Offended???

 And if your brother offend you, you shall take him between him and you alone, and if he confess, you shall be reconciled. And if he confess not, you shall take another with you, and then if he confess not, you shall deliver him up unto the church, not to the members, but to the elders. And it shall be done in a meeting and that not before the world. And if your brother offend many, he shall be chastened before many. And if anyone offend openly, he shall be rebuked openly that he may be ashamed. And if he confess not, he shall be delivered up unto the Law. If any shall offend in secret, he shall be rebuked in secret, that he may have opportunity to confess in secret to him whom he has offended and to God, that the brethren may not speak reproachfully of him. And thus shall you conduct in all things. T&C 27:5

Questions: 

• Who is responsible to take the initiative when offense is taken? The offender? Or the offended? 

• Reading a verse in context is helpful. Before teaching us how to reconcile an offense, the Lord identifies four offenses. T&C 27:2-4

• Killing . . . Every person who belongs to this church of Christ shall observe all the commandments and covenants of the church. And it shall come to pass that if any person among you shall kill, they shall be delivered up and dealt with according to the laws of the land, for remember that he has no forgiveness, and it shall be proven according to the laws of the land.

• Adultery . . . But if any man shall commit adultery, he shall be tried before two elders of the church, or more, and every word shall be established against him by two witnesses of the church and not of the world; but if there are more than two witnesses, it is better. But he shall be condemned by the mouth of two witnesses. And the elders shall lay the case before the church and the church shall lift up their hands against them, that they may be dealt with according to the Law. And if it can be, it is necessary that the bishop is present also. And thus you shall do in all cases which shall come before you.

• Robbing . . . And if a man shall rob, he shall be delivered up unto the Law. And if he shall steal, he shall be delivered up unto the Law.

•  Lying . . . And if he lie, he shall be delivered up unto the Law. If he do any manner of iniquity, he shall be delivered up unto the Law, even that of God.

• On August 8, 2022, the Lord gave a response to an inquiry about forgiveness. The original question was about forgiving the adulterer, but the Lord gave additional instructions beyond the scope of the question. It is interesting that the Lord brings attention to these same four offenses.

• . . . You shall not forgive the adulterer and welcome him into the community when he has been forgiven and returns again to his sin. You shall not place the community at peril by embracing the willful and unrepentant among you. . . How can you be one if you gather together with another who has been the adulterer again after being forgiven? And how can a man love his wife with all his heart and cleave unto her and none else if he commit adultery again after being forgiven? 

• You did not ask, but remember that I have said also that, You shall not kill, and he that kills shall not have forgiveness, neither in this world nor in the world to come. And again, you shall not kill; he that kills shall die. 

• You shall not steal, and he that steals and will not repent shall be cast out. 

• You shall not lie; he that lies and will not repent shall be cast out. How can you be one with he who murders, with the liar who deceives, and with the thief who steals? I say to you that you cannot be one when you are fractured and your little ones threatened by the disobedience of the adulterer, murderer, liar and thief who will not repent.

• People are offended for some of the following reasons:

• They have unhealed emotional or psychological issues related to past experiences.

• They perceive that their honor, personal or ideological beliefs, or public image are being threatened.

• They are self-conscious about something. 

• They don’t receive the validation they are seeking from others. 

• Being offended makes insecure people feel empowered, and it allows them to make others feel guilty. 

• People who are easily offended are self-centered and self focused. They are on high alert for anything that threatens their self image.

But are these reasons to approach the offender with grievances? Or are these internal issues that the offended needs to address? In scriptural language, “first cast out the beam out of thine own eye, and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother’s eye.” 3 Nephi 6:6

Being offended is a protective mechanism that guards the offended against facing reality. When they think you’ve offended them, they seem to step into a position of power and have no interest in reasoning with you, and they shut down any conducive conversation. 

• What offenses warrant the process the Lord describes in T&C 27:5? Any offense? Or legitimate offenses not based on insecurities or personal issues? The Lord instructs you what to do when you have been offended by your brother.

• You shall take him between him and you alone, and if he confesses, you shall be reconciled.

• And if he confesses not, you shall take another with you.

• Then if he confess not, you shall deliver him up unto the church, not to the members, but to the elders.*

• And if he confess not, he shall be delivered up unto the Law.

*[In Joseph Smith’s day, offenses that were not reconciled privately, were brought before the elders. In our day, unreconciled offenses against priesthood holders are brought before a council of 12 women.]

• What is the value of an open public rebuke?  “And if your brother offend many, he shall be chastened before many. And if anyone offend openly, he shall be rebuked openly that he may be ashamed.” 

• What is the harm in making private offenses public? “If any shall offend in secret, he shall be rebuked in secret, that he may have opportunity to confess in secret to him whom he has offended and to God, that the brethren may not speak reproachfully of him.”

If we find we are offended, it would be wise to look at the reasons for the offense, and resolve it following the instructions given by the Lord.

Taking the Lord's Name in Vain! #4

2 Nephi 33:10: "And now, my beloved brethren, and also Jew, and all ye ends of the earth, hearken unto these words and believe in Christ; and if ye believe not in these words believe in Christ. And if ye shall believe in Christ ye will believe in these words, for they are the words of Christ, and he hath given them unto me; and they teach all men that they should do good."

After the conditional statement warning the gentiles of their need to be reconciled to Christ, Nephi speaks to his "beloved brethren" and the "Jews," but omits specific mention of the gentiles. Instead he refers to "all ye ends of the earth." This would include all those who are neither Jew, nor Israelite, nor gentile. This is a lot of people who are called "heathen" because they have little direct prophetic mention. Nephi, for example, only refers to them once in his writings. (2 Nephi 26:33) In that single reference Nephi promises all, if they will repent and return to Christ, can be saved. All are invited. All can come. Everyone may learn of Christ, find Him and be saved.

There is a distinction between God's absolute willingness to accept all who will come to Him, on the one hand, and the prophetic foreknowledge of who would accept the invitation, on the other. The opportunity is open for all. There will be few who will accept.

Nephi's testimony is based on Christ and employs both Christ's doctrine and teachings. He assures us as readers that if we are willing to accept his writings we are, in fact, accepting the words of Christ. If you believe Christ, you will believe Nephi. For almost everything Nephi has written comes directly or indirectly from Christ. To believe in Nephi's words is to believe in Christ, and to believe in Christ is to accept Nephi's words.

Think about that for a moment. Nephi does not leave you wondering if the message will save you or not, whether he has some special inside information or not, or whether he has seen the Lord or not. He is direct and does not require you to guess. He has not adopted any equivocal or carefully studied words or phrases to tell you about Christ. He is blunt, even plain. His words offend those who are unwilling to surrender their sins and repent. He says what he has written "are the words of Christ." This means that before he taught, before he wrote, before he concluded his testimony, he consulted with and obtained approval from Christ.

There is nothing vague in Nephi's warnings, nor unclear in his message.

He openly invites the gentiles to repent. He does so repeatedly. He tells us that with the exception of only a few, we are condemned and will fail in our dispensation. As to those few, he warns us that we will be prone to err because of the things we are taught. (2 Nephi 28:14) He offers us a clear, light filled body of teachings that will clarify for us the body of doctrine that will save us. However, we must take his warnings seriously and study them with care.

Imagine how much effort and thought went into preparing to carve into the metal plates. Imagine the amount of thought he employed before undertaking the final, permanent etchings to complete his ministry. His brother commented about how arduous the process was during his writing on the same plates. (Jacob 4:1)

Nephi saw our day, and knew how difficult it would be for us. He wrote a message to be preserved and available no matter who would lead us, no matter what messages we would hear, no matter what confusion would develop. He gave us a message to announce the conditions of salvation over the heads of any foolish, vain or false teachings. They are a lifeline extended to the gentiles, as well as his beloved mixed blood descendants (the remnant), and the Jews.

Nephi knows his words will teach anyone who accepts them "to do good."

The gentile problem is not in reading his words, but in "believing in them." Gentile interpretation almost always involves unbelief. We do not let his words hold their "plain meaning" but want to construe them, read into them praise, and remove from them the blunt warnings given us. We want to make ourselves justified by the words that warn, condemn and challenge us to do more. Our unbelief separates us from Nephi's message even as we read his words.

It does no good to argue with him. It does no good to juxtapose his words of counsel and warning with other words of comfort and reassurance. He is alarmed by our condition and warns us to flee from error. We want to read into these words other ideas Nephi never intended.

When we began back with Alma, Chapter 13, it was with the idea we would let the words speak for themselves. We were going to try and see what was being said apart from our own desires or hopes.  We've been trying to let Nephi have his own words and meanings as we've been looking at his teachings, as well.

An inspired teacher will not offer their own words and pretend they come from Christ. They are not going to dare speak in the name of Christ if they offer only their suppositions, hopes, and understanding. They know, as Nephi, that to do so is to take the Lord's name in vain, and to preach for doctrines the commandments of men. It is often the case, however, that men will urge their own views hoping to make them more convincing, while using the name of Christ. Surely every such teacher will be held to account before Christ for every idle word spoken in His name without His authority or approval.

Nephi knew this doctrine. Nephi understood how weighty a matter is was to use the Lord's name in connection with teaching doctrine. Nephi writes in the full confidence that the Lord has approved his message, inspired his words, and will vindicate them to those who will believe them.

Personally, I would hardly dare to teach doctrine if I did not know what I say to be true. Nephi's example is perhaps more important in this respect than in any other. He is surely worthy to be called a "teacher and a ruler" by all of us. (2 Nephi 5:19)

Source:  (DS 9-7-10)

Jacob 4

I was reading Jacob Chapter 4 and remain amazed at the message and the applications it has for me here and now. I personally marked some of the words that caught my attention and caused me to ponder. You may find it valuable to do the same yourself.

1 Now behold, it came to pass that I, Jacob, having ministered much unto my people in word, (and I cannot write but a little of my words, because of the difficulty of engraving our words upon plates) and we know that the things which we write upon plates must remain;

2 But whatsoever things we write upon anything save it be upon plates must perish and vanish away; but we can write a few words upon plates, which will give our children, and also our beloved brethren, a small degree of knowledge concerning us, or concerning their fathers—

3 Now in this thing we do rejoice; and we labor diligently to engraven these words upon plates, hoping that our beloved brethren and our children will receive them with thankful hearts, and look upon them that they may learn with joy and not with sorrow, neither with contempt, concerning their first parents.

4 For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us.

5 Behold, they believed in Christ and worshiped the Father in his name, and also we worship the Father in his name. And for this intent we keep the law of Moses, it pointing our souls to him; and for this cause it is sanctified unto us for righteousness, even as it was accounted unto Abraham in the wilderness to be obedient unto the commands of God in offering up his son Isaac, which is a similitude of God and his Only Begotten Son.

6 Wherefore, we search the prophets, and we have many revelations and the spirit of prophecy; and having all these witnesses we obtain a hope, and our faith becometh unshaken, insomuch that we truly can command in the name of Jesus and the very trees obey us, or the mountains, or the waves of the sea.

7 Nevertheless, the Lord God showeth us our weakness that we may know that it is by his grace, and his great condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power to do these things.

8 Behold, great and marvelous are the works of the Lord. How unsearchable are the depths of the mysteries of him; and it is impossible that man should find out all his ways. And no man knoweth of his ways save it be revealed unto him; wherefore, brethren, despise not the revelations of God.

9 For behold, by the power of his word man came upon the face of the earth, which earth was created by the power of his word. Wherefore, if God being able to speak and the world was, and to speak and man was created, O then, why not able to command the earth, or the workmanship of his hands upon the face of it, according to his will and pleasure?

10 Wherefore, brethren, seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.

11 Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh.

12 And now, beloved, marvel not that I tell you these things; for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?

13 Behold, my brethren, he that prophesieth, let him prophesy to the understanding of men; for the Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls. But behold, we are not witnesses alone in these things; for God also spake them unto prophets of old.

14 But behold, the Jews were a stiffnecked people; and they despised the words of plainness, and killed the prophets, and sought for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness came by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall; for God hath taken away his plainness from them, and delivered unto them many things which they cannot understand, because they desired it. And because they desired it God hath done it, that they may stumble.

15 And now I, Jacob, am led on by the Spirit unto prophesying; for I perceive by the workings of the Spirit which is in me, that by the stumbling of the Jews they will reject the stone upon which they might build and have safe foundation.

16 But behold, according to the scriptures, this stone shall become the great, and the last, and the only sure foundation, upon which the Jews can build.

17 And now, my beloved, how is it possible that these, after having rejected the sure foundation, can ever build upon it, that it may become the head of their corner?

18 Behold, my beloved brethren, I will unfold this mystery unto you; if I do not, by any means, get shaken from my firmness in the Spirit, and stumble because of my over anxiety for you.

What do you suppose Jacob meant when he said, “be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ”?

What involves obtaining “a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ?

How would it feel to “be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God?”

Jacob asked a great question, “for why not speak of the atonement of Christ, and attain to a perfect knowledge of him, as to attain to the knowledge of a resurrection and the world to come?”