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This talk was given in Meridian, Idaho on September 11, 2016 at a general conference held in Kleiner Memorial Park.
The Doctrine of Christ requires that we repent and be baptized. This is the sign He asks to demonstrate faith in Him. Faith requires action or it dwindles and is lost. The importance to the Lord that we act on His Doctrine cannot be overstated.
Repentance and baptism are directly related to salvation and cannot be left undone. Christ declared His Doctrine in Third Nephi 11:32-40. His Doctrine came from His Father and mentions “baptism” four times. Only the first is positive, the three subsequent times it is negative:
The First time: “…whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.” (3 Nephi 11:33)
The Second time: “And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.” (3 Nephi 11:34)
The Third time: “And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.” (3 Nephi 11:37)
And the Fourth time: “And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.” (3 Nephi 11:38)
This is a three to one ratio of negative warning to positive promise. I do not believe the Lord or His Father are negative. This approach is more a reflection on us than on Them. God is extraordinarily positive. But we need the clarity of being told the downside, and to be warned, because, unfortunately, a positive promise does not adequately motivate us.
Immediately following His Doctrine, Christ warns against rejecting, changing, adding to, or altering His Doctrine:
“Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them. And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.” (3 Nephi 11:40)
His Doctrine also includes this commandment:
“Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth.” (3 Nephi 11:41)
This is what He commanded to be declared unto the ends of the earth before the Sermon that we got at Bountiful that mirrored the Sermon on the Mount.
If you believe this Doctrine of Christ, you are required to be baptized and then declare Christ’s Doctrine to others.
The first time I was visited by the Lord, He showed me just how significant baptism is to abide the day of His return. He showed me baptism is of central importance to preparing for His return.
What He revealed did not seem to involve the baptism offered by the LDS Church. At the time I was a devout Latter-day Saint and did not understand how that could be possible. He revealed future events, and therefore for me to understand, more time needed to pass. The things I saw did not appear to give any greater meaning to baptism offered by the LDS church than baptism by any other denomination.
I have since come to understand that the form of baptism in the LDS church has been changed, and no longer conforms to the Doctrine of Christ. Like all other churches, that institution declares both more and less than Christ’s doctrine, and claims to establish it as His.
In the intervening years I have come to see that the baptism offered by you, this people, appears to be the only one offered on earth that meets the requirements of what I was shown by the Lord years ago. For this reason, it is important for us to baptize as many as will accept the Doctrine of Christ.
Since we do not ask others to become part of a new institution, nor demand they accept anything other than the Doctrine of Christ, we can and should baptize anyone willing.
I accepted the invitation to speak here, because the time has come to testify of the things shown me by the Lord in His first appearance on the night of February 12-13, 2003. I saw His return in glory, and recorded what He revealed:
I was lying at home in my bed when the Lord spoke to me, calling me by name, when it ended I was commanded to write an account. As I wrote, the words were given to me, and I recorded the following: On the 13th of February 2003 I saw the Lord coming in His glory. At first a sign appeared in the heavens; a light emanating from a single point, and turning first this way and that, All the world saw it. And men debated over its meaning. At length the light turned upon us, and within it was the Lord, showing His glory, with concourses of angels and the hosts of heaven following in His wake.
And when we saw that it was the Lord, we rejoiced and were filled with joy. I turned to my wife and said, “Look, it is Christ!” and she said, “Yes, it is!” And we were filled with joy and peace of mind, for the long-awaited day of the Lord had come.
But others were filled with dread. They feared and lamented and wanted the mountains to cover them and hide them from His presence, For He was clothed in red and came in judgment. And Christian ministers knew they had taught falsely and that their faith could not save—and they begged for relief from the Saints.
This caused me to marvel at how this could be. It was given unto me to understand that without the ordinances of salvation through the authorized ministers of the gospel, it was not possible for men to shed their sins. And they could not look upon a just and Holy Being without being racked with torment and guilt for their sins. And they pled with the Saints to minister to them, but we could not, for we were constrained by the Spirit, and were forbidden to do so. For this was the day of judgment which the Lord had in His heart, and He was now come to preach His own sermon, clothed in red, and to deliver those who waited on Him and to convict and condemn those who had not.
I write this with my own hand, and bear solemn testimony that it is true, Amen.
When I had finished recording the foregoing account, I replied to the Lord that it was not complete and that I could give a much fuller account. The Lord replied, “When the time comes to bear testimony of this, these are the words you shall use.” And many other things were told me that cannot be written.
These are the words I can use to testify of that event. Therefore, this is my testimony of that visit in early 2003.
The first appearance of the Lord was in the 50th year of my life—an age considered suitable for more than a thousand years for a man to qualify for service in the Holy Order after the Order of the Son of God.
The Lord has visited with and taught me on many occasions since then, but never at my insistence. I have never controlled His appearing. My experience is that He cannot be conjured nor controlled. I can petition, but He comes when He decides. The Lord has never appeared to me in a dream. I have always been awake, fully aware of my surroundings, and with my senses unimpeded. When awakened during the night, sleep has always fled, and following such an encounter I was always unable to return to sleep.
The Lord does everything according to His higher way of teaching. By beginning with a vision of His return, He set out the foundation for understanding His course, which is one eternal round. Since His first appearance He has sent divers angels from Adam or Michael to Hyrum and Joseph Smith, giving line upon line, to confirm my hope in Christ. The most important thing for us is to repent, be baptized, and let virtue and righteousness guide our thoughts, deeds and words. We ought to deal fairly with one another, and to be kind. You may remember abuses from priesthood “leaders” in your last church. Do not bring that with you. Leave behind all the sins and errors found in other organizations and show Christ-like patience and charity to one another.
We follow Christ to become more like Him. He requires faith, repentance and baptism, and bestows the Holy Ghost to bring all things back to our remembrance.
When we hear Christ’s message to repent and be baptized, it is our duty to respond, and then warn others so they can escape the coming judgment. The whole world struggles under a burden of sin that we are powerless to remove without Christ. He suffered and overcame the sins of the world so we can avoid the consequences of sin, on condition of repentance and baptism. As He explained in a revelation in 1829: “For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent; But if they would not repent they must suffer even as I; which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink [in that context the word shrink means cower- Christ cowered]. Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men. Wherefore, I command you again to repent, lest I humble you with my almighty power;” (D&C 19:16-20.)
When the Lord spoke to Joseph in 1829 about the atonement, He mentioned only suffering in Gethsemane, not His death on the cross, because it was in Gethsemane His greatest work was accomplished. I was shown it, and have given an account in the book Come, Let Us Adore Him.
In order for His work to be completed, He had to die. Death allowed Him to attain the resurrection and break the bonds of death.
As the Lord approached death on the cross, one of the last things He spoke came from a prophetic hymn or psalm. He chose that hymn to testify that His suffering at Golgotha had been foretold in scripture. He sang only the Hymn’s first line: “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” The hymn says much more, as those present would have understood. It continues:
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? why art thou so far from helping me, and from the words of my roaring? … Our fathers trusted in thee: they trusted, and thou didst deliver them. They cried unto thee, and were delivered: they trusted in thee, and were not confounded. But I am a worm, and no man; a reproach of men, and despised of the people. All they that see me laugh me to scorn: they shoot out the lip, they shake the head, saying, He trusted on the LORD that he would deliver him: let him deliver him, seeing he delighted in him. … They gaped upon me with their mouths, as a ravening and a roaring lion. I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint: my heart is like wax; it is melted in the midst of my bowels. My strength is dried up like a potsherd; and my tongue cleaveth to my jaws; and thou hast brought me into the dust of death. For dogs have compassed me: the assembly of the wicked have enclosed me: they pierced my hands and my feet. I may tell all my bones: they look and stare upon me. They part my garments among them, and cast lots upon my vesture. But be not thou far from me, O LORD: O my strength, haste thee to help me. … All the ends of the world shall remember and turn unto the LORD: and all the kindreds of the nations shall worship before thee. For the kingdom is the LORD’s: and he is the governor among the nations. … A seed shall serve him; it shall be accounted to the Lord for a generation. They shall come, and shall declare his righteousness unto a people that shall be born, that he hath done this (Psalm 22:1, 4-8, 13-19, 27-28, 30-31).
He was the chosen Messiah, and He fulfilled that role exactly as it needed to be done. We should follow Him and do what is asked of us—exactly what is asked: nothing more, and nothing less.
When His life ended, He shouted His triumph: “It is finished” (John 19:30). Mark and Luke record that He did this “with a loud voice” (Mark 15:37; Luke 23:46).
For His atonement and sacrifice to have the greatest effect, we must preach the Doctrine of Christ.
The scriptures do not foretell any great numbers will repent. Christ said, “I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I will bring you to Zion” (Jer. 3:14).
Too few, perhaps, to impress the world: But the Lord does not view things as do men. The Lord describes those who respond to His invitation as “His elect.” He explained, “mine elect hear my voice and harden not their hearts (D&C 29:7).
Nephi foresaw how few believers there would be in the last days; he…
…beheld the church of the Lamb of God, and its numbers were few, because of the wickedness and abominations of the whore who sat upon many waters; nevertheless, I beheld that the church of the Lamb, who were the saints of God, were also upon all the face of the earth; and their dominions upon the face of the earth were small, because of the wickedness of the great whore whom I saw (1 Ne. 14:12).
The Lord requires us to invite the world to repent, but not to expect large numbers to do so. Numbers matter to man, but the hearts of men matter to the Lord. It is the quality of conversion, not the quantity. He always spoke of having “few” sheep. Of the likely billions living at the time of Enoch, only some few thousand were saved (see Jude 1:14), and only eight by Noah (see 1 Peter 3:20; D&C 138:9). The end times will be like those days (see Matt 24:37; Luke 17:26).
The Lord charges us as He did Ezekiel:
I have made you who have received these tidings to be watchmen unto the scattered house of Israel; therefore you shall hear the words of my mouth, and warn them from me. When I say unto the wicked, O wicked man, thou shalt surely die; if you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the wicked of his way to turn from it; if he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul (Eze. 33:7-9).
The Lord said in 1832, and again now, “Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor. Therefore, they are left without excuse, and their sins are upon their own heads” (D&C 88:81-82).
We are to warn and invite, but not expect many to respond. We have no obligation to dispute, contend and debate with others to overcome their resistance. The Lord warned us about using “contention” to advance the truth about His Gospel:
And according as I have commanded you [and by the way these words were spoken by the Lord immediately preceding the Doctrine of Christ] and according as I have commanded you thus shall ye baptize. And there shall be no disputations among you, as there have hitherto been; neither shall there be disputations among you concerning the points of my doctrine, as there have hitherto been. For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away (3 Ne. 11:28-30).
We mustn’t argue about our faith but declare it and leave it for the Lord to confirm our testimony.
If by force of argument, or attractive personality, we bring others to accept baptism, it’ll do little good. Such people are not converted to the Lord, and remain vulnerable to persuasion by the next argument, or the next attractive personality that, when they encounter, they depart from the faith. It would be better if they were not brought in than for them to accept baptism and then turn from forgiveness to wander off into darkness, rejecting the light. Often it is the failed convert that later becomes an opponent. Only let the words of Christ convert, as they call out to His sheep.
In the tenth talk, given in Phoenix two years ago, you were warned about false spirits, as happened in Kirtland, which you were warned would come among us. That warning has proven true. False spirits have misled some into foolish errors. I am astonished at vain, foolish and prideful ideas that are anti-Christ, degrading and dark, but have been welcomed by some. Remember Pharaoh’s magicians also enchanted their rods to become snakes (see Exo. 7:11-12), and conjured frogs to mimic the sign given by God through Moses and Aaron (see Exo. 8:7.) Pharaoh’s heart was hardened by these imitations. Do not let yours become so likewise.
For two years I have watched, attended some of your meetings, gathered reports, and tried to let you stand and display your strength and understanding. Even God left Adam and Eve in the Garden and allowed Lucifer the common enemy to tempt and try them, promising to return again to visit them. They transgressed His commandment, and He provided the means to cover their shame, repent and return. He also promised to later send messengers. But God did not “babysit” Adam and Eve, informing them that it was given unto them to choose, even when He forbids something. God is the same now as in the beginning. We are all required to display our understanding, obedience and prove our understanding.
People have come among you preaching falsehoods and inviting others to follow false spirits: Adulterers and adulteresses who justify sins and mock the commandment “thou shalt not commit adultery.” (Exo. 20:14.) False claimants are pretending to seal others up to eternal life, changing the ordinances and introducing foolish and vain ideas borrowed from pagans and heathen, who do not know Christ nor His righteousness. I do not oppose them directly by debate or counterargument. I declare the truth and leave it for everyone to decide between clearly opposing teachings. If people cannot discern, then they will need to learn from sad experience to choose between good and evil, perhaps only coming to understand after their destruction in this world.
There are those who use well-reasoned arguments to expound their understanding of scripture who have declared with certainty it is impossible for what I say to be true. These voices come from both the fearful anonymous and proud academics. I do not respond to either.
In a letter on August 24, 1834, Joseph Smith described the only way falsehoods could be avoided. He wrote:
If the Saints are very humble, very watchful and very prayerful, that few will be deceived by those who have not authority to teach, or who have not the Spirit to teach according to the power of the Holy Ghost, in the scriptures (JS Papers, Documents Vol. 4, p. 117).
Only the truth is at issue. Individuals other than Christ do not matter. The message I have and do preach is from the Lord. His sheep hear His voice. If they accept it as His, then deceivers, false spirits and men’s learning are powerless to destroy faith in Him. He promised He “will take care of our flocks” (D&C 88:72) and therefore it will be Him, and not me, who will keep His flock shepherded.
Following Christ’s death, He was buried and rose on the third day. I know He lives for I have seen Him. He showed me the morning of His resurrection. I testify as a witness that He rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, as the Gospels declare. Like those who wrote the New Testament, I am also a living witness the Lord rose from the dead:
When I saw His resurrection, I was surprised to see it was still dark. I had always thought it occurred at sunup, as the return of daylight symbolized the return of life. But it was dark. The Gospel of John is the only one that mentions the darkness of that morning. Even so, it never registered to me that Christ rose in the darkness of that early morning. … He did rise from the dead. We rejoice because it is true. As so many others have done before, I can add my own witness that He rose from the dead. I was shown it. It happened. He who died on the cross rose from the dead and He lives still. (Snuffer Jr., Denver C., 2010-12-24. Come, Let Us Adore Him, pp. 249, 257).
All four Gospels give accounts of Christ’s resurrection:
- Matthew: tells of two women, both named Mary, who were first to come to the grave, where an angel informed them of the resurrection, and told them to go tell others.
- Mark: states it was also two women, both named Mary, who arrived first to the grave where an angel informed them Christ was resurrected. Other disciples did not believe their testimony.
- Luke: tells of several women who saw the empty grave, were told He had risen by two angels, and then went to testify to the apostles. But the apostles thought the testimony “seemed as idle tales, and they believed them not.”
- John: wrote that Mary Magdalene saw, even embraced the risen Lord, and related to the others her testimony of having seen Him returned to life, resurrected from the dead!
[These] accounts differ in the details. [They have] similarities and differences. They are universal in the fact that Christ was seen by the women (or [a] woman) first, and not by His Apostles. [John’s account] records that Christ told Mary: ‘Touch me not.’ In the Joseph Smith Translation the words are changed to read: ‘Hold me not.’ (JST-John 20: 17.) Joseph’s change of the text was warranted. [I tell you that] when Mary realized it was Jesus, she embraced Him joyfully. She did not timidly reach out her hand, but she readily greeted Him with open arms, and He, in turn, embraced her. It is difficult to describe what I saw of the incident, apart from saying [that] the Lord was triumphant, exultant, overjoyed at His return from the grave! She shared His joy. I was shown the scene and do not have words to adequately communicate how complete the feelings of joy and gratitude were which were felt by our Lord that morning. As dark and terrible [as] were the sufferings through which He passed, the magnitude of which is impossible for man to put into words, these feelings of triumph were, on the other hand, of equal magnitude in their joy and gratitude. [He had attained to the resurrection of the dead! Just as He had seen His Father do, He likewise held the keys of death and hell!] I do not think it possible for a mortal to feel a fullness of either. And, having felt some of what He shares with His witnesses, I know words are inadequate to capture His feelings on the morning of His resurrection. He had the deep satisfaction of having accomplished the most difficult assignment [to be] given by the Father, knowing it was a benefit to all of His Father’s children, and it had been done perfectly. Mary and Christ embraced. There was nothing timid about the warm encounter she had with Him. Then He said to her, ‘Hold me not’ because He had to ascend, return and report to His Father. Joseph Smith was correct when he [changed] this language. I then saw Him ascend to heaven. I saw the golden heavenly light glowing down upon Mary as she watched His ascent. All this happened while it was yet dark on the morning He rose from the dead. He has shown this to me and I can testify to it as a witness. (ibid, pp. 256-7.)
The Lord’s public execution was designed to humiliate Him. Onlookers were expected to have contempt for anyone executed that way. He foretold that “the world shall rejoice” (John 16:20) at His disciples’ sorrow.
In contrast, His triumphant resurrection was private. He appeared only to a few and initially only to women. He endured public shaming, reserving His greatest triumph to quiet privacy between confidants. Our Lord is meek, and although greater (see D&C 19:18) and more intelligent than us all (see Abr. 3:19), yet He condescends to speak with us in plain humility (see Ether 12:39.).
He is the only means for salvation: “there shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent.” (Mosiah 3:17.) Anyone who claims otherwise is deceived or dishonest.
I testify of Him in a day when most people do not believe it possible for my testimony to be true. I ask nothing of you. But I do testify truthfully.
The Lord has taught me a great deal more than I can discuss. This talk can only be given because there are some few here who will believe, and the Lord respects your faith.
If Zion is ever founded, its residents will fulfill the prophecy of Habakuk: “For the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.” (Hab. 2:14.)
It shall be as Jeremiah prophesied: And they shall teach no more every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sins no more.” (Jer. 31:34.)
But the knowledge in Zion will be of and with Him. Zion will be like Him, without envy, strife, jealousy, ambition, pride and covetousness.
Until that day the Lord will send witnesses to testify of Him. The world is filled with deceit, and some men make claims to have authority from Christ as their basis to ask for obedience, support, trust and property. I ask for none of those things. If you want to donate money to the Lord, then do it as part of a community of believers and use the donations to relieve the needs of the poor among you. If you have no poor among you, donate to build a temple.
In a letter written August 16, 1834, Joseph Smith expected Zion could be established very soon. He wrote, “we have a great work to do, but little time to do it in and if we don’t exert ourselves to the utmost in gathering up the strength of the Lords house …there remaineth a sco[u]rge” (JS Papers, Documents Vol. 4, p. 106.) In the same letter he reminded people in his day that, “so long as unrighteousness acts are suffered in the church it cannot [be] sanctified neither Zion be redeemed.” (Id., p. 107.) At the time, he considered the church to be “in a languid cold disconsolate state.” (Id.) It was the opposite of the lively, confident and happy state accompanying righteousness, even when worldly circumstances are direful and the wicked seem to triumph. When doing what the Lord asks, we can be lively because He will accompany our efforts and add His strength to our labor. If we have a hope in Christ, we can be confident. If our sins have been forgiven, we have every reason to be happy.
Virtue and patience are required of us every bit as much as it has been required in every age. We cannot wallow in sin, nor be prideful, and expect to do any better than those who have already failed. The best guard against our failure is humility, meekness, longsuffering and patience. We must not charge ahead when the Lord has not prepared the way for us to proceed safely. There’s much still to be done. But it must be done when, where and how the Lord directs; and that also not in haste—because haste brings confusion, resulting in pestilence, including violence and jarring contentions (See D&C 63:24).
From emails and phone calls I have received since my talk in Moab, it is clear there are those who want to move now, in haste. There are ambitious men who offer to lead others hastily into new paths, claiming to be so mighty and strong that they can offer great rewards in the afterlife in exchange for following them here. I offer you no such thing. You must look to Christ for forgiveness of your sins, and follow His example of self-sacrifice, patience, obedience and virtue. I can only urge you to patiently allow the True Shepherd to guide us all into His pastures—showing Him the respect due to a Redeemer.
I mentioned the idea of “Kingship” in Moab. Remember the Great King, Christ, came not to be served but to serve. He did not “lord it over” others, but He knelt to elevate them. He came as a meek and lowly servant and went about doing good. He died to save the lives of others. When He arose from the dead, He went to the Father and advocated forgiveness for those who despised and abused Him.
What kind of “king” would God send? Even if his bowels are a fountain of light and truth, and even if he were to hold the scepter of power in his hand (see D&C 85:7), I doubt a king sent by the Lord would be markedly different than our True King. He would endure the abuse of misunderstanding, criticism and mockery from those who refuse to understand. He would serve patiently, never asserting any claim to greatness. Joseph said in this world “the more a man is exalted, the more humble he will be, if actuated by the Spirit of the Lord.” (JS Papers, Documents, Vol. 4, p. 198.)
When such a king dies, and returns to God to report, he will have only kindness for those who opposed him as he served God. WE should ALL be like that. We should all be like our Lord.
Christ’s greatest commandments were simple and given to every one of us: “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy [might] mind.” (Matt. 22:37.) “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 22:39) “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.” (Matt. 7:12.) If we do these things there’s no time to proclaim our greatness, to assert the right to be a leader, or to command others. Servants do not strut but behave meekly. They only take such acts as the True Master commands.
I recently had a vision that began as a dream. In it I was traveling in a small car up a mountain road. The road was steep, but straight, and it grew steeper as it climbed upwards. On the left side of the road there was a railroad track running parallel. As we drove the small car upward, I noticed a sharp bend in the railroad tracks ahead that interrupted the otherwise straight course of the line. I saw a train approaching from uphill in the distance coming downhill rapidly, and it seemed to be going far too fast to safely negotiate the sharp bend in the tracks. The small car we drove was not quite to the bend when the rushing train hit the bend, leapt from the tracks and violently crashed in front of us. Our little car narrowly escaped a collision, as the train’s wreckage spread about. As the small car continued upward, the train crash worsened, at first beside the car, and then as we accelerated, closely behind us. The little car got ahead of the continuing wreck of the moving train, and I could see the train was full of passengers who, uphill from the wreckage, were enjoying themselves. They were paying no attention to the disaster already befalling their train. We began to shout out the windows of our car, trying to warn the occupants in the doomed train, but they gave no heed. They laughed and partied aboard the train with no concern for their impending destruction.
I could see the wreckage behind me in the mirror as the violence of the wreck threw shattered railroad cars about, some onto the road behind us, making the road now impassable. We were powerless to save those aboard the train because they would not hear the warnings we shouted to them.
As we reached the top of the mountain, the last of the train went by, and I stopped the little car. We got out and stood in the roadway looking down the mountain and watched as the last of the train was destroyed. While mourning over the many lives that had been lost, I awoke from the dream and sat up on my bed, but the vision continued.
I next saw in the distance, beyond the train wreckage, an overpowering flood, as if it was a great fire, consuming and destroying all the country coming from the east. Although we had survived the train wreck, it appeared certain we would all be killed in the coming flood. I looked about for any sign of hope we might survive and noticed beside the roadway a great rock with an opening. I led the small party to the rock and discovered the opening was for a cavern that went upward within the shelter of the rock. We entered the cave and climbed upward. Inside the cavity of the rock, our small group waited as the flood approached, unsure whether we would live or die. The noise of the destruction outside was deafening as the flood approached, and then the opening of the cavern went black and we were left in complete silence and darkness. We waited. In a few moments the light returned but silence remained. After a few more moments our small group emerged from the rock’s cavern to see what had transpired with the world.
The scene of destruction was astounding. The entire landscape was transformed. It was destroyed. The wrecked train, the tracks and the road had all been consumed. Everything appeared barren. Then suddenly new life began to spring forth in the widespread desolation. Barren trunks brought out new limbs, blossoms and leaves. Flowers sprang from the earth. As we watched, the earth was quickly transformed, and in a short time the denuded desolation was full of life, beauty and fertility much beyond what had gone on before the flood of fire had destroyed the landscape. At this point the vision ended and I was given the interpretation:
The train is the false religions of the world. The occupants of the small car are those who repent and accept baptism. The protective rock with the cavern is Christ.
We must invite others to join us in baptism. However great or little our success, others must be invited.
You must each decide whether I am sent by Him and acting as a true witness, or whether I am just another of the many deceivers who use God’s name in vain, having no authority. I claim to testify to the truth and do not deceive you; and I claim that He has sent me to preach deliverance from sin by obedience to Him. It is His Doctrine that all mankind should repent and be baptized in His name for the remission of sins. If you do so He will be faithful and forgive.
Repentance means to turn from whatever else is distracting you and face God. Heed Him, follow Him and obey His will. Repentance substitutes virtue for sin, trades weakness for strength, and remakes us heart, mind and spirit into a new creature—a son or daughter of God.
I know I am no better than any other man. My weaknesses and foolishness have provoked the Lord to sternly rebuke me on several occasions. My many shortcomings cause me to mourn and wish someone else were responsible for the things entrusted into my hands.
But I will not refuse the Lord. He warned long ago that once we begin, we cannot look back—therefore I dare not depart from the course, no matter how difficult. Like you, I hope to do what the Lord asks, when He asks it, in the way He requires it to be done; and I leave everything else to the Lord.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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Now, I was asked by the organizers of this to deal with some questions that people had and that will be what we turn to next:
There was a debate over how best that might be done, and at one point we thought about putting a microphone up and ultimately the decision was made to just solicit questions, get them in, let me look at ‘em, organize it and just respond. And last night in going over them, there …, the way in which I am gonna proceed now is the way that we ultimately came to a conclusion on how to proceed, I’m simply gonna talk to address the topics that were raised, and first of all I wanna be clear that — questions that had been asked about Elijah and the appearance of Elijah to Joseph, and that stuff — in the book, Passing the Heavenly Gift, there is a beginning discussion about Elijah and the incident in the Kirtland temple that is in D&C Section 110 that introduces the subject. Then there is an elaboration, because all it does is talk about the historical issues, questions, and dilemma. Then there is a fulsome discussion called The Mission of Elijah Reconsideredthat is a PDF. You can go to the website, download it, print it out (I think it’s 40 pages or so), and it discusses that topic.
And that’s an example, if I have already written, talked, spoken, or addressed a question that got raised — I understand that there are people who haven’t had time, they may have been recently aware of this group of people or these issues, and you may have just begun the process of trying to get your hands around topics. But the best use of time is not to go over what is already available in writing and already out there. The best use of time would be to go and to talk about something new or different. And so, I wanna encourage you to look at the site and the material that’s there, because it’s all publicly available and intended to address such matters.
I have to say that I have been extremely impressed by the conference, the Boise believers group that has organized this has done a remarkable job, not just with arranging things but with — I guess the best thing they’ve done so far is to invite those two women to speak. Annett yesterday and Lisa today. I mean I can see why the Lord first came and visited with the women; it just makes a lot of sense. I thought they were the highlight. And of course, the next highlight is that right now I get to stand in the shade and you poor people are out…, I used to be out there; it’s hot, but I’m cool.
But the women reminds me of something that I wanna point out. There’s all of this competitiveness in the institutional world of Mormonism that has grown out of a profound misapprehension of priesthood, and there’s this envy of priesthood. And part of the problem that has been created is because of the correlation process that has sucked all government in the church, all budgets in the church, all right to publish in the church, into the presiding authority through correlation that now runs everything.
The Relief Society used to publish independently their own magazine. The Relief Society used to independently have a budget. They used to collect their own money. They used to administer their own funds. They used to decide for themselves. They had their own granaries. They ran the relief program. The women did — independent of everyone else. Correlation robbed them of all that, took it all over, raked it in a pile, and said “it’s all mine,” and now it’s under the thumb of one guy who sits at the top of that.
Don’t be misled by a false model that you look out and you see somewhere else. Look, we admire a man — we — believers and followers of the Lord — admire a man so much so that the priesthood was renamed after him, because he was the last one to really accomplish Zion, that is Melchizedek, priesthood was named after him. You go and you look carefully at why Melchizedek qualified to obtain the priesthood, and it was because he, by faith, quenched the violence of fire, he subdued lions, by faith he achieved all these things — not by priesthood; By faith.
If you wanna know what one can accomplish without faith but with an ordination to the priesthood, there’s a whole discussion of that in A Man without Doubt about the first attempt to distribute the highest order of priesthood in Joseph’s day. There’s a description of what an utter failure that was. In fact, it was so great a failure that what Joseph did was he backed up, and he started over again with trying to solve the problem. And The problem did not consist of priesthood — it consisted of the lack of faith. The lectures on Faith are an attempt to create faith that will have power which is separate from Priesthood.
Men, women, and children can have faith. There was a time when the Mary Fielding story had her anointing her oxen and healing them. In the world of the correlated LDS model, she’s now calling for the equivalent of Home Teachers to come anoint her oxen. Mary Fielding’s faith was what healed the oxen.
Would you rather have priesthood without faith, or faith without priesthood? If you have faith, everything else is possible. Faith is what is lacking. It is the more important. And not this priesthood envy.
Oh, the trouble I could get into, going too far. Look, at the end of the day, Peter did not hold any greater or different authority when he came back from a mission and said, “we couldn’t cast out any devils, we’re bringing this person to you, Lord. I mean, whatever it was you gave us, whatever that ordination thing was, it’s just not working.” And then Christ said, “well this kind come not out except by fasting and prayer.” (Matt. 17:16-21.) Meaning that there is a work to be done to subordinate the body in order to give the strength to your faith necessary to achieve something.
Peter had absolutely no different ordination than when he entered the temple following the Lord’s resurrection and said, “Silver and gold have I none, but such as I have, give I unto you. In the name of Jesus Christ, arise, take up your bed and walk” (See Acts 3:1-7).
What Peter had that was different was faith. His ordination amounted to no power, but his faith in Christ healed the sick. And that is not controlled by Institutions. That is not controlled by ordination. If you want to know how it’s controlled, study the Lectures on Faith and then listen to what Lisa had to say this morning, because she was right on the money.
So briefly then, to cover the topics that were raised: A temple is the Lord’s House. It’s not actually a temple unless He comes to, visits and accepts it. And then it is His house until it has been profaned. Therefore, when it is the Lord’s, the timing of when it is to be built, where it is to be built, how it is to be built, and exactly what it is that He wants to be built, are entirely within His control.
We don’t have the right to select a spot. I mean If you read carefully the word of the Lord in D&C section 124, he does say to the people in Nauvoo, “the site that you have chosen for the building of the temple is acceptable” (D&C 124:43). But remember that the Lord has everything in front of Him, and therefore it’s acceptable. In other words, yeah that site will do, just like any other site you wanna choose will do, given where I know you’re headed! Given the end result of this massively stupid experiment that you’ve got under way at present, build the temple there, build it anywhere. It’s acceptable to me, go for it.
Now, I want you to know something. The Lord goes on to say, “if you will do it and if you’ll follow me, if you do, if you meet the conditions, I will come there and I will not only make it my house, I will protect you. You will not be moved out of your place. I will be the one who establishes you in this spot, and I will protect and defend you, and this will become the corner of Zion” (see D&C 124:44-45).
And He meant it when He made the promise. But again, He knew what was about to happen. He knew the hearts of the people that were involved. It doesn’t matter how eager or earnest Joseph or Hyrum were; it doesn’t matter. You don’t have a temple without a people, and we did not have the required people at the time.
Now, I have been contacted by a group of women. Again, just like the best speakers, I think, have been the women, a group of women are currently organizing a mechanism. Our first obligation in donating and paying tithes is to take care of the poor. But there are fellowships I know that have accumulated money beyond their needs, and there are a group of women that are organizing and making the means available for gathering excess for the construction of the temple. And I assume that eventually the means will be provided from among ourselves for the accomplishment of that work. I have to say that I do believe that when the command is given, that the command to build the temple is not going to give us decades to respond. I think that when the command is given, we’re expected to act with some dispatch to accomplish what has been requested of Him. And so, I am personally grateful that there is no command out there at present to do so, ‘cause I don’t know how we would accomplish it. We’re not supposed to do it in haste, but we’re supposed to prepare every needful thing. And preparing every needful thing, we might be in a time when it’s far more convenient to accomplish it now than it will be later under more pressing circumstances.
I was asked a question about my comments concerning astronomy. We’ve got…, there’s a fellow…, he looks rather vagrant, wandering around here, John Pratt. John….
Oh yeah, there you are. Please stand up. Keep your hat off so they know just how unkempt you really look.
John has an entire website where he has been dealing…. His primary work has been in looking at the calendars and trying to sort through the relationship between events and the Lord’s dealing with men and the calendars that have been established. And if you’re interested in looking further, John has done some terrific work, and I believe his life has been spared and prolonged, in part, in order for him to have been of some assistance in dealing with some questions that he and I have spent talking about from time to time. And I would refer you there if you’re interested.
The answer to a question about “Can I tell everything I know about heavenly mother?” is “no, I can’t tell you everything I know about Heavenly Mother.” But I can comment about a couple of things. When we get to the creation, the creation says that “in the image of God created He, him, male and female created He them” (Gen. 1:27). Meaning that the image of God, I mean, as they look down upon the man Adam after the creation of Adam, in the story that we have in Genesis and in Abraham and in the temple endowment, the conclusion is always the same: When you look at Adam, you’re looking at part. Is it good for this? No. This is not good for him to be alone! Are you kidding me? The first thing he’s gonna do is to smelt iron, make a pocketknife and carve his initials all over the damn garden! I mean, we have to do something to get this to be good. And how do we get this to be good? Well let’s make a companion and a helpmeet for him. Helpmeet…, helpmeet means getting him there. Helpmeet means he’s broken and in a disabled condition and she’s going to be the solution to the problem.
Yesterday, as we were navigating our way around, my wife said that our worst thing, her and I, our absolutely worst thing is dealing with the navigator, the British voice lady on the…, telling us where to go.
And I said, “What? Is it the blinding rage that you get out of me when I’m trying to follow her?”
And she said, “No, no, that’s not it.”
“Is it the string of obscenities that come out?”
And she said, “no, that’s not it. You’re just such an ass when we’re trying to get some…”
Well, look, she’s my helpmeet, and so she calms me down and puts me back in place.
There is a lady who has, she labors under remarkable handicaps because her only text is really the biblical text, the pseudepigrapha, the available material that’s out there. But she also has a clarity of thought that is remarkable for a Methodist minister. I mean, Joseph was right when he said that he was somewhat inclined to the Methodists. Methodists really are…, John Wesley was a remarkable, remarkable soul. But Margaret Barker, is a Methodist minister and a scholar and she has written about the divine feminine. And while she’s not perfect, and she doesn’t have everything right, and she is laboring with a limited library from which to draw, if you’re interested in those kinds of topics, I would commend to you taking a look at what Margaret Barker has done, including her last book that’s now available.
And just so someone has asked a question, I want then to be clear: I have never said that Christ always appearing in red apparel. Christ doesn’t appear in red apparel, He appears in white. But, at the second coming when He comes in judgment, He will come clothed in red, which is a sign of the judgement that He is bringing. So, His red apparel is related to the second coming.
Of course, a false spirit can project love. Of course. False spirits imitate. The great imitator, who is a liar from the beginning, begins by assuming the role that is designed to be a counterfeit. The only way that a counterfeit works is if it has the look and feel, and sentiment and everything that the real thing has. If you’re going to imitate, of course love can be one of those things that are imitated. The question if you want to try to dial in yea/nay, good/bad, true/false, is whether or not the love that is being shown to you leads, in turn to pride, to haughtiness, to thinking I’m great, I’m wonderful. If it has as its objective creating pride and haughtiness in the individual, then you have to question the content of the message, not the means by which it gets delivered. Because if the means by which it is delivered is a counterfeit, it’s gonna seem like the ‘coin of the realm’— Therefore, you have to question if the objective is prideful or if the objective is ultimately destructive.
I was asked about all the destruction associated with the end time and how do I cope with that. Look, I saw a sequence of events that will take place. After I was shown that, I went to the Doctrine and Covenants and it was really remarkable because the sequence of events appear, in what I saw, happened in exactly the same order as they are listed in the Doctrine and Covenants. And it struck me well heavens Joseph may have seen exactly the same thing, because it happened in a sequence of events. The destruction may seem random, but from what I saw it was extraordinarily targeted, extraordinarily aimed to accomplish the destruction of the wicked and the preservation of the righteous. When you get to 3rd Nephi and read the account of the destruction there it tells you it was the more wicked who were destroyed.
On June 6th of 1944, there was an invasion launched on D-Day. Two men who were significantly older than the average G.I. that hit the beach on that day were my father, who landed on Omaha Beach, and Hugh Nibley, that landed on Utah Beach. Utah Beach was a cakewalk compared to what happened on Omaha. My father’s job was as a combat engineer to blow up the tank traps so that they could clear the beach where the tanks were to come in and assist in over taking the pill boxes. There wasn’t a single tank that made it to Omaha Beach that day, because the tide was so weather was so rough that the tanks sank and they didn’t make it there. The tank traps were literally the only thing that were blocking the incoming fire. So, if you’re going to blow up the tank traps, you’re going to blow up your fellow GI’s. They were grateful for my fathers’ job being available on Omaha beach and they hid behind them and My father instead used the Bangalore mines to blow up some obstructions so they could get up the hills, so they could take over what were killing them. My father didn’t suffer any injury on Omaha Beach. Everyone in his company was a casualty, but he on June seventh of 1844 formed up with a new company and went on – Ultimately fought in the Battle of the Bulge as well.
On Utah Beach, Hugh Nibley, who was a well-educated man at the time and was an intelligence officer, didn’t have to come in with a gun. He came in riding on a Jeep with a bunch of books. His purpose was to interrogate and he was as an intelligence officer. And as he came onto the beach in a jeep, a round fell on the beach in front of him, blew a hole in the beach and his Jeep went down and up and bounced through the crater. And he writes Reflecting that the one thing that came through his mind at the time was, “the Book of Mormon is true.” In the midst of all this violence, you can see how wars and the way that men treat one another, really does result in -Later on in the war, he noted that one of the villages he had visited as a missionary which was very hard-hearted and very unwilling to receive anything, and treated them poorly, was a place where there was a lot of destruction. He reflected upon how the more wicked element were killed, just like the Book of Mormon talks.
The coming destruction is no different. I mean you want to be protected? It’s in the cavern of the rock, which is Christ. Because Literally, a hand grenade can land in the middle of the crowd and if the Lord has a righteous man among them, he can save that person. The things that I have seen suggest that it’s not destruction that we should fear, it’s not violence we should fear, it is our own unworthiness. And that Our greatest fear should be our sins.
What are estates and how many are there? A lot, and they are phases of development. And The talk in Ephraim, which is more supported by material in Preserving the Restoration talking about Christ, (the seventh chapter, it was the seventh talk): Look at that real carefully with the question of estates in mind and you’ll notice there, the work of the Lord is practically endless.
Now I need to address the subject of “What is appropriate to be explained and what is appropriate not to be explained?” Why does the Book of Mormon draw lines and say, “at this point in the record it’s not permitted for me to cover this? I was about to write this but I’m forbidden from doing so.” (Ether 13:13.) Or Nephi saying, “I was about to give you the rest of this story, but the Lord said you can’t do that.” (1 Ne. 14:24-25.) There is a very good reason why information gets withheld. There’s actually more than one, but there’s one that ought to be front and center: The more information that becomes available that ought to be held in sacred solitude, the more you equip the pretenders and the deceivers to improve their false act— the more equipment you hand to them with which to develop an illusion and a mirage that will deceive and take people from the Lord. But more importantly, when you get to the end of the actual process what the Lord was teaching to the Nephites, there is power in the government of God. that When it got hijacked in the beginning, by the time you get down to the time of Noah, the Earth was so corrupted that Lucifer or Satan has a great chain on the Earth. (Moses 7:26.) He had chained the earth and looking up at heaven (in the book of Moses in the Pearl of Great Price) he’s got the whole earth bound down in a great chain? He did so by imitating the government of Adam. He did so by binding together, in a false way, things that God would put together in a Godly way.
Right now, the struggle- the struggle on this Earth is over the agency of man. I don’t care if you’re looking at economic difficulties, governmental difficulties, business, religion, society, entertainment, it’s all about destroying the agency of man. In order to prevent Zion, the adversary knows he has now but a little time. The only way to make sure that it doesn’t spill out and accomplish the objective that God wants it to accomplish is by curtailing the ability of people to choose. Take away the right to say, the right to speak, the right to preach. Take away and categorize or if you can, criminalize and if you can’t do that, then simply murder in order to prevent the agency of man. Because men must, women must, come willingly to the Lord. have to voluntarily accept the invitation from Him. Compulsory means cannot be used. Everywhere you look right now, the struggle is over the agency of men. Some things are absolutely essential and needful, more than the mysteries of God. Right now, what is most important is to preach the Doctrine of Christ and baptize people so that we at least have someone living at the Lord’s return.
Why Christians need to hear about Joseph Smith? because Joseph Smith began the restoration. The Christian world has no clue that there is a restrictive deed on this land. The Christians have no clue that the God of this land must be served or they will be destroyed from and swept away from off of this land. They possess it and they think they’re free to mock the God who owns this land and they’re not free to do so. You come to that understanding only through the Book of Mormon. You come to the Book of Mormon only through Joseph Smith. Joseph taught about Zion in a way that the Christian world does not comprehend.
Let me cover one more matter and that is this idea of prophecy and interpreting prophecy. Cause I know that there are elaborate efforts made to parse the scriptures and come up with the meaning, the interpretation, even the timing of certain things that the Lord has now begun or that He intends to accomplish in short order. In Isaiah chapter 48, the description is given of how prophecy works.
“I’ve declared the former things from the beginning; and they went forth out of my mouth, and I showed them; I did them suddenly, and they came to pass.” The word “suddenly” can be rendered surprisingly. Suddenly can be in an unexpected way. Suddenly can be, ‘you got caught off guard.’ I declared what I was going to do, I did it, and you got caught off guard. “Because I knew that thou art obstinate, and thy neck is an iron sinew, and thy brow brass; I have even from the beginning declared it to thee; before it came to pass I showed it thee: lest thou shouldest say, Mine idol hath done them, and my graven image, and my molten image, hath commanded them. Thou hast heard, see all this; and wilt not ye declare it? I have showed thee new things from this time, even hidden things, and thou didst not know them.”
You didn’t know them. I declared them. I accomplished them, and I told you about them beforehand, and it happened suddenly, and you didn’t expect it to happen. Why is that? Because the way in which the Lord intends to accomplish what He is going to accomplish is not going to be in the way that will permit you to say, “I and my idol have been hard at work to accomplish this great thing.” No man gets to take credit for that. It’s got to be surprising and unexpected in order for the Lord, once it happens, to say “this was what I had in my heart and I have done it.” If we knew how the Lord and when the Lord was going to accomplish, how and what He was going to accomplish, we would stand a chance of preventing it. Or, we might make commerce out of it by profiting from it. Therefore, the way in which He will accomplish it will be according to His will, at His timing, for His purposes, without the control of man and with man always saying, “that was sudden, that was surprising, that was unanticipated.” And so He can send that Galilean accent speaking carpenter’s son into the world and have the world take no note of Him. Or, a farm boy from upstate New York to declare the Lord has opened the heavens. And have Everyone can react to that in bemused humor or with insults and scorn, ultimately fearing Him enough to kill him and those that would follow him.
Well, I’m out of time, but let me end by thanking again the Boise fellowship for accomplishing this. It’s the third anniversary of the weekend in which we began this series of events. I am absolutely more encouraged, from what I heard here, than I have ever been about where we are at. I hear all the complaints. I hear all the criticism. I’m just very heartened by the things that I heard here and in particular from the talks of the women.
Thank you all and let me end by saying, may the Lord accompany all of you in the work that you do. Do not feel shy about speaking up. Do not be ashamed of the Lord and leave it to Him whether someone takes seriously the message that you have. Your obligation is to speak it. If the Lord has a sheep and you speak the warning to them, they’ll listen. And it won’t do you any good to herd goats. They’re still going to be goats.
In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.