True messengers who are sent
from the presence of God preach repentance, pronounce warnings, and declare
judgments. They are special and sure witnesses of Christ because they know Him
personally. He has ministered to them and shown unto them many great works Ether 3:18.
Pure servants of God, without hypocrisy and without
guile D&C
121:42, have heard a voice from Heaven saying, “Thy sins are forgiven thee
and thou shalt be blessed” Enos 1:5. They
have been declared clean by God, received a remission of their sins, and
experienced redemption first hand in the holy presence of Jesus Christ, the
only One who can redeem Mosiah 3:17.
They have been redeemed from the fall, and therefore brought back into His
presence Ether
3:13. They are found without fault before the
throne of God Revelation
14:4-5.
The veil has been taken from
off their eyes Ether
3:6. These witnesses of God have seen His face and been shown His works
from the beginning of creation to the winding up scenes of this earth. Prophets
are eyewitnesses of Christ’s birth, mortal life, ministry, rejection, mock
trial, judgment, suffering, sacrifice, forgiveness, atonement, crucifixion,
death, and ascension to Heaven. They hear and see and know these things
independent of anybody else or the testimony of another person, and thereby
become witnesses of Christ. They receive the testimony of Jesus where He bears
record to them D&C
76:101, Revelation
19:10.
Prophets we are talking
about here are not only voted in or sustained by men, churches, or any other
institutions of this world. The title, calling, or rightful position of
“prophets, seers, and revelators” in any organization of this world is one
thing, but when God personally ordains prophets, seers, and revelators, who are
commissioned of Jesus Christ and called by the voice of God, we will discover
it is quite another matter.
Those who have come unto
Christ, been covered by Him, and entered into the Father's presence have a
fulness, but all those who have not experienced such a connection with heaven,
no matter what keys, positions or power they claim to hold, cannot and do not
possess the fulness because only the Father has the role to confer it. The
prophets who have communed with heaven, like Nephi, are given the higher
priesthood of God, which includes the sealing power Helaman 10:4-7.
Neither the church nor men can confer it, only God. Alma also taught this doctrine. Alma
13:1-2
Joseph Smith, a latter day
prophet of God and the head of this dispensation, received the fulness
following the same heavenly pattern. He made sufficient sacrifice unto God in
obedience to that which God required of him, obtained forgiveness of his sins,
and received a promise of exaltation. God identified Himself and declared with
His own voice, “For verily I seal upon you your exaltation, and prepare a
throne for you in the kingdom of my Father, with Abraham your father” D&C
132:49-50.
In addition, God gave Joseph
the sealing power as He did Nephi, the son of Helaman, referred to above. “And verily, verily, I say unto you, that whatsoever you seal on earth shall be sealed in heaven;
and whatsoever you bind on earth, in my name and
by my word, saith the Lord, it shall be eternally bound in the heavens; and
whosesoever sins you remit on earth shall be remitted eternally in the heavens;
and whosesoever sins you retain on earth shall be retained in heaven” D&C
132:46.
In the
Joseph Smith translation of Genesis, this same doctrine of heaven came to
light. “And thus, having been approved of God, he was ordained an high priest
after the order of the covenant which God made with Enoch, It being after the order of the Son
of God; which order came, not by man, nor the will of man; neither by father
nor mother; neither by beginning of days nor end of years; but of God; And it was delivered unto men by
the calling of his own voice, according to his own will, unto as many as
believed on his name” JST Genesis
14:27-29.
Nephi, the son of Lehi, is
another great example of a true prophet, who is commissioned of God and speaks
with power and authority received from God Himself. He did not receive the
fulness of the priesthood from a man who claimed the right and power to confer
it. Nephi communed with God, received power from heaven, and reached the
“servant of God” status. He was speaking divine words as directed by heaven.
God always honors and fulfills His words. He commissions prophets to relay His
message. God then fulfills the prophecies every whit 3 Nephi 1:20.
The Lord stands firmly
behind His prophecies and promises. He guarantees and assures the fulfillment
of His words spoken by the voice of His prophets. “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away,
my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own
voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same” D&C
1:38.
The words of Nephi fall into
this same category. His words are God’s words and spoken by the power of the
Holy Ghost. We are his audience to whom he directs words of warning, counsel,
and condemnation. Some are familiar with his words; others are not and fail to
fully understand. Either way we are held accountable for and judged by His
words. If we, the latter day gentiles, fail to read, heed, and obey the words
of God delivered through Nephi, the words shall condemn us at the last day 2 Nephi
33:11-15.
What did Nephi see in our
day? What did he say to us? How did he describe us? How do his words pertain to
us? What are his cautions and warnings directed to us? Beware of what? Why?
What did he view as our weaknesses? Did he mention any of our strengths? What
was his general perception of the gentiles? 1 Nephi 13-14, 2 Nephi 26-33
Why is Nephi so pessimistic
concerning us
gentiles? I think it would be easier on our conscience if we could convince
ourselves that he’s really talking about some of those other gentiles. If it is
not us, then to whom can we defer this harsh judgment? Non-members? Heathens?
Atheists? Agnostics? Apostates? My weird neighbor down the street, who just
doesn’t seem to believe what is being taught? Others? It can’t be us, can it?
It’s gotta be somebody else.
I’ve been told my whole life
that we can’t be led astray. Is Nephi trying to change my paradigm? This is a
very inconvenient time in my life to make such changes. I’ve invested a lot of time into
my sincere but false beliefs. Is Nephi accurately telling us about our true
condition? Are the words of God spoken by Nephi something worth trusting? Nephi glories in plainness and truth,
doesn’t he? 2
Nephi 33:6 Hmmmm? What do you think?
Are we going to be like Noah
and his wicked priests? Saying, “Abinadi . . . thou shalt be put to death
unless thou wilt recall all the words which thou hast spoken evil concerning me
and my people.” Or are we going to be like Alma who heard the rebuke of a true prophet,
recognized his sins and iniquities, defended the truth at the peril of his
life, repented, and taught the doctrine of Christ? Mosiah
17:1-15
Do you think Mormon just
accidentally included these stories in the Book of Mormon? Or were they
carefully selected? Do these stories
prophesy and foretell our errors? Do we
have ears to hear and eyes to see? Matthew 13:15
To be continued . . .
I'm sorry to add more confusion to your life. I realize the truth can send us for a loop sometimes, but it always brings us back to even more solid and wonderful ground.
ReplyDeleteI refer to your reference of D&C 132 and Joseph Smith. There is no proof that Joseph Smith wrote D&C 132, let alone that he ever even heard of it. It was brought forth and read in Gen. Conf. by BY after they were all settled in the Salt Lake valley, and polygamy had been accepted by the members & leaders as a righteous principle, 8 years after Joseph Smith's death.
BY claimed that Joseph wrote D&C 132, but it was not in his handwriting. And just like all other accusations that BY and other polygamists made about Joseph Smith, D&C 132 was completely contrary to everything that Joseph himself ever taught & testified about marriage or the Gospel of Jesus Christ. D&C 132 also went against all the Church's current scriptures on marriage.
So, such an accusation by BY that day, mean't that either 'he' was lying 'OR' that 'Joseph Smith' lied to the Church his whole life and led them astray to not accept polygamy later on. If Joseph lied then he also has led all of us astray today, who believe in his testimony, teachings & scriptures, that polygamy is a vile evil to be forever shunned.
If you had been sitting there in that Gen. Conf. that day, 8 years after Joseph died, when BY presented that document, what would you have thought about it, especially when the constant words and warnings of Joseph Smith rang in your mind, where he commanded you to reject & shun any man who preached or practiced polygamy in any form. And Joseph's command to consider such a man or prophet or apostle 'a false prophet' preaching false and dangerous doctrine.
What would you have done? Who would you have believed? Joseph or Brigham? You can't follow both, for they teach completely opposite religions and doctrines. Those who liked the thought of polygamy, as most men do, would probably believe BY. But those who believed in treating women with respect & love and faithfulness, as Christ taught, would have believed Joseph Smith told the truth.
Polygamy is the great divide, it separates the wheat from the tares like nothing else. It separated the righteous from the unrighteous after Joseph died & it began to be preached & it separates those today, who study it and must make a decision about it.
For like Christ and Joseph & Emma Smith, righteous men & women would never believe in polygamy, they would be able to see if for what it is, one of the most vile & abusive forms of adultery ever known, just as they and all the holy scriptures and prophets said it was.
So again, who lied? BY or all the other Prophets & Christ?
I think I'll write a post on polygamy in a few days.
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