of Him doing the same thing today with His prophet and apostles.
He came to settle the matter on what to call the name of the church. He asked them "Have they not read the scriptures." It appears a study of the scriptures should have settled this matter. I wondered where in the bible it made this reference. I saw no references in the Old Testament. There are a handful in the New Testament which the Nephites wouldn't have had. So that leads me to believe the references to call the church in Christ's name must be in some lost scriptures. The rest of the footnotes take me to the Book of Mormon or Doctrine and Covenants.
The church must have the name of Christ and this is what they would be called in the last days. With the restoration of the gospel and the church being restored the name now has that. It is known as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We just haven't always been good at using the full name.
This made me go back and review the talk that President Russell M. Nelson gave in the April 2018 General Conference called "The Correct Name of the Church". The Lord had impressed upon his mind the importance of the name He decreed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. If we would make a course correction in how we refer to the name of the Church and ourselves we were given a power apostolic blessing.
"My dear brothers and sisters, I promise you that if we will do our best to restore the correct name of the Lord’s Church, He whose Church this is will pour down His power and blessings upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints, the likes of which we have never seen. We will have the knowledge and power of God to help us take the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people and to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord."
After being told by President Nelson in the April 2020 General Conference that we have "gone to extraordinary efforts" to make this course correction the blessing was renewed.
"Previously, I promised that if we would “do our best to restore the correct name of the Lord’s Church,” He would “pour down His power and blessings upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints, the likes of which we have never seen.” I renew that promise today."
(Russell M. Nelson, "Opening the Heavens for Help", April 2020 General Conference)
I thought of the corrections I have made to correct how I referred to the church and myself and it feels right. I also thought of the all the blessings I have received in over a year's time. These are hard times we all need these blessings, but it's not over yet. Recently President Nelson said: "Dear friends, the road ahead may be bumpy, but our destination is serene and secure. So, fasten your seatbelt, hang on through the bumps, and do what’s right."
I am grateful that the blessing has been renewed.
Day 1964
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