Do I Have a Choice? . . . Experiments & Equality . . . Scriptures

In Denver Snuffer's recent talk, Signs Follow Faith, he says, “Stop squabbling. Stop disagreeing. Surrender your pride. If you think you're right, if you think someone needs to be corrected, if you think you have a higher, holier, better way, stay and persuade. Be meek. Be humble. Solicit other people and appeal to their heart. (Denver Snuffer, Signs Follow Faith, March 3, 3019, 1:36:01 audio recording) 

I do not believe I have a higher, holier, better way; but I do have a different way of looking at the recent scripture project that is being completed. I am staying, and I will do my best to persuade and present another way.

I have had a witness from God that Denver Snuffer is a true messenger sent from God. So what should I do when I find that I disagree with someone who comes from the presence of God?

I have been guilty of bringing my religious idolatry from my LDS culture and applying it to this new culture where I participate. I understand how it can be dangerous to blindly follow a false prophet, but is there any danger in blindly following a true prophet? Joseph Smith answered this question.

“President Joseph Smith read the 14th chapter of Ezekiel–said the Lord had declared by the Prophet, that the people should each one stand for himself, and depend on no man or men in that state of corruption of the Jewish church–that righteous persons could only deliver their own souls–applied it to the present state of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints–said if the people departed from the Lord, they must fall–that they were depending on the Prophet, hence were darkened in their minds, in consequence of neglecting the duties devolving upon themselves…” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 237-38).

Repenting of my idolatry has not been easy for me, and just when I think I've repented, the Lord shows me more of my idolatrous behavior. If we are ever going to be equals, we each need to stand on our own two feet and lean on no one except the Lord.

Is it Godly to squabble? Is it Godly to disagree?

Squabbling, bickering, jarring, and contention are of the devil.

. . . beware lest there shall arise contentions among you, and ye list to obey the evil spirit . . . (Mosiah 2:32)

And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God, and fight and quarrel one with another, and serve the devil, who is the master of sin, or who is the evil spirit which hath been spoken of by our fathers, he being an enemy to all righteousness. (Mosiah 4:14)

For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. (3 Nephi 11:29)

Holy men and women often disagree with those around them. Why would angels and prophets cry repentance if there wasn't something to disagree about? Elijah disagreed with the priests of Baal. Jesus disagreed with the Pharisees. Denver was excommunicated from the LDS church because he wrote a book about LDS history that disagreed with how LDS hierarchy views their history. Disagreement is inevitable in this world. As long as there is opposition, there will be disagreements.

If we find ourselves disagreeing, it would work better if we follow the Lord's pattern while disagreeing. We can stand together in not letting our disagreements degenerate into foolish bickering. Let this law govern our disagreements . . .

. . . only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned; By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy, and without guile— Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem thee to be his enemy; (D&C 121; 41-43)

In the Answer and Covenant it says,

For you to unite I must admonish and instruct you, for my will is to have you love one another. As people you lack the ability to respectfully disagree among one another. You are as Paul and Peter whose disagreements resulted in jarring and sharp contentions. Nevertheless they both loved me and I loved them. You must do better.

I commend your diligent labor, and your desire to repent and recover the scriptures containing the covenant I offer for the last days. For this purpose I caused the Book of Mormon to come forth. I commend those who have participated, as well as those who have offered words of caution, for I weigh the hearts of men and many have intended well, although they have spoken poorly. Wisdom counsels mankind to align their words with their hearts, but mankind refuses to take counsel from Wisdom.

Nevertheless, there have been sharp disputes between you that should have been avoided. I speak these words to reprove you that you may learn, not to upbraid you so that you mourn. I want my people to have understanding.

There is great reason to rejoice because of the work that has been done. There is little reason for any to be angry or to harshly criticize the labor to recover the scriptures, and so my answer to you concerning the scriptures is to guide you in other work to be done hereafter; for recovering the scriptures does not conclude the work to be accomplished by those who will be my people: it is but a beginning.

Here again the Lord confirms there will be disagreements, and then counsels us to love each other and respectfully disagree with one another. Knowing that disagreements are not offensive to the Lord, has relieved me of the unrealistic expectation that unity requires agreement.

Recovering Scriptures

In those same paragraphs, the Lord commends all those who have participated in recovering scripture. I believe it pleases God to see anyone take the word of the Lord seriously no matter how crude and rudimentary the job might be.

There's a great deal left to be done. And there is no one seriously entertaining the possibility of constructing a city of holiness, a city of peace, a people that are fruit worthy to be laid up against the harvest. No one has made the effort until now. And while you may look at us and say, “You've done a crude job, you've done a rudimentary job, it needs improvement. Then help us improve it. Stop sitting back and throwing rocks. This is a time to gather, not to disperse. The same garbage that existed at the beginning when Joseph looked around and saw confusion and disharmony, wants to creep in among us. Recognize that's a false spirit. If you'll cast it out of yourself, and if you'll look at the words of the covenant that was offered in September of 2017. What you'll find is that Christ wants us, like the Book of Mormon explains, to be meek, to be humble, and to be easily entreated, and therefore entreat one another to honor God, and recognize that all of us aspire to be equal, whether you're at the top or at the root, the aspiration is the same, to be equal. (Denver Snuffer, Signs Follow Faith, March 3, 3019, 1:39:13 audio recording) 

There is much to be done, and it is not necessary to contend as we labor along side each other. I believe it pleases the Lord that the Bible was preserved even though it has many mistakes and errors. I believe it pleases the Lord that the sects of Mormonism preserved the Book of Mormon and the words of Joseph Smith even though mistakes and errors have been added to Joseph's words. Whenever a people seek to recover and preserve God's words, I believe it pleases God.

We have also set out to recover scripture, and we have had some contentions among us in the process. While our efforts please the Lord, our contentions do not. If a group of God loving people with good intentions cannot accomplish so small of task, how are we ever going to create Zion? I have observed and experienced one missing element in our endeavors. That is the element of choice. When people have a choice, tension and anxiety dramatically decrease.

Let's look at how the public school, private school, home school, charter school movement is evolving to give people the freedom to choose.

The Schooling Experiment

I have been interested in educational freedom for most of my adult life. I've noticed that there has been some discomfort between people who educate their children differently. Sometimes this results in people criticizing or looking down their noses at each other. Maybe people feel threatened that someone thinks differently. I've also observed that as educational choices have increased, the discomfort around what educational system the neighbor is choosing has decreased. When charter schools began to spring up, they offered another choice. People who didn't want to home school or did not have the money for a private school, began to send their children to a different school than their neighbors. The charter school movement made the public schools even better. People had a choice, and multiple options promoted improvement.

When we first started to home school, people thought it a little strange. Now, we have many home schools in our town, and it is pretty normal. In our neighborhood, we have people attending a variety of schools. The children play together, and the adults are friends. Our children have attended private school, home school, charter school, and are currently in public school. All of the different schooling methods have their upsides and downsides. There is no perfect system. But because I had choice, I'm okay with the flaws and errors of the school of my choice. If I don't like one schooling experiment, I can choose a different one, or create another option. Having served on two governing boards of start up charter schools, I will tell you that it is very challenging to start something new, and the product seems inferior to all other options in the initial start up stages.

Just as we have many different educational systems, is it possible to have have many different sets of scriptures compiled by many different committees? Would it work if we let people choose which scriptures they feel most inclined toward? If none of them work for an individual, would they feel free to create their own collection of sacred writings? Would they learn a lot in the process? Would God be pleased with all of these efforts to reach upward and understand God's words? Would this process help each individual stand for themselves and connect with God.

An Experiment in Sovereignty and Freedom

Denver gave a talk on Constitutional Apostasy. Toward the end of his talk, he talked about how the 50 states of the United States were intended to be 50 different experiments in sovereignty and freedom. 

“Independent sovereign and equal states could experiment (56:29 minute mark) . . . Every state was intended to be an experiment in sovereignty and in freedom (57:54) . . . We should be so diverse. We should be so dissimilar. We should be so non uniform. That growing out of the United States, there should be, at this moment, 50 different experiments underway using the freedom that people have to choose, to design for themselves the way in which they would like to be governed, and those 50 different ways will ultimately - some fail, some succeed, some turn into nirvana. And the states are going to look around and say, “Hey that's good.” And they're going to inform their own experiment in democracy by what they see working, and they're going to inform their own experiment in democracy by seeing what's failing and saying, “Well that didn't work. Well look at that mess. Instead what you have is a national uniformity in which when we make a mistake . . . (59:37)

Can we have Zion without having uniformity and conformity? In this new society, will people be free to experiment and discover what works best? Would they learn from each other's experiments? Would it be hard to corrupt a society that was united but not uniform?

False Spirits and Corruption

In his recent talk, Denver talked about False Spirits and corruption. “In addition to vary forms of ignorance and study, diligence and sloth, interest and indifference that separate each of us in our religious beliefs, there are also False Spirits that mislead and confuse.

“The term “False Spirits” is not limited to the idea of a devil, imp, or mischievous personage, but includes the much broader attitude, outlook or cultural assumptions that people superimpose atop religion. False Spirits in the form of ignorant, incomplete, or incorrect ideas are easily conveyed from one person to another.

“People convey False Spirits every time they teach a false idea and the student accepts the idea.

“False Spirits infect every religious tradition on earth. This is not limited to eastern religions that deny Christ, but also include Christianity and Mormonism. So long as there is anything false, or any error, a False Spirit prevails.

“Different religious structures lend themselves to be overtaken by False Spirits through different means: If you have a hierarchy, only the top needs to be taken captive by a False Spirit. If it is a diffused religion, then all you have to do is take captive the theological seminaries in order to spread the False Spirit. But if the religion is individual, and each person is standing on their own, accountable for their relation to God, accountable to learn, to pray, to reach upward and have God connect with them individually. Then the only way to corrupt a diffused religion is to corrupt every single believer, every single practitioner.” (Denver Snuffer, Signs Follow Faith, March 3, 3019, 8:25 audio recording) 

If a group only accepts one official set of scripture, then all you have to do is take captive the scriptures in order to spread the False spirit. But if each individual is accountable to study the original words of holy men and women, and make their own collection of sacred writings, then the only way to corrupt what these believers read and study is to corrupt every single volume of sacred writings.

Is there a need for canonized scriptures?

I appreciate the efforts made to preserve the Bible over the years. But when a committee came together to decide which sacred writings to include and which ones to exclude, God's words were limited and controlled by that committee. It has led to scripture idolatry. There are many Christians who say, “A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and there cannot be any more Bible.” (2 Nephi 29:3) They think the Bible includes all of God's words, and they are closed to accepting new scripture.

Mormonism has embraced many additional scriptural works, but they are not immune to this same scripture idolatry. Although they accept the Bible, Book of Mormon, Doctrine and Covenants, and Pearl of Great Price, they too say, “Now we don’t need a lot of continuing revelation. We have a great, basic reservoir of revelation.”

David Rasmussen: As the world leader of the the Church, how are you in touch with God? Can you explain that for me?

Gordon B. Hinckley: I pray. I pray to Him. Night and morning. I speak with Him. I think He hears my prayers. As He hears the prayers of others. I think He answers them.

DR: But more than that, because you’re leader of the Church. Do you have a special connection?

Gordon B. Hinckley: I have a special relationship in terms of the Church as an institution. Yes.

DR: And you receive........

Gordon B. Hinckley: For the entire Church.

DR: You receive?

Gordon B. Hinckley: Now we don’t need a lot of continuing revelation. We have a great, basic reservoir of revelation. But if a problem arises, as it does occasionally, a vexatious thing with which we have to deal, we go to the Lord in prayer. We discuss it as a First Presidency and as a Council of the Twelve Apostles. We pray about it and then comes the whisperings of a still small voice. And we know the direction we should take and we proceed accordingly.

DR: And this is a Revelation?

Gordon B. Hinckley: This is a Revelation. 

(Interview with President Gordon B. Hinckley Aired:November 09, 1997 by David Rasmussen)

Is there a need for canonized scriptures? Does it create religious dogmatism? Do people become closed to continuing revelation when the group accepts one Standardized Volume of scripture?

Can they really bring their faith with them?

Gordon B. Hinckley said this on the Larry King Live Show 

Larry King: And you're saying to them, bring your faith with you, right?

Gordon B. Hinckley: Sure.

Larry King: You're not saying, leave your Catholicism.

Gordon B. Hinckley: I say this to other people: you develop all the good you can. We have no animosity toward any other church. We do not oppose other churches. We never speak negatively of other churches. We say to people: you bring all the good that you have, and let us see if we can add to it. (Larry King Live, Gordon Hinckley, Distinguished Religious Leader of the Mormons, Aired September 8, 1998 - 9:00 p.m. ET)

But is this true? Are people really free to bring their faith with them if it contradicts what the LDS church teaches?

We should welcome everyone. We should welcome Latter Day Saints. We should welcome Community of Christ. We should welcome Catholics. We should welcome Presbyterians. We should welcome every kind of person, and then treat them with respect and kindness and understanding. Let them bring their ideas and let you teach them those truths that you presently understand. The religion of Joseph Smith which is – It's in that video that was shown just before the opening prayer. The religion of Joseph Smith is to accept all truth. (Denver Snuffer, Signs FollowFaith, March 3, 3019, 1:36:34 audio recording) 

As people come, can they bring their own scriptures? Are we going to expect them to leave their sacred writings behind and accept ours? If we have one standardize set of scriptures accepted by the group, how easy will it be for the newcomers to feel like they can bring their truths? Will we be willing to reason with one another while teaching each other the truths we have come to cherish and live? Or will we expect people to believe just because it is in our scriptures?

A Lesson from the Buddha

In September 2018 I attended a Buddhist meditation retreat. My daughter took the course in June and it sounded interesting. I've never meditated in my life, and my daughter did not think I would like meditating for 10 days, but still I went. After one day, I wanted out of there. So why did I stay and complete the course? Each evening we listened to a recorded discourse from Satya Narayan Goenka. I heard truth. I felt love. I stayed and participated and observed. For 10 days I lived among a peaceful, giving, loving people. I brought with me my dogma and traditions, but when I listened with an open heart, I realized I believe many of the same things as the Buddha. Not only did I see our similarities, but they were able to teach me in a way that traditional Christianity has not. I am grateful for the paradigms that shifted for me as the Buddha served and taught me truth.

So how does my Buddhist experience relate to a scripture project. How can we invite the Buddha to seriously consider our scriptures if we do not seriously consider their sacred writings? What if the members in our group each had their own collection of sacred writings? What if we were to fellowship with people who were carrying a different set of scriptures under their arm? Would it force us to be open to truth we had not yet considered? Would we be required to use persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness, and pure knowledge as we discussed what we think is true? Would it open a space for others to come with their scriptures and not feel out of place because their scriptures don't look like “the group's accepted scriptures”? Would the adversary be able to easily corrupt the scriptures of such a diverse group? What would happen if we did it differently than the Christians and the Mormons?

What would I choose?

In my set of scriptures, I would like to include Doctrine and Covenants Section 20. I have learned that having a hierarchy doesn't work too well, but I want to retain that section so my children will have a record of what doesn't work. I'm okay with someone else excluding that section because they think the information is irrelevant.

Some might discard Doctrine and Covenants 130 because it has some doctrine that contradicts the Lectures on Faith, but it also has teachings like “Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come. There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” I think I would rather deal with the contradiction “the Father has a body of flesh and bones as tangible as man’s” and retain some of these other precious truths.

Some people might like to read the Bible like a story book, others want to read it like a reference book and retain standard chapter and verses so they can communicate more easily with their Christian friends.

Some might like to edit all the punctuation and old English language in the Book of Mormon, others like the old English and are fine with printing, spelling, and punctuation errors.

Would Contention Cease?

There are so many styles and preferences. We don't have to agree on how the sacred books are compiled. If the book serves as a manual to lead us to God, it has done its purpose.

If someone has revelation about words that need to be corrected in the Book of Mormon text, then publish it on a public blog and make the knowledge available to all.

If a group carefully adds the Joseph Smith Translations to the Bible, have them document their work and publish it to the world so others have it available to use.

If several groups have done a similar work, let them each publish it, and then let the people choose which work they would like to include in their family scripture set. And it is okay if everyone doesn't agree.

If people are really free to choose, would contention cease? Would I look down my nose at people who make a different choice than me? Or would I be open to spend the time to talk with them to see why they made the choice they did? It is not evil to disagree. It is evil to contend. It doesn't make someone hard hearted or closed minded when they do not understand the same truth I do. The highest aspiration is to connect with God.

Just because it hasn't entered into your hard heart and your closed mind yet, doesn't make it untrue. There are truths in rich abundance that hail from all corners of the earth. As religions have dis-guarded truth, many of them have sought and fought to retain the most important core. And most important core of many faiths and the highest aspiration and the highest ideal. It doesn't matter if your talking of the Cherokee tradition, the Hindu tradition, the Islamic tradition, the Polynesian, the Hawaiian tradition. It doesn't matter. (1:37:22)

The highest aspiration remains for the individual to connect to God, and for God to recognize and connect with the individual. There's really no difference. If we welcome one another, and we treat each other kindly, someone that may have a religion that is very strange to us, if they bring with them the aspiration to know God, and we can persuade them that God has done a work among us, through Joseph Smith, through the labor that has been done to recover that restoration, maybe they'll labor along side us as the restoration wraps up. (Denver Snuffer, Signs Follow Faith, March 3, 3019, 1:38:21 audio recording) 

If our scriptures become so personal that we not only say but do what is written in them, they will have served their purpose in all their varied forms.

Governance, A Law Unto Itself, and Unrighteous Dominion

Structuring society so that all may prosper requires governance. We have an example of such a society in the Book of Mormon.

And it came to pass that the thirty and fourth year passed away, and also the thirty and fifth, and behold the disciples of Jesus had formed a church of Christ in all the lands round about. And as many as did come unto them and did truly repent of their sins were baptized in the name of Jesus, and they did also receive the Holy Ghost. And it came to pass in the thirty and sixth year, the people were all converted unto the Lord upon all the face of the land, both Nephites and Lamanites, and there were no contentions and disputations among them and every man did deal justly one with another and they had all things common among them. Therefore there were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free and partakers of the heavenly gift. 4 Nephi 1:1-4 

There is an order to bringing this kind of social structure into existence. The result of this order is freedom for all. “There were not rich and poor, bond and free, but they were all made free and partakers of the heavenly gift.”

1. First, a church of Christ was formed
2. Next, the people did truly repent of their sins, were baptized, and received the Holy Ghost
3. Then the people were all converted unto the Lord
4. And because of this, there were no contentions and disputations among them
5. And so every man did deal justly one with another
6. Which led to them having all things common among themselves

To have freedom without order and governance is impossible. When a group or individual rejects hierarchy they many times move to the other extreme of anarchy or a law unto itself; and what they get is something worse than what they left.

Anarchy is the condition of a society, entity, group of people, or a single person that rejects hierarchy. . . The word anarchy comes from the ancient Greek ἀναρχία (anarchia), which combines ἀ (a), "not, without" and ἀρχή (arkhi), "ruler, leader, authority." Thus, the term refers to a person or society "without rulers" or "without leaders.

The German philosopher Immanuel Kant treated anarchy in his Anthropology from a Pragmatic Point of View as consisting of "Law and Freedom without Force". Thus, for Kant, anarchy falls short of being a true civil state because the law is only an "empty recommendation" if force is not included to make this law efficacious ("legitimation" from "lex timere" = "fearing the law"). For there to be such a state, force must be included while law and freedom are maintained, a state which Kant calls republic.

Kant identified four kinds of government:

1. Law and freedom without force (anarchy).
2. Law and force without freedom (despotism).
3. Force without freedom and law (barbarism).
4. Force with freedom and law (republic). Wikipedia 

I would add a fifth category to Kant's list.

5. True conversion unto the Lord with freedom and law (Zion)

As it is with earthly governments, so it is with the things of God. Many want a “free Jesus” where nothing is required of them beyond existing in whatever state they choose to remain.

In 1951, John Taylor reports remembering something Joseph Smith had said, “Some years ago, in Nauvoo, a gentleman in my hearing, a member of the Legislature, asked Joseph Smith how it was that he was enabled to govern so many people, and to preserve such perfect order; remarking at the same time that it was impossible for them to do it anywhere else. Mr. Smith remarked that it was very easy to do that. ‘How?’ responded the gentleman; ‘to us it is very difficult.’ Mr. Smith replied, ‘I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves.’” John Taylor, “The Organization of the Church,”Millennial Star, Nov. 15, 1851, p. 339.

Yet, something remains unsaid. What if people are offered and taught correct principles, but reject those principles by not abiding by those principles? Are they fit to govern themselves? Or do they fall prey to another form of government, or in other words, those who are not governed by God will be led captive by the will of the devil.

There are three woes pronounced upon the prideful who pervert the right way of the Lord.

O the wise and the learned and the rich that are puffed up in the pride of their hearts, and all those who preach false doctrines, and all those who commit whoredoms and pervert the right way of the Lord, wo, wo, wo be unto them, saith the Lord God Almighty, for they shall be thrust down to hell.

Wo unto them that turn aside the just for a thing of naught, and revile against that which is good and say that it is of no worth, for the day shall come that the Lord God will speedily visit the inhabitants of the earth. And in that day that they are fully ripe in iniquity, they shall perish.

Why would people revile against that which is good? Why do they say the gift from God is of no worth? What will happen when they are fully ripe in this iniquity?

But behold, if the inhabitants of the earth shall repent of their wickedness and abominations, they shall not be destroyed, saith the Lord of hosts. But behold, that great and abominable church, the whore of all the earth, must tumble to the earth, and great must be the fall thereof.

Why will they be destroyed if they do not repent? How are the wicked punished? “But behold, the judgments of God will overtake the wicked, and it is by the wicked that the wicked are punished, for it is the wicked that stir up the hearts of the children of men unto bloodshed.” Mormon 2:7 If I live in a lawless society, will there be freedom? Or will the lawless self-destruct and implode on themselves?

For the kingdom of the devil must shake, and they which belong to it must needs be stirred up unto repentance or the devil will grasp them with his everlasting chains and they be stirred up to anger and perish.

Why must the kingdom of the devil shake? Why must the proud and they who do wickedly be visited with thunderings, and lightnings, and earthquakes, and all manner of destructions? Is this what will stir some up to repentance? Will others still refuse, and in their anger perish? What if I truly humble myself because of the word and do not need to be compelled to be humble? Could much destruction and heartache be avoided?

For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men and stir them up to anger against that which is good.

Why will the children of men anger against that which is good?

And others will he pacify and lull them away into carnal security that they will say, All is well in Zion, yea, Zion prospereth, all is well. And thus the devil cheateth their souls and leadeth them away carefully down to hell.

How does the devil cheat their souls? Why is he careful with how he leads the children of men?

And behold, others he flattereth away and telleth them there is no hell. And he saith unto them, I am no devil, for there is none. And thus he whispereth in their ears until he grasps them with his awful chains, from whence there is no deliverance. Yea, they are grasped with death and hell, and death and hell and the devil and all that have been seized therewith must stand before the throne of God and be judged according to their works, from whence they must go into the place prepared for them, even a lake of fire and brimstone, which is endless torment.

Why does the devil use flattery to reassure people until he has them secure in his awful chains?

Therefore wo be unto him that is at ease in Zion.

Wo be unto him that crieth, All is well.

Yea, wo be unto him that hearkeneth unto the precepts of men and denieth the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Who are these woes pronounced upon? How do men deny the power of God and the gift of the Holy Ghost?

Yea, wo be unto him that saith, We have received and we need no more.

Why don't the people want more of God's word? What have they received that makes them think they have enough?

And in fine, wo unto all those who tremble and are angry because of the truth of God. For behold, he that is built upon the rock receiveth it with gladness, and he that is built upon a sandy foundation trembleth, lest he shall fall.

What is the difference between he that is built upon the rock and he that is built upon a sandy foundation? Why would some receive God's words with anger and others receive His words with gladness? Does God still have much to reveal to those who will listen?

Wo be unto him that shall say, We have received the word of God, and we need no more of the word of God for we have enough. For behold, thus saith the Lord God, I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little. And blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom. For unto him that receiveth I will give more, and from them that shall say, We have enough, from them shall be taken away even that which they have.

What will happen to those who refuse to receive more of the word of God? What will be given to those who receive more of His word?

Cursed is he that putteth his trust in man or maketh flesh his arm or shall hearken unto the precepts of men, save their precepts shall be given by the power of the Holy Ghost. 2 Nephi 7:171 – 194 

Why is the carnal man cursed?

Hearken and hear oh my people, saith your Lord and your God, ye whom I delight to bless with the greatest of blessings: ye that hear me. And ye that hear me not will I curse, that have professed my name, with the heaviest of all cursings. Hearken, O ye elders of my church whom I have called, behold, I give unto you a commandment that ye shall assemble yourselves together to agree upon my word, and by the prayer of your faith ye shall receive my law, that ye may know how to govern my church and have all things right before me. And I will be your ruler and ye shall see that my law is kept. Doctrine and Covenants 64:1-4 

What will the Lord do for those that hear Him? What will happen to those who will not hear the Lord? Why must we assemble ourselves and agree upon His word by the prayer of our faith? Why does the Lord want me to receive His law? Can I be free and at peace if I refuse to be governed by His law? Who is the ruler of God's church? Why must I see that I keep His law?

And it came to pass that when the angel had spoken these words, he said unto me, Remember thou the covenants of the Father unto the house of Israel? I said unto him, Yea. And it came to pass that he said unto me, Look and behold that great and abominable church which is the mother of abominations, whose foundation is the devil. And he said unto me, Behold there are save two churches only: the one is the church of the Lamb of God, and the other is the church of the devil. Wherefore, whoso belongeth not to the church of the Lamb of God belongeth to that great church which is the mother of abomination, and she is the whore of all the earth. 1 Nephi 4:49-53 

Is the church of God an organization set up by men, or is it comprised of those who live His law? How do I become a member of the church of the Lamb of God? Is Jesus the keeper of the gate and the one who decides when I am ready to come into His church? Can a man or group of men franchise Jesus's church?

Many of us have experienced the oppression of unrighteous dominion. Having escaped the clutches of such control, the thought of having any law is scary to some. To them law sounds like the unrighteous dominion they just left. They don't want anyone telling them what to do, say, or think, and so become a law unto themselves. What they don't realize is, “That which is governed by law is also preserved by law.” What they will find is the anarchy of lawlessness is worse than the oppression of unrighteous dominion.

For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him and he receive not the gift? Behold he rejoiceth not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoice in him who is the giver of the gift.

What are the gifts offered to us at this time? Does God rejoice if we do not receive His gift? Do we receive joy in the gift if we do not receive it?

And again, verily I say unto you, That which is governed by law is also preserved by law, and perfected and sanctified by the same. That which breaketh a law and abideth not by law, but seeketh to become a law unto itself, and willeth to abide in sin and altogether abideth in sin, cannot be sanctified by law, neither of mercy, justice, or judgment.

Why do I need to be governed by law to be preserved by law?

Therefore they must remain filthy still. All kingdoms have a law given, and there are many kingdoms, for there is no space in the which there is no kingdom and there is no kingdom in which there is no space, either a greater or lesser kingdom. And unto every kingdom is given a law, and unto every law there are certain bounds also, and conditions. All beings who abide not in those conditions are not justified, for intelligence cleaveth unto intelligence, wisdom receiveth wisdom, truth embraceth truth, virtue loveth virtue, light cleaveth unto light, mercy hath compassion on mercy and claimeth her own, justice continueth its course and claimeth its own, judgment goeth before the face of him who sitteth upon the throne and governeth and executeth all things. Doctrine and Covenants 30:22-30 

Which conditions do I want to abide? Which kingdom do I choose?

What is to be done? A correct idea of God's character, perfections, and attributes is necessary for me to have faith in His laws and His ways. He knows what works and what does not.

Behold there are many called, but few are chosen, and why are they not chosen? Because their hearts are set so much upon the things of this world and aspire to the honors of men, that they do not learn this one lesson--that the rights of the Priesthood are inseparably connected with the Powers of Heaven and that the Powers of Heaven cannot be controlled nor handled, only upon the principles of righteousness.

How are the Powers of Heaven controlled? What are the principles of righteousness? Where do I learn these principles?

That they may be conferred upon us, it is true, but when we undertake to cover our sins or to gratify our pride, our vain ambition, or to exercise control or dominion or compulsion upon the souls of the children of men, in any degree of unrighteousness, behold the heavens withdraw themselves, the Spirit of the Lord is grieved, and when it has withdrawn, Amen to the Priesthood or the authority of that man. Behold, ere he is aware he is left unto himself to kick against the pricks, to persecute the Saints, and to fight against God. We have learned by sad experience that it is the nature and disposition of almost all men, as soon as they get a little authority, as they suppose, they will immediately begin to exercise unrighteous dominion. Hence many are called, but few are chosen.

What is unrighteous dominion? Does God ever exercise unrighteous dominion? Or is it the pretenders who use His name in vain that scatter His sheep?

No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the Priesthood, only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and meekness, and by love unfeigned, by kindness, by pure knowledge which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy and without guile, reproving betimes with sharpness when moved upon by the Holy Ghost and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved lest he esteem thee to be his enemy, that he may know that thy faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death; thy bowels also being full of charity towards all men and to the household of faith, and virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly. Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God and the doctrines of the Priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the dews from Heaven. The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion and thy sceptre an unchanging sceptre of righteousness and truth, and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and without compulsory means it shall flow unto thee for ever and ever. D&C 47:135-143 

How many would like to be governed in this way? Why is God's dominion an everlasting dominion? Why does it flow unto Him without compulsory means? Am I willing to accept and live His laws so I can escape the vicious cycle of tyranny and anarchy in my life?

Be patient in afflictions and in sufferings revile not against those that revile; govern thy house in meekness and be steadfast. Doctrine and Covenants 115:9

What are the Lord's instructions to Thomas Marsh? How does the Lord govern His people? Because He is meek and patient and steadfast, He will not force His will upon me. I can refuse His offering and His gift and be a law unto myself, but some day whether in this life or in one which is to come, I will come to learn His ways really are the best ways. And I will know why I follow Him. It is because I love Him not because I fear Him.

Behold, Blessed, saith the Lord, are they who have come up unto this land with an eye single to my glory according to my commandments, for them that live shall inherit the earth, and them that die shall rest from all their labors, and their works shall follow them. They shall receive a crown in the mansions of my Father which I have prepared for them. Yea, blessed are they whose feet stand upon the land of Zion who have obeyed my gospel, for they shall receive for their reward the good things of the Earth and it shall bring forth in her strength. And they also shall be crowned with blessings from above, yea, and with commandments not a few and with revelations in their time, they that are faithful and diligent before me. Doctrine and Covenants 71:1-4 

We have been given a gift from God. He is willing to make a covenant with those who will have Him to be their God. He will crown them with blessings from above and give them commandments not a few. During the Boise Doctrine of Christ Conference in September 2017, I have an opportunity to accept by covenant the law of my God, not only to say but to do as He instructs. I invite all who desire to live His laws and be protected by His laws to do the same. In the name of Jesus, Amen.