Month: February 2019

The Savior next mentions in the beatitudes those that mourn. “Blessed are they that mourn, for they shall be comforted.”  Those who despair and mourn the loss of loved ones in this life, especially under tragic circumstances, will find joy and comfort when they are reunited in heaven. But, there is a greater joy and comfort to be realized.

After a person opens himself up to Christ, turns and faces him, giving up their previous life of idolatry and worldliness and becomes poor in spirit, they become aware of their weaknesses. Nephi laments, “O wretched man that I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grieveth because of mine iniquities.” (2 Ne. 4:17) Nephi’s soul mourns because of weakness. Enos writes about his own struggle for redemption, “And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul.” (Enos 1:4) Enos sought forgiveness for his sins. To repent a person must mourn and sorrow because of their sins, a prerequisite for receiving forgiveness. The Lord comforted Enos, “And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.”

The comfort that the Lord will bless us is the Comforter
(John 14:16-18) that He promised to send, which include the Holy Spirit and perhaps the Second Comforter, which is what the curriculum within the beatitudes is pointing us. Truly the comfort promised to those who mourn as a result of their sins, turn to Christ and receive forgiveness, surpasses any joy that you can imagine.

“To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all that mourn. To appoint unto them that mourn in Zion, to give unto them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.” (Isaiah 61:2-3)

“A time to weep, and a time to laugh, a time to mourn, and a time to dance;” (Ecclesiastes 3:4) A time to mourn here is juxtaposed with laughing and dancing. Perhaps wanting to laugh and dance is an appropriate attitude when you hear the words spoken to you, “You are clean.” In another setting the Savior teaches a very curious parable, “But whereunto shall I liken this generation? It is like unto children sitting in the markets, and calling unto their fellows. And saying, we have piped unto you, and ye have not danced; we have mourned unto you, and ye have not lamented.” (Matthew 11:16-17)

Can the meaning of this parable indicate that the Jews at the time of Christ, and perhaps the Gentiles in our dispensation, consider themselves righteous and thus will not turn to Christ? Those who think themselves righteous do not pay attention to the piper’s tune, which in this case is the call to repent. Those who once had mourned and despaired because of their sins, will rejoice and be comforted. They will receive the Comforter.

“Yea blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (3Nephi 12:3) The first beatitude talks about the poor in spirit. When I think of “poor in spirit” I think of the Alcoholics Anonymous program. Typically an alcoholic will not realize he or she has a problem until they have lost all control over their consumption. It isn’t until that person hits the bottom, lost their job, family, friends, and all self respect that they can begin to start taking control of their life. In that moment they are willing to give up and do anything to get out from under the prison they have created for themselves. They will come to realize they can never taste another drop of alcohol the rest of their life. It becomes an all or nothing proposition for them. Help will be provided if they ask. They need help because they cannot do it alone.

You become poor in spirit when you realize you are nothing, that you really have nothing to offer God. This is when you understand that He can make more out of your life than you can because you haven’t really accomplished anything. You thought you had. You did all kinds of things to get His attention and please Him, but you come to a realization that He doesn’t care about any of that. The work you did to earn salvation is not worth anything. Your life has become quite an irony because you have not really known God at all. You may not experience as dramatic a “come-to-Jesus-moment” as Paul did on the road to Tarsus, but the spiritual pain you feel is real when you realize you have only been serving your self interest all your life, even while serving in the church. Think of the anguish the Father of King Lamoni must have felt when he declared, “Behold, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.” (Alma 22:15).  When we come to that point where we are willing to give up all that we have for something better, we become poor in spirit. Another way to put it is the poor in spirit do not know Christ, and they are blessed because they realize they don’t.

In Luke, the author record: “Blessed are the poor in spirit” . Nephi and Mathew, however, write: “Blessed are the poor in spirit who come unto me”. The added phrase, “who come unto me” points out that the beatitudes are far more than a simple hominy; they are a treatise on how to obtain the kingdom of heaven. When you realize that Christ is the only way to salvation and that you must anchor your soul to Him and come unto Him, then you have started the process of obtaining salvation. The poor in spirit who come unto Christ have the promise that they will inherit the kingdom of heaven if they endure to the end. The very last beatitude states “blessed are all they who are persecuted  for my name’s sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” The last beatitude is the culmination of the process to obtain salvation. The promise is the same as the first beatitude, but where the promise of the first beatitude is a possible outcome, the last is a fulfilment.

In order to enter heaven, we must be poor in spirit; broken and empty of ego. We must come to the point that we know we have complete dependence on the Savior. We are like the poorest of the poor begging in the street for help, but instead of money we are begging for the Lord to intervene in our life, to give us light; to fill us. We become like Alma the Younger who begs Christ, “O Jesus, thou Son of God, have mercy on me, who am in the gall of bitterness, and am encircled about by the everlasting chains of death.” (Alma 36:18).

After receiving forgiveness Alma asked, “How is it possible?” “And the Lord said unto me, Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women — all nations, kindreds, tongues, and people — must be born again, yea, born of God, changed from their carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his sons and daughters. And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.” (Mosiah 27:25-26). When a person is broken hearted they are ready to hear the gospel. Being poor in spirit is the begining of a new life. After they acknowledge their souls are empty and devoid of light, the Lord can begin to fill them up. Being poor in spirit is the gateway for our hearts to accept Christ as our Savior and begin our journey to salvation.

“Let us here observe, that after any portion of the human family are made acquainted with the important fact that there is a God, who has created and does uphold all things, the extent of their knowledge respecting his character and glory will depend upon their diligence and faithfulness in seeking after him, until, like Enoch, the brother of Jared, and Moses, they shall obtain faith in God, and power with him to behold him face to face.” (Lectures on Faith, Lecture 2.55)

“Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love him?”(James 2: 5)

“And also that a feast of fat things might be prepared for the poor yea, a feast of fat things, of wine on the lees well refined, that the earth may know that the mouths of the prophets shall not fail;” (D&C 58:8)

“They are in great fear, for God dwells in the generation of the righteous. He is the counsel of the poor, because they are ashamed of the wicked, and flee unto the Lord, for their refuge. They are ashamed of the counsel of the poor because the Lord is his refuge.” (JST Psalms 14:5-6)

“This poor man cried, and the Lord heard him, and saved him out of all his troubles.” (Psalms 34:6)

“But I am poor and needy: make haste unto me, O God: thou art my help and my deliverer; O Lord, make no tarrying.” (Psalms 70:5)

The Beatitudes are the seven (Luke) or eight (Matthew and Nephi) blessings that Christ recounted at the beginning of the Sermon on the Mount. Although by parsing the syllables we get “be-attitudes”, which seems appropriate, the word has its origin in the Latin “beati” which means “happy, rich, blessed“. The original Greek word used by the authors of Matthew and Luke means the same thing. Truly you are happy and rich if you attain the stations

In Matthew and Luke, Jesus teaches the beatitudes to His close disciples and not to the multitudes that had followed Him into the hills. To me that evidences the fact that the beatitudes were meant for a group of people that were better prepared to hear and somewhat understood the mystery of the sayings. In the Book of Mormon version, the beatitudes were taught to a special group of people who had survived the destructions in America because they were more righteous. I think this indicates the specialness of these teachings; that they have a hidden meaning. You will discover, as we explore these unique sayings further, that the beatitudes outline the process of becoming sanctified. In the Sermon on the Mount, Christ outlines the progression of becoming sanctified. Mathew records:

“And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain: and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: And he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying,”  (Mathew 5:1-2)Nephi begins his narrative of the Sermon on the Mount with more of a preamble (3 Nephi 12) than we get in Matthew. He writes that the Lord gave the Twelve power and authority to baptize by water and then speaks directly about those who are there with him in Bountiful: “…blessed are ye if ye shall believe in me and be baptized, after that ye have seen me and know that I am.” But, Christ declares, “more blessed are they who shall believe in your words…Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins. Yea…” (He then delivers the beatitudes)

What is it about hearing the words of Christ from some other person, rather than from the Lord Himself, that is “more blessed”? How can you be more blessed then the people in Bountiful? It suited the Lord’s purpose to appear and teach thousands of people at the temple site in Bountiful, even though they were not entirely prepared. The fact that they were not fully ready for that meeting is perhaps demonstrated by his words recorded in 3 Nephi 17:2: “I perceive that ye are weak, that ye cannot understand all my words which I am commanded of the Father to speak unto you at this time.” After all, they were only spared the destruction, and given audience to Christ, because they were more righteous than those who were destroyed, which on the whole may not be saying much (3 Nephi 9:13). Perhaps the people as a whole, the ones spared from the destruction, were more righteous, more prepared than what exists today in our society. If the Lord were to appear openly to some great city in America, there would be all kinds of people, both wicked and more righteous in the crowd. If Christ had a hard time getting the righteous in Bountiful to understand His teachings, how hard would it be for him to teach the people in any big city in America, or anywhere for that matter?

There is an alternative explanation that all those who were present in Bountiful to see and touch the Savior and be taught by Him were prepared beforehand. They had been baptised both by water and by the spirit; receiving the baptism of fire in the year between the destructions in America and His appearance at the temple in Bountiful. Perhaps that is why the Lord waited one year after His resurrection to appear to them. This allowed them time to repent and be taught by Nephi and other righteous priests, thus preparing them to witness the resurrected Lord coming down from heaven.

The difference between hearing the Word and seeing the Word is that one method requires more faith. To suddenly have the Lord appear to you leaves little or no doubt. We tend not to doubt what we see with our own eyes, but to hear truth, either by testimony from another person or reading it, is something altogether different. When you experience being taught truth or knowledge, the spirit in you recognizes it and testifies to you that what you are experiencing is light and truth. It is easy, however, to disregard that testimony because it is not tangible and can easily be rationalized away. Most of us will not get to experience Christ appearing to us suddenly without attaining a certain spiritual intelligence allowing such an encounter. I think being spiritually prepared to meet the Savior is what the Beatitudes are all about.

After telling the saints in Bountiful that it is more blessed to hear the word as testimony from another (3 Nephi 3:2) , the Lord elaborates on the process required of a person- from the hearing of the word to entering the kingdom of heaven. The beatitudes is the process that one must undertake to meet the Savior and enter the kingdom.

Christ lists eight steps outlining the syllabus for attaining salvation. They are the “what” to obtain salvation. The rest of the Sermon on the Mount recounted by Matthew and Luke and the teachings given to the Nephites in 3rd Nephi chapters 12 through 18 are the “how” and “why”. I will be exploring in the next several blog entries just what those eight steps could really mean, and what may be required to enter the presence of Christ and obtain salvation.

God Bless.

There is a belief among many American Protestant Christians that all born again Christians will be caught up into heaven before the seven year period of tribulation that proceeds Christ’s second coming. The Lord will do this to save them from having to suffer the degradations and trials that will come upon the inhabitants of the earth at that time. The sequence of events goes something like this:

• Christ will secretly gather the righteous Christians and take them up into heaven to save them from the destruction that comes after.
• Next comes seven years of tribulation and destruction in which the wicked will suffer terrible trials.
• At the end of the seven years Christ will come in glory and a second rapture will happen for the few righteous individuals who have repented.
• All of the wicked will be destroyed,the judgement takes place, and the millennium commences.

None of this is scriptural, but that doesn’t stop millions of Protestant Christians from believing that they will be raptured and not have to endure the tribulation that will come in the last days. Some of the scriptures that are used to teach this principle are: 1st Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1st Corinthians 15:50-54; and Matthew 24:37-42. If you read these verses it will be evident to you that it is quite a stretch to link these verses to proof of a rapture. It is really nothing more then a modern fairy tale, pleasing to the mind to sooth the anxiety of Christians concerned about biblical prophecy expected to unfold in our lifetime. The extremely popular “Left Behind” series of books published in the 1990’s popularized this fable. There were also several movies made based on the books.

The rapture is largely an American fable which plays on the notion that the Lord blesses his elect with prosperity. Protestant teachers and pastors are busy motivating their congregations with news that Christ wants them to succeed, to be rich. “God is glorified when you are successful“, declares Joel Osteen. Good Christians will not have to suffer tribulation because God loves you above the others. You are special. He will save you from suffering when the time comes. All is well. Evidence to the believer are the great blessings and riches that this country enjoys above all others on the earth. Even the poorest families in America live a standard of living that is better than 90% of the people on the earth.

Never mind that thousands of Christians are being persecuted and being killed in the middle east, Africa, China, India and Indonesia. Just this month here are a few headlines that you don’t see on the front pages on newspapers or headlining on-line news feeds.

• “100 Christians snatched in Overnight Raids on Underground Chinese Church.”

• “Remains of 34 Christians Slaughtered by Islamic State found in mass grave in Libya”

• “The persecution and genocide of Christians across the world is worse today than at any time in History, according to “Aid to Church in Need” (Catholic Organization)

• “Christians all but eradicated in Syria”

• “Christian Genocide in Nigeria”

• “Christian Churches burned in Egypt”

Why aren’t the Christians in these countries being raptured? Are they not as righteous as the Christians in America? The logic of this escapes my understanding. How can good Christians, that understand and read the Bible, believe they will somehow be immune to the persecution and tribulations that will come; that God will save them, but ignores the plight of humble Christians in Syria or Egypt who are being slaughtered daily (Romans 8:36)? Never mind the dozens of scriptures that attest to the idea that the tribulation will be experienced by the God’s chosen and elect. (1 Peter 4:12-13, 17; 2 Timothy 3:12; Mathew 5:10-12; Job 23:10; 1 Peter 1:7,18; Malachi 3:3)

Believing in a rapture is a snare, a trap that will come upon the believer and leave them fully exposed and naked without protection against the terrific trials that are coming to America. When Christians are persecuted and hunted down by mobs in this country, they will realize there is no rapture. God will not save them. They will then know that the pastors lied to them and they will reject God. They will reject everything they formerly believed and been taught about Christ, God and the Bible.

Mormons are susceptible to a similar trap that makes them just as vulnerable. Many of their testimonies hinge largely on the doctrine of “Follow the Prophets”. Modern 21st century LDS doctrine follows along these lines: “our security is to listen to and follow the direction of his prophet, the President of the Church.”[1]

“I think there is one thing which we should have exceedingly clear in our minds. Neither the President of the Church, nor the First Presidency, nor the united voice of the First Presidency and the Twelve will ever lead the Saints astray or send forth counsel to the world that is contrary to the mind and will of the Lord.” [2]

Mormon culture teaches from primary children age to adulthood that they must follow the prophet implicitly. They believe the president of the church and general authorities are led by Christ personally, and so members of the church must do what they are counseled to do if they are to be saved in the kingdom of God. Individuals can access the word of God on their own, but in Mormon culture, the word of the prophet always trumps any spiritual communication they may receive.

This doctrine is a trap to Mormons. The time will come when the church comes under great persecution. The expectations and promises made by their presidents and prophets will fail and there will be a mass exodus from the church. That exodus, in fact, has already begun. In the era of free information and a forced openness, many members are finding that the church authorities have not been entirely truthful in many areas. There has been a conspiracy in the leadership of the church from the time of Brigham Young to hide the truth of its history from the general church membership. It doesn’t matter that their motivation was to hide the truth in order to protect people’s testimonies, it matters that they can not be trusted to always tell the truth. An event or sequence of events will come about that will cause the body of the active church membership to realize that their church leadership is not trustworthy to protect them or to lead them.

There have been a lot of dreams and prophecies concerning the future of the Salt Lake Valley. Some seem more credible than others. I am reminded of one dream that someone reported several years ago where they saw a terrible destruction that took place in the valley sometime in the future. The whole valley is lifted up into the air, turned upside down, and crashed back on to the floor of the valley. In the aftermath a smooth plain of dirt and rock replaced where the great city of Salt Lake City used to be. But the person who reported this dream said the dream was not to be taken literally. The interpretation goes something like this: “The dream is symbolic. Something will happen, an event so shocking to the members of the LDS Church that the church will experience active members leaving in droves” (the turning of things “upside down”). The archetype of that dream is reflected by Isaiah (24:1):

Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty, and maketh it waste, and turneth it upside down, and scattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof.

Boyd K Packer speaking to the Church’s educators said in 1981, “Your objective should be that they will see the hand of the Lord in every hour and every moment of the Church from its beginning till now.” [3] What happens when the students discover that this isn’t true? What will the backlash be when members come to the realization that if the leaders are not completely truthful, the church is false. And if the church is false, there is no God. This is because the common belief among Mormons is this: “if the Church isn’t true nothing else is”. It can be shown that most active LDS members who leave the church, because they discovered the truth about Church History, or some other doctrinal issue, do not join another church but become agnostic or atheist.

The doctrine of the infallibility of the leaders of the LDS Church, or any church, is a great stumbling block to many, and will yet prove to create great harm to the faith of many in Christ. That is why we must, like the wise virgins, fill our lamps with oil. The oil represents the Holy Spirit and our ability to be lead by the spirit, and not put trust solely in men who are “they that sell“( mentioned in the parable Mathew 11:15).

“And at that day when I shall come in my Glory, shall the parable be fulfilled which I spoke concerning the ten virgins, for they that are wise and have received the Truth, and have taken the Holy Spirit for their guide [not a man or even a prophet] and have not been deceived, verily I say unto you, They shall not be hewn down and cast into the fire, but shall abide the day, and the earth shall be given unto them for an inheritance.”  (D&C 31:12)

Fellowships and churches share in this flaw. People look to a prophet, a pastor, a bishop, or someone they believe has a direct connection to Heaven. They tend to put their trust in that person exclusively to obtain instruction from Heaven. I have heard people say, ” I don’t feel comfortable with that concept because “so and so” hasn’t said anything about it.” or “I don’t believe that because “so and so” said something otherwise.” They have abrogated their privilege to ask the Lord to reveal truth to them personally. The 5 foolish virgins likewise have abrogated their privilege and put their trust in the merchants. It is good to trust people we look up to, but as the diplomats say, “Trust but verify!”

When the call comes from the Lord to establish Zion, it will not come from the pulpit nor from any man. If you do not have a personal relationship with Christ and know His voice, you will not hear the call. If your source of truth is the Holy Spirit, you will not fall victim to the rapture or “follow the prophet” deceptions.

[1] James E. Faust, “These I will Make My Leaders, Gen Conference April 1980.

[2] (“Eternal Keys and the Right to Preside,” Ensign, July 1972, p. 88.)

[3] Boyd K. Packer, “The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect,” Address to the Fifth Annual CES Religious Educators’ Symposium, 1981