Tag Archives: faith

The Man Dressed In A White Robe Reconsidered

15 Monday Apr 2024

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I had not planned to share this for a long time, but the subject was broached today by an acquaintance, so I will explain why I have reconsidered what I wrote in a previous entry over a year ago.

I’ve been outspoken about that for a while in some circles, but I have also reconsidered who the man dressed in a white robe in Lehi’s dream was, based on personal experience and also with a conversation I had with a true messenger. Lehi and those like him such as Isaiah who have “ascended” to a new level of ministration are “exalted” to their new level by the Lord after experiencing a “descent” phase or a period of “abasement.” Consider a few things: Lehi had already experienced a theophany which is beyond the iron rod imagery or in other words at the “end” to which people should endure. He had already partaken of the fruit and found “rest.” I have made many videos about this “rest” and “partaking of God’s goodness” if anyone is interested in watching my Book of Mormon Spotlight videos on YouTube. We see this powerfully, but very briefly in 1 Nephi chapter 1 with Lehi’s theophany. Later, the opening scene of Lehi’s dream of the tree of life in 1 Nephi chapter 8 placed him in a lone and dreary wilderness where the white robed man asked Lehi to follow him. Lehi followed him until he found himself no longer in a dark wilderness but rather in a dark waste. Lehi essentially experienced a descent phase, or in other words, a condescension. It happened upon his consent to be guided there. Once his “abasement” period was completed, his ministration as one who then “ascended” like Isaiah to guide others to partake of the same “rest” began. And it began with Lehi guiding his family along the same path. This is why Lehi did not start out at the beginning of the iron rod in his dream, but the others did. Very few people press forward during their mortal lives with their minds and hearts set on partaking of the fruit of the tree of life, or “rest” while yet in mortality. Those that do may consent to a period of abasement or a “descent” phase where they demonstrate their willingness to serve God at all hazards (6th lecture on faith), not even withholding their lives as Lehi demonstrated when he preached repentance at Jerusalem.

Lecture on Faith 6:5 For a man to lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also, counting all things but filth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ, requires more than mere belief, or supposition that he is doing the will of God, but actual knowledge: realizing, that when these sufferings are ended he will enter into eternal rest; and be a partaker of the glory of God…

Or as the Lord asked:

Isaiah 6:8 Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.

Gentile Kings and Queens

22 Friday Mar 2024

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Today’s entry is just a quick blurb and not at all exhaustive. I share much more in my ongoing YouTube playlist titled “Book of Mormon Spotlights.” In my studies, I noticed a hierarchy of Gentiles mentioned in various places in the Book of Mormon, but mostly within the first two books of Nephi. They are:

1. Mother Gentiles
2. Gentiles
3. Gentiles who repent
4. Gentile Kings and Queens

Consider the following and feel free to make any corrections. Nephi wrote about the Mother Gentiles (1 Nephi 13:17) who would wage war against those Gentiles (1 Nephi 13:12-16) who wanted a better life and were brought to America by the power of the Lord. In the Old Testament, the northern kingdom of Israel, also known as Ephraim was destroyed by Assyria and the people were dispersed. They assimilated into gentile nations, but dispersed Ephraim was predicted to emerge in the last days to serve as “nursing fathers” and “nursing mothers” (2 Nephi 10:9) to the remnant of the House of Israel that is restored in the end-time. These “kings” and “queens” who are also referred to as these nursing fathers and nursing mothers by Nephi and also referred to as “foster fathers” and “nursing mothers” by Isaiah will be among those Gentles who repent and become covenant people of the Lord (2 Nephi 30:2) because as many of the Gentiles as repent are the covenant people of the Lord;

Now lets fast forward to Joseph Smith’s day. Joseph Smith knew that he and the converted saints were those Gentiles (D&C 109:60) that Nephi prophesied about – and that the Book of Mormon would come by “way of the Gentile” (Title Page) – should become the Gentile Kings and Queens because of Ephraim’s birthright. This refers to spiritual kings and queens and not political kings and queens. There are NO kings and queens on the Earth who care about Zion. They – meaning world leaders and leaders of nations – love Babylon and all her riches and power and don’t care at all about Zion.

In order to understand this concept better, we need to go back to Genesis chapter 48 where Jacob blesses his grandsons Ephraim and Manasseh. Remember that Ephraim was the younger brother who was given the birthright blessing of the first-born, which traditionally would have been Manasseh’s birthright. Ephraim was blessed to become a greater nation than Manasseh and that the descendants of Ephraim would become a “multitude of nations.”

Latter-day Ephraim has the birthright duty to bring the fullness of the gospel to his brother, Latter-day Manasseh, and also his other brethren of the House of Israel (D&C 103:1). Those of us who have been through the temple know that we have been anointed to become kings and queens but that we will not see this realized except through our faithfulness. How do we know what serving as kings and queens involves unless we learn how the scriptures define those roles and then begin emulating those who had those roles? How can we expect to be exalted as those kings and queens IF we never serve or know how to serve, using the role models provided in the scriptures of what those kings and queens actually did? One example would be Ammon, son of King Mosiah who selflessly declined becoming the next political king and instead became a spiritual king to serve his heathen brothers and sisters, the Lamanites in the form of a lowly servant to the vassal king Lamoni.

You get the idea. Then Jesus Christ gives a sequence of events in 3 Nephi chapter 21, which are already underway. But there are still a number of great events which I consider will be the great and marvelous work (although it began with Joseph Smith). But pay attention to how many times Jesus Christ declared, “…and then shall…” and it will become clear just how much is yet to happen. But these events will be sequential. 3 Nephi chapter 21 is a great chapter to study deeply.

Grace To Grace

16 Saturday Oct 2021

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I didn’t expect to write this entry today, but I kept feeling nudged to do so while my previous entry “What Is Grace” is still fresh in the minds of those who have read it. More and more Christians are abandoning institutional religion while seeking and embracing Jesus Christ with real intent. While it is imperative to seek the Lord, it is equally important to fellowship with other worshippers. One cannot become a disciple of Jesus without loving and serving as He did. That does not happen as individuals on tops of individual mountains. Zion will be a nation of disciples dwelling together who have learned by grace to get along with each other. We must learn to be refined together in the same way that river rocks are rounded and smoothed together in the same running waters. You have to endure being bumped into each other, rubbed off of each other, and smoothed together by the uncomfortable flow of the rolling waters around you. Similarly does steel sharpen steel.

We must learn to receive “grace from grace” and continue from “grace to grace” as I wrote in my previous entry. When Jesus taught those around him to love God and also to love their neighbors as themselves, He was questioned by undiscerning disciples. “Who is my neighbor” and “how many times shall I forgive my neighbor?” Where they lacked in dos, they well made up for in don’ts. Jesus had to break down the concept of the kind of love He expected them to learn. They already knew it was wrong to steal and to lie and to covet. In His sermon on the mount, Jesus expounded on the concept of the higher law of love or in other words, the law of Christ. For example, he unequivocally declared, “Give to every man that asketh of thee; and of him that taketh away thy goods ask them not again. And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also to them likewise” (Luke 6:30-31).

I still get asked by fellow LDS what about this? Or what about that? Should I just let so and so do this or that? They have not taken the time to study the personal teachings of Jesus Christ. But to answer their particular questions, the Lord covered those questions in fine detail which He declared in its entirety in D&C 98. In short, Jesus Christ declared:

13 And whoso layeth down his life in my cause, for my name’s sake, shall find it again, even life eternal.
14 Therefore, be not afraid of your enemies, for I have decreed in my heart, saith the Lord, that I will prove you in all things, whether you will abide in my covenant, even unto death, that you may be found worthy.
15 For if ye will not abide in my covenant ye are not worthy of me.

But I’m getting off subject there. People tend to want every scenario spelled out for them because they do not believe ALL the things Jesus Christ has already instructed us to do. Thus we have His sermon on the mount as a model for living and for loving. I love what Peter wrote to the blossoming Christians in his second epistle who had obtained that kind of faith. He gave them actionable further light and knowledge so that they might receive even more grace.

2 Peter 1:1 Simon Peter, a servant and an apostle of Jesus Christ, to them that have obtained like precious faith with us through the righteousness of God and our Saviour Jesus Christ:
2 Grace and peace be multiplied unto you through the knowledge of God, and of Jesus our Lord,
3 According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue:
4 Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.
5 And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;
6 And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness;
7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.
8 For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins.
10 Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall:
11 For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

In verses one through four, Peter greets those believers who had grown in faith and thus in grace. In verses five through eight, Peter then teaches them how they can grow from grace to grace. This is what disciples DO. They do these works to BECOME like Jesus Christ and all other heavenly beings who dwell with God. We are doing these things not necessarily in order to be saved, but we are doing them to become like saved beings. We cannot waltz into Zion or into heaven and expect Jesus to sprinkle magical fairy dust or magical grace dust and transform us into brotherly people. It doesn’t work that way. We develop brotherly kindness right now so that by abandoning our undesirable qualities (repentance), His grace covers us. This is why Peter says in verse nine that those religious and dutiful people who call themselves Christians do not do these things, it is as if they chose not to be baptized in the first place to be forgiven of their sins. They continue their journey ignorantly or hypocritically. And so Peter encouraged those Christians to give diligence to make their calling and election sure so that they never fall. They who forgive will be forgiven. They who love will be loved. They who elevate the downtrodden will themselves in the end be elevated. They will be saved in God’s kingdom as one who has received as much grace as he has been given the opportunity to receive while in this mortal life. Thus are we saved by grace. It’s an open book test and we have all the advantages and opportunities in the world to grow right now.

Have Miracles Ceased? Part One

09 Thursday Sep 2021

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I have witnessed too many people ask this question lately. My answer to this question is no. That’s the easy answer. Miracles abound in my life. I am not sharing this to boast of my own strength because I am nothing. I am less than dirt and less than rocks. Dirt and rocks are greater than me because even dirt and rocks obey God. When God says to the mountain move, it moves. Whenever God tells me to do something, I don’t always listen or I don’t always hear, though I am sincerely endeavoring every day to become better and to become complete. But in Christ, I know I can do all things. I have seen too much to doubt and to doubt it all would be to look straight up toward the sun at noon day and declare in defiance that there is no light. But that isn’t so much denial as it is blatant rejection. Through Jesus, I have caused the lame to walk, I have healed the sick, I have escaped death, I have been God’s instrument in preventing the death of another, and I have been given a vision, just to name a few examples. And I acknowledge that it is only through Jesus that I have been able to partake in such events because of a genuine and sincere desire to be obedient to Him in all things and at all costs. That is a scary notion!

I have spent a lot of time sharing the teachings that Jesus taught in His sermon on the mount. They are not only teachings, but commandments. Jesus summarized his teachings by saying, “Be ye therefore perfect.” That wasn’t a suggestion. It was a commandment. “If you love me, keep my commandments.” Our love for Him is measured by our willingness to obey Him and our obedience to Him is measured by the things we suffer for His sake. The Greek word for perfect, τέλειος or Teleios, means complete. Jesus desires us to be complete in Him. Jesus obeyed His Father perfectly, or in other words, completely, by all the things He suffered for us.

Hebrews 5:8 Though he were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered; 
9 And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them that obey him…

If you’ve read this far, then maybe you really are interested. Now I’m going to throw you into the deep end. Too much is at stake in the world right now.

Moroni 7:27 Wherefore, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased because Christ hath ascended into heaven, and hath sat down on the right hand of God, to claim of the Father his rights of mercy which he hath upon the children of men?
28 For he hath answered the ends of the law, and he claimeth all those who have faith in him; and they who have faith in him will cleave unto every good thing; wherefore he advocateth the cause of the children of men; and he dwelleth eternally in the heavens.
29 And because he hath done this, my beloved brethren, have miracles ceased? Behold I say unto you, Nay; neither have angels ceased to minister unto the children of men.
30 For behold, they are subject unto him, to minister according to the word of his command, showing themselves unto them of strong faith and a firm mind in every form of godliness…
35 And now, my beloved brethren, if this be the case that these things are true which I have spoken unto you, and God will show unto you, with power and great glory at the last day, that they are true, and if they are true has the day of miracles ceased?
36 Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men? Or has he withheld the power of the Holy Ghost from them? Or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man upon the face thereof to be saved?
37 Behold I say unto you, Nay; for it is by faith that miracles are wrought; and it is by faith that angels appear and minister unto men; wherefore, if these things have ceased wo be unto the children of men, for it is because of unbelief, and all is vain.

I am going to give you an example of true discipleship. His name is Liu Zhenying and is known as Brother Yun. He learned obedience by the things he suffered in China and through him, Jesus Christ worked marvelous works. But does God expect all of us to suffer as brother Yun did? Probably not, but we should be willing to suffer whatever God requires of us in our individual lives to bring to pass the salvation of others, whether they are your neighbors, total strangers, or even your worst enemies. The Bible is filled with examples of people working mighty miracles by the things they suffered because of their obedience to God’s commandments. But this is Brother Yun’s story. I hope his experiences encourage you to seek Jesus Christ with the same zeal that Brother Yun sought Him until he found Jesus. Did Brother Yun embody Christ’s teachings in the sermon on the mount? Absolutely!

Faith (and fear)

12 Monday Sep 2016

Posted by in The Doctrine of Christ

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Only two people ever walked on water, that is if you believe the Bible. But that is the point, isn’t it? Believing. On the fourth watch of the night, or at 3 am, after having  been tossed about at sea, Jesus Christ who had stayed behind the previous evening on land to pray on a mountain, appeared to them, having caught up to them by walking on the water. When His disciples saw Him, they cried out for fear. But Jesus quickly told them to be of good cheer, that it was Him, and He calmed their fears.

Peter, upon testing Jesus, immediately said, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” Without hesitation, the Lord granted Peter’s request and bid him come out on the water to Him. So Peter took a step into the unknown out in the darkness, not knowing whether Jesus or some spirit beckoned him. He had exercised enough faith to press forward and trust the voice of who he hoped it was. As Peter began walking, the wind became boisterous and Peter became afraid. When his faith turned to fear, he began to sink and cried out for rescue. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ then immediately caught Peter, saving him from death and exclaimed to Peter, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

Many experiences have taught me that listening to the Lord often brings me to a point where I have to choose whether or not to step out into the unknown. Fear of being hurt or deceived is enough to paralyze a person. I have also learned that each time I exercised faith and took a step forward, I did not fall. I have come to firmly believe that if I misstep, the Lord is there to catch me and preserve me from death. And I have been preserved from death before. But this isn’t about living and dying. This is about loving God enough to trust Him and His voice alone. I am sure that when Peter stepped down onto the water, he did not turn to the right or the left. And that is something to consider for another time. I am sure that he walked directly toward Jesus.

I know many people who believe in God, but do not believe God. They believe He exists, but do not believe His words or are not familiar with His words. Many are distracted by the cares of the world to keep His sayings diligently or they fear being hurt. People fear being hurt especially when they experience a contradiction of things. Walking on water contradicts the law of gravity as we know it. Despite everything scientists understand about gravity, none have been able to determine what causes it. There is a theory of relativity used to explain it, but it’s just that-a theory. This physical world is governed by many physical laws, one of them being gravity. If you step off a cliff, you fall until something stops your fall and it’s usually the solid ground below. Likewise, if you step out of a perfectly good boat onto the water, you will sink until something solid stops your descent.

If you take Jesus Christ out of the equation, then you are left to the natural course of things in life. However, if you come unto Christ as He invited all to do, He will catch you if you start to fall. He is a merciful God who gently corrects errors and false beliefs, but He does not leave you alone. The inevitable outcome of following Him, though, is losing your life. That sounds like a contradiction, doesn’t it? Jesus Christ is life, right? But if you are a student of the scriptures, you might find out about a certain rich man who went away sorrowing because although he kept the law since he was a youth, he would not give up his riches to follow Christ. Rather than having faith, he feared. The rich man preferred the life he lived. It was preferable for him to keep all the things he had worked so hard to obtain, rather than give them all up to start a new life-a different one. His faith was in his own ability to provide for himself rather than faith in God to give him everlasting life. Thus those who seek to save their life, whatever kind of life they’re living will lose it in the grave. But those who seek to lose whatever life they are living for Christ’s sake, as He promised, will find it again, for life with Him is everlasting. The rich man was deceived by his own covetousness.

There are so many ways we can deceive ourselves into thinking it’s okay to procrastinate or ignore the call to come unto Christ, especially when He beckons. And He is always beckoning. We must push aside all the worldly obstacles and idols and false beliefs that stand between us and the Lord, including all the traditions of men, even religious traditions. Traditions do not have the power to save. Believing Jesus Christ and doing what He tells you to do is what saves. But you must first know and understand His will. If you do not know His will when He is bidding you to come out of your comfort zone, then nothing else matters. Fear and faith cannot and do not exist at the same time. You will either believe Him and exercise faith and move forward one step at a time  toward the light or fear falling with each step and remain in darkness.jesus-water