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If you are old enough, like me, you might remember a commercial in 1984 that Wendy’s Hamburgers aired on television. There is a trio of older women standing at a counter of a drive-in hamburger place. They look at a big bun and comment on how big it is, but, when they take off the top bun there is a tiny patty of hamburger. One of the women yells, “Where’s the Beef?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=riH5EsGcmTw

One of the tell tale marks of the believers of Christ is that signs will follow them. If you are a sincere person seeking to find a community of believers that the Lord has blessed with the gifts of the spirit, I would think one of the questions you would want to ask yourself is, “Where is the Beef?” Where are the signs that this group of followers has the Lord’s blessing?

And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them: they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover. (Mark 16:17-18)

If you have accepted the new covenant offered by the Lord in 2017 (See http://scriptures.info/scriptures/tc/section/158) you know that the Lord is again very active in the world. Light and knowledge is being poured out upon the earth as it was through Joseph Smith 180 years ago.  I wonder, though, if we are paying enough attention to living it- practicing the principles contained in the words of the covenant itself.  The covenant contains a number of promises that are dependent upon the behavior of the covenant holders.

“It is not enough to receive my covenant, but you must also abide it. And all who abide it, whether on this land or any other land, will be mine, and I will watch over them and protect them in the day of harvest, and gather them in as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings. I will number you among the remnant of Jacob, no longer outcasts, and you will inherit the promises of Israel. You will be my people and I will be your God, and the sword will not devour you. And unto those who will receive will more be given, until they know the mysteries of God in full.” (T&C 157:48)

A number of people I have spoken with have asked, “Since we have become a covenant people, where are the signs that are supposed to accompany a covenant people?” Where are the gifts of the spirit being manifest? Why don’t we see miracles happening amongst us? Why aren’t people healed miraculously from serious diseases and life threatening malady’s?

What do the scriptures say about recognizing a covenant or righteous people?  It seems that miracles and gifts of the spirit are one of the sure signs of a covenant people. Mormon talks about the miracles that were prevalent among the covenant people in the Book of Mormon:

“God knoweth their prayers, that they were on behalf of their brethren.  And He knoweth their faith, for in his name could they remove mountains; and in his name could they cause the earth to shake; and by the power of his word did they cause prisons to tumble to the earth, yea even fiery furnace could not harm them neither wild beasts nor poisonous serpents, because of the power of his word”. (Mormon 8:24)

“And these signs shall follow them that believe—in my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; they shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick and they shall recover.” (Mormon 9:24)

The Lord describes to Joseph Smith the signs that follow those who believe and are baptized, which words are recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants:

“And these signs shall follow them that believe: in my name they shall do many wonderful works, in my name they shall cast out devils, in my name they shall heal the sick, in my name they shall open the eyes of the blind and unstop the ears of the deaf, and the tongue of the dumb shall speak, and if any man shall administer poison unto them, it shall not hurt them, and the poison of a serpent shall not have power to harm them. But a commandment I give unto them that they shall not boast themselves of these things, neither speak them before the world, for these things are given unto you for your profit and for salvation.” (D&C 84:66-72; T&C 82:22)

If we are a covenant people, having received and accepted the New Covenant offered in Boise, Idaho in September 2017, where are the signs that accompany a covenant people?  Where are the miraculous healings, the raising of the dead, and the angels walking among us?

I maintain that there miraculous things are happening all around us, and healings are taking place, but, many are not aware of them taking place. Why? First, people who experience miracles are sometimes reluctant to talk about it for several reasons: fear of being judged, fear of casting pearls, not wanting to share thinking they are not supposed to talk about it, or perhaps they were given specific instruction not to discuss it. Second, people may not be prepared to experience them, are not exercising sufficient faith, or are seeking them for the wrong reasons.

Seeking Signs

The Lord warns about sign seekers and declares: An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: (Matthew 12:39). One of the fears we face sharing miraculous events is that it attracts sign seekers, which is one reason why people don’t share personal experiences. I believe, however, that the warning is regarding a certain class or category of sign seekers. The warning is more about being careful when sharing spiritual experiences with the world.

And he that seeks signs shall see signs, but not unto salvation. Verily I say unto you, There are those among you who seek signs, and there have been such even from the beginning. But behold, faith comes not by signs, but signs follow those that believe. Yea, signs come by faith, not by the will of men nor as they please, but by the will of God. Yea, signs come by faith unto mighty works, for without faith no man pleases God. And with whom God is angry, he is not well pleased, wherefore, unto such he shows no signs, only in wrath unto their condemnation. Wherefore, I the Lord am not pleased with those among you who have sought after signs and wonders, and not for faith, and not for the good of men unto my glory. (D&C 63:7-12; T&C 50:3)

For verily I say unto you, they are given for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so to do; that all may be benefited that seek or that ask of me, that ask and not for a sign that they may consume it upon their lusts. (D&C 46:9)

In these last two verses the Lord differentiates between those who seek signs because of lust and those sincere and righteous individuals who seek to do the Lord’s will. If gifts of the spirit are given to benefit the saints and encourage them, it is right that we expect those gifts to be present among us. And if those gifts are present we can have assurance the Lord is working miracles within a group of covenant holders. In contrast to the belief that we should never seek for signs, the Lord only admonished not to share miracles and spiritual gifts with the world. There are those who say “If you tell about miraculous events that you experience you are only attracting the wrong kind of people.” So they keep to themselves accounts of miraculous outpourings of the spirit. Personally, I don’t believe that was what was meant in the Lord’s caution about sign seekers. Sharing miraculous accounts with people having the same spiritual orientation will benefit the group and strengthen faith. If your motivation is to get people’s attention through amazing stories and experiences, then yes, you will attract a certain sort of people, but, even then, like casting a net where all kinds of fish are caught, you will also get a few sincere people to investigate. My purpose in relating a few spiritual experiences is to teach that the Lord is active and the gifts of the spirit and miracles are manifest among us. So yes, you can look for the gifts of the spirit to be manifest and, in fact, expect them without “seeking” to consume them on your lusts.

Was it wrong for Gideon to ask for a sign that the Lord really was giving him a mission to lead the Israelites against the Midianites? Gideon was new at receiving revelation from the Lord, he only wanted assurances that it truly was the Lord speaking to him–a righteous desire. On the other hand, it was wicked for the Pharisees to ask a sign from the Lord, because their hearts were wicked and set on the prideful things of the world. They had no intention of following Christ under any circumstances, they only wanted to see a magic show.

What does it mean to consume them on your lusts? The dictionary defines lust as any overwhelming desire or craving. I look at it this way, lusting after miraculous events and spiritual experiences is an ego thing. Your ego thinks that you are special and your involvement in miraculous experiences feeds that pride. At least that is what sometimes drives the urge to experience it. But because that urge is driven by ego, once you have seen a miracle, if your heart is not pure, you will experience one of several negative responses. You may later deny the event you saw was miraculous because your heart is firmly set on the things of the world; the world can’t explain a miracle except to say it was a coincidence or there is a logical explanation for it somewhere. Or, your pride will be puffed up and the lack of humility will cause you to judge the participants of the miracle as beneath contempt, because you deem them to be lessor souls than yourself. These are the true signs of an adulterous generation. But if your heart is in the right place, your experiencing of a miracle will increase faith and strengthen your (and other’s) connection to heaven.

It is right that we not “seek” for miracles to consume on our lusts, but as fledgling spiritual beings, it is right that we look for miracles and spiritual gifts to accompany righteous teachers and covenant holders. This is one way of helping us to identify that the Lord is working with a people. We are also commanded to “seek earnestly the best gifts” (1 Corinthians 12:31). As we mature in our knowledge of spiritual things, miracles will become commonplace and we will experience spiritual gifts on a daily basis.

Another reason people may not share personal experiences is a fear that others may look at them as showing off or being ego driven to speak of miracles they have experienced. With my own fear that others may think that of me, I will share an experience I had with the spirit. While praying and being told to share a certain miraculous event I experienced, I expressed to the Lord a fear that others may think unkindly of my sharing – that my sharing would be misconstrued as being ego driven. I was rebuked with these words, “Get over it, deal with it.”

If, perhaps, you desire to obtain the gifts of the spirit but are not experiencing them, at least to the degree you think you should, you may want to look deeper into your motives for experiencing them. I have caught myself at times wanting to talk of spiritual experiences for the wrong reasons. If I am not careful, the spirit withdraws, which it has on those occasions to my sorrow. Another reason we don’t experience them to the degree we desire is that we are not paying the price. I will talk more about that in a later post.

In conclusion, it is right to expect miracles and spiritual gifts. The Lord commands us to seek them, and then when they happen we are urged to share with the faithful so that they might be edified and their faith strengthened.

In 1517 Martin Luther nailed 95 thesis on the doors of the All Saints Church in Wittenburg disputing the Catholic Church’s practice of selling indulgences. Indulgences were certificates that you could purchase from the church which absolved a deceased relative from sin, shortening or ending their stay in purgatory. Huge amounts of money were collected from all over Europe in this way. The Cardinals and Bishops of the Church lived lavishly on the collections of offerings and indulgences. Extravagant and expensive cathedrals were also financed from the collection of these funds. The opposition of Martin Luther became the spearhead of the Protestant movement, as the sale of indulgences was grievous to not only the common man but also to the royalty in the German Duchy’s who saw much of the wealth of their kingdoms siphoned away to the church.

There is a lot of similarity with the money raising practices of the Catholic Church in the 16th Century and American Churches today, including the Mormon Church. Almost all of them promise heavenly blessings to those who pay. No church is more wealthy then the Mormon Church in America, at least in terms of per capita donations, some estimated 10 to 11 billion dollars collected in 2018{1}and has assets worth many times that amount in real estate, securities and bonds, apartment buildings, commercial buildings, and retail malls and stores. The Mormon Church’s current practice of encouraging tithing from its members amounts to religious extortion by promising not only individuals and families, but, also their deceased family members eternal life. It is not that different from the Catholic Church’s sale of indulgences in the 16th Century, maybe a little more sophisticated and subtle. To obtain eternal life in the Mormon Church you have to pay tithing which entitles you to go to the temple. There you experience a ceremony enabling you to enter heaven after you die. By continuing to pay tithing you can also perform ceremonies that allow deceased family members and ancestors into heaven. This practice is just one of the 65 issues I have with the Mormon Church. I believe it has lost the priesthood power and authority it once possessed from heaven.

My 65 Thesis

Occasionally I get asked why I don’t attend the LDS church anymore. When I am asked that question I have to think a minute to come up with a quick reply that isn’t long winded. I usually come up with something inadequate. I decided that I need to be better prepared, I need to create an elevator speech. Once I have that I can be ready when the question comes up and hopefully I will be able to tailor my speech to match the situation and the person.

As I delved into my journal and the scriptures to compile the major issues I have encountered, I kept getting side tracked finding even more reasons for why I stopped attending. These are all non-trivial reasons, any one of which would cause any reasonable truth seeking person to stop and want to investigate. So far I have found 65 reasons why I no longer worship with the Mormon Church.

Now to be truthfully fair, there is a good rationale to continue to attend the Mormon Church. Reasons such as associating with good people, having opportunities of learning, great programs for the youth, learning how to live a moral and principled life of service, and many others. Had I not grown up in the Mormon Church I would not be the person I am, nor have been exposed to the degree of light and knowledge I was able to obtain during my association with the church. The things I learned while being an active member of the church are priceless, but it is time to move on, time to build on top of the principles that the Mormon Church has taught me.

Also, I think it is important to understand that my beef is with the current church doctrines and practices. I believe, and have received evidences, that the founding of the Mormon Church was inspired by God, and that Joseph Smith was exactly what he presented himself to be, a prophet, seer, and revelator. But soon after he was murdered, the church took a wrong turn. This is mainly what my 65 issues explain.

It comes down to this: The Mormon church has hedged up the way and blocked any further advancement on the path to knowing God and attaining exaltation. They do this by insisting that the prophet has all the answers and by following him you will get to heaven. This is a purely 20th Century development. Why is this wrong? Because by giving allegiance to a hierarchy of men or a man, it is not always possible to follow God, to put it bluntly. A church will always put limits on what a person should believe. Christ is the one you should be depending on, not a man. You need to develop a personal relationship with Him, which the church curiously discourages.{2} Having a relationship with Christ and seeking revelation directly from Him is what the Doctrine and Covenants teaches in Section 93 and in the Book of Mormon, “The words of Christ will tell you all the things you should do.” (2 Nephi 32:3). But the church insists that the only way you can be sure of receiving pure knowledge and doctrine from God is to listen to the men that run the church.

All that being said, I decided not to publish my list of 65 plus reasons for not attending the LDS church anymore. Much has already been written about these same issues, and it only serves to highlight the negative aspects of a church that does much good. No matter the aims and intentions of the men at the center of power in the church there are good people and good service being performed by the members. While it is important that members of the church be aware that there are many problems with the facade the church takes great pains to preserve, I don’t feel comfortable listing all the blemishes, warts, and scars in one place. I will, however, reserve the right to point out problems in specific cases that are in opposition to scriptures on subjects I am writing about. There are many other sources, books, web sites, and blogs that lay out all the problems in great detail. I would rather point out the benefits of following Christ.

I chose to go beyond the finger pointing, the accusations, and the incriminations and let others take that role. I want to move on, talk about the wonderful possibilities that acceptance of the New and everlasting covenant has to offer if we live by its promises. The Lord promises significant blessings to those who follow Christ. Miracles, spiritual gifts, raising of the dead, healings, and protections all follow the honest and true followers of Christ. I want to concentrate on those things. I will be doing a series of blog entries on the Gifts of the Spirit. I will start by discussing the gift of discernment.

I really do have a list of 65 issues that I have written down and researched, and the list keeps growing. I suppose if I get to 95 reasons for not attending the Mormon Church I will post them on the doors of the temple in Salt Lake City.

—————————————————————————————————————- Notes {1} Quoted on Wikipedia entry, “Finances of the LDS Church” Ostling, Richard and Joan. Mormon America. pp. 395–400. In 2002 it was estimated the Church took in $5 Billion dollars in tithing receipts. By 2018 I estimate tithing receipts alone are at least $10 Billion. The church also has several billing dollars in investments in securities and bonds. In the year that tithing receipts are received, they are invested and interest is earned for two years before the money collected is used to pay for churches liabilities.

{2} See Bruce R McConkie’s BYU Devotional talk, October 1981; Apostle McConkie railed against the notion of developing a personal relationship with Christ, and publicly denounced George W. Pace and his book, What it Means to Know Christ. He said, “…here are yet others who have an excessive zeal which causes them to go beyond the mark. Their desire for excellence is inordinate. In an effort to be truer than true they devote themselves to gaining a special personal relationship with Christ that is both improper and perilous. I say perilous because this course, particularly in the lives of some who are spiritually immature, is a gospel hobby which creates an unwholesome holier-than-thou attitude.“

Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted the prophets which were before you. (Mathew 5:10-12)

As with all the previous Beatitudes, following and receiving the accompanying promise leads a person to want to experience the next Beatitude. In the case of those persecuted for righteousness’ sake, they are lead to this point after becoming peacemakers. It is the natural order of progression leading to persecution and obtaining the kingdom of heaven. The first beatitude is for the poor in spirit and its blessing is to be given the kingdom of heaven, which is the same blessing given to those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake. The first blessing is a promise of reward and the last is the fulfillment of the promise.

Living and sharing the gospel of Christ, which you really haven’t fully understood until you become pure in heart and “seen God”, will always bring persecution because the principles you live and teach are looked upon as aberrations by the world. Christ taught that if the world hates Him they will hate His disciples. People will reject your message because of ignorance and a lack of any desire to really know the truth. Religious people will reject your message because it does not support their understanding of God and do not want to rock the boat. Very religious people will not only reject your message, but will persecute you, denigrate your reputation, and have you punished for blasphemy. Priests who consider themselves defenders of the faith, will believe it appropriate and necessary to excise the “peacemaker” from society. At a minimum it will consist of excommunication, isolation, and making him look ridiculous. If they have the power and the law lets them, they will inflict worse. This is necessary, in their minds, to protect the church from contamination. But their zeal is really a covering for their lack of confidence in what they teach. They will vehemently deny there is any uncertainty in their minds, but it is there lying below the surface of their conscious minds where they have shoved it so it doesn’t bother them any more.

As a peacemaker you must expect to experience opposition and downright persecution. In fact, one of the signs that you are teaching the Doctrine of Christ is that you will be persecuted. If you follow Christ you should expect that you will be treated the same way Christ and His apostles were. Christ experienced the full wrath of the authorities because they felt threatened by His message. If they had honestly investigated the claims that Jesus had declared and the miracles that occurred they would have been forced to admit that He was the Messiah. Instead, they utterly refused to investigate and acknowledge that He was a prophet let alone the Messiah. The Peacemaker today finds himself in the same position; threatened with ostracism and excommunication. Thankfully in this country you cannot be sentenced to death. Unfortunately, however, in some cultures death is allowed as punishment for teaching the Doctrines of Christ.

Why does the Lord allow such extreme measures taken against the faithful and the righteous? I believe there are five main reasons:

• First, the truth has to come to light and people be given a chance to repent. In Lecture Second, in the Lectures on Faith, Joseph Smith lays out the argument that a knowledge of God is necessary for all men to begin to understand what is expected of them. The idea that God exists comes initially from the testimony of men.
• Second, A testimony of the wickedness of souls has to be obtained. Those souls who perpetrate crimes in the name of religion must be made aware of their gross violation of the second great commandment, to love your neighbor as yourself. This terrible realization that will come to them on the day of judgement will actually help them to progress.
• The third reason is to create a milieu or environment on the earth where souls can be tested to the uttermost whether they will follow Christ or the world.
• The fourth reason is that persecution is one of the signs that truth and light is being taught. Being persecuted doesn’t always mean that correct doctrine is being taught, but the absence of persecution means that the world is not opposed and therefore suspect.
• The fifth reason is to give experience to the righteous peacemakers; experience that will prepare them for advancement in the kingdom of Heaven. They are being taught patience, compassion, forgiveness, and faith among others. This is the kind of experience that cannot be gained anywhere else under any other circumstances. The experience also becomes a complete syllabus on the word “hope”. It is in the crucible of persecution that one learns the meaning of hope.
• There may even be a sixth reason. In the Testimony of St. John, The Savior tells Peter, “In the name of Father Ahman I tell you, when you were progressing, you dressed yourself, and went where you chose to go; but as you approach the end of the path, you will have to let others stretch out your hands and likewise nail you, even if you plead to have the bitter cup removed. This He said to foretell the sacrificial death that is required for endless glory. And then He added, You must follow after me.” (Verse 18). It may be required of you to suffer extreme persecution, perhaps an ultimate sacrifice, to obtain the Kingdom of Heaven. At any rate, you must have proven that you will sacrifice all things, endure all things, to seal your faith.

When the Lord says to “Rejoice and be glad” he is not just using poetic language or metaphor. It is a great blessing to be persecuted and to be able to come through the experience with your integrity unbroken. By doing so you have proved that your faith is stronger then the bonds of death. You are trustworthy in all things and you can expect that the Lord will entrust you with greater things. You are worthy of exaltation and eternal lives.

The Beatitudes – In conclusion.

The beatitudes are a road map that the Lord has given us to follow Him and enter the kingdom of Heaven. His whole life is a sermon on how to do that. The Seventh Lecture in the Lectures on Faith, asks, “Where shall we find a prototype into whose likeness we may be assimilated, in order that we may be made partakers of life and salvation? …..for if we can find a saved being, we may ascertain without much difficulty what all others must be in order to be saved….It is Christ…” (Paragraph 9)

The Lectures on Faith goes on to explain that any person who desires eternal life and salvation must be precisely like Jesus. How can we do that? He was a perfect man, and we are so far from that mark, how could we ever become precisely like Him to gain eternal life? The beatitudes is the program whereby we are changed so that we qualify. You cannot do it yourself, but if you follow the steps that Christ gives us, follow the path He lived as an example for us, we will be transformed by the Holy Spirit.

In this journey we cannot see the final goal. We only have faith that it is there. Paul says we can’t even imagine what the Lord has in store for us. We only know that something better awaits us if we stay the path. We can only see small segments of the path and glimpses of what we are striving for. Usually we only see the segment we happen to be on. This is because much of the journey requires a great deal of sacrifice; if we knew what was required before a sacrifice is asked of us, we may lose heart and become discouraged long before we get to that point.

The Lord’s syllabus is a perfect one for us. First we become poor in spirit, then we mourn, then we are led to become meek, and so on. Each step requires tremendous work, experience and study to master, but the blessings are tailored specifically to help with the next steps. There really are no short cuts, each lesson is required to be fully tested before being able to fully engage the next one. It is true that there are overlaps, and the fulfillment of one promised blessing may coincide with another, but the eight beatitudes spell out specific objectives and blessings. For instance, as I have explained earlier, becoming poor in spirit is recognizing you don’t have God in your life and you begin to exercise faith. Mourning is repenting and turning towards God. The great blessing of receiving comfort is knowing that your sins are forgiven you. Hungering and thirsting after righteousness and being filled is receiving the Holy Ghost; the baptism of fire or being born again. The pure in heart receive a literal audience with God in this life. Each beatitude marks a specific event, ordinance, or marker that is obtained by the true follower of Christ on the path to exaltation in this life.

“When you climb up a ladder, you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the Gospel–you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p.348)

The beatitudes can also serve as a yardstick to help determine areas of growth we need to concentrate. Do we desire mercy, relief from difficult worldly demands, or suffer from the consequences of sin or bad decisions? The Lord promises us mercy if we are ourselves merciful. Do you wonder why you have not seen God, or received an audience with the Lord as others have reported having? The Lord tells us it is probably because you are not sufficiently pure in heart (Matt. 5:8). Your heart is holding on to some aspects of pride, judgement, or worldliness. It has been my testimony that if you want to know what is holding you back, and it is sometimes very difficult to see error in ourselves, ask the Lord. He will tell you, if you are ready to listen and accept what He has to tell you.

God bless you on your journey.

The Devil was piqued such saintship to behold, And longed to tempt him like good Job of old: But Satan now is wiser than of yore, And tempts by making rich, not making poor. —Alexander Pope, Moral Essay III

Things are going very well in Disneyland. The CEO of Disney, Bob Eisner, made $63 million dollars in salary in 2018. That salary was actually reduced by $10 million dollars because the stockholders voted against giving him that big of compensation. I don’t doubt that Bob Eisner is worth that to the stockholders of Disney and to the board who voted him that salary, but, $63 million turns out to be 1,424 times the median salary of the 200,000 employees of Disney. His compensation totals the pay of 9,284 Disneyland workers. Does that seem a little excessive to you? Some argue, to justify the large salary, that if he gave all of his salary to those 200,000 employees it would only increase their yearly salary by $315. Maybe so. Abigail Disney, grand niece of Walt Disney, counters by saying that paying huge bonuses to Bob Eisner sends a terrible message to all the Disney employees who are struggling to make ends meet. She says the message it transmits is “Corrosive”.

I suggest to you the widening gap between top salaries and unskilled workers is a sign of our times. You have all heard of the robber barons and industrialists of the late 19th century like Carnegie, Rockefeller, Frick, J.P. Morgan, Vanderbilt and others who extorted fabulous wealth on the backs of workers. Living extravagant lives while their employees lived in deplorable conditions. Great labor unrest and the intervention of the government in the early years of the 20th century helped to close the gap and improve conditions dramatically for the blue collar worker. But, it seems, the days of the robber barons are back. The industrialists of late 19th and early 20th centuries have become the technocrats of our generation.

Now, I don’t really want this to be about how we take away from the rich and give to the poor. Bob Eisner is probably a good guy, right? He pays his taxes, gives lavishly to the poor, and is honest and full of integrity to a fault–I will give him the benefit of the doubt. I do know that Eisner was a big reason for the success of Disney over the last 10 years or so; he has made stock holders a lot of money and to them he is well worth the bonuses he has been paid.

I want to use his example to point out what is happening to our society, and the slippery slope we are careening headlong into. At $15 an hour, which is now the starting pay for most unskilled workers at Disney, an employee cannot make a living wage in southern California. $15 an hour is one the highest paying minimum wages in the country, and yet, no one can support a family on that.

A recent poll of Disney workers reveals the following:

1. 75% say they do not earn enough money to cover basic expenses every month.
2. More then 50% of Disney Resort employees are afraid of being evicted.
3. Two thirds (67%) are food insecure (don’t know where their next meal is coming from).
4. One half of workers live in over crowded apartments where more than one family shares a single or double bedroom.
5. 10% of workers have been homeless at one time.
6. Work at Disneyland is the primary source of income for 91% of workers, but full time employment is provided to only 54%.

Some might argue, “Why don’t they just leave and get a higher paying job?” First of all, Disney is one of the highest paying employers in the region. The median minimum pay in So. Cal. is $13.23 per hour. So, leaving Disney to work at a lower paying company isn’t really an option. Erratic work schedules at Disney also means it is almost impossible to find a second job. Most of these workers are trapped, there is really no other option for them. And what is really wrong about this is that Disney Corporation knows their employees have no better option, and is able to manipulate the situation to make larger profits.

I mentioned that Bob Eisner has been very successful at Disney. Stock price has almost doubled from $85 a share to $146 in five years. Revenue has doubled in ten years. Eisner was the key figure in acquiring several large acquisitions that have doubled Disney’s Market share. I’d say he has earned his bonuses. Like all successful CEO’s he has become a master at converting men’s (and women’s) lives into money. Other men’s lives, that is, into his money. There are no murders involved here as there was among the Gadiantons in the Book of Mormon, but there is the calculated plan to extort blood and sweat from people in order to gain the maximum profit. While Cain gloried in the murder of his brother, because he obtained his brother’s flocks through murder, the modern Master Mahan is more sophisticated. He knows how to convert men’s lives into money without shedding blood. And that is what is happening in corporate America. It is not about fairness, it is about how can the maximum amount of productivity be obtained for the least amount of expenditure. Squeezing the life of workers, because they can. And then squeeze the consumer to get as much money as they will pay. It is not about a fair wage for fair labor, or fair price for a fair product.

Our society has come to believe largely the same tenants and philosophy introduced by Nehor and Korihor in the Book of Mormon. Nehor philosophy became widely accepted by the Nephite and Lamanite societies and was embraced by the Gadianton Robbers in the last centuries of the Nephite nation before their destruction. The philosophy can be encapsulated in this passage:

“And many more such things did he say unto them, telling them that there could be no atonement made for the sins of men, but every man fared in this life according to the management of the creature; therefore every man prospered according to his genius, and that every man conquered according to his strength; and whatsoever a man did was no crime.” (Alma 30:17

Very few would ever admit to believing such a philosophy because we still pay lip service to American founding ideals based on Christian principles of fairness and principled work ethic. But Nehor philosophy is there, lurking behind the scenes whenever greed, avarice, and extreme selfishness hides behind the facade of good business practices. “It is just good business sense to pay the absolute least amount you can get away with to your employees. If they don’t like it, they can go somewhere else.”

Paying the CEO of Disney $63 Million is no crime. And on the face of it is the right thing to do if you are a stock holder who wants every advantage for the stock price to continue to go up. And we can argue that it is the best system going right now. Even the poorest American is better off than 80% of the world. But from a moral point of view, I think everyone would agree, there is something fundamentally wrong with this system. Ivan Boesky, famous for going to prison for criminal insider trading in the 1980’s wore a t-shirt that said, “He who dies with the most money wins.” Wins what exactly? What sort of prize does someone get for cheating and stealing their way to amassing a fortune? He also was famously quoted as saying, ” I think greed is healthy. You can be greedy and still feel good about yourself.”

Before the Industrialist Robber Barons there were the bankers, the land owners in England, Ireland, and France; the royalty; aristocrats; the financiers; and the warmongers. There have always been men who would stop at nothing to enrich themselves at the expense of the common man, serfs, and slaves. Laws have evolved over the centuries to make things more fair and to improve the standard of living among the lower classes. And for the most part they have succeeded in the Western world (Europe, United States and Canada, Australia and New Zealand). But there are always ways to get around the law, and very smart and enterprising people can develop schemes to “game” (cheat) the system. The Nehor system always works within the laws, usually because they create the laws, and if that doesn’t work, get really good lawyers (Alma 11:1-20).

In Zion, there will be no classes of people. There will be no poor, but not because poor people are barred from entering, but because all people will be poor together or rich together. The CEO will receive as much in wages as the ditch digger and garbage man. Somehow we have this idea in LDS lore, that the poor man is the way he is because of laziness and that only the industrious and hardworking will be allowed in Zion. But that is exactly the belief of the Zoramites in the Book of Mormon. They kicked out all the poor people and as a result suffered annihilation because the very people they despised were the reason the Lord held back the destructive impulses of the world.

Zion exists because the people of Zion have no egos. They have been able to shed the idea that any one person is more important than another. In fact, the whole society is built on the principle that their neighbor is as important and special, maybe more so, than themselves. If you live in Zion, your job is primarily be to look after the interests of your neighbor, your neighborhood, your city. You would give no thought to yourself and your well being, because your neighbor will be taking care of your needs. You will love your neighbor as yourself. How could you steal or cheat someone you love like that? When I served a mission in New Zealand, I had to be careful what I said. I couldn’t say, “I like your shirt” to the Polynesians because they would give it to me. I think Zion will be something like that.

So, my parting words to Bob Eisner are: “Congratulations, Bob, you have made it to the top rung of the ladder, but, you are on the wrong ladder.”

• 

“Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” (Mathew 5:9)

“All your strength is in your union All your danger is in discord Therefore be at peace henceforward, And as brothers live together.” – –Henry Wordsworth Longfellow

There are only two references in the scriptures to “peacemakers”, Matthew 5 and 3 Nephi 12. We can begin understanding what the Lord meant by this term by using the definition from any English dictionary for the word peacemaker, which is “any person who makes peace”, and the many references to “peace” in the scriptures. The world defines “peacemaker” as someone who steps in and stops a fight, or prevents one, perhaps as a statesman, diplomat, a Gandhi, or a Martin Luther King. Peace in the world’s understanding is absence of conflict, war. Two references to the name “Peacemaker” or “Peacekeeper” illustrate my point. The first is the Peacekeeper missile, or MX, built in the 1980’s and 90’s to carry ten 300 kiloton yield nuclear weapons. The second is the Colt 45 caliber Peacemaker revolver built in the late 1800’s. Both were instruments of war; the name “Peacemaker” or “Peacekeeper” having reference to enforcing peace by threatening extreme violence. The strategy of the US during the Cold War with the Soviet Union was fear, to make the threat of war so horrific and terrible that it would enforce peace.

In the way of the World’s thinking, peace is absence of war. But even in peacetime there is fear, anxiety, restlessness, jostlings, antipathy, animosity, hatred, and envying. Worldly peace comes at the cost of having to raise the economic prospects of one nation or people over the prosperity of another. Because of this, peace usually has to be maintained by force through unrighteous dominion engendering hatred and animosity. Peace and prosperity for some requires that other people suffer. Even in peace there are factions within nations and between races that prevent any peaceful feelings that might exist otherwise. Wordly peace always involves some discord, in contrast to God’s peace. ‘God is not the author of confusion, but of peace’ (Corinthians 14:33)

Peace in heaven’s dictionary is something more, much more. If worldly peace is absence of war, the peace of Christ is absence of conflict within ourselves. When we are at peace with ourselves, we are at peace with God. If we are at peace with God we are at peace with our fellow man and we have no basis for discord or animosity. “First keep the peace within yourself, then you can also bring peace to others.” (Thomas a’ Kempis, Imitation of Christ) The essence of this peace is described by Paul:

“to be spiritually minded is life and peace” (Romans 8:6) “the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace” (Galatians 5:22)

I am talking about the “peace that passeth understanding” (Philippians 4:7). In a previous posting I wrote about the pure in heart who have come to a point in their lives where they have no animosity towards anyone. Having seen God they now know their place in the scheme of things and their minds are at peace. As part of their spiritual maturity they are so full of light and truth that God grants to them the charity of Christ. Having exercised faith, and having obtained the hope of eternal life, which Christ promises to you when you receive your calling and election, they are now given some clarity on the true meaning of charity (1 Corinthians 13:13). True Christ-like charity really distills down, in one of its purest forms, to helping others obtain the same privileges that you have received. Helping others thereafter becomes a passion in the lives of those that have obtained redemption. The Sons of Mosiah are a great example of this. They “could not bear that any human soul should perish.” (Mosiah 28:3) When they met up with Alma the Younger years after leaving Nephite lands to preach to the Lamanites, Alma described that they experienced “incomprehensible joy” in bringing the souls of many to Christ. Joy is the very thing that Father in Heaven wants us to experience, and indeed, the very thing that defines the love of Christ fulfilled.

“And blessed are they who shall seek to bring forth my Zion at that day, for they shall have the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost; and if they endure unto the end they shall be lifted up at the last day, and shall be saved in the everlasting kingdom of the Lamb; and whoso shall publish peace, yea, tidings of great joy, how beautiful upon the mountains shall they be.” (1 Nephi 13:37)

I believe the Lord’s words through Nephi’s writing describe the peacemakers, the ones who publish peace; the peace the gospel of Christ brings to the soul. Publishing peace through testimony and gentle persuasion is what peacemakers do. Anyone can become a peacemaker, but, there is a special case of peacemaker, spoken of in the beatitudes, of someone who has become sanctified and redeemed. His or her mission becomes that of teacher, expounder, and testifier. This is how we take upon us the name of Christ. And having been given His name, we become His children. The following words spoken to Moses and Aaron by the Lord frame the spirit of how a peacemaker publishes peace.

“Speak unto Aaron and unto his sons, saying, On this wise ye shall bless the children of Israel, saying unto them, The Lord bless thee, and keep thee: The Lord make his face shine upon thee, and be gracious unto thee: the Lord lift up his countenance upon thee, and give thee peace. And they shall put my name upon the children of Israel: and I will bless them.” (Numbers 6: 23-27)

“Wherefore I say, Behold, I give unto him my covenant of peace: and he shall have it, and his seed after him, even the covenant of an everlasting priesthood; because he was zealous for his God,…” (Numbers 25:12-13)

I wonder if we really understand what Christ-like charity is. We think that giving money to a beggar, paying tithing, visiting the sick and the prisoners, volunteering at the food bank, sacrificing our time to help other people, etc., is the same as the charity that Paul describes in 1 Corinthians 13. What we think of as charity is only doing the basic minimum of what the Lord expects of us. Although this kind of charity is a good work that we do, we are only scratching the surface of what it means in the scriptural sense to have charity. Here is an example where peacemaking and charity are ultimately bound up in the same thing.

Hugh B. Brown, who was an apostle in the first presidency of the LDS church in the 1950’s and 60’s, tells a story of a Canadian Army Captain with whom he fought along side in France during the First World War. The Captain sent a squad of men from his company out on patrol in no-mans land between the lines of the British and the Germans at night to gain intelligence of the enemy’s disposition. During the patrol the men were discovered and fired upon by the enemy, and many of the men were killed. A few men escaped and were able to make it back to their lines, but the bodies of their comrades were left in no-man’s land. The Captain wrote letters to the families of the dead men telling them that their husbands or sons had been reported missing. The wife of one of the men wrote back that she could not bear not knowing whether her husband was dead or a prisoner. She had to know. The captain decided that he would go out into no-man’s land by himself at night and find the body of the woman’s husband. He was able to find the body and was able to report back to the woman that her husband was dead. In performing this act he became a peacemaker because the captain valued the grieving wife’s peace of mind more than his own life. Elder Brown reported that the man was wounded by a sniper while on his perilous mission to no man’s land and later died from his wound.

How much more valuable, more important is it to help a person obtain an eternal peace of mind? What is more valuable than obtaining eternal life? Along the way, the peacemaker can experience incomprehensible joy, which is not the motivation for being a peacemaker, but nevertheless is a consequence. Truly that person becomes a child of God, one who knows his Father and does his Father’s work.

The Lord is teaching us to be like Him. I think that if many people who have a notion of becoming like Christ, really understood what they would have to do, they would balk at the requirements. After all your whole job in existence, what really gives you satisfaction as a God, is to labor and work solely to bring about the happiness and joy of men. There is no ego involved and absolutely no self promotion or self aggrandizement. You do not do it because there is a reward somewhere in it for yourself. You do it out of a love that is incomprehensible to us right now. It is all about taking care of the needs and desires of others, even if they don’t deserve it. How many can endure that work? This is why I believe that one of the highest callings in the kingdom of Heaven, or anywhere else, is to be a peacemaker.

I am following the theme I established at the beginning of the series on the beatitudes, which is this: Christ was describing a step by step pathway to exaltation. It naturally follows that a person having obtained a pure heart and having seen God will also receive salvation and his or her Calling and Election. The “calling” part of Calling and Election is to be a peacemaker, to bring others to Christ. The next step in the process of following Christ is nothing more than the natural consequence of being a peacemaker; being persecuted. I will write about that in a follow on posting.

By disassociating from the name it is commonly known throughout the world, “Mormons”, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints has distanced itself from being associated with the Prophet Joseph Smith. After all, he is widely known as the “Mormon Prophet”. There is 189 years of tradition behind that connection. The “Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Prophet” just doesn’t have the same ring to it. People may not be able to make the connection, but… wait a minute, maybe that is part of the plan? The devil’s work may certainly be involved there somewhere.(1) Just saying….

Note 1. President Russel M. Nelson has been quoted as saying that by using the name “Mormons” is a victory for Satan.

“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God.” (Matt. 5:8)

The wording in 3rd Nephi is a little different. It reads: “Blessed are ALL the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”

Being pure in heart does not necessarily mean that you are worthy. It does not mean that you are righteous, certainly not by the way the Lord measures things. Yes, you can be worthy of certain blessings; you can be worthy in many things (Matthew 10:10-11), but being worthy to see God, to live with him, to be reconciled with Him–you will never measure up to the standard required by the heavens in this life (John 1:27). Many think they are righteous because they have performed a list of requirements and keep specific commandments, but they are fooling themselves.

“As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one…They are all gone out of the way, they are together become unprofitable; there is none that doeth good, no, not one.” (Romans 3:10, 12)

The ninety-nine sheep of the flock thought themselves righteous, but the shepherd could do nothing with them. So he left the flock and sought out the one sheep that separated himself from the flock seeking the true path. (Luke 15:1-7) “Righteousness”, at least the way the world reckons it, has never accounted for much with the Savior.

So, what does it mean, then, to be poor in heart? The etymology of the English word “pure”, translated from the Greek “katharos”, and the Latin “puros”, means to make clean from dirt, filth, or contamination like metals being refined by fire until they were free from impurities. A secondary meaning is to be unmixed, having no double allegiance. In Matthew 6:24, Jesus says, “No one can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other.” Psalms 24 has, “Who may ascend the hill of the Lord? Who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not lift up his soul to an idol or swear by what is false.” From these two scriptures we are beginning to get an idea of who the Lord is describing as “pure in heart”. It seems that if your heart is too much in love with the things of the world and the comforts that it gives you, your heart is not pure. The things that we set our hearts on can be the idols described in Psalms. If we have idols that motivate our actions, our daily pursuits, they will be stumbling blocks to achieving spiritual activation. This is because idols become habitual and act counter to the Lord’s instruction to us to look to Him for comfort, for light, and for solace. What is it that truly motivates you? When you become discouraged, or wrung out from the daily grind where do you turn for peace? How do you spend your precious solo free time when not attending family, taking care of essential worldly tasks, or working?

Alma declares a test that we can perform on ourselves to see if we truly are pure in heart.

“And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? (the first five of the beatitudes hint at this) Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts? Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body? (Alma 5:14-15)

Here is the kicker, the real test, that, if you can pass honestly, you are candidate for receiving the blessing of seeing God: “…can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? Or do ye imagine to yourselves that ye can lie unto the Lord in that day, and say–Lord, our works have been righteous works upon the face of the earth–and that he will save you?…I say unto you, can ye look up to God at that day with a pure heart and clean hands? I say unto you, can you look up, having the image of God engraven upon your countenances? (Alma 5: 16-19)

If you are really honest with yourself you will dig deep to ascertain if you have divided loyalties between God and the world. Do you have any idols? You know, those activities, addictions, or objects that occupy your time, attention and focus; the things that distract you from fully preparing to meet God.

Alma goes on, “And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now? Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins? Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly; for the kingdom of heaven is soon at hand, and such an one hath not eternal life. (Alma 5: 26-28)

Remember what the Lord tells us in D&C 4: “O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind, and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day…And faith, hope, charity, and love, with an eye single to the glory of God, qualify him for the work.“

A so-called “righteous” person, one who assumes they fulfill the commandments, will probably never subject themselves to a vigorous self inspection that Alma talks about. They think they have checked all the boxes and are justified because of the many good works they have done. But an honest self inspection, as Alma insists, is absolutely necessary to prepare yourself to meet God. When you perform this self evaluation, and you come to realize that you will never qualify by your efforts, never be able to keep all the commandments, and then you cry out to the Lord for mercy in abject despair, then maybe, just maybe there is hope for you.

The first five beatitudes describe the steps that lead to having your baptism of fire; being born again. In those first steps you repent and shed the worldly desires and appetites and assume higher spiritual cravings and aspirations. Obtaining a pure heart means that you are focused now on spiritual pursuits; you do not have a divided mind. The world has little hold on your loyalties. You will be single minded seeking the Lord’s guidance, straining to hear and discern His voice and becoming like the Savior. You practice living the virtues the scriptures teach you about. It is difficult to believe that someone as worthless and inconsequential as you can obtain the presence of God, but because of the promises that have been made to the Fathers, and the spirit coaxing and leading you on, you believe and have faith that you can see God.

Remember what the Book of Mormon has Christ saying: “ALL the pure in heart…shall see God”. That is as good a promise as you can receive. What that means to me is that if my eye is single to God, then everything else will assemble together through grace, and heaven and earth will be moved to make good the Lord’s promise for me–all in good patience.

“Blessed are the Merciful: for they shall inherit mercy.” (Matthew 5:7)

“I don’t want to have a heart that is boiling like a volcano.” (Farid Ahmed, survivor of Mar 15 New Zealand mosque attacks when asked why he forgives the shooter. Quoted in Time, April 15, 2019 issue)

“Therefore, my son, see that you are merciful unto your brethren; deal justly, judge righteously, and do good continually; and if ye do all these things then shall ye receive your reward; yea, ye shall have mercy restored unto you again; ye shall have justice restored unto you again; ye shall have good rewarded unto you again.” (Alma 41:14)

Mercy is the quality of forgiveness that is directed toward an offender, or perceived offender. The Lord extends mercy to us if we also forgive those who we judge have trespassed against us. ” For, if ye forgive men their trespasses your heavenly Father will also forgive you; But if ye forgive not men their trespasses neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” (3 Nephi 13:14-15)

“My disciples, in days of old, sought occasion against one another and forgave not one another in their hearts; and for this evil they were afflicted and sorely chastened. Wherefore, I say unto you, that ye ought to forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not his brother his trespasses standeth condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin. I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men….” (D&C 64:8-11)

The Lord teaches by example how He extends mercy. First of all He says that if we repent of our sins He will remember them no more. (D&C 58:42). Secondly, He says that he will cover our sins by appealing to the Father to remember His sacrifice. In the intercessory prayer to the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane, Christ prays: “I pray for them (those that believe in Him). I pray not for the world, but for them which thou hast given me…Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. Neither pray I for these alone (His disciples), but for them also which shall believe on me through their word.” (John 17: 9,20) He extends His mercy to us by pleading for us to the Father. He asks the Lord to extend His mercy to cover not only Himself and His disciples, but over all of us, if we believe in Him. “Holy Father, please watch over these like a sentinel. Protect and guard them using your power, so that that they may be united as one, as we are united as one.” (Testimony of John 11:31)

It is pretty clear that we are required to forgive others if we expect to be forgiven of our sins, but how far do we go in forgiving them? The Savior explains that we are to follow Him in doing what He does. It is required of us to extend not only our forgiveness to others, but also our mercy. How do we, as mere sinful creatures, do that? Christ had the power to forgive sins, which shocked the Pharisees and scribes when he declared forgiveness to others within their hearing. They didn’t realize, and perhaps we share that fault, that every soul has the power within them to be Saviors and extend the same mercy to others. How so?

Consider this statement by Denver Snuffer: “To obtain perfect charity…a man must make intercession for those who offend him…He wants us to go beyond merely forgiving others. He wants us to become like Him and atone or cover the sins of others. Through intercession on behalf of our enemies, we not only learn to understand Him, we also learn to be like Him. This is what Christ did. This is what Stephen did. All those who have the hope of Christ within them will do likewise.” (Come Let Us Adore Him p.231)(note1). Christ wants us to become intercessors, to be saviors. We can do that by not only forgiving those who we believe have wronged us, but plead for their well being. Perhaps that is what the Savior has in mind when he says we should pray for our enemies (Matt 5:44). By doing so we relieve them of the burden of having to account for the sin to us, because we will not be the accuser; if there is no accuser, can there be a sin to account for? Joseph Smith is quoted saying this: ” If you do not accuse each other, God will not accuse you. If you have no accuser you will enter heaven, and if you will follow the revelations and instructions which God gives you through me, I will take you into heaven as my back load. If you will not accuse me, I will not accuse you. If you will throw a cloak of charity over my sins, I will over yours-for charity coverth a multitude of sins.” (DHC 4:445)

“To be forgiven we must forgive. Not just forgive but plead for mercy for those who have offended us. The role of accusing is left to ‘the accuser of the brethren’ or Satan. When we accuse others, we interfere with their salvation. If we are the one who was offended, and we make no accusation against them, then we become their savior….We mimic Christ, follow His example, and in out own limited way, also atone for the sins of others…” (Denver Snuffer, “Remembering the Covenant, Vol 2”, pp. 764-765)

A wonderful example of mercy is Corey Tin Bloom. During
World War 2 she and her sister had been sent to a German concentration camp after having been arrested for hiding Jews in their house in Amsterdam. Corey survived, but her sister did not. After the war she became a very popular Christian speaker traveling around the world delivering a message of hope and forgiveness. Several years after the war, speaking at one Christian gathering where hundreds of people had gathered to hear her inspirational message, a man and his wife approached her afterwards to thank her for her moving talk. Corey recognized him as a former guard at the concentration camp where he had brutally treated her and her sister. She spent some moments of internal conflict and struggle trying to decide whether to let her anger and revulsion boil out of her, for which she was perfectly justified in doing by denouncing the man. Instead, she let Christ-like mercy take place and decided to forgive the man in her heart and let the anger pass. She became his savior in that she decided to be merciful and did not denounce him, even though he deserved the worst judgement that could be given to him. She consented to “cover” his sins perpetrated against her.

The other example I wanted to mention is the Savior Himself. No one has been treated more brutally and fiercely than Christ, and yet he asked the Father to cover the sin of the Romans and the Jews. He begged the Father to forgive them, “For they know not what they do!” Does anyone really understand the consequences and eternal ramifications, both to their victim and to themselves, when they inflict pain or suffering on another human being? The Lord does not want to be an accuser of anyone, no matter how heinous and terrible their actions. His hand of mercy is stretched out to all, still.

There is another type of mercy that is associated with forgiveness of those who have directly offended us. There is a mercy we need to extend to those who may have hurt us indirectly, maybe even unknowingly. Some harbor deep seated resentments against political figures they think have abused their power, and in doing so, have earned their ire. There have been religious leader, present and past, that some may feel have also abused power and the people they should have protected. These leaders may be dead wrong, but if we are to practice mercy we should pray for them, and forgive them, and beg for the Lord’s mercy on them.

In addition to the mercy of forgiving that we can extend to another person there is also the mercy we show towards others in performing charitable acts and kindness, especially to strangers and people others regard as the lowest of the low. In a way, the mercy we show towards these people is a sort of forgiveness that we offer to them. We forgive them for being poor, or for not being like us. We look beyond appearances and see them as valuable souls, children of God; worthy of our time, attention, and resources. After all, it may be that the Lord looks more kindly upon the poor and homeless then upon the rest of us.

A fourth aspect of mercy involves being merciful to our neighbors and sharing the news of the Gospel of Life. Like the sons of Mosiah, a person receiving God’s mercy can not stand that any soul not receive an opportunity to accept the Gospel of Christ. Saul also felt such remorse for the actions he did against the members of the Church of Christ, that he sought to repay the mercy He was given by being merciful.

We have reached the point in the progression of the beatitudes that from now on it is all about how we treat our fellow man. The first four beatitudes are all about turning to God, worshiping him with all our hearts, seeking forgiveness and mercy. If we follow the progression of the beatitudes and having received forgiveness and a greater hope of salvation, the next steps will involve loving our neighbor and having a desire to share the message with others. Coming up, we will explore what it means to be pure in heart, a peacemaker, and to be persecuted.

(note 1) Thanks to Susie in the SWUDOC fellowship who brought some of these quotations to my attention earlier this week. They were just what I needed to finish this post.

“Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matthew 5:6) Jesus teaches the fourth blessing to his disciples. In the 3rd Nephi version Jesus adds a few words:

“Blessed are all they who do hunger and thirst after righteousness, for they shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.”

This Beatitude seems to be pretty clear in its intent. But to understand its message to us we need to understand what the Savior means by “hunger and thirst” and “righteousness”. There are a number of scriptures Jesus was aware of, in fact most Jews were aware of at the time.

“O God, You are my God earnestly I seek You; my soul thirsts for you; my body yearns for you in a dry and weary land without water.” (Psalms 63:1)

“For He satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.” (Psalms 107:9)

“He who pursues righteousness and loving devotion finds life, righteousness, and honor.” (Proverbs 21:21)

“Come all of you who thirst, come to the water; and you without money come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! Why spend money on that which is not bread, and you labor on that which does not satisfy: Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods.” (Isaiah 55:1-2)

Christ teaches these same concepts when He is quoted by John:

“But whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a fount of water springing up to eternal life.” (John 4:14)

In The Confessions, St. Augustine writes, “Thou has made us for thyself, and our heart is restless until it rest in thee.” There is an emptiness in our soul that beckons to us to fill. It is an emptiness that exist in our spirits because of our separation from God. This emptiness prompts us to seek the Lord or substitute God, constantly acting out in ways sometimes that are destructive. The Lord placed this void in our hearts so that we would seek Him and have him fill the void with His love, but most of humanity seeks to fill that void with worldly pursuits; seeking for money, fame, drugs, alcohol, sex, power, entertainment, sports, shopping. These pursuits bring a momentary relief, but the feeling of satiation is only temporary and a mere wisp compared to God’s love. As one author put it, “People seek for cheap and easy ways to get back to the garden of Eden.” (M.Scott Peck, Further Along the Road Less Traveled). None of those pursuits will satisfactorily fill the emptiness we have because of our separation from God. C.S. Lewis said, “If we find ourselves with a desire that nothing in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that we were made for another world.”

What then will fill this void? What does it mean to hunger and thirst? When you are hungry or thirsty the only thing you can think about is something that will satisfying that urge. When you hunger or thirst after righteousness, it becomes the focus of your life. Perhaps instead of seeking for entertainment to relax you might be more disposed to study, read scriptures, or pray.

What does it mean to seek righteousness? Whose righteousness? It seems there are two types of righteousness; there is God’s righteousness and there is man’s righteousness. There are the authorities in churches, modern Pharisees if you will, who have very clear rules regarding what righteousness is. But their righteousness is based on outward ordinances and works that display their holiness. Men tend to make rules in order to exercise dominion and to be able to display their righteousness. They judge others by their perceived observance of how well others keep the commandments. The problem is it is easier to pretend righteousness by outward actions and ordinances then it is to govern the state of ones mind. That is why the Pharisee’s had so many rules. They could measure their own righteousness against those who could not perfectly keep the maze of rules they had created, otherwise they had no way to stratify their concept of levels of status. They created their elaborate codex of laws because they couldn’t judge the state of a man’s heart. That is why Christ practically cursed the 99 sheep who considered themselves righteous (Luke 15: 2-7). He left them because they could not be saved, to search for one who separated himself from the “righteous” flock.

So, who does the Lord consider to be righteousness? McConkie in Mormon Doctrine gives this definition of righteousness: “…righteousness is the quality and type of living that results from obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel.” He is partly correct. His emphasis is on appearances. If a man and woman obtain a temple recommend and attend the temple they are considered righteous. In human terms, the only way to measure righteousness is by the outward evidences. And so people tend base their behavior on what others can observe them doing. It is easier to look at a person and judge them by how wealthy they are, how big a house they have, how knowledgeable, how persuasive, how successful they are and the position they hold in the community or church, whether they pay tithing and obtain a temple recommend. Usually the logic extends also to this: successful people tend to be blessed by the Lord because they are doing something right. He wants His people to succeed and they are rewarded for their obedience. But in reality, the Lord judges a man’s heart, not by outward appearances (1 Sam. 16:7). Man judges by outward appearances.

“Lord, who shall abide in thy tabernacle? Who shall dwell in thy holy hill? He that walketh uprightly, and worketh righteousness, and speaketh the truth in his heart. He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbor, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbor.” (Psalms 15)

In the first four beatitudes we discover the attributes that righteous seekers of light will be required to obtain in order to become servants of the Lord. These beatitudes constitute the preliminary states of the righteous seeker. Christ teaches His disciples using sacred symbolism and mystical (mystery) terminology. He teaches this way for the same reason that he teaches in parables. If you are an honest seeker of truth and the focus of your life is to come to Christ and follow Him, then you will begin to understand the sacred metaphors. The beatitudes are the road map to entering the kingdom of God and the first four chart the way through repentance and the sincere seeking of light and truth. The last four beatitudes will ramp up to a greater level of sacrifice required. The last four beatitudes bespeak of activities that involve interaction with others. This fourth beatitude is nothing more than receiving the baptism of fire; having your soul burned and refined from the inside out. This step is absolutely required for the next four steps.

“Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.” Christ continues His teaching on the Beatitudes with the third blessing. After a person becomes poor in spirit and after they mourn and receive forgiveness, they recognize the need to seek further light and knowledge. They accomplish this by conversing with the Lord, becoming meek. What the Lord requires of us in order to be meek is to recognize that He is the only authority that we owe true allegiance. He is the source of truth and the one we look to for further light and knowledge. In acknowledging that, we also realize that we must be obedient to His word– however that comes to us.

Enos relates that after he heard the voice of God tell him that his sins were forgiven and that he would be blessed, he asked: ” How is this done?” (Enos 1:7). The Lord answers him, ‘Because of thy faith in Christ.” It was because of his meekness and humility that Enos was able to receive an answer to his prayers. Not only did he receive answers to his questions, but he was able to converse with the Lord. Only through his faith, humility, and meekness, evident by his prolonged and efficacious prayer was he able to elicit a response from heaven. Those that exalt themselves and think themselves righteous will never be able to experience the Lord in this way. Isaiah has something to say about the righteous and exalted souls that do not think they need a relationship with the Lord:

“Behold, all ye that kindle a fire, that compass yourselves in the light of your fire, and in the sparks that ye have kindled. This shall ye have of mine hand; ye shall lie down in sorrow.” (Isaiah 50:11)

The meek can be trusted by the Lord because they will do what the Lord wants them to do, and not assume they know better. Being meek in the Lord’s mind is so much more than the world understands the word. To be meek in the celestial sense is to follow the Lord and not just listen but DO what the Lord asks you to do, even when you are not comfortable with what he asks.

“Lying spirits appeal to your pride and vanity. God will chasten you and require you to be meek and serve both Him and your fellow man. Lying spirits will tell you that you are some great and mighty person. God will remind you that only He is strong, but He uses the weak things of this world to accomplish His work. Therefore, no one can take credit but Him for whatever is accomplished. Proud, foolish and vain people have never built Zion. Only the penitent, the meek, and the humble can qualify to be around as God does His work.”

“Until the heart is broken and willing to accept the sad news that they are wrong and God is going to correct them they are not likely to get an answer other than they are right. In fact they’ve been right all along. Answers from a meek and lowly Lord come with the greatest accuracy to the meek and lowly inquirer.” (Denver Snuffer)

“…my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take not advantage of your weakness; And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, them will I make weak things become strong unto them.” (Ether 12: 26-27)

“And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived; for Satan is abroad in the land, and he goeth forth deceiving the nations—Wherefore he that prayeth, whose spirit is contrite, the same is accepted of me if he obey mine ordinances. He that speaketh, whose spirit is contrite, whose language is meek and edifieth, the same is of God if he obey mine ordinances.” (D&C 52: 14)

The meek inherit the earth because they are the only ones who do not have an agenda, other than to do the Lord’s work. And they do it in the way they are taught and instructed through the Holy Spirit, and eventually by the Lord Himself. The meek seek out the Lord and plead for more light. We have to plead, labor, and “work out our own salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2: 12) because it informs the Angels, the Lord, and us that we are willing to pay the price to know Him. The proud will not be able to inherit the earth because they are the center of their universe, and you can’t have but one person at the center.

A Fable

The High King had a son that was very proud and treated everyone with less than respect. He had been privileged all his life and so had taken on the attitude that the world was created for him; he was the center of the universe. You probably know the type. The king was aware of this flaw in his son’s character but was at a loss how to help his son grow out of his self centeredness. He sent his son with a sealed message to one of his most trusted vessels who ruled a kingdom on the borders of his domain. This man was a duke who was a very powerful lord with vast lands and a large army to keep order and to keep invaders from causing mischief. He was also a very wise man in his own right. He received the king’s son with joy and with ceremony proper for receiving his Lord’s son. He opened the sealed letter and read it.

“Duke, I place the health and welfare of my son in your hands. I desire that he learn from you humility and grace which he will need if he is ever to govern in my place. He needs to learn that he is the servant of the people in the kingdom and that there is great responsibility with the great privilege he has been born. I do not want him to command any of your battalions, nor to have any authority whatsoever. I ask that you place him under the service of your stable master. He is to work as the lowest order laborer and perform all the menial work of that laborer. If he learns to submit, humbles himself, and performs to the satisfaction of your steward without complaint and without trying to invoke his status as the king’s son, then, and only then, send him back to me.”

Meekness is realizing that you don’t have the answers, in fact, you don’t know very much at all. The older I get, the more I realize I don’t really know much. Meekness is strength, because light and truth will pour into you and through you from the source of that light. The Lord knows that you can be trusted to do His will and not your own. You will be entrusted with thrones and principalities; you will inherit not just the world, but everything.

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

I asked this question during prayer, “Why the separation? Why are we subject to darkness and subterfuge? Why the veil and mists of darkness that come between us in the world and the Heavens, between us and light and truth? Why is it so hard to obtain light and communion with heaven?

The answer came to me immediately as a stroke of thought, a single beam of comprehension; a compressed digital file, if you will. Although I understood the answer quite well from a scriptural and intellectual standpoint before I posed the question, I asked the question out of the frustration of having to struggle for every morsel of light and truth. I desired a deeper spiritual comprehension. The answer came as an intimate perception. Not only did I hear words in my mind, but there was a feeling accompanying the words that provided a texture to the answer; a depth was conveyed to my soul that cannot be explained.

“Before [in the preexistence] you had a superficial concept of existence and creation, but your abilities were very limited. To obtain the power to create and become like the Creator you had to have experience. You must understand in the most complete sense how to create, and the only way to obtain that knowledge is to experience all facets and consequences of it.”

Here is how I explain what was conveyed to me. In creating a good oil painting, or any other piece of art, it is one thing to visualize what you want the picture to look like, but it is quite another thing to produce it. You first must understand the qualities and properties of the paint, the brushes, the canvas, even the thinner. You have to have a good grasp of design, light and color, and human psychology – to know what is pleasing to the human eye. Then, all of these concepts have to be unified and combined and understand all these principles in a practical sense; you have to practice them over and over and over again until you have mastered them. They become internalized so they become natural to you.

We exist to be creators. Everything we experience, everything we are subject to in this world and in the eternities is to prepare us to create, world’s without end and lives into eternity.

God Bless.

What is a testimony?

To most people a testimony is simply a statement a person gives as evidence of fact. There is really no way for another person to know the truth of another’s testimony because a testimony is based on evidence collected through the senses. Our physical senses are imperfect at best. For example, in a court room one eyewitness swears that they saw a defendant running toward the place of the crime, while another person swears they saw him running away. Both believe that is what they saw, but both can’t be right…can they?

In the realm of religion, it is somewhat the same problem. Stories and accounts that a person relates to others of spiritual experiences goes through several filtering mechanisms. The first filter is the actual experience. What was the event that caused the experience in the first place? The pure truth of what happened is filtered by the person who experiences it. That person applies the sum of his knowledge, beliefs, and prejudices in his attempt to understand what happened. That is why there is such a divergence in the stories being told about spiritual events among all the religions of the world. Even within religions, spiritual experiences are subject to individual interpretation. So, the first filter is all about the individual, who lives in the physical world, trying to make sense of something that is not of this world, that he/she has probably not encountered before.

The second filter is language. Often times things that happen of a spiritual nature defy language. Some things just cannot be described with words. How do you describe an emotion? How do you describe something there are no words in your vocabulary to describe? Also, words mean different things to different people. Precision in the use of a particular word is dependent on the education or learning of a person. Even then, finding the right words that convey an experience may be impossible to find.

The third filter is the hearer of the word. They have preconceived ideas and prejudicial notions about what they are being told. They will not only judge words and the truth of what is being told them, but also who is saying them. Think of the Jews who refused to listen to Christ because He was from Galilee. Even His own brothers didn’t believe Him. (John 7:6) Think about the language and tradition barriers that Ammon and his brothers had to deal with teaching the Lamanites. When he taught the king about God, the king didn’t know what he was talking about. My wife went on a mission to Thailand. When she taught a discussion about God to the Buddhists, they didn’t understand the notion of “God” as we understand it. To some degree there is a barrier of understanding between all people, even within families. Misunderstandings, prejudices, and pride always seem to get in the way of good communication.

The only way to really understand the truth of the words of another is through the principles taught in D&C 50:17-24.

“Verily I say unto you, he that is ordained of me and sent forth to preach the word of truth by the Comforter, in the Spirit of truth, doth he  preach it  by the Spirit of truth or some other way? And if it be by  some other way it is not of God. And again, he that receiveth the word of truth doth he receive it by the Spirit of truth or some other way? If it be some other way it is not of God. Therefore, why is it that ye cannot understand and know, that he that receiveth the word by the Spirit of truth  receiveth it as it is preached by the Spirit of truth? Wherefore, he that  preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are  edified and rejoice together.”

The only way to know the truth of someone’s testimony is if two conditions are met: the teacher preaches with the Spirit of truth, and the listener, or receiver, receives it by the Spirit of truth. If either the preacher or the hearer is not plugged in to the spirit, then the three fold filter will be in place, and the value of the testimony or information shared and received will be tainted at some level, if not on all three levels.

So how do you tell if you are receiving the word of truth by the Spirit of truth? Many religious people assume that if they hear the word from a religious leader that they believe is inspired, then the word is true. Or, they may dismiss out of hand the word of truth by the Spirit of truth because it didn’t come from their religious leader. This is one of the dangers of belonging to a religion. It makes people lazy. It is a good thing that we have to struggle and strain to obtain every morsel of truth so that we can discern light from darkness, and not be dependent upon any other person, except Christ. As Paul writes in First Thessalonians, “Prove all things;” (1 Thessalonians 5:21).

Oliver Cowdery experienced early on that obtaining light and truth is not handed to us without effort. The Lord told him: “Behold you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it  unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me” (D&C 9: 7). The Lord told him that he needed to study it out first. There was some effort required on his part to obtain truth and light. The twelve apostles learned the same thing from the Lord when they asked why they could not cast out a devil. He told them that they would sometimes be required to fast and pray in order to exercise priesthood effectively (Mark 9:28-29). Something more than asking is required.

Several weeks ago in a fellowship meeting, a sister was relating her experiences in discovering truth and light. At one point she said, “I prayed to know the truth, but like most everything in my life, the Lord did not answer.” I wondered about that statement, and how many of us think that the Lord purposefully withholds light and truth from us. This idea, though, is not supported by scripture. Mathew 7:7-8 has the Lord teaching, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock and it shall be opened unto you: For everyone that asketh receiveth;” How badly do you want to know truth? What are you willing to sacrifice to receive an answer? The Lord answers our prayers, but, sometimes these things come only after much prayer and fasting. I think we must prove our sincerity and our resolve to obtain truth and light.

I want to relate a personal experience to you that happened a long time ago on my mission in New Zealand. This is a story of how my testimony began and what I had to do to obtain it. It wasn’t enough for me to believe that other people , i.e., leaders, family members, and people I looked up to, knew that the Gospel was true. This is a story of how I obtained for myself the knowledge that Joseph Smith was a prophet and translated the Book of Mormon. This is not a particularly unique story, thousands have had similar experiences. My purpose is to demonstrate that the Lord requires sacrifice from us in order to obtain some important truths.

I had been on my mission for six months when we had stopped for lunch at our “flat”. There came a knock at our door and I went to open it. Opening the door I found a Baptist lay preacher who was tracting, knocking on doors in the area. I invited him in and we had a good gospel discussion; nothing confrontational. He invited us to his home so we made an appointment for my companion and I to visit one evening later in the week.

We went to the man’s house as arranged with the intention of teaching the first discussion. We did teach him some of the concepts, but our discussion turned primarily into a conversation about Joseph Smith. He brought out a book that was a biography of Joseph Smith and said I should read it. He offered to lend it to me. I thought, “Okay, it will be a good excuse for us to come back and meet with him.” The book was titled, “No Man Knows My History”, by Fawn Brodie. I am thinking by now that the man was not really interested in hearing about the LDS church, he was interested in converting us! But being competitive and cocky by nature I saw it as a challenge rather then saying no thank you and moving on.

I read the book. Never had I been confronted with writings that contradicted the official story of the origin of the LDS Church with such believability. The author was a well known writer and her writing was not at all in the same tone as other anti-Mormon literature I had read. Most of the anti-Mormon literature I had been exposed to before this was just so much drivel that was motivated by pure ignorance and hatred of Joseph Smith and the LDS church. This book was something different, it was believable, and was written by a Latter Day Saint. The author tells the story of a confidence man, Joseph Smith, who did not have any prophetic gifts nor contact with the Heavens. He was motivated by poverty to fabricate a story to delude gullible people into supporting him. Things just got out of hand. It became bigger then he was able to control. Her explanations were so plausible and believable. I was not prepared for the anguish and mental pain that reading this book was causing me. If this book was true, my purpose for being on a mission was based on lies. If Fawn Brody was right, My mission was a farce and I should give it up and go home.

I agonized over this for several days, trying to figure out what to do. I prayed and fasted like I had never done before. I actually felt that life for me could not go on, certainly not like I had it planned out. I thought about what I was going to tell the mission president. I was going to have to tell him that the church was false and there was no point in my continuing as a missionary. I pleaded with the Lord to know the truth. I had to know. It seemed at the time it was more important to me then life itself.

After several days of being in this truly depressed state, I was having a personal prayer to end a fast before going out on a teaching appointment. I asked the Lord, “How can I teach someone about the church and bear my testimony if I don’t know it is true myself? Was Joseph Smith a true prophet?” After I finished my prayer I stood up and was struck by lightning. Or at least it seemed like lightning. I was completely over come by a feeling of pure love, it was like electricity. There is no other way to describe what was happening. And then I heard the words distinctly in my mind, “Joseph Smith was a prophet of God. Just as he declared he was.”

That experience saved me. I learned several other things from that experience besides the knowledge that Joseph Smith was what he said he was and that the Book of Mormon was translated by him from ancient plates given to him by an angel. I also learned that the Lord answers prayers and that sometimes we have to plead and exercise great faith to have those prayers and questions answered. Sometimes one has to desire answers so much that you would be willing to do almost anything.

Do you want to know the truth of what I am saying? Do you want to know the truth of what any person is telling you or testifying to you? What are you willing to do to have your prayers answered?

God bless.

“Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. ” Ephesians 6:13. 

We are spiritual beings first.  Our spirits were placed inside physical bodies at birth and we are expected to master these bodies.  Our bodies belong to God, they are temples he created for our spirits to experience mortality.   Section 93 of the Doctrine and Covenants teaches us that we existed in the beginning with God and that the essence of who and what we are is intelligence or light and truth. 

Even though we now are identified as physical beings, our spirits still define what we think, what we learn, how we act.  For a person that is not aware of his or her spiritual nature, the only world they experience or have knowledge of is the physical world.  But a person who is aware of the spiritual world understands that we can experience things that cannot be explained in worldly terms. 

What is startling to realize is that the spiritual world is more permanent than the temporal world that our senses are tuned to. The physical world is transitory and temporary, so we can consider that the things experienced that are spiritual in nature are more “real” than what we can see and touch. Also consider that our thoughts and imagination is inspired or motivated by unseen forces and influences that are constantly passed on to our minds.  All of our thoughts are influenced by either dark entities who are constantly at work bombarding our minds with thoughts motivated by fear, or by the Lord through the Holy Spirit with thoughts that are founded on love and righteousness.

It follows that there are things that happen on the spiritual plane of existence that we cannot understand or will seem very strange to us. Apostle Paul explains that the real struggles in life are not so much about physical and worldly concerns as it is about unseen forces.  He says:

“For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.” Ephesians 6:12

 Nephi, the son of Helaman warns that the devil seeks to destroy the souls of men (Helaman 8:28), while the Lord warns Joseph Smith in a revelation in 1828 (D&C 10) that Satan seeks to destroy him. “…the devil has sought to lay a cunning plan, that he may destroy this work….Satan stirreth them up, that he may lead their souls to destruction.” (Verses 12 and 22).  Verse 27 says, “And thus he goeth up and down, to and fro in the earth, seeking to destroy the souls of men.” The Lord has given Satan dominion that he might have power over men (Alma 12:6).  The Lord allows this to happen in order for the spirits of men and women to learn between good and evil and to become agents “unto themselves” (D&C 29:39).  But the Lord has not left us without tools with which to defend ourselves. These “tools” are spiritual in nature and are hard for the natural man to comprehend without being instructed by heaven.

To buttress our ability to withstand the power of the prince of darkness, Paul admonishes us to “be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.  Put on the whole armor of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.” (Ephesians 6:10-11).  He tells us to weaponize ourselves, to arm ourselves to be able to battle the adversary on grounds that neutralize the advantages Satan has by being a purely spiritual being.  He is a nemesis who has inherent stealth, surprise, and anonymity in his bag of tricks.  That puts us at a certain disadvantage right off the bat.  Servants of the Lord sent out on missions by the Lord find themselves pitted against the not inconsequential power of Satan. Think of Joseph Smith in the sacred grove or Moses on Mt. Sinai. Paul also knows of what he speaks. As people become more aware of the Gospel of Christ and take a more active part in teaching others, Satan is given more leave to tempt and try us. Without this awareness, we would fall prey to his very real and extensive power over us. Paul exhorts us to prepare to do battle, to put on the armor of God.  

“Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God: Praying always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit…” (Ephesians 6: 14-18)

It is almost as if Paul is talking about a literal suit of armor, shield, and sword? Or is this all metaphorical? Here is an account from an individual who experiences receiving spiritual armor.  By this account it seems that Paul may not simply be using a literary device to get his message across.

“I woke up in the middle of the night and wasn’t able to get back to sleep.  I thought I might as well be praying if I couldn’t sleep. So, I went into the guest room and knelt to pray.  I prayed for maybe thirty minutes and felt a great spiritual peace and acceptance about the things that I was praying. Suddenly a voice in my mind said to me, calling by my name,  “Stand!”  So I stood up in the middle of the room. I felt impressed to raise my arms straight out at my sides, making the sign of the letter “T” with my body. I suddenly saw (this all takes place in my mind’s eye, more powerful and real then just my imagination) a white tunic, which looks like a mid-thigh length nightshirt with sleeves with markings on the neck and hem.  There are other markings on it, but they are not distinct to my memory.  The tunic is placed over my head and I am clothed with it.  Next a belt is placed around my waist. I sensed that something was placed on my head, but I didn’t see it. I then saw a breastplate which was placed to cover my chest, but I couldn’t see any straps or any means to attach it to my body. Arm bands were also placed on me.”  

Here is another account related to me by a friend who believed he had been given an actual set of armor several years ago.

“I had been studying the scriptures intensely for several months.  I had read Ephesians 6, where Paul talks about putting on the armor of God.  I was impressed that I needed to ask for this armor.  One day a vision opened up in my mind and I saw a set of armor.  I asked if it was for me and was told, “Yes, that is your armor, you will be needing it.”

Another brother relates how his wife was involved in his receiving armor.   After having a vision of armor being placed on him, he relates how odd it all seemed to him. “This was all very strange to me. The vision ended and I went back to bed.  In the morning I read Ephesians 6 to try and understand what had happened and what I had been given.  I was impressed to tell my wife about it. As I was telling her this I said to her, “If you ask the Lord, he will show you the vision.”  She immediately left me and went into her prayer place and asked the Lord to show her the vision.”

My wife later told me that the Lord showed her part of the vision. She saw the white robe, that it glowed brilliant white and she saw the belt being placed around my waist. She described the personage that did it. I didn’t see an angel during my vision, but she was shown one. She also provided a more detailed description of the breastplate, and added that it had jewels all over it.

One night about six months later, I was praying that the Lord would make me clean.  After praying for a while I saw a sword being presented to me. It was a beautiful flaming sword with words written on it. It shined with brilliant light that appeared like flames.  I took the sword in my hands and marveled at it.  I drew it to me and then put it away in a scabbard I found at my side. Then I was told I was clean, but not completely.”

There have been several others that I know of with similar stories. Some of these people received specific missions from the Lord; the armor was given to them as a means to prepare them.  Receiving spiritual armor is sometimes accompanied with a specific mission. It seems odd that we would need to take on literal armor, even if it is spiritual and can be seen only in our mind’s eye. Especially when you consider that armor is a purely earthly device used to protect the physical body. Why not just rely on the protection of the Lord, and his righteousness?  I can only surmise that receiving armor in this way is a necessary ordinance to enable individuals to endure encountering the adversary in his full fury and power. Satan, although a purely spiritual being, has enormous power over the physical world. It may also be that the devils and dark spirits recognize the armor, that it has some effect upon their power, and understand that it is a symbol that person has been anointed to do the Lord’s work.  

“Wherefore, gird up your loins and be prepared. Behold, the kingdom is yours, and the enemy shall not overcome. Verily I say unto you, ye are clean, but not all; and there is none else with whom I am well pleased; For all flesh is corrupted before me; and the powers of darkness prevail upon the earth, among the children of men, in the presence of all the hosts of heaven— Which causeth silence to reign and eternity is pained, and the angels are waiting the great command to reap down the earth, to gather the tares that they may be burned; and behold, the enemy is combined.” (D&C 38:9-12)

As Paul has written, the greater battle, the one we have trouble seeing or is hidden from us, is a spiritual one with dark forces opposed to the Lord’s work. It is fitting that we be outfitted with spiritual armor and weapons to battle spiritual forces that are becoming more blatant, more powerful, and more influential in the war for souls. I like what Val Brinkerhoff says about the need to obtain the armor of GOD:

“Darkness is increasing. Fortunately, Ephesians 6 and D&C 27 both address the Armor of God. They provide two witnesses for the faithful, detailing the defensive and offensive nature of this armor in spiritual warfare between the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Satan. God is waiting for us to be actively engaged in receiving a portion of His power – that we might be protected and empowered as His servants to defeat evil. If we don’t become equipped with God’s protection and power, we will not “stand,” but become a casualty in the upcoming battles that lay before us – those of the “evil day.” We must fight valiantly as an intercessor for the innocents, in an invisible spiritual warfare with the dark powers of heaven, that we might win the victory for God and free the captives. Multiple times in the book of Isaiah God is calling out to those who might help Him, especially to the 144,000 that they might become effective intercessors with Him (note verses 41:28, 59:16, 63:5). This is only possible if we are fully protected and empowered with the whole armor of God. We must ask God for it and ask Him to see it in our mind’s eye, that we might have confidence in using it to battle darkness. ” 7witnesses.com

Armor of God comes in many forms

The armor of God comes in many forms.  In many cases it is manifest to individuals as a suit of armor with shields, swords, spears, even bows and arrows.  But in one case I wrote about above, the armor manifests itself more as priestly clothes.  The account above of the wife describing her husband’s breastplate with jewels covering it , is one example.  There is actually a lot of evidence in the scriptures that when Paul is describing the armor of God, he is describing priestly clothes and accoutrements. After all, in the Jewish mind at the time of Christ, it was thought to be an army of priests led by a warrior chief Messiah who would restore Israel as a nation.  The battles of the Isrealites in conquering Canaan were led by the High Priest (Numbers 31:6). Jericho’s walls came “tumbling down” after priests paraded the ark around the city seven times.  One of the Dead Sea Scrolls is called the “War Scroll” and describes the warfare between the priestly sons of light and the sons of darkness.  The armor of God taking on the form of priestly garb would be right at home in the minds of the Jews at the time of Christ.  Revelation 19 describes an army of priests clothed in fine linen, the required clothing for priests under service in the temple,  who follow the Lord sitting on His war horse’. “And I saw the heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and he that sat upon him was called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he doth judge and make war…And He was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is called The Word of God. And the armies which were in heaven followed him upon white horses, clothed in fine linen, white and clean” (Revelation 19 11-14). 

When Paul wrote about the armor of God he was probably quoting Isaiah who is talking about priestly clothing in the following verses:

“For he put on righteousness as a breastplate, and an helmet of salvation upon his head; and he put on the garments of vengeance for clothing and was clad with zeal as a cloke.” (Isaiah 59:16-17)  and “Righteousness will be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness the girdle of his reigns”. (Isaiah 11:4-5)

In conclusion, it does seem odd to think that a suit of armor is required in order to do the Lord’s work, at least for some who may have a specific mission to perform.  No one can see this armor, and you can only see it in your imagination or mind. But, if the battle is really against the adversary and dark forces you cannot see, and those with spiritual eyes, maybe it is only important that they can see it. 

Do you have your Armor of God? Sometimes all that is required is to  ask the Lord.

God Bless.

Within a hundred years after the fall of Rome in the western empire,
Justinian the Great was emperor of the Eastern Empire in Constantinople. At the time, around 530 AD, the people of the city had divided themselves into four factions named after colors.  They were the Reds, Blues, Greens and Whites, named after the colors of the uniforms their chariot teams wore. The supporters of the teams also wore the colors of their teams.  The teams were more than just sporting teams, they represented political parties or ideologies– well, as much as they could be political in the Eastern Empire of Rome in the 6th century with a ruler having virtually absolute power. They were the republicans and democrats of the Byzantine Empire. These factions combined aspects of street gangs, political parties, and sports clubs taking positions on current issues as diverse as theological concepts, supporting various claimants to the throne, or social issues such as immigration and taxes.

There is an incident that occurred in 6th century Constantinople that I
believe has some bearing on what’s going on in America today. I find it
quite telling that, as Mark Twain is reputed to have said, “History never
repeats itself, but it rhymes.” That is the curse we are under coming to
this existence, human nature being what it is; we seem to continue to make the same mistakes our ancestors did.  In the case of the incident in 6th century Constantinople, our culture, our society, our people are manipulated in very much the same way to further the aspirations of a small group of elites. They pray upon our jealousies, our fears, and our prejudices in order to gain power.

The games, which may have included some gladiatorial events as well as chariot races, were as much political events in their day as election outcomes are in our day. A lot of people took the outcomes very personally and violence would take place, much like the rowdy British Soccer fans that, if not kept in check with thousands of police to keep peace, will riot whether their team wins or losses. Some cities in America have fans with the reputation of also creating riots when their team wins or loses a big event like the super bowl. The riots occuring in ancient Constantinople, however, were much more sinister, and carried with them serious consequences that impacted everyone.

Late in the year 531 AD there was an incident that occurred that eventually causes a riot that ended up killing tens of thousands of people and almost brought the rule of the emperor to an end. It has become known in history as the Nika Riots.  Some members of the Blues and Greens were arrested for murder in connection with deaths that occurred during rioting after a recent chariot race.  The rioters who were arrested were convicted of murder and sentenced to death. But two men, one from each faction, escaped and found sanctuary in a church.  To protect the men in hiding the church was surrounded by an angry mob who demanded the men be set free.  Fires were being set in the city, riots on a small scale occurred in sections of the city. After attempting to stop the riots and hooliganism, Justinian was unable to bring an end through application of force.  He declared a festival with chariot races and commuted the men’s sentence to serve in prison instead of execution in an attempt to placate the factions. The mob, however, continued to demand that the men be set free.

The day for the chariot races arrived and the crowds arrived emotionally charged. They were not only enraged about the sentences handed to the men charged with murder, but they had become resentful of high taxes, low wages, and were hostile toward the policies of their emperor.  As the day wore on the yells had transformed from cheers for their teams, “BLUE!” or “GREEN!”, to demands against the emperor, who was attending the races in his special imperial box. Insults directed at Justinian broke out and eventually the shouts became a united “NIKA!” (“Victory”, or “Win- Conquer”) directed aggressively at the emperor. Crowds began to break out and assault the imperial palace which was next door to the Hippodrome where the races were conducted.  Justinian and his wife were able to escape to the palace, which was under temporary protection by imperial guards, where he started making plans to escape the city.  His wife, Theodora, however, convinced him to stay and deal with the rioters.

There was a party of senators who had been opposed to Justinian.  They were behind the scenes manipulating the mobs, which at this point were ripe for listening to any rumor, any bit of misinformation that fed their highly emotional, riotous state of mind.  This was the opportunity these senators were looking for, and in fact had been conspiring to create, to gain power over the populace and remove Justinian from power.  In the ensuing chaos created in the Hippodrome after Justinian left, hundreds of people were killed and an alliance between the blues and the greens elected an emperor to replace Justinian.

Justinian ended up bribing the leaders of the blue faction by sending them a large amount of gold through a very trusted court official.  The blue leaders then left taking most of their faction members from the Hippodrome and left the shocked green faction members alone in the complex.  The Imperial Guards, who numbered in the thousands, entered the Hippodrome and slaughtered some 30,000 people who were left. Justinian was able to regain control and as a result of the riot and its disastrous consequences gained a greater control over the people of Constantinople.  He would become known in the history books as Justinian the Great, one of the most successful and important emperors of the Roman Empire, rivaling the legacies and influence of Julius Caesar and Augustus. After Justinian, the Byzantine Empire, or Eastern Roman Empire began a slow decline.

So, what does this event teach us about our own times?  Blues, Greens,
Democrats, Republicans–fundamentally there is not much difference between how they operate and what the hidden goals are. Yes, there are different policies, political philosophies, social causes, but in all cases–in all instances of groups forming a collective arrangement–it involves the promotion of one group over another.  When the policies and platforms of one group take precedence it will always benefit one class of people more than all the others.  I am sorry to say, but that is the way of human nature. Some, maybe most, may benefit from changes brought about by political change, but some elements of society will always lose or gain less.  The vast majority of people do not realize that the majority of great social movements in our day, that they may be in support of, possibly are actively involved in, are being manipulated by a small cavil of elites who will gain the most in success.  This is the inheritance of Babylonian political philosophy–rule of the fittest.  The communists would say, “All are equal, but some are more equal than others”. Bare in mind that many of the social movements are for good causes, but what invariably happens is that ambitious and talented men and women attach themselves to the cause and high-jack it and remake it in their image in order to gain political  traction for themselves.

The Nika Riots is an extreme example of how the manipulation of a whole society occurs.  Another example of this occurs in the Book of Mormon with the account of the Kingmen told in Alma 51.  An elite class of people desired to increase their power. We do not know the names of the leaders, but in following the patterns of history, we know these leaders manipulated this class of elites to vigorously support a return to a monarchical government, which would have greatly empowered the leaders.   They were eventually put down by Captain Moroni, but the discontent continued to fester below the surface where it almost caused the eventual destruction or enslavement of the Nephite people. The operations of the Kingmen in the Book of Mormon became the pattern of how the Gadiantons infiltrate at the highest levels and take over governments. 

The account in Alma serves as a warning to us in 21st Century America. Mormon is constantly warning the reader not to allow what happened to the Nephites to occur to the gentile nation of our day.  There has always been political division in American politics, even from the very beginning. The divisions created between different segments and classes of people have been self-serving for a very small group of elites attempting to control the opinions and votes of the people. The presidential election of 1800 was acrimonious and set a precedent in elections in America for the next 200 years. President John Adams was trying for a second term as president while his Vice President, Thomas Jefferson, ran against him. In order to gain traction against Adams, Jefferson called Adams “a hideous hermaphroditical character, which has neither the force and firmness of a man, nor the gentleness and sensibility of a woman.” He labeled Adams a fool, a hypocrite, a criminal, and a tyrant. Name calling and labeling is one of the most powerful and insidious methods that corrupt politicians and demagogues use to foment emotional responses in people. “He/She is a racist!” “He/She is anti-gay and hates gay people.” In Babylonian political systems, which is any government not run by principles found in a Zion society, political power trumps propriety and friendship, for Adams and Jefferson were known to be great friends before this election.  Power trumps decent, humaine, and charitable behaviors; after all the end justifies the means in almost all political systems.

Jefferson hired what we would call a publicist or campaign manager today, James T. Callendar. Callendar falsely accused Adams of wanting to start a war with France and have himself crowned king. This was instrumental in convincing the electorate to narrowly vote out Adams in favor of Jefferson in 1800.  Callendar later went to prison for the slanders he wrote about Adams, but that did nothing to correct the wrongs done preventing Adams from winning his second term.

Today lies and slanders are alive and well in American Politics.  Both parties are very well practiced in spinning truth, creating half truths and lies, and disseminating false news. To enter politics is to have your name drug through the mud, slandered, and innuendoes lavishly published in a way to convince others with a certain prejudice to vote a certain way. American society has not reached the levels of fevered violent emotionalism that pervaded the ancient society of Constantinople yet.  But there is a change in the wind. When parties declare that they will not ever support the policies or legislation of the other party, or president, the gauntlet is thrown down. Violence will eventually become the only means of arbitration between them.   We are starting to see the beginnings of this. Think about what happened in the U.S. House and Senate as well as in the country as a whole in 1860 before the Civil War.  Lies, half truths, made up stories, were all crafted to inflame the passions of the people, especially in the south, to support a disastrous policy that could only benefit an elite class of the society.

In the Zion I envision there will of course be no political parties. But there will also be no classes of people.  There will be no descendants of Lehi, Lamanites, Gentiles, Jews, or other designations. There will be no parties, no “you” as differentiated from “us”, no “remnant”, no children of Jacob. There will only be Israelites, which means “Blessed of God” (Literally means “Contends with God” but the meaning is that of having received a blessing at God’s hand after having contending for that purpose).  As a Zion people we will be color blind, we will be blind to the education or intellect of a person, and we will be blind to the genealogy of a person. We simply will not care. We will not be jealous of another person’s talents, or accomplishments, or assignment. Nor will we be impressed. Our only concern, THE ONLY ONE, will be how to make our neighbor’s life better. Imagine living in a place like that, where you and your neighbors have no hidden agenda, no jealousy, no fear, no desire to manipulate or control.

Unfortunately, before we get to Zion, we will have to live through the degradation of society, which will in large part be encapsulated in the behaviors, manipulations, and demagoguery that is infesting our political process.  In all of history and especially in the scriptures, we recognize that the fall of societies and great nations is always preceded by the collapse in morals of the King or governing bodies. 

God Bless.

Sept 19 was the end of the 25 hour Day of Atonement, or Yom Kippur this year.   On this day, which is one of the Jewish High Holy Days, the Jewish people seek atonement or forgiveness of sins, both of the people and individually.  During the months of September and October there is a series of three high feasts, or Holy Days, that the Torah commands the Isrealites to observe. These three feasts, which come in quick succession are: 1. Rosh Hashanah, which is the New Year.  This was celebrated September 9 through 11th this year.  2. Yom Kippur, which comes 8 days later. And 3. Feast of Tabernacles, or Sukkot which is celebrated September 23 through 30 this year.

These feast days were established at the time of Moses to be a remembrance of future actions surrounding the coming of the Messiah.  Rosh Hashanah, the new year, was the day of judgement.  The Messiah, or Christ, would come to judge the righteous and the wicked.  Yom Kippur is the day of atonement where not only is forgiveness of sins sought for, but in a Jubilee year, the slaves are freed and ancestral lands are restored. The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) was a celebration of the Messiah being enthroned. 

Originally Rosh Hashanah was established in Leviticus 23 as the first day of the month Tishri. This was to be a sabbath. The first day of each month was established by the Temple priests observing the first hint of the crescent moon appearing.  Messengers were sent out to proclaim the start of each month, which would be a sabbath.  Once the Israelites and Jews were scattered throughout many nations, it was not possible to get the word to them in time of  the actual day of Rosh Hashanah, so the practice evolved into a two day feast.  If you count this way, from the end of  Rosh Hashanah 2 Tishri  to 10 Tishri, start of Yom Kippur, there are eight days.

During the 8 days of Sukkot, at the time of Christ, water is poured over the altar in the temple. Every morning at daybreak a group of Levites and priests went down to the Shiloh stream on the south of the Temple and drew water. Great ceremony accompanied this ordinance with great blasts of trumpets when the priests arrived at the temple with the water.  In the evening the water would be poured over the altar in the temple. This event would be accompanied with joyous music, dancing, and singing all night. John 7 records Christ teaching in the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles.  On the last day of the feast Christ stood in the temple and shouted to the crowd: “If any man thirst, let him come unto me, and drink. He that believeth on me, as the scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water.” (John 7:37-38) Christ was in effect saying, “You are praying for the Messiah to come who will give life giving water. All this celebrating is for me, I am here, NOW.”  In seven months Christ would be crucified.

This drama is enacted in the stars in the heavens.  The zodiac constellation that presides over the age after Pisces (the Fish) is Aquarius, the water bearer. Due to the procession of the stars each of the constellations in the zodiac takes a turn having the earth’s North Pole oriented in their direction, which changes approximately every 2,100 years.  Christ was born at the beginning of the age of Pisces, and we are now entering the beginning of the age of Aquarius. This all makes me wonder if the Lord will make his 2nd appearance to the world, this time in glory, on the last day of the Sukkot in a time not too far distant.  

The theme of these High Holy Days is this: Judgement, Atonement, and Salvation.   The sequencing and separation of days between the Holy Days is significant.  Keep in mind that there are eight days between Judgement (Rosh Hashanah) and Atonement (Yom Kippur).   The cycle of judgement is seven days plus one day before the Atonement is complete.  Christ entered into Jerusalem in triumph on Sunday (Palm Sunday) and the Voice of the Father was heard to declare His acceptance of Christ and His sacrificial offering, “I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” To which the Savior said,”Now is the judgement of the world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.” (John 12:28 & 31) It would be eight days until the Lord completes His atonement and is resurrected the following Sunday.

Eight signifies a beginning in sacred numerology. Seven is the number that signifies completeness.  Feast of Tabernacles is seven days plus one day.  Jubilees is forty-nine (7 x 7) years plus one year. Judgement to Atonement is seven plus one.  This will become useful when we discuss the signs that occurred during the year 2017.

Rosh Hashanah was on September 21-22 in 2017.  The sign of Revelation 12 was manifest on September 22-23 of the same year.

I wrote in my last post about how the sign of the virgin giving birth to the man-child was linked to Isaiah 55 and 66. I also mentioned that this sign hasn’t happened in 7,000 years, and won’t happen again for another several thousand years.  There was something very unique and special about Rosh Hashanah and the High Holy Days of the year 2017.  Here is a list of other signs and wonders that occurred during the year 2017:

1. During 2015-16 there were 4 blood moons and 2 solar eclipses visible to the areas around Jerusalem.  What made these events remarkable was that they all occurred on Jewish Feast days.  I don’t believe that has ever happened before. 
2. Much has been written about the Jubilee year of 2015-2016. Jubilee is every 50 years (49 years plus one-the year of restoration and rest) 49 years minus 2016 is 1967.  The most significant thing that happened in that year was the liberation of all of Jerusalem and the Temple mount during the 7 Days War.  What happened 50 years before that? The British liberated Jerusalem from the Turks during the First World War, which paved the way for mass migration of Jews to Palestine.  So what happened in 2017 to make it a significant year of Jubilee? The Lord established the New Covenant, hopefully for the last time, in Boise, Idaho.  Remember, the 50th year is the year of restoration, when slaves are set free and the ancestral lands are restored.  The Covenant made on Sept 3rd 2017 includes salvation (Freedom from the cycle) and a deed to the land if faithful (share in the land to be restored to the righteous seed of Lehi).
3. August 21st of 2017 was the great solar eclipse that crossed America from sea to sea.  Another coast to coast eclipse will occur in North America in 2024 – 7 years later making, with the path of the previous eclipse, a big X in the center of the United States over Missouri. What was signified by this sign? Perhaps a warning to America to take seriously the call to repent?  Perhaps America has seven years to repent. In the meantime the Lord is starting something; He is bringing the “church” out of the wilderness.  He has established a new covenant with a small group of gentiles.  America has been judged and found wanting.  In seven years, according to the metaphor found in the timing of the feasts, will be the day of Atonement in America.
4. One of the minor signs that I was personally involved with I described in the previous past.  Signs and appearances of angels were experienced during the giving of the New Covenant in Boise.
5. The Earth gave its testimony of the New Covenant.  In the mountains just to the East of  Boise a super storm of earthquakes occurred which lasted for several months.  There were thousands of earthquakes and tremors registered from 2.0 to 5.0 on the Richter Scale.
6. On November 3, 2017 I recorded a warning that was declared to the inhabitants of Salt Lake County.  I gave an account of that how that warning came about in this post: https://thenorthstarchronicle.com/2018/07/30/a-warning-to-the-people-of-salt-lake-valley/
7. During the last 18 months we have received other witnesses and signs from the Earth that something momentous is happening.  Earthquakes are increasing in number and severity.  Fires in the Western United States are worst ever recorded.  Floods in the East are some of the worst ever recorded.  Hurricanes are the most destructive ever recorded in any previous 18 month period. 
   

I have never been one to pay attention to people who give dates to coming prophesied events.  They are almost always wrong. But evidence tells us that something is afoot.  I don’t profess to know any dates of future events, but I know that 2017 was year of prophecy, a year foretold, when the Lord reestablished a people through covenant. I believe the Judgement has been declared, that we have to step up and accept the Atonement and prepare for the Final Feast of Tabernacles (Salvation) when the Messiah, the Savior, makes His second appearance and is ensconced as the King.

God Bless.