Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- "On the Same Standing"

       We had agency in the preexistence and were able make choices and make mistakes.  Those of the Father's children who chose to follow Jesus received the opportunity to come to Earth life with a mortal body and the opportunity to be proven to see if we would do all things that the Lord would command us.
      I suggested (though not as clearly as I'm trying to here) that since as we come into this life we come purified and innocent (Doesn't that happen through the power of the Atonement?), we are "on the same standing" (Alma 13:5) again in regards to being able to choose and receive (at some point or another in our futures) "as great privilege as [our] brethren," still recognizing that there are varying degrees of intelligence.
      A brother came up afterward to ask me about "as great privilege as [our] brethren," considering our brothers and sisters born into such situations as deepest Africa, , I think implying that they hadn't done as much to prepare or were "not as good" in the premortal realms, so hadn't earned what we had earned.
      I "do not know all things.  Nevertheless, I do know that God loveth [ALL] His children."  I'll need to do more study on this. I do believe that each of is placed where we have the opportunity to accomplish that which we need to in this life.  Since the Lord's purpose is to bring about the immortality and eternal life of man, I think that we all have the opportunity to move toward eternal life, if we will  choose to do so.
     The danger for those of us born into such privilege as being members of the Church and living in prosperous circumstances is the temptation to think that somehow we are better than our brothers and sisters who are not.  I don't think there is a "better" in that case. We just have a different assignment, a different course of study in this university of mortality, if you will.   Our brothers and sisters born into what we consider less privileged circumstances may have already developed qualities many of us"more privileged ones" need to develop through the service we are here called to do.  Clearly there are those among us (those we would call Noble and Great ones who serve as leaders) who are further along that continuum of development toward being like our Father in Heaven.  I think, though, that there are those in truly humble circumstances who are also great and noble spirits.
      I don't know if I've made clear what I'm trying to say.
      We've in a sense earned our places and opportunities by what we did and what we were in the preexistence, but a "higher or lower" placement is not necessarily based on or discernible by mortal standards.
      
   
Alma 13:4, 5

4 And thus they have been ^acalled to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and ^bblindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great ^cprivilege as their brethren.

  5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the ^asame standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared—

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- One Plan

Someone (I'm not sure who) commented on a blog ,
"Heavenly Father wasn't choosing between two good plans. The plan of Salvation was already Heavenly Father's, what Heavenly Father was asking for was somebody to carry out the plan. Christ said he would do it, no problem you get all the Honor. Lucifer said, I will do, but we have to play by my rules, and give me the honor"

 Here is a quote from Elder McConkie: 
One of the saddest examples of a misconceived and twisted knowledge of an otherwise glorious concept is the all-too-common heresy that there were two plans of salvation; that the Father (presumptively at a loss to know what to do) asked others for proposals; that Christ offered a plan involving agency and Lucifer proposed a plan denying agency; that the Father chose between them; and that Lucifer, his plan being rejected, rebelled, and then there was war in heaven.
Even a cursory knowledge of the overall scheme of things reassures spiritually discerning persons that all things center in the Father; that the plan of salvation which he designed was to save his children, Christ included; and that neither Christ nor Lucifer could of themselves save anyone. As Jesus said: "The Son can do nothing of himself. . . . I can of mine own self do nothing." (John 5:19, 30.)
There is, of course, a sense in which we may refer to Lucifer's proposed modifications of the Father's plan as Lucifer's plan, and Christ made the Father's plan his own by adoption. But what is basically important in this respect is to know that the power to save is vested in the Father, and that he originated, ordained, created, and established his own plan; that he announced it to his children; and that he then asked for a volunteer to be the Redeemer, the Deliverer, the Messiah, who would put the eternal plan of the Eternal Father into eternal operation.
(Bruce R. McConkie, The Mortal Messiah: From Bethlehem to Calvary, 4 vols. [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979-1981], 1: .)

Lesson 2 -- Paradise Lost

Link to a searchable text of Paradise Lost


Another site with  the text 

Th' infernal Serpent; he it was, whose guile
Stird up with Envy and Revenge, deceiv'd
The Mother of Mankinde, what time his Pride
Had cast him out from Heav'n, with all his Host
Of Rebel Angels, by whose aid aspiring
To set himself in Glory above his Peers,
He trusted to have equal'd the most High,
If he oppos'd; and with ambitious aim
Against the Throne and Monarchy of God
Rais'd impious War in Heav'n and Battel proud
With vain attempt. Him the Almighty Power
Hurld headlong flaming from th' Ethereal Skie
With hideous ruine and combustion down
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell
In Adamantine Chains and penal Fire,
Who durst defie th' Omnipotent to Arms.

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- The Lesson from the Manual

Here is the lesson from lds.org.

Class member study guide

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- Alma 13

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- Alma 13

  3 And this is the manner after which they were ordained—being ^acalled and ^bprepared from the ^cfoundation of the world according to the ^dforeknowledge of God, on account of their exceeding faith and good works; in the first place being left to ^echoose good or evil; therefore they having chosen good, and exercising exceedingly great ^ffaith, are ^gcalled with a holy calling, yea, with that holy calling which was prepared with, and according to, a preparatory redemption for such.

  4 And thus they have been ^acalled to this holy calling on account of their faith, while others would reject the Spirit of God on account of the hardness of their hearts and ^bblindness of their minds, while, if it had not been for this they might have had as great ^cprivilege as their brethren.

  5 Or in fine, in the first place they were on the ^asame standing with their brethren; thus this holy calling being prepared from the foundation of the world for such as would not harden their hearts, being in and through the atonement of the Only Begotten Son, who was prepared—

  6 And thus being called by this holy calling, and ordained unto the high priesthood of the holy order of God, to teach his commandments unto the children of men, that they also might enter into his ^arest—

  7 This high priesthood being after the order of his Son, which order was from the foundation of the world; or in other words, being ^awithout beginning of days or end of years, being prepared from ^beternity to all eternity, according to his ^cforeknowledge of all things—

  8 Now they were ^aordained after this manner—being called with a holy calling, and ordained with a holy ordinance, and taking upon them the high priesthood of the holy order, which calling, and ordinance, and high priesthood, is without beginning or end—

  9 Thus they become ^ahigh priests forever, after the order of the Son, the Only Begotten of the Father, who is without beginning of days or end of years, who is full of ^bgrace, equity, and truth. And thus it is. Amen.


from Robert L. Millet, “The Man Adam,” Ensign, Jan 1994, 8
The Prophet Joseph Smith thus taught that “the Priesthood was first given to Adam; he obtained the First Presidency, and held the keys of it from generation to generation. He obtained it in the Creation, before the world was formed, as in Gen. 1:26, 27, 28.” 4

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- D & C 138

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born --  D &  C 138

A vision, given to President Joseph F. Smith in Salt Lake City, Utah, on October 3, 1918. In his opening address at the eighty-ninth Semiannual General Conference of the Church, on October 4, 1918, President Smith declared that he had received several divine communications during the previous months. One of these, concerning the Savior’s visit to the spirits of the dead while his body was in the tomb, he had received the previous day. It was written immediately following the close of the conference; on October 31, 1918, it was submitted to the counselors in the First Presidency, the Council of the Twelve, and the Patriarch, and it was unanimously accepted by them.

1–10, President Joseph F. Smith ponders upon the writings of Peter and our Lord’s visit to the spirit world; 11–24, He sees the righteous dead assembled in paradise and Christ’s ministry among them; 25–37, How the preaching of the gospel was organized among the spirits; 38–52, President Smith sees Adam, Eve, and many of the holy prophets in the spirit world who considered their spirit state before their resurrection as a bondage; 53–60, The righteous dead of this day continue their labors in the world of spirits. 

 

  38 Among the great and ^amighty ones who were assembled in this vast congregation of the righteous were Father ^bAdam, the ^cAncient of Days and father of all,

  39 And our glorious ^aMother ^bEve, with many of her faithful ^cdaughters who had lived through the ages and worshiped the true and living God.

  40 ^aAbel, the first ^bmartyr, was there, and his brother ^cSeth, one of the mighty ones, who was in the express ^dimage of his father, Adam.

  41 ^aNoah, who gave warning of the flood; ^bShem, the great ^chigh priest; ^dAbraham, the father of the faithful; ^eIsaac, ^fJacob, and Moses, the great ^glaw-giver of Israel;

  42 And ^aIsaiah, who declared by prophecy that the Redeemer was anointed to bind up the broken-hearted, to proclaim liberty to the ^bcaptives, and the opening of the ^cprison to them that were bound, were also there.

  43 Moreover, Ezekiel, who was shown in vision the great valley of ^adry bones, which were to be ^bclothed upon with flesh, to come forth again in the resurrection of the dead, living souls;

  44 Daniel, who foresaw and foretold the establishment of the ^akingdom of God in the latter days, never again to be destroyed nor given to other people;

  45 ^aElias, who was with Moses on the Mount of Transfiguration;

  46 And ^aMalachi, the prophet who testified of the coming of ^bElijah—of whom also Moroni spake to the Prophet Joseph Smith, declaring that he should come before the ushering in of the great and dreadful ^cday of the Lord—were also there.

  47 The Prophet Elijah was to plant in the ^ahearts of the children the promises made to their fathers,

  48 Foreshadowing the great work to be done in the ^atemples of the Lord in the ^bdispensation of the fulness of times, for the redemption of the dead, and the ^csealing of the children to their parents, lest the whole earth be smitten with a curse and utterly wasted at his coming.

  49 All these and many more, even the ^aprophets who dwelt among the Nephites and ^btestified of the coming of the Son of God, mingled in the vast assembly and waited for their deliverance,

___________________________

  53 The Prophet Joseph Smith, and my father, Hyrum Smith, Brigham Young, John Taylor, Wilford Woodruff, and other choice ^aspirits who were ^breserved to come forth in the ^cfulness of times to take part in laying the ^dfoundations of the great latter-day work,

  54 Including the building of the ^atemples and the performance of ordinances therein for the redemption of the ^bdead, were also in the spirit world.

  55 I observed that they were also among the ^anoble and great ones who were ^bchosen in the beginning to be rulers in the Church of God.

  56 Even before they were born, they, with many others, received their first ^alessons in the world of spirits and were ^bprepared to come forth in the due ^ctime of the Lord to labor in his ^dvineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.

  57 I beheld that the faithful ^aelders of this dispensation, when they depart from mortal life, continue their labors in the ^bpreaching of the ^cgospel of repentance and redemption, through the sacrifice of the Only Begotten Son of God, among those who are in darkness and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the ^dspirits of the dead.

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- Questions

Lesson 2 -- Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born --  Questions


What were the councils in heaven?
Who are the great ones who were chosen?
For what are we chosen?
What is our purpose?
What is your individual purpose?  How do you come to find out your purpose?
    patriarchal blessings, other blessings, prayer, by going and doing,

What souls? 


Terms:
"the beginning"
first estate, second estate

Old Testament, Lesson 2: Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- Moses

Moses Taken to a High Mountain -- Elder Holland

Old Testament, Lesson 2: Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- Moses 4

The Pearl of Great Price -- Moses 4: 1-4

How Satan became the devil—He tempts Eve—Adam and Eve fall and death enters the world.

  1 And I, the ^aLord God, spake unto Moses, saying: That ^bSatan, whom thou hast commanded in the name of mine Only Begotten, is the same which was from the ^cbeginning, and he came before me, saying—Behold, here am I, send me, I will be thy son, and I will ^dredeem all mankind, that one soul shall not be lost, and surely ^eI will do it; wherefore ^fgive me thine honor.

  2 But, behold, my Beloved ^aSon, which was my Beloved and ^bChosen from the beginning, said unto me—^cFather, thy ^dwill be done, and the ^eglory be thine forever.

  3 Wherefore, because that ^aSatan ^brebelled against me, and sought to destroy the ^cagency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be ^dcast down;

  4 And he became ^aSatan, yea, even the ^bdevil, the father of all ^clies, to ^ddeceive and to blind men, and to lead them ^ecaptive at his will, even as many as would not ^fhearken unto my voice.

Old Testament, Lesson 2: Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born -- Abraham

Old Testament, Lesson 2: Thou Wast Chosen Before Thou Wast Born

Pearl of Great Price --
The Book of Abraham, Chapter 3

Abraham learns about the sun, moon, and stars by means of the Urim and Thummim—The Lord reveals to him the eternal nature of spirits—He learns of pre-earth life, foreordination, the creation, the choosing of a Redeemer, and the second estate of man.

  1 And I, Abraham, had the ^aUrim and Thummim, which the Lord my God had given unto me, in Ur of the Chaldees;

  2 And I saw the ^astars, that they were very great, and that one of them was nearest unto the throne of God; and there were many great ones which were near unto it;

  3 And the Lord said unto me: These are the governing ones; and the name of the great one is ^aKolob, because it is near unto me, for I am the Lord thy God: I have set this one to govern all those which belong to the same order as that upon which thou standest.

  4 And the Lord said unto me, by the Urim and Thummim, that Kolob was after the manner of the Lord, according to its ^atimes and seasons in the revolutions thereof; that one revolution was a ^bday unto the Lord, after his manner of reckoning, it being one thousand ^cyears according to the time appointed unto that whereon thou standest. This is the reckoning of the Lord’s ^dtime, according to the reckoning of Kolob.

  5 And the Lord said unto me: The planet which is the lesser light, lesser than that which is to rule the day, even the night, is above or ^agreater than that upon which thou standest in point of reckoning, for it moveth in order more slow; this is in order because it standeth above the earth upon which thou standest, therefore the reckoning of its time is not so many as to its number of days, and of months, and of years.

 6 And the Lord said unto me: Now, Abraham, these ^atwo facts exist, behold thine eyes see it; it is given unto thee to know the times of reckoning, and the set time, yea, the set time of the earth upon which thou standest, and the set time of the greater light which is set to rule the day, and the set time of the lesser light which is set to rule the night.

  7 Now the set time of the lesser light is a longer time as to its reckoning than the reckoning of the time of the earth upon which thou standest.

  8 And where these two facts exist, there shall be another fact above them, that is, there shall be another planet whose reckoning of time shall be longer still;

  9 And thus there shall be the reckoning of the time of one ^aplanet above another, until thou come nigh unto Kolob, which Kolob is after the reckoning of the Lord’s time; which Kolob is set nigh unto the throne of God, to govern all those planets which belong to the same ^border as that upon which thou standest.

  10 And it is given unto thee to know the set time of all the stars that are set to give light, until thou come near unto the throne of God.

  11 Thus I, Abraham, ^atalked with the Lord, face to face, as one man talketh with another; and he told me of the works which his hands had made;

  12 And he said unto me: My son, my son (and his hand was stretched out), behold I will show you all these. And he put his hand upon mine eyes, and I saw those things which his hands had made, which were many; and they multiplied before mine eyes, and I could not see the end thereof.

  13 And he said unto me: This is Shinehah, which is the sun. And he said unto me: Kokob, which is star. And he said unto me: Olea, which is the moon. And he said unto me: Kokaubeam, which signifies stars, or all the great lights, which were in the firmament of heaven.

  14 And it was in the night time when the Lord spake these words unto me: I will ^amultiply thee, and thy ^bseed after thee, like unto these; and if thou canst count the ^cnumber of sands, so shall be the number of thy seeds.

  15 And the Lord said unto me: Abraham, I ^ashow these things unto thee before ye go into Egypt, that ye may declare all these words.

  16 If ^atwo things exist, and there be one above the other, there shall be greater things above them; therefore ^bKolob is the greatest of all the Kokaubeam that thou hast seen, because it is nearest unto me.

  17 Now, if there be two things, one above the other, and the moon be above the earth, then it may be that a planet or a star may exist above it; and there is nothing that the Lord thy God shall take in his heart to do but what he will ^ado it.

  18 Howbeit that he made the greater star; as, also, if there be two ^aspirits, and one shall be more intelligent than the other, yet these two spirits, notwithstanding one is more intelligent than the other, have no beginning; they existed before, they shall have no end, they shall exist after, for they are ^bgnolaum, or eternal.

  19 And the Lord said unto me: These two facts do exist, that there are two spirits, one being more intelligent than the other; there shall be another more intelligent than they; I am the Lord thy God, I am ^amore intelligent than they all.

  20 The Lord thy God sent his angel to ^adeliver thee from the hands of the priest of Elkenah.

  21 I dwell in the midst of them all; I now, therefore, have come down unto thee to declare unto thee the ^aworks which my hands have made, wherein my ^bwisdom excelleth them all, for I ^crule in the heavens above, and in the earth beneath, in all wisdom and prudence, over all the intelligences thine eyes have seen from the beginning; I came down in the beginning in the midst of all the intelligences thou hast seen.

  22 Now the Lord had shown unto me, Abraham, the ^aintelligences that were organized before the world was; and among all these there were many of the ^bnoble 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 ^achosen before thou wast born.

  24 And there stood ^aone 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 ^bwe will make an earth whereon these may ^cdwell;

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

  26 And they who ^akeep their first ^bestate 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 ^cestate shall have ^dglory added upon their heads for ever and ever.

  27 And the ^aLord said: Whom shall I ^bsend? And one answered like unto the Son of Man: Here am I, send me. And ^canother answered and said: Here am I, send me. And the Lord said: I will ^dsend the first.

  28 And the ^asecond was angry, and kept not his first ^bestate; and, at that day, many followed after him.