Pre-Mortal Life (Part 1)

One of the important doctrines revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith was about our pre-mortal existence. Because of this doctrine we realize that we are in the finishing stage of an important pursuit that we began before the earth was created. So, instead of starting something brand new for the first time we are actually finishing a long sought after objective.

The Prophet Abraham was given a view of pre-mortal spirits:

22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the intelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the noble and great ones;

23 And God saw these souls that they were good, and he stood in the midst of them, and he said: These I will make my rulers; for he stood among those that were spirits, and he saw that they were good; and he said unto me: Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.

24 And there stood one among them that was like unto God, and he said unto those who were with him: We will go down, for there is space there, and we will take of these materials, and we will make an earth whereon these may dwell;

25 And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them;

26 And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

In my younger life I had always wondered how many were in this group of noble and great ones who had help with the creation of the world. My pondering was answered when I was attending a regional conference in which President Spencer W. Kimball addressed the group by way of a filmstrip entitled "These I Will Make My Rulers." (1978) Here is a quote from the filmstrip:



"A passage of scripture familiar to all of you . . . reads as follows: '. . . intelligences that were organized before the world was and among all these were many of the noble and great ones . . . and he said: These I will make my rulers;' These leaders whom Abraham referred to were noble, good and they had been proven, thus God could entrust them with great responsibilities in his Kingdom on this earth. Were you among those who were noble, good, and tested? The Prophet Joseph Smith said, ' Every man who has a call was ordained to that very purpose in the Grand Council of Heaven.' Yes, you were among those rulers . . ."

By this we can see that there is much to live up to here on this earth because of the level of development that we attained before we came here.

Praise to the man who brought these revelations through the veil.