miércoles, 1 de abril de 2020

What is a Mantle of Power?



THE MANTLES OF POWER IN THE PRIESTHOOD
When we speak of a mantle of power we are speaking of the Priesthood and of what is under its protection and government. The Priesthood is the power of God, which He transmits to men.
What are these mantles of the priesthood? What areas do they cover? How to recognize them? Let us now see a projection of these powers.
The Shepherd's Mantle
In church we often speak of this mantle of power, which is manifested in bishops and branch presidents and other leaders. It is called the "Bishop's Mantle". In the wards and branches of the True Church it is perceived by those who preside over every congregation of the church, because this gift is necessary to govern with love and discernment every portion of the Lord's people.
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In the church this right comes originally from its founders and restorers; and it is present in those who currently preside over it.

It is a special gift or power that the Lord Himself has bestowed on His servants through His keys of government that have been given to them.
They are superior insights and understandings that help to leaders understand the hearts and lives of those who have placed themselves under the care of the Lord's covenants and for their well-being.
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 27 And unto the bishop of the church, and unto such as God shall appoint and ordain to watch over the church and to be elders unto the church, are to have it given unto them to discern all those gifts... (D & C 46: 27-29)
29... that there may be a head, in order that every member may be profited thereby. (D & C 46: 8-33)
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My first experience of perceiving this powerful influence was in 1985 at the end of my two-year proselytizing-religious mission in Argentine Patagonia. I was called by the President of the Bahía Blanca Mission, Hugo Nestor Salvioli to be a "Branch President" of Trevelin Branch, in the Province of Chubut in Argentina.
Elder Cardona presiding over the Trevelin Branch
The town of Trevelin, very colorful in its landscapes, has in its center three churches very close to each other, all in just one block. One was ours and we had many friends, friendly people who greeted us and spoke many times, although not of religion.
We did our missionary work with my companion in the village and I set aside part of my weekly time to attend to branch matters in interviews, finances and courses. But we lacked results.
After spending a time of stumbling and fruitless paths in our work, I felt that there had to be a change in many things.
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So it was that one summer morning with my partner Elder Kori we went up the hill in front of the town and from where we could see everything. We knelt down as soon as the sun appeared and I made a prayer of blessing for the people, for the branch and for all who live there. I requested God's intervention for good things and progress.
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How wonderful everything was! The results we experienced with my partner were immediate. We had baptisms in the branch, something that did not happen long ago and many hearts were opened that joined the work. There were anger and enmities that disappeared and happy and sincere faces that we could see in the townspeople.
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It is a very joyful thing when I remember being a Branch President, helping my brothers and sisters in their callings and in their lives and having felt this inspiration. I was there too a seminary teacher for the youth members of the town and I keep that experience and the diploma that they gave me with much affection.
Baptisms in the Trevelin Branch, Esquel District in 1985
 This experience led me to know God and love his children and opened my heart to this entire Patagonian community, seeking as a missionary to open their hearts with the message of the Restored Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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On another occasion some time ago, I had the privilege of being a counselor to a bishop in a ward of the Buenos Aires Stake, Adrogué. Bishop Jorge Omar was called to preside over it. He told me what he experienced after receiving his Bishop's call in the Burzaco Ward.

Since on a Sabbath day when he presided over his congregation from the Pulpit, he began to see each one of them. And he could feel the brothers "as if they were his children."

He felt a supreme brotherly love for all of them. He could feel seeing them; their longings and worries, their joys, their afflictions and spiritual needs.

He also told me that he was able to discern on one occasion a brother with problems and with great concern, even though he did not manifest it with his face and appearances. He felt through this mantle and his Spirit that he had to call him for an interview so that he could help him, and so he did.
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The Shepherd's Mantle in the family and in life
The Shepherd's mantle has other ways of direct communication between God and man and to fulfill His high purposes. The means by which "the shepherd's mantle" is manifested among men is through the Light of Christ. This Light of Christ connects God (through his priesthoods) with all of creation and it manifests itself in all men who seek to "do good."
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7… This is the light of Christ... (D & C 88)
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11 And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; (D & C 88)

12 12 Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space—(D & C 88)

By this light God hears our prayers even though we travel to the far ends of creation, He hears us and He can also answer us.

13 The light which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things. (D y C 88: 7-13)
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I was able to see “the shepherd's mantle” manifested in my wife and in her love for our young children on many occasions. I remember that on several occasions my wife Virginia woke up to the nightly moans of our baby children; moans that were initially very little audible.

She is a good sleeper and when she is resting she hardly wakes up. But on these occasions when she barely heard the whisper of our children at night, she woke up immediately to cover them, feed them and snuggle them in her arms.
Fathers and mothers who love their children have the Light of Christ and recognize their children in their problems and afflictions. It is like a sensor that gives them the opportunity to help, encourage and motivate them when they need it.

Love works through the Light of Christ that illuminates our minds and hearts to do everything good and just with our families and our friends and with all men. It powerfully influences what we love and helps us to do good to all people.
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The Mantle of the Imperium
This other mantle of power also comes from God and exists for the government of "all things that exist in the universe."
God and also Jesus Christ each have separate robes of power in the priesthood.
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By the Mantle of the Imperum God Creates Universes, Suns and Galaxies, also creates worlds and kingdoms, and also destroys them (Jeremiah 1: 10). With this mantle he protects his creations and governs them, giving them an eternal destiny and purpose; and regulates them in the midst of their life cycles and in the time of eternity. Also by this priesthood and its mantle, God created man on earth and gave him life, conscience and freedom.
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The Lord ordained priests in the Imperium mantle among the Covenant people since Antiquity by calling a prince who became the political ruler of the Nation of Israel and also became the head of the royal dynasty that endured. That prince was King David. (2 Samuel 7: 12-16)
The Prophet Samuel ordeining David
David and his descendants ruled in Israel and Judah for over 400 years in antiquity. In this way the Davidic Priesthood with its portion of the Mantle of the Imperium continued through their descendants until the Babylonian invasion in the Holy Land around 600 BC.
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In the midst of this invasion, the last king named Zedekiah was taken captive, his eyes were taken out; and all his sons and royal heirs were slaughtered before him in his court, ending the rule of the Davidic dynasty from those years.
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But the Book of Mormon manifests a son of him who was saved from death and came to the Americas, His name was Mulek (Helaman 8:21).
And the prophecies manifest "a future restoration" of this Davidic priesthood for these last days in the american continent. (Amos 9:11 and Hosea 3: 4-5)


 (See these expanded topics with the scriptures below, at the end in the Annexes)

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The Mantles of Power of the Lord Jesus Christ
Jesus Christ is a God, a Messiah and therefore carries within himself the "Shepherd's Mantle" and the "Mantle of the Imperium". The Lord wore this last mantle during the "Creation" of Earth.
But the Lord did not exercise this mantle in his mission of the meridian of time as a king or monarch. He effectively used power to perform the miracles and miraculous healings of the body of the blind, paralyzed, and many sick. Raising even men from death after several days.
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But he did not use it to destroy, except in one case, when he dried the fig tree that did not leave its fruit when he passed it. (Mark 11: 12–14)
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Jesus Christ did not recognize a monarchical intention in his time. And he said: "My kingdom is not of this world", and although he spoke of the church that he organized as a kingdom; likewise he did not establish a royal house, nor did he build a throne, nor did he found a dynasty of princes and royal descendants.

Although he could have done so because he was a direct descendant of King David through Mary his mother; which gave him the right to the Davidic keys. But he did not.

The restoration continues
The scriptures testify to us that the Royal House of David and the "Mantle of the Imperium" of those who will preside over it, will be restored in the last days. (Amos 9:11 and D&C 86: 10-11)
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This Restoration will be through a "new prince" descendant of David who is to come (and perhaps has already been born) and who will be called by God, along with his family, to be at the head of the dynasty of The House of David, which will be restored in these Last Days. (D&C 105: 36-37)
David the Branch
David The Branch
This restorer prince will come to Restore the Royal House of David that today is lost. And with his power he will found the “Political Kingdom of Zion” in the Americas, very soon in the future time. (D&C 113: 8)
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The scriptures also tell us that this restorer prince will build the temple of Jerusalem, building the throne where Jesus Christ will sit at his coming.
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And he will establish Jerusalem as the capital of his kingdom. This King also known in the scriptures as “THE BRANCH” will rule all the nations of the planet there and will prepare the world for the Coming in Glory of our Lord and Savior to earth. (Zechariah 6: 12-13)
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The keys and mantles of the church are different from those of the princes
Let us now see the difference between these two institutions that God will raise up on earth. Since they have different missions, but they will come to work in coordination through a "peace council" that will help their purposes with peace and intelligence. (See Zechariah 6: 13 at the end)
THIS RESTORATION HAS ALREADY STARTED
1- The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since its restoration by Joseph Smith in 1830, has as its head the oldest apostle in his calling. He has the right of presidency and it also holds the keys of power in the priesthood (Melchizedek and Aaronic) and the powers of missionary gathering and temple ordinances and sealing of power.
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The First Presidence and all the apostles possess these keys and powers and the gifts of the church and spiritual kingdom of God. In the church and in its leaders and in its priests and in its members, “the shepherd's mantle” is manifested to save the multitudes of the children of God who are on the face of the Earth.
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THIS OTHER RESTORATION WILL BE COMING SOON
2- The Royal House of David and its princes and princesses when will be restored (very soon), will have as their head the Crown Prince of David who will exercise these keys of power in the Davidic priesthood, also exercising the imperium mantle that will give him the right to become the political ruler of all the nations of the planet, all this for being a chosen one and descendant of the sacred royal lineage. This lineage is a "blood lineage" inherited from parents to children. Planting in the royal sons the promises made to the fathers, the kings of Israel (D & C 2: 2).
See too (D & C 105: 36-37) (D & C 86: 8-11) (D & C 113: 8 part two).
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The Prince will establish the political kingdom of Zion in all the Americas. It will begin in a place of high mountains and will spread in peace and salvation to encompass and protect in his purpose all the nations of the Americas. (Psalm 87: 1-2).
There and throughout the continent  is where he will be the ruler for many years. His family will help him in this sacred work (D&C 105: 36-37).
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AFTER ALL THIS THINGS WILL BE FOUND THE CITY, THE NEW JERUSALEM
When all the Americas become a single kingdom The Branch and his family along with many faithful saints who will come from the missionary work of the church will found the continental capital. That it will be called "Zion, The New Jerusalem" (3 Nephi 21: 22-29).
This capital will be built in the fields of present-day Missouri, in North America (D&C 57: 2-3)
The works of "The Prince David The Branch" -beyond in the future- will be manifested in old Jerusalem and in the Holy Land and from there to the whole world, over which this prince will preside; restoring the Throne, establishing the Temple and organizing the Political Kingdom where he will rule later till the Coming in Glory of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 (Zechariah 2: 10-13 / Zechariah 14: 4-21 / Malachi 4: 1-2 / Zechariah 9: 9-10)
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Final words
Knowing the future is important and to understand the truths that are about to manifest with the fulfillment of the prophecies leads us to feel peace and security. And if we know more about God, his personality and his tools and his keys and "his mantles of power" we ensure a sacred path to eternal life:

 And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent (Juan 17: 3)
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May we be successful in our search for valuable knowledge. And that we can feel the Spirit of God and his Mantles of Power that are manifested in truths towards our minds and our hearts; and to all men through the Light of Christ. Ask and you will receive! The Lord said (Matthew 7: 7). And so it will be! Ovidio Angel Cardona.
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THE SCOUT OF TRUTHS

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