The Church of the Firstborn

https://emp.byui.edu/SATTERFIELDB/Papers/firstborn.html

Becoming part of the Church of the Firstborn should be the goal of every Latter-day Saint. Though the phrase “church of the Firstborn” is used in the scriptures (see Hebrews 12:23; D&C 76:54, 67, 71, 94, 102; 77:11; 78:21; 88:5; 93:22; 107:19), many in the Church are unfamiliar with its meaning. The following is an examination of the scriptures and the words of the brethren concerning the doctrine of the church of the Firstborn.
Three Kingdoms of Glory 
Just hours before the Savior performed the atoning sacrifice that ended in his death and resurrection, he told the Apostles, “In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2). The atonement made possible salvation for God’s children in a one of several kingdoms prepared by the Savior. Brigham Young taught, “The kingdoms that God has prepared are innumerable. . . How may kingdoms there are has not been told to us” (Journal of Discourses 8:154). 
On February 16, 1832, the Lord gave to the Prophet Joseph Smith a series of visions revealing that the “many mansions” the Savior prepared for God’s children are divided into three general categories: the celestial, terrestrial, and telestial kingdoms (see D&C 76).
Celestial Kingdom: The Place of the Church of the Firstborn 
In the same revelation, Joseph Smith was told what one must do to qualify for entrance into the celestial kingdom:
They are they who received the testimony of Jesus, and believed on his name and were baptized after the manner of his burial, being buried in the water in his name, and this according to the commandment which he has given– 
That by keeping the commandments they might be washed and cleansed from all their sins, and receive the Holy Spirit by the laying on of the hands of him who is ordained and sealed unto this power; 
And who overcome by faith, and are sealed by the Holy Spirit of promise, which the Father sheds forth upon all those who are just and true. (D&C 76:51-53).
Of those who qualify to enter the celestial kingdom, the Lord declared: “They are they who are the church of the Firstborn” (D&C 76:54).
Highest Level of Celestial Kingdom is the Church of the Firstborn 
But the phrase “church of the Firstborn” does not have reference to the celestial kingdom in general. In May, 1843, twelve years after the vision of the celestial kingdom found in D&C 76, the Prophet taught, “In the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees” (D&C 131:1). Joseph Fielding Smith taught that only those who achieve the highest level of the celestial kingdom or exaltation are of the Church of the Firstborn: “Those who gain exaltation in the celestial kingdom are those who are members of the Church of the Firstborn; in other words, those who keep all the commandments of the Lord. There will be many who are members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who shall never become members of the Church of the Firstborn. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:41; emphasis added). Again, he said: “Eternal life is life in the presence of the Father and the Son. Those who receive it become members of the ‘Church of the Firstborn’ and are heirs as sons and daughters of God. They receive the fulness of blessings. They become like the Father and the Son and are joint-heirs with Jesus Christ” (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:9). 
Therefore, only those have been exalted are members of the Church of the Firstborn. Bruce R. McConkie taught: “as The Church of Jesus Christ is [God’s] earthly church, so The Church of the Firstborn is [God’s] heavenly church, albeit its members are limited to exalted beings, for whom the family unit continues and who gain an inheritance in the highest heaven of the celestial world” (The Promised Messiah, p.47).
Temple Ordinances Necessary to Enter Church of Firstborn 
The sacred ordinances performed in the temple are essential in becoming a member of the Church of the Firstborn. This was made clear by Joseph Smith. On May 4, 1842, the day the Prophet introduced the temple ordinances of the washing and anointing and the endowment in this dispensation, he wrote:
I spent the day in the upper part of the store . . . in council with General James Adams, of Springfield, Patriarch Hyrum Smith, Bishops Newel K. Whitney and George Miller, and President Brigham Young and Elders Heber C. Kimball and Willard Richards, instructing them in the principles and order of the Priesthood, attending to washings, anointings, endowments and the communication of keys pertaining to the Aaronic Priesthood, and so on to the highest order of the Melchizedek Priesthood, setting forth the order pertaining to the Ancient of Days, and all those plans and principles by which any one is enabled to secure the fullness of those blessing which have been prepared for the Church of the Firstborn, and come up and abide in the presence of the Eloheim in the eternal worlds. (History of the Church 5:1-2; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.237; emphasis added)
In line with this, Brigham Young who was in attendance on this occasion later stated: “The ordinances of the house of God are expressly for the Church of the Firstborn” (Discourses of Brigham Young, p.397; and Journal of Discourse, 8:154). 
Though D&C 76:51-53 (quoted earlier) does not specifically state that temple ordinances are necessary for entrance into the Church of the Firstborn, it is, however, implied in verse 53 which states that one of the prerequisites for those who qualify for the celestial kingdom are those “who overcome by faith.” In 1835, Joseph Smith taught the Quorum of the Twelve that temple ordinances were a necessary part of overcoming all things: “You need an endowment, brethren, in order that you may be prepared and able to overcome all things” (History of the Church, 2:309; Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.91). 
Joseph Fielding Smith taught necessity of temple ordinances to become a member of the Church of the Firstborn in these terms:
The higher ordinances in the temple of God pertain to exaltation in the celestial kingdom. . . . In order to receive this blessing, one must keep the full law, must abide the law by which that kingdom is governed; for, “He who is not able to abide the law of a celestial kingdom cannot abide a celestial glory.” So being ordained an elder, or a high priest, or an apostle, or even President of the Church, is not the thing that brings the exaltation, but obedience to the laws and the ordinances and the covenants required of those who desire to become members of the Church of the Firstborn, as these are administered in the house of the Lord. He then stated:
To become a member of the Church of the Firstborn, as I understand it, is to become one of the inner circle. We are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by being baptized and confirmed, and there are many who seem to be content to remain such without obtaining the privileges of exaltation. (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:42). Again, on another occasion, he wrote:
Each person baptized into the Church is under obligation to keep the commandments of the Lord. He is under covenant, for baptism is a “new and an everlasting covenant.” (D.C. 22:1.) When he has proved himself by a worthy life, having been faithful in all things required of him, then it is his privilege to receive other covenants and to take upon himself other obligations which will make of him an heir, and he will become a member of the “Church of the Firstborn.” (The Way to Perfection, p.208) Finally, he taught:
The Lord has made it possible for us to become members of the Church of the Firstborn, by receiving the blessings of the house of the Lord and overcoming all things. Thus we become heirs, “priests and kings, who have received of his fulness, and of his glory,” who shall “dwell in the presence of God and his Christ forever and ever,” with full exaltation. Are such blessings worth having? (Doctrines of Salvation, 2:42-43)
Likewise, Bruce R. McConkie testified: “The temple ordinances open the door to gaining all power and all wisdom and all knowledge. Temple ordinances open up the way to membership in the Church of the Firstborn” (Conference Report, October 1955, p.13).
Temple Marriage Gate into Church of the Firstborn 
The temple ordinances of washing and anointing, endowment, and sealings are not isolated ordinances but are interrelated. The marriage ordinance is the culmination of all ordinances of the priesthood. Elder Boyd K. Packer has noted that all other ordinances of salvation “were preliminary and preparatory to your coming to the altar to be sealed as husband and wife for time and for all eternity (The Holy Temple, p. 69). As the culminating ordinance, temple marriage is gate into the highest level of the celestial kingdom and thus the gate into the Church of the Firstborn. Bruce R. McConkie has written:
The Church of the Firstborn is the church among exalted beings in the highest heaven of the celestial world. It is the church among those for whom the family unit continues in eternity. In a sense it is the inner circle within the Lord’s church on earth. It is composed of those who have entered into that patriarchal order which is called the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. As baptism admits repentant souls to membership in the earthly church, so celestial marriage opens the door to membership in the heavenly church. (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.337) On an earlier occasion, he stated:
We believe something more, as several of these brethren have said during this conference: that neither is the man without the woman nor the woman without the man in the Lord, but that the gate to exaltation and the fullness of eternal life in the kingdom of the Father is the new and everlasting covenant of marriage; and just as men may enter in at the gate of repentance and baptism, and work out for themselves a salvation hereafter by faith and diligence, so they may enter in at the gate of celestial marriage, and, conditioned upon keeping that covenant, come up in the resurrection as husband and wife, the family unit continuing through all eternity, and thus, eventually — as members of the family of God, members of the Church of the Firstborn — become joint heirs with Jesus Christ, and receive, inherit, and possess all things. (Conference Report, October 1954, p.125)
The Earthly Church Prepares People for Church of Firstborn 
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints exists to prepare God’s children to enter the Church of the Firstborn. Elder McConkie wrote: “The purpose of the church on earth is to prepare us for an inheritance in the church in heaven” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p.337). 
Hence the Lord stated that those who are ordained to the priesthood in the last days are “ordained unto the holy order of God, to administer the everlasting gospel; for they are they who are ordained out of every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, by the angels to whom is given power over the nations of the earth, to bring as many as will come to the church of the Firstborn” (D&C 77:11; emphasis added).
Blessings of the Church of the Firstborn 
Joseph Smith declared the blessings of those who enter the Church of the Firstborn in these words: “They who dwell in his presence are the church of the Firstborn; and they see as they are seen, and know as they are known, having received of his fulness and of his grace; And he makes them equal in power, and in might, and in dominion” (D&C 76:94-95). In other words, those who receive the highest level of the celestial kingdom become as God, exalted beings who are equal in power, might, and dominion with the Father. To them “the Father has given all things” even of “his fulness, and of his glory” (D&C 76:55-56). They “inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths” (D&C 132:19). 
Thus they become gods themselves. Having been made equal with God’s power, dominion, and authority, they do the work of gods: “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life” of their own offspring.
Communication With Church of the Firstborn 
It is the privilege of those who have received temple ordinances and have been faithful in the covenants made therein to be able to communicate with the Church of the Firstborn. Concerning this, the Lord has said: “The power and authority of the higher, or Melchizedek Priesthood, is to hold the keys of all the spiritual blessings of the church–To have the privilege of receiving the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, to have the heavens opened unto them, to commune with the general assembly and church of the Firstborn, and to enjoy the communion and presence of God the Father, and Jesus the mediator of the new covenant” (D&C 107:18-19; emphasis added). 
How and when does this communication take place? This is one of the privileges of those who make their calling and election sure (though it is possible that certain circumstances may require that this communication take place prior to one’s calling and election is made sure- see Parley P. Pratt’s talk given at the laying of the cornerstones of the Salt Lake Temple on April 6, 1853 in Journal of Discourses, 2:43-47). In June of 1839, Joseph Smith taught the Church:
After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted. 
When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and his election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter . . . He then stated:
Now what is this other Comforter? It is no more nor less than the Lord Jesus Christ Himself; and this is the sum and substance of the whole matter; that when any man obtains this last Comforter, he will have the personage of Jesus Christ to attend him, or appear unto him from time to time, and even He will manifest the Father unto him, and they will take up their abode with him, and the visions of the heavens will be opened unto him, and the Lord will teach him face to face, and he may have a perfect knowledge of the mysteries of the Kingdom of God; and this is the state and place the ancient Saints arrived at when they had such glorious visions — Isaiah, Ezekiel, John upon the Isle of Patmos, St. Paul in the three heavens, and all the Saints who held communion with the general assembly and Church of the Firstborn. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.150).
Such communication with the Church of the Firstborn is for personal edification and is not shared publically. Joseph Smith spoke of certain Biblical saints who had communicated with the “general assembly and church of the firstborn” (see Hebrews 12:22-23). He asked: “What did they learn by coming to the spirits of just men made perfect? Is it written? No. What they learned has not been and could not have been written” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.325)